The Brecon County Times Neath Gazette and General Advertiser for the Counties of Brecon Carmarthen Radnor Monmouth Glamorgan Cardigan Montgomery Hereford

BALAAM AND THE" T- [ME, S. There is an old story that the sword of Balaam used to be exhibited at the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. If the visitor objected that Balaam is reported not to have had a sword, but only to have said, I would there were a sword in my hand," the attendant promptly replied, 11 This, then, sir, is the sword he wished for." We suppose it was on this principle that the Times, in giving a verbatim oopy of the Queen's reply to the address at Blackfriars-bridge on Saturday, adds the worol Cheers," though the next line )f the report informs us that both the address and the reply were "taken as read." The cheers mentioned were doubtless those which her Majesty's loyal sub- jects might, could, would, or should have given if she had read her address. Does this incident confirm a suspicion which some people entertain that certain journals, in their reports of speeches, distribute "cheers" and cries of "Oh! oh!" at their own 3weet will, rather than in accordance with facts.— Echo.

TERRIFIC EXPLOSION: TWELVE VICTIMS OF A BAD BOILER. On Wednesday afternoon great excitement was occasioned in the town of Sheerness consequent upon the explosion of a boiler on board her Majesty's gun- boat Thistle, killing several men. The Thistle was commissioned last week by Commander Blomfield, for service on the south-east coast of Africa. The boilers were new. The final trial of the engines of the vessel was fixed for Wednesday. There were in the engine- room four engineers, three engineer students, 0 and some fitters from the dockyard factory, and in the stokehole the usual number of stokers. On arriving at the measured mile off Maplin Sands, everything went satisfactorily, and the condensing portion of the trial was completed. The high-pressure system was then taken in hand, and two satisfactory runs were made upon the measured mile, and, as the vessel was just starting upon the third mile, the engine-room and stokehole were suddenly filled with steam. No noise was heard upon the deck, and every one was ignorant of the dreadful accident which had occurred below until the survivors crawled to the upper deck. After some confusion, discipline was restored, and men went down into the engine-room and stokehole. The mutilated remains of two gentlemen, whose uniforms showed they were engineers, lay near the indicators, while close by were two more engineer officers, who lay dead, with scarcely any disfigurement to their features. Close at hand were two engineer students, whose skins had been scalded from their bodies, one engine fitter who was dead, and other injured persons. In the stokehole two stokers were found lying dead. A private steam-tug took the bodies on shore, as well as the wounded. The names of the men who were brought on shore dead are—Mr. William H. Roberts, engineer in charge; Messrs. Edmund C. Scarrer, John Smithers, and Joseph Knight, engineers John Daer, dockyard fitter; John Timson, George Russell, and Joseph Lawrence, stokers. The first notice that the men in the engine-room had of the catastrophe was seeing a flash of light issuing from the stokehole, and immediately the room was filled with steam. Edgar, one of the survivors, states that he sprang for the ladder, and managed to reach the deck, where he fainted away. He is the only per- son who was in the engine-room that has escaped. Daer, one of the deceased men, assisted another to the deck, but had scarcely reached it when he fell down dead. Since Wednesday evening Eobertson, leading stoker, died from the severe scalds; Joshua Ander- son, student, succumbed to his injuries, as did George Whalebone, and Edward Mason died in fearful agonies shortly after being conveyed to the hospital. This makes a total of twelve dead. It is supposed that the cause of the accident was a crack in the boiler, allowing the steam to escape in full force through the stokehole into the engine-room.

A HOUSE-SURGEON'S DOG. The recent dismissal of Dr. Mayo, the house- physician at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, by the committee, was rendered possible by his refusing to attend that body when called upon to do so. The power thus exercised was probably secured to the committee' by the rules under which house-physicians were first appointed, the office being one of very modern creation. The same power did not originally exist in the case of the house-surgeons; and its origin dates from a quarrel between a house-surgeon and the treasurer about a dog. The house-surgeon who possessed the dog was in occupation of his official chamber. The treasurer came there, and ordered that the dog should be sent away. The house- surgeon refused compliance. The treasurer in- sisted, and used the language of a man having authority. The owner of the dog rejoined that he was Mr. Lawrence's house-surgeon, and was in his own private room. He had not the pleasure of the treasurer's acquaintance, had not invited him, and desired him to withdraw speedily-threatening, in case of any delay, the instant application of pedal propulsion to the rear of his sacred person. The interview terminated, whether with or without violence we never certainly heard. But the com- mittee thereupon ordered that every future house- surgeon should receive from them the sum of .£25, so as to become their paid officer, and subject to their control. When the change came into opera- tion, dogs were prohibited; and the house-surgeons now pay twenty-five guineas with one hand, and receive back from the committee twenty-five pounds with the other.-Lancet.

