ARRIVAL OF THE MAIL STEAMER 'CYPHRENES,' WITH THE EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN MAILS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XI, Issue 4081, 11 December 1874, Page 3

ARRIVAL OF THE MAIL STEAMER 'CYPHRENES,' WITH THE EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN MAILS.

OUR CALIFORNIA!* LETTER. [from our special correspondent.] Sax Francisco, November 10. The Cyplircnes arrived here on the 29th of October, with passengers from Sydney, New Zealand,, and Honolulu. Amongst the arrivals from New Zealand, via Sydney, were the Hon. James O'Neill and the Hon. Hus3y Vivian. Mr. O'Neill reports the colony ot New Zealand to be in circumstances of extraordinary prosperity. Of course the Cyphrenes did not bring auy New Zealand mail. Two telegrams have been received here in reference to the temporary mail service. The first, a notice to the United States Postal authorities, intimating a desire on the part of your Government that no mails should be received for transmission to New Zealand' via San Fraucisco. The second telegram, received about ten days ago, withdrew the first, aud requested the Postal authorities to receive and forward the New Zealand mail as usual. It is therefore announced that the Cyphrenes will take passengers, cargo, and mails for Auckland, at which port she proposes to call. "7G EXHIBITION. The authorities in Sydney have made arrangements for a large exhibit of the products and manufactures of New South "Wales at the Centennial Exhibition, to be held in Philadelphia, in IS7G. New Zealand ought to be represented there ; your wool, flax, gum, and cabinet woods ought to be exhibited. If ever the Phormium tena-.c is to become the great staple product of New Zealand, you must look to the States as your legitimate market. America so far is not a flax-producing country. The fibrous plants indigenous to it are of comparatively little value. Had they the New Zealand flax the people of this country would long a"o have found some way of cleaning it and raising it to its proper standard. There arc many beautiful woods in this country, but I have seen none that surpass the mottled kauri of your North Island, or the rirnu of the South. All your furniture woods ought to be exhibited. Practically New Zealand is yet a terra incognita to the average American. An exhibit of Seuffert's cabinet work in Philadelphia would open the eyes of the Quakers, and lead to enquiries about the country wliich produced such beautiful workmanship. Even here in San Francisco there is very little known as to the resources aud climate of New Zealand. .Can't you send some one over here on a lecturing tour ? The Demosthenes of the Pro vhicial Council might undertake that duty. It would be particularly agreeable to him just now, as there happens to be a score of live Lords and Earls running around.

MUItDER Is so common an occurrence here that I should scarcely think of noting it, but for special circumstances connected with the most recent case, that of an English gentleman, a Major Larkyns. Larkyns was connected with an old aristocratic English family, but early iu life got adrift and wandererd through the world in search of adventure. He gained his title of major in the French service during the FrancoPrussian, war, where he distinguished himself. Coming to this country, when his funds were well nigh exhausted, he became connected with the Press of this city. Larkyns was unfortunately one of those men who could not nicely measure out the quality of his love, and became the object of a most engrossing passion on the part of a Mrs. Muybridge, the wife of a photographer of tliis city. Muybridge is an eccentric man, entirely devoted to his business. He is many years his wife's senior. The wife is fond of amusement, the husband disinclined to waste his time iu that way. He encouraged the visits of Larkyns to his wife, permitted the closest intimacy, and then finding his wife false, shot Larkyns. The peculiar relations that existed between husband and wife, his criminal neglect of her, and the cowardly manner. in which he destroyed Larkyns, robbed Muybridge of the public sympathy. During ilia connection with the Putsl, au evening paper, Larkyns had quarrelled with another, but very different kind of an Englishman. The latter on hearing of his enemy's death, behaved in a manner so repulsive to. the friends of Larkyns that one of them undertook to thrash him. Ellis, the individual alluded to, had declared his hope that Larkyns was in hell, and said lie would walk 20 miles bare-footed to see his corpse. A young fellow, an Irish gentleman—(_i. V. Darey—recently from Sydney, and who was a friend of Larkyns, took it u|jon him to chastise Ellis. The latter sought the protection of the Police Court. All the papers were full of the details of the ease, and the police-offices were crowded. The magistrate, however, declined to entertain Ellis's complaint, and the announcement made Darey the hero of the hour.

