Monmouthshire Merlin

THE BASUTO WAR. [RECTER'S TELEGRAM. J CAPETOWN Monday. No further fighting is reported from Basutoland, operations being prevented by continuous heavy rains.

MURDER OF AN AFGHAN GENERAL. ["TIMES" TELEGRAM. I CANDAHAR, March 13. Mahomed Jan Khan, a Durani General in Ayoob's servioe, and commanding his troops at Khushk, the Jamshidi oapital, has been murdered by his own soldiers-it is said, in a drunken quarrel, but not improbably in a mutiny, which may have serious consequences. The troops at Khushk are all Heratis, and would probably wel- come the approach of Ishak Khan, the Ameer's lieutenant, who, by the last accounts, was at Andkhui, negotiating with the Wali of Maimanah for an advance on that place, which rumour states he has already occupied. CALCUTTA, March 14. It is reported that all the sons of Ameer Dost Mahomed, who were lately brought into Cabul. have been put to death by the Ameer's orders.

On March 11th, at Blackburn, John Dugdaleand Sons, Alexandra Mill, who have six other mills in the town, and employ 3000 hands, were summoned in ten cases for violating Factory Acts by employ- ing women and children overtime. The defendants were fined 50s. in five cases and 20s. in the others, the total amounting to over JE20. At the Dudley Police Court, last week, George Incher, drover, and hangman at Stafford, was charged with being drunk on the Wednesday night. Defendant pleaded guilty, and it was shown that he had grossly annoyed a tradesman.—The Mayoi told Incher he was a nuisance, and fined him 10s. and costs, or fourteen days.—Incher: "Oh, all right, sir." A German paper states that Herr Krupp's manufactory at Essen is just now in a state oi abnormal activity. The Roumanian Government have ordered 100 field pieces, Greece has given at order for 700 guus with equipments, and large orders of a similar kind have also come in from Sweden. Holland, and Italy. The work is carried on day and night. The meeting on behalf of the Sugar Bounties Society, to be held at Whitechapel on the 30tb inst., to advocate the imposition of countervailing duties, will bo attended by about 20 members ol Parliament. All the trades of East London are joiuing the movement, and delegates from Liver- pool, Leeds, Glasgow, Dundee, Bristol, Plymouth, and other towns will attend. At a meeting of the Atalanta Fund Committee, at the Mansion House, last week, it was stated that the total amount of the fund was 21)394. A scheme of weekly allowance to widows and orphans of the seamen and marines was sub- mitted, which it was calculated would absorb £61;50. The balance will be devoted to allowances to widows and orphans of officers. The London Gazette announces the following appointments:—Frederick Conde Williams, Esq., to be Puisne Judge of Supreme Court of the Colony of Natal. Samuel Gilfillan and Frederick C. Bishop, Eaqs.. to be members of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements. Edward Keene, Esa., to be a member of the Legislative Council of the Island of Tobago. At the annual meeting of the Bristol Conserva- tive Association, last week, resolutions were unani- mously passed condemning the proposed evacuation of Candahar, and hoping the Government may even yet reconsider their decision, and trusting that the proposal for an armistice and terms ol peace with the Boers did not emanate from that Government, and that they did not, in this das- tardly and cowardly manner, subject their fellow- countrymen to such humiliation. The promoter of the Manufacturers' and Mill- owner's Mutual Aid Association Bill. which pro- poses to advance money to millowners and manu- facturers, to assist them in preventing the pollu- tion of rivers, have asked Mr. Dodson to support the measure. Mr. Dodson said it bad a laudable objeot, but he was not acquainted with the ma. chinery, and he advised them to go to the Enclo- sure Commissioners for assistance and advice. The bill is opposed ia Parliament.

