EXTENSIVE DEFALCATIONS BY A BOROUGH OFFICER.

Clever Capture by_Engllsh Detectives.

-The Chief Constable (Mr Jamos ■Withers) rived in Bradford yesterday afternoon from London, where ho lias been engaged for several days in connection with matters relating 'to the frauds committed on the Bradford Corporation by Wm. S. White head, deputy gas engineer. It was surmised at tho time of the discovery of the alleged defalcations that Whitehead was the pos 6 Borof a considerable amount of property* das a result of tho investigations made silica hiaairest Mr Withers ha? succeeded In recovering bank shares, railway scrip, and ,nk no t C9 to the value of some £7,000. There is reaaen to believe that tho amount ted covers the whole of tho investments holoneing to the prisoner. It appears tint ittimeaiatelyupon the discovery of tho frauds 'n ifies we re maJo, and it was found that Whitehead had left tho town. An officer of the borough police forco was accordingly despatched to Liverpool, and other pre cautions were taken to prevent tho departure of the prisoner from tho country. On the 18th fast., however, a letter was received by Mr D. Swallow, manager of the Corpora tion Gasworks, from Whitehead. The com munication was addressed from "Clonk room, Charing Cross station, London," and stated that by tho timo of its arrival in Bradford tho writer would havo reached Soain, The lottor also gave tho name of a friond in London who would recoivo and forward communications intended for the prisoner. Tho borough officials having dis covered in tho interval that tho defalcations were of an extensive character, tho Chief Constable was instructed to take moans, if nossible, t 0 secure the apprehension of the delinquent. Mr Withers obtained posses sion of the letter recoived from Whitohead, and at the same time was furnished with the address of the confederate, written ia the hand of a relative of the priaoner. On the eamo evening tho Chief Constable left for London, accompanied by a lady, who sub sequently called upon Whitohend's con federate, and having produced tho prisoner's letter, together with the envelope addressed by the relative reforred to, as ovidence of the bona jides of her mission, insistod upon an interview with Whitohead. The confederate stated that Whitehoad could not be communicated with under the spaco of two hours, but agreed to meet the lady at twelve noon on Friday, tho 19th inst., near the corner of Dartmouth-street. The professions of the lady were apparently sufli ciont to satisfy the confederate, for at tho appointed bour he was seen in Dartmouth- 1 street in tho company of Whitchoad him gelf, Mr Withers was near at hand, and before the couple could reach tho spot where the lady was standing WJiitehead was under arrest. Whitehead strenu ously denied that he was possessed of any available property, but having do posited hia prisoner in safe quarters Mr Withers called .a conveyance and directed the confederate to accompany him to tho defaulter's lodgings, which wore found .to be in tho eecluded district of St. John's Wood. Mr Withers hero demanded Whito heod'a property, and was shown to a wardrobe, in which ho discovered private papers, sixty-seven bank share 3, and Mid land Railway scrip valued at ;C 1,000. Amongst the articles recovered was a memorandum book, which apparently con tained entries of tho property owned by Whitehead. Tho entries disclosed the existence of certain gas sharos, which woro found in a bag subsequently handed over to the Chief Constable. On the prisoner being searched he was found to bo in posses rion of i'4o, which brought up the value of the property recovered to £5,700. On Saturday last Mr Withers conveyed his prisoner to Bradford, where he was detained in cuttxly. Further infor mation as to the proporty owned by White head, however, was subsequently gathored. It appeared that prior to taking flight tho prisoner had deposited with tho Yorkshire Penny Bank the sum of £1,000, ±'300 of ■which he withdrew on Juno 10th. Subeo- ! i quent to his arrival in London Whitehead »nt his confederate to Bradford, and ro- : covered tho balance of £700. Deter killed to push his inquiries to their utmost the Chief Constable returned to the ! Metropolis on Monday, and again on tho Wowing day, when, armed with a soarch i warrant, ho visited tho houso at St. John's Wood. A female aquaintanco of White head's was then severely questioned, with the result that the sum of j £1,200 in bank noto?, tho property of tho prisoner, was handed over on Thursday , evening. The Chief Constablo has thus been successful in recovering and account ing for the whole of the property detailed in the memorandum book kept by White head.

At a meeting of the Giis Committee of the Town Council, held yesterday, it was resolved to appoint Mr Wood to tho vacancy created by tho dismissal of White head, Attaching to the appointmont is £300. Decided that the collection of the gas accounts should be placed under tho control of Mr Gill, the borough collector. In future the municipal and ga3 accounts *ill be collected by tho same etaliof otlicials.

TUNNEL TO IRELAND

O.ie of the greatest engineering feats of tho ,»ge ia the proposod tunnel to connect tho and Irish coasts. Tho distanco by . the proposed route is twenty-one and a half, miles, to be driven from only two fans, and at a great depth owing to the remarkable trough which ekirta the Scottish coast at "about a third of the distanco between the stores. Sir Charles Crawford, who hns given the project great study, considers •that the work could be completed within eight yeara. He states that such a tunnel /would bring the coalfields of Ayr within forty miles of the manufactories of Bolfast; would make the magnificonta harbour of LoughSwilly the port of call for tho trans- Atlantic liners; would bring America nearly ~twer)ty-fgqr hours nearer Englnd, and pour Into Ireland such a vivifying stream of life ■ and commerce as would do more to spread ' Mflltort and prosperity than decades of ro medial legislation. As regards tho difficul ties ot ventilation, he thinks either air en gines,^ daily brought nearer perfection, or blectrieity, now working a tramway within »eoore of miles of Ponaghadee, or the con- I trauQua wire rope, so largely used in Amer fpa, would enable us to dispense with tho jmokobreatbing locomotives, and with it ~ banish the bugbear of asphyxia. Tho enor mous traffic which would be created, to gether with a reasonable rebate which tho Midland and other lines would doubtless V> gad to give on the voliimo of traffic passed pyer their lines, would probably smf "M to provide the £270,000 net revenue ftquired to give 3h per cent on £2,000,000 oobepturea ai,d 5 per cent dividend on lf,oq:i,qooehar.o capital.

The Zulfikar Difficulty.

Tint Zulfikar difficulty (tho St. Pttersburg porrespondentof the "Standard" says) re frains the one point in dispute, and if fy«siq, in maintainjng the objection sho hag 'SUM in this quarter, really aims at conces sions elsewhere, sho has not yet, 60 far as is Pown here, vontuved to develop her inven ts. Russia made a bold bid fro Meruchak 88 a part uf tho Penjdeh oasis somo time "g°. and it was met with a PW resistance by the late Liberal Ministry. It would argue atrango temerity R» her part to renew tho claim to W)rd Salisbury after having formally aban doned it to Lord Granvillo. Th'ero is, how- Pv<sr,_ good reason for mying that no pro- P.DBUion s in this sense a.c likely to bp made, *!ll'e if, encouraged by recent succpecs, lnißsm diplomacy should vonturo upon euch a step, it i« incredible that it should meet J?™ anything Uss ttap a decided rebuff. +no positivo ns*orfons of tho foroign Press »« to an unusually lively interchange of wiegram* between London and St. Peters °«rg are distinctly untrue. The Russian papers meantime contributp no new W and little enough in the way of com- Wmtary, conducive lo a bottor understand -02 of the situation. Tho '' Novoo Vremya" P. ft 8 thllt if England sends troop/ to wndahnr, £u ga i a must take Herat: but If se(l'ifnee is not by any means so neces- W" s t!> c writsr would have ua believe, m BRrne at least of ijioso whose opinion tl«pUC v 7 ei *hti" Hu^ia'would rather see W Ppglish at FTorat than themselves, P-TT* "nformation received from St ffßi'fs that Kusfia by no moans elavmsthe Zu'lfikar Pass, but insists upon lutß „ ° ftr!Join'n!-' territory as abso -2 D.ece^ ary for the security of hor S,Mi, Cal! 01'9 with Akrobot and the g*owl lands, ft is added that thi, terii and t \T* *he f°l° qi!e3»ion in dispute, 'tonniflT.' can onfy be settled 'by : tho ? t 7> of a conciliatory spirit on tho E»t IT. ' gland and Afghanistan [Tho "imcuity has been arranged,]

A Highland Tragedy.

