CLIPPINGS FROM HOME PAPERS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 1476, 14 June 1879, Page 2

CLIPPINGS FROM HOME PAPERS.

. LAW AND ORDER IN CALTFOIINIA. A " law and order " society, known as the Chowchilla Rangers, composed principally of wealthy landowners, exists m Mariposa County, California. The organisation of this Bociety is supposed to be as nearly perfect as can be, and the Chowchillas lose no opportunity of showing that they " mean business." A man named Ross having lately been convicted of murder, and being sentenced, owing to the lenient finding of tho jury, only to imprisonment for lifo as his punishment, the Chowchillas determined to lynch the prisoner. The sheriff of the couuty, however, m anticipating tho attempt secretly led the prisoner out of the Court-house by a rear passage, handcuffed him to a powerful horse, and, mounting an equally good animal himself, started off with him on a gallop over a road covered with 6ft of snow. Half-an-hour later the Chowchillas were on the track. They gained on the flying Sheriff and his charge until within shooting distance, and then began firing. A turn m the mountain alone saved the fugitives. Reaching the town, the Sheriff changed horses, and was barely off again with the prisoner before the Rangers arrived. They, too, changed horses, and kept up the pursuit until the Sheriff had snugly lodged the prisoner m jail m Mercea. So bent were the Chowchillas on effecting their object, and so fully prepared were they for emergencies that many of them, it is stated, made their wills before setting out on the chase. ASSASSINATION IN EUSSIA. The St. Petersburg correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says: —Great excitement is now prevalent m Moscow m consequence of another assassination successfully perpetrated m that city. The victim m this instance is not an official of the Russian bureaucratic world, but is sufficiently well known m the social circle of the South Russian metropolis as to render the crime provocative of considerable comment, not to say indignation and alarm. A young nobleman, named Bairaschewski, was seated at home m his saloon, entertainiog a few intimate friends. .In the midst of a lively conversation the doors suddenly opened, and there entered a young lady named Praskowia Katschka, about nineteen years of age, handsome and propossessing, a member, moreover, of a wellknown and noble family m the Wilna district. Perfectly calm and self-pos-sessed, she gracefully saluted the visitors present m the chamber. Then drawing a revolver from her pocket, she deliberately shot Bairaschewski through the head, so that he fell to the ground and died instantaneously. So rapidly and coolly was the deed committed, that all was over before anyone m the saloon attempted to interfere. Praskowia made no attempt to escape, and permitted herself to be arrested without the slightest resistance. She declines to make any statements respecting the assassination. It is said that two days before his assassination Bairaschewski received a threatening letter from the Executive Committee of the Revolutionary Society, which communication he is reported to have handed to the police. Meanwhile the sccurrence has caused the most profound sensation among all classes m the metropolis of Moscow. THE ISLAND OF MATACONG. A Liverpool correspondent writes : — "The island of Matacong, the possession of which is now m dispute between England and France, is about a mile and a half long, and is about fifty miles from Sierra Leone. It possesses no harbor, and the steamers trading between the coast and Liverpool have to anchor about four miles off when they have occasion to call for cargo. The principal articles obtained are gum, peanuts, indiarubber, and beeswax. These, however, are not the production of the island, but are landed there by coasting vessels, the place being used as a depot. There are French and English houses at Matacong, the principal being that of Messrs Fisher and Randall of Manchester and Liverpool. Many American vessels also touch at the island, chiefly to load peanuts and hides. From Matacong numbers of bullocks are sent to Sierra Leone, which is the principal trading town with the island. Matacong is not noted for the growth of any particular produce, the soil 1 eing considered rather sterile than otherwise. It is not thickly populated, and is not very often visited by the whites of the other part of the coast. In many quarters the island was looked upon as an open port, where the natives could sell the land, and the purchaser would be under the protection of the Government to which he belonged ; while by others it was considered to be under the protection of the British flag. When the last steamer left Sierra Leone it was not definitely stated that the French had occupied the island, although

