MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3436, 16 April 1879, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

Afternoon theatrical performances are rapidly rising in popularity. Last Saturday then; wore no fewer than olo ren of these performances at the theatres in central London ; aeveral of fchem having a totally distinct programme from the ovening performances at the same theatre.

The London and Norfch Western Railway Company were sued in the Market Harborough county court on Tuesday by Mr Mills, a Director of the Union Insurance Company, for £21 damages for not running fchoir fcrain s in accordance with fcheir time tables. On two occasions, in consequence of the trains on defendants' branch line from Welford to Rugby not keeping time, the plaintiff lost his train to London, and conaequently forfeited five guineas, his feo as a Director. Tho judgo gave a verdict for £<_ ss, fche losa entailed by one failure only, as on the second occasion tho delay was caused by a breakdown on fche line, and was nofc owing fco wanfc of due diligence.

At tho Mansion House polico courfc on Wednosday, Messrs Prestcr, tho London agents, of a Hamburg firm, appeared on remand to show oause why 12,0(10 dynamite detonators, which wero discovered on board a vessel labelled only as percussion caps, ahould not bo declared forfeited in accordance with the Explosive Act, by reason of being improperly described. The defence wus that tho goods had been shipped by mistake, and that whon they wero put on board the vessel they had a German label properly describing them, which must havo come off during the voyage. Tho Lord Mayor declared the detonators forfeited.

Mr Fletcher, tho chief engineer of Manchester Steam Users' Association, presented a report afc the monthly meeting of tho Executive Committee last weok, in which ho stated that during tho year 1878 there had been 38 boiler explosions, by which 45 persons had been killed and 72 injurod. In addition to tho explosions due to the bursting of steam boilers, thoro wore 20 "minor exploaions" due to tho bursting of steam-pipes, circulating boilers, kc., by which soven persona wero killed and 20 others injured. Theso brought the return for 1878 up to 58 exploaions, killing 62 persona and injuring 92 othera. Thirteen kitchen and circulating boiler explosions had occurred between Dee. 11 and Dec. 27, killing two porsons and injuring others. A gameki'Opoi* namod Birsons, in Iho service of Mr Hornby, of Warsash, and Mr "imonds, M.P., was accidentally shot on Saturday morning Parsons had a largo sum of monoy in the house which ho had recoived in payment of rents and tithes. Hearing a noiso early in tho morning ho went to see what was the causo of it, and found a man on tho promises. Ho immediately olosod with him, calling to his nephew, a boy, to bring the gun. The lad fired and killed Parsons.

An attempt to upset a train between Edinburgh and Roslin was mado on Tuesday nighfc last week. A violent shock was folt throughout tho train, and tho ongino was ao much injured as to bo unablo to proceed. An examination of tho line showed that a sleeper had boon firmly fastened across tho rails. Two men wero aeon in the neighbourhood before the occurrence, bufc no arreafc has been made.

Two fatal colliery accidents occurred on Saturday. At tho Hansworth Main Colliery, near Barnsley* an explosion of gas occurrod in the morning, killing two men and seriously injuring five others. Tho gas is thought to havo beon liberated by the fall of a portion of the roof and ignited by the naked lights. At the Trafalgar Colliery, Forest of Dean, two colliers were crushed to death, and a third, it, is feared, fatally injured by the fall from the pit roof of a stone weighing several tons.

A number of labourers were charged boforo London magistrates on Saturday with soliciting charity by singing " All froze out!" in the streets. At the Worship street Police Court a man who was found to have 23s and a quantity of food in his possession was sentenced to twenty-one days' hard labour, and the money was ordered to bo applied to his maintenance in prison. A similar penalty was imposed upon two men at Hammersmith; aud at tho Lambeth Police Court seven men were sentenced to fourteen days' hard labour eaoh.

Tho funeral of fche late General Peol took place on Wednesday at the New Cemetery, Twickenham. At Twickenham station tho funeral procession was joined by' Prince Christian, Colonel G. A. Maudu, 0.8., crown equerry, and other intimate friends of the deceased.

The receipts of revenuo from April 1, 1878, to Fob. 15 were £70,205.1^5, ' agau-Bfc £68,167,729 in the corresponding ppriqd of laafc year.' Thp exppndifcu>e was £73,191,577) against £69,013,23? lasfc year. The balanpes in fche Banks of England and Ireland on Saturday last amounted to £5,365,171.

The freedom of the City of London is fco be presented to Sir Rowland Hill, in acknowledgment of the greafc social and commercial benefits this country has derived from the adoption, in 1840, of his system of uniform penny postage.

