THE ENGLISH MAIL.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 204, 30 August 1888, Page 5

THE ENGLISH MAIL.

(FKOMOTTR LONDON COEEESPONDENT.)

[VIA BRINDISI.I

London, July ty A BISHOP ON THE MORALS OF

YOUNG AUSTRALIA.

The Bishop of Sydney, speaking at the annual meeting of the White Cross Society kfit night, waxed enthusiastic anent the morals of young Australia. In a congregation of 600 or 700 young men in Sydney Cathedral there were, he said, hundreds voluntarily enrolled members of the Church of England Purity Society, and: engaged in assisting its noble work. The Bishop of Nelson also bore witness to the, improving tone of morality amongst young men in the colonies. .

NATIONAL BANK MEETING.

At the annual meeting of the National Bank of New Zealand on Tuesday, an additional dividend of 2h per cent, was declared, making,with the previous interim dividend, 5 per cent, for the year. The Chairman (Mr BLoare) explained that the position of affairs in New Zealand had led them to curtail their business rather than run any riskß. This policy had naturally resulted in reduced prorits. The organisation of the Bank had, however, been carefully maintained, so that they were in a position to take advantage of any revival of confidence or prosperity in the colony. The past year had been one of exceptional difficulty, but from telegrams just received _they were glad to learn things seemed to be improving. They were doing business which was safe, and the Board were certainly prepared with a very good heart to fight the thing through, and they were confident that time and circumstances would in the long run work in their favour. Their prospects would to a certain extent depend upon the future price of agricultural produce, but he thought they might also have to look fprward to a development of_ mining and manufacturing industries, -which would add largely to the value of land. THE GORDON-BAILLIE FRAUDS.'

Mrs Gordon-Baillie is fairly in the toils at last. During the week that elapsed between the second remand and her appearance at Westminster on Monday last, Mr Frost's friends made a desperate effort to extricate him and his wife by redeeming several of their spurious .cheques, or "stunners," as vulgar people call them. The payee was a clergyman named Moll, and an intimate friend of Mrs Frost, sen., who, it seem?, is an infirm old lady suffering from heart disease. The reverend gentleman assured the magistrate that he only paid the money to ease the sick woman's mind, and not.with any idea of thwarting justice. Detective Inspector Marshall, however, took a different view of the proceeding, and the magistrate cautioned .Mr Moll not to meddle further with the case. As a matter of fact, he might just as well have saved his money, for though the tradesmen settled with laid no charges against the prisoners, they came to the Police Court and told their stories, which was quite as damning. The feature of Monday's proceedings was the .changed demeanour Of Mr- Percival Frost; towards his soi?disant wife. Removed from the personal fascinations of •that lady, and faced with the actualities of prison life and the possibilities of penal servitude, he appears to have reconsidered his position, and resolved to separate his case from hers. Mr Frost's friends were loud in their wailinga over his falling away from the paths of rectitude, and, b'f course, blamed Mrs Baillie entirely for it.,. Inspector, Marshall himself seems to think the man more sinned against: than sinning; He had a good name at Oxford, and appears to have been doing fairly well till he fell into Mrs G.-B.'s clutches After proving several cases of (tendering spurious cheques agaiust the prisoneis, and producing pawnbrokers' assistants to show that Frost personally had pawned the Palmer Lodg3 .furniture, Detective Marshall -requested the magistrate to grant him legal assistance. The case, he said, was getting complicated. Mrs Gordon-Baillie's frauds appeared innumerable and extended over a period of fifteen years. Nei.t Wednesday he should prove the series of frauds perpetrated by the female prisoner at Walthamstow in 1881. After that, it might be well to go back to 1877, when a warrant from this very Court (Westminster) was granted against "Kate Miller and Annie Bruce for defrauding a lady of £300. Kate Miller was arrested, but Miss Bruce "(as Mrs Baillie then called herself) fled the country. • The secret of Mrs Baillie's immunity from arrest .for so long lies, of course, in her good looks, pretty ways, and the scale upon which she proceeded. Tradesmen believed her unbusinesslike, ignorant of commercial morality^ anything but deliberately fraudulent. Even the manager of a house like Hatchard's in Piccadilly, who had been humbugged more than once bj> her years ago, changed a spurious cheque for £10 tor her like a lamb,, under the impression (which she- gave every dupe) that at least she meant to act Btraightly by him.

THE WALTHAMSTOW FRAUDS.

