MODERN MASSACRE OF INNOCENTS.

Two Hundred Children Crushed to Heath.

TJie Awful Calamity Described.

[FKOM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.]

-A tragedy, awful in the loss of life which it involves, but made tenfold more terrible by the circumstances of transcendent horror and pathos which accompany it, occurred at Sunderland, a large seaport town in the north of England, on the evening of Satur day, the 16th of June. Your readers will have already heard something of this appal ling catastrophe by cable, and are sure to have been thrilled with pity and sympathy ■at the shocking intelligence. It would in deed be impossible to exaggerate the dread ful nature of a calamity by which 186 children -little ones between the ages of three and fourteen—were suddenly, aud by means of a most cruel death, hurled pain fully into eternity. Yet the facts them selves are perfectly pUiu and simple, /vt a public ass-mbly-room, called ihe Victoria Hall, in the northern seaport town, a con juring entertainment for children was held on this fatal Saturday alternoon, beginning at three and closing about five. The youn£ people wtre admitted by school tickets, which announced that the Fays (a -couple of mediocre illusionists who travel about the northern province*) would give a grand day performance, consisting of "conjuriotr, talking waxwork«, living marionettes, and tlie great ghost trick." Any number of children would be admitted on payment of one penny each, reserved seats twopence, nurse or parents with children, threepence. A further induce ment had been held out in the "gifts for all gratis" dod<>e, the nature of which it would be a work of superero^atiou to de scribe to New Z-alaoders. The concourse was naturally enormous, the gallery alone Tjeing packed with at least l.Ouo little ones. Everything proceeded satisfactorily until the close of the performance, when it was announced that lhe prizes would be dis tributed in the pic. or area of the hall, the little occupants of the gallery, many of whom hela prize tickets, became excited, and some not wiahiug to miss the cro*nmg item of the programme, beg^n to make thtir way from the gallery to the area, being followed alrnoat imme diately by nearly all their companions.

TII« CVTASTBOPHE,

Tbe staircase is a winding one, and about three parts of the way down there is a doorway through which those wishing to teach the area must pass. At this spot a terrible block Occurred. The first coiners, in their natural eagerness to get through in some way or other, jammed the pa-sape in such a manner that a bolt of the doojr caught in the ground and held it firmly, just ajar. Before the children in front could get it opeD, the steadily growing pressure from those behind, who, owing to tne winding of the staircase, could see nothing of what was going on, cuuatd a block, and as the downward Btreim was still unchecked, there ensued a fearful crush. Soon the staircase, only seven feet wide, and the narrow lobhy, became filled with an indis criminate mass of struggling, shrieking, and fainting children. Hitherto none of the officials of the building, and none of the audience in the body of the hall, seemed tobave b enawaretbat anytbingwag •wrong, and the terrible struggle in that narrow staircase must bave been going on lor some time when Graham, the hall keeper, apparently strolling in that direction quice by chance, was attracted by the groans aiid cries of the poor little sufferers. jie at once perceived that the bolt had •caught in such a way that the door could neither be opened nor shut entirely, and through the aperture, about two feet wide, he caught sight of a writhing muliitude of human forms. He made one frenzied but futile effort to force back the obstruction, and then rushed upstairs by another way loto the dress circle, from which position, by strenuous efforts, he succeeded In stopping the further flow of children to the staircase. He then hurried bacic to the door, where he saw at once that the only means of rescue wa3 to pull the bodies one by one through the small opening already mentioned, and with the assistance of a man named Frank Sain, who was passing the hall at the time, and willingly gave his service?, the task was commenced. Graham says there must have been at least 200 bodies behind the door, and as they were handed out there was some danger of delaying the work of lescue by blocking with the little corpses the passage or lobby, but further help fortunately arrived in the person of Dr. Waterson and other?, and as soon as a body was pulled out by Graham it was rapidly examiufcd, aud if dead lnid out in the area and dress circle. If the little sufferers still lived—aud the sigss of vitality were often difficult to detect—they were at once con veyed to the Jnfirmary or to houses in the neighbourhood, where their injuries were tenderly cared for by the local physicians, who were promptly on the spot, and devoted themselves ungrudgingly to the work of meiey. Jfre long Graham had completed his work, and it was af-xertained that some 166 little corpses lay in the dress circle and the area of the building which had so re cently been ringing with their childish laughter.