THE URGENCY QUESTION. LETTER FROM SIR S. NORTHCOTE. The following letter has been forwarded for publication. H To THE ELECTORS OP NORTH DEVON. Gentlemen,—A crisis has arisen in the con- duct of Parliamentary business which appears to render it necessary for me to address to you a few words in explanation of the course which I myself j propose to take, and which I have advised the Conservative party to take, on Monday next, when the Prime Minister intends to move a resolution declaring that public business is urgent in regard of certain votes in committee of supply. "If the forms of the House of Commons had admitted I should have expressed my objections to this resolution in my place in Parliament. But the rule under which the motion is to be made precludes all debate on the occasion, and our votes for or agains J the proposal must be given in silence, without either argument or explanation. The question, meanwhile, is one of vital im- portance, not in a party sense, but as touching the very essence and marrow of our Parliamentary system. For Mr. Gladstone's proposal threatens to subvert, and even to destroy, the rights and the liberties of the House of Commons in relation to its two great functions—that of discussing griev- ances before it votes the supplies, and that oi criticising the estimates and controlling their amount before it grants the demand of the Minister. That the proposals of Mr. Gladstone will, if adopted, materially diminish the facilities which members now enjoy in respect of both these func- tions is a proposition which needs no argument; and it is one which is not denied by its originator. But it is alleged that the circumstances of the time are such as to render this exceptional mea- sure absolutely necessary to the conduct of the public service; and on this ground the resolution may, perhaps, be acoepted by some members on the Ministerial side, whose objections to it upon its merits would be as strong as our own. But we oannot accept this plea. The Conservative party have shown on majy occasions, and notably during the last few weeks, that they are prepared to make great sacrifices for the sake of the public service when they are con- vinced that such sacrifices are necessary. They have supported the demand made by the Govern. ment for a monopoly of the time of the House, and for a suspension of the ordinary rales of de- bate, in order to enable a measure, intended to meet a serious national emergency, and to protect the public peace and the lives and property of individuals, to be passed into law without un- necessary delay. Emergencies such as this are abnormal, and cannot be of frequent recurrence. The steps taken in dealing with them, therefore, cannot be drawn into precedents. But the new demand is made not because there is a national emergency, but partly because the Government is behindhand with its supply, and partly because Mr. Gladstone wishes to re- serve the whole time from Easter to Whitsuntide for Government legislation. "If Ministers are allowed 'urgency because they are behindhand with supply, it is not very hazardous to prophesy that they will often be behindhand again, and that all the safeguards (not too strong even now) which the jealousy of Parliament has provided against Ministerial ex- travagance will be broken down and dispersed to the winds, and if the cream of the session is to be reserved for Government bills, the committee of supply will batten very meagrely on the skimmed milk which will remain for it. "The boldness-I had almost used a stronger word—of the present proposal will be seen if we consider for a moment the classes of supply for which urgency is claimed. It is claimed in the first place for supplementary votes." Supple- mentary votes are exactly those which are open to the greatest abuse, and which, therefore, demand the strictest criticism. The Finance Minister, when framing his budget, always urges his col- leagues in the spending departments to xeduce their estimates to the lowest possible amount. In endeavouring to do so, they are under the tempta- tion to under-estimate the amounts they will really require, and to trust to supplementary estimates towards the close of the year if they find they have spent more than Parliament has provided. If a Minister is to be allowed to claim urgency in the month of March because he wants to pass a number of supplementary estimates which he has approved since the House of Commons accepted his original calculations, he may greatly weaken, if he does not altogether elude, the most effective part of its control. And I may add that if his olaim is founded, as Mr. Gladstone's is partly founded, on the number of his supplementary votes, that is to say, the amount of his un- authorised expenditure, he is, in legal phrase, taking advantage of his own wrong. "But Mr. Gladstone further tells us that he will make use of the urgency rules to introduce a vote which is of a wholly novel and of a most important character—the vote of five millions as a subvention to the Indian Government in respect of the expense of the Afghan war. Without in. quiring into the merits of this proposal. I say unhesitatingly that it is one which requires the most careful examination, and which must raise large questions both of policy and of fact. I say with equal positiveness that there is no necessity for the vote being made a part of the finance of 1880-1, or that, if there is, there is no excuse for its not having been included in the arrangements of last session, when the supplementary budget for the year was before us. "I could point out other and serious objections to other classes of votes which are to be demanded of us with a pistol presented to our heads, and our hands more or less tied by the exceptional rules of urgency. I will only mention one. The army estimates are to be voted under these re- strictions, at a moment when a most important re arrangement of the whole system of army organisation is before the country, and when, from the manner in which the vote is to be taken, the discussion of that re-arrangement must be hurried through, or abandoned altogether. "I could also show you how great baa been the sacrifice which members have made this session, of the time and opportunities usually afforded them for bringing on questions in which their con- stituents are interested. But I must not detain you with these details. I have said enough to show what use Mr. Gladstone may make of his axe if we allow him the handle he seeks under the guise of an urgency resolution. The question re maining to be answered, and the one on which the case turns, is whether there is a necessity for the step. "I see no such necessity. There is still plenty of time for the discussion of the supplementary estimates, and their completion by the 24th March, which (and not the 21st) i& the last dit3 on which they should be voted so as to pass the necessary money bill consistently with the rules of Parliament. If Mr. Gladstone would use his influence by appealing to private members to put off motions which stand in the way of supply, he would, I am convinced, meet with the same response which has invariably been given to other Ministers making similar appeals. No sucJ^-a4- tempt has recently been made, and at least two occasions when supply might have been taken have been allowed to slip within the last fort- night. "The votes of money on account, which are necessary for the service of next year, may per- fectly well stand over till the first week in April, and the vote of men required as a foundation for the Mutiny Bill may also wait for some little time. Should some unexpected obstruction really arise in the way of these necessary measures, the power- ful engine of the urgency vote can always be ap- pealed to in the last resort, and for purposes strictly defined and limited, and there are other methods of forwarding public business with which the House is familiar, and which would be favourably regarded by many who would shrink from assent- ing to the more stringent course now submitted to them. •' But, as matters at present stand, we have no evidence that any organised obstruction to the general business of Parliament is intended. Mr. Gladstone himself makes his proposals irrespective of such a contingency; he has not done anything like his best to get the facilities he requires in the ordinary way; he has distinctly exaggerated the supposed necessities of the case, and he has made demands altogether unreasonable, both in re- spect of the votes which he means to pass, and the amount of money which he is going to ask for on account. It seemslb me quite impossible for any one who has a regard for the rights of the House of Commons, ana for the Parliamentary 1constitution of the country, to assent under such circumstances to the vote we are to be asked to paBS on Monday evening. "I am, gentlemen, It Your faithful and obliged servant, "STAFFORD H. NORTHCOTE, 30, St. James's pfcee, London, March 12."