FRATERNAL RELIGIONISTS. During this week a singular occurrence took place in connection with the installation of the Rev. Mr. Renford, Universalist preacher, in this city. The ceremony was performed by a C'ongregationalist minister, a Jewish, Rabbi, an Unitarian priest, aud a Presbyterian minister. HORSE-TROTTING. San Franciscans arc quite excited over the victory of their little brown horse-Occi-dent," who has just beaten "Fullerton," a celebrated Eastern horse. '' Occident" did his mile in 2 min. 17 sec. Goldsmith Maid, the quickest trotter in the world, makes her mile in 2 min. 14 sec. The excitement on Saturday, when "Occident" won easily, was something, as the poet says, "to be seen and not described." Running races have not yet got a firm hold of the American people, but their success in training trotting horses is simply wonderful. WILLIAM SIIAEON, . the stock king of California, and whose wealth is fairly estimated at 25,000,000 dols., has just been elected a member of Congress, Sharon is putting up the biggest hotel in the world. Over 1100 men are employed in its construction. Ten years ago lie was as poor as a special correspondent. DR. EDWARD SMYTH fell overboard, and was lost during the passage of the British ship Ballochmyle, Captain London, from Lyttelton to this port. The accident happened on the Otii Septcm- ; ber. The deceased was a native of Dundee, aged 27 years. DEATH OF AN AERONAUT. Joseph Gruet Buislay, the aeronaut, who fell from his balloon last month, expired on the 14th ult., after sull'eriug intense pain. This accident will probably put a stop for a time to the reckless ellbrts to navigate the* air, which has been a favourite amusement on Sundays in this city. GARIBALDI IN WANT. It having come to the knowledge of a gentleman in Canada, named Ross, "that Garibaldi was suffering the penalties of poverty, he at once telegraphed a liberal present. This act-called forth many similar otters on the part of- Americanj, the mostrecent being that of tlie Garibaldi Guards, an Italian Volunteer cor] is of this city. Garibaldi's wants having, however,' been supplied by the people of Sicily, he declined the generous offer of his countrymen here. HANS ANDERSON, the Danish poet, has been made liappy by a very handsome present from the children of America, who fully appreciate his beautiful, charming stories and poems. STANLEY, THE EXPLORER. The Baroness Bnrdett Coutts has given Stanley a dog valued at £500. '

BISHOP SELWYN, who has been visiting this country recently, returned to Europe by the steamer Russia, on the 14th ultimo. DR. AYERS, the celebrated medicine-man —and exceedingly wealthy at that —has been nominated for Congress. "Go it, Pills !" SANDWICH ISLANDS. " Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." So said Shakespeare, or Bacon, a disputed point now, but one which. King Kalakana fully appreciates. His Majesty has at last put down the incipient rebellion which for a time threatened his divine rights. One leading chief has been condemned to die for his loyalty to Queen Emma. Kalakana is preparing to visit the United States as soon as he can feel certain that his claim won't be jumped in his absence. ENGLISH DIGNATARIES IX XEW YORK. Sir Edward Thornton, Lord Caithness, Lord Bostwiek, and Judge Peabody, are at present in the big city, and have been lionised to their hearts' content. Louis Riel, the Manitoba rebel, leader of the C-roole Frcneh in the rebellion against the Dominion, and who was charged with the murder of one Scott, has been elected by his compatriots to the Dominion Parliament, but that body has outlawed him; failing which, Scott's brother is waiting for lum, pistol in hand. ANNEXATION OF TIIE NAVIGATOR ISLANDS. Uncle Sam's envy was aroused on hearing of the annexation of Fiji, and now the papers are demanding that American interests in the South Pacilic be conserved by the appropriation of the Navigator Group. As an inducement they have got up a bogus story charging Germany with designs in that direction. It is more than probable that the question will be introduced in the next Congress. THE TEXEDOS. Her B.M.S. Tenedos anchored in these waters 011 the 21st ultimo. Her crew oame ashore recently to play a game of crickct with the C.ilifornian boys, and were whipped fearfully. In fact the Americans have \>een pulling the honours in all the English national games—boating, shooting, cricketing, and billiard-playing. Good for Uncle Sam. FRED GRANT. The President's son has taken unto himself a wife, aud the American "heart is rejoiced. The fortunate lady is Ida Maria Honore, of Chicago, the daughter of a millionaire. The papers overflow with descriptions of the happy event and of the presents, aud Emperor Grant has received a letter of congratulation from the Emperor of Russia. GENERAL SHERMAN'S RELIGION. On being questioned recently as to his faith, the bluff old soldier replied, '' I believe that if people only act half as well as they know how, God will forgive the balance." AX AMERICAN. WAY OF PUTTING IT. A New York Graphic artist called at the home of the Sartoris, for the purpose of making a sketch. The elder Mr. Sartoris appeared, and turned out to be a cordial, pleasant old gentleman, of the bluff and loud English type. " Demme, demme," he exclaimed, "no objection at all; make all the sketches you like. Proud of the honor; demme, proud of the honor." "Very like a whale. AMERICA GONE DEMOCRAT.—REPUBLICANISM, GRANT, AND THE THIRD TERM "KNOCKED AS HIGH ASA KITE." On the 3rd inst. nearly all the Eastern States were called upon to elcct senators and congressmen for the ensuing term. As you are aware, the present administration is Republican, and scarcely a solitary paper in the country calculated other than an overwhelming majority in favour of the Government; you may guess, therefore, the astonishment of the Government when it was clearly understood that next Congress would be thoroughly Democratic. Of course this is a heavy blow at Grant and his administration. The people at large are sick of the corruption that stains the country, from its chief magistrate to its poorest policeman. The effect—that is, the immediate effector the news ill Europe—was a further decline in American securities. But as the present incumbents cannot- be moved, and there can be 110 change in the Government for nearly two years yet, the Democratic victory can produce no immediate results. Before the leaders have a chance of talcing office, it is highly probable that this sudden burst of virtue will have exploded, and the heroes of the campaign have their itching hands well greased. Democrat, Republican, Independent —it matters, not one straw which party is inpower—they are placed there to bestow favours upon their constituents, and to protect them in their schemes of plunder.