IHE HEWS SPBEADS

Meanwhile the dreadful news had spread like wildfire throw;h the town, and the hall was soon besieged by thousands. .The ex citement was indescribable — mothers (■creaming for their children, and fathers striving to force their way into the building, it was, however, deemed prudent not to admit anyone until tbe work of lescua had been completed, and those per sons, all of them full of sympathy and com passion, who volunteered to assist in the necessary but thankless work of keeping back the excited crowds, fonnd it a ooobc dime-alt taslr, especially at the lower doer in the Borough Koad. When, at length, Graham had completed his mournful labours, in the performance of which his -energy and nerve were highly praiseworthy, those claiming to be the parents of missing •children, or of children who attended the Eerformance at tbe hall, were admitted in atches to the area and drees circle, where ensued heartiendiiig scene?, which will be indelibly impressed upon tbe memory of all whose painful duty it was to witness them.

THB SEARCH AMONQST THE DEAD.

There was an almost continuous wailing and robbing from scores of grown men and women, as they picked their way amouget *he rows of corpses, seeking to identify missing ones, and now and then a louder outburst of grief served to show that a face had been recognised. If unsuccessful in the area, the searchers were conducted to the dress circle. Many women repeatedly fainted, and all were overcome with grief. One affecting case was that of a poor woman whom Councillor Krrington was assisting in her search. As clio accidentally touched a corpse with her dress, a man said to her, perhaps somewhat ronghtly, " Doa't stand upon them." She replied, "Good God ! I have too many of my own to stand upon them." The unfortunate woman a

few minutes afterwards discovered three of her own children amongst the dead, and fainted. Outside the building equally agonising scenes were witnessed uutil far into the night. HARROWING SCENES. The pathetic incidents related on every hand are of the most touching character. "Tbis morning," a correspondent tele graphed on the Sunday morning, " I visited the homes of some of the children, and found wailing and lamentations on all bides. All were speaking of their dear ones, and dwelling on the childish ways of the little creatures in a manner in the highest degree affecting. One poor bereaved mother showed me the Testament which her girl had brought home as a present from the Sunday-school only a week ago. The little creature had left' home at three o'clock, to attend the entertainment, with a neighbour's child, running off full of spirits and happiness band in hand to gether, and when their bodies were found in that dreadful heap of crushed immunity they were still hsnd in haod. Another instance is related of a man who, with hi* wife, pushed his way into the hall last night and eagerly scanned the faces so quiet and still. Without betraying any emotion, he said, with his finger pointed and face blanched, "That's one." Passing on a few yards down between the rows of the dead, he said, still pointing with his finger, ■• That's another." Then, still con tinuing his walk until he came to the last child in the row, he'exclaimed, as he re cognised his third little one, "My God! All my family gone." Then, staggering back, the poor man shouted for water ; his face appeared to wrinkle into furrows, his eyes sank into his head, but no tears would come to relieve him "

Mr Fay, who gave the entertainment was at the time under tbe stage packing up to depart, quite unaware of tbe tragedy that was being enacted at the other end of the ball. Suddenly one o? his men rushed io, but fell down speechless In a fie. After some minutes he regained cooscioueness, and then gapped out some incoherent mes sage about a crush, upon wbich Mr Fay ran round to the scene of the disaster. The police in charge of the entrances had great difficulty in restraining people trom rushing recklessly into the already crowded build ing. They discharged their duty with much consideration, bat one officer had the misfortune to receive a severe blow trom a maddened parent, Impatient to enter, who exclaimed, "Man, it's more than flesh and blood can bear." One little sufferer named Kdith Smith was removed into the surgery of Dr. Potts in a dying condition, but Dr. Abrath, happily, succeeded In restoring animation by means of galvanism, and she is now doing well. a little girl called Margaret Koper.wbo was killed,was present with her brother and sister, who were saved. The two listers clung together as long as possible, and the last words of the one who perished were, " Tell mother not to cry. lam going to fath«r." Their father and two brothers were killed in Sea ham Colliery explosion. One lady, looking out of her door, momentarily expecting the return of her boy, was abruptly told of his death by another who had juet come from the hall.