EXCHEQUER RETURNS. The Exchequer returns from April 1st, last year, to March 12th, this year, and the returns for the previous eleren months, are compared as follows:— 1881. 1880. RECEIPTS £ 78,830,477 £ 77,053,351 EXPENDITURE 75,046,216 76,237,538

FAILURES IN THE BREWING TRADE. On Tuesday morning, in the Dudley County Court, Rous John Cooper, of the Brewery, Hall street, and Tansley Hill House, filed his petition in liquidation. The liabilities are zC6000, with assets not yet known, but generally believed to be good. The failure is attri- buted to the long depression of trade. Mr. Warming- ton is the debtor's solicitor, and Mr. J. G. Wright the receiver. A petition in liquidation has been filed in the Oldbury County Court by Edwin Underhill, maltster, Hales Owen street, Olabury, with liabilities amounting to £3800. The assets are not ascertained.

A WARDER ATTACKED BY A CONVICT. A warder in a convict establishment in Portsmouth lockyard named Whiteman, was attacked on Tuesday by a convict named Rollings, who felled him with a shovel. It ia believed that he is permanently m- sapacitated for duty. Rollings will be dealt with by the prison authorities.

THE MURDER OF A POLICEMAN. Two sailors belonging to her Majesty's gunboat Vigilant, now lying at Granton, named Rintoul and Shewan, were charged, on Tuesday, at the Edinburgh Police Court, with murdering a policeman, named Low, while in the execution of his duty. It was stated that the accused were on Monday night visiting an acquain- tance in Elm row, Edinburgh, when Rintoul went down an area stair for a minute. Constable Low went forward to apprehend him, when a scuffle ensued. Shewan rushed to his comrade's assistance, and draw- ing a dagger stabbed Low eleven times, two of the wounds penetrating to the region of the heart. Rin- toul, it i» alleged, tore an iron stanchion out of the stair railing and struck Low on the forehead, and death re- sulted in about two minutes from internal haamorrhage. Both men were soon afterwards apprehended. Shewan admits having stabbed Low, but Rintoul denies all knowledge of his comrade having a knife. Both sailors are respectably connected. They were remanded.

