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FROI CITY CORRESPONDENTS.

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FROI CITY CORRESPONDENTS. Air obwsre journal published in London, known < 4o a, limited circle of renders, came out the other morning with an annouikcemenfc that the Govern- §«nt were prepared to found and endow an Irish Htholie University. Some of the evening pajier* h*Ve Seized apon this tasty morsel of news, and reproduced it and circulated it with the <a<jhtance of flaming placatch. Mr. Spith has questioned on the subject in the Houee of Commons, and gave a brief categorical answer which disposes of the fable. rTH* importance qf the subject of our tiaHonal defences engaged the attention of the Coinn»*ndcr- in-Chief and the IfeadcpiBrtere Staff of the Avmy at the War Office th<j jfttliei* afternoon, Lord V'olseley, Sir Red vers Buller, and other distinguislted officers being present. The proceeding^1 were jiivate, but {( is understood that imiTi«dn&e |Vro|»oa*l8 aro to be < Aabmittcd to Parliament for placing the First and Second Army Corps iio of I gi wfcr footing, and that the new magazine rifled to beftsaed to all the regular troops. It Waa d&Med to appoint • cotn- tjnittee, presided over !by £ aii exjierienced officer of high rank in the Royal ltf#irieer £ to Consider anew tft'4 subject dt the etoroSrabsolutely necessary for an army corps otimofolHsatio*, to What extent they are ready for and to settle the exact quantities fequ used. '') lb. SJUTB baa. surrendered on the question of pressing forward tl*f wheel and van tax before the Whitaua redeas. It was arranged that the second reeding should be taken immediately, but this proposal was so wannly resisted by members on both sides of -the Howe, that to insist upon ib would only Man waste o^time and an aggravation of the situation. Now tig? bill standi over till the House resumes after WhMgiiiitide, and Mr. Causton and his friends are greatly encouraged to believe that it will finally be abandoned. That seems impossible without a generff). reconstruction of this unlucky Budget, which has-filready been whittled Away in a manner greatly mptressing to Mr. Gos- chen. The Chancellor of tfl.9 Exchequer privately 11 declares himself. at the end of his tether of conces- tion. If he yields any me of his estimated revenue, he will find himself with a deficit instead ot a surplus. His way of ing at it is being atrongly pressed upon the attention of Ministerial supporters, and I fancy the result will be that the Sill will bf forced through. IT is rather early in the season to start a national daager scare, as our periodical frights over the possibility of being annexed by one or other of our Continental neighbours are generally reserved for the autumn. Still "copy eeema to be running short in certain. quarters, and we are invited to contemplate the cheerful prospect of haying to <meet a foreign foe with an Army which is not in fighting form and a Navy whici) will go t6 the bottom in the firstshockof an engagement. So, at least, the alarmists wish to t^ake us believe. Complaints to this pffeet h»vebeeu of regular oc- currence ever since we had an Army and a Navy. They always help to give the government of the day a good excuse Tor imposing fresh burdens upon the patient taxpayer. Somehow or other the more we aM called-apon to pay for our national armamentshe more defenceless we become. This is the legitimate inference to be drawn from the Outcries periodically fatsed about the inadequacy and incompetence of our naval and military forces. Fortunately, Mr. Stanhope does not seem inclined to: be scared. So far as home defences are con- cerned any changes needed to make us reasonably secure may be effected without any increase in the enormous sum annually voted for armaments. Much of this money is undoubtedly Wasted, but it is some little consolation to find from the first Report of the Committee on the Army Estimates, just issued, that there is a prospect of a tetter ecomony being observed. ALTHOUGH processions that are disconnected with the State must always be deprecated when they take place in the thoroughfares of so vast a capital as London, there are occasions when they may have some claim to be tolerated. It seems to me that the case which gave rise to certain pro- ceedings in one of the police-courts was one of them. A funeral procession which at the onset one day numbered about six hundred persons, was swollen to a thousand as it made its way along, and in spite of the 11 marelials to prevent