I enclosc reports of tlu olectiou. THE THE ATI! ES. -Mrs. J. B. Booth is playing Shakcsperian characters at the Californian Theatre, supported by Joe Wheelocli. Her success is dubious. J. B. Booth is a brother of Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, aud also a brother of lidward Booth, the foremost wan upon tlie American stage. The " coming" tragedian of this country is John McCullough, ;l uative of the North of Irelaud. The Minstrels and Varieties' are doing the usual amount of business. GENERAL SUMMARY. The following -we extract from our American and English exchanges to hand :— The Pall Mall Gazette prints a rumour that the. Carlist War Department is negociating with the Madrid Government tor an ar•mistiee. Tlie Loudon papers of the 20th announce the suspension of FarraH, Young, and White, of Savage Gardens, in the corn trade, —liabilities, X' 50,000 ; also of i.emon, Hart, and Son, wine "and spirit dealers, of

s:o-strect, Tower Hill, —liabilities about £160,000.

The Alia California of the 9th ult. says:— Tile civil suit of Tilton v. Beccher came up yesterday before Judge Reynolds, in the City Court, Brooklyn, which was crowded with spectators, including many women. Tilton was present with his counsel, Judge Juillerton, "William A. iSeach, Judge Morris, and Roger A. Pryor. Beeoiier was represented by Tracy and Shearman. The case was called, and Judge Morris announced that the plaintiff was ready for trial; but Shearman objected to the trial b,--iiw commenced before the appeal had been heard on the order issued by Judge Xielson, and asked for delay, that certain papers •neeess-u-y in the case should be printed. Judge Reynolds tixed the time for hearing argument on the appeal at two o'cloek on Friday next, and the trial of the case was set down for Wednesday week, at ten a.m. It is reported that Germany, in consequence of the increase in the Russian army, will add 20,000 troops to the annual contingent:. i'iie confirmation of the oldest of the German Crown Prince and Princess, Queen Victoria's oldest grandson, took place on the morning of September 1, in tiie Fredenkirehe at ijjrlln. The Emperor and -Empress of Germany, the Prince of Wales, and all the leading civil and military dignitaries of the State were present. In reply to the summons by the oniciating clergyman, Dr. Heim, to litter his confession of'faith, the latter read a dissertation upon the Christian doctrine composed by liimsc. f. Xli'3 young Prince was then catechised, and h„:.nswcied the questions with the greatest selt'-posscs-sion. After listening to a sermon, mostly addressed to him, tiie Prince recited the Apostles' Creed, and was formally received into the Church. It is reported from London thai there arc '.ifteen hundred persons sick with typhoid fever in the town of L>a;-weii, Over, Cotinry of Lancaster, being more than one-sixtoenth of the entire population. A meeting called by .advertisement was held in the American Hall, Toronto, of those claiming to be heirs of Lawrence Townley. The estimated value of the estate is 500,000,000 dollars. There were fifty interested persons present.' The estate is at present without owners, as Miss Townley, in the seventeenth century, ran away with

(Fur ti-.i!Jon of i>: s c<. j j

a man named LawrenceJsweU is administered by the B^ S Lo G n°don n Xpatch dated October 19 ,»wthc activity of the German navy reports that the act { notably ltg ZT tO seize the Navigator Islands in the pS as Saphed from San Francisco creates great uneasiness. It states also that Gerraapy is increasing its squadron m Asiatic waters. A telegraphic dispatch from Berlin dated 22nd October disclaims any such intention in regard to the Navigator Islands. Bv the mail just arrived from China, details of a gigantic conspiracy hare been received. A large body of Li Hung Chung soldiery, headed by General Whang, has determined to scizo Tientsen, plunder the place, and put bo death all the foreigners therein. Thirteen of the ringleaders have been arrested, but General Whang has escaped. Two English gunboats—the Curlew aud the Hornet —were at Tientsen when the mail left, and the English, American, and French Vice-Consuls had asked for reinforcements. Advices received from Broussa allege that on the 7th November, about 200 Turkish soldiers led by an aide-de-camp of the Governor, and by membersof the Mussulman Council, obtained an entrance, not only into the ArmenoCatholic Church, but also into the Episcopal Palace, the walls of which they scaled. Ih ey dragged the bishop, who was dressed in his Pontifical robes, down the stairs and having broken open the doors of the church desecrated the sacred vessels, and struck with their sabres and wounded the men and women who were worshipping at the time. An immense crowd of Catholics, Greeks, Armenians, and strangers were collected outside the church, and loudly protested against the sacrilege which was perpetrated. A London telegram says Ihe scheme lately submitted to and adopted by the Exe-. cutive Committee of the National Agricultural Labourers' Union by a deputation from Mississippi, for the emigration of 0000 tarin labourers to the L" nited States, is causing a crreat stir among the farmers throughout the country. This immense draft of labour proposed to be made on the country w ill, it is said, be strongly opposed by the farmers here. The Labourers' Union has already enrolled a large number of men for the United there is every probability that the projec; will be carried out successfully. The continual increase of English emigration is attracting the attention of Government circles. During the present year more English than Irish have emigrated from Great Britain. Now comes another story about German intrigues for territory abroad (says the A.lUt California). Reports have aecused Germany with having made efforts to acquire one of Spain's West Indian Islands. But this has been almost indignantly denied by German officers of the Government, and by Spanish Ministers as well. Then there were reports of efforts made by Germany to get possession of a cluster of islands in the South Pacific. One of her men-of-war sailed into a port there and demanded a number of thousands of dollars for some real or assumed discourtesy or injury to German subjects. An American Consul hustled around, raised the cash and paid it over, to avoid the chances of the islands being taken possession of by those newly-made *' sea-dogs." And now we are told that Germany has been and is intrimiing in Mexico for a foothold of territory there, and that the Germans propose for the favour to loan Mexico certain shekels as an inducement for the concession. AVe shall expect now to see a disclaimer on the part of the German officials for the Government. But if Geimany does not know yet, she can at the proper time learn, and if she give the occasion, she most certainly will learn that Germany nor any other European nation need think for a moment of acquiring any of the territory of Mexico, either v>"ith or without the consent of Mexico. The United States does not want the territory of Mexico ; perhaps may never desire it. We have certainly, at present, territory enough. But we want no European dynasties established on any of the soil of North America, and we are not going to allow it to be done. Nor do we believe that Germany, by any offer or promise, could induce any Government in Mexico to accede to any such pvoposition. The Maximilian tragedy should serve as a warning to all such aspirants.