WRECKS AND LOSS OF LIFE. Intelligence received from Lloyds' on Tuesday morn- ing states that the barque A. E., Botsford, 453 tons, bound from Newport to the West Indies, has been totally wrecked near Barbuda, ona of the Windward Islands. In attempting to reach the wreck from the island, to render assistance, thirteen men were drowned by the upsetting ot their boats. The crew of twelve men eventually were rescued, and have arrived at Antigua. A Lloyd's telegram received on Tuesday morning states that the fine Clyde ship The Craigs, 1169 tons, bound from Pensacola, United States, to Greenock, with a full cargo of timber, has gone ashore during a heavy gale near the Mull of Kintyre, and lies across the rocks, some 200 yards from the shore, full of water. Tugs have been sent for with a view to floating her, but it is feared she will prove a wreck. The mate and four men have arrived at Campbeltown from the vessel, and report that she was bumping heavily when they left her. A Falmouth telegram reports that on Jan. 8th the barque Solide. which arrived at Falmouth on Tuesday, passed in lat. 52 deg. S., long. 50 deg. W., the hull of an iron barque, about 800 or 1000 tons, coal laden. Everything was burnt out, and the coal continued burning. She had a white figaiehead, and the letters "Franke."

GREAT FLOODS IN HUNGARY. PESTH, Monday Night. Just two years after the destruction of Szege- din another Hungarian town is threatened with total destruction by the floods. Bekes-Gyula, a place of 20,000 inhabitants, situated at the confluence of the two rivers called the White and Black Koeroes, has for the past five days been in imminent danger of being swept away by the rivers bursting through the embankments. The inhabitants have all been working night and day to avert the calamity, but last night the swollen waters made breaches in the dams at five different spots. The town is flooded, and a number of houses have fallen, and a vast amount of property is damaged or de- stroyed. No lives have been lost up to the present, but the population is in the direst distress. There are scarcely any boats in the place, nor have any preparations been made either by the local or national authorities in view of the threatened danger. In addition to Gyula, four other neigh- bouring towns and numerous villages in the same district, containing together a population larger than Szegedin are in imminent peril. In Temesvar and Gozsony, as well as Buda-Pesth, the alarm bells were ringing all last night. The inhabitants of many of the more exposed places are fleeing for their lives. Detachments of soldiers and fire- men from a distance have arrived, and are helping the inhabitants in strengthening the em- bankments. A hundred boats have been despatched to pick up the inhabitants in case the worst should happen, and a large number of railway waggons have likewise been sent to the nearest secure point. Further news is anxiously awaited.

PROBABLE WAR WITH BURMAH. Preparations are being made to afford active assistance to the Rajah of Mnnipore in the event of the Burmese invading his territory.

INTIMIDATING A GREEK MERCHANT. Bertha de Sterke, 30, a well-dressed woman, described as of no occupation, and residing at 9;). Robert street, Chelsea, was brought up before Mr. Partridge, at Westminster Police Court on Tuesday morning, charged on a warrant with threatening Nicholas Contopolis, merchant, of Queen Victoria street, City, and Honor Oak, Peckham. Mr. Abrahams, solicitor, appeared for the prosecutor, and Mr. T. Duerdin Dutton for the prisoner. Mr. Abrahams, in his opening statement, said that the prisoner was a woman notorious as a witness in the recent libel case of Lambri v. Labouchere, and that unfortunately the prosecutor some years ago had the misfortune to become acquainted with her. For three years he had had no communication with her, but she, presuming on her former acquaintanceship, had adopted a system of persistent annoyance, both by going to his private residence and city place of busi- ness, and demanding money by threats. She had also written letters and postcards of a grossly libellous character. The prosecutor had borne with the annoyance for a long time, but now, being a married man, he felt that he could no longer tolerate such a system of persecution. On Saturday morning he received at his private re- sidence a post card, on the back of which was written, in the prisoner's handwriting, "You thief, you liar, you are a great swindler and black- guard. Will show what a common woman can do, and I will do for you. You have swindled me Out of my house and my £ 1800. Will show you up wherever you are, you blackguard; and I will give you a good licking, if it costs me my death- -thief, liar." Another post card sent to the prosecutor's place of business in her handwriting was: "Contopolis, you give me some money, or I will come in the city and have a row." The prisoner had also threatened to throw vitriol at the prosecutor, and as she was a very violent woman he was really afraid of his life. He had given her several small sums of money, as she some time since wrote a pitiful letter begging assistance. The prisoner, who was very excited, more than once interrupted the statement by shouting, It's a lie." At last she burst out cry- ing, and, pointing to the prosecutor, exclaimed, He has robbed me of my £ 1800. I am a beggar, a beggar." Mr. Contopolis stated that he had known Bertha De Sterke about four or five years, but he had had no friendly relations with her during the last two years.—Mr. Partridge: What is she to you? Have you been living with her?—Prosecutor: Not exactly been living with her, but till two years ago I was very friendly with her.—Mr. Partridge remanded the prisoner, but agreed to accept two sureties in £ 50.