Another correspondent wired : — The scene inside the hall on Saturday evening bailies all description. The children were laid out in row*, many with their faces blackened, their cheeks swollen, and their lips parched. The tears of those behold ing them could not be restrained. As parents were let in and out and identified their children, their shrieks were terrible to bear. In some cases they fell upon the dead bodies and clasped them in their arms, in many instances swooning away. The sight outside the hall was appalling. Men were to be seen carrying away in their arms the dead bodies with a white cloth over the faces. Tbe children had been examined and found lifeless before they were given up to their parents or relatives. At the tront entrance of the hall every few minutes a parent or a friend brought out a dead body. As cab after cab drove off, the occupants with their dead children on their knees, in the deepest grief, mothers who had come to identify their little one?, wept, and implored to fee allowed inside tbe building. On inspecting the place where the disaster had occurred on the stairs, there (-till remained the clothes, bonnets, and caps of at least fifty of the poor bays and girls who had been suffocated two hours previously.

APPEA.EA.MCE OF THE DEAD.

Stepping into the hall area, 1 found laid out five rows of corpses, the number by this time reselling about sixty, many hav ing already been removed upstairs at the back of the drees circle. Upon the floor at the west side of the dress circle was a long row of twenty corpses, nearly all girls, and on the east fide there were twenty-one boys laid out dead. Judging from the appearance of these, their ages varied from five to thirteen. Looking along the different rows in tbe hall belew, I saw some dreadful evidences of the sad nature of the event. In the first row only two bodies—both of girls about eight or nine years of age—remained, the other children who had been deposited here hav ing all been identified and removed. In the secoud row the first body was that of a little boy about sixyearsold, hisface slightly discoloured. Next to him was a lad whose iace was terribly swollen and blackened, and then came three girls, the fir*t about nine, the secoud about five, and the third about seven, all bearing signs of anffoca tion. A little space, and then two girls, about eleven aid six respectively, were placed together, the next bodies after these being those of two boys, one about six and the other five years of age. In the third row the first was a little girl about five, then a boy about six, with his hands crossed in front, next a girl of eleven or twelve, whose clothes And lowar garments had appaieotly been torn off in the struggle that had taken place, her remain* being covered with a brown apron, a fter a short interval were three children, two girls and a boy of about five or six, Then came a little girl, with her face dreadfully black ened. Her sufferings had evidently been intense, and blood had flowed from her left ear. Next to these in the same row were seven bodies, five boys and two girls, all, with one exception, bearing trace* of hav ing died a horrible death. The exception referred to was a boy, whose iace was white and placid, and very different from the swollen and darkened countenances of tho bodies on each side of him. At the end of the row lay a girl abont nine years of age, whose face was painfully swollen and distorted. Many bodies bad been re moved from the fourth row, but there still remained eleven corpses, mostly boys. <n: littla fellow of five years of age. lying at the end, had his jacket torn from his back, bis vest was torn open in front, and his mouth was cut and bleeding. Next to him lay a boy, very black, but otherwise looking very composed. Then came five dead bodies', one poor boy in tbe group being a dreadful picture, his face totally black, his mouth bleeding, and his clothes had oeen torn in the struggle. It must have been a dreadful death grapple by these poor children. It was afterwards noted that the boy just referred to was one of the last tanr to be identified. In the centre of the batch was an affecting spectacle, saddening {to behold. It was the corpse of a little ■ fellow who could not be more than four

years of age ; he had on a top coat much too big for him, his little face was white and almost unmarked, appearing to be simply asleep. On looking close there was a bruise on his right eyelid. He looked quite composed, and did not appear to have suffered beyond the slight bruise or what ever had caused the discoloured eyelid.

