Monmouthshire Merlin

THE AF .HAN QUESTION, PUBLIC MEETING- IN BIRMINGHAM. bAt a public meeting in Birmingham* on Monday, Chamberlain supported a resolution 00J^" ^^Uning the foreign and Indian policy of the ^°^ornment, and recording its emphatic protest vS^inst the policy of silence and mystery pursued J? her Majesty's Ministry relation to the Af- ghanistan question. The resolution further ex- the belief of the meeting that no adequate Sounds have been stated for tne proposed recti- of our Indian frontier, or for an annexation *ny portion of the territory of the Ameer, and gUea for tDe dissolution of Parliament, in order people may express their opinion upon the jSPtoentous question of peace or war. Mr. Vhanlberlain said the first obstacle to be removed the way of reform would be the present Govern- ment and its present head. He thought the *&a.jority of the country were rapidly coming to t4t conclusion.

PRINCE BISMARCK' DAUGHTER. nce Bismarck's daughter, the Countess tie, whose wedding took place last week, has ^ed after all her first love, Count von 2au* When boy and girl together, the young tr U.sed to meet as they were coming home from tell°v^' an^ Count would carry Marie's books, • her long stories, and pay her innumerable at- •tod Coutit von Rantzau went into the army, d Borne time afterwards heard that his jL love was engaged to Count Eulen- _j £ >• Henry von Rant/an fell into a state of mind, and was subject to fits of which greatly alarmed his comrades. fever, however.Carried off young Count an<^ Count von Rantzau speedily re- gain spirits, renewed his acquaintance, and •W0rdf°Urteci the Countess Marie, abandoning the Of x, 0r diplomacy. One of the great features pj 6 bedding fetes was the distribution to each Vritf a ^rief poem recounting this episode, by a young relative of Prince Bismarck, entitled. On revient toujours a ses premieres -aours." Countess Marie's young lady friends ^Iso gave her a large album, containing views of y place she had lived in before her marriage, dbearing the inscription, The days that are be) more."

i\ LJ LJ.1^ lj Ix O t -D i. Miss Knox, an elderly ladv, residing at Thorn- field, County Mayo, upon whose life an attempt was made last March, has died of her injuries. A man named O'Hara has been in custody since the perpetration of the offence. The following depo- sition was made by Miss Knox: I retired to bed at about eleven o'clock, and having slept, as I think, about a couple of hours, I was awoke by a noise in the room. I called out I Who is that?" two or three times, but got no reply. I then sat up in bed, when I saw the figure of a tall man with a hat on and a white sheet around him. He advanced from the window to the fireplace, and I remarked that he wore heavy boots from the noise that his feet made on the floor. He stopped at the fire and then came to the bedside, and struck me several blows with some weapon on the head. I raised my hand to protect my head, when my fingers got wounded, and the blood flowed from my head and ears. I screamed out, in the hope that some of my servants would come and save me. The man then walked quietly to the window, and I saw him strike a light with several matches, but they all went out immediately. He then broke a good deal of glass of the window in a great hurry, and scrambled out through the window, still having his hat on and the sheet about him. It struck me at once that it was William O'Hara, from the figure being much like his, and the fact of my having some time since received a threatening letter which I had reason to suspect was written by him. The defendant was in my service two or three years, and I am perfectly acquainted with his appearance, but I cannot swear that he was the man that struck me, as I never had an oppor- tunity of seeing the man's face by sufficient light."

ALLEGED MURDER AND FORGERY AT LYTHAM. A woman named Whiteside was arrested at Doncawter on the 15th inst., and charged with murder and forgery. Her husband was a. gudener, and lived at Lytham, in Lancashire. The house- hold consisted of himself, his wife, and three children. Some time last year the wife insured all their lives, and also the life of a sister. She subsequently made application to the society for the amount for which her sister was insured. She stated that the sister had died, and she produced a certificate of her death. Inquiries were made, and it was ascertained that the sister was still alive, and that the certificate was a forgery. No proceedings were taken against her for that. In the spring of this year one of her children died, and she received the insurance money. Some three weeks after a second child died, and again she received the amount for which it was insured. One evening, in June, her hus- band went home as usual, ate a hearty tea, smoked his pipe, was taken seriously I ill, and died in a few minutes. After his funeral the usual application was made by her to the insurance society, but instead of f paying the money they instituted inquiries. They found, it is alleged, that shortly before each child 'died she purchased rat poiaoa, and that she made a further purchase on the very day that her husband died. The matter was taken up by the police, and the body of the husband was exhumed, and an inquest was held. I The post-mortem examination showed that t death had resulted from ipoison. It is stated I that Mrs. Whiteside, when first spoken to on the subject, safd she purchased the poison to lcin mice, with which her house was overrun. The police carefully examined the place, took up flags., and so forth, but could find no trace of mice. At the inquest Mrs. Whiteside was questioned as.to what she did with the poison; but, acting on the advice of her solicitor, she refused to answer any questions or to give a explanations. After several adjournments, the jury delivered a verdict to the effect that Whitesdfie died from strychnine, but how administered there was no evidence to show. A few days after Mrs. Whiteside broke up hot home at Lytbam and went to live with her brother at Sunnyside, Hexthorpe, Doncaster. She had one child with her, and its life she endeavoured to insure in the same office, but her propesal was refused. Since her arrival at Doncaster her father and mother and another brother followed her, and they are now living in>the same neighbourhood. The whole of the circum- stances connected with the deaths of the husband and two children, so far as they were ascertained, have since come under fee notice of the Solicitor to the Treasury, and an order was issued for-tbe apprehension of Mrs. Whiteside on the double charges of murder and forgery. The police at Preston made inquiries, and ascer- tained that she had gome to Doncaster to :live. On Nov. 14th, SergetUtt Churnley arrived in that town, and, assisted by Inspector Lister, went in search of the woman. It was not until next day that thev obtained any &ue as to her whereabouts. In the evening they went to the house of the brother, and to avoid any scene the warmnt charging her with forgery omy was read. In answer to it she said, He wished me to do it," meaning, it was supposed, that her husbandhacl desired her to forge the certificate of her sister's death. She was taken to the Doncaster Police Station, and when there the warrant charging her with the wilful murder of her husband was read to her. She replied, very emphatically, "Never! never!" She was kept at Doncaster that night, and on Saturday morning Sergeant Churnley took her to Preston. She is about 35 years of age, of very respectable appearance, and conducted herself with gseat propriety while she lived at Doncaster.