« TlIiE DEATH OF LORD WESTMINSTER places another Garter at the disposal of Mr, Gladstone* Two, are, now vacant. THE LONG AND SnORT OF IT.—His Honour to two, bald Goths (after thinking the matter over): "So they drugged you, and then shaved your heads ? Hum! Ah! I'm can't make a case of it, though. You see, thereK3 nothing to lay hold of. Judy. '.ltmE:'RE WAS A VEEIVHIGH TIDE in, the. Thames on Wednesday afternoon, when th0 river, rose more thea three feet abc-va high wAAier mark. This was 18 iaohes higher thax,,tile flow, of the tide in the first w.ook of OOFCOB<&»J, when scoh, extensive, preparations vvwe made to t the damage anticipated froca the Is. great tidal wave; of course, fottftd the water- pbpulrøll. unpep,ed.t iftjtfry to pro- |PERTF WM rji'lnolii vta i-

FACTS AND FACETIJE. —♦— A SUITE of apartments was advertised at a 'fashionable watering-place as having among its at. tractions a splendid view over a fine garden adorned with numerous sculptures, It was found, on applying at the address, that the garden adorned with sculptures was a cemetery. AN anecdote is told of Frederick the Great, that just before the battle of Bosbach he said to one of his generals, who was on very intimate terms with him, If I lose the battle, I shall retire to Venice, and there practise physic." "Ah," replied the general, "always a murderer, always a murderer." THEODORE HooK once dined with Mr. Hatchet. "Ah! my dear fellow," said his host, deprecatingly, I am sorry to say you will not get to-day such a dinner as our friend Tom Moore gavie us." "Certainly not," replied Hook, "from a Hatchet one can expect nothing but a chop." A CHILD on being shown the picture of "Daniel in the Lion's Den" was affected to tears. Don't grieve, pet," said the mother, he was not devoured." "I'm not crying for that," was the reply "but do you see that little lion in the corner, mamma ? Well, I'm afraid he won't get any, for Daniel is so small he won't go round." THE way "people" get acquainted in the evening in the vicinity of the religious camp ground at Martha's Vineyard (which is now occupied by tholisands of worshippers) is thus described Good evening," says the owner of a cigar. Ah oh I" a titter, a blush, a few more exclamation points, and then appears the cambric flag of truce and the sur- render; the preface is over. "My arm?" Oh, 310 but she takes it, and they walk the sea-beat shore. They soon discover that they are cousins. The breeze is chill," and his shawl enfolds them both, and so they disappear in the distance. WAGGERIES OF THE VOTE-MARKET.—If the 'venal electors of Norwich, Bridgwater, or other borough or electoral district infamous for bribery, were asked what they had to say for themselves, they would perhaps have the impudence to plead loyalty, shown in their attachment to the Sovereign. The obvious answer to this excuse is, that none of them would vote for the Sovereign.if they could sell their votes for paper money.-Punch.

LITERATURE AND THE ARTS. M. GUIZOT'S concluding series of Meditations, entitled 11 Christianity, in its Relation to the Present State of Society and of Opinion," will be published by Mr. Murray. A BOOK illustrative of the character and personal history of the Wesleys, by the Rev. J. B. Wakeley, is nearly ready. THE veteran Mrs. Ellis, who began in a past generation to reform The Women of England," in a work so called, has begun her task again, in a work to be called The Education of the Heart." ME. W. S. TRENCH, whose "Realities of Irish Life gave him a place in literature, is about to turn from Reality to Romance. His leme: or, the Sacred Isle," will have illustrations by the Irish artist, Mr. A. Hayes. THE Man in the Iron Mask continues to occupy literary searchers into mysteries. M. Marius Topin has come to the conclusion that De Lauzun was that man. He had asked Madame de Montespan to obtain some favour for him from the king; but he overheard her counsel the king not to grant it. On her assuring De Lauzun that she had warmly sup- ported him, he called her a liar, and was suddenly cast into the dungeon at Pignerol, and kept there till his death. This theory, we think, has been maintained before. WHILE American journalistic literature in the South has its newspapers edited by negroes, for negroes, no less a person than the Emperor of China supervises the Pekin Gazette-of which copies appear, modified as to spirit and contents, according to the class of readers among whom it circulates. Even then, it is little else than an official record. MR. CHARLES DICKENS is engaged on a new story. The work will come out in the old serial form—the first part to appear in March. THE female education movement has been so slow in India that we were unprepared for a full-grown authoress, A Bengalee lady, already known to local fame: Kailasibasini Dubi, has now produced a new work in prose and verse—"Vishnu Shobha," com- prising tender effusions on the bea,uty of the creation and the mercy of the Creator." MRS. BEECHER STOWE is engaged in writing a book on the Byron affair, reviewing the entire married lives of Lord and Lady Byron. Any profits derived from her share in this controversy she has dedicated to the Freedmen's School. MR. FROUDE has completed his great historical work while residing this summer in the south of Ireland. The concluding volume will be shortly published. The history closes with the defeat of the armada. THE Members of Parliament for the University of Cambridge have expressed a wish to change their four annual prizes of £ 15 15s. each to two of £ 31 10s. each; one for an English essay on some subject con- nected with British history or literature, and the other for a Latin essay. Mr. THEED has just finished in marble a hand- some terminal bust of the late Lord Derby. It is the last bust portrait for which he ever sat, having been commenced during his lordship's last tenure of > office. A NEW monthly periodical, The Artisans' Magazine, edited by the Rey. H. Solly, may be expected to appear shortly. THEATRICAL SUMIIARY, -The London theatres are now all open, and all, with only one or two excep- tions, present some new and attractive feature. At Drury-lane Formosa still holds its sway, and the abuse which was showered on it having passed away, the public still throng the old house nightly. What- ever may be said as to the morality of the piece, it cannot be denied that the acting and the scenery are all of the highest character. The Hay- market company presents as its chief attraction New Men and old Acres, which has been previously played in the provinces, although it is a novelty to London. Mr. Buckstone, as usual, fills his part with his well- known aptitude, while Miss Sobertson, as the heroine, is really superb. At the Holborn Mr. Barry Sullivan continues his revi val of the Gamester, which has been found to pay so well that the Lady of Lyons has been postponed. The Turn of the Tide has reached its 140 th night at the Queen's Theatre, and beyond this can require no further praise. The Gaiety still con- tinues A Life Chase,with Miss Neilson in the principal oharacter, while Mr. Allerton has brought out a new piece at the Lyceum, entitled Forbidden Fruit, which is said to be well worth a visit. The Strand has a ne w burlesque, Ino; and 8ehoolis still kept at the Prince of Wales's. The other theatres, especially the St. James's and the Charing-cross, are doing well, the latter having Mr. Wybert Reeve as the main support.

