South Wales Echo

LONDON LETTER. -«» Specially Wired. I By Our Own Correspondent. LONDON, Friday Night. The reception to-night of Mr Gladstone was vara, and the House was crowded, but still it was Hot the reception, and it was not the gather- ing that were there when last Thurs- la, week he proposed his Irish Government III. There were none of those chairs SO the floor, which gave so strange and picturesque M appearance to the House, and though there wwe people in the galleries, they were not stand- hili on each other's heads. The Prime Minister himself, too, seemed to feel the change, and to have in his bearing some appearance of the man who is about to fight a battle against very serious odds. Indeed, lie was pale, and though there was plenty of liveliness in his face, it had not that glow of enthusiasm upon it, which, on some occasions, overspreads his features with the light which never was on sea or land." The demeanour of the House was indicative to a considerable degree of its tempera- went. On the Irish benches there was watchful and friendly silence, and silence that was watchful, but not friendly on the Whig benches and on the Tory side there was the stillness of men who were determined in no way to commit them selves. The Prime Minister had the start with propos- ing a vote of thanks to Sir Erskine May. Every- body was decorous, and cheerad at the pro- per moment, but the desire was to get at once to tho business of the night. This prelimi- nary canter was watched, however, with care by the House, for it gave some indication of how the Prime Minister was going to acquit himself of his great task. It was observed with some pain that Mr Gladstone's voice was in its bad and out of its good form. It was both husky and weak. It was just 24 minutes after five when he rose to make his statement. The arrangement of the speech was clear and skilful. He first stated the three questions he set out to prove. First. why must the land question be settled by the Imperial Parliament ? (2) why should Great Britain be cumbered by it ? and (3) was England bound to run any pecuniary risks in settling the question ? Under the first head, be gave a history of the Irish land question in a compressed but strongly effective fashion, and the House listened with both attention and sympathy, and occasionally, but not often, he was helped by Irish cheers as he described some particularly hideous feature of the Irish land system. The cheers, I have eaid, came seldcm, and that, indeed, was the characteristic of the reception of the whole speech. The House was anxious-keenly anxious-to know what the details of the measure were, but everybody was resolutely determined that the question was one upon which they would not be trapped into a premature expression of opinion. It was remarkable, for instance, when Mr Gladstone, dealing with the second head of his inquiry, asked in emphatic language if the House desired to shirk its duty, the House was not to be caught and answered with simple silence. But there was a certain respon- sive glow when he described the responsibility which its land legislation had imposed upon the Imperial Parliament. Keen curiosity was ex- hibited when the Prime Minister began to speak of the bill as a boon to the landlords, and especially when, looking across at the Conservative benches, he said We have done our best." The next words were even more promising, as supplying a clue to the attitude which he meant to take up with re- gard to the bill. Would he make the bin- a Cabinet question, upon which he he was determined to stand or fall ? or was be, as so many people hoped, going to offer it to the Conservative party, and, if these friends of the landlords rejected it, was he going to leave to them the entire responsibility ? But Mr Glad- stone was not going to tell this great secret. "We have done our best, :i -everybody's reck btrained—" we must It .3 the issue to a higher power." A-sigh of Ii appointment from all sides. There was again a slight cessation of interest when Mr Gladstone went back to history once more from those petty but more vital issues which were then consuming the minds of his fellows. But there were incidents which lit up these historical retrospects. For instance, while he was talking o. the rebellions that were put down by English force he declared that in all of theiecase-sit was England which had reconquered the country for the landlords. T) tbis be joined an observation, in reply to a boast of Major Saunderson, that the rebellion had really been put down "by a certain regiment— I really forget its name"— an observa- tion which the House received with shouts of laughter. Some one intervened with the word "Cromwell." "Cromwell," repeated Mr Glad- stone; "hel was not an Irish Protestant," and again there was loud laughter. So he went on, illustrating his historical sketch with incidental remarks, grave and gay, with all the old choiceness of language, though, alas, without the glow that can come from full strength and the organ peal of a mighty voice. The watchful Irish continued to observe their benevelent neutrality, tempered by great roars when he denounced some such crime as the surrender of all the improvements of the tenants to the landlords under the Encumbered Estates Act. But unquestionably the interest did not reach its climax until he came to unfold the details of his bill. When he announced that he had arrived at this point there came some cheers of relief, especially from the Radical and the Conservative benches. As the scheme was developed there were great pauses of universal hubbub, which compelled the Premier to pause, and now and then there was a cheer when he said something that pleased the prejudices of some one among the different sections of the House. For instance, there came from the Irish benches a note of applause when he declared that graziers were to be exempted from the bill. He could not proceed for several seconds when he made --A portentous announcement that the normal scale of purchase ivould be 20 years. During the piuse the Prime Minister, with a bright and indeei sweet smile of amusement, turned to Sir William Harcourt and carried on a,, little conversation, and finally t'' was a burst of relieved cheers from the Radius. when he indicated that the landlords were always to get such extravagantly good tei-iii, at twenty years purchase. But, the burst of Radical cheers was even wilder when Mr Giad- tone put the great question, "How are we to meet the money ?". Although :£50,000,000 was a much smaller maximum than had been spoken of, the Radicals could not get to welcome the announce- ment- with applause. The details of the security offered for the recovery of the money lent on thp security of British credit had been somewhat dis- counted by their resemblance to schemes already made popular. They were followed, however, with interest, but without any declaration of opinion. But Mr Gladstone did excite enthusiasm when he placed in juxtaposition the system which he proposed to apply and our present system of financial relations to Ireland. The pre- sent contribution of Ireland to England, he said, was £ 6,950,000. Of that England, paid back L4,840,000, leaving a surplus of £ 2,085,000. "But," he went on, with fierce vehemence," we send an army to Ireland of 26,000 men at a cost of three millions," and loud and prolonged cheer- inggreeted thin triumphant exposure. The cheer- ing went on increasing as, with growing vehemence, be went on to say, That is the economy of the system we want to root up.' Aàd there 1\ a final burst of applause when, at thirty-five minutes past seven, he sat down, after a speech of two hours and ten minutes. You will gather from this description some idea of what the oratorical merits of the speech were. In my opinion it was as clear, as in. teresting, and as forcible a statement of a case as Mr Gladstone ever made. What vigour it wanted was purely physical vigour; what effect it failed to produce was not through its own defects, but the bitter prepossessions it had to encounter, and the attitude of cautious reserve which circum- stances imposed on all sections of the House. I have taken some pains in the short interval left me between the conclusion of the speech and my writing about it to sound opinion, and I find tint the effect on the whole has been good-perhaps I might say very good. The reduction of the sum was the first relief, and then Mr Gladstone is held to have made a magnificient case in defence of his proposition-that the risk to the British Exchequer was non-existent, or infinitesimal. Several Radical members cer- tainly spoke of being able to go before their con- stituents with easier consciences than they had felt for many days upon this very difficult por- tion of the Irish problem. But I find it very difficult to describe the speech which followed. It began amid an altercation, the painful features of which recalled the pre- liminary skirmish of last Friday. On two points Mr Gladstone and Mr Chamberlain were in direct issue on matters of fact. Mr Gladstone held that Mr Chamberlain resigned although informed of the intention to make modifications n the measure, and Mr Chamberlain was equally clear that Mr Gladstone had made a proposal with regard to Irish volunteers about which Mr Gladstone had no recollection whatever. This skirmish over, Mr Chamberlain went on to take the line which I have indicated already. He enlarged on the modifications which had been made both on the Home Rule and on the Land Bill since he had left the Cabinet, the possibility of retaining the Irish members, of Ulster being exempted from the authority of the Par- liament in Dublin, and of the reduc- tion of the maximum of the landlords' purchase money from £120,000,000 to £ 50,000,000. These declarations were received with mixed feelings. The Radicals cheered the allusion to to the inclusion of the Irish members, and the Irish members were very restive under the sup- position of Ulster having a separate legislative body. There was dead silence-except that now and then a faint murmur rose from a group among the Radicals-when Mr Chamberlain proceeded to vehemently attack the details of the bill, and appealed in turn for hostility against it to many different sections of the House-to the Scotchmen because the crofters got nothing to the English county members because the agricultural labourer got nothing, to the Irishmen because the landlords got too much. Different impressions were left in different minds by this singular sketch, and the impression was pretty universal that it meant a willingness to come back to the side of Mr Gladstone. But while some said that the thing had been done graciously and gracefully, others thought that the preparation for surrender had been made with awkwardness and with not too much taste.