ROMANTIC ELOPEMENT IN AMERICA- .HEARTLESS DESERTION IN ENGLAND- The following facts sliculd act as a caution to ( ihaads of families as to how they introduce strangers into their households. Some time last year a gentleman, calling himself a stock-broker, hailing from Loudon, and. at that time in New York, obtained the entree to the society ot a wealthy gentleman's fainily iin Fifth Avenue, New Yoisk. In February last it was discovered one night that the gentleman'c eldest daughter, a ladytef about 19, was missing, and had taken with I her considerable sum of her own money and all hecr jewellery. The circumstances then known 'j leflt iiodoubt of the fact that the lady had been enticed away by the visitor at her parents' house. A jnote received the following day informed her friendsAhat they were travelling in the States; but this ituraaed out to be a ruse, and it was found that they had left for Europe immediately on their disappearance. The lady's father is a Scotch- man beleriging to Glasgow, end ae he has several relatives there, it was thought the young lady might oomanunicate with them. Accordingly the parents advised Mr. Knowles, private detective, of Glasgow, to see the passengers n arrival of the ship; but the telegram arrived too la,.e, as some passengers left at Queenstown, including the couple in question. Mr. Knowles, however, suc- ceeded in trAcing their movements to London and Paris, and subsequently to various English water- ing places, but afterwards lost all trace until about a week ago, when a letter the young lady had sent home asking a reply to be sent to the Post Office, Edinburgh, showed her to be in that neighbour- hood. This information was forwarded to Mr. Knowles, who set a watch on the Post Office, and found the young lady. She states' that her male companion left her at Preston, while travelling from .Loudon to Edinburgh. At first she thought he had missed the train, but afterwards found he had taken the valise which contained her money, between two and three thousand dollars, and jewellery- among the latter being a diamond ring, worth £ 180. She has been in lodgings in Leith for the past two months, and entirely wit-hout funds. it, has been ascertained that the" stoeklnoker," who calls himself A. A. Taylor, is an adventurer and a swindler, and is suspected to be one of the gang cf "gentlemen" c:lrd sharpers who cross and re-cross the Atlantic during the season, and sometimes make enormous" wins" from un- suspecting fellow-travellers. Mr. Knowles made arrangements for the lady's return to her home, and she left last week in the White Star steamer Republic, in company with one of her relatives.

There is not the slightest truth in the state- ments which have been confidently made to the effect that the editor of the Times has resigned or is about to do so, while the reasons which have been frequently put forward in explanation of his suppOtied resignation taking place are purely imagin ary. —A t heiurum. The recent sale of the effects of the late Charles Dickens at Gadshill place did not include the library of the eminent novelist, which has been purchased in ita entirety by Messrs. Southern, of Piccadilly. Accompanying the books is the^fh- t«rAhtin< teries of framed Hogarth engravings, Lamed in Mr. Forster's "Life of Dickens '« hanging in his bedroom.

ANOTHER HEAVY FAILURE. I At the London Bankruptcy Court on Mon lav the failure was announced of Alexander Bell and Son, of Finch lane, for £ 115,030.

THE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ACT. At a meeting of corn merchants held on Monday in Dublin, a resolution was passed adopting the hundred-weight of one hundred and twelve pounds as the standard weight of the trade in the sale of grain and flour in the Dublin market after the 1st of January next. An amendment had been moved in favour of a cental, but this was lost, it being contended that the 1121bs. was more in accord- ance with the trade of the country.

LORD HENRY LENNOX AND THE POSITION OF THE GOVERNMENT. Speaking at a Conservative banquet at Chichester on Monday, LordHeury Lennox took a very hopeful view of the present crisis, expressing his opinion that with her present resources no country in the world dare risk an encounter with England. He was even hopeful that the Afghan difficulty would pass over with little bloodshed. Referring to Mr. Gladstone's Bedford letter, he said no cause had been shown for a dissolution at present, but when the Government did appeal to the country he was confident as to the result.

THE THEFT OF THE BODY OF A. T. STEWART. The New York papers contain further particu- lars respecting the stealing of the body of A. T. Stewart. It appears that the robbers, after re- moving the slab covering the entrance to the vault, descended and forced open the outer coffin by drawing the screws. They then cut the leaden one and took th3 body. The outrage was first discovered by the sexton, who, with his assistant, fell under suspicion inasmuch as a piece of rope was found near the tomb, and which was his property. This he explained, stating that he used the rope when descending into the vault. A lantern found on the spot has been traced, but the purchaser has not. Six men having a long box were seen near the graveyard on the night of tfee occurrence.