It's three and thirty years past next Mar-

tinma3 since I first caino into tho Strath,

and I have never known a finer lad than Angus Mclntyro. No day was too long for him, and no hill too stiff; and 1 havo known him bring the deer homo upon his shouldore when the pony would have broken down in tho bogs. It was seven years ago, or it may bo six, that ho w-w married upon .lohu Kuthorford's daughter, and brought her here. Her father was a shepherd from the South country, and they say ho was sore against the match-for Kutherford was as obstinate as one of his own tups, and would always bo set against the flighlandmen, but between Angus and the lassie they had their way. That Rutherford would miss her you may believe ; and as for Angus, many a time he has said to me that hie heart was soro and sorry for the old man. And they had two bonnie childron. I have nover married myself, and I never mean to, bog ging your pardon ; yot I will not say but what I have sometimes wishe.U was Angus I miy have wished it one Saturday at oven, ju-t two months agono, if 1 hal little thought at the timo that I would never for get that night. We had been giving a look round tho braes at tho back of Botmvourd. for wo knew that Olenconon would bo down in a week or two. And Angus, ho would bo insisting that I was to stop with him for supper, and ho would bo stirring tho toddy, and the glass was going round, but yet tho bit wifo was tho cheeriest; thing in the cottage.- ,And ho had told mo that thero was a litter of foxes ia tho cairn en Funa chan : 'dcod, and tho shophord had been complaining that very day, and he said ho would need to be getting out somo of the terriers and seeing after them. And si I said to Jiim, nftor tho glass, that wo would be seeing about them ; and if it was a Pro vidence, as the minister might say, it was a Providence of tho wrong kind, but that very night I found tho fox-hunter from Lochloy at the kennels.

Ho's an o'.d man is Peter—aa koen aftor tho foxes as his dogs, but as stiff as Jock Rutherford ; and he would by no means stay with us ovor the morrow, that was the Sabbath. He was bid to be on the Monday with the tacksman in Cnilin; but if wo thought well of it, ho would tako the cairn onFunachan on his road. So at last I said, and always shall I ruo it, that ho was a wilful man, and must have his way. Had it not beon for Peter again, I would have turned back upon tho Sunday when we met tho minister. He said but little, but he looked tho more, and many'n the time that I have minded on it since. And thore was a boast of raven that would follow us, croaking, all the way up Glendocharty ; and Mary sho would have keepit back Angus from going with us, for both of them woro dressed and bound for tho kirk. And Angus himself, for onco, was not that willing, but ho said that if wo were set upon it, he was to show us the place ; so we whistled upon Smourach, his bit terror, and gave a kiss and a smile to tho wife.

The bitch fox had gone to her earth but little beforo us, and the dogs had opened on tho scent or over wo got near to the cairn. And Peter likes ill that any should interfere with his pack, so Angus had picked up Sraourach, and was holding hor in his arms. Well, the big foxhounds they stood whining and scraping outside ; and terrier after terrier would be sent in among the rocks, and when we laid our ears to the ground we could hear the fighting and the scratching But the vixen, sho had tho best of them ; and dog after dog camo back blown and bleeding, and tho day was getting on, and Peter growing desperate. It waa then that Smourach made a spring out of Angus's arms, though I well beliovo ho could havo hold her had it pleased him ; but he was proud of tho bit thing, and would always say that when onco she put ia her teeth, tho worse sho was worried the deopor they went.

But you are wearying, and I am coming to an end, and a doleful end it was for Angus. Tb« battlo had begun wa/so than boforo, and we all of us woro lying and listening, when some of the stones slippit from bo neath us. Angus was like a man distracted for tho day was closod, and unlo3B wo could open it out again, he had looked his last upon poor Smourach. So ho said i f bo hoved him to go in, and when I looked in his oyos I saw there was no holding him back. So ho strips his coat and in he crawls, and we could hear to him scrap ing away among the stones, when the biggest of tho blocks above him settled down. Ho must have moved some of tho small stones inside that upheld it. And thon thoro camo a groan through tho cracks that sent a gruo to our hearts, and we knew that tho great rock was upun him. vVe wore down upon our knees, and tearing away, till our hands woro bloody and our naila were rent; and we got down till we saw tho hair on the head of him, and the big bells of the sweat that wero standing on his forehead.

"Can you shift it, Donald '!'' ho could just groan out; mid 1 would havo given ten yoars of my lifo to fay "ay " to him. But unless wo havj brought half-a-dozen men with bar* of iron, wo could never havo lifted it one inch. But when wo could say nothing, and ho maybe heard Peter sob - for tho old hunter was crying like a woman -all ho broathod out was, "Then the Lord bo good to ,no I" and theso wero tho last words that he over spoko.—From " Fortune's Wheel," in " Blackwood."

A Gambling Tragedy.

At length there footis. eood reason to hopo that tho days of tho pestilential Monte Carlo aro numbered. But for tho knowledge that vested interests dio hard, it would be difficult to understand why this plaguo spot his been bo long permitted to taint tho fair Kiviora. Victims of its gaming tables now, as formerly,are constantly being lured to ruin and destruction. Hitherto suicides, however uumorou, hive beon powerless to bring about the purging of this Augean stable. But a tragedy bus just boon onacted within the little principality which should tell powerfully against tho continuance of its gambling saloon. A clerk in a Gorman houso of business, while spend ing his honeymoon in Italy, received the sum of 40,000 francs in payment of a bill due tp to his employers. On his way home he had the misfortune to etop at Monte Carlo ; but, fearing ita temptations, entrusted this money to the custody of his young wifo. On his roturn, aftor a brief absence, hq was alarmed to find his wifo missing. Tho terrible fact leaked out, dofpite the efforts of tho authorities to keep tho matter a eecrpt. The bride, it appears, entered tho casino from curiosity. Its allurements were, liowevc, too much for her, and sho began by staking tmall sums. These, of course, sho lost. Females, em ployed for tho purpose, egged her on to risk larger siima in tho fatal hope of rotrioving her lost fortune. Stake after stako was played until the last franc of tlio money con tjded to her safe keeping by her hiisband was gone. In her despair, the young wifo flung herself from tho rocks into tho sea, preferring death to facing tho man upnn whom she had brought ruin. A more tragic end to a honoymoon could not bo pictured. Nice is waking up to tho fact that it is b,eing seriously injured by tho close proximity of this dangorous noighbour. This fact, coupled with the painful imprps pion produced by the latest tragedy, may force the hand of France to bring about a suppression of the fatal attraction i of Monte Carlo.

A Blood-sucker.

The writer of "Melbourne Gossip" in the " Sydney Mail "has tl ( ofbllqwinginteresting paragraph:-" When Antonjo asks tho Venetian UdHrer : ' i < your gold and silver ewes and ram??' fchylock makes answer: • 1 cannot tell ; I make it breed as fast. And this must bo the enso \yith somo of the Melbourno moneylenders ; cno of whom, who is also of tho Hebrew persuasion, vraa examined in the Insolvency Court tho other div in connection with certain pecuniary transactions ho had had with a grazier o NVree Warren, to whom lie had advanced £•■SOO For t»is tllß w» tIie»?» David ilenry by name, admitted that 1)0 was tp recover El 500; beinsr at any rate 300 par cent. The man attempted to justify these exorbitant terms by stating that they covered therisk, as well as the bonus, and interest. When a'ked what special risk there was in this particular ca.e, the monoylender was driven their little prototypes in this city, and cover their wives and daughters with dia monds paid for out of money wrung from necessitous borrowers of money at rate of interest which aro simply appalling in their magnitude."

Dr. -Redwood, Bishop of Wellington, has presented to the Vatican a project for the division of bi« djocceo, with maps and o'the'naUers relating to it The scheme ,3 now under tho consideration of the Sacied College, but no deei-ion is likely to be arrived at until November.

THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE

A Perennial Conflict Renewed on Its

Anniversary.

Watkrford, July 13.—The anniversary of the battlo of tho Boyno yesterday caused a large increase in tho usual Sunday number of drunken men to bo seen on the streets last night. Among them were many of the soldiers belonging to a Welsh regiment doing garrison duty here. A number of citizens got into a drunken row with tho soldiers, during which the latter bayoneted to death one of tho former. The commo tion attracted crowds of men to tho scene, and when the civilians realised that one of their number had beon killed they became furious.and fell upon the soldiers with such foice that the latter were compelled to beat a hasty retreat to their barracks. The mob followed them up, but being threatened with powder and ball if they attempted to forco an entrance to the barraoks, contented themsolvcs with smashing tho windows of the barracks with stones. The rage of the populace was so great this morning that it was deemod best to transfer the Welsh regiment to somo other place. This was done immediately, and as tho soldiers marched from the barracks to the railroad station, surrounded by policemen, tho mob fjllowod thorn, hooting and stoning the soldiers. Several Parnellito members of Parliament havo telegraphed that they will bring the matter before tho Government, and demand immediate inquiry into the outrage. It is gonorally believed that the soldiers bogan tho row. Later. —Tho namo of the civilian killed during tho riot last night was Poter Grant. During tho hottest part of the conflict a soldier attacked Grant and plunged a bay onot straight through the man's hoart. The tragody infuriated tho people, and they foil with such forco on tho troops that the latter rotreatcd in full forco into thoir barracks, whero thoy wero besioged all night by citi zens. Twoprivatos wero arrested this morn ing on suspicion of being guilty of Grant's murder. A number of civilians profess to be able to identify the soldier who killed Grant. The oxcitement remains unabated.

BAKER AND BURNABY.

Contrast Between Two Soldiors — One Bright and Cheery, the Othor Re tiring.