T)F) K G A BAT :PYHA!IDS.- Whn at Cairo we met a yuan;' toitvisr, who assured lis that he hadona particu- lar <Uy (date u'ivenjji'.upe i hr e times higher than the ;re tt "I'yr^vnid of Gtiizeh. We looked at him severely, ;inrl asksit him to explain himself, and this he readily did. He said that he c'imbed, or rather was dragged, to the top, and when looking over the plains where Napoleon, dreaming'of an .Eastern Empire, had met, fought, and conquered the Mamelukes, he was so over- joyed that he took three distinct and separate leaps, when it suddenly oecured to him that he had jumped three times higher than the Pyramids! He was so very entertaining that we wished for more of his company, and asked him to accompany us. as we wanted to "shout" for him. "No, thank you: I never drink,' said h-, and when I feel in my most despondent mood, fairly down with the hear, and fatigue of this place, I have never taken anything except an occasional dose of this mixture." He produced his bottle, and took a dose there and then. It is the finest prepar ation you can possibly keep by you it is a first-class tonic keeps up tbe spirits, strengthens the constitution, and brighteus up the wh"le system. I buy it from the chemist close to Sheohei-d's Hotel. He then showed us the label, Gwilym Evans' Quinine Bitters, or Vegetable Tonic." t.f no remedy now before the public is there a greater variety of reliable testimony to its effica-y ban Gwilym Kvans* Quinine Bitters. Com- mencing with a comparatively local reputation, it has rapidly pushed its way to the forefront of the great remedies of the age, and its well-earned reputation has been due entirely to its own superiority over all other tonics, however much advertised or under whatever name sold. We strongly recommend those who suffer from indigestion and weakness to buy a bottle at once. No one should suffer witbouttryiiwf a'bottle of Gwilym Evans' Quinine Bitters, sold both home and abroad at 2s 9d, 4s 6d, and 12s 6d per bottle. Praised by every. body.—Fnrtber particulars and testimonials from the proprietor, Mr Owityn Evans, F.C.S., Ac., Ltanelly, South Wales 76379 Î;H-#