The Daily Nettis is requested to contradict the statement that the Baroness Burdett-Coutts pro- poses to visit the United States during the spring. This decision has nothing to do with the health of the Baroness, which, we are glad to say, is per- fectly good. Gnoss CRUELTY TO A Boy.-The Devon county magistrates, at Stonehouse, on Tuesday, had before them Charles Leverier Constant, a farmer, who several months ago hired a work- house boy for work on his estate. Medical and other evidence showed that the boy had been treated with continuous brutality, being flogged I in an outhouse, made to sleep in a loft on sacks, and furnished with only two scanty meals per day. Evidence of two servants was given diametrically contradicting this, and represent- ing that the boy fared sumptuously, but the magistrates did not credit it, and sentenced Mr. Constant to one month's imprisonment, with hard labour.

THE VACANT JUDGESHIP. Both the Timet and the Standard state that Mr. Lewis William Cave, Q.C., of the North-Eastern Cirouit, has been appointed to the seat on the bench vaoant by the death of Sir Henry Jackson.

A RAILWAY TRAIN FIRED AT. A passenger train on the Great Western line was fired at between Wolverhampton and Shifnal last week. The bullet struck the roof of one of the carriages greatly alarming the occupants.

A MAIL STEAMER RUN DOWN. The Press Association's Portsmouth cor- respondent telegraphs that the African mail steamer Ben^n was lost, with full cargo, after collision off Start Point, during Saturday,. with the Eastern Steamship Company's steamer Duke of Buccleuch, a Calcutta liner. The colliding vessel picked up all hands. The following par- ticulars have been ascertaIned: The Benin, Captain Wilkins, 1530 tons, was one of the trading mail steamers belonging to the African Steamship Company, and ran between Hamburg, Plymouth, and the West Coast of Africa on the outward voyage, and Havre and Liverpool on the homeward passage. The vessel and cargo together represented about a quarter of a million in value. The steamer which sank her was the Duke of Buccleuch, Captain Russell, trading between India and London, and well known as one of the Ducal liners. The Benin left Monrovia, south-west coast, on February 14th, with passengers, mails, and full cargo of palm oil, coffee, ivory, and cotton. She arrived at Havre on Saturday week, and landed passengers,, mails, and part of cargo, and left on Friday, last week, for Liverpool. According to the statement of Captain Wilkins, in an interview with the Press Association correspondent, the Benin after leaving Havre maintained an average speed of 8; knots. The weather was fine and the steamer passed within eight miles of the Caskets at 8.40 on Saturday morning. At noon he ob- served a steamer coming up astern and overhaul- ing the Benin, apparently steering the same course, at the rate of 11 knots. When the stranger, which proved to be the Duke of Buccleuch, was within three lengths Captain Wilkins believes she starboarded her helm, but too late. She suddenly edged in, striking the Benin near the starboard mizen rigging and cutting her down to the water edge, making a wide opening extending below the water. Such was the force of the collision that the Benin heeled over her gunwales, dipping under water. Three times the Duke of Buccleuch struck the Benin, and Capt. Wilkins heard the order given Full speed astern." He hailed her, crying out "We are sinking; send boats." He then hoisted a distress signal. The water rushed in rapidly, and seeing it impossible to save the vessel, the captain ordered boats out. Meanwhile the Duke of Buccleuch lay to a quarter of a mile distant. Within ten minutes of the collision there were 16 feet of water in her hold. Engineers and stokers were then called on deck, and boats, with a crew of 45, put off after the Captain, and saved the log book and some papers. The Benin was struck at 2.30, and sank before 3 p.m. Captain Wilkins says he learned the second officer was in charge of the Duke of Buccleuch at the time of the colli- sion. Captain Russell states he stopped the engines five minutes before the collision, not- withstanding the above statement. The crew were taken to Plymouth by the Duke of Buccleuch, arriving on Sunday morning, and the latter vessel proceeded for Ceylon.