TWO JIE-LV BURIED ALIVE. A sad affair took place at Newcastle on Tuesday, by which one man lost his life and another received •■were, if not fatal, injuries, A Primitive Methodist • ^apel was in course of erection on the north side of Cambridge-street and at the junction of that thorough- fare with Maple-street. Considerable progress had been made with the building. The side walls, of con- siderable thickness, and composed of rubble, were built up to the required height; the east gable was but completed, as was also the west gable, which rose 20 feet above the side walls. Everything con- nected with the building had progressed thus far in & satisfactory manner till Monday morning. A strong aorth-west wind had been blowing all night, and about half-past six o'clock about ten feet of the west gable, rfhich was exposed to the fury of the blast, fell with a audden crash into the interior of the building, carry- ing away a portion of the joists and a large Derrick urane. At this time two masons, named respectively Wm. Young, a married man, wiih no family, residing in Gateshead, and Wm. Hogarth, who had only re- cently come from Wooler, were in the act of getting their tools. These were kept in the cellars, and while one of the men waa in the act of opening the door the gable fell* burying them in the falling* debris. Their comrades went promptly to their assistance, and after working for about an hour they came upon Hogarth, who was found to be dead, his body being frightfully bruised. Young was soon afterwards got H6 was found to be alive, but suffering from severe injuries. Both his legs were fractured, and he aild received severe cuts on the head and face.

AGRICULTURE. AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS-. — The week opened foggy and threatening, but no- rain. Monday morn- ing was fine, though the day proved thick and hazy. West Riding of Yorkshire: The weather has been changeable, without much rain; but has since been milder, with a change of wrod to the west, and occasionally a fresh breeze and cloudy sky. There is more complaint of the potato crop, and turnips vary materially, some being very poor, while the land is cleared for wheat sowing." East Coast: The weather in the early part of the week was cold and boisterous, with a good downfall of snow. Since then it has become mild, and farmers will now be enabled to com- plete autumn sowing. Thus far seed-time has pro- ceeded under most favourable auspices, and it rs much to be desired that the same may continue until its termination." Suffolk: "We have had a considerable fall of snow, with intensely cold and violent gales of wind from the north-west." Norfolk "The weather is still unsettled. Wheat-sowing coutinues, and a good deal of this work has now been accomplished, mostly in fine order." Lincoln- shire Barring a few frosty nights now and then, the weather holds on very fine, but remarkably dry; in fact, in some cases too dry for wheat-sowing, which is a very unusual circumstance at this time of the year. A wet turn must soon be looked for, but the bulk of the wheat is already sown. Both barley and wheat are found to turn out very indifferently, and the quality of the barley is by no means so satis- factory." Farmers are not thrashing wheat freely, and the deliveries for a few weeks may be very moderate.. There is no life in the trade to encourage them, while the deliveries of barley are still on the increase, and are much larger for this week than of wheat.—Mark-lane Express. THE POTATO DisEAsE.-The potato disease is spreading rapidly. Farmers are hurrying their crops into market, and selling them at comparatively low rates. We regret to learn that within the last month the disease has shown itself to a considerable extent. Many patches which but a short time since appeared to have escaped, and from which sound and healthy tubers had been drawn, have apparently been sud- denly smitten with the pestilence, much after the manner of the crops in the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire, where it is stated that whole fields, which but a month since were valued at £ 22 per acre, are now sold at X4 and X5, so sudden and serious has been the appearance and pro- gress of the disease. In the neighbourhood around Farndon the potato disease has appeared, and is making sad havoc with many crops. Few fields have escaped. In many cases the white sorts are more than half diseased. The blue ones seem to stand best. It is to be feared that this is general through the country. A few years back, when the disease appeared in its worst form, people took to plant early and dig them before the disease came on; but as the disease was thought to have left us, or nearly so, during the last two years farmers have slackened their vigilance and neglected to plant until the late months of May and June, instead of March, and hence the reappearance of it this year. Where the haulm was decayed before the end of August, there is no trace of disease, but where the haulm was green the enemy has attacked them fiercely- Chester Chronicle. THE UNITED STATES CROPS.—The Department of Agriculture furnishes a summary of the crop re- ports. A summary is given showing the mean tem- perature and rain-fall of the several States for July and August, as contrasted with those months of last year. The region most subject to drought—that west of the Mississippi and Missouri—has had the most regular supply of rain, and the valley of the Mississippi has had an abundant rainfall to its mouth; while Alabama and Georgia have suffered from drought, and the Atlantic States in a still higher degree, not only throughout the tide-water region, but in a large portion of the Eastern States. On the Southern Atlantic seaboard the heat has been greater this year than in 1868, and the rainfall less. North and east of New York the heat has been less, 803 also the rainfall. In the one case it was too hot, and in the other too cold, for corn and other summer crops, which suffered accordingly. While the drought has prevailed east of the Alleghanies, the great Mis- sissippi Basin has had an unusual amount of rain. West Virginia and Ohio alone, of the central area, had less rainfall in August than in 1868. The ex- cessive moisture of the summer was sustained to its close in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. Both the early and latter rains have been somewhat extraordinary west of the Missouri, yet the high temperature and deep thirsty soils of that region have converted the visi- tation into a blessing. The drought of the seaboard has not been equalled for many years. Cold, wet weather prevented a healthy, vigorous growth in almost every State, and in the season of earing and maturing a serious drought affected it on the Atlantic coast, with injurious heat in the South, and an unfavourable reduction of temperature in the North. In deep soils, naturally drained, the extreme moisture of the West did no injury. In heavy or flat lands with clay subsoil the damage waa great, in some cases resulting in total failure. The loss, as shown in the table, is 49 per cent. in Virginia, from 30 to 40 in Maine, Vermont, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin; from 20 to 30 in New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, and Minnesota from 10 to 20 per cent. in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania; and from 1 to 10 per cent. in Rhode Island, Alabama, Missouri, and California. Unless the, close of the season is very favourable, there must be 150,000,000 bushels less than a full crop.