Never an adopt in small talk, Vnlontino Baker grows more silent as the year? pass, says tho London "World." When ho doos

thaw into conversation it is in tho company of his intimatoß : tho presence of more ac quaintances would freeze him. Tho only man who could proporly draw out Baker, unlooson his tonguo for him, set it merrily wagging to the accompaniment of a smile and twinkling eye, was his fast and loyal friend Colonel Fred Burnaby. In appoar ance, manner, and temperament there was the greatest contrast between the two inseparables—the one prematurely aged, about middle height, monosyllabic, cautious, retiring, sometimes despondent, often melancholy and sad; tho other, a youngish, burly giant of six foet three, with a marvellous gift of fluent speech, expansive, jovially frank, sanguine, full of fight, open to all comors, everlastingly overflowing with good humour, droll fun and merriment. Whenever Baker talked gloomily of his chances against the Arabs, Burnaby would break out with a chenr "Ha, ha!" and wager that, with ''two hundred English gamekeepers" and a corresponding number of double-barrels and buckshot, he could go clean through the rebel Arabs and tho whole of tho dark con tinent, and emergo at tho Cape of Good Hope. Burnaby's jokes kept tho camp in capital humour, and many a time disporsed tho gloom from his friond Baker's mind Horning, noon and ovo tho two friends used to tramp up and down tho gravel path between Baker's reception tent and tho two storied eoruline cockloft which served for headquarters cllico — Baker in his blood red turban and undress uniform of grey flannel ; Burnaby in a pith holmot liko a flittered boohivo, in baggy trouser* and short jacket of dark, tweed, with both hands behind his buck, and a big cudgel swaying and twirling between finger and thumb-the shorLor man walking with stiff, inlirm-like quit. tho tall giant with tho clastic outward swing of his long legs. Burnaby's comradeship is one of tho two consoling memories which Baker ha: carried with him from tho Soudan.

The pocond memory is that of a certain nftornoon of sunshine and son breozo in oarly February, when a groat troopship under stoim glided into Suakira harbour with tho Tenth Hussars on boaul, and when from the crowded deck tho band struck up "Auld Lsng Svno," and tlio Hussars, ruah inp forward, wavod their helmets and choored and shouted, while Baker, with something liko a quiver on his lips, stoppo lon board, and, aftor fo many long years, mot faoo to fnco with his old rogimont. Having thus crossed each othor's path-" tho old conoi " from tho Balkan? and tho buttlefiekU of southeastern Europe ami tho "old Tonth" from the Indian plains and tho pas^oa of Afghanistan—thoy soon after separated and wont thoir ways, the one to England and homo, tho other to his post of duty among nn ulion race

THE POPPY IN PERSIA.

Nino Out of Ten of tho Aged Inhabitants

aro Opium Eaten.

FR' m limo immemorial opium has been grown in Persia in tlio neighbourhood of Yczd, and enough was always produced there to supply tlio demands of the native market. Nino out of ten of tlio aged in Portia take from one to fivo grains of the drug daily ; it is largely used by the native physicians, and a considerable export was kopt up via Meshod to Central Asia. Dur ing tho cotton famine cauped by our civil war tho attention of tho Persian ryot was tinned to the cultivation of tho cotton bush, but cotton Boon boeamo hardly worth grow ing, eavo tho email amount required for home manufacture, and tho villagers throughout the centre and south gradually turned their attention to tho cultivation of the poppy. Year by yoar this crop has be come a more favourite one ; and the rosult haa been that grain-growing has been much neglected, with the effect of raising the price in somo dietricts. In the neighbourhood of Ispahan, aa far as the eye can reach, nothing but fields of ppppies are to be seen, with a small patch hero and there of wheat or barloy, which tho cultivator produces for his own use or to give some rest to his land. Tho white variety of tho poppy is the one that is grown. It ia sown broadcast and very thiefcly, and when it first comes up roaeinblea a very abundant crop of dandelions. This redundanco is soon reduced by tho ryot, who with a short curved knife hacks away superfluous plants till those that are left stand somo six inches from each other. The reducing process has to bo gone through many times, and tho ground kept clear of weeds until the plant is six inches high, The fields are also iuigatcd once a woek until tho buds aro about to burst into bloom. It is th}s irrigation, probably, that u'oojunta for tho inferiority in the per centogo of morphia in Persian opium. And now that tho poppies aro in Mower ard tho petals aro about to fall, tho ryots, under tho direction of men from the neighbour hood of Yezd, who travel all over Persia to superintend th,e gathering of tho crop and its subsequent prepiration, begin to collect the opium from the plant. This is done by scoring the seed vef-sels with a small throo bladed knifo, which, makes three gashes an eighth of nn inch long. The operation is performed in tho afternoon. From these gashes tho opium exudes in tears, which aro collocted ab early dawn by scraping with a pieco of glass or a knife. If unfortunately a heavy shower of rain should fall, a large proportion or oven all of the opium may be lost. This gashing and t craping is repeated a second and oven a third time, Tho pop pies, after the opium is extractod, are used as fodder.

Foolish Beliefs in India.

A remahicable instanoo of the tenacity of old beliefs among »n ignorant class lately occurred not vi-ry far from Calcutta. Tho idea that the Government always inaugu rated every good work with human sacrifice was long current among the lower orders of the Indian people but it might be supposed that it had died out long ago. It appears, however, to be na strong as ever. The boat men on the Ganges near Rajmehal somehow came to bolieve that the' Government re quired 100,000 human heads as the founda tion for a great bridge, and that Govern ment officers were going about; the river in search of heads. A hunting party, consist ing of four Europeans, happening to pass in a boat, wcro set upon by the 120 boatmen, with tho cry, "UullaKatta," or cut throat, and only escaped with their lives after the greatest difficulty. The men were arrested, and thirty-one of them sentonced to term 3 of from one to three months' imprisonment.

THE HOME OF ROBINSON CRUSOE.

How It Looks To-day—Wbore Defoe Got

the Material for His Story,

Across tho harbour of Valparaiso is an island which possesses an interest forevwry one who has beon a boy. Occasionally an ex curaion goes orer from Valparaiso, and the Er glujhmen, who constitute a large fraction of tne population, with what few Americana there are, go over to spend a day or two and renew their youth.

It is the Island of Juan Fernandez, where Robinson Cruaoe and his man Friday, " who kept things tidy," had the experience that has given tho world of boys a» much enjoy ment as any that was ever written ia a book. Thero was a Kobinson Crusoe—there isn't a doubt of it, and there was a man Friday, too, and the inland stands to-day exactly as it is doscribod in the book ; but the surpris ing adventures of Mr Crusos as therein re luted do not correspond exactly with the local traditions of the story. As the yarn goes here, a man of tho name of Alexuuder Selcraig, who afterward culled himself Selkirk, was put ashore by the commander of tho Spanish ship Cinque Ports, as v punishment for mutiny. This island waa a favourite stopping placo for vessels in the Sputh Seas, as it has good ship timber, aua plenty of ex collont water, abounds in fruits, goats, rab bits, ant other flesh for food, and tho rocks on tho coast aio covered with lobsters, shrimps, and crayfish. It was a popular resort for buccaneers also, who ran into a well-protectod harbour to repair damages and get provisions. Juan Fernandez, a famous Spanish navigator, discoveied it in lfiu'3, and tho King of Spain gave him a patent to the island ; but as ho never occu pied it his titlo lapsed. In 1709 the Scotch man, Selkirk or Solcraig, becaino mutinous on board tho Cinque Ports, and hod to chooso between being hung at tho yardann or put ashoro at .1 van Fernandez alono. He took the lattor alternative, and was lett on tho rocks with his sailors kit and a small supply of piovisiona. To.his surpnso, aftor ho had been on tho island v few days, ho found a companion in an Indian from the Mosquito coast of Central America, who some years beforo had come down on the ship of tho pirate Damphior, and going ashore on a hunting expedition, had become lost and was abandoned by his comrades. This was tho man Friday. Some years after Selkirk and tho Indian were rescued by Captain Rogers, of an English merchant ship, and taken to Southampton, where the Scotchman told his story to Daniel Defoe, and it got into print with some romantic exaggeration. Tho island is accurately deaenbod, and tho visitor who is familiar with Robinson (Jrusoo can find tho cave, mountain paths, and othor haunts of tho hero without dilh culty; but Uefoo has located it in tho wrong goographicul position, having placed it on tho other sido of the continent and mixod up Montevideo with Valparaiso. It ia about twenty three miles loug and ton miles wide in tho broadest part, and is covered with beautiful hills and lovely valleys, and the highest peak reaching an olovation of nearly 3,000 foet. A hundred years ago tho Spaniards introduced blood hounds to kill oil' the goats and rabbits and to keep tho pirates away, but tho schemo didn't work. After her independence, in 1821, Chili mado Juan Fernando/, a penal colony, but thirty years aftor thopriioners mutinied, slaughtered the guards, and oscapad. Then it was leased to a cattlo company, which has now 30,0>i0 head of horned cattlo and as many nhoop grazing upon tho hills. Thero are fifty or sixty in habitants, mostly ranchmen and their families, who tend tho herds and raise vege tables for tho Valparaiso market.