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

For some days after the terrible calamity at Sunderland, the London papers brimmed over with ghastly particulars of ihe tragedy. a special correspondent of the "Telegrnph" says:—"lt will be by no means an easy task to exaggerate the gloom and depres sion that at the present time oppresses Sunderland. The Joss the town has sus tained Is of an exquisitely painful nature, and it is doubtful if, instead of children, as many grown men had been snatclied away by sudden and violent death, it would have occasioned such profound distress amongst mauy classes ot the inhabitants. ' The poor little innocent children !' are wnrds one hears uttered a hundred times a day. It is impossible to walk a dozen pacps in the street, highway, or by-way, without being reminded of the recent appalling calamity. In the busiest thoroughfares there is not half the noise and bustle that greets the ear at ordinary times. The street criers subdue their voices, the pedestrian public seem io move about with a softer tread, the blinds are drawn, and the flags on the public buildings hang at half-mast, and at least two of the local newspapers are in mourning. This last feature contributes not a little to the prevailing melancholy. The construction of the building does not account for the calamity. My investigation in this respect 'was restricted to the gallery, and as re gards breadth of stairway aud facilities for entering and leaving this pare of the building, there are few theatres in London that are so well constructed. Victoria Hall is a building adapted for the accom modation of 3,500, and of this number 1,200 can with comfort find sitting room in the topmost aud cheapest pare. On Saturday alternoon the pence taken at the place show us there were a few over eleven hundred children in the gallery, so that reckoning it to accommodate 1,200 adults, it could not have been more than half full. There was no disturbance in the theatre, excepting of a harmless and playful kind attending the distribution of children's toys. But the little ones in the gallery— and it appears that at least a third of their number were mere babies of from three to seven years old—began to grow impatient for fear all the toys should be given away below, and none fall to their share. Ie is alleged that a clamour was raised, and some one ciied out, ' You must come down and fetch them if you want them,' that thereoa these ensued-a scramble—not a stampede of the able-bodied hobbledehoys of the London rough type, but a has'y scramble of email boys and girls. These experienced no diffi culty in leaving the galleiy, and there is nothing to show but that the first flight of steps - the longest—was accomplished with out difficulty, as was the second, 't was at the third and last that the catastrophe occurred, and there still remains the ques tion, Why did ill When I visited the place, and looked down on that horrible square landing, on which somehow or other were crushed, and crunched, and heaped together, to a height witnesses assert of six or seven feet, nearly 200 dead children, and at least half as many more who were dragged by main force out of the human mas?, and their lives saved, I repeated the question to myself. Here it was that, accord ing to the testimony of witnesses whose credibility is beyond question, the quick and the dead were so tightly grasped, and en twined and wedged together, tnat it was found impossible to drag those that were undermost out without great risk of dis locating their limbs. Here it was, after the scores and scores of bodies with half an-hour's hard work had been parsed from band to band, some upstairs, some down, that there was found remaining on the ground heaps of lent raiment, frocks and jacket sleeves, fragments of waistcoats and petticoats torn in shreds, boots and sock-: even, as though the poor innocents had been worried by vicious brutes. There waa such a horrible tangle, owing to such death grips and gripes, that according to the testimony of Dr'Beattie, whose humane efforts on the accasion are deserving of the highest praise, in many cases it was found quite impracticable to remove a living child until the several dead hands that here and there had fastened on it were dis engaged. It was clean swept now, but the historical Black t) ole of Calcutta could not have presented a more gruesome app:ar ance than this same landing, as it now ap peared to him who was the first to discover what had happened there. What is inex plicab'l io me is how so manybodies-not laid iiuL, be it borne in mind, but distorted and twisted—could find space in so small a receptacle. Fronting on to the stair foot, it is like, when the door is closed, thiec sides of a box, I waa at the pains to ascer tain its exact dimensions, and found it to be 7ft each way. That about a hundred and eighty poor little things were found de d there, is unfortunately ueyond dispute; bat how it could possibly have happened surpasses my comprehension. They were not like strong men and women driven to despair and fighting for dear lite, who could have leapt from the stairs one over the. other in a vain effort to reach the narrow aperture between the door and the doorpost. They mast have rolled down to the foot of the last flight, and then, blinded with fright, clung to and climbed over each other. They were not darkly groping because the place was so dim. I have seen it in print more than once or twice that the deplorable catastrophe was no doubt brought about in part by the circumstances of the staircase at this part being so ill lighted. Natural light, it was said, was decidedly deficient, and as regards artificial, the one small gas jet against the wall was absurdly inadequate. I'his, however, is incorrect, and, in justice to all concerned, should be contradicted. It was not later than half-past five when the accident oc curred ; consequently, it was as light with out doors as at noon, and, exactly lacing the last flight of stair?, there is a window about 4ft. deep. The hall-keeper was the first person on the scene, and, as nearly as I can remember, I will give his account of what he discovered on his arrival. He found a large number of children on the steps on the street tide of the fatal door, who seemingly were waiting for those behind and wondering why they did not follow them. On the nnt'ide landing was a large box which had contained toys, but was empty. The man who had charge of the contents of the box, nod had been distributing them to the children as they emerged through ♦he space 18in. wide between the door held by the bolt and the door post, was uoc visible, and, not yet suspecting any thing amiss, the hall-keeper put bis head in at the door ajar, to call the children to hurry out, when he then saw the toy dis tributor just within, endeavouring to with draw the bolt from its socket in the stone landing, and to release the door. The man graphically explained, according to the hall-keeper, that, suspecting something, from the strange noises and the sudden stoppage of the outflow, be squeezed his way in to see what was the matter, and waa there wedged, and could not get back,