FATAL COLLISION IN THE HUMBER. A BARQUE RUN DOWN. On Monday, the steamer Angelo, of the Wilson Line, Capt. Nicholson, arrived at Hull from Christiana, to which port she is a regular trader. Captain Nicholson reports that on Sunday even- ing, on the Angelo entering the Humber, shaoame into collision with a barque which was xidmg at anchor between.the Bull Lightship and the Spurn Point. The barqaie was so injured that fit was evident at onee that she was filliag, and she went down in a few minutes. ShetVtrned out to be the Deerfoot, of North Shields, and commanded by Captain Eason. She was on a passage from London to Shields, and being overtaken by the storm put into the Humber for shelter, and it as whilst she was thms shelter- ing that she was ran down. The whole<cf the crew ran forward when the accident occurred, and Captain Eason with great difficulty persmad-ed his wife, who with thdir daughter was in the oabsn at the time of the oollision, to follow the crew for- ward. The hands belonging to the barque .gffit on board the Angelo, and the captain's growm-up daughter was also got on to the steamer. At this time Mrs. Eason went aft as though to getti-asme- thing, and whilst ehe was doing so the barque went down, carrying the unfortunate woman with it. Captain Eason was with difficulty rescued. The Angelo's anchor was let go, and as quickly as possible a boat was lowered to see if Mrs. Eason could be found, but .without success. The Deer- foot, which was 499 tons register, had discharged a cargo at London fsom Madras, and was on her way to Shields again to load. She was owned by Mr. J. R. Kelso, North Shields.

T.iE GREEK DEB". We understand that the Greek Government have embodied in a bill the terms of the conven- tion recently concluded in London between Mr. Bouverie and Mr. Hazlewood on the one sice, and M. Gennadius, the Greek Charge d'Affaires, on the other, for the settlement of the aft airs of the Greek loan. This bill will be submitted to the Chamber at Athens with a view to its becoming law.-I)aily News.

INTEMPERANCE AND COCOA ROOMS. The Duke and Duchess of Westminster and the Right Hon. J. G. Dodson were present at Chester on Saturday, on the occasion of the opening of the fourth cocoa house in the city. The Duke of Westminster, in opening the house, spoke of the want of such places of resort, on the ground that public houses had now degenerated to nothing but bars and vaults, where no comforts were given, and where there were only facilities for drinking. (Hear, hear. and applause.) The cheerful houses where men used to go and meet company were nearly all gone. The Lords' Committee on Intemperance, over which he presided, had had before them the Gothenburg system, and had gone thoroughly into it, and, in the opinion of a majority, it was considered very desirable that the experiment should be tried in England. In that system the eating department was the main consideration of the managers. J e need not say how glad many in that room would be, if it were possible, to try such an e periment in Chester. Much, however, depended on indi- vidual exertions and associations such as these. In times of prosperity drinking increased, and in times of depression drinking decreased. Trade was now very bad, and in view of the coming winter he feared it would be even worse. He therefore hoped that those classes which could not afford alcoholic liquor wou d come to that house, and that when trade revived the habits of sobriety they had learned would stick to them. If England would be but sober she would be the happiest country on the face of the earth. (Lou applause.)—Mr. Dodson, M.P,. in seconding the vote of thanks to the Duke of Westminster, said we were gradually becoming a more sober population than we were 50 or 100 years ago. One cause was the e-ample set by the highest class of society, another was the indefatigable labours of the apostles of temper- ance and abstinence, and the third was the spread of education and intelligence among the people themselves. He was not one of that ardent class of persons who believed that legislation provided them with a short cut to temperance. He had never seen a measure which, in his judgment, was practically a measure of legislation for secur- ing sobriety by some sudden and off-hand process. He did not wish to be understood as argring that legislation could do nothing an this matter, or that legislation should be last sight of; and he pointed to the Irish Sunday Closing Bill as an illustration in point. He gave his support to that measure because he was induced to believe that it was the earnest and preponderating wish of the people of Ireland that sucta. a measure should be passed. Time and experience might suggest other modes of legislation which might assist and con- duce in a reasonable amd practical way to the great cause of sobriety. (Loud applause.)

THE REV. C. HARGROVE, M.A., ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE THEATRE. On Sunday evening, the Rev. Charles Hargrove, M.A., preached to his congregation at Mill Hill Unitarian Chapel, Leeds, on the subject of the theatre, more particularly with reference to the opening of the Grand Theatre, New Briggate. Leeds, which took place on Monday. In tl e course of his address he asked, Does a man com- mit a sin, even a little sin, by going to a theatrj? Ought a man to tie ashamed to go there? If so, let it be heard fromevery pulpit in the town that a place which would'ensnare men's souls was about to be opened in their midst. If the churches had not the courage t-r, do this, let them countenance this noble but discarded sister of the stage; let them recognise the grandness of Shakespeare as they saw him acted on the stage; Jet them sup- port the theatre and make it what it ought to be. It was an old story that life was but a struggle, and it was this battle of life that the stage repre- sented. Our experience was narrow, we judged hardly, we were bigoted, we were filled with petty interests and petty cares where o&r hearts were not enlarged te take in something of the great cares and interests of humanity. The drama was one great means of widening our experience and sympathies. When human nature was truly re- presented, as by that grand master and teacher, Shakespeare, we were let into something of the great heart of humanity—that heart that died not, that beat on through the ages—we passed out cf the littleness of our daily life into the grandness of the life of man. The stage should he, and he believed to some extent it was, another pulpit—a happier pulpit in some ways; one where there was no controversy, no bitterness, anti far less dulness. But he knew the objections that were made to the stage. First, from the Puritan and the early Christian side there were the ecclesiastical and religious objections, as they were called, and he admitted the truth of them on the common religions t heory of life. If life was indeed a short trial of :a. few years at the end of which was eternal torture or eternal hap- piness, according as we had lived in it, God forbid that we should occupy ourselves with any such vanities. What.mattered it to us about learning, or the stage, s-or literature, or anything at all except the one matter of howtto save our souls? But those for whom religion was the gladness and the sunshine of God's -presence on the earth, brightening all life, and giving all good things-it w&E for them to enioy the drama as one of God's meaeis of speaking As men. The one question waa, How far the drama could be con- sidered a danger to morality? That there was danger there was no doubt, and the danger came doubly. First, it might be urged that there was danger in the company that met in the theatre, and in men and women being crowded together till a late hour of night. We might be told stories how the ruin.&f young girls hadibegun by attending the theatre. But were those dangers confined to the theatre? Were they not dangers that were far more the product of idleness and of an -emptv mind than of zny moral amusements? If the theatre was a scarce of so great danger, were coun- try towns, where there was no theatre; were small villages, where men never heard of acting:; were those countries where the theatre was universally discouraged, ntted for their temperance and purity? Danger! Of course there was danger. There was danger everywhere; amd if we were to Avoid danger, we must live out of the world. The danger was rather to be guarded against by know- ling the temptations of life and being prepared to ■meet them. But was it not true that immorality, iimmodesty, and profanity might be witnessed on fibe stage? No dor-bt it was. But might not the people who would give no encouragement to the .stage, and who wonu leave the manager to choose befcween gratifying the taste that would pa And closing his theatre-might not they bring about an deration? In conclusion, the rev. gentleman said it was God who gave us Shakespeare, and he asked his hearers to see what they could make God's gifts.