THE CIVIL WAR IN LOUISIANA. The New York Times has a private dispatch from New Orleans, with two days' later intelligence about the Conshatta massacre in Louisiana. The person who sends the dispatch is known here to be entirely trustworthy, and he vouches for the correctness of his information. The following is a synopsis of the "long dispatch." Two white refugees from Conshatta, have arrived liere (New Orleans), accompanied by a negro. They had come through the woods by way of Monroe. They are in a most deplorable condition, without shoes or shirts, and are very much overcome by their fright, fatigue, and exposure. One of them is Henry A. Scott, .of Townsend, Vermont. He served through the war in the Union army, and was first lieutenant in the Hth Vermont Artillery. He went to Conshatta to settle with other northern men in.Tanuary last. The other white man is a native of Louisiana, and an old officer in the Confederate cavalry. Since the war he has been a follower o£ General Longstreet in supporting the administration. These refugees left Conshatta two days after the murder of the prisoners. They report that they were warned by the captain of one of the White League companies that they must escape if possible, for he would be utterly unable to protect them, .on account of their support of the general government, which was generally known. The refugees say that the swamps stink with the corpses of the slaughtered negroes. The six murdered white men were told the day before their murder that they must take their watches and jewellery with them, as their captors would not otherwise be responsible for the safety of their property. They did so, and after they 'were murdered their bodies were robbed of everything that .had any value. They were entirely stripped. Four of these persons were married and had families. The guards who conducted the six men out to be murdered were 35 in number, well mounted and armed with doublebarrel shot guns. The refugees state the White League was continually receiving reinforcements up to two days after the murder. The league is organised in companies which arc well armed and disciplined, and thoroughly drilled by good officers. All the provisions in the town have been siezed, and preparations made for a regular siege. The Shrevepoinl Times says:—"We are engaged in a contest to protect our rights and property against the tyranny of a local state despotism, and we shall prosecute that contest whether the Federal Government and troops help us or not. The President must send troops enough to subjugate us' by physical force, for the people of Louisiana can no longer be ground into the dust by the phantom of a Federal army in the person of a regiment or so of soldiers. In the next sixty days Louisiana must be a free state or a military camp."

The JS'evj York Herald remarks We see as a consequence of the war and arising out of it as its inevitable result, many new and perplexing problems. "We see the President and the senate clothed with exceptional and undemocratic power, while the popular house is not as it should be, the real source of government. In the West the railway controversy has assumed a shape ithat no legislature and no court can controL Questions o£ emigration and civil service, of civil rights, and the right of states to eontraei debts which cannot bo paid, and to repudiate other debts that should be paid, are ali new. Upon tlieir solution depends not merely the prosperity of the South, but, as we are profoundly convinced, the future happiness &nd fame of the . Union. Thus believing, V/e say, that there is no better way to arpjrt and determine these questions

than by assembling all the Btates in a national convention of peace and reconstruction. We are coming upon our eeatennial anniversary, and how better can we celebrate the hundred years of our national life than to meet in solemn convention and consider the state of the Union, adjusting every issue that now threatens our peace, and entering upon our second century more confirmed in our .Republicanism, and more thoroughly devoted to liberty and union." The American journals just arrived contain the following letter from General Grant to the Secretary at War relative to the social war in the Southern States:— recent atrocities in the South, particu ar y in Louisiana, Alabama, and South Carolina, show a disregard for law, civil . righlts, : an personal protection that ought not to De tolerated in any civilised Government. It looks as if, unless speedily cheeked, matters must become worse, until life and property there will receive no protection, from the local authorities becoming powerless. Under suclx circumstances, it is the duty of the Government to give aU aid by the protection of life and civil rights, legally authorised. To this end I wish you would consult with the Attorney-General, who is well informed as • to the outrages already committed and the localities where the greatest danger lies, and so order troops as to be available in case of necessity. All proceedings for the protection of the South will be under the law department of the Government, and will bo directed by the Attorney-General in accordance with the provisions of the Enforcement Acts. ; No instructions need, therefore, be given to troops ordered into the Southern States except as they may be transmitted from, time to time on advice from the AttorneyGeneral, or as circumstances may determine hereafter. —Yours truly, U. S. Grant."