TWO TRAINS DEMOLISHED. The New York papers just received oontain the following St. Louis, Mo., telegram, dated March 1:—At an early hour this morning a terrible rail- way accident, or series of accidents, occurred on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railway at a point about equally distant between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, near Macon, Mo. The first acci- dent occurred to the West-bound passenger train from Chicago, due at this point at half-past eight a.m. The train was behind time, and was running slow in consequenee of a bad track, and at a point six miles west of Macon a broken rail was encountered, and the engine, baggage car, two coaches, and one sleeper were thrown from the track and badly demolished. It was pitch dark at the time, and the cars, in leaving the rails, turned completely over. The engine fell upon the smoking car, in which were fifty-seven emigrants. It was presumed that many were killed. As quickly as possible a huge fire was built, and tele- grams sent for assistance to Brookfield, where a wrecking traiD was immediately despatched for the scene of the passenger train accident, with orders to run wild. The train consisted of a caboose, containing doctors and helpers, an engine, and one coach, and when about ten miles from Crookfield, in crossing Brusle Creek bridge, the structure gave way, and the whole train was precipitated into the creek, the engine falling on the caboose which contained the wrecking force, completely demolishing it. Every person on the train was more or less injured and several were killed. In about two hours a second wrecking train was started from Brookfield for the scene of the Brusle Creek accident, and about ten o'clock returned with the dead and wounded. There was great excitement at Brookfield. All the men on the wrecked train resided there, many of them having families. Before the train which had been sent to their assistance eft, the depot was crowded with women and children, who uttered the most heartrending and agonised sobs and when the train with the killed and wounded reached the station the scene was beyond descrip- tion. All were well known, and as one body after the other was lifted from the oars it was sur- rounded by a weeping family.

APPALLING CATASTROPHE AT AN ORPHAN ASYLUM. The New York Times of the 28th ult. publishes the following details of the disaster, which took place on the previous day at Scradon An appalling catastrophe, resulting in the deaths of seventeen children—fourteen boys and three girls —has occurred at St. Patrick's Orphan Asylum in Hyde Park. The building is situated at the corner of Jackson street and Lincoln avenue, about a mile from the centre of the city. It is occupied by a number of sisters of charity, and under their charge were forty children, whose ages ranged from six to twelve years. The boys and girls occupied separate dormitories on the third floor. At 8.30 o'clock this evening one of the sisters es- corted the children to their rooms, and locked the doors for the night. She then started to descend the stairs. When she reached T.be second story she discovered smoke issuing from one of the rooms. Opening the door, she was driven back by a cloud of smoke. Fire was raging along the ceiling and making its way to the upper floor. The sister darted up stairs and found the girls' room full of smoke. She took the girls to the lower floor, and started back to reach the boys' dormitory. The smoke was pouring into the hallway in blinding clouds, and when about half way up the stairs the sister met a stranger. She made an effort to pass him, but he refused to allow her to proceed, sa) ing that the boys had been rescued, and that it would be dangerous for her to go for them. She very reluctantly went back. An alarm, given soon after the fire was discovered, brought four fire companies. The flames were raging fiercely when the firemen got to work. They were informed of the belief among the sisters that some of the children were still in the building, and made every effort to reach the upper floor. In a short time the flames were beaten back. The door of the dormitory was forced open, and the victims of the fire were found beneath their cots. Only two of them were touched by the fire, and all had evidently been dead for some time.