(iroat caro has been taken to preserve tho rolics of Alexander Selkirk's stay upon tho island, and his cave and huts remain just as he left them. In ISIiS the otlicers of tho British man-of-war Topaz erected a marble tablot to mark tho famous lookout from which Mr Cru-oe, like the Ancient Mariner, used to watch for a sail, "and yet no sail from day to day.

Death of a Famous Circus Rider.

Lkvi .1. NoiiTii, tho famous circus rider and tumbler, died on Monday night, at 143, Wyckoff street, Brooklyn, aftor a long ill noss. Ho was ovor seventy ono yoars old. Ho was born in Nowtown, L.1., and moved to now stands, young North became fut-ci:>ated Brooklyn whilo yet a boy. During the per formance of a circus at tho old Military Garden in Brooklyn, where tho Court House with the feats of tho riders, and when tho show started for tho South he followed it

It was not long boforo ho became quite pro ficiont as a rider, although he reeaivod no salary whilo with this company, Ho re mained with it until he was fifteen years old, when he went to Cuba with Handy and Wo'ch. On hia return to America ho went West with I'urdy Brown, earning §14 a weok ; whilo subsequently with Wai-ing's circus ho made tho acquaintance of .100 Blackburno, tho famous clown, and with him planned a trip to Europe, which was carriod out in 1833.

North's iirat appearance ia England was at Livorpool, and his performances in tho ring wero so excellent that on reaching London ho immediately secured an engage ment in Astloy's circus. North at once bocame famous, and in a fow weeks Duncan, tho champion English rider, was obliged to loworhis colours to tho American. James Prico, tho champion tumbler of the day, found in North a worthy competitor, and in a sorios of contests at Astlev's, North far outdid his rival. One day Price' turned twenty somersault* in succession, and North thirty-three. Tho audience gave him an immense ovation, and ho bocamo tho Hon of London. Tho feat was at that timo unparalleled of its kind. Next year North surpassed this foat before an audi ence of lords and ladies at Leamington Spa, by turning fifty-five somersaults in succes sion. Tho ovont was commemorated by the presentation of a gold snuff box, which Mr North carriod to tho day of his death. He was at that timo with Ryan's circus.

In 1840 ho returned to America, and at his first appearance at tho old Bowery Theatre the programmes were printed on silk, as mementoes, and tho house arose and greeted him with rounds of cheers, The press spoke of him as " tho North Star." After a most successful tour in this country and a visit to Cuba, Mr North returned to England in 1542, and goon after married Mies Sophie West, the daughter of his manager, who survives him. He drove on his wedding tour with his bride- from Exoter to London, bohind an Ameriaan trotter that he had taken over with him. After performing in London, he joined Francioni's circus in Paris, where, on June 21, 1855. ho rodo before Louiee Philippe and tho lloyal family. Ho returned from his last European tour iv 1848, and forming a combination travelled through the South. In 1855 he built tho first brick theatre and circus in Chicago, and a you- later was olected an Aldorman. After n eoason with l.)an Rico he ran a canal-boat show, follow ing this businee.s in the summer and appeal ing in tho theatre in tho winter. In 1566, when 'ifty.two years old, ho mado his last appearance at Lent's Thoatorium in this city. Since then he has lived quietly in Brook , lyn, generally passing his evenings with friends at Dent's Chop-house on Jay-street. Until a year or so ago ho was in vigorous health. He loaves a widow and a son and a daughter!—" N. Y. Sun," July 8.

Italian Cruelty.

The following letter appeared in a recent edition of the "Times" :— Pir,—l have read the letter of "Ouida." and cari more than confirm what she says in regard to tho utter want of humanity to 1)0 seen on all sides. Should she come to Sicily and observe what continually takes place, she will bq moro im pressed than Bhe was at Naples, for there, at loast, there is a covering before the public, but here tho people delight in wit nessing pain. Tlje common way of putting a trapped rat to death is to throw pome petroleum over it and then eet it alight j the trap is then opened, and tho poor animal runs in ngony about tho street until it dies, amid the ad miring shouts of tho people. It is but a fow days since I witnessed a spectacle of this description ; the wretched creature uttered horrible cries, it soon died, and arespectable looking woman said, "This is not a good one ;it died too soon." T.hic brutality may be scon every day, partioulariy in* early morning. The common way of trannport iric fowls is to tie all the legs together in a bunch, hang them head downward, split the bunch in two, and throw it over the back of an ass or n man's shoulder. Tho unfortu nate birds utter screams of pain from twisted joints, and their poor heads droop lower' and lower until all power of holdinc them up oea»e/>, and they hang like dead creatures, the living heads swinging about and being banged against walls, posts, or any other object.

Twolvoand 15 hours of this kind of suffering is often inflicted. Mules and horses work their whole lives against raw and bleeding wounds', ('ollara aro not used, but a band aci'Oßs the chest. Aa the chest i.-< narrower than tho ribs, tho rope traces cut into tho flosh on the riba, and thore are nearly always raw places both on chost and ribs ; they aro always fearfully overloaded, and sprains aro tho regular afllictions of tho poor creatures. There is no remedy but firing, and in every streot one may see horses and mules only half healed from sovero firing drawing heavy loads. I travelled by post coach, and one of tho horse 3 literally wont on three legs, the neiir foreleg dangling like a pendulu-i 11 ..us kept up to his work by constant violent Hogging. I told the driver the horso was" unfit to work, and that it was most cruel to make him do it. He assented to the unfitness, but demurred as to tho cruelty, saying that it was "not a Chris tian and had not |beon baptised," and added that his master waa going to sell itjto work in a mill. The gazette of Messina is much afllicted if an English sailor now and then gets drunk and speaks of it as a national disgrace to England, but fails to discover anything reprehensible in the brutality to bo seen on all sides. I could furnish nu merous othor instances, but I think whut I have said is sufficient to call attention to this moat painful subject.—lnn.

Festival Mishaps

The chapter of accidents arising out of tho ! French National FPte is this year rather longer than usual. > no of tho most sorious mishaps occurred at St. Denis, through two young fellows, employed at a boilermakor's, exploding a bomb of their own manufacture. Thoy placed the oxplosive in tho yard of the establishment where thoy worked, and set firo to it. A terrific explosion was at once hoard, and fragments of iron, glass, and timber flow about in all directions. Strange to say, tho two lads escaped; but their employer having come to tho window to look on, received a fragment of tho bomb in his face, and was killed on tho spot. At St. Donis also a largo theatrical booth was set on lire by the descend ing rockots. A woman, while endeavour ing to get up on a temporary erection placed on tho Boulevards, near tho Ambigu Theatre, in order to soe tho soldiers returning from one of the roviows, had a serious fall, by which she broke ono of her logs and put her shoulder out. Hor screams wero appalling as oho was carried to the hospital. In the Ruo Rochofoucauld a horso yoked to a carriage, in which was a lady, bolted through fright, und ran down tho steep and narrow stroet. Tho lady was thrown out, and had an arm broken. A young girl was severely burnt !by a squib, in a dancing room. A large fuel establishment in the Rue de la Glacioro was sot on fire by somo squibs which woro thrown about by children. No lives woro lost, but groat damago was dono to proporty. Dozous of minor acci dents woro also caused by squibs in other parts of tho city, and in somo cases persons who imprudently discharged revolvers in the streets succoeded in maiming both themselves and others. Groat indignation ] is expressed at tho impunity with which boys and grownup mon discharged squibs and crackers in the open, and tho authorities aro taken to task for having allowed auch proceedings to take place under their very noses without making any attempt to stop thorn.

Robbery from Lady G. Hamilton

Two young mon, named Gregory and Day, woro charged at tho Worship-street Polico Court with being concerned in steal ing a gold watch and two chains from Lady George Hamilton. Lady Goorgo Hamilton stated that ono day lust month she left a bazaar at Bothnal Green and entered her carriage, when a man whoso faco sho could not sco tlinist his hand through the window aporturo, and snatched away her watch and chain?, which woro worth about £'20. The thief ran away, and the witness saw no more of him,—-A footman to Lord George

Hamilton stated that ho saw the prisoner Gregory approach tho carriage, look in, and thon thrust in his left arm. He with drew his hand, in which were a watch and two chains. The witness got oil' his box and pursued tho prisonor. During tho chuso tho prisoner Day rushed botweon them and hustled tho witness, so that he was prevented from following. - Tho coach man gave oorroborativo ovidonco. — A warder of Coldbath-Holds Gaol proved a previous conviction against Gregory in 1379 en two charges of highway robbery, after previous convictions, when he was sen tenced to seven years' penal servitude.