HINTS UPON GARDENING. KITCHEN GARDEN.—Very little can be done in this department beyond what has been already advised within the past few weeks; there- fore proceed with trenching and ridging the vacant quarters as expeditiously as the work in the other departments will permit. Seakale to be forced in the open air may now be cleared of the old decaying leaves, and a small mound of coal-ashes placed about the crowns. When this is done, place the pots over them, and cover a portion with warm leaves or manure, either mixed together or used separately, as may be most convenient. If there are not enough seakale pots to cover all the crowns at once, turn ordinary pots over the crowns that are not to be forced for the present, until they are to be started, when the pots can be replaced with seakale pots from a previous batch. The ground between the pla-nts should be covered with a few leaves, to pre- vent its getting frozen. FRUIT GARDEN.—Pay particular attention to the fruit-room "at this moment, and remove all fruits that evince the slightest trace of decay, and send to the kitchen for immediate use, or place in a corner by themselves until wanted. Handle sound fruit gently to prevent its being bruised, which will soon cause it to rot. Give a little air in mild and dry weather, to keep the atmosphere fresh and pure. Raspberries must have the old canes cut away, the young ones thinned to three or four to each stool, and those which have sprung up away from the main stools should be taken up with the spade and destroyed, if not required for planting elsewhere. If it can be afforded, spread three or four inches of half-rotten dung over the surface, but not dig it in, because the roots are so near the surface that the soil cannot possibly be disturbed without injuring them. FLOWER GARDEN.—Planting on mounds is be- ginning to be understood, and where the soil is natu- rally cold and wet more generally practised; and consequently we less frequently hear of losses among ornamental trees of delicate constitution. Not long since we saw some trees of Wellingtonia in a suburban garden. They had been planted out on the lawn to form a group, and by sure and not slow degrees had lost all their freshness of dolour, the lower branches and the tips of the new growth becoming browned during winter, so as to have a most unsightly ap- pearance. Arancarias in th same style of planting were in a similar bad condition. We advised them all to be lifted, the earth entirely shaken off the roots, and then replanted on mounds made u* Gf yellow loam. The mounds were two feet high, the roots of the trees were carefully spread out, csrseirad only just sufficient to hide them from the daylight, and then staked with three stakes, each placed at as angla, in the style in which soldiers stand their muskets, in groups of three, on parade. They are now pioturea « £ health and beauty, and. the mounds are hidden by their branches weeping to iihe gjcanzuk— Gardfflers" AZagaggftS.

I THE LAW OF COMPENSATION The attention of railway shareholdera sfemld be Ij directed to remarks of the judges of the Court |) o £ Queen's Bencfe in the case of Farr tn Lsmdon a North-Western Railway Company," which was befcire them on Thursday on a motion for a new trial. Mhr. Farr was a curate, 27 years of age, whose income from various sources was X250 a year, and who, in travelling, had sustained injuries to his head through a collision. At the trial, which took place at Hertford last assizes, the jury gave him k5,00,0 damages, and this week a new trial was asked for on the ground that those damages were excessive. We need not notice the various grounds on which it was attempted to sustain this allegation, but we wish to point out that Mr. Vernon Harcourt, Q.C., the counsel for the railway company, made the very same complaint that Sir Edward Watkin and scores of other railway authorities are con- tinually making, and which the majority of share- holders appear to believe, and further that he was replied to by the Lord Chief Justice on that very point. Mr. Harcourt: A different principle appears to be applied in cases of railway companies, so that enormous damages are given in these eases which would not be given in others. The Lord Chief Justice: I beg your pardon. I am not aware that any different principle of law is applied to railway cases. The same principle of law as to liability for injuries caused by negligence is laid down in railway cases as in all others. The juries in all cases are told to give a reasonable compensation for the natural consequences of the negligence. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn expressed a strong hope that the principle of the law would not be departed from, and could conceive "nothing more mon- strous or more mischievous than that parties sustaining such injuries should not be entitled to recover what juries may consider a fair and reasonable compensation." That, however, is a question for the Legislature, which may not be of his lordship's opinion; it is as a most autheritative witness to the oneness of the principal of compensation that we quote his. If railway companies have any injustice to complain of, it is, we believe, chiefly owing to the strong feelings of jurymen, who, as a rule, like to indulge their compassion for individuals at the expense of great corporations.-Daily News.