and begged the hall-keeper to fetch assist ance. It will be as well, however, to refrain from discussing at present such an impo'taot feature of the case. No doubt at the adjourned inquest both the hall kcper and the toy distributor will have early opportunity for making any state ment they now feel justified in making. Whoever was to blame tor the disaster, no time was lost or pains spared in extrica ting those who were yet alive, or in iloin : all that could be done to revive the sparks of life so nearly suffocated and extinguished. No one is heard to utter the least complaint on this score. The cab and flymen were prominent in dis tinguishing themselves by the ready offer of the services of themselves and their vehicles. There was one poor fellow—a flyinaster—who must have felt the bitter ness of being deprived of his children none the leas for hi* having generously assisted others. The little bodies had all been re moved from the hall excepting two, and wondering, perhaps, to whom they be longed, the flymaater examined them with greater care, and discovered they were his own. It is not a little remarkable that ot the number of inconsolable Sunderland folk who at the present moment are lamen ting the untimely loss of tbeir little child ren, in no fe>ver than twtnty-six instances the bereavement is not confined to one child. Very luany have lost two, some three, and in two cases four. The afHio tion is not restricted ti any particular part of the town. It was not to the rougher element of Sunderland juvenile society that the entertainer appealed, but rather to fay and Suuday ■school pupils and their small brothers and sisters, aDd, judg ing from the respectable localities from which the deceased little ones hailed, it was the class especially catered for that mainly respnndtd. 1 have passed through a great many streets, and nearly every bouse ex hibited tome symbol of mourning for per sonal loss or token of sympathy for a sor rowing neighbour, But this was not the inly sign of whtre death had been busy or the most striking. What most distinctly marked the shade of grief was the cluster ing of children of the neighbourhood round about the threshold they had many and many a time crossed to greet a playmate who was no more. I had already visited several woeful mothers, and had still one on mv list the particulars of whose case I had forgotten, but 1 knew it was more than one child that had been snatched from her. Her name was Mill?, and she lived in (a street called Anne-street. It was a narrow thoroughfare, and opposite the house i suspected to be the one I was in" search of there stood a sad-looking group of boys and girls, pointing to the several windows, and laying their email heads together in soirowful con verse. 1 speedily learned that the Mills family was a more pitiable case than any I had as yet fallen in with. They had lost two little girl?, aged respectively eleven and eight, a boy of six, and a mere baby of three or four. Somehow they bad become possessed of tickets for Fay's entertainment, and their mother had con sented to the younger ones going in charge of the older girl, while she herself stayed at home to nurse an infant. Off they trooped delighted, and the mother never again saw them alive, and she was now alone; was Childless c cept fQr the babe in her arms. When I pictured to myself the happy home of yesterday, and contrasted it with the present desolation, my courage failed me, and 1 did not dare intrude on her. It was bad enough to contemplate where the family had contributed but one or two of the slaughter ot innocents. I discovered one poor soul clasping the lifeless fist of her two dead boys—sturdy, chuboy little fellows, with promise of strong lads in them. They looked so little like dead children that it was no wonder she refused to believe the dreadful truth, and again and again sent to the doctor, saying that she was certain there was a little lite in them. ' God forgive me,1 said she, ' but I shouldn't have felt it so utterly had they laid ill for a little time—had it been for a week or a day even—but to have them torn from me so soon, and when they were so full of life and and the little one, oh, ho was so pretty,' and in the agony of grief she clasped the younger boy in her arms, and kissed his white face a score of times. There was another poor foolish woman who was fit to lay violent hands on herself because her dear, small son, leaning on the back garden palings on the Saturday afternoon, had torn his jacket, and she had boxed his ears, and threatened that he should not go to the treat, but he begged so hard that she relented and mended the jacket, and let him go, and there he lay, and there the jacket lay, and, patched or sound, he would never wear it again. I could enumerate many more instances equally painful, but it will be kind to spare the feelings of those con cerned. I saw and heard enough, at all events, to make me feel glad that I am not a juryman.