MR. SPURGEON.—The Rsv. C. H. Spurgeon, who has been very unwell for the last week, was not so far reaovered on Sunday as to permit of his offi- ciating at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. The ser- vices at night were conducted by the Rev. Mr. Spurgeon, Jun. THE BISHOP OF MANCHESTER ON IMPATIENCE TO GET Picitimr, -Bishop Fraser. preaching on Sunday morning in St. Barnabas's School Church, Rock- ley street, Broughton road, Pendleton, and speak- ing of patience and faith, said that latterly the world was getting terribly impatient to get nch. Employers and working men and all classes had ) been impatient to be rich. forgetting that riches, when got quickly also had the habit of flying away quickly, and that great fortunes were seldom solidly made except upon the basis of integrity and industry and thoroughness of dealing. We had scorned the slow and weary toil with which our fathers and grandfathers made their great fortunes and developed the great industry of Lancashire. And, as the result of this impatience, where were we now? Men's hearts were getting depressed; they saw thick clouds gathering all over the sky, and yet they would not learn the lessons that God seemed to be trying to teach them in this visitation-for he regarded it as a visitation of God's providence, as part of God's moral discipline, telling us that the foundations of national wealth and prosperity rested not only upon the amount of our invest- ments upon rickety, or even in solid concerns, but upon the amount of industry, and honesty, and truthfulness upon which men worked, and which made up the social relations that ought to exist between man and man. In these days we had great need. not only of paiienee, but ot faith.

Mr. Bro-k, sculptor, reports to the Rowland Hill Memorial Committee that he has commencee on the statue, and will visit Kidderminster next week to confer on the question of site. Th" flcriDtions now aTprmit to 1.'1 ('.R,7 The Colonial reliefs for the winter have been I now decided upon, and will be carried out as fol- low:—1st Battalion 4th Regiment, Gibraltar to West Indies; 27th Regiment, Malta to Hong Kong; 28th Regiment, Singapore to England; 35th Regi- ment, Barbadoes to Malta; 57th Regiment, Cey- lon to Gibraltar; 69ih Regiment, Gibraltar to Eng- land; 74th Highlanders, Hong Kong to Singapore: 93rd Highlanders, England to Malta; and 102nd Fusiliers, Gibraltar to Ceylon.-Army and Navy Gazette. THE COLSTON BANQUETS.—The amount raised for charity by the three societies who annually commemorate the anniversary of Colston, the great Bristol philanthropist, was this year greater than in 1877, notwithstanding the great depression of trade, which affects Bristol no less than other great commercial centres. The sum contributed ] was £ 3110. 4s. 9d.. as against £2787. 7s. in 1877. I The collection at the Anchor, which is the Liberal society, was £ 915 at the Dolphin, Conservative, £ U&9. 10B. 6d.; and tbe Grateful, neatral, £ 1085. i 14s. Sd. |

DISTRESS IN GLASGOW.—THE LU-J PROVOST THREATENED. The existing dull trade is being felt nowhere more severely than in Glasgow, and matters are daily becoming worse. 200 additional men were dismissed from the Clyde shipbuilding yards on Saturday. The Caledouian Railway Company have notified a reduction in the wages of their servants all over their system, and the joiners, cotton manufacturers, and calico printers in and around Glasgow are putting their workers on short time. The weather is intensely cold. Great distress prevails, and the unemployed, who number thousands, are being helped from the city funds. On Saturday night, two well-dressed young men, understood to be of the unemployed, called at the Lord Provost's residence, and being refused money or work, used threatening language towards his lordship. The police were sent for, and the two men left the house, stating they would smash every window in it. They, however, ran off, and are now being looked after by the police. Much bitterness of feeling prevails among the unemployed, who complain that little is being done for them, while so much money is being raised for the City of Glasgow Bank shareholders. In fact, the prospects for the winter are worse than they have been at any period during the last twenty years. Local charities are suffering greatly from want of funds.

