MAIL NEWS.

Evening Star, Issue 5994, 29 May 1882, Page 3

MAIL NEWS.

VITRIOL THROWING. At the Manchester Police Court, a young man named Watson, a sailor, was charged with committing grievous bodily harm upon a young woman named Parker, a machinist. The pair had been courting for about Bix months, and during that time slight quarrels had arisen. Believing a statement of the Erisoner that he was a married man, she roke off all intercourse with him. The other morning, however, he met her in Rochdale road, on her way to work, and asked her to meet him the same evening. She declined, and under the pretence that her face was dirty he wiped her left cheek with a rag which had been eoaked in vitriol. The whole of the cheek was burned, and the girl disfigured for life. England's drink bill. Mr William Hoyle sends to the ' Times' an estimate gathered from the excise returns of the expenditure upon intoxicating liquors during the year 1881. The quantity of beer consumed in 1881 was 970,788,564ga1, the value of which, at Is 6d a gallon, is L 72,809,142, against L 67,881,673 in 1880. The consumption of British wines and spirits was 28,730,719ga1, which, at 20s a gallon, amounts to L 28,730,719, against L 28,457,486. In foreign spirits the figures are 8,295,265ga1, at 245, amounting to L 9,954,318, against L 10,173,014 in 1880. For wine the figures are 15,644,757ga1, at 18s, amounting to L 14,080,281, against L 14,267,102 in 1880 ; while the consumption of British wines is estimated at 15,000,000ga1, amounting, at 2a per gallon to L 1,000,000, the same sum as in 1880. The total for 1&S1 in 1.127,070,460, against L 122,279,275, an increase of L 4,795,185. The consumption of beer shows an increase of 7.3 per cent., and British spirits 0.96 per cent., while foreign spirits show a decrease.of 2.1 percent., and wine 1.3 per cent. Taking the percentage of the total, it gives an aggregate increase of 3.9 per cent. With regard to tho consumption of beer, however, Mr Hoyle finds, by the avowal of the brewing interest itself, that the old computation of its liabilities to the excise for the malt it used was delusive. Malt was taxed as if a quantity produced 55 barrels which in truth produced 60, and accordingly the real increase in the drink bill is only 0.8 instead of 3.9 per cent* THE GOOD OLD DAYS. Amongst the curious data recently culled from the State archives of Hesse-Darmstadt, is the official tariff of fees allowed by the municipalities of Darmstadt and Bessungen to the public executioners of those towns for the performance of their penal functions. The tariff dates from the latter part of the fourteenth century. The German executioner (Scharfrichter) of the " good old times " was

kept pretty busy, and prospered although his fees were remarkably reasonable. His fee for boiling a man in oil was 12dol; for decapitating with the sword, 7dol 75c, and for quartering, the same. For breaking on the wheel he only charged 2dol 70c; for " fcc-i ring a man to pieces," Odol. He charged s<"olfor hanging, andhewouldburnaman alive for 7dol. For applying the " Spanish boot" his foo was only two florins. Five florins were paid to him every time he subjected a refractory witness to the torture of the rack. The same amount was his due for "branding the sign of the gallows with a red-hot iron upon the back, forehead, or check of a thief," as well as for " cutting off the nose and ears of a slanderer or blasphemer." Flogging With rods, although it involved considerable physical exertion to the Scharf rich tor, was a ■ cheap punishment, its remuneration being

fixed at three flcrins thirty krenzers. i( NOT YET." A celebrated artist of Berlin short time ago asked permission of the Emperor of Germany to make a sketch of the "Ordenfest," which Was about to take This sketch was intended to serve as a de&ign for a large painting. Knowing the painter, who had been present at all the court fetes, very well, the Emperor graciously gave the required consent, but on one condition, namely, that the sketch should be submitted to him for approval before being made use of. The artist willingly 'submitted to this restriction, and accordingly after the celebration it was sent to the Emperor. In it His Majesty was represented seated on the throne, having on his right and left the princes of the royal family. As an improvement to the sketch the artist had drawn the Crown Prince with one foot on the step of the throne, although this was not strictly correct. A.t a glance the Emperor perceived the artistic license, and taking a pencil disfigured with hurried strokes the unlucky leg which had ventured so near the Imperial chair. He then wrote on the margin in large letters these words: " Noch nicht I (not yet) Wilhelm." COMMITTED FOR CONTEMPT. Four members of an Oddfellows' lodge in Birmingham were recently arrested for a very seriotis offence and lodged in gaol. The arrested parties were the trustees of a lodge of Oddfellows, and had concluded to divide the funds of the lodge, amounting to L 5.000, among the members. A restraining ' order from the Court was issued and served upon them, which they disobeyed, and immediately thereafter resigned their office as' trustees, thinking that the Court would thus be prevented from taking legal action against them. The matter soon became known to the Judge, and warrants for their arrest were issued. When the deputy-sheriff and posse had captured their men and were about to take them to Holloway prison several hundreds of the members of the Oddfellows' Lodge, among whom the money had been divided, appeared at the railroad station for the purpose of liberating the prisoners, but the police were too strong for them, and succeeded in beating into the thick skulls of the would-be rescuers that the Court had the law and the lignum-vitas clubs on its side to enforce its orders, and the disobedient '■ trustees are now languishing in the Holloway i prison, although they are very popular in | Birmingham* I