OUR MR. JENKINS. I was fortunate in my uncle. So everybody thought, for Uncle Braithwaite was as wealthy and thriving a manufacturer as any in Lambeth, and I, his dead sister's son, Cyril Vaughan by name, was not merely drawing a fair salary, with the prospect of a partnership, but was actually engaged to be married to my second cousin, re- puted a great heiress—dear, sweet Lucy Braith- waite—the old man's only child. A severe, just man was John Braithwaite. He had won his own way in life by rigid self-denial and unwearying industry during a joyless youth, and I doubt if he ever thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of his well-earned prosperity. It was only when his eye rested on his daughter's pretty face that his stern look relaxed. Lucy reminded him, doubtless, of her gentle mother. But he was a good master to a good servant, notably where he, who was by nature and habit suspicious, could repose full trust. He did so in his confidential clerk, Mr Jacob Jenkins. That head clerk was one out of a thousand. "Respectable Jenkins" was the nickname by which irreverent youngsters in the counting-house spoke with bated breath of that pearl of clerks but even those pert office lads had a belief in the man—he was so respectable, with his lean. well- shaven face, his neatly-brushed suit of formal black, and his square-toed boots. Never, as I have heard, in the twenty-nine years of his toil had honest Jenkins been known to ask for a holi- day, to shirk extra work, or to make a blunder as to tare and tret, a thing of moment with a house like ours, large exporters as we were. As for myself, 1 am afraid that my poor merits, if I had any, were quite eclipsed by those of that commercial comet, Jenkins. Indeed, I know of no reason, except my blood relationship to our principal, head of the house of Braithwaite, Perry & Co., for any comparison between that veteran of the desk and my inexperienced self. But my uncle often said, in his gruff way Take Jenkins for your model I" or, Cyril, lad, it will be one while before you will fill Jen- kins' shoes! See how neatly he settled that business with Chauvin at Fils, of Bordeaux, and how cleverly he avoided the heavy loss of that last shipment when Krakow and Kindergarten, offHamburg, were going to smash." Yet I stuck to my work, young as I was, and did my best not to be undeserving of tbe pro- spective partnership, and somehow I got a vague impression in my head that instead of my being jealous of Jenkins, Jenkins was jealous of me. One day there was a big check to be changed— nearer to three thousand pounds than two-and it was my task, no unusual one, to present the draft at Peabody & Sons'. In a house like ours, where the furnaces were always aglow, and the tall chimneys always smoking, the outgoing for wages, horse-keep and fuel were, I need hardly say, very large indeed. On that day-how well I remember it!—I was in exceptionally high spirits. I bad been talking with dear Lucy, and though her father, who said that we children need not be in a hurry, would never consent to name even anaproximate day for our wedding, still there was a vague prospect of connubial bliss next spring. It was fine bright weather, and on Tuesday there was to be a garden party at some Richmond villa, to which we were all to go. Altogether I was in excellent spirits, and as far as any man, could be from dreaming of the evil that was to come. "How will you take it?" inquired the bank cashier. "Short I" I answered with a sort of boyish pride in my newly acquired familiarity with business phrases, and then with my gold and notes I left the bank. As I did so, a man staggered toward me, jostled me, then reeled away, muttering "Beg pardon," and would have fallen but for the sup- port of my arm. I saw in a moment that the man was sober. But he looked ill, very ill, haggard and hollow-eyed, though still young, and he was decently clad in a well-worn velveteen suit with large bronze buttons. There was a smack of the country about him, waif as he was in the midst of London, and his accent, so far as I could judge, was that of Yorkshire or North- umberland. "You are ill, I fear, and perhaps a stranger to London," I said. Nigh clemmed in this blessed London paved wi' golden guineas, as our old crones say in Craven paved wi' traps, say I, and cause for it, since all that grantfeyther stored up, whether for Bess and Bell or for me—" And then he would have fallen bit for my assistance. Clearly the man was fainting, and from starva- tion. We had walked some distance. In tempt- ing proximity, at the corner of a side street was a place, over the door of which in great" gold letters, were the words, Luncheon Bar." Into this, quite instinctively, I half dragged, half hustled the fainting man. It was the middle of the day, luncheon-time, a brisk hour for business in the city, eating and drinking at least, and the place when I entered was full of customers, young men mostly, noisily chatting over their sandwiched. As I flung open the swinging door I felt sure that I caught a glimpse of my uncle's confidential clerk on the pavement. Mr Jenkins," I called out, but he evidently did not hear me, but passed on. There was a rush of excited young fellows to- ward us—Bet you he's drunk!" "Four to five he's dead I" "Run over?" and so forth—and it was not immediately that I could get some restora- tive. But the poor countryman's face was livid, his eyes closed, his teeth fast shut, and he could swallow nothing. Then a doctor was sent for, and the doctor was slow in coming, and I had explanation after explanation to give, first to the dull-witted landlord, who came blinking out of a back parlour then to inquisitive customers and when, at last, a breathless surgeon, hastily sum- moned, came panting in at the heavy swing-door, amid the surging crowd, there was also a neces- sary word or o with him. I- But where is my patient?" asked the bewil- dered man of science. Indeed, the poor fellow who was the object of all this stir, had disappeared in the midst of the hubbub, and with him had vanished the heavy, steel-clasped, black morocco pocketbook, which I remembered too late to have incautiously laid on a table in the flurry and confusion of our sudden and awkward entry, and which was gone, pitilessly gone. Cyril Vaughan, I always deemed you to be a simpleton—a soft, as we Yorkshire chaps say- but now I know you to be a knavo thundered out my irate uncle, the north country accent in his wrathful voice becoming unusually predomi- nant. "Had you not been my relative, had not my girl—who shall never be the wife of such a scoundrel—begged you off, I would have prose- cuted you as I would any other rogue, and sent you to quarry stone among- convicts at Dartmoor or Portland. As it is, I won't hear another word of your lies or your excuses. Go, go or I shall forget Lucy's pleadings, and act as a citizen, and not as a father. The confidenc trick,' eh ? The countryman—the—I am not your dupe, lad Go and get yourself hanged elsewhere! You won't starve on the sum of which you have robbed me." Then came a terrible three months—it was that or more—a time of depression, of crushed spirits, a half-broken heart for me. That I was wrong- fully suspected gave me but cold comfort. I was innocent, but Lucy was lost to me my prospects were blighted, no one would give work to me, and I was poor. and sinking fast into the direst depths of want. I remember how pale, and thin, and shabby I had become, when I received a visit from my uncle's lawyer, Mr Mordaunt. "Mr Vang-han, you wonder to see me," said the shrewd solicitor, as be took the broken chair I offered him—my wretched room is a suburban lodging-house contained but one-" but I come now as a messenger of good tidings. Do you re- member a serving-man, Enoch Clint by name, whom your uncle, my client, Mr Braithwaite en- gaged some six weeks before the unlucky affair of the stole* money ? Hf was a smart young fellow with excellent testhnojjfala—all forged, by the by —and made himself aaefvjjl both in the house and in the stable yard,, and" was vastly popular with his f ellow-ser vante 075 account of his powers of mimicry and the juggling tricks which he could perform." I had an indistinct recollection of having seen and heard of such a parson in my uncle's house- hold, and I said so, wondering how there could be anything in Enoch Clint to concern me. "This Enoch Clint," said Mr Mordaunt slowly, was a north countryman." I stared at him, sorely puzzled. He was your countryman," drawled out the shrewd lawyer. Then a light broke in upon me, and I grew sick and dizzy, and could hardly hear Mr Mordaunt's friendly voice as he said, shaking my passive hand the while:— "You have been sorely wronged, Mr Vaughan. I, for one, believed you guilty, for which I heartily beg your pardon. Now, listen to me. This poor wretch, Enoch Otiot3 was two days since run over by a heavily laden van, not fifty yards from his master's door, and carried back to the house, the crushed and blood-stained wreck of a man. He asked for his master, and, Mr Braithwaite being absent, he prayed to see Miss Lucy. To her, in the doctor's presence, the dying man gasped out some inarticulate confes- sion, clearing you of all blame but that of credulity, pardonable at your age, and implicat- ing most seriously another person. At his pwn desirehis broken statement was, by the footer's help, taken, down in writing, but be died before .t be narrative was complete. Miss Lucy bad an nterview with her father, I need scarcely say, on his return home, as a sequel to which, Mr Braith- waite, more agitated than I had ever known him to be, called on me, and laid the matter before me. We, two, had a long talk, and the result of it was, Mr Cyril, that on the following morning I received a visit from-have you guessed it?-the confidential clerk, Mr Jenkins." "Our Mr Jenkins?" I returned, perplexed by the half-comic expression of the solicitor's face. Your Mr Jenkins, if you will cling to the ancient formula," assented the lawyer, with twinkling eyes. That commercial luminary came to blandly, unsuspectingly, for, as it bad turned out, be had not even heard of the death of his accomplice. My first act, when he had made his bow and seated himself in the client's chair was to shut the door and lock it. When he heard the click of the lock he started, and turned as pale as his shirt-collar. 11 1 Now, my friend,' I said to him, in a frank, pleasant way,' my advice to you is, for your own good, to make a clean breast of it at once.' Then you should have seen the ingenious won- der of his interesting countenance. "'Excuse Mr Mordaunt, but I cannot have heard you aright,' he said, after a pause. Ob, yes, you have,' said I, shaking a finger at him. Come, come, Mr Jenkins, it is time for you to drop the sheep's clothing, and stand forth as the wolf you are-only this I promise, in Mr Braithwaite's name, that if your revelations be full and ample you shall have gentler and more generous treatment than you deserve.' "A stormy colloquy ensued. Once I thought the man meant to strike me, but there was some- thing in my eye that restrained him, I suppose, for next be began to sob, and then to whine like a beaten hound, as, sitting on the edge of my writing-table, and glaring at the carpet, he stammered out a confession, which I reduced to writing, and to which he presently affixed his reluctant signature. "The revelation, when this slippery witness was at length brought to make it-he did not know, you see, Mr Cyril, how much his colleague had confessed-was a tolerably complete one. He had, it seemed, an especial malice against yourself, as the kinsman and future partner and heir of the em- ployer whom it had been the business of his life t dupe by a show of zeal and a display of mock honesty-I say mock, because, probably, when the books come to be over-hauled, it will be found that this was net the first time of a betrayal of trust. And Mr Jenkins thought, too, that young as you were, you did not share Mr Braithwaite's high opinion of him, and might one day ask troublesome questions. Wherefore, by the help of a forged character, he got this fellow Clint into your uncle's service, put him up to the trick which he had played on you —Clint had been a low comedian mountebank, and thimble-rigger in his time-and received from Clint himself, at the door of the city public- house, the morocco pocket-book containing the gold and notes which you in the hurry and excite- ment of the moment had—Why, Mr Vaughan, you are ill ?" But if he said more I heard it not, for I was weak with long privation and sleeplessness, and the blood surged up to my temples, and there was a roar as of waves in my ears, and I sank fainting on the floor. I have not much more to tell. How cordial, and self-reproachful even, was the reception which my uncle, Mr Braithwaite, extended to me, or with what tearful joy my Lucy's eyes met mine, are easy to imagine, but difficult to describe. "I wronged you, my boy, and I thank Heaven that I was wrong in what I thought," said the old man, with a sob in his imperious voice; "Lucy, here, knew you best."