Curious Delusions

A lunatic at tho Morris Plains Asylum wad muto for five year.-'. Even the physicians thought ho had lost tho poworof apjcch. Ono d;iy ho caught two of his tingerd in a washing machine, and they were horribly mangled. To the astonish ment of ovorybody who hoard him ho let out a number of words. That was three years ago, and ho had not upoken since. Another patient, a boy in tho samo institu tion, is a li>:htnin>j calculator. Tho most intricate problems are solved by him In fractions of aminuto. Tho boy believed that his head is lilted with little blocks with liguroß upon them, and they instantly fall into dili'oront positions and work out the problems. Ho think* lii-3 brain, in fact, is v multiplication table. His insanity seems pardonablo, for only a lew eano men can compoto with him as a mathematician. Every day ho soaka his head in water to prevent tho blocks from rattling, and oc casionally he begs for oil to pour into his eara so that tho imaginary squares will slip upon oach other moro easily.

Theory of Typhoid Fever

Ik a communication to tho " Lancot," Dr. Luwrenco argues in favour of tho theory that typhoid foyer is capablo of being sot up rfc nouo by bovine evacuations. In support of it ho cites n number of casoa that eamo under his observation whilo prac tising medicine in South Africa, in which, although tho sparso population of the country was favourable to tho tracing ot infection, uo connection with a previously existing case of typhoid could be detected, while there wan always evidence of the access of cattlo manuro to the drinking wator. In no case was ho ab!o to ascribe the disease to horse manuro or shoep manure, even where tho latter lay in groat quantities close to dwellings. ,

DIABOLICAL OUTRAGE IN MELBOURNE.

It is stated in tho Melbourne "Dally Tele, graph " that a doliborato attempt to blow up thoHev. J. A. Downio'sTabornnelo in Johnaton street Fltzroy, was mado on Tuosdiiy night last, The Kov. J. A. Downio 1« ft the nromisfS at a quarter to 10 o'clock on tho nitjlit ia question, having llrst Boca thnt tho pluao was securely fastened. An h'jur latsraloud expl.aion was heard br stvtrnl pow ns in tho neighbour hood but nothing was discovered us to its caimo until noxt morniuK. when the past rretur,, ing to conduct his usual Wednesday so: vices, found one of tho rear roma conaldorably tha'.tored and disarranged. The fii'nt nnpreanijn was tlia therohad been a gaa oxplosio ■, but Iho motor havliiK been turned oil' [lie ni«ht hofore, mid thero being an nbaoneu of fumes incidental to surli im explosion, tho conjecture wan soon dla pollid. 'Iho police baying b'.en sont :or, dis covered a small piece of fufo. and thoro being no decolouration of the shattered timber, tho conclusion arrived at was that a dynamitnox plosinnhad taken iil.ee. The anba.iiuent find ing of a pioco of tho onvelouo of a cartriitKe confirms tho 'th wry TII3 Tnbernhc'e.whi h U a largo weatherboard stru tiira. i-i'surrounded in neavly all nide3 by nn iron fvneo. and tho only paits exposed are tho faith-houllng and pastor's rooms. rl h'j latter room (15 feet by 8 foot) wiiß whnro iho exp'o.io 1 tdok pluoo. the charge being inserted underneath tho flooring. A vory severe oxplosion rttuliod. Rovoral boards being startoi, part or tbo flooring chattered to piece, a thai- cvorturncd. tho window-wh fractured, and n hole fevoral inohoa do!!U pioußhe.ll ■' tho ground. It is the bpinion ot a polici olllcei- who hai'hud f O.nc exrorienc'i in hanl.ini? dynuml 0 that hud the building baon cminoeod of move solid sub stance, Mich as brick or Btono, tlio oom wdnid baVo beon utterly demolished. It was 0. common thing for larrikins to startle the c n rogation at S)i vices by creating -explo sions. Th» Rev. J. A. Dowio states that it was customary for him to sit nearly every nigh tin the very chair that was ov> nurnod, onijagcd 1 ither in writing or in C'limmmtou. with membors of his congregation; Ho loft the Tubernaclo at nn carlior liour than usual on tho nteht In question, being somewhat tin-it. Ho i.^rf opinion ihat the f'i3B was a lone while bun ing, as ihe por ion which w.ißfounii eenapod fusion in parta, boingprnl.aM•'damp. He knows of nob'dy who would be likely to commit tho deed,and is greatly grieved at being HU"joeted to such diabolical treatment. It wuiild have boen much easier, he thought, for tlio culprit-i to have pirpetrat d tho explosion, with lc-s risk of rtntpcion, unnrr the faiihhoaing room, but thinks it hardly posriblo that a deliberate attempt on hia life wa3 made.

Tho following valuable testimony to the worth of the "N Z. Farmer" ia pp.miHar.ly valuab'-o as coming from Uio proprie or of "Burden and Field, au aericultur.il paper cir culating in South Australia. Mr A. Moliiioux write?:—" Your fourth number ia so Kqod that I feal f orry yon did nnt, send over tho fiivt. second, ar.d third. T. o •• V. 2. Farmer" is a credit to agricultural journalism, ar.d I oan lionostly say, without tho alish'ont eoslre to flatter, that it is tho best colonial journal of tho kiud that I have evor liai the plonsure to ioad "

"PALL MALL GAZETTE" EXPOSURES.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF

INVESTIGATION,

The " Pall Mall Budget," which arrived by tho last Sue/, mail, contains on tho front page the following leader, headed " True" : " Tho report of the committee of investi gation which has been sitting in the Man sion House, London, to inquire into tho truth of the damning impeachment of Eng lish morals and civil sition, published three weeks ago by thej ' Pall Mall Gazette,' was drawn up on Wednesday night. The Com mittee was in the highest degree representa tive—the Archbishop of Canterbury (as the Primate of the English Church), Dr Temple (as the Bishop of the great city whose secret vices had been laid bare with so unsparing a hand), the Cardinal Arch bishop of Westminster (as the ropresentativo of the Roman Catholic Church), Mr Samuel Morley (aa the mo3t prominent Nonconfor mist), and Mr R. T. Reid, Q C, who supplied the legal olement indispensable on every inquiry whero evidence i.j to be taken and sifted to form a court of reference, to the authority of which everyone must bow, individually and collectively. Tho members of tho Committee aro freo from the least suspicion of any other motive than a sinccro desire to ascertain the truth of a series of allegations which have startled and horrified mankind. They met time after timo, devoting many hours at each of the four sittings to the examination of witnesses and tho testing of evidence laid before them. Each member of the committee, as a Christian and an Englishman, was naturally anxious to rcmovo, if possible, tho awful charges which it was our mournful duty to bring against ' Modern Babylon,' but as day aftor day passed it became evident that this was impossible, and at list wo havo to pace on rocord, as tho unani mous judgment of those five competent invostigators, that tho system of criminal vico whioh our soc-ot commission exposed actually oxi3ts, and that our statements on that subject are consistent and true, This unanimous judgment, returned aftor grave deliberation, is now known throughout tho world. There is not a civilised capital to day in which the verdict of tho Mansion House Committee is not known and accepted as a sad but irrefragiblo confirmation of the genoral accuracy of our revelations. The most influential grand jury which could be examined has returned a verdict, and the wholo world knows that the torriblo .story of ' Tho Maiden Tribute ' is substanially true.

" As wo havo repeatedly said, tho object of our exposure was not to bring charges against individuals or classes. Every allu sion either to particular men or classes of mci might bo eliminated from the report without in tho loast dogreo affecting the salient features of the exposures. Those allusions, with one oxception, that of the Mayor of London, wero incidental to the general narrative. Tho Committee, thoro foro, in excluding from its inquiry such charges, in reality only shut out reference by tho way to individuals or classes, all of which taken together would not make up one column out of tho forty-eight of our ro issued pamphlet. "The conduct of tho police is another mattor. As to our genoral statements, for tho most part concorning tho force, wo are well content to allow thorn to stand on their own authority, pending that full official investigation which cannot bo much longer delayed. Tho question of tho police wus entirely subsidiary to that of the criminal vico which tho Secret Commission was asked to investigate and to oxpoao. It was thorofore tlio very heart and grist of tho wholo matter to which tho commission confined its attention.