Blind for Sixty Years.

Mas Harriet Holmes, a coloured woman living in Philadelphia, waa born blind, and continued so til! recently, when an oper ation was performed which gave her the power of seeing. A few days thereafter she was removed to one of the wards of the hospital which looked upon the street, and the bandage was removed.

The patient started violently aud cried out, as if with fear, amd for a moment was quite neivous from the effect of the shock. I>V» the first time in her life she looked upon the eurth. The first thing she noticed was a little flock of sparrows. In relating her experience to a reporter last night, she suid that she thought they wese teacups, although, strange to say, a few moments afterward she readily distinguished a watch which was shown to her. It is sapposed thit this recognition was owing to the fact that she heard its tiaking and at once as sociated the two togethe*.

"It seemed kinder queer," she said to the reporter, " but I knowed things potty quick." It appears that she was soon able to distinguish those objects which she had been accustomed to handle, such as a chair, a door, or a table. Che said that everything seemed pretty, and although at first all objects appeared to her bright and shining like gold, she soon became accus tomed to colours, and can now distinguish tliem very well. For a long time distant objects appeared so near that she thought lhat she could touch them. She begins to distinguish, distauo.es, if not too great. Owing to her first impression of distance, she was for some time afraid to walk with her eyes open, the ground or floor appearing a "fur way off,'' in strange cootiast with her impression of distant objects. 'Jthe popular impression tbat a person born blind 'who is restored to m»lu imagines that men and women are walking on their heads, and trees look like elephants, was not verified in her case, al though she now even makes mistakes quite as ludicrous, as in the case of the mistake of the Oirds for teacups. 'i he blaze from the lamp excited a most lively surprise in her mind. She had no idea what it was, and when it was brought near to herj wanted to pick it up. When night approached upon the day when she first used her eyes.ehc was in a fright, fear ing that she was losing the sight which she had so wonderfully found after sixty years of darkness.

SENSATIONAL TRIAL AT HUNGARY.

Alleged Human Sacrifice by Jeivs.