FERNDALE SLIDlNG-SCALE AWARD. Reduction of 2\ per Cent. Messrs John Routh and Co., auditors under the above scale, have determined that the selling price of coal for the quarter ended March 31st, 1886, warrants a reduction in the workmen's wages under the firm of Messrs D. Davis and Sons of 2! per cent. This decision was communicated to the men on Thursday night. There is a good feeling existing in the place towards the firm, both for the substantial reduction they have made in the rents of their cottages, and for their generous assistance to the poor during these times of serious depression.

CHARGE AGAINST A CARDIFF ENGINEER. I At the Local Marine Board offices, Bristol, an inquiry was held on' Friday into certain charges of misconduct, drunkenness and neglect of duty, preferred against George A. Cross, in having failed tproceed to set in the British ship, A. Strong, on the 6th of April last,' on a voyage from Cardiff to Savona. Mr Henderson prose- cuted, and Mr McLachlan, from the office of Mr Cousins, of Cardiff, defended. Charles Richard Scott, a member of the firm of Strong, Scott, and Company, shipbrokers, Cardiff, gave evidence to the effect that defendant came to the office drunk, and said he did not like the chief engineer, and would not go to sea with him. Mr Robert Hedley Strong gave corroborative evidence. Mr McLachlan addressed the court on behalf of the accused, and called the defendant, who denied that he was drunk, and said he was capable of performing his duty. The board found the charge proved, and suspended the defendant's certificate for one month from the 6th of April.

JUDGE OWEN ON THE AMENITIES OF SOLICITORS. At the Cardiff County-court on Friday-before Judge Owen—Mr Belcher, solicitor, complained that in the case of Stambland v. Robert Dunn—a claim for wages and detention of goods-he was unable to conduct the defence owing to the solici- tor for the plaintiff (MrBraham Barnett) ha ving- with a want of courtesy which was not usual in tho profession-neg-Jected to reply to a letter in which he (Mr Belcher) asked for particulars of claim.iis Honour (to Mr Barnett): Why did you not answer Mr Belcher's letter ? Mr Barnett I saw his clerk the next day His Honour: You don't answer the question. "iou must give proper particulars. I order the case to stand over till the next court; you to pay the costs.—Mr Barnett: Will your honour allow me to say-. His Honour: S. o, I cannot. These things must not be done. You are bound to have the courtesy to answer a letter sent you by a "solicitor for the other side asking for particulars, and if you don't, I shall make your clients pay for it.