MAN FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS OLD. The New York Nation condonses from an English scientific periodical some interesting speculations of Dr. Alfred Russell Wallaco, on the probable antiquity of the human species. They may well startle, it says, even those who have long since come to the conclusion that 6,000 years carry us but a. small way back to the original home. In fact, in Dr. Wallace's reckoning, 0,000 years are but a day. Hereviews the various attempts to determine the antiauity of human remains or works of art, and finds the bronze age in Eurojje to have been pretty accurately fixed at 3,000 or 4,000 years ago, the stone age of the Swiss lake dwellings, at 5,000 or 7,000 years, aud an indefinite anterior period." The burnt brick found sixty feet deep in the Nile alluvium, indicates an antiquity of 20,000 years ; another fragment at seventytwo feet gives 30,000 years. A human skeleton found at a depth of sixteen feet below four hundred buried forests, superimposed upon each other, has been calculated by Dr. Dowler to have an antiquity of 50,000 years. But all these estimates pale before those which Kent's cavern at Torquay legitimates. Here the drip of the stalagmite is the chief factor of our computations, giving us an upper floor which divides the relics of the last two or. three thousand years from a deposit full of the bones of extinct mammalia, indicating an Arctic climate. Names cut in the stalagmite more than two hundred years ago are still legible; in other words, where the stalagmite is twelve feet thick and the drip still very copious, not more than a hundredth of a foot has been deposited in two centuries—a rate of 5 feet in 100,000 years. Below this, however, we have a thick, much older and more crystalline (i.e., more slowly formed) stalagmite, beneath which again, "in a solid breccia, very different from the cave-earth, undoubted works of art have been found." Mr. Wallace assumes only 100,000 years for the upper floors and about 250,000 fortiie lower, and adds 150,000 for the immediate caveearth, by which he arrives at the sum of half a million years that have probably elapsed since human workmanship were buried in the lowest depths of Kent's cavern.

PROJECTED CHANNEL TUNNEL. The present Channel tunnel project, which is proceeding under the direction of a committee of promoters, of whom Sir Jolrn Hawkshaw and Mr. Brunlees are the practical advisers, is a simple, intelligible one,and has been considered with much care and an effective amount of investigation. The grey chalk—a mass of strata 500 feet thick and impervious to water—which forms the principal mass of the cliffs at both Dover and Calais, strikes across the channel with so little divergence from the horizontal that a tunnel could, be pierced within the vertical bounds of its thickness. To ascertain exactly the configuration of its outcrop, and the surface outlines of the other associated cretaceous rocks—the white chalk above it and the gault and greensand below it—numerous soundings and borings of the sea-bed have been made in a most ingenious manner by means of an iron tube, over which a hollow shot, fitting loosely, is raised and let fall upon a flange attached to the tube, the end of which is in this way driven into the substance of the sea bottom, the core thus obtained giving the required sample of the rock perforated. Some hundreds of these borings have been made, and a complete geological chart of the Channel constructed from these data. These accurate details of the strata and their outcrops have enabled the most promising line of route to be selected, and which is accidentally very nearly that of the Dover and Calais submarine telegraph cable. The plan and construction of the proposed tunnel has the joint approval also of M. Durioch, M. Bergeron, M. Lavellee, and other associated engineers of eminence, and may thus be described. The line of the main tunnel, which is to be large enough for a double line of railway, is drawn straight from St. Margaret's Bay, South Foreland, to a point very nearly midway between Calais and Sandgate. On the English side the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway will run off between the suburb Carlton, and the town of Dover, whilst the South Eastern Railway will branch oif from about Shakespeare Cliff, and, passing to the rear of the Heights, will cross the harbour line of the former company, and join the line to St. Margaret's. This being parallel with the shore makes a sharp turn near that village, the alteration of the direction being there approximately a right angle. On the French side the connecting line bends diagonally to the westward, and joins in a fork the Boulogne and Calais Railway. In the longitudinal section the proposed tunnel presents a slight fall of 1 in 2,040 from the centre towards either extremity, and the vertical depth of the highest point of its floor is 43G feet from Trinity high-water mark, and 200 feet beneath the sea bottom itself. From the land levels of the existing railways the two approaches make long descents of over four miles each with gradients of 1 in 80 into the tunnel ends, over two miles being under the sea, the total of the whole amount of tunnelling amounting to thirty miles. The geological section given by the engineers is made to shew white or upper chalk above the grey chalk, unbroken and horizontal for the whole ■distance, and the tunnel boring rather above the median line of the grey chalk beds. The greatest depth of water over the sea bed above the tunnel is stated to be ISO feet. Below the railway approaches, and continuous with the floor of the submarine tunnel itself, there will be at each end a driftway leading to vertical shafts ashore for drainage and ventilation. These terminal shafts and shiftings are the preliminary works which it is intended to make as tests for the practicably of the general undertaking, and of which, when completed, they will form essential portions. The drawings and specii heations for them have been duly prepared, but the tenders will not be let until the ; financial arrangements are completed. The shaft Svill be 19 feet in diameter, built round with 24 inches of brick laid in cement, land the headings, which will be driven by machinery—probably Brunton's, —will be lined, with 14 inches of brickwork,