CAPTURE OF A WILD MAN. A wild man has lately been captured in the mountains of Tennesee, and is at present in Louis- ville, undergoing a process of training which, it is hoped, will sufficiently tame him for exhibition. His whole body, according to the Courier Journal, is covered with a layer of scales which drop off at regular periods, in the spring and fall, like the skin of a rattlesnake. He has a heavy growth of hair on his head, and a dark reddish beard about six inches long. His eyes present a frightful appearance, being at least twice as large as the average-sized eye. Some of his toes are formed together, which give his feet an ungainly appear- ance; and his height, when standing perfectly up- right, is about 6ft. 5in. He is, or rather was be- fore he was caged, amphibious in his habits, and subsisted on a diet of raw fish, roots, and herbs. He was chased down by a band of horsemen, who caught him ultimately by means of a lasso, but not until he had, fighting with his hands after the fashion of a gorilla, seriously wounded one of his pursuers. The ownership of this interesting being is vested in three persons, who anticipate large profit from exhibiting. He is, however, as yet far, very far, from being fit to introduce to the public—being as morose at one time as he is ferocious at another. An impression is said to prevail-but on what the "impression" is founded we do not read-that he was originally a bankrupt shoemaker, who being crossed in love, look to the woods and gradually sank to the level oi a wild ani;lual.-Pall Mall Gazette.

MURDER OF A PMEST.-A Isbourer named JTiliois has been convicted at the Aisne Asaizes-af the murder at Lenilly,iia France, of an aged priest 'OS his way to mass in ibroad daylight. The motive which could be assigned was a hatred iec priests. He was sentenced to death. MUNIFICENT BEQUEST TO GLASGOW UNMESITY.- will of the late Mr. Charles Randolph, en- gineer, a sum of X60,000 "a been left in aid of the huildmg fund of the Uaisersity of Glasgow, which i is .not yet completed aeoording to the original plan. Mr. Randolph was;at one time a member of the eelebratod shipbuilding firm of John Elder and Go.. Glasgow. At the Hull Police Court on Monday a young man .named Charles Artop was charged with wil- ful murder. The prisoner lodged with a keelman I named Fiance, and appears to have become nn- s duly familiar with Mrs. France. During her husband's absence they h&d a quarrel as to whetherishe should go out, and Artop seized a pair of tongs and struck ker several fearful blowr, ou the bead. He then lifted her head up, and finding that she was still alive, struck seven more blows, from which she diied. Prisoner was committed tie the assizes. MB. GLADSTONE'S FONTHCOMNRA VISIT TO GREEN- wicii.-The demand for tickets to the banquet on the occasion of Mr. Gladstone bidding farewell to the electors of Greenwich on the 20th instant has been so great that the secretaries have found it impossible to reply to the huudredsof applications that con)e in ahuoat daily. Seats can only be found for 280, which number is not large enough to accommodate those who were promised tickets by the committee previous to the arrangements being made public. It has also been found necessary to stop tLe issue of 5s. tickets for the meeting to be held in the Skating Rink at Wool- wich, in order to reserve standing room for about 1000 of the general public. PROPOSED UNDERGROUND RARLWAY IN MANCHESTER. In the forthcoming session of Parliament a bill will bo promoted with the object of obtaining power to construct an underground railway from Blackfriars street to Piccadilly. It is proposed to commence the line near premises which abut on the Irwellon the northerly side of Blackfriars street. Passing thence in an easterly direction, under Deanrgate, St. Mary's gate, Market street, and Piccadilly, the railway will terminate in a plot of vacant land at the northerly side of Picca- dilly, and bounded by Piccadilly, Lees street, and the Rochdale Canal. Parliament will be asked to incorporate a company to carry out the work, and power will be applied for to make and maintain shafts or openings in different places on the route, to underpin or otherwise secure or strengthen any buildings which may be rendered insecure by the intended \torks, and to provide at suitable point* land for the erection of buildings for the accom- modation of the families of the labouring classes whose dwellings may be required for the purposes of the proposed railway and works, and to provide funds for or contribute to the cost of the ereotico ot such buildings.

REPORTED LOSS OF A MAN-OF-WAR'S BOATS. Her Majesty's ship Valiant, which is stated to How anchored off Valentia, Ireland, appears i°have experienced some casualties off the North coast. On Monday morning parts of boats cast ashore at Braid, on the coast of Donegal, later in the day twelve oars, a boat's mast, and a sm&ll bo: containing a book pitied "The Army and Navy Signal Book," marked Second Cutter." There were also ashore part of a lifeboat, twelve oars, a large having mast and rudder set. and bearing the »' Valiant; life-belts, 1 o es, a cabin door, fcairs, &c.