"Ofthe forty-eight columns of our re port, all but six aro developed exclusively to tho subject to which the investigation of the commission was limited, The commis sion doos not guaranteo tho accuracy of evorj particular in a vast raxsa of detailed statements, a>,d no ono, least of all tho tho authors of the report, over oxpocted it todo so. In aroportco'.oringsomuch ground and in tho compilation of which so many different authorities woro consulted, trivial errors in point of detail were unavoidable. Tho pricn of a virgin in one place, for in etanco, was stated as .Cl 3, whereas, as a matter of fact, that particular girl brought t'2o. Hut such trivialities in no way weaken, but rather strengthen,the ovidenco as to tho substantial accuracy of our geno ral statements." ' We aro satisfied that, taken as a whole, tho statements) in the ■ Tall Mall ;G.\zotto ' on this question aro substantially true.1 That U a terrible de claration, when it is considered who make it, and what theso statements were; for those who make it aro men whoso names stand highest in univorsal respect, as well as in ollicial position, and tho statements — well, wo will roproduco «omo of them in order that tho full gravity of this declara tion may bo properly appreciated. " Tho innumerable crimes which spring from vico flourish on every side unnoticed ant) unchecked. Crimo of tho most ruthless and abominablo description is constantly and systematically practised in London without lot or hindranco. It is a fact that there is full operation among us v system of which tho violation of virgins is ono of the ordinary incidonts; thattheseyoungvirgins aro mostly of tender ago, being too young, in fact, to understand tho nature of the criino of which thoy aro tho unwilling victims ; that theso outrages are constantly perpetratod vith almost absoluto impunity, and that tho arrangements aro made witli a simplicity and efficiency incredible to all who havo not mado actual demonstrations of tho facilty with which the crimo can bo accomplished. Girls aro simply snared, trapped, and outraged oithet whon, under the influonco of drugs or after a prolonged struggle in a lockoJ room, in which tho woakor succumbs to downiight forco. Others aro regularly procured-bought at so much per head, in s-oino oises —or enticed under various promises into tho fatal chamber, from which they aro never allowed to oinerge until they havo lost what women ought to valuo moro than lifo. " Thoso aro some of the statements which are now declared on tho highest authority to bo substantially truo. Wo stand hero in tho belfry of tho world, ringing a tocsin whoso poal clashes discordantly upon tho oars of civilised mankind, Already, before tho substantial accuracy of theso awful truths was certified by tho Mansion House Committee, our roport had produced an effect unprecedented in living memory. It was reprintod in Amorica beforo it was reprinted hero. Of English voprints, au thentic and pirated, ovor a million^and a half havo already botnsold. One hundred thous and cop'ies|havo been sold in Paris, whore the roport lias been reproduced in book form, as well as by innumorablo newspapore. It has boon transl.atian for publication in German,.Russian, and Polish, " Even beforo tho judgment of tho com mittoo, tho heart of England was deeply stirred. All over the United Kingdom men and women have mot and are mooting to de clare with ovor increasing emphasis that this organisation of crime shall be d_o3 -troyod. The shudder of outraged humanity is almost universal. Quito universal, wo might say, except in tho oilicus of certain London nowspapors, and on tho part of our political chiefs ; and yot, if these crimes are being perpotrated (and wo now know that, taken as a whole, our statement of the facts is substantially true), what more sad dening spectaolo can bo pros-filter] than tho persistent, tho callous, tho obdurato silence of men whoso written or spoken words would contribute mightily to save theso unwilling and unwitting maidens from their doom ? Tho Minotaur is bad enough, but are not thoso journalistic and political hierophants of his oven worse, who, by their abuse, or their still more shameful silence, seek to stifle the great revolt of tho conscienco and tho manhood of Kngland against tho continued casting of .' The Maiden Tribute1 into 'The Modorn Labyrinth.'" In another part of tho Budget it is men tioned that tho subscriptions received up to July 30 to assist in the work of investi gation, prevention, and reaeuo by tho secret commission amount .t 1,003 10« od, £406'0f this amount having been received during the previous wotk.

German Military Pigeons.

It has lately lieon decided to incroaPQ the already large Btaff of Gorman military pigeons, of whioh there are at present in different fortresses about four thousand. Thf-ee pigeons are taught not to alight on tho dovocote, but, on the arrival at their destination, to knock against tho closed wire wicket, which motion cau?es a leaden bnll to drop, thereby opening tho wicket and sotting a mechanism in motion that connects with a bell in tho room of tho keeper. The officer then detaches tho moesago from the tail feathers of the pigeon, the message being rolled up in the hollo*? quill of a pigeon's tiilfeather, which leathers are carefully collected for despatch pur poses, as being most easily hidden among tho natural feathers cif tho oarrlorbird. These quills contain, in micro photographic reduction, about oighfc pages (octavo) of writing, which, by the hydro-oxygen gas microscope, are reproduced in natural Fi/.0.

LEISURE AND PLEASURE

By Mr Dion Bouoloault.

The following letter appeared in a rocont issue of the " Sydney lierald." : —" Sir, — The admirable lecture on 'Loisure and

Pleasure,' delivered by tlio Roy. Dr. Jefl'eris last Sunday, at the Congregational Church, will attract, as it deserves, universal nttention. That portion of his remarks concerning theatrical entertainments is too important, coming from a divine of his high character and attainments, to pass un challenged by those whose lives have been spent in the theatre, and especially by one who has nearly fifty years' experience of the stage in Great Britain and in the United States. I have not the presumption to con tend with the reverend gentleman's opinions ; I desire simply to correct his facts, lie is reported by you to havo said : " Do you not know—if not, you ought to know that the theatre is the recognised place of amusement for all the idle and all the vicious of tho city? " If this remark applies to the theatre in tho principal cities of Great Britain and the United States, I must assure him that it is a statement without foundation in truth or justice. If it applies to the city of Sydney only, then this city is a sad exception to the rule, and the management of your theatres should look to their purgation. Speaking for Great Britain and forthe United States— that is, tor communities representing nearly 90,000,001) of English-speaking people—l regret to state that the criminal records discover that there is more crime, drunk enness, and wantonnoss committed on a Sunday than on any other day in the week. If I wore as uncharitable and prejudiced as some Christian teachers, I might suggost that on Sunday the churches are open and the theatres aro shut. Justice and truth incline to tho belief that tho enforced idle ness on tho Sabbath is at the root of the evil, "Dr. Jefferis proceeds to say; 'The thoatro, as you know, professes to teach morality in a pleasant and interesting way.' "I am unaware of any such design. The drama is not a pulpit; it is one of the imitative arts, together with_ painting, sculpture, poetry, music. Art 19 the phil osophy of pleasure ; theee aro its schools; and tho drama is acknowledged to be tho highost school of all, as it imitates tho inner and spiritual man; not an attitude, but a lifo in motion.

" Whatover moral may be drawn from art should bo unrevealed, but susceptible of detection by tho keener minds, who thus enjoy a doublo delight; for, as Quintillian observed, 'Tho vulgar minds possess only tho pleasure of art, but the instructed re cognise its beauty,' (Docti mtionem urtis intcll'igunl, indocti rolnptcUem.) " I fail to sco any moral purposo in ' The Midsummer Night's Droam,' or in 'The Tempest/ or in ' As You Like It,' but I feel sweetened and bottered in mind after reading them. Must we forogo Cinderella and Ked Riding-hood because, there is no deepsoated moral in theso dear fairy taleß ? Are the landscapes of Claude and Turner to be regarded as evil indulgences because thero is not a Holy Family included in the subject? Is there to ber no Bweet folly, no fanciful dreams, no poetry in life? Ib it all to bo a puritanical glare, in which duty takes tho place of lovo, and faith displaces charity ? God, and even St, Paul, forbid, "Tho eminent gentleman continues : ' Do not be misled by the argument that if Christian people would go to the theatre, tho theatro would bo purged and restored to the high and honourable place among tho beneficial agencies of society.' " Many Christian people—and amongst them tho Queen—have frequented and con tinue to frequent tho theatre. There are a small sect of self-elected Pharisees who never enter a theatre, and there are a small sect of artii-ts who never enter a church, but tho Church is none the worse for their absence, and the theatre is none the worse for the loss of such an ascetic ad dition to their patronage. The drama is older than the Christian religion. It has eivon to the world Sophocles, Euripides, Menander, Shakespeare, Moliere, Goethe, and Schiller. The theatre never occupied so high and honourable a place in social estimation as it holdß at the present timo. To restore it to the place it occupied in any former time would bo simply to replace it in the mire from which it has been purged, and to re enact tho statute by which its ministers werp declared vagabonds by Act of Parliament—to restore the indecencies of Congreve, Vanbrugh, and Cibber, and to consecrate the immoralities of Sheridan. "Dr. Jefferis mistakes tho literary depre ciation of tho modorn stage for its moral degeneracy. If he speaks of the theatre from porsonal observation and daily ox perienco, his opinions are valuable ; but if ho accepts, wi.tho.ut knowledge of the facts, a koarstiy and vague impression, his con clusions are as visionary as thoy are unjust. Ho is right whon be calls the drama of the day feeble. It is so. So is ' Punch' when compared with ' Punch' of 40 year" ago. So is Tennyson when compared with Milton. So is Millais or Gustave Don! when compared with Raphael and Michael Angelo. So are wo all when compared with our betters. But feebleness is not vice, and that is the only question the Church is to be concerned with. We may ba silly, and write farces as stupid a? ' Tho PrivatoSecretary,' ormelodramas as commonplaco us 'The Colleen Bawn,'but there i« no harm in them ; thoy are morally pure. Tho recent spraad of education has created a numerous public, composed of the trading ctases, skilled artisans, and work ing men. Sixty years ago such people fre quented the public-houses and got drunk— now they spend their leisure and a couple of shillings at the theatre, and go home sober. They may be shallow-minded, but not so shallow or vicious as soino of thoir botters. I speak of tho importation of French dramas and opera-bouffes, brought ovor to London to gratify the prurient tastes of the uppor classes, who nearly exclu sively patronise the theatres devoted to such productions. The theatres sustained by the people of London aro devoted to no such pntertainments. The works of Charles Keado, Bartloy Campbell, P.ettit, Sims, Jones, and others—l quote at random—may not bo works of high' aspiration, but thoy are pure. They are written to supply the demand of the masses; and tho English masses, both in America and in Europe, de mand pure and wholesome food. Plain it may be—poorly cooked, perhaps—but it is of honest substance, and would not harm the moral digestitm of a child, Yours, etc., September 7. Dion Boucicaut/t."