and have internal diameters ,o! seven feet. Their form will be horseshoe, with straight sides, and a flat inverted arch below the floor. The estimate for the entire preliminary works—which, -to satisfy the GLmoux j>TopT& of both nations, will be carried on simultaneously in both countries —is, with all expenses contingent on their execution, something less than £160,000, including the two pumping engines of 2,000,000-horse power each. The total cost of the whole tunnel and its accessories is, for the present, put at £10,000,000; but there are those among the engineers who think the preliminary works will afford data for a much lower estimate. The Channel Tunnel project is to be carried out by a French ana an English Company, the general management to be vested in a committee whose numbers will be furnished by two directorates. Towards the preliminary engineering works each company is to contribute £80,000, of which £40,000 is definitely promised by the Northern of France ; aud£2o,ooo moreis added by Rothschild Brothers, of Paris, whose intimate relations with that railway are well known. The residue will be contributed by the French members of the promoting committee. With the English company- no advance has been made over the original £30,000 subscribed in 1572; but its moiety of the preliminary total, it is expected, will also be' subscribed privately. The actual position of affairs at this time is that the .pi'ojet tie loi has been prepared, and will be presented on the re assembling of the French Chamber in November by M. Caillaux, now Minister of Public Works, and formerly a member of the Channel Tunnel Committee —the aspect of this Channel Tunnel scheme having thus changed from adverse under the Goverment of M. Thiers to conditions not unfavourable .under that of Marshal MacMahon. Nothing further can be done until then to advance matters beyond their present position, and of course nothing more substantial is likely ever to be effected until a concession be obtained, for no body of capitalists could pledge themselves to or would proceed with actual engineering operations until lawful security for their expenditure and rights of monopoly were actually acquired.

A REAL "ENOCH ARDEN" IN COURT. At Clerkenwell Police Court on Saturday, Emma Croker, aged 47, a marridd woman, residing at 15, Derry-street, St. Pancras, was brought up on a warrant by Police-constable Charter, 250 Y, one of the warrant officers of the court, charged under the provisions of the School Board Act for London, with neglecting to send her girl, under the age of 13, to school. Ou the 4th of this month an elderly man, of the name of William Kingsworth, was summoned at this court for not sending the same girl to school, and he thou set up in defence that he was not the father, though he resided in the same house as the present defendant. That summons was adjourned, and one issued against the present defendant, and failing to attend she was apprehended on a warrant, as stated above. In answer to the charge, she now said that the child was hers, and did not belong to the man Kingsworth. She had cohabited with him, but he was not the father of her child, though he had behaved kindly to her and her children, and she was determined to stand by the old man now he had got too old to work. Mr. Cook asked the defendant if she was a married woman. The defendant replied that she was married, and had hev "marriage lines" with her. Her husband was alive. Mr. Cook asked the defeudant if her husband lived with her. The defendant replied in the negative, but added that though he did not live with her he would come home with her when he pleased, atid did sometimes come home. When she 1 irat became acquainted with the old man, Kingsworth, her husband had been away from her for a long—very long time, and she had written to the War Office for his whereabouts, and had received a reply that he was dead. The old man wanted to marry her, and she went to live with him. This continued for some years, and then her husband returned, and finding her and the children well attended to, did not wish to live with her again, but requested her to keep on with the old man, he going to reside in the same neighbourhood, and not far from her. (Sensation.) She had not cohabited with the old man since, though she looked after him, and resided in the same house with him. As she before had said she was determined to live with him, and keep him, for she could work and the old man was unable to do so. He had behaved to her children more like a father than the father had himself. There was no secrecy about the matter, for her husband was well aware of the fact, and came home to her when he liked. With regard to the present charge, she might say that she considered it very hard she should be brought here, for by doing so her children were deprived of a meal's victuals, and the School Board people' were well aware that the girl in question had been at school for more than a fortnight. Mr. Cook said it was plain that the defendant was the guardian of the child, and was therefore liable for her if she did not attend school. She was not here for not sending her child to school now, but for not having don 6 so at the date of the summons. It was an extraordinary case. The defendant would have to pay a line of Is and 4s costs, or, in default, to be imprisoned in the cells of the court for one day. The defendant, who said she had no money, was removed in the custody of the gaoler.—Glasgow Weekly Ncibs.

ACCOUCHEMENT OF THE DUCHESS OF EDINBURGH. The Duchess of Edinburgh was safely delivered of a son on Thursday morning, October 15, at 2.45. Her Royal Highness and the Prince are doing perfectly well. [FROM THE SUPPLEMENT TO TUB " LONDON* GAZETTE."] Buckingham Palace, October 15. This morning, at a quarter to 3 o'clock, Her Royal and Imperial Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh was safely delivered of a prince. His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh was present, as also the Earl of Derby, in the absence of the Secretary of State for the Home Department. Her Royal and Jmperial Highness and'the infant prince are doing perfectly well. The happy event was made known by the firing of the Park and Tower guns.