FIFTY MEN IMPRISONED. An accident of a rather alarming nature occurred the other day at No. 5 Coal and Ironstone Pit, Chapelhall, Airdrie, which is commonly known as the Jenny Lind," and is the property of the Monkland Iron and Steel Company. It appears that about eight o'clock on Monday morning the engine-keeper was hoisting a hutch loaded with ironstone from the bottom of the pit, when the connecting-rod of the engine broke, and striking the cylinder completely smashed it, and disabled the engine. The effect of this accident was to interrrupt all communication from above with the pit bottom,where between 50 and 60 men and boys were engaged at work, and who had commenced their shift at six o'clock in the morning. About three o'clock in the afternoon, a scaffold, con- nected with a chain and wrought by a hand windlass, was got in motion, and the task of drawing the men up commenced. The men on the pit head wrought with the greatest zeal, and it was seven o'clock next morning before the last man in the pit was safely lifted to the surface. During the time the men were imprisoned in the pit, a plentiful supply of refresh- ments was lowered for their use. The Jenny Lind pit is 110 fathoms deep.

FATTENED DAMSELS. Eastern travellers tell about the curious mode of fattening favourites for the Imperial harem, practised in Morocco. You take a plump young damsel of about fourteen, with a tendency to obesity—few Mauresque girls are destitute of such a tendency- and you shut her up in a room of which the windows are carefully darkened by heavy curtains of green silk. You cause your plump young damsel to sit cross-legged on a divan, and then, having by your side a bowl full of couscoussou, or moistened meal rolled into balls, you cram her during a certain number of hours every day with as many of these balls as she can conveniently swallow. Well crammed, the Emperor of Morocco will pay an exceedingly handsome price for her. That nothing may inter- fere with the due conduct of the fattening process, a black nurse stands behind the incipient favourite with a matranh or big stick, much used in Moorish domestic economy; and, if the patient mani- fests any reluctance to swallow the balls of cous- coussou, she is immediately and unmercifully thrashed. A similar course, abating the big stick, is pursued in this country,with turkeys which are to be fattened for the Christmas market; they are shut up in dark coops, and crammed. The announcement, however- made by Mr. Howard, M.P., in his amusing paper on Continental Farming and Peasantry," read at the Farmers' Club on Monday-that" tenebrous gu- losity," if we may call it so, is not unknown in French agriculture, will take a great many people by surprise. Mr. Howard told his hearers of one M. de Crombec, who had purchased half his land out of the profits of his farm, and had found it to be a great advantage to keep his cattle in darkness." They were free from flies and other annoyances, and had nothing to do but to get fat. The system, evidently borrowed from the Moorish practice, is no doubt efficacious; but is there not something like cruelty to animals in the scheme ? Can it be pleas- ing to Him who prohibited the muzzling of the ox while it was treading out the corn, that men should hide dumb animals from the light of heaven in order that they might accumulate so many more inches of fat on their ribs ? We wonder whether M. de Crombeo keeps canary birds, and knows that a canary will sing all the mora sweetly if, as a preliminary lesson in the sol-fa, you bore out its eyes with a red-hot needle.

DISTRESSING OASE OF DESERTION. At the Middlesex Sessions on Wednesday Elizabeth Whelan, a thin, careworn young woman, 20 years of age, was charged with exposing her child. It ap- peared that the prisoner, who is a single woman and gets her living at the bonnet-making business, was confined at the Lambeth Workhouse on the 12th of August last, and left the workhouse in the latter part of September, of her own accord. On Saturday fortnight the attention of a Mrs. Wood, living in Mecklenburgh- street, was called by the crying of an infant which had been placed on her neighbour's doorstep. She picked it up and found it very cold. She called a police-constable, 217 Y, who took it to the St. Pancras Workhouse, where it was received and tended by the nursery superintendent. It was pretty well dressed. About three or four days after this the poisoner stopped a policeman, and asked him if he had heard anything about a child being found on a doorstep in Mecklenburgh-street (seemingly very anxious about it), and whether it had been taken to the workhouse. The child died about a week after its admission, from inflammation of the lungs. The learned Judge What have you to say to the charge P Prisoner (sobbing): I had no food for the child, nor for myself, and I put it down that some one might take it up and care for it. I stood a little way off and watched it. It was not on the door step more than three minutes before the lady picked it up. I had been carrying it about for three days and one night previous. I had walked about with it the whole night long. The Judge: What more have you to say ? Prisoner I thought it would die in my arms if I carried it about any longer, and as I had nothing to give it I put it down. The Judg-e Who is the father of the child ? The prisoner hesitated to give a reply, and then, covering her face with her hands, said she did' not know now where he was. The judge, in passing sentence upon the prisoner, said it was a dreadful thing for a mother to abejidon her infant as the prisoner had done, but as she. had watched it it was not so heartless an offence. The sentence upon her was that she be imprisoned, and kept to hard labour for three months.