DISASTROUS FLOODS. (;Ikz,&T DAMAGE TO PROPERTY—DISTRESSING SCENES. -.•A- scene of alarm and excitement prevailed throughout Malton and district on Saturday and Onday, the flood having reached a higher point any during the last forty-five years. At en o'clock on Sunday morning, the floodometer the County Bridge marked 12J feet, and 'he. water was considerably above the highest ster of the gauge itself, there being over 14 feet of water, and the outer arches of the bridge ft616 ]^0ckecl up, whilst fears were expressed for safety. For a long extent of country both below j» above Malton the York and Scarborough ia is covered fry i^ie flood. In Malton itself n. the lower part of the town, lower rooms of the jus and breweries are all filled with water, and Bat W?rk *8 stopped. Men were engaged all Eraf night and Sunday in carting away fiio D' P^aces safety, and on Sunday ^orseB were found in their stables, and jj. 8 ln their byrcB standing nearly up to the belly ^r- Frear Storr's, the Crown Anchor Inn, th.e springs burst out under the bar window, making sad havoc, whilst in the house, on Jackson's Island, near the county ~fidge, the water was entering the oven before Itinertime. Access to the railway station from the &igt Riding part of the borough was cut off, the artonians having to come by Malton,the ordinary *Oad being two or three feet deep in water. In Norton things were worse. The police station and rt-houso were surrounded by water, and 7~e cellars are choke full; the flood being in the Bibles also. Church street was flooded, and cabs 6 plying backwards and forwards conveying Paesengera who wished to cross to chapel or church. Old Malton and the vicinity the inhabitants even in a far worse plight than in the lest of e borough. The family of Mr. Marr, of Acomb 110use, had to be rescued in a cab; a similar state ^.things prevailed at Orchard Cottage, whilst the Vicarage was so deeply flooded that the Rev. E. 5- B. Pitman had to wade to reach his church in the morning, and in the afternoon the usual ser- vice could not be held. One young farmer actually 6ot to church across the fields in a boat. Botli -chapels in the town were flooded out," and the ^ain street, for above a quarter of a mile, was flooded BO deeplv that two gentlemen in a dog-cart Ranting to go to Horse Bridge dared not go *«»ough, and turned back to Malton. A disastrous inundation has occurred at Nor- wich, resulting in some densely populated neigh- bourhoods being many feet under water. The district seriously affected comprised four or five fciilea of streets. Several thousands of houses, in addition to factories, mills, warehouses, malt- toga, breweries, and ironworks, and all the ware- houses, stores, factories, and mills alongside the river throughout the city were flooded many feet. The damage to property iH therefore enormous. Since the first of November rain has been almost continuously falling in Norfolk. As touch as six inches h»ve fallen Sn the fortnight. This extraordinary fall had swollen the brooklets and the tributaries of the Wenmma miles above Norwich, that this, coupled with the high tides at Yarmouth preventing the Ya3» (which the Wensum joins jnst below Norwich) flowing freely into the sea, occasioned the Wenaum to rise ten or eleven feet. Just above Norwich the Wensum is usually 25 feet wide. T's waters taere were on Saturday more than a mile across. By 8pm the water had spread on either hand, first up courts and alleys, then through into the main streets. and then Across those streets up other and cross streets. All efforts of the people to keep the rising water from their homes were useless, for it presently rose up to their windows, 60 that the people had to take refuge aloft. it vas a dark and very rainy night. People who had left off work wanted to get home. Those in their houses wanted to get out. Cabs, carts, waggons, and boats were used to get at the impri&oned People. Along Heigham Causeway, Heigham and Westwick street, a continuous thoroughfare more than half a raile long, a Various stream rushed parallel with the raging liver. a few score yards to the nortu. This stream was, in some places, 7 feet deep, and the yarehouBes'and factories on either side, including Messrs. Grout's, had almost the same depth of Crater ia tteni gt Martin's and St. Michael's and contignoa8* streets there was a stream a quarter Of a mile long and several feet deep. There the Water entered several churches which were from one to three feet deep with water. The scene thr0UBbont Sunday, when the ram continued to fall an8db tfe water Sowed no sign of abatement, was most pitiable Mso and women were being taken out of the bedroom windows and what were comfortable homes, and conveyed jn carts, boats, and on rafts to JaCeB of safety. Un Sunday noon, the Mayor (H Bullard, Esq.), brewei7 next the river is very muctl ^Sutionwvene;: af ?rtiDR of citizens'when a resolution was adopted to provide tea coffee, and refuees^or H Fvf «P as temporary Lre untenantab]e!OUBan ^oseLmes raLUr^ere8itday tbG carts. Wb, and raftB were at work bringing people from their homes. The waters showed no indie*ti/*»,o nt wUiding. Rgjn was still falling. Other Darts •f the city, some distance from the flooded by the water bubbling up through the gratings from the ov«-charged draina. blueb IDC has been done ut the Carrow Works.

REPRESENTATION OF HUDDERSFIELD. A Press Association telegram states:—It is said that the leaders of trades unions and friendly societies in Huddersfield are endeavouring to bring forward a candidate more directly represent- ing their views at the next general election in opposition to Mr. Leatham.

DR. KENEALY'S ANSWER TO MR. JOHN BRIGHT. The following letter appeared in the Daily News ■of Monday: Sir,-I haie read a paragraph in your paper of this day which calls for a reply. It is worded in rather a passionate style, but with this I have nothing to do. Scon after my return to Parliament, in 1875, Mr. Bright honoured me with a very long conversation, lasting for considerably more than an hour. He was pleased to say that he had intended in the Tich- borne debate, which took place on the pre- oeding 23rd of April, to comment on the treat- ment to which I had been subjected, and to express his regret that I had been disbenched, dis- patented, and disbarred. He added that he had forgotten it, but would refer to the matter on the first appropriate occasion when he addressed the House. He said, that although he had no per- sonal communication with (the then) Mr. Disraeli, he had no doubt I could be restored to my former position on three conditions:—First: That I was to apologise to the judges for language that had appeared in the Englishman. Second: That Iwas publicly to abandon that paper, with which I was believed to be connected, and to discontinue its publication. Third: That I was to give up Tioh- borne's cause. He said that he was to breakfast on the following morning with Mr. Recorder Gurney, and would discuss the question with him if I consented. I declined to do so. I haws the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant, -E. V. KENEALY. Lancing, Sussex, Nov. 15."