there were rumors of something of the kind having taken place." A. LADY " HORSEWHIPPER." There was much excitement m the city of Providence, Rhode Island, on the afternoon of the 15th of March, arising from the spirited conduct of a lady who publicly horsewhipped a bankrupt wool merchant, by name Kenney, m satisfacti«n of a claim of 27,000d0l tho has, or alleges she has, on his estate. The wool merchant was walking through Market Square when the lady " sprang upon him," and with a stout riding-whip she had m her hand severely belabored liiin over his head and face for some time. A police officer who was present at last interfered, and held her arm while the wool merchant escaped. The lady asked the officer to arrest her ; and on his prudently declining to accede to her request, told him that he was a coward, and deBeired to be horsewhipped himself. She then started off m hot pursuit of the unfortunate wool merchant, exclaiming that he was " a fraud," and followed by a large crowd of sympathising spectators, and also by the police officer, who was merely anxious to see fair play on both sides. The chase was a hot one, but the fleetness of the wool merchant, who seemed possessed of considerable " staying power," enabled him m the end to baffle his pursuer. The lady thereupon "reconsider her determination," and, turning sharply round m North Main street, ran at full pace, horsewhip m hind, to the office of Judge Blaokwood, assignee to the bankrupt. The crowd increased m size every moment, and by the time she reached the Judge's office, was a huge mob. The Judge was, perhaps happily for himself, not at home, and the lady attempted to address the crowd briefly, with the view of explaining the particulars of her claim against the wool merchant. Her voice, however, broke down, and it was obvious that nothing but her anger prevented her from weeping copiously. The crowd, too, was much moved, several persons present giving way to tears ; and altogether a more affecting scene has seldom been witnessed m Providence. DISCOVERY OP HUMAN BONES IN BT. GILES* CATHEDRAL, EDINBURGH. A discovery of the same startling nature as that so much talked of at the time of the High Church restoration has (says an Edinburgh paper of April 12th) been made m the course of the alterations now being carried out m the Old Kirk, Edinburgh, which occupies the southern portion of the Cathedral pile. On the removal of the floor of this place of worship, it was found that the beams on which the planking rested were laid across a bed of human bones some two feet m depth. In the area of the church there also has been dug up a leaden coffin bearing the name of " Cunningham," and m the vault beneath the Earl of Moray's tomb the workmen have come upon three similar coffins, ono of them supposed by some to be that m which the " good Regent " was interred. Among the loose bones, of which there are m all about two tons, a number of thigh bones have attracted attention by their great size ; and one of the skulls, it was noticed, bore marks which seemed to indicate that a post-mortem examination had been made, the upper part of it being entirely cut away. In the meantime the remains have been gathered into six large boxes, and steps will, of course, be taken to accord them seemly interment. The conjecturo put forward to account for the discovery is similar to that advanced m 1872 — that at the time of the formation of Parliament Square the authorities had been at a loss how to dispose of the bones dug up from the old churchyard ground, and m this emergency bethought them of depositing the remains within the walls of the Cathedral. SCOTCH FAST DATS. The Scotch Fast Day, so far as its observance m the great towns is concerned, has, says the Echo, long been an institution more honored m the breach than m the observance. Theoretically it is a " day of fasting, humiliation and prayer," a preparation for the celebration of the Communion, and the first of three or four days hard preaching, attention to which, on the part of the most loose and sinful characters, makes up for a good deal of the neglect and inattention of the previous half-year. In the remote parishes, no doubt, there is still a certain strictness m the observance of this " season," as it is called, and a conscientious shepherd will not be guilty of the heinous sin of whistling for his collie on the fast day, especially if there be at his side a brother shepherd whose parish fast is not due for a week, who can, therefore, without compunction, whistle on his friend's behalf. But m the large towns, the fast-day, with the mass of the people, is a day of excursions, of high feeding, hard drinking, and church despising. The places of worship are half empty, the steamers and the trains are crowded, and men and women make themselves as merry and comfortable as the surrounding lugubrious circumstances will permit. A good illustration of the fasting and praying which goes on m the North on this semi-sacred day is afforded by the proceedings of some of the celebrants m the vicinity of Aberdeen on Thursday. Near that ancient seat of learning is Cove village, a favourite resort of Aberdonians on small holidays. Into this place the Aberdeen fasten poured, and took forcible possession of the principal hotel and its precious stores of whisky. The humiliation and prayer which followed can be easier imagined than described. Whisky was drunk and carried off, furniture was broken, twenty dozen glasses were smashed, and the village police were driven off by the infuriated Bacchanalians. This is not a common incident of a Scotch fast ; but drinking is, and drunkenness is. The fast is sot a day of fasting to a single soul ; it is a day cf humiliation to few, and a day of prayer perhaps to a good many ; but it is m large towns a day of mirth and jollity, of al fresco enjoyment, ot roarainga over hill and by uea. Sensible people have often and m vain proposed the' abolition of the fast-day as being a relic of one knows not what, and a season of anything but prayer. Perhaps the orgies at Aberdeen may assist m opening the eyes of the Presbyteries to the absurdity of continuing a custom which is getting more farcical the older it gets.