L A TELEG&AJPHIC DESPATCH frora Zara. sisates that a deputation, composed of SO persons, from Zuppa, hav» waited upon the Governor of Dahaatia, and offered submission on the parti ofi the insurgents. They ara said to have admitted that the new regula- tions 0-4 to enlistment were not the cause- of the insunectiom, and to have attributed, the rising to the, SejtvA'Sfllsiyoniaii. agitation.

JJAEIB EAKFASTS. A few days ago, rot company with fbrar friends, says a correspondent of a contemporary, I aarived in Paris by an early train, Saving an hour to' spend we left our luggage at the 1-lcrtl Terminus, crossed the place, and went into a cafe. We ordered cofSeey a filet, and an omelette. Of the'quality I shall say nothing, ex- cept that the omelette being smoked, two or three of the party had some cold ham, and one took a morsel —a mere morsel-of sausage. For this our bill was: Pain, If. 25c.; cafe, 10f. 50C.; omelettes, 3f. 50c. jambon, 6f.; filet, 8f. 50c; saucisson, 3f. services, 3f.—35 francs in all. Naturally, we objected to pay for an omelette we could not eat, and to be charged a franc and a half a cup for coffee;, and three francs for not two sous' worth of sausage. But our expostula- tions availed nothing with the- proprietor unless to enrage him. On our refusing to pay more than 26 francs, he flew to the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. In less than a quarter of am hour the tidal train started. There was not much glory to be gained by taking the key and spending thereby at least one day at a police-court; so we pocketed the degradation and saved our train. On arriving home I asked my solicitor to put the matter in the hands of his agent in Paris. He did so, and the reply is: "I much fear that you have no remedy under our law for the abuses stated in your letter. A restaurateur is perfectly free to charge what he likes unless a pre- vious bargain be made."

SCANDALOUS.—A. candle that wants snuffing out-The Edmunds s-candal. QUEB,Y.-C-an young ladies who now lace so tightly be considered really staid? A COPT OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE BlBLE, in Welsh, a very rare book, has been sold in a sale at Puttick and Simpson's, Leicester-square, and, although imperfect, sold for < £ 37. FIRST IMPRESSIONS IS BEST," says Policeman X 2769, and when you are put on a fresh sububban beat, and hear the servant gals in the garden, whip off your 'elmet, look over the wall an' they won't know yer from the millingtary." THE FEATHER THAT ARI,Y BKOKS THE CAMEL'S | BACK.—Little wife (to meek and overloaded husband): i One thing more, Dolly Poppet, which I'd nearly » forgotten! Get three pairs. of the thickest black- ribbed lamb's-wool stockings for mamma. Here's an old pair for the size, which you can carry in your breastpocket. Don't forget! "-Pwnch, A SERIOTJSGUNPOWDBA ACCIDENT happened Rear Sheffield the other morning. Five boys, Bona of colliers, went out into a, field at Platt's Common, to play with a bombshell which had been given to the father of one of them, a. few daya before. They had also a considerable qpantity of gunpowder, which they had stolen from a. neighbouring colliery. While they were engaged drimag; with a pagoe- of iron some of the powder into the- hole in the- shell it suddenly eK ploded with a Itoudi report* aodi the boya were biswn ia all directions. Three, of them were so seriously Injured that tiieg had baj taken to the SfeeSBelcL Infirmary,

THE OORN TRADE. Me-juatt-week has been of a mixed character, com. meneing. unseasonably mild, followed fcy ai return of high wind] some rain, and about a seasonable tempera- ture; so ihe winter, after all, seems as, libeiy to be mild as severe, in spite of the arrival of woodoeeks in Enland' anikwclves in France. Neverthelees-there are predictions-cf severity, and warm clothing, must not be rashly laidl aside. Christmas, after be Christmas, with, the comfortable assurance- that we shall be then half through the winter. As regs-rda-the corn trade, however, we are still in long-lane- and looking out for a-turning, of the cheerful kind,.so that we may not fail to be genial at the right time. The reports generally have been quiet, with a< few cases of decline but this is all. That we did' reach the bottom of our wheat currency last week seems- pretty clear, for the average then was 46s. Id. i, now it is 46s. 2d., or only Id. more; so at present it is a very level bottom, and this gradual process is too slow to be appreciated. But time works on, and the symptoms at least are favourable; as, indeed, against the occurrence or permanency of low rates we have a sad assurance from our Indian possessions. The re- cent mail informs us that a cloud of locusts of in* credible volume has lighted upon the fairest portion of the western provinces, which were previously depended, on to make up for the recent famine, and restore a plenty to dependant millions; and rice went up 25 per cent. on the appearance of this plague, while a gloom has settled upon the country, in anticipation of the destruction of all vegetation wherever they may alight. Let us hope; however, that these destroyers will themselves be, speedily destroyed by the wind that carries them, or the calamity must reach a fearful height and tax all the resources of the Government to mitigate it. As respects European advices this week they have- all, somewhat of a down. ward aspect, influenced by the dulness here. New York notes little difference; but the arrivals in California, not finding vent, holders begin to get uneasy. We expect large imports from this quarter before long. The sales of English wheat noted last week were 51,325 qrs. at 46s. 2d., against 65,565 qrs. at 52s. lid. in 1868. The London averages were 493. 2d. on 3,688 qrs.—Mark-lane Express.