A TALE OF A SPRING LATCH. Mr. Kelk, cashier to the building firm of Withy and Co., Middleton, Hartepool, has melancholy reasons to deplore the fixing of a spring lock that opened only outside. Quite recently married, he had invited a party of friends to his house, and his young wife in her aDxiety to get rid of the hot air, ventured upstairs, and seeing a small closet with a ventilator, she entered to open it, when the current of air closed the door. In vain she called to the servants, although she could liear the door-bell ting and her visitors enter; and as none suspected that the imprisoned lady was in the roof of the house, all the other parts of the dwelling and grounds were searched. One of the visitors suggested that there might be an old oak chest with a secret spring, and this gave the clue to the closet, and when at last found, Mrs. Kelk was seriously ill and hysterical. Violent epileptic fits followed, and the shock being more than the nervous system could sustain,- death shortly put an end to the poor young lady's sufferings. The said affair has not. only prostrated the unhappy husband, but cast a gloom around the whole town.— Builder.

MURDER BY AN ENGLISH JOCKEY. The French papers state that Charles Itillick, an English jockey, has been arrested for stabbing a Paris coachman, under the following peculiar circumstances :—The victim was driving his vehicle with a fare when Killick seized the bridle of his ricketty old horse, and said, "Why, this is Volunteer, that I won a dozen races with." On his refusing to leave go the driver struck him with his whip, on which the ■ jockey rushed upon him and stabbed him' twice in

the bosom with a knife, and, while the two lady passengers were alighting in a fright, stabbed the horse as well. He then quietly delivered himself up to the police.

EXTRAORDINARY DIALOGUE IN A FRENCH COURT. A man named Boudas has just been, tried at Paris for the murder of an old curiosity dealer named Faath, by first stunning him aad then cutting his throat. Faath was well off. He had in his possession, besides a considerable sum in gold and notes, a number of City of Paris bonds. The evidence proved that all the cupboards, desks, and closets in the murdered man's house had been forced open' and ransacked, and the bonds stolen, but their numbers being known to Faath's son, he took steps to prevent their transfer and the payment of their coupons. Suspicion fell upon Boudas, and he was arrested in ■Paris. He invented an ingenious story to account for the murdered man's property being in his possession. He said that lie had found it in the second-class carriage in which he was travelling from Paris to Metz. The prisoner is described as a short, dark man, with a vile expression of countenance. His interrogatory presented many features of interest. The president began by describing witlx sickening minuteness how the murder must have been committed, evidently with a view to entrap the. prisoner into correcting him, but Boudas was too cunning for that. He merely replied, " Whoever did that must be a fearful scoundrel" (tin rude coquiu). The following fencing bout then arose between the president and the prisoner : — President—Mind what you are about. What you say in this court may be turned against you. Prisoner- lam not afraid. President —Yes, I am aware you are not wanting in audacity. During the course of the preliminary investigation you insulted the magistrates. I may even tell you, gentlemen of the jury, that the prisoner has failed to treat even me with proper respect. I told him, " Take care, your life is at stake," and he grew more civil. Prisoner, let me recommend you to behave better than you did during the instruction. Prisoner—Well, you see, I found it hard lines to be sent before the assizes when I had done nothing. President—Let us return to the case. ■ The victim's son had a list of his father's securities, and he handed it to the police. A few months later it was ascertained that several of these securities had been sold by the man who had stolen them to a M. Meyer, a money changer at Metz, on the morning of December 1, and that the rest had been subsequently made orer to money-changers at Brussels. M. Meyer, on being examined, stated that he had purchased the securities from Boudas ; who was Boudas ? It was found that you were the man. Now, prisoner, answer my questions. When did you go to Metz ? Prisoner—On the 30th November; I started at 4.30 in the afternoon. President —The crime had been committed at eight or nine o'clock that day. You see the murder is clearly traced. You are the man. How did these securities come into your hands? Prisoner—l reached Metz next day. In the net above the seat I found a small parcel packed up in oil-cloth, and fastened by a strap. I opened it and found the bonds. If I had found them in Franco I should have given them up to the police, but as it was in Metz, in Prussian territory, I thought it a;i well to keep them. President—That was an unlucky find of yours, prisoner. Why did you start for Metz on the 30 tli November ? Prisoner —To work ;to go iuto business. President— With what? Prisoner—lhad2soof. President —You had not a penny to bless yourself with. Prisoner —I beg your pardon. At Belleville I had 2500f. in my cash-box. President—How. then, do you account for your destitute condition before your departure ? Prisoner— Easily enough. I did not keep the money at home. President—You started without telling your wife or your landlord.—Prisoner— That's true. President—You had committed the murder and the robbery. Prisoner—A man is not a murderer nor a thief because he happens to find, bonds in a railway carriage on a Prussiau railway, and does not give them up. President—The thief and the murderer are the same man. You went to the murdered man's house both morning and evening. The porter cannot identify you, but that is because you concealed your face ; but lie asserts that the stature of the mail he saw was the same as yours. Prisoner—One man's size may be like another's ; mine may be like the murderer's. President—At Metz, during the war, your reputation was very bad; you had made Faath's acquaintance there. Prisoner—lt is quite possible that Faatli may have seen me at Metz, but I did not know him. President—During the time that elapsed between the murder and your arrest you were anxious and restless; you travelled about from town to town, hired rooms and abruptly left them. Were you not troubled with remorse? Prisoner—Oh, no; I have no remorse at all. President—Your whole life since the crime was one constant flight. You picked up a young woman at Brussels, and brought her to Paris; she considered your behaviour suspicious. You made her get up at one in the morning, saying you were going to take her to the Northern Railway, and you turned her adrift near the Luxembourg. Prisoner—The fact is, I was tired of leading an immoral life, and wanted to reform. President—The fact is, remorse would not let you alone. Your conscience, that merciless judge, will not allow you any rest; it is the beginning of your punishment. Why did you make that girl get up at one in the morning ? Prisoner—A man will do many strange things when he is the worse for liquor. Your own experience must have taught you that, M. le President. Evidence having been given of the penniless condition of the prisoner before the murder, and his " rolling in wealth" immediately after, and the speeches and summing up having been proceeded with, the jury brought in a verdict of guilty "without extenuating circumstances," aud ho was sentenced to death. On hearing the verdict, Boudas turned to the jury, and exclaimed, "Your conscience will reproach you for that you have murdered an innocent man."

