The Tenby Observer Weekly List of Visitors and Directory

» SELLING RAGES. Another measure of turf reform is about to be brought before the Jockey Club. Colonel Forester (whose recent motion respecting the running of two-year-olds before the 1st of May was carried) has giving notice that he will propose "that optional selling races be discontinued at all meetings that are subject to the established rules of racing." The races referred to are those where the horses are entered to be sold at various prices, with pro- portionate allowances in the weights, and the intent of Colonel Forester's motion is obviously to limit the number of minor' meetings by preventing race com- mittees from participating in the proceeds of the sale of winners by auction. In a selling race, under the Newmarket rules, all the horses are liable to be claimed for a specific sum, and the owner of the second has the first claim of the winner; at the same time, beaten horses may be 'claimed for the selling price and the amount of the stake. Selling races by auction were in- stituted with the covert object of preventing friendly claims, but there is no doubt they have been very much abused, and that they form far too prominent a feature at many race meetings. Should Colonel Forester's motion be carried, the new rule will come into operation on the 1st of October..

SURGERY BY LIGHTNING. A boy of 12, belonging to Korsk (Western Russia), who used to walk with a crutch, on account of anchylosis of the right knee, was on horseback in the fields when he was overtaken by a violent storm. After a severe clap of thunder the horse ran away, and the boy, completely stunned, fell to the ground. When his senses returned, and he tried to rise, he found that his right leg was gone. His uncle, who had ridden by his side, and his own horse, had disappeared. The poor boy, at first somewhat collapsed, fell asleep. His companion, how- ever, at last returned after having secured the horse, and on examining his nephew he observed that the right leg was entirely wanting. The patient's shirt and clothes were in shreds, and burned along the seams, and on the body were many scars. The boy was conveyed to the village in a cart, suffering severely in the stump, and much alarmed at the hemorrhage, which, hewever, soon stopped. A few days afterwards Dr. Rogowitch found a regular wound as usually made by the amputating knife, surrounded with granulations, and presenting in the centre a few gangrenous spots. The division had been effected by lightning, through the superior ex- tremity of the tibia, the patella and femur being intact. The- healing of this wound was very rapid, and by the use of ordinary means. The severed leg was found on the grass several days after the accident, just where the boy had been' thrown from his horse. It was quite dried up, and emitted no smell, the tibia being quite Ma.cl% aad stripped half down the leg. These facts are mentionedin the "Berl. Klin. Woch., No. 21,1868," and guaranteed by Dr. Sycvanko.-Lancet.

—————<-————— THE Temps gives a report of the trial of two persons for taking part in the late disturbances in Paris. One was a house-painter and the other a professor at the Lycee Bonaparte. The first spoke in very strong terms of the conduct of, the police. He said they struck out at everybody in the most ruffianly manner that they were savages and brutes; and that he did not care if he were sent to Cayenne. 0 wing to his violent language he was removed. from the court. The other said he was irritated by the brutality of the police, and by their impertinent manner towards him, and that he might have made use of some incoherent words, but did not think ho had, as alleged, said anything seditious. Both prisoners were sentenced to three months' imprisonment and 16f. fine.

A NEW SENSATION. The following interesting memoranda are furnished to the San Francisco Call by Captain Nickerson, of the ship National Eagle, which arrived at San Francisco from Hong Kong, having made the run in forty-four days—a very excellent passage:- May 6th (seventeen days out).-This day was very moderate, with the wind from north-west, and fine weather. At half-past four a.m. made Smith Island- one of the group of islands south of the Yeddo Gulf, Japan, which is in latitude 31 deg. 18 min. north, longitude 139 deg. 50 min, east. At the time we saw a very large column of smoke rising out of the wa':er, about half a point to northward of the island. Upon nearing it, found it to be a volcano, and also that there was an island—consisting of a mass of rocks about fifty feet high, and extending north- east and north-west—rising out of the water. There was also a streak of muddy water, about a mile wide, extending about five miles northwest from the newly-formed island. This island bears north by east, one-half east, and is five miles distant from Smith Island. We passed about midway between the two islands, and when abreast of the volcano could hear it roar fearfully. It was sending up a dense mass of smoke and steam, which apparently attained about the height of 1,000 feet. The rocks must have been very hot, for when the surf rolled in upon them, a heavy column of steam would rise up above them, and was ac companied with a fearful hissing sound. We could also see steam and smoke rising from a reef about a quarter of a mile north-west from the island. Had it not been that we were so near Smith Island, we would have sent a boat and sounded but the position of that island being correct on the chart, it was hardly necessary to do so. I