The trial of those charged with murder in connection with the Tisza-Eszlar mystery commenced in tbe Court of Hyiregyhaea, a small town very near the celebrated Tokay vineyards, in the east of Hungary, on June 19. This case, it will be remembered, arose from the disappearance of a young peasant girl of Christian faith, called Esther Solymosi, three days before the Jewish Passover of ISS2. Up to this day the case has remained a complete mystery, and the allegation that she has been mur« dered by Jews rests upoa the evidence of two boys, one five and the other fourteen years old, sons of Josef Scharf, the syna gogue beadle of Tisza-Kszlar. The act of accusatiou sets forth the following narrative of a'leged facts:—On April 1, 1882, three da\s before the Jewish Passover, father was ordered by her mistress to go to a neigh bouring village to buy some painters' colour.-. She started on her journey at half-past eleven in the morning, and on her way she met her sister Sophie, and spoke to her. She duly arrived at the small general shop, where she bought some red and blue colour and lamp-black. On her way home she again met her sister Sophie, but did not stop, saying she must hurry home, as the colours—which she showed her sister—were wanted at once. At a late hour on that evening Esther had not reached home, and accordingly her mistress went to look for her, first at her mother's house, and then at her aunt's, bat could find no trace of her. The case was, of course, much talked about, and eventually, owing to rumours of what had been said by tue two sons of Joseph Scharf, the district magistrate opened an investigation, but, this only took place in the beginning of May, nearly a month after the girl had so mysteriously disappeared. The boy Samuel Scharf, five years old, simply stated that his father and several other Jews, including a butcher, had murdered her at a morning rehearsal of the hymns and pryers which were to be used during the Passover. His elder brother, Moritz Scharf, however, gave the following details :— On the day in question, at 11 a.m., he wont to close the doors of the synagogue, but four men whom he names, three of them being batchers and one a Jewish beggar, sent him away, saying that they had not vet finished their prayers. As Moritz went bade to the beadle's "house, he saw Esther Sojymosi passing up the village street, and his father ordered him to call her in to arrange the candlesticks, on the wardrobe, it being Saturday, on which day religious Jews do no kind of work. The girl entered the room, and placed the candlesticks as desired. At this moment the beggar Wolmer came in and asked her to come into the syna gogue and do some service there, probably of tie same kind. Esther went, and when she had gone about a quarter of an hour the boy, who had gone out again into the courtyard, heard terriole cries coming from the building. He hastened to the syna gogue, but finding the door locked from in side, he looked through the keyhole, and Sates that he saw Esther Solymosi on the floor, partly undressed, two of the men holding her down, while tbe third cut her throat right through with a knife such as is used by the Jewish butchers. Two earthen ware vessels were, he adds, held under her throat to catch tbe blood, which was then poured into a larger vessel. This done, the girl was dressed again, and placed in the synagogue vestibule, where he observed four other Jews, who so surrounded the body that nothing more could be seen. The boy goes on to say that he hurried to the room of his parents and related what be had seen, but was silenced by bis_ mother, who peremptorily bade him hold his tongue. An hour later the beggar Wollnercaraeinto the room and told the boy to shut up the synagogue. This he did, seeing nothing of the body nor any blood epos. The story differs from that related hy the yoiinger boy in Eorue important pi I ts, tbe litter having accused his own father of participa tion iv the murder. A woman Jiving in the neighbourhood ef the synagogue de clares that at the time iv question she heard three or four appalling screams for help com ing from the synagogue, and several others testify to the same effect. On tho other hand, the time mentioned by the boy Moritz does not coincide with the evidence of the girl's mistress and of the shopkeeper, or of her sister. On June JB, 1882, the body of a young girl was found in the river. On this point also there is some strange evidence. Some raftsmen have confessed that on June 7, when they were passing the village of Kerecseny, they were spoken to by an old acquaintance, a Jewish raftsman called Smilovic, who asked them whether, for good pay, they would carry a body, which woald be handed to them, on a cer tain day, at a certain place. The bargain was concluded, and on June 11 they aatually received a body from Smilovics, and at the same time a dark woman of between tbirty and thirty-five banded to them a. bundle of clothes, and ordered them to dress the b')dy in them, ftinilovic.s helped with the dressing, and especially dictated how the clothes must be put on. A hankerchief containing red nnd blue colour win placed in the left hand of the corpse, and then the body, with the clothes and the colour, was again put in the water, where it remained several days attached to the raft, after which time the men produced it, saying they had just found it in the river. Cable despatches have broui.h r-the informa tion that tbe trials resulted in the acquittal of the accused, while the news of the deci sion led to serious anti-Jewish riots.

Corruptibility of the French and American Press.

IK France theatrical critics ore openly bought and sold ; in America, the same stage of things prevails. "Sadies and gentlemen," gaid Dion Boucicault, appearing one evening before an Ameri can audience, after the curtain had fallen on a drama which had received voci ferous applause, " I beg to inform you tbat I never pay the gentlemen of the Pross. I make this statement in order tbat you may be prepared for the unfavourable notices which will appear in to-morrow's papers, and that I may acquaint those professional critics whom I see before tue in large numbers with the fact that I know before hand in what terms they will discuss my performance." On another occasion the same actor told a friend—" I had beard that there was in New York one theatrical critic who was above a bribe. I sent him a cheque for a certain amount of dollars ; it was made .out 'to order,' and required y' endorsement before payment could be obtained. I have that cheque in my pr session now, and it bears at the bac- r name of the irreproachable critic name was the only thing which I ev v him to write for me."

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, AUGUST 18, 1883.

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