Rioting in Ireland.

The labourers and the Land Leaguers in the district of Mitchelstown have got into antagonism. A mass meeting of labourers was called for Sunday, July 2Gth, in sup port of a newly established branch of the South of Ireland Labour Loague. Accord ingly, a groat body of labourers came to gether, and niter forming into military line mirched to the National League Room op posite, whore they resolved to hold their meeting. Shortly after, a member of tlio league, who attempted to enter tho building, o 'me in for a rough hand ling, and the pos;tlon of things rapidly assumod a grave aspect. Noarly a thousand persons had alroady congregated, and when the leaders of the labourers called for 'Cheers for the labourers' friond Mr Villiers Stuart," another parson called for "Cheers for Parnell." Choers and hisses followed, and at this moment, when the excitement was at foyer heat, some members of the National League made a rush to the league doors to obtain nn entranco j but they were ropulsod by the labourors, who stood in a menacing attitude with pikes and other such implement of their calling. A number of police intervened, and SorgeantMaherc.alled on lib mqn to nryest tho first who raised a hand or a weapon. This eoemed to have a repressing effect on both parties for a moment, but only for a moment. Pikes and all available implements were raised by f everal of the labourers. The police ruehed t> and fro, but wore powerless. The labourers hojd posspssion of the entranco, and fought desperately to maintain that position, but were compelled to yield. All tl elr implements were taken from them, and they were driven along the streets, many bleeding profiuely. Several persons Hung Btonos after them ' Cheersfor Parnell and " Down with tho landlords " were then called for and responded to. A large meet ingof tho National League was subsequently held, and Mr Coroner Carey declared that ho had been told on unquestionable authority that a local landlord stated that ho was "at tho back of the whole proceed ings, and tb,at he had djolavad his intention to break up t\\o league. At the conclusion o{ the "meeting a number of labourers joined tho league, and repudiated the ilUsaliou that thosn who disturbed the iiKeling represented the feelings of the labourers,

CATARRH OF THE BLADDER.-sin ls ii, B l.riu -1.. !,. h,il.,i,iiii\lii,n. nil nullify snil similar r,.iiiil;iiiii«, tiin.l l.j

Dress Reform.

I OAK quite conceive that a man thoroughly imbued with the prejudices received from a biased education, indisposed to accept now ideas and deeply endowed with a love for the beautiful, might be reluctant to pay his addresses with a view to matrimony to a woman wearing trousers. Still, under the influence of familiaiity with the idea of a change in the nether garments of the Bex, and especially should they be generally adopted by pretty women, it might reason ably be expected that a change of opinion and emotion would ensure, and that perhaps in time he might be brought to regard trousers as filling more completely his idea of the beautiful than do skirts of the present day. 1 here is another point that requires consideration, and that is the prac tice of wearing the gown cut low in the neck and without covering for the arms. It is doubtful if thia leads to any ill conse quences. It has been continued for many generations without apparent ■ injury. It might be supposed atfirstthought that bron chitis, pleurisy, pneumonia, andmuny kinds of rheumatism and neuralga would be the result of the custom, but such is really not the case, all of these affections being much more frequently met with in men who cover the chest and arms with several thicknesses of woollen material, in addition to a shirt of linen or cotton. It has been strenuously urgod by many so called sanitary reformers that women should support their skirts by straps passing over the shoulders, and some few have been in duced to adopt themothod. Itistobe hoped that it will not spread. A woman's hips are proportionately wider than those of a man, and there is no better way of keeping up tho many petticoats that it is sometimes neces sary to wear than by fastening them with strings or bands around the waist. Shoulder straps hinder the movement of the chest and tend to make those who wear them round-shouldered. Besides, they could not well be worn with a low-neck dress. Even if trousers should come into general use for women, it would be better that they should be kept up by the support of the hips than by suspenders passing over the shoulders.— Correspondence "North American Review."

The Art of Making Love.

Love-making is an art. There is no such thing as lovo at first sight. We may admire each other in tho beginning, but immediate affection is out of the question. First impressions, ne matter how favour able, must be strengthened by artful culti vation. Then lovo cornea, and it the man who sues makes no mistake, he is sure to win, no matter what hi* condition may be. Of course Jie must talk well and dress re epectably. More women are won by judicious flattery than by any other means, for every woman is more or less vain, and she is naturally fond of tho man who finds her weakness and handles it with skill. Let a woman once imagine that she has pretty eyes, and if a man will tell her so constantly and artfully she is certain to have a weakness for him which may be easily fanned into a (lame of love, and ardent love at that, This is merely an example. All women profess to hate men wbo are jealous, but in this they helie themselves extravagantly. No woman ever loved a man violently whom she was unable to infect with a sting of the green-eyed mon ster. It is true that some women are fond of complacent, easy-going, impassionato, men, but as a rule such fellows can never inspire the genuine emotion. It is your hot-headed, passionate and impulsive man who can drive a woman to distraction.

A man must be more or lees hotheaded, ho must be more or less jealous, and more or less passionate, to inspire c, woman with tho love that burns. The man wbo wouldn't kiss a woman when she tells him with her eyes that her lips are yearning is an idiot. I don't mean by this that kissing is at all necessary, or even proper, but it is certainly a part and parcel of the art of love-making, I heard a pretty girl from Cleveland say once that she has been devotedly sought by young Mr L. for four years. She was fond of him and admired him for his many ex cellent qualities, but she finally let him go, because, as sho put it, ho never had the courage to onoe squeeze her hand. To my knowledge there never was a purer or bet ter girl than that one, but she was too full of mercury to ever wed a man who lacked the spirit to at leust Bqueeze her hand in a lovable way. Real women, I protest, care nothing for milk-and-water men, nor do they always worship horoou, but, as I have said, if any intelligent man will make a judicious combination of flattery and ardent devotion he can win any woman in the world who doesn't hate him for a cause in the beginning,—'-'Exchange."

Making Artificial Flowers.

" TiiKv.ii are at least I,soogirls in this city engaged in the manufacture of artificial flowers," said a large manufacturer yester day. "Most of them are French girls, and the work is done in old lofts up around the French quarter. Few of these girls are of the type so familiar to the novel reader, the sweet young thing with a hectic flush and a consumptive cough, who is supporting her three decrepit maiden aunts on the pittance earned at this deadly trade. Most of them are buxom damsels, with big feet and a well-developed tendency to spend their wages on the adornment of thoir persons, Stiil some parts of the work do interfere somewhat with their breathing machinery, I believe. New York furnishes about half tho stock consumed by this country, which formerly all came from Paris, but only the cheaper varieties are manufactured here.

" Tho method is simply this : A hundred layers of prepared and tinted silk are laid one over the other and cut out by a stamp into the desired shape. TheßS are then re tinted, Bhaded, and put into the required chape by the girls. No, there is no differ ence of taste exhibited by different parts of the country. Thebost people in every sec tion want the best goods, though the South is rather a light buyer and prefers the cheaper varieties, " With artificial flowers, ostrich feathers and plumes are naturally connected. These are imported in the raw state and coloured and finished here. There are several large dealers; one especially carries on an im mense trade, and is now putting up a large building to accommodate his growing busi ness. ' He is doubtless familiar to your readers as a trotting man, as he owns the fastest trotting station there is going and is a prominent figure in racing circles.— "New York Tribune."

Marrying for Money.

I had a conversation recently with a very clever and attractive New York lady, who, among other misfortunes, was afflicted with §2,000,000. She said she would never marry, because she would not believe that any man wanted her for any other reason than her gold. " And what," I aaked, "do you lose thereby ? If a gentleman takqa you because you are so pretty, the small pox, a fall from a horse, any accident may destroy your beauty, and where will his love bo if it is for that reason only ho took you ? If another one falls in love with you because you are so fresh, so young, so lively, time is safe to destroy all that, and jour hold on him is lost. But if he takes you for your money, you need only beware of dangerous speculations, aad you will always keep the charm tfcat brought him to your feet, and ypa have nothing to fear." "That i? pias way of looking at it," she said ; a,nd "so completely did she embrace my opinion that barely a year after Ire i.eeived an invitation to her wedding with an English nobleman.—From " Temple Bar."