The Prince of Wales and suite arrived on Satur- day afternoon in Dover, from Calais, and pro- ceeded to London. The Right Hon. H. Childers arrived at Windsor, on Saturday, and had an audience with her Majesty, afterwards dining with the Queen. The colliery dispute at New Seaham has ended. The men who had refused to work until entombed bodies were removed from the Maudlin Seam, recommenced last week. In answer to memorials on behalf of Thomas Titley, who was convicted of supplying drugs for an unlawful purpose, the Home Secretary has declined to interfere with the course of the law. On Saturday night a crowded public meeting was held at South Shields to protest against the Irish policy of the Government which was ad- dressed by Mr. O'Donnell, M.P. The usual reso lution was passed. A natural scientist observes that streams are all the while running down and yet never stop, as a clock does when it runs down; also that streams frequently run dry, although it is impossibly for ? I stream to run when it is dry.

FUNERAL OF SIR H. M. JACKSON". The funeral of Sir Henry Jackson, Bart., late member for Coventry, took place on Monday, at the Cemetery, Birkenhead. A large number of relations and friends of deceased were present, more than a hundred carriages being in the cortege.

THE CLAIMANT. Mr. Edmund Kimber wrote to the London papers on Monday morning as follows: There are some persons who imagine that the decision of the House of Lords is the last they will hear of the Tichborne case. This is not so; strong, fresh evidence, not only of the Claimant's identity, but that he is the victim of a widespread con- I spiracy, has been accumulating every week, and | will shortly be laid before the House of Commons and the country. That evidence could not be laid before the House of Lords, because such an appeal is only allowable on points of law."

A CLAIMANT TO THE HANMER ESTATES. Bettisfield Park, Whitchurch, the seat of the late Baron Hanmer, was on Saturday the scene of an extraordinary outrage. The hall is at present occu- pied by Major Sir Wvndham Edward Hanmer, Bart., brother to and heir of the late baron, who died on the 11th inst., and who is not yet interred. On Saturday afternoon, a Mr. Charles Hanmer, of Rhvl, accompanied by a number of men from the same place, obtained an entrance into the hall nnder pretence that he walt- the rightful heir to the property. Major Sir W. E. Hanmer obtained the assistance of the- Flintshire polio and, amidst the greatest excitement, the whole party were forcibly ejected and taken to the Hanmer and Overton police stations, where they were locked up. They were brought before the magistrates on Monday. Hanmer was remanded oa bail.

.4 SUICIDE BY CREMATION. 1 The details of a suicide of a novel description were made known in Flatbush, U S., on March 1, in an in- juest held by Coroner Keller, of King's County, and a jury, on the body of Philip Truschel, who shuffled off this mortal coil" by roasting himself in a furnace. The deceased, who was about eighteen years of age, was a German, and came to this country about twelve months ago. He made his way to the town of Flatbush, where he obtained employment as a labourer trom Louis Schmutz, his uncle, who is a well-to-do florist, having several large greenhouses on Clarkson street, Flatbush. Philip, who proved to be an industrious and steady work- man, gained the respect of his relative and employer. He was quiet in his demeanour, sober and exceedingly fond of reading. He rarely asked permission to leave his work in the greenhouses, preferring to pass his time in the perusal of books and papers. His knowledge of English was limited, owing to his seeming dislike to hold communica- tion with others. On Tuesday night Alfred Demensy, a labourer, who was also employed by Mr. Schmutz, remained in company with Philip reading in the upper part of one of the greenhouses until ten o'clock, when, feeling sleepy, he left and went into the adjoining structure. He tell asleep there while seated in a chair, and awoke after about an hour's rest. He then rose and went in to see Philip. The latter had disappeared, however, and, supposing that he had retired to bed for the night, the man looked down into the furnace room to see how the fire was burning. He was horrified at the sight that met his view. The lower part of the body and the legs of his companion protruded from the narrow opening—about a toot square-of the fur. naoe, the head, shoulders, arms, and upper part of the corpse being thrust into the fire. Recovering himself as soon as possible from the shock, Demeney ran down the short stairs of the furnace room, and hastily dragged the charred remains therefrom. The head was burned almost entirely from the body, the upper portion of which was rapidly undergoing the process of cremation. He immediately gave an alarm, and the local authorities and the Coroner were notified. In the greenhouse near by the seat that deceased had occupied when last seen alive by his fellow labourer was found a card upon which was scribbled with lead pencil, in the German language, the following:— "Flatbush, March 1, 1881. Goodbye all. If any one is tired of life be need only do as I am about to do. PHILIP TRUSCHEL." The writing was fully identified by the uncle ot the suicide, as well as by Deruensy, as being that of Truschel. On the inquest Demensy testified: —• Deceased often said if he had a revolver he would shoot himself, or he would hang himself." Mr. Schmutz said: Sometimes Philip said he would shoot himself, but I always thought he was only fooling." The Jury rendered the following verdict:—" We find that Philip Truschel, the deceased, came to his death by severe burns received by creeping into a burning furnace with the intention of destroying himself."