Wednesday's proceedings were contined entirely to an examination iutoMrs Baillie's (then Mrs Why te) Walfchamstow escapade The landlord of the house bhe took there (a Mr Harding) narrated with a good deal of unction the history of his being "taken in and done for by the dashing Mrs Whyte. You have heard it all before. How tho i lady drove up ia a smart brougham, talked of her aristrocratic relations^ the Hope Johnstones, Lord Aberdeen and the rest,and generally dazzled and charmed him. Mr E. Hard ing, of Gordon Square,'Blbomsbury, in narrating the affair deposed: Bhe said that she was a connection of the Earl of Aberdeen andMr A. Hope Johnstone, and that that was her name before marriage. She also said her marriage settlement >yas £1,000 a year, and that Sir Fred. Johnstone J was a trustee under the settlement. She spoke about her husband. She said that although he was called Whyttt he was an operatic singer performing under the name of Kuight Aston, arid that he was proprietor of the comiq.opera of " Olivette," which was being so successfully performed at that time. She said also that her husband ,was really Baron Aston, of Birmingham, and that there was a lawsuit then pending by. which he expected to get possession of his estate; i She also told witness that she had a large house* at Pinter, which she let for £500. In consequence of having married only a professional singer, her family, she isaid, were much incensed, and on that account ahe Ayould rather witness did not make any application to Sir-Fred. Johnstone, but she would give other references. She further said: that when her husband established his right to the barony of Aston, her friends would be reconciled to her marriage. At, the termination of the interview it was arranged she should bring her husband to see the place. She then left in her carriage and pair. Her nexb, visit was with a gentleman in a carriage, and he was introduced as her husband. ,Mr Whyte had very little to; say. He simply wore an eye-glass and looked on, and only said " yes" or "no" when she spoke. She familiarly addressed him as''Tom."

. The riett result of these calls were that Mr Harding and his partner let their house and sold their furniture to the too charming Mrs Whyte, receiving in exchange £70 raised by bill of sale on the funii-

bure, which was worth £200), and a choice assortment of pledges and promises. The Whytes stopped about three monbha at Walthamstow, when their whereabouts were discovered by some metropolitan creditors (lawyers), who promptly seized aad swept off the furniture. At Wednesday's sibting it was announced that the Treasury had taken up the case, and that on Monday next Mr St. John Wontner would prosecute.

FROZEN MEAT.

The prices of frozen meat this week have continued steady, with very little variation. Home-grown mubbon has fallen since last week, with a decline of 2d to 4d per 8 pounds. Scotch mutton, 5s to 5s 4d per 81bs; English (wether), 4s 4d to 5s per 81bs; German, 4s 8d to 4s lOd per 81bs; New Zealand (Canterbury), 3e to 3s 4d per 8Ibs; New Zealand (Wellington), 2s s lod to 3s per 81bs; Sydney, 2s 8d per 81bs; River Plate, 28 4d per 81bs; Zealand lamb, 4s td 4s 4jd per 81bs.,

MOSTLY. ABOUT PEOPLE,

The Rev. W. S. Green whose name I mentioned last week in connection with Emil Boss's death is still hule and hearty and as a great a climber as ever. The Geographical Society have jusb selecbed him as the fittest person to explore tho glacier regions of British Chimbia. Lady Bell as her friends in New Zealand will be glad to hear is in better health bhan she has been for a long time. She was able to be present at bhe wedding of bhe great Antipodean heiress Miss Henty to Captain Stark eg last week. The Bowens, the Samuel Wilsons, the Brights and mosb of the Anglo-Victorian set were amongst her guests- and Bishop Moorhouse performed the ceremony. • 4 The Rev. Dr. Hannay ami Mr Lee who have been commissioned to visit the Australian churches by the Congregabional Union are passengers by bo-day's Orienb boat for your parb of the world. There was a big farewell meeting of ministers, deacons, etc., at the. Memorial Hull in Farringtonstreet on Monday afternoon to bid them "Godspeed." The Morgan Mine shares are still at> a small .premium. The indefatigable promoter, by way of keeping them up, is inviiing parties of shareholders to (champagne) lunch at the mine, and afterwards inspect bheir properby. Really this Australian solicitor is a wonderful little man.

It is still ou the cards that Mr Charles Dickens may "do" the coionies with readings from his parent's masterpieces. He goes down well in the English provinces. ' •■•■'<!■.

THE NEW DUCHESS.

The Duchess of Morlborough made her debut at Mrs Oppenheinrs ball last Friday diessed in plain white, and not wearing a single diamond. The sole ornaments were a necklace and brucelets of priceless pearls. She is very tall, very"dark, and fairly goodlooking, but in no sense of the Word a belle. The good taste her d<ess implied was a surprise, as MrsHammorsley was famed in New X"ork for the bad taste of her costumes and jewels; in fact, used to clriveabout in alandau lined with—jusb think of ib—yellow sabin. The Dowager-Duchess and Lady Randolph Churchill are introducing their new relative everywhere. She is of course the lion of the dying season, an even to have achieved an introduction is to shine with reflected glory. What does poor Lady Blandford think of it all I wonder, an 1 in what rela* tiqn do the two boys, the Duke's children, stand to the new Duchess. They can scarcely be expected to recognise two mothers, can they ?