The London and Edinburgh Steamship Company's steamer Albion, which formerly traded between Berwick and London, hasbeen chartered to convey to Zanzibar Mr Henry M. Stanley and party. At a general meeting of the Caledonian Bank held last week arrangements were approved under which, by guaranteeing fche aumof £150,000 to other Scotch Banks, the liquidation of the Caledonian will be avoided. The guarantee is required to prevent a possible loss by the Scotch banks liaving honoured the notes and deposit receipts of the call. It was resolved to guarantee the fund, and £50,000 was subscribed last night. The Banks have not positively said thoy will accept the arrangement, but it is confidently expected that they will do so. The inquest concerning the death of a child n&mfd Charlotte Tomlin, one of a family consisting of the mother and six children who were poisoned at Bristol last week by eating a pudding made by the mother, was concluded on Wednesday. The evidence showed that one of the children discovered in a cupboard a packet of white powder, which, on analysis, proved to be arsenic, aud it was mixed in* the pudding. It was thought that the packet must have been left in the house by a previous tenant, as it had evidently been lying by for some years. A verdict of death by misadventure was returned. The mother and the other children are recovering. The father did not have his dinner at home.

A destructive boiler explosion took place at Messrs Shaw's spring and axlefcrpe works, West Bromwich. The end of a boiler, weighing half a ton, was blown across the street and over a house 200 yards distant. One man was killed and four others seriously injured, some of them not being expected to recover. An application was made to the Courfc of Bankruptcy on Feb. 13, for the appointment of a receiver of the estate of Mr F. B. Chatterton, of Drury Lane Theatre. Th> debts were stated at £-11,000, and tho assetwere said to consist of various dramatic copyrights which had been licensed for playing, and for which fees would bo receivable daily. Cr ditors amounting to between £6000 and £7000 supported the application. After some discussion, and upon its being stated thafc Mr Waddell was willing to act without remuneration, Jdis Honor appointed Mr Waddtll receiver. A meeting was held on the same day in the saloon of Covent Garden Theatre, under fclie presidency of Mr Charles Dickens for fche purposo of organising a benefit for Mr Chatterton. A Committee was formed for carrying out tho scheme ; and a sum of about £350 was subscribed before the meeting broke up.

Mr J. Payne Collier writes tothe Athenamm to say that ho ia confident that he has found another tragedy by Shakespeare— at least, one in tho authorship of which he was importantly concerned. Mr Collier says :— " I suspected it when I was 30, and now I am 90 lam convinced of it." The title of the play is "A Warning for Fair Women," and it was printed in 1599 anonymou-ly. The main incident, is mentioned by Holinshed under the date of 1573 ; tho name of the murdered huaband was Sanders and the murderer Brown, the wife Anne conspiring und consenting to the murder. After the deed we have a scene of remorse, reproach, and repentance by tho wife in the presence of her paramour aiid a friend of the name of Drewry. Shakespeare did not (Mr Collier adds) contribute very much to the performance, but the slightest touch of his pen is clearly visible.

An accident occurred to fcho Flying Scotchman on Feb. 14. Soon after the train had passed through Bawtry station, on the Great Northern railway, several of the carriages left the rails, but tho train was promptly pulled up, and although considerable damage was done to tho permanent, wav, and many passengers wore much^shaken, only one was seriously „4rfJure(_^V ''yjOiie -of the carriages which wero off* 'the rails^pttmo in contact with abridge, and carried !<y**j|y a portion of the^a'tone coping about half ivfcbn in weight, which' fell into the road below, and a passer-by had a narrow escape of bwng crushed to death.. i.v£. beverul shipping accidents are reported: The Richard Wilson, of Loudon, ladeigjfifch ooal, from Goolo'.%> Exmouth, drovoi-Sadro shortly aftor midnight on fche Easfc Goodwin, on Feb. 14, and became a total wreck. Tho lifeboat and the harb6u3r : •tug . took off all on board. Tho screw steamer Mary, of London, from Huclvu for the Tyno, laden with copper ore, wonfc ashoro *>n tho Black Middens, Tynemouth, on Feb. 16. Tlio crew wore saved. The Apollo (Danish schooner), bound to Cetle, went ashore at Hastings on Feb. 17. Tho crew were saved by the lifeboat. On the aamo day fche English steamer Wycliffe, bound from Philadelphia to St Nazaire, with a cargo of corn, was lost at tho entrance to the Loire. The crew, consisting o? fcwentytwo men ,*vvere saved. A boat and a medicino chesfc, bearing the name Jura, were picked up in tho neighbourhood of Cross-sand, Great Yarmouth, on Tuesday. Tho body of a seaman was Been floating about, and an engineer^ bag was also found. It is feared tliat the Jura, wliich belonged to Glasgow, has beon lost. The Countess of Durham, steamor, from tho Tyno to Aberdeen, ran down a Stonehaven fishing boat about fivo milea out from tho villago last week. Threo of the crew were drowned, and the two others wero picked up by the steamer, ono of them in a very exhausted Btato. Tho Briti.h barque Diadem, bound from Swanaea to Cape Town haa beon in colliaion with the United States man-of-war Supply, and was abandoned. Al the crow wero saved and lauded afc Madeira by tho Supply.