CONVICT PRISONS IN IRELAND. The directors of the convict prisons (Ireland) have just published their annual report for the year 1868. They report that the system of Irish convict manage- agement has worked in a very satisfactory manner. A table is given of the number of convicts since the year 1854, from which it appears that the number in custody in Government prisons on the 1st of January, 1854, was 3,933 the number on the 1st of January, 1868, was 1,335; the number convicted in 1854 was 710; in 1868, 246 and the number discharged in 1854,658 in 1868, 245. The Roman Catholic Refuge at Gulden Bridge, into which the well conducted female convicts are drafted, has been worked during the past year in a very satisfactory manner and the directors have reason to believe that the Refuge for Protestant Convicts at Heytesbury-street is worthy of commendation. The former establishment received 712 female convicts be- tween the years 1856 and 1868; of these 219 emi- grated, 121 returned to their husbands, and 157 returned to their parents. The refuge at Hey tesbury-street received, between 1860 and 1868, 89 female convicts, of whom 8 emigrated, 10 returned To uttetr irastjaneis, and 28 returned to their parents. The number of prisoners in the Mountjoy prison, under the Habeas Corpus Sus- pension Act, in the year 1868, was 140, of whom 112 were discharged and 28 were removed to county and city gaols.

DEATH THROUGH TOOTH EXTRACTION.-An inquest was held at Whitefield last week on the body of a youth named William Hilton, aged 14. Deceased went to the surgery of Dr. Birnie to have two teeth ex- tracted, and immediately after the operation had been performed he fell back in a fit of epilepsy, from the shock to the system. Every means possible was used to restore him, but in vain. Dr. Birnie did not know the name of deceased, and it was seven hours before his parents were communicated with. Verdict, Accidental death." HIGHLAND HAPPINESS.—The proprietor of a menagerie, by means of an advertisement, makes known his requirements — Wanted, four good bagpipe players, to make up seven, in band, and dress respectably in Scotch costume. Sobriety in- dispensable. Salary, 30f. per week. Address, &c." "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast." Sir Walter Scott, in one of his novels, gives expression to the height of a Highlander's happiness-twenty-four bagpipe players assembled together in a small room, all playing at the same time different tunes! SIR W. BOWLHS, K.C.B., Admiral of the Fleet, died on Friday morning in the 80th year of his age. Seventy-three years ago he entered the navy, and in 1807, two years after Nelson fell at Trafalgar, he became a captain. Having been long employed afloat, he was nominated an extra aide-de-camp to William IV. The gallant officer long occupied a seat at the Board of Admiralty, and for eight years represented the borough of Launceston in Parliament. By his death Sir G. R. Sartorius becomes Admiral of the Fleet, and some valuable naval patronage falls to the disposal Qf Mr. Childers. GENERAL TOM THUMB'S MARRIAGE was decidedly premature. Had he but waited a few years he might have found his match in the elf like dimensions of Princess Felicie, received on Thursday by the Empress at the Tuileries, through the mediation of Princess Metternich, to whom the fairy was presented by Nadar, the photographer, and M. Jubinal, deputy of the majority. Princess Felicie walks erect beneath the outstretched arms of a child of two, yet the lady has attained the advanced age of six. Her parents are peasants of Province, her brothers are stout and well- grown labourers. To attire Princess Felicie for her audience with the Empress, a doll's dressmaker was sent for, and amongst her stores were found a muslin frock, a sash of blue, and a plumed hat, which exactly fitted her Liliputian form,