an obstruction to the traffic, it is pretty plain that 'a considerable obstruction did take place, though whether to the extent asserted in the course of hearing the case I shall not attempt to decide. No doubt; interrup- tion of tramway traffic in a district fur "about two hours" is a serious inconvenience to the general public, and if it were of frequent occurrence through gatherings of temperenceor other societies in the streets, it is obvious that steps would have to be taken to put an end to such proceedings. It is pretty generally recognised thab displays of this cort must be sparingly indulged in, or they would own become intolerable, and for more than one reason. In London wherever there is a large crowd there are sure to be several pick-pockets at work. The South London Tramway Company, in sum. moning Mr. John Small, one of the marshals" of 4he very long funeral train alluded to, evidently wished to obtain a decision as to the legality of such obstructions to their traffic. Mr. Montagu Williams decided that the tramway company had no case, and while recognising the propriety of such afprocession all the one in question, pointed oub that "Englishmen were jealous of their rights." That statement, however, may be applied in two different ways. The learned magistrate sees in ib an argument in supporb of long processions to express what is really a sentiment, but which ho describes as a case of "exigency and emergency." On the other hand, I may remark that among the rights which Englishmen desire to retain is the right of way along our thoroughfares without unnecessary destructions by crowds of people. A DBPUTATION of traders that interviewed the Postmaster-General with reference to the Sam- pie Posb regulations, desired the removal of A grievance which is one of irritation rather than of substance. The grievanc as stated by Mr. Montagu, consists in the fact that the postage for returned samples is larger than that for sending them, the result being thab, as customers do not distinguish between their own rights and the pri- vileges of the shopkeepers, the latter have often to pay a fine whe the samples are returned. The regulations provide, indeed, that if the postage is deficient, double the amount of the deficiency will be charged, together with a specific fine of six pence. It happens, consequently, that through the fault of their customers in not sufficiently pre- paying the amount of postage, the shopkeepers are frequently charged what is comparatively a considerable sum on letters received. The depu- tation asked the Postmaster-General to provide a remedy for this anomaly; and Mr. Raikes lent a more sympathetic ear to their complaints than might have been expected. Concessions which are eminently desirable are often found imprac- ticable because of the difficulties which appear from a revenue point of view, and Mr. Raikes re- ferred to these difficulties when replying to the deputation. There are many ways in which the departmenb would be able to benefit the public more than ab presenb if it were not for the fact that the Chancellor of the Exchequer wants his millions from St. Martin's-le-Grand. If the original idea of making the Post Office simply self-sup- porting were carried oub, numerous concessions could be obtained from the Posb Office without difficulty; but under existing circumstances the Postmaster-General is obliged to consider very carefully how any suggested change will affect the revenue. Mr. Raikes did not admit that the regulation complained of is altogether unfair, for he thinks thab there is no particular grievance in the refusal to customers of the same postal privi- leges as are accorded to shopkeepers but he does nob justify the sixpenny fine, and this will doubt. less disappear. He also suggested a method whereby the other grievance may be mitigated if Dot removed albogether; and the trading com- munity cannot fail to be convinced that the Post- master-General will do what he can to make the regulations conducive to lthe public convenience and accord with the principles of justice.

[No title]

EXTRAORDINARY FATALITY. i

GALLANTRY AND LOSS OF TWO…

GREAT CRVELTY Tp A GIRL.

THE HASTINGS MYSTERY.I

SUICIDE OF AN OCTOGENARIAN.

THE LEA MYSTERY.

A WELSH TK^HIEDY;

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

[No title]

POKTYPKIDD LOCAL BOARD.

FIRE AT IH'ABERDAREZFODHDRT.…

EXTRAORDINARY ARDENT AT MERTHYR…

!THE NEW DOWLAISJ COALFIELD.

RHONDDi, GILFACH, OGMORE,…

MINERS' BETINGil JIT CAERPHILLY…

THE JUBILEE YEAR

WIT AND HUMOUR