The Navy Department of the United Statea have decided to purchase the whaling steamer Mary and Helen, to search for the Polar exploring vessel Jeannette. The Government will contri- bute 100,000 dols. towards the expenses of the expedition. II A shocking accident occurred last week to a young man named Ingham who resided at Stack- l steads. He was engaged at his work at Messrs. Hays' quarries, and whilst winding up a heavy stone let the handle slip. Whirling round with terrible force, the handle struck him violently on the head, inflicting serious injuries. lie was re- moved home, but died on Saturday night from the injuries he received. EXTRAORDINARY SUICIDE. An extraordinary suicide occurred at Bucknall, Hanley early on Sunday morning. A married woman, named Ball, who had been ill, left her bed in the ahsenoe of her husband, and, going to a pool of water some distance from home, tied two bricks round her neck and plunged into the water. The dead body was subsequently found. Before leaving home the deceased left a note in which she bequeathed a pair of earrings to a friend, and a silver watch to her Dowly-born baby. A MAN DECAPITATED.—On Monday morning, a man, unknown, was found dead on the railway about 200 yards south of Wavertree Station, Liver- pool. He was lying across the four-foot of the down line, his head completely severed from his body, and lying on the outer side of the rail. De- ceased was apparently about thirty years of age, height about eight feet eight or nine inches, thin face, whiskers and moustache, dark brown hair, dressed in a suit of dark tweed clothes and long single-breasted dark-ribbed cloth overcoat. AMUSING INCIDENT AT A WEDDING.—An amusing spectacle, says a Birmingham contemporary, wae witnessed at a Bloomsbury church the other morning. A young couple had repaired smilingly to the hymeneal altar, accompanied by a host of friends, when on entering the vestry to procure the certificate the bridegroom, to his dismay, sould not find his money. Embarrassed and blushing, the hapless youth-he was not more than eighteen—fumbled in his pookets for several minutes to no purpose; but at length the missing coin was discovered far down in the lining of his inexpressibles, where to lay hands npon it would involve no slight skill and cunning. The difficulty was got over by some of his friendL4 turning him completely upside down and shaking the money from him on to the floor. The spectacle of a bridegroom in this ignominious position of course had its pathetic side, but the ludicrousness of the situation exercised a greater effect on the feelings of the wedding party, who, including the clergy- man, gave themselves up to immoderate laughter. THE DEEPEST COAL PIT IN BRITAIN.—After six years of patient toil, involving a deeper descent into the bowels of the earth than has yet been reached by any similar effort, the Ashton Moss Colliery Company have, within the past few days, achieved the object of their desire, namely, the proving of valuable coal beds upon an unworked part of Ashton Moss. In 1874 the company com- menced sinking operations with the view of find- ing the four-feet mine, which was being worked in othei parts of the coalfield. At a depth of 450 yards the mine was proved, and several headings were driven by way of testing the bed, which, how- ever, was found to be not of sufficient thickness to be workable. The proprietors did not build their hopes upon this mine, and nothing despairing, made preparations for sinking a shaft 250 vards deeper- in all 700 yards. This depth, greater than that of the Astley Deep Pit, having been reached, and not having overtaken any coal of a workable cha- racter, the engineers directed that borings should be taken, the results of which were such that orders were given to sink further. The consum- mation of all this labour, perseverance, and ex- pense was witnessed last Saturday, when, just six years after the ground was first broken, the workers touched the Great Mine, a seam of coal 6ft. thick, and lying at a depth of 895 yards from the surface, or 897 yards including the seam itself. At a. depth of 950 yards lies the Roger Mine, 4ft. thick, and below this are supposed to exist several workable seams of coal, including the Black Mine and the Cannel Mine. The field that can be worked by the company is about 2000 acres in extent, and when working operations have fairly begun-which is expected to be in six months— the mines are calculated to yield from 1500 to 2000 tons per day. 4