NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 634, 24 February 1879, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

There have been heavy; Bnpwstorms throughout Britain. The severe weather continued until Christmas Eve, wheif itff' moderated ;somewhatV \ Oh Chrifrpaig Day thousands of persons assembled iii St. i James ' Park} 'and the lake was soon covered with skaters, • sliders, and sightseers. ' Rings' '.were"* formed as for the fanch skaters, and the, greatest, good humour prevailed-amongst" the vast crowd until dusk set 'iii.' Theijn the ico was cleared. Over 16,000 per-, sons were reported as having venturedon: the ice during the day;- The round l . pound in Kensington 'Gardensi.ihas as. man} as 6000 skaters and sliders > on it»t during Christmas Day. The ice on the artificial wafer in Hyde Park had also thousands of skaters; ' ■ . ■.". 7' j C T* A fatal ice accident occurred '->atMonghefne, En'niskillen, by which four young women named Catherine and" Maria Galagher (sisters)j Katie "fl?rith| and Margaret Johnstone lost their liviesJL Twenty people were on the ice, which" covered the river' Tietween ' the . MarleiT and the Warehouse, when it suddenly gave way, and the women named were - drowned. Their bodies were recpvejjedj'"' on Christmas, Eve. , !■. ..... ■■■ £"JL A yolvng named Alfred Meinder, formely of New " England^ < eihployed"by" the Great Noathern Railway Company, was shating on the river near Peterborough, when the' ice broke and he was drowned. His body: was recovered on Christmas Day at. noon. . , A companion, of his fell into the Water at the sau& time, but was recovored. **" -*- A terrible acoident has. just takenplace in the French Commune /6f Chappelie: Moche, in the Orne. A" crowd of children, numbering 52, were sliding on a deep pond near the. village,, when suddenly , the ice /broke apd 48j were preciptated to the botton of the^ pond, from which their bodies ..Were,t;i Ken out life-less. The catastrophe has cast a deep gloom over the district. . Two fatal accidents have occurred, :on^ ■lie ii'o at Cliard (Somersetshire).. Emma v Jane Pugh'y was drowned whilst sliding on a pond at Pusey street mill ; Wilton Reddj aj?ed 16, lost his life; in a. similar manner when skating ; on a canal* rußervoir at Atherstone. , ; An ingenious fraud has, according to the Figaro, been committed upon awealthy merchant residing in the neigh-i borhood of Paris. A week' or 'two tjgV he received a letter informing him that the writer had ascertained that a box containing treasure was buried 'in '.this garden, and, offer i nig td indicate the* exact spot if he would agree to divide the spoil. The merchant was at first inclined to treat the letter as ; a hoax, but upon receiving a second and morto, pressing one, he sent an answer agreeing to the proposal. The next day he . was waited upon by a gentleman of agreeable runners, and it was arranged, that $ne search should be made, at night in order , to prevent the .neighbors from talking. ' The box — a very weighty one — was duly unearthed, and when taken, into, jthe house and opened was found to contain 8000-f rancs in silver pieces of five franflsl each. The merchant, much ple^secl at the result of the search, fit' once handed -over the half £ which Jie^toad promised to hig informer, who remarked that it was rather a heavylump to oarry to the railway station,- distant abQUt a mile, and that perhaps the merchant could oblige him with notes or gold" instead. This the merchant was very happy to do ; but he regretted it bitterly the next turning, as he saw by the light of day that the five-frano pieces were spurious. - •.C..-!.';\n,. , ' The fastness which prevails in some of the fashionable circles of Londoti, '< is exemplified by the following paragraph from the Eurojycan Mail. An amusing incident occurred the other day on the London and South- Western Railway during a journey from Thames Ditton to Waterloo. Into a smoking-carriage stapped two young ladies, much to the disgust of the same number of. gentlemen, who were enjoying their cigars. "Wonder why ladies will get } into smoking - carriages/ 1 growled. .Senex Major in an undertone to Senex Minor, making his voice distinctly- audible 'to every one in the : carriage; ■ . Senex Minor replied, iu a audible aside, that ".If was really a shame you know." Here a clear, bell-like voice made both gentlemen look round at their, fair neighbors. " Will you have one 1" said a pair uf laughing brown to a pair of dancing black eyes, handing at 'the -same moment to her vis a-vis a Lilliputian morocco cigar-case. In another instant two small dainty cigars— riiot cigarettes, biit real honest cigara — were reposing I etween two pairs of ripe red lipsi and Seuex Major and Minor had collapsed. .< James Gordon Bennett's yacht Jeattnecte", which is to 'attach the American flag to the North Pole, is lying at Mare Island naval yard, San Francisco Bay, where she wiil undergo repairs for; -her adventurous voyage. (She was thoroughly repaired at London before sailing fo? America, and is in good condition. Captain De Long will go east in about two . weeks. The scientific. party; which is to accompany the vessel has not yet arrived on this coast. She will probably start on her Arctic trip early next J une. A New York dispatch Btates that another ship leaves this months with American exhibits for the International Exhibition to be held at Sydney next August. '1 he Eastern ; manufacture vs are taking advantage to a ■considerable extent of this opportunity for introducting their productions to a new market. Miss Hanna Rothschild's marriage with the Earl of Rosebery is "about to be followed by the marriage of Miss Maggie Rothschild, with the .Duke de Guiche. ' •■•■•••■•• •.• The weather in France is reported to have been severe. Numbers of wolves have penetrated as far as' the 'gates' of Metz, and there is more snow in the Vosges than the oldest inhabitants remember. ' lii Valence numerous wolves were prowling around the houses. In the department of Isere, two young men (brothers) perished in the snow while on their way home at night. In other localities deaths occured on the road from the cold.