THE SUDDEN DEATH AT TREFOREST. A Sad Case. At Treforest on Friday an inquest was held upon the man who died with such awful sudden- ness near the line there on Wednesday. From the evidence it seemed that deceased had on Tuesday walked up to Treforest from Cardiff. He was quite destitute, and had not a halfpenny of money. At Treforest a woman took compassion on him, and gave him bread and something to drink. Then he got a job on the new line, and gave the name first of Howells, and afterwards of Nottingham Marsh. He started at 11 p.m., but after a few hours complained that he was ill, and proceeded to a shed near. He was afterwards found dead. The medical opinion was that death was due to failure of the heart's action, conse- quent upon exhaustion of the body, and the jury gave a verdict to that effect.

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YANKEE YARNS. DIDN'T KNOW HIM. New Agent-is there good gunning around here, my man ? Pat—Is it gunnin'? Well, I'd say so. Y must be a stranger here. If you Ioike shootiu', come wid me and see me pot the new agint. A TICKET FIFTY-FOUR INCHES LONG. Uenerai jrassenger Agent Watson, of the Fitch- burg railroad, recently sold to a Buffalo physician an unlimited first-class ticket for $3,140, the highest price ever paid for one ticket, it is said. The pasteboard was one and one half yards long, and consisted of thirty-five coupons and the contract. It is good for a special car by the Hoosac Tunnel route to San Antonio, Tex., and return by way of the Atlantic coast. SHE KNEW HE WAS FROM BOSTON. Texas laoy (atter a short journey on the rail- road)—Why, John, they've got a new conductor on the cars, and he's a Boston man. Texas gent-How d'ye know he's a Boston man? T. L-(with a gurgle of delight)-Why, 'wben he came round for my fare he lifted his cap and said, "Excuse me, madam, but I would esteem it a favour if you would kindly oblige me with your ticket." So different from the old way of Chuck me your pasteboard." I'll never ride with any other conductor after this. T. G—(mentally)—That fellow'll be having all the women running after him: he'll have to be shot.- NOT SO MONOTONOUS. I your lite must be very monotonous," said Ghs De Smith, looking in the window of the Austin post-office at the clerk stamping letters. What makes you think so?" It would drive me crazy to be ever-lastingly pounding letters with a hand-stamp It's the same thing over and over every day." Ob, no, it's not," xeplied the clerk. Yester- day I was stamping 27 on the letters, to-day it's 28, and to-morrow I'll be stamping the 29th of the month, so you see it's not so monotonous atter all." WHY THE BIRD DIDN'T SING. .Lvirs Olamwhooper, an elegantly dressed lady. followed by a servant in livery bearing a cage in which there was a green parrot, entered the estab- lishment of a New York bird dealer. "I bought this bird of you six months ago, and he hasn't spoken a word yet. When I bought him you told me that he would repeat every word he heard," said the lady, indignantly. Well, I say so yet. He will repeat every word he hears," replied the bird dealer, calmly. But he doesn't repeat a single word." That's because he can't hear a single word. He is as deaf as a post. You forgot to ask if he could hear, and I forgot to mention it. My motto is 'Honesty .i3 the best policy.' Morning, ma'am." Mrs Clamwhooper left the place suffering from rage. A FATAL MISTAKE. I Now that an election is approaching the market price of rabbits' feet is advancing. The following quotations may be relied upon. Good ordinary, fifty cents. Fair to middling, thirty-five cents. Candidsftes in Arkansaw who ignore the rabbit foot find election difficult if not impossible. A gentleman named McKennon announced himself as a candidate for congress. The next day an old negro called on him and offered to sell him the finert specimen of rabbit foot that had ever been seen in that part of the country. The distin- guished gentleman laughed derisively and said: Take that thing away from here." What!" the negro, in astonishment, exclaimed, "don't yer want it?" Of course not. I don't believe in such foolish- ness." "All right, sah," said the the negro as he made a profound bow. "All right, but lemma tell yer whut's a fack. Sutnin' bad is gwine ter happen ter yer." The old negro was right. A few weeks later it was proved that McKennon had attempted, through the editorof an agricultural paper, to buy the support of the Wheelers, an association of farmers. The editor generously received the money but the rabbit foot, carried by the loader of the Wheelers, protected the farmers. McKen- non made a fatal mistake.

MR. O'CONNOR POWER AT I LLANELLY. Mr J. O'Connor Power, late M.P. for Mayo, on Friday night addressed a large audience at Moriah Chapel, at Llanelly, on the Irish ques- tion. Mr Wm. Howell, president of the Llaneliy Junior Liberal Association, occupied the chair. A motion expressing unabated confidence in Mr Gladstone, the belief that his proposals for solving the Irish difficulty are states- manlike, conciliatory, and just, and de- serving of the united support of the Liberal party, having been moved and seconded, Mr Power rose to support it, and met with a cordial reception. He dealt with the subject of Irish reform in general, and the measure intro- duced by Mr Gladstone m particular, and de- clared that if the latter involved an independent national existence for Ireland, he would not be found in the ranks- of its supporters. On the other hand, he welcomed it as an honest effort to give local self-government to the inhabitants of the neighbouring isle. If anyone objected to that principle now he did it too late. He should have done it when the recent great reform measures were under consideration. At present the English people were face-to face with the natural outcome of that reform, if in the present House of Com- mons there were 86 out of 103 Irish members who, as Home Rulers, were the exponents of their constituents' views, constitutionally expressed. Mr Power dwelt on the fallacious supposition that one generation of remedial measures would pacify a people which had suffered from centuries of misrule, and then proceeded to lay down the proposition that there ought to be established in Ireland such self-government as was compatible with the integrity of the United Kingdom. He ridiculed the idea of Ireland as a self-governing kingdom ever being an enace fcoEnglani, and then proceeded to criticise Mr Gladstone's scheme. He referred at great lsngtb to the safeguards there laid down against the disunion of the empire, but expressed himself adverse to the first order of proposed Irish legislators, whilst at the same advocating some scheme of adequate proportionate representation. In very eloquent terms Mr Power pleaded that the second reading of the measure might be passed, and the opportunity might be afforded for discussing these and all other minutiae in committee.The motion was I carried with but very few dissentients, and the meeting soon afterwards terminated. -u-