A QUARREL BETWEEN DiTORS. At Bow street Police Court on Monday, Mr. Ed- mund Yates, editor of the World, was summoned for using threatening language towards Mr. Edgar Ray, editor of Touchstone, who asked that the defen- dant might be bound over to keep the peace, as lie was afraid of receiving bodily harm from him. It seems that on the 8th of November defendant, on reading an article in Touch-tone, in reference to Mr. Labouchere, called at the o¡ice of tl,, -t paper, said that the article contained lies, and threatened to break his stick over the back of the editor. It was not denied that the threat had been used, but it was asserted that tie words had been induced in eon e iuence of attacks having been made on deceased per ons, and that Mr. Yates was afraid his own deceased relations would be similarly treated Hesr-t was expressed for what had occurred, and the magistrates bound Mr. Yatesoverin £10, with Mr. Labouchere as his surety in £ 5, to keep the peace.

ATTEMPTED BURGLA.Y AT ENVILLE HALL. FLIGHT OF THE BURGLARS. A daring and ingenious attempt to plunder the I residence of Lord Stamford at Enville, was made on Sunday evening as early as half-past, seven o'clock. Enville Hall is s>t lated ia Sta .ordshire, about seven miles from Stourbridge. The house fronts to the south, but in Paoli direction there are numerous windows looking out over the pleasant grounds. The drawing and dining rooms abut on the south side, and immediately over the former is situated her ladybhip's boudoir. Into this last handsome and tastefully-furnished apartment the thief or thieves first gained access. This would be about tweuty-five minutes past seven o'clock. His lordship, being slightly indisposed, was in his dres-ing room in front of the house at the time. fer ladyship was in her dressing room, too, but this apartment is at the back, and situated next Io the boudoir. The familv were preparing for dinner, the diuing-hour at Enville being eight o'clo k. Exactly at hall- past seven his lordship's va,eL emerged frcm his lordship's dressing room, where he had been ar- ranging some clothes and assisting Lord Stamford in his toilet. He was procee dng leisurely along the corridor towards the wos ern portion of the house, when a man stepped suddenly from behind an open door and presented a revolver full in his face, at the baiue time crying out in a determined manner, If vcu move or make a noise I will blow your brains out." The valet was completely staggered, aud uniihe at tli j moment to regain his self-po^ e -ion. He stood for a few moments completely nelpless. He then made a sudden plunge into one of the dressing rooms adjacent, and, slamming the door, he firmly secured it, and set about alarming the household by ringing violently at the bell and shouting from the window at the top of his voice. Both Lord Stamford and her 'advship heard th? cries, and the latter ran immediately out of her dressing room into the corridor to ascertain wha was the matter. Very fortunately she did not encounter the burglar. The interval had been too long to admit of his remaining on the premises. On hearing the shouts for hehi I and the stir which followed the would-be thie evidently saw the necessity for leaving the house as quickly as possible, and he did th.s in as brier a space of time as he could, and in the same man I ner as that in which he gained admission to the premises. The way he did this was ceitainly both daring and ingenious. Outside the win do .> of her ladyship's boudoir is a balcony Drojecting over the window of the drawing room underneath. This balcony is nearly twenty feet from the grotrcd, but once there entrance to her ladyship's room was not difficult to obtain by a man ex- perienced in the work. The thief undoubtedly belonged to a "crack" gang, and was accom- -par-ied by others to Enville, the party travelling in a light dog cart with a gooi. going horse attached to it. Before reaching I the village the men upon whom fell the most hazardous part of the work got out of the vehicle II and one man only proceeded with the trap to the Stamford Arms Hotel, where he left the horse Ktanding in front of the bo!ise and proceeded into the smoke room, giving instructions for the door to be left open, as it turned out afterwards, in order that he might the better hear any signal which was given by his confederates outside. Meanwhile the other men-how many of them there were is not known—proceeded across Lord 1 Stamford's grounds and then under cover of the shrubbery, in all probability watched the pre- I mises until they saw some of the lights turned out in the back rooms, which was done at about half-past seven o'clock. Then thinking, be- yond doubt, that the family were at dinner, the men approached the building, and commenced operations in earnest. Everything considered necessary bad been provided in order to reach the balcony. A rough ladder which the men carried with them was employed. This was composed of three separate pieces of wood, each about five feet long. Two of the pieces w re hinged together, the third beiang so constructed as to fix into an iron socket attached to the other two: across the wood, and penetrating it, were placed nine pieces of iron about nine inches long, which formed capital steps by which to ascend. The woodwork being stretched out it reached to within easy dis- tance of the balcony. The men, on reaching the window of the boudoir, either forced the window open in a very clean manner or the found it unfas- tened. In attempting to remove a coloured gloss screen, one -of the men put his foot through it, but beyond this there was no evidence of bur- glary in the way in which entrance was effected. It is supposed that, having entered the boudoir, the burglar's adea was to reach that part of the house where the jewellery and valuables are kept, and that it was while attempting to pursue this line of conduct that his passage was arrested by the valet. When once the alarm was given there was no course open but to escape as quickly as possible. The man rushed back into the boudoir,-scrambled from the balcony on to the ground by means of some wire netting that pro- tects the wall flowers, and tan at his hardest across the grounds, Samaging plant and flower protectors in his passage. In his fright he apparently forgot the way in wfeach he entered the ground, but Oil coming to a door which leods into the kitchen garden, he kicked at it until ho forced the lock, and so got out into the road. To communicate with his companiocHj was then an easy matter. The occupants of the Stamford Arms heard a shrill whistle ahout c. quarter to eight, and immediately upon it the man in the smoke room rushed from the house, jumped into the trap, and drove away in great haste. A few minutes afterwards severa! of Lord Stamlord's servants, at that time un- aware of what had occurred, saw a horse and trap containing four or five men going alone 11 the road towards Stourbridge at a full pace. On the inmates of the hall being aroused, everything was done with a view to the men domestics being sent to scour the neigh ing country on horseback, and information con- veyed to the various police-stations for miles round. At Enville Hall great commotion pre- vailed all the might, and the affair caused great excitement in the neighbourhood. Detective Cooper, from Birmingham, and several police superintendents visited the hall on Monday, and full investigations are being made, LordStamforc: offered E100 reward for information that shall lead to the conviction of the offender. This is the second time thieves have entered this house this year. There is no doubt that the men who made the attempt on Sunday night were expert burglars, and that they had made themselves well acquainted with the position of the house and the oonfigura- tion of the grounds. f