A MYSTERIOUS MAN. The Reading (Pa.) Eagle says—ln Crew's Woods, near Hyde Park, there lives a strange person who has loug been known as "the hermit." But little is known of the :is he is very reticent on the subject of his life. His name is *Tas. Gatley, and he was born in Cheshire, England, in ISOS. He is well educated, is accomplished in the art of drawing and painting and was probably sent to school at Eton. Twenty-six or 27 years ago he loft England. It has been ascertained, however, that he was not to return for 25 years. This is a mysterious point in his life which no one can explain. It is said that he fell in love with the daughter of some titled person, was rejected, and that his present seclusion is from that cause ; but this may have arisen from his refusal to speak to ladies for several years after he voluntarily shut himself out from society. On arriviug at Boston " the hermit" plunged into the forest and built himself a hut under an overhanging ledge* in the Pine Garden Woods. Here lie supported himself on game, which was then abundant, and devoted much time to the study of ornithology. Finally the advances of civilization led him to seek a more secluded spot, and he purchased a little tract of land, his present position, and built a ten by twelve hut, which has been somewhat enlarged since. Here the old man has lived all along with his dogs and pets, of which he has had many; and although his time of exile has expired, he seems to have no disposition to return to his native land. He has seep the town grow up like magic and houses penetrate his very woods, butsitillhe remains. He has a fine collection of birds and animals, and his fame in the vicinity has been such that he reaps a harvest from their exhibition to the many who seek hiu door. This strange man evidently has property in England, fer he several times received remittances of money through the British Consul, with presents of valuable clogs from the same source. Many ornithologist j have visited

Mr. Gatley, aßd it is affirmed that in various works upon the subject his views have been frequently entertained. There is a mysterious something which clouds the life o£ tne hermit. He has excited much attention at different times, and many have evinced a strong desire to know the story of his lite and the cause which has shut him from tne world for the last twenty-seven years.

MISCELLANEOUS. A ton of ice is used every night in cooling the air pumped into the House of Commons. The annual cost of funerals in London is estimated at over a million of money. A. new lamp.lias been patented for taking photographs at night, in which bisulphide of carbon is burned in peroxide of nitrogen. It is said to equal sunlight in its effects and intensity. Some interesting relics have lately been made at Pompeii. A shop, .supposed to be a tanner's, has been excavated, and a number of tools used in the manipulation of leather found. These tools bear a stronj resemb'ance to those used in the present day. Some idea may be formed as to the enormous extent of land required to grow trees for building and other purposes in Europe alone, when it is stated that no less than 500,000,000 acres are at present estimated to be in cultivation as woodlands. This is a very large per-centage on the whole area. Hay tablets, prepared in the Wowing manner, have been used in France for some time, as a convenient and portable food for horses. Hay and straw, very finely cut, are well mixed with crushed oats or rye, moistened with a solution of rapeseed or linseed oil-cake, the mass well worked, and then formed into tablets under pressure. Mr. Barlow, F.R.S., recently read a paper before the Royal Society, in which he describes a method which he has devised for making diagrams of the articulations .of speech. Thus, every word spoken has a certain percussive energy, and, by means of a suitable instrument, lie produces lines which vary with the words spoken, and with the intensity or suddenness of the production. From ISSO to IS7O the declared value of British produce and manufactures, mineral and metallic, was from about 14 millions sterling to 43A millions, the iron and steel in the last-mentioned year being valued at jt'21,675,215, or four times what it wastwenty years previously; machinery and mill-work to nearly six millions; and hardware and cutlery to nearly four. The value of coal, coke, and patent fuel exported in the same period increased from £1,254,224 to £5,638,370.