THE TVE-L Wyly S-LA UG-TETE, B. The inquiry into the railway accident has been re- sumed, and the jury have returned their verdict. Mr. Johnson, engineer-in-chief to the Great Northern Eailway Company, after describing the place where the accident occurred, said: I found nothing the matter with the down line south of the junction. I have examined the debris of the accident generally. I don't think any of the wheels were torn off. Coroner: Can you give an opinion at all as to what caused the carriages to run off the rails P Witness I cannot, sir. It is very difficult to form an opinion. Could anybody but the signalman affect the points as the train was going along ? No one. Can you give an opinion whether or not the signalman could close the points at tho time the train was passing through these points ? Whether he could do it, sir P Yes. Oh, there is no doubt about it; he could do it. I take it from the evidence that when the train was going to Peterborough the points were correctly set. Now, I ask you, in order that there may be no mis- take, whether it was possible for the man to open those points aftpr the train had passed partly over the rails ? He pould do it, but I don't think he would be foolish enough to do so. No; but is it possible ? Is thers any difficulty about it ? No, sir. No more difficulty than there is for an engine driver to reverse his engine but, as I said before, I don't think any man would be foolish enough to do so. That is another question. Now, supposing by any accident in the signal-box by which the points became unlocked, would not the points fly back to the stock- rail and throw the train on the Hertford line ? Cer- tainly not, sir. In answer to a similar question, the witness said There is no trigger or spring which can in any way affect the switches. In that set of appa- ratus the lockbars are all moved by an inclined plane and not by a spring. The jury, after deliberating for half an hour, found a verdict to the effect that the accident resulted from the accidental shifting of the points by the pointsman while the train was going over. They added a recommendation that an inde- pendent line should be made from Hatfield to Hert- ford.

ZION'S WATCHMAN Joseph Stoner, an elderly and shabbily-dressed man, was recently charged at Bow-street with neglecting to pay postage on certain letters returned to him through the dead-letter office. George Noble, clerk in the Return Letter-office, stated that the 304 letters produced were all in the same hand-writing. They had been directed and posted without a stamp. The amount due to the Post-office for their delivery was X2 10s. lid. William Bide, a letter-carrier, de- posed that he had known the defendant for some time, and had seen circulars like those in the envelopes produced in his window in Brown's-lane. He had talked about bringing out a newspaper called the Philanthropic Times and Protestant Co-opei-ator. Mr. Haynes, inspector in the Post-office, deposed that he called on the defendant, who re- fused to see him. Asked him to pay X2 10s. lid., the duty on 304 letters returned to him, the postage not being prepaid. The letters contained circulars asking the receiver to send lOd. by return for a book (produced), entitled A Straw for a Shilling, by Joseph Stoner, watchman for thirty years on the walls of Zion." Defendant refused to pay. Mr. Barkley, postmaster, said that the de- fendant came to his shop and posted about 1,200 letters some time since without stamps. The de- fendant, in answer to, the charge, indulged in a long dissertation on the various statutes. He was requested by the magistrate to confine himself to the charge. Defendant then became very excited, waving his arms in a menacing manner, saying that the whole of the Post-office were in league against him, and were so base as to open his letters without delivering them, in. order to ascertain his movements. He knew each member of the Government personally. He had written to the Earl of Enniskillen, enclosing a circular, and called afterwards upon the honour- able gentleman, but found the Post-office au- thorities had been so wicked as not to deliver that letter. They were not satisfied with that, but they had also, the audacity to open a latter to his daughter. Mr. Vaughan said he thought the case clearly established against the defendant, who must pay the £ 2.10s. lid. and costs of the summons. If. he could not pay that a distress warrant would ba, issued. The Defendant: I wol\'¡t pay a farthing. Never. Taylor, one of the officers, said: j that no- one knew where the defendant now. Ho kept naaying about. T je. Defendants I have l| nothing at alù; no goods to foe distrained upon. My stock-in-trade is like a barrister's—it's, i,b my head. lit was ultimately decided iisat he should have a wee4 to> pay money in. Ift'ite could not, Pjay it thes.ha. |k0Pr°kak}$ytiSL imprvacasdj l¥f i v.