A RUSSIAN DICK TURPIN. Letters from provincial Russia speak of an alarming growth of brigandage caused by the in- fluence of Nihilism and the impoverished condi- tion of the peasantry. In a few days' time a trial is to come off at Potrakova, of Orlovsky, the Dick Turpin of modern Russia. His band is stated to have consisted of as many as forty individuals, many of them deserters from the army. These he armed with breechloaders and revolvers, and sent about in small gadgs to ravage Southern Russia. A regular army of Cossacks had to be drafted into the district before the authorities could make headway against such a force, and after his gang was broken up Orlovsky eluded his pursuers for months. Thrice he was captured, and each time effected his escape, either breaking away from his guards or bribing the warders to let him out of prison. At last the police heard that he was about to visit his mis- tress at Warsaw, and with her assistance suc- ceeded in effecting his capture. So precious was the prize considered that the authorities hired a special train for its conveyance to Petrakova, and filled the car with half a company of soldiers. Having tried afresh to escape from prison, he was loaded with chains, and the warders threatened with perpetual exile to Siberia if they allowed him to get away. Thanks to these measures, Orlovsky has remained safely under lock and key, and will take his trial with his comrades, the forty thieves."

RACES WON BY FAVOURITES. Backers of the favourites for the principal races of the season have had no reason to complain of their luck this year, for they have been successful nine times out of twenty-two, and in three other instances the second favourite has obtained the victory. Kaleidoscope sarted second favourite at ti to 1 when he won the Lincolnshire Handicap, but there were three better favourites than Shifnal when he secured the Grand National Steeplechase. Sefton was third favourite for the City and Suburban Stakes, but Mida started at very long odds for the Metropolitan Stakes. Pil- grimage was tirst favourite at the start both for the Two and the One Thousand Guineas, as Pageant was for the Chester Cup. Sefton, how- ever. stood only fifth in the list of Derby favourites, and Jannette when she won the Oaks was not in quite such good demand as Pilgrim age. Glengarry and Verneuil were less thought of than, any of the other competitors for the Prince of Waies's Stakes and the Gold Cup at Ascot, but Verneuil, after his victory in the latter race, was a great favourite for the Alexandra Plate, and Glastonbury, winner of the Northumberland Plate, and Norwich, the winner of the Good- wood Stakes, both started in better demand than any of their opponents. Kincsem stood at longer odds for the vioojwood Cup than either Pageant or Lady Golightly, and when Caerau won the Ebor Handicap for Mr. Cartwri^ht he was only third favourite. Jannette was first favourite for the St. Leger, and though Jester stood at 20 to 1 when he won the Cesarewith, first favourites were again successful in the Middle Park Plate, won by Peter, and in the Chanmion Stakes, secured by Jannette. As was the case last year, when Jongleur stood at 83 to I, the Cambridgeshire was won by a horse against whom- very long odds were betted; and although the three first favourites occupied the three first places in the Liverpool Cnp, victory did not re- main with that one of the three which Ktcod at the shortest odds. If an investment of ten pounds had been made upon the favourite for each of these races, it would have been lost thirteen times: but upon the nine occasions when it would have been won there would have been a return of £ 170; so that the net profit would have been £40 for tbe whoe of the season. But it would be rash indeed to infer that because a single season shows a balance to thecre iito those who put their trust in favourites this mode of opeiation is a lucrative one, and the mere fact that "bookmakers" as a rule grow rich and "backers" poor shott'd be sufficient to stop the focihardv youths who think that taking the odds is a royal road to fortune Diiily News.

IRON THAT WU.T. xoT RUST.—Profeseor Bflrff's invaiuable invention, by means of which he gives to ordinary irm an incorrodible coatin« of the magnetic oxide, is one which is likelv to be of great service to the cause of practical hvpiene. A\e have lately had an opportr.mtv 0f vi^itircr Professor Barli s laboratory and of seein- 'his process and its remits. The process is exceedingly ilmfioZ ,TS1StSf inCrely in thc Meeting of lion to the action of superheated r>r ^eam having a temperature of 1500 de<> F~ 7 We"saw water troughs and ,a,cePans which had been left filled with water for weeks, but upon w! ich no parties of rust was visible. Iron piping and namcnta. castings were lying among the wet leaves in the garden outside the laboratorv, and had been ljing there or seven months past but the atmosphere had been unable to exert any action upon them whatever. The co4 of the pro- cess is but trilling, and is cheaper, we believe, than galvanising, and much cheaper, than the con- stancy recurring necessity of It« applications to sanitary purposes are obvion*. lio.essor Barft is preparing a collection of aygieaic apparatus for presentation to the Parkes Museum, where it may bo inspected bvall who are interested ir. sovsitar? matters. T.«*ret Mr. F. B. Perkins, of the Boston Public Library, is engaged in making a thorough investi- gation into the action of gaslights upon the binding of books. Messrs. Macmillan and Co. have in the nreaa and will shortly publish a volume of "Miscel- lanies, Political and Literary,' bv Mr M v>~ Grant Duff, M.P. 7 E' The death iB announced of Mr. John Mullan. £ Belfast, in his Beventy-third year. Mr. Mnllan has boen connected with the publish. BC trade for the last fifty yeans.