A DANGER TO HUSBANDS IN SCOTLAND. This was a case in which the pursuer sued the de- fender, her husband, for aliment for herself and children on the ground that he had deserted her. Having sworn that her husband was about to leave the kingdom of Scotland, he was apprehended and lodged in gaol, where he now is under a meditatione Jugee warrant. Parties were heard in the action for aliment on Thursday, before Sheriff Smith. Mr. Paul appeared for the defender, and pleaded that his client had the misfartune of being ill- mated, and in consequence he and his wife felt it more congenial to break the marriage bonds and live apart. For the last seven months he had regularly paid his wife 5s. per week but, having taken it into her head that her husband was likely to go abroad, she, with a wife's affection, put him in prison, and, instead of him now alimenting her, she was alimenting him at the rate of la. per day-the husband living besides rent free, and with- out any work to do. He further stated that his client was ready to perform his marriage vow, and invited his wife to come and live with him and share his meals, which he held was a legal offer, and one which, if refused, must end the case. The defendant's home at present was, no doubt, the gaol, but it was a residence selected by his wife, and she might consider whether she would go there and share his solitude, or whether it would not be better to open the gates and share with him his freedom. If this offer was not accepted, the defender would rather continue paying aliment at the rate of 5s. a week than live with a wife who had de- prived him, as women would do, of one's liberty. The sheriff suggested that the money tender should be ac- cepted, and Mr. M'Donald, the pursuer's agent, having accordingly accepted it, theuherifl pronounced decree in terms of the offer. Meantime the husband remains in gaol, his wife paying him for so doing Is. per day, being 2s. a week more than he paid her, which, in a pecuniary point of view, turns out rather a profitable speculation for the incarcerated husband.-Dundee Advertiser.

REAPING. Certain agronomists are of opinion that there is a great advantage in reaping corn before its complete maturity, when the grain is still in a milky state, because then it is more yellow, larger, and heavier, and does not so easily fall out of the ear during harvest operations: moreover, the straw is then better for cattle. M. Isidore Pierre, professor of chemistry at Caen, en- deavoured last year, to ascertain by direct experiment whether there was any sufficient foundation for this belief. He accordingly cut from the same field a certain quantity of ears on the 6th, 11th, 15th, 20th, and 25th of July, each time operating on equal sur- faces of ground. The grain gathered on the 6th was in a state of rapid increase, while that of the 25th was perfectly ripe, and in course of reaping that very day. The result was, that in a state of perfect dryness the first lot was to the second as fifteen to twenty-seven, the other lots being, of course, intor:m.odill.te between the two. Taking the hectare as the unit of surface, M. Isidore Pierre arrives at this conclusion-that, during the three weeks pre- ceding the harvest, a crop of wheat will experience an average daily increase of one hectolitre, the weight of the latter being eighty-one kilog. Hence, for every day corn is reaped earlier than the full period of maturity, there is a loss represented by a 20-franc piece or thereabouts per hectare. Chemically considered, the grain that has not arrived at full maturity contains less nitrogen and more phosphoric acid than when ripe that is, it will be poorer in amylaceous matter and in gluten. It may therefore be admitted that if, as indeed is the case, a certain loss is experienced by the falling out of the grain from the ears in reaping corn arrived at maturity, this is amply compensated by an increase of weight and nutritious matter.-Galignani. 0

A NEW POLITICAL PARTY called the Leffc Centre, already numbering fifty members, has been formed in the French Chamber. It held its first meeting on Wednesday night, and drew up a question which in to be put to Government, asking whether it Is prepared to allow the Corps Legislatif to take a more effective part than hitherto in the direction of public affairs. Two members objected to the term more," as implying that the Chamber had already exercised an efficacious control, and refused to sign. BURNT TO DEATH.—Mr. Wigmore, deputy- coroner for the East Riding, held an inquiry at Norton, touching the death of Mrs. Mary Ann Layborn, a mar- ried woman, who died on the previous day. It seems the deceased was engaged in the preparation of dinner, weaiing a new and stiff print dress. This got ignited, and almost immediately enveloped the poor woman in flames. She ran blazing into the street, and before the fire could be put out was nearly roasted, the flesh being burnt an inch deep in parts. Verdict of "Accidental death." SUICIDE WITH CARBOLIC ACID.-An inquest was recently held at the Bull's Head, Vere-stre6t, Clare- market, on the body of Thomas May, aged 47. The widow of the deceased said that about two years ago her husband had been employed as foreman over the lamp- lighters of the London Gas Works, but had been dis- charged through inattention to his duties. Since then he had taken to drink, and had frequently threatened to murder her and kill himself. On Tuesday evening she found the deceased lying on his bed in a senseless state. A jug was on the table containing a dark liquid. Mr. John Foster Williams, M.R.C.S-, said that death had been caused by carbolic acid, which the deceased had mixed with some beer, and it was further proved that the deceased had taken a bottle of the acid from the shop of a chemist whose windows he had been engaged to clean earlier in the day. The jury returned a verdict of Temporary insanity."