BROWN v. THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY. In the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, London, yesterday, the case of Holtham v. Brown and the Great Western Railway Company, garnishees, came before Mr Justice Mathew and Mr Justice A. L. Smith, sitting as a Divisional Court. This was an appeal on the part of Mr J. Brown, of Newport, against the decision of Mr Justice Wills, at chambers, who had refused to set aside a garnishee order obtained by Mr Holtham.—Mr David ap- peared in support of the appeal, while Mr Blake Odgers opposed it.—Mr David said that recently Mr Brown obtained judgment against the Great Western Railway Company for 2750, as compensation for personal injuries. Mr Holtham then obtained a garnrshee order to attach 2200 of the damages under a judgment obtained by him against Mr Brown in July, 1876. He (the learned counsel) submitted that the whole of the damages ought to be handed over to Mr Brown, and that the garnishee order ought to be discharged. Since Mr Holtham had obtained his judgment Mr Brown had become a bankrupt, and according to the authorities Mr Holtham was unable to attach his amount.—Their lordships allowed the appeal, with costs.

MR. MUNDELLA AND THE I RAILWAY BILL. On Friday afternoon* a deputation from the British Iron Trade Association bad an interview with Mr Mundella at the Board of Trade Offices, Whitehall, to suggest certain amendments in the Railway and Canal Traffic Bill. Mr Mundella, in reply, said there was no desire on the part of the Board of Trade to do anything oppressive or injurious to railway companies, but what they insisted on was that the companies should so regulate their traffic as not to give preferential rates, or to impose bar tolls either upon railways or canals, but that everything should go as freely as possible, and that every like service should have like charges.

"GOMEK'S BALM".—A prompt cure for Chil- blains, Ch^ppedllands, Cuts, &c„ Is lid, 2s 9d boxes. KAY'S COMPOUND, for Colds and Coughs. Sold throughout the world, 9 £ d, Is lid, 3s 3d, <fcc.—Kay throughout the world, 9icl, 16 lid, 3s Sill dw.-Nsy Bros., Stockport. 76600

-11<- FACTS AND FANCIES. An eccentric old gentleman who had married hia second wife, a hoydenish young creature, en- tertained a party of gentlemen one afternoon, and was much chagrined by the non-appearance of his girlish spouse. Upon inquiring he ascertained that she was in the garden, and thereupon invited the guests out to be introduced to her. As they arose to accept the invitation, his son, a lad of fourteen, exclaimed; Don't do it, dad 1" "Why not?" he asked angrily. "Because," re- turned the boy, half apologetically, "she's up a cherry tree." Will Gordon was the town officer of his day in Maybole. Being at a roup at Kilhensfe, he was offered some drink which ne bad not declined. Sir Adam Fergusson, of Kilkerran, passing by, accosted him: Ah, Gordon, you should never drink so early in the day." "Deed, Sir Adam," said Gordon, you can drink when you like, but I maun drink when I can get it." One wintry day Gordon found himself very drouthy at Slate- ford, and going into the public house there he "drank his shoes." When stepping out again, he was heard thus to soliquise: Step forrit, barefit Gordon, if its no' on ye, it's in ye!" A SWIKT LIrrLE HOMILY.-All who have seen a French wedding know of the homely and fre- quently familiarly affectionate manner in which the officiating priest delivers a little homily to the intending husband and wife, in which, celibate as he is, he speaks with the authority of deep ex. perience on the duties of bearing and forbearing, on the happiness and privileges of the married state. But all who heard it were astounded at the surpassing plainness of speech of the following priestly address-" It is from the bottom of my heart, Joseph, that I congratulate you upon the great step you are taking. It was indeed sad to see you wasting your youth in a life of disgusting drunkenness. However, all is well that ends well; and it pleases me to think that you have said good-bye for ever to the wine-shop. As to you, my poor Catherine, thank Heaven heartily that you have been able, ugly as you are, to find a husband. Never forget that you ought, by an unchangable sweetness and a devotion without bounds, to try to obtain pardon for your physical imperfections; for, I repeat, you are a real blunder of nature. And now, my dear children, I join you in matrimony." RURAL RUSSIA.—One of the Russian corres- pondents of a Continential papell tells the follow- ing story illustrative of the relations of priest and people in rural Russia. A young peasant, being about to marry into another village, demanded the necessary certificate from his pope. Said the pope, Very well, dear child; but I must first settle my little account with you. You leave the village, but this means a loss to me. There would be-for your marriage fee, ten roubles; the average of children, seven—seven baptisms, towfels, and prayers, six roubles fifty copecks; the average of deaths of children, four—four burials, four roubles. You may have to give a daughter in marriage-certificate, one rouble; a son ) enter as recruit for the army-well, we won't mind him; but we still come to twenty-one roubles fifty copecks; let us say roundly twenty roubles." The young peasant said, after much consideration, But, pope, you may die before all this occurs." Dear child," replied the pope, it is unfortunately true that we all must die, and therefore we will square accounts for ten roubles." The peasant paid the ten roubles for the certificate, and left the pope, not quite con- tentedly.

