ENGLAND.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 807, 12 June 1879, Page 2

ENGLAND.

FREEMASONRY IN ENGLAND. The illness and absence from England of Prince Leopold have not caused any suspension of his interest -in Freemasonry..; At His Royal Highness's command there was presented last week to Colonel Creaton, who was . recently, elected Grand Treasurer of England, and who is a Past Master of the Lodge of Antiquity, of which the . present Master is the Prince, ah admirably-' executed painting by Mr Stephen Pearce, a member of the lodge. The subject of the picture is Colonel Creaton himself, and the portrait is of lifelike truth. The presentation was made by Mr. Charles A. Swinburne, a former Master of the lodge, who reminded lm hearers that amongst Prince Leopold's illustrious predecessors in his Masonic office had been no less a personage than the architect of St. Paul's, Sir Chrisopher Wren. , A SUPERSTITIOUS PEOPLE. , A curious case of superstition has just come to light in Mid-Somerset. It seems that the labouring classes in that locality, like those of most other {rural districts in England, hold or held sacred certain supposed prophecies of •' Mother Shipton, " whose topographical knowledge, if we are to believe all that is said of her, must have been little less marvellous than her insight into the future. Of these prophecies the most widely believed in had reference to the fate of Ham Hill, a large stone quarry in the neighbourhood of Yeovil, aud a prominent feature of the landscape for miles around. It was t o the effect that at noon on the Good Friday of 1879 Ham Hill should suddenly be swallowed up by an earthqtakfc, and that at the same time Yeovil should be visited by a tremendous flood. With such real anxiety was last Good Friday looked forward to in consequence, that people actually left the locality with their families and went to stay with their friends in other parts of the county until the dreaded " visitation " should be over. The flood did not come, nor the earthquake- and those who fled returned. EDISON THE ELECTRICIAN. That, wonderful man Edison, of electric light notoriety, has so far improved the telegraph as to render it possible to send four messages at once on. a single wire. This feat . was performed the j other day with great success, and now we hear he contemplates a plan for sending six messages by the same. wire at one time. His improved telephone, for enabling persons to converse at four miles distance, was exhibited in the city of London the other day to a select circle of mercantile men, who were perfectly astonished at the results. ; WATER SUPPLY ifOR ENGLAND. • The Prince of Wales, as President of the Society of Arts, has addressed a letter to Lord Beaconsfield, asking, on behalf of : the association he represents, for the appointment of a commission whose duty shall be to collect information irespeoting the water-supply for the population of this country. Lord Beaconsfield writes iu reply that he has referred the matter to the Board of Treasury for the careful consideration of their lordships. ; • ; . NEW MODE OF DOING TRADE. A new form of attraction has been lately resorted to by the proprietors of some of the largest shops in the busiest of London thoroughfares, by having a group of pretty young women at work on sewing machines close to the front Window, to the evident delight and amusement of all the fast, young dandies in the neighborhood, who quite block up the thoroughfare in their mad efforts to ogle the beauties, in the same way as I the young aristocrats do the ballet girls at the opera from the omnibus box. j STRIKES AT THE COAL MINES. The Durham miners' on strike are continuing thoir violent conduct. The 'owners of some pits have found it necessary to prevent men who^are willing to work from going down, on account of the intimidation practised ; and gangs are endeavouring to force those who have accepted the employers' terms to join the strike. Meanwhile, the ironmasters are availing themselves of the j Bhort supply of- coal to diminish ■; the manufacture of pig iron. They have hitherto been unable to agree among themselves to limit .the production, though satisfied it is excessive ; but the dispute in the coal trade has brought about an agreement. Thus the strike of the coal miners not only throws themselves out of employment, but also materially lessens the earnings of a large number of the ironworkers. The only colliery liow at work between Durham and the extreme west of the country 4s East Castle, which is worked by nonunionists. Mr. Crawford, secretary of the Durham Miners' Association, has received special reports from 180 collieries, threatening all who oppose them, hooting the men at work, and sometimes resorting to actual violence. The police apparently are unequal to the task of preserving order.