GLEANINGS. —♦— llæ. will be angry for anything will be- angry foi?'mothing. IN the morning think what thou. hast to do,- and at might ask thyself what thou hast 'done. THE mam who has nothing to boast of but his illustrious ancestors, is like a potMo-the only good belonging to him is under ground. HE is rich whose income is more-than. his expenses; and, he is poor whose expenses exceed his, income. IT costs us more to be miserable than would make us perfectly happy. How cheap and easy to us is the service of virtue, and how dear do we pay for our vices. GOOD intentions will never justify evi^ actions, nor will- at good action ever justify an. ill"' intention; both must be good, or neither will be acceptable. HE who in questions of right, virtue, or duty,, sets himself above all possible ridicule, is truly great, and shall laugh in the end with truer mirth than' ever he was laughed at. CURIOUS WILL.-The following singular will was made by Slmiser in Ireland: I give and be- queath to my sister-in-law, Mary Dennis, four old worsted stockings, which she will find underneath my bed, to my nephew, Charles Macartney, two other pair of stockings, lying in the box where I keep my linen;, to Lieutenant Johnson, of his Majesty's fifth regiment of foot, my only pair of white cotton stock- ings, and my old scarlet greatcoat; and to Hannah Burko, my housekeeper, in return for her long and faithful services, my cracked earthen pitcher." Hannah, in high wrath, told the other legatees that she resigned to them her valuable share of the property, and then retired. In equal rage Charles kicked down the pitcher, when out burst a multitude of guineas, and rolled along the floor. This fortunate discovery induced those present to examine the stockings, which, to their great joy, were crammed with money.—Cassell's Magazine. Influence OF Being- IN LOVE.—Every one knows how being in love changes, for the time, a man's spiritual atmosphere, and makes animation and buoyancy where before there was flatness and dulness. One may even say that this is the reason why being in love is so popular with the whole human race- because it relieves in so irresistible and delightful a manner the tedium or depression of commonplace human life. And not only does it change the atmo- sphere of our spirits, making air, light, and movement, where before was stagnation and gloom,, but it also sensibly and powerfully increases our faculties of action. It is matter of the commonest remark how a timid man who is in love will show courage, or an indolent man will show diligence. Nay, a timid man, who would be only the more paralysed in a moment of danger by being told that it is his bounden duty, as a man, to show firmness, and that he must be ruined and disgraced for ever if he does not, will show firmness quite easily from being in love. An indolent man who shrinks back from vigorous effort only the more because he is told and knows that it is a man's business to show energy, and that it is shame- ful in him if he does not, will show energy quite easily from being in love. This, I say, we learn from the analogy of the most every-day experience, that a powerful attachment will give a man spirits and confi- dence which he could by no means call up or command of himself; and that in this mood he can do wonders which would not be possible to him without it. Cornhill Magazine. 1 A WORD ON GRIDIRONS.—The gridiron is a serviceable utensil, which deserves to be kept with special care. It is not unfrequently the friend in need to whom we resort when other means of cooking fail. It has also been made the subject of modern improvements. In olden time a silver gridiron was the pride of aristocratic cooks; but an enamelled or & well-tinned one is scarcely its inferior. A good grid- iron now has grooved bars, which render the double service of keeping the fire clear of dropping fat, and consequently of smoke, and of conducting the gravy to a trough in front, whence it may be poured over steaks or chops in their dish. A rusty gridiron will not improve a steak, while one still greasy with last week's broil will spoil it. Although not made of silver, it should be as bright, and scrupulously claan between the bars. For broiling, a charcoal fire is best; a coke fire, second best. With a cinder fire, you must wait till it is quite clear, and then sprinkle it with salt. Then heat your gridiron before laying on the steak, otherwise the parts touching the bars will remain raw when the rest is cooked. If made too hot, the bars will burn and char the steak, mark- ing it with black lines, besides spoiling the flavour. Turning the steak several times keeps the gravy inside. This turning, which should be done not with a fork, but with a pair of meat-tongs, will slightly prolong the time of cooking. A good rump steak will take ten. minutes; pork chops and mutton cutlets less, accord- ing to their thickness; the former, however, should always be well done. For turning chops and steaks without pricking them with a fork, a double gridiron has been invented, the only objections to which are that it is more trouble to keep clean and less easy to heat its bars equally to the proper temperature. When placed on the fire, the gridiron should stand forwards, to cause the fat to run in that direction, instead of dropping into the fire, and so smoking the steak. This position is now insured by making the hind legs of the gridiron higher than the front ones.- Cassell's Household Guide

IRISH GALLANTRY. The Irish papers state that in consequence of a speech delivered by Mr. G. H. Moore, at Navan, in reply to The O'Donoghue's letter to the Amnesty Association, The O'Donoghue sent a hostile message to Mr. Moore, demanding a meeting in France or in Belgium. Mr. Moore replied, naming Major Lynch as his friend, and stating that Major Lynch would proceed at once to the Burlington Hotel, London, where he would await the arrival of The O'Donoghue's friend, for the purpose of arranging a hostile meeting as proposed. On the 3rd of Novemb. r Major Lynch received a letter from Mr. P. J. Smyth, on the part of The O'Donoghue, asking him to appoint a place of meeting. On the same day Major Lynch wrote to Mr. Smyth, appointing Boulogne for the purpose in question, and stating that he would meet Mr. Smyth on Friday afternoon, at Boulogne. On Friday morn- ing Mr. Smyth expressed to Mayor Lynch a wish that an interview should take place between them for the purpose of avoiding, if possible, the necessity of proceeding to the Continent. Mr. Smyth expressed his willingness to withdraw The O'Donoghue's letter to Mr. Moore, in case all arrangement could be carried out between them.; and Major Lynch agreed in the same case to withdraw Mr. Moore's letter in reply to TheO Donoghue. These preliminaries having-been complied with, Mr. Smyth asked for a withdrawal of certain passages referring to The O'Donoghue, contained in Mr., Moore's speech at the Navan meeting, and Major Lynch having drawn- his attention, to the expressions in The O'Donoghue's letter to the Amnesty Association, which Mr. Moore believed were intended to apply to him, and to which that speech was a reply, Mr. Smyth assured Major Lynch that The-OiDonoghue's letter to the Amnesty Association was not, intended to apply to Mr. Moore personally. Major Lynch, on the part of Mr. Moore, had no hesitation in declaring that if Mr. Moore at the Navan meeting used words calculated, to impute dishonourable motives to The O'Donoghue in the dis- charge of hia public duty, he did not consider, him justified in making such an imputation, and as for his- allusion to The O'Donoghue's Irish distinction, Mr. Moore disclaimed any intention of casting a sneer upon the ancient family of The O'Donoghue. (Signed) P. C. LYNCH, P. J. SMYTH, Burlington Hotel, London, Nov. 5, 1869,