Providing for Children

Mr Rcskin has written to a correspondent as follows: "My dear Sir,—l am much interested in your letter, In the strongest conviction I would assert that the father should never provide for his ohildren. fie Bhould educate and maintain them to the very best o( hia power till they are of mature sgo—never living upon them in their youth. (Damned modernism eats its own children young, and excuses its own avarice by them when they are old!) When they are strong enough throw them out of the nest as the bird does. But let tho nost be always open to them. No guilt should ever stand between child and parents. Doors always open to daughter-harlot or son-thief, if they come! But no fortune left to them. Father's house open, nothing more. Honourable children will have their own houses—if need be, provide for their rjarents—not their parents for them.— truly yours, John Ruskin."

FLIES AND BUGS. \»ua. tomttnw**, wti. l»* tanjibjniln. i«. !; v.-'. c-ipuw.kV <i»i«a out by ls««h « ~l" (tciopllionie, flMser * Co., AjteuU. Aucklul

SELECTED POETRY.

SONGS OB" THK NEW MOTHERLAND, No. t. ~ .,.

'Tls a beautiful world, who will doubt it? V» With (lie a orious sheen of its flowers, And its love, whero'd tho heart that's without it} And its sunshine, its dew, and its showera. It may blow a cold breeze on the morrow, Or the zephyra may frolic and play; But who droads the thunder to-morrow— f; In the sunlight and glory to-day i Let our hearts then treasure no sorrow, Let the old world frown as it may : We can laugh at the storm of to-morrow Jf we are true-hearted to-<? ay. For the bell bird still Binga In the branches". Of the mlro, that waves on the lea; And the tui yet whistles in gladness . Of the sursbine and glory to be. ; It may murmur perchanco on the morrow '. If the »inter be chilly and long; ,' "" But hope yet shall dripe away sorrow, . c In love-bursts of beautiful song. -\ Let our hear s the d treasure no sorrow?) Let the old world frown ns it may; .( We can laugh at the storms of tomorrow, If we are true-hearted to-day. "Tia a. beautiful world, then believe me, Though often with sorrow 'tis bound ; If a friend of a day should deceive me. Why, twenty far better aro found; For one wintry storm -we can reckon A fihoußanil sweet showers of May, And wh'le the bright sunbeams still beckon, Why.'ict us b • happy and gay. Let our hearts then treasure no sorrow. Let the old world frown as it may ; We can laugh at tho Btorms of to-morrow, If we are true-hearted today, W. R. Wills.

THE LIGHT SHINES OUT FOR EVER.

There's a lighton the sea as'the breakers sweep. Over the Island Bhore, And its rays are flashlnsr aoroaa the deep. As they ofteu have flashed before. Uo in the lighthouse the keeper standp, Watching tho ship from the far ott'lantiH. Ab it sails away from the reef and the sai.ds Where the light chines out for ever. There's a light on the soa a* the ship apoeda'.on Over the foaming; wavrß, And the Btorm-olouda from where the blue sky shone. Ab tho tempest so wildly raves. Up in the lighthouse the keeper stands Watching the ship from tho far-off land n. But tho ship is safe from the reef and the sands. And the light shines out for ever. There's a light on the waves as our course we steer Uver life's troubled soa. And the glorious haven shall soon appear, And the land of the pure and f tee. Heeding the race of the storm no more, Shunningtboreefß where the breakers roa". Wo will hasten on to a happier shore, Where the light shines out for ever. K. S. HneBAND. Auckland. IHBS.

ON MOUNT EDEN.

(His thoughts and her thoughts.) " 'Tis a sceno of Grecian beauty—yonder Bho'es, those winding' bays, Touch the heart's chorda with tho power ot tho

sweetest clasic lays. Sitting in the fir-tree's shadow, by thy side t j

me it seems That the things we call the real are but vhru". yet blleful dreams." He gazed at her, so young and fair, Violet eyes and golden hair. And she said, "My gloves are shabby; I shall want another pair,"

"I have seen our mother Nature in full many a fretful mood, Angry, dashing foaming billows where the Viking's castle stood: Playful whisperings of the zephyr through Alhambra's olive grove. Sweetly calm I here behold her—sweetly calm as thou, my love. You are silent. Tell what might Be your thoughts, my jewel bright 3" She replied, "I think Mias Jones's summer hat a fearful fright!"

" Midas' wand, co paid the fable, changed tho basest things to gold; Ydun's apples in tbu Saga could rejuvenate the old. Nature's soft poetic beauties both such attributes combine; Fanning fire from dytne embers, giving wings to earth-bound mind; And our wounded spirits bless The balm ot Nature's loveliness." Hear from her this exclamation, "I should like another dress!"

O. E. Hooo.

PENSEES.

Qerald Mabssy's Religious Opinions IN 1863. (From "Good Words," Aug. Ist, 1808.) For evermore the gifts of God are given, Xhough laid up for a little while in heaven. Too lofty la his place in glory now For hands like ours to reach and wreathe hia brow, A few poor flowers we plant upon hia tomb. Watered with tears to make them breathe and bloom. Bethink ye, while the tears do ran, No Clnud would rise but for the San. Ah, me. hnw shall the lamp of life burn on. When all that visibly fed the flame is gone'/ The thing which has been shall be still, and we Shall find the lamp was fed invisibly. Lookup, nndlol our Doves of Earth but rise Tranungurcd into Birds of Paradise. In grief the soul is taking root; In joy it should be bearing fruit, Ihe dear ones who are worthiest of onr lorn Below, are also worthiest above. Before all men, dear Lord, I coll Thee mine; Before all words, dear Lord, oh call me Thine. Thorns for the Saviour, for the Scourge sweet flowers The old world used to give : surely its Bight Grows clearer, or this kindlier Age of onra Stands nearer to the mild Millennial light. The nap is bitter in the bark That sweetens in the fruit above; And spirits toiling through the dark Shalt reach at last their light of love. We cannot see the fragrance of a flower, Yet it asoends, the spirit of an hour. As fruit and {lower draw their ripeness down From Heaven, so human soula themselves may crown. The Gift is in itself sufficient sign There la a Giver, though wo may not sso; And if that gift be Heaven-like and Divine. Qiver pivlne and Heaven there must be. Ho spread His arms npon the Cross, To offer His embrace; He bowed His head in death to us. That wo might see His face. To walk our world of sin sad strife. He left His homo above; For us He freely gave His life. And only asks our love. Never rolnd the shadows. Ye are Children of the light. Bound for the land Where there's no more night t ! Fear not, fear not, Q ye of little faith, That He wbo bxings to Ufo can lead through death. Let me work now, for all Bternity With its Immortal leisure waiteih me. No sighs, no weaknesses In that glad world Where yearning avails more than working here, And to desire is to accomplish Gooi: For wishes get them wings of power and range, Rejoicing through illimitable life. Sweet is the Bird of T/jqhf.; Sweeter the Bird of Night. Beat strength la shaped from weakness passed away, as bones are built-up out of Life's decay. Peace, Haloyon-llko, to tier feet faith Is given. And it can float on a reflected heaven.;, a The dandelion takes the daisy's place. And brings more gold, but lockethall the grace. Tho light that left heaven centuries ago Hath not yet reacht dark thousands hero below. Ah, many a soul to day lies darky A jewel waiting but tho spark Of lißht that fllffi the smile of J&ov», To brighten with the best above: You Shining Ones-look kindly down. j And set them amil ing in your crown r 'We hew (ho arrows in the dark go by; The oo werlng soul no longer soars or sings; ,Or It might Know God's presence then most nigh } j Out1 darkness being the shadow ofHta Wings. ' Chribt cornea to tell His Poor that God hath1 noS ■Forgotten those J/ie seemed to have forgot, Gerald Masses.

AFTERWARD.

The path was long, but wlion she reached fntf end, ' : Tho oW«t of her quest, a grave, was there ; • The grave of one who was her dearest friend. i Whose loving thought had lightened every j care. : The two. together long had journeyed here; And borne each other's burdens day by day Shared every joy. and many a hope and fear •' Nor dreamed they of the parting of the way. : They camo almost unconscious to that hout They thought their prayer a'loving God most hear; : That in the fulness of His grace and power Ho would sparo each to ouch for many area -1 And so, when the dark shadow fell at last, i And one went on, God holding by the hand ; And one turned back to live but In tho past. ' : Grieving because sho could not understand. There was a pall upon her earth and sky She was so desolate and heaven so far, But afterward the Comforter drow nigh • And her worn aoul beyond its prison bar < Saw, as in vision, the dear friend she wept Rested and comforted beforo dhe throne* : ' No weariness again, no visiU kept; There pain and deathaßHSorrowareonloiowi, Was sho resigned to bear this bitter loss, Since he was spared earth's sorrow and; pain?' ■ -•■ '■' "'■■' l- Yos • for love's sAko she took hor heary cross,'; Thinking each day how precious was his gafo; She could not know why they must partso wonl. ; She must not doubt or question God'Bdo*J\ i will; r . And so she asked or Him that one groat boon— \ i The sweet submission, that teagtHiai

THE AUCKLAND EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1885.

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