THE SWANSEA TORY CANDI- DATE IN THE LAW COURTS. Action for Money Lent. In the Queen's Bench Division, on Friday- before Mr Justice Grantham and a common jury —the case of Foster v. Meredyth came on. The plaintiff, Captain J. W. Foster, was stated to have been chief constable of the Isle of Ely, and to be now residing at March. He brought the action to recover JB160, money which he alleged he had lent the defendants, who were Mrs Elizabeth Meredyth, widow of a London physician, and Mr William H. Meredyth, who, it was said, was the Conservative candidate in opposition to Mr L. L. Dillwyn at the late election for Swansea. The defence was that the money sued for was a gift and not a loan.—Mr Candy appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Muir Mackenzie on behalf of the defendants.—»It was explained by Mr Candy that the plaintiff waff& member of a well-known West End political club, where he made the acquaintance of Mr Meredyth, who was a member of the mme club. It tran- spired that Dr. Meredyth, father of Mr Meredyth, died in the winter of 1883, leaving the family in somewhat poor circumstances. The plaintiff took a liking to Mr Meredyth, and was after a while introduced to Mrs and Miss Meredyth. Subsequently Mr Meredyth wrote a pamphlet on the Egyptian question, and this was published with the assistance of the plaintiff, who eventually expressed his readiness to do what he could to help Mr Meredyth, and to that end placed P,100 in the bank so that it might be drawn upon by Mr Meredyth, who attained his majority in March last year. The £100 was finally supplemented by another JB60, and those were the sums now sued for. The plaintiff em- phatically denied that the money was a gift.- Mr Mackenzie said Mrs Meredyth was perfectly willing to allow judgment to go against her, pro- vided her son was released.—Mr Candy said that would not be of much use, seeing that Mrs Mere- dyth was abroad, and was believed to have no means. —Mr Mackenzie having addressed the jury for the defence, Mr W. H. Meredyth, the secoud defen- dant, went into the witness box, and said he always understood that the money was a gift. In cross-examination he stated that his mother was now in the South of France suffering from ill- health, but she would probably return in the course of the season. She was certainly not stay- ing away in consequence of the present action.— Mr Justice Grantham, in summing up the evi- dence, characterised the case as a very painful one, and regret^jd that it should have been necessary to have brought it into a court of law. The matter was not free from doubt, but it was entirely a question for the jury.—The jury con- sulted, and ultimately returned a verdict for the plaintiff against both defendants for £ 150— £ 10 being abandoned, and his lordship entered judg- ment accordingly.

WRECKAGE IN THE BRISTOL CHANNEL. In the course of Friday a Trinity House vessel towed to and deposited at Penarth Beach a con- siderable quantity of wreckage, picked up in the channel. The wreckage, evidently that of a vessel which has met with some serious disaster, was floating in a dense mass, and had it not been removed to a place of safety, might, in the dark- ness, have occasioned no small injury to passing ships.

"GAZETTE" NEWS. PARTNERSHIP DISSOLVED. Charles Roberts and William Edward Roberts, trad- ing as C. and W. E. Roberts at Shaftesbury, Dorset and at Cardiff, grocers and provision dealers, wine' and spirit merchants, and aerated water manufac- turers. FIRST MEETING AND DATES OF PUBLIC 'EXAMINATION. A Phillip Williams, tbe Anchor House, Lewis-street, Aberaman, near Aberdare, srrocer atl(j confectioner. First meeting April 2 noon, official receiver's, Merthyr. Public examination May 3, 10.30 a.m., Temperaiice-liall, Aberdare. NOTICE OF DIVIDENDSi Thomas Donne, of Red House, Maindy, Llandaff, farm bailiff. First and final dividend, la lid in the B, payable April 20th, at the Official Receiver's, Cardiff. Charles Taylor ana J ohn Forrester, trading as Taylor and Forrester at 72, Hiyh-street, Merthyr Tydfil, architects, surveyors, auctioneers, and accountants. Dividend 8id m the S, payable April 20, Trustee's Office, Cardiff. Charles Taylor, separate estate, 54, Crockherbtown, Cardiff, and 72, High-street, Merthyr Tydfil, archi- tect, surveyor, auctioneer, and accountant; dividend 3s 4d in the B, payable April 20th, Trustee's Office, Cardiff. John Forrester, separate estate 3, Glelieland-place, and 72, High-street, Merthyr Tydfil, architect, sur- veyor, auctioneer, and accountant. Dividend, 2s in the JB, payable April 20th, at trusteu's office, Cardiff. Evan CJeurge, 43, Church-road, Ton, Rhondda Valley, (rrocer. First dividend. Is 8d in the 9, payable at Official Receiver's, Mer.hyr Tydvil. ADJUDICATIONS. Edward Harding, Coity-road, Bridgend, grocer, &c.. commission agent. William Thomas, Kin¡:II-l'oa.Ll and Crockherbtown, both Cardiff, seedsman and nurseryman.

HUGHES'S BLOOD PILLS.-Great remedy for Biliousness, Indigestion, and Headache. HUOHKS'S BLOOD PILLS.—Celebrated medi cine for the Scurvy, Scrofula, Skin Rash, Boils. &c. HUGHKS'S BLOOD PILLS.—A Certain Cure for all Blood, Skin. and Nerve Camp aints HUGHlIS S BLOOD PILLS.—Noted medicine for Female complaints, for tne young and old HUGHES'S DuOpsy FILLi.-The great medi we for Dropsy, Wind, Watisf Gravel, Asthma, &c £ 20. —TOBAUCO.NI;T3 COMMENCING.—An illus- trated Guide (110 pages) Howto Open a Shop from £20: three stamps.—H Myers and Co., 109, Euston road bondou Tvlephono No, 75 QSf14

I THE EASTERN QUESTION, I Greece Stiii Unyielding. I {FUUIJTIIA TELSOBAX.] ATHENS, Friday.-The reply of the Hellenic Government to the fresh collective note of ti8 Powers is wholly unconoiliatory. It demands th* execution of the Treaty of Berlin, which wilt alone satisfy Greece and secure the maintenanet of peace in the East. M. Ma vromichalit, Minister of War, has tendered his resiguationte the Xing. ——————————————— it

THE RAILWAY DISASTER AT MONTE CARLO. I Sentence of an Official. I [BEUTSB'S TELEGRAM.] NIOE, Friday.—The railway official who WM IA charge of the station at Roquebrunejduring the I station-master's absence, when the railway aoaä. dent at Monte Carlo occurred, has been sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. I

PROPOSED DEMONSTRATION IN THE RHONDDA. It is proposed to hold a meeting at Cymmer, on the 27th inst., at which Mr Arthur J. Williams, M.P., will deliver an address upon tho Irish legislation of Mr Gladstone.

MR. DILLWYN AND THE IRISH QUESTION. At the request of ftlr Dillwyn, M.P., it is intended to hold a town's meeting at Swansea in a fortnight's timg, at which the hon. gentleman will explain his views on Mr Gladstone's Irish proposals. The Tories, too, intend getting np ft meeting.

A TOUR KILLED. On Friday afternoon Mr Knight, a clerk in the Central Telegraph Office, London, was walking with a friend along the cliffs near the romantic Devonshire village of Clovelly, when heattempted to reach some object on the edge of the cliff and fell over. He was picked up a hundred feet below. His death must have been instantaneous. He arrived at Clovelly on Thursday to spend bia Easter holidays.

THE SUICIDE AT CLIFTON. On Friday afternoon an inquest was held at Clifton on the body of Aruos Bowers, who shot; himself at an hotel there on Thursday. Deceased was stated to have been an ornamental mason at East Moulsey, Surrey. The verdict was that he committed suicide in a state of Tetnporary insanity."

THE WRECK OF THE ROATH OFF (PENARTH. All efforts to raise the wreck of the steamship Roath, which was sunk by collision with the German steamer Pemptos in January last, having proved abortive, the corporation of Cardiff, as the authority responsible for the removal of obstructions to the safe navigation of the harbour, have resolved to dispose of the wreck by blowing it up, and for that purpose are now inviting tenders from persons desirous of accomplishing the work. The vessel, after being sunk, was dis- posed of by the underwriters to a north-country salvage association, and under tbe supervision of the representative of the latter, Mr T. A rmitt, every endeavour was made to re-float her, but, as stated above, without success. The Ruath for- merly belonged to Messrs' J. Cory and Sons, of Cardiff, but at the time she met with the disaster, was in the hands of a Waterford linn, to whom [ she had been sold. u

THE FOREIGN SEAMEN QUES- TION AT CARDIFF. 1 The question of the employment of foreign 1 seamen on British vessels, to tne exclusion of > Englishmen, continues to agitate the minds of the seafaring community at the docks, and in more than one instance has led to a free interchange of blows. Happily these quarrels, as a rule, have hitherto been confined to individuals, and have not assumed the character of a general conflict. On Friday morning, however, whilst a crew was being engaged for the large four masted iron ship Bandaneira, of Glasgow, what at one time threatened to develop into a serious disturbance occurred in the neighbourhood of the shipping offices. A number of British sailors presented themselves for em- ployment, but their offers of service were stead- fastly retused and the preference given to < foreigners. Thereupon the men commenced to hustle the selected ones, and there appeared every likelihood of a free fight taking place, when the police and Board of Trade officials intervened, and with some difficulty succeeded in quelling the disturbance. From the point of view of the Englishmen the else of the Bandaneira is a very j bad one. Not only are the whole of the man before the mast of foreign extraction --Germans-- but the captain and officers are also of the same nationality. The vessel is owned by Messre Denniston and Co., of Glasgow.

THE RELIEF QUESTION AT MERTHYR. I I I Meeting of the Starving Children's' ] Fund Committee. A bpacial meeting of the starving children's committee for Merthyr and Cefn was held on Friday afternoon at the Abennorlais-hall, Merthyr, under the presidency of Dr Dyke, one of the trustees, in or(ter to consider an application made by Mr David Morgan, as representing the OyfarthCa colliers, for a distribution of relief among the distressed or starving children of that neighbourhood from the balance of the fund which was originally raised in a period of general depression owing to a lock-out or strike.- Morgan, said the chairman, stated to the trustees at a pervious meeting, and showed by figureSj that a great amount of distress existed amongst the Cyfarthfa miners, and he grounded his claim, so to speak, on the necessity of helping the work- ing men of Cyfarthfa from some fund or another. -Mr David Davies asked what was the t. amount of capital.—Mr Henry Lewie answered j that there was how in the bank bearing interest, j. a total of 21,542 6s 4d.—Mr John Jenkins moved "That the trustees be empowered to give relief to the starving children of Merthyr and Cetn."— t Mr David Davies seconded this, as be thought there was very severa distress in the neighbour- hood of Cyfartbfa. Rev. iflees Evans. Mr Biddle (ironfounder), and Dr. James supported the motion. — The Rev. -j Charles Griffith and Mr Frank Jaines were averse to applying the fund in the way j proposed, and Mr Harrap moved an amendment i that the circumstances of the district do not appear to call for the relief being granted."—M« Smythe seconded this.—Dr. Webster incidentally mentioned cases of distress which had come ¡' under his observation at Twynrodyn and Dowlais, and the Rev. Howell Kirkhouse agreed that there was much distress in the neighbourhood, —Mr Thomas Williamjj, J.P., was in favour of the motion.—Mr Fraiik James suggested that they might perhaps appropriate the interest oiL the capital of the fund. Mr C. E. Matthews, a trustee, concurred.—Mr W. L. Daniel, another trustee, moved for the appointment of a committee of investisation to make special inquiries as ta the i-ee of poverty of working men in the district.—The Chairman then pat Mr Daniel's j amendment to the meetiug 14- persons voted | for it and 13 against, many remaining neutral.— j The Chairman declared the amendment carried. *] —Mr Daniel named a committee, and arrange- menta were made for the necessary inquiries to be instituted.

KAY'S COMPOUND of Linseed, Aniseed, Senega* Squill, Tolu, <fcc., with Chlorodyne. 9 £ d, Is lid, 2*M» o Chemists. CHLOKO-LINSEED COUGH LOZK-VGES, a medi- cated linseed extract, 6d; postage, 2d. Kay BIOIot Stockport, and all Chemists. MEDICINES, ELASTIC STOCKINGS, CHEMHMIA* Drus!<, Ac, by parcels post, under lib, 3d. Kay Bros. Stockport. Printed and, Published by the Proprietors, DAVID DUNCAN & SONS,* t their ateam Printing Works, 75and-76, St. Mary-street andWastgate-strOM inthe town of CArdiffp i 'tilt county of Qlawifftf