LATE ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1400, 24 January 1860, Page 3

LATE ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

I Inu.ndi.tio is nt Fuancb.— Melancholy .it}* ..counts continue t> arrive' fro-ri the south of I France of tlie 'loss of life and destruction of property caused . by the late inundatious. A letter from AuWiis, in the Ar.deche, informs us that on the" night of the t#th iustaht, a fl »mr mill at Mayres was c»rried a,way by the flood. The entire family, consisting of the millet, nis mother, his sister, a>id two children of five and ttv-j years of a<je, together with a neighbour who happened to h.-s in the mill at the time, all perishel. At Montpesiat, Casimir Testud, latd a sergeant in the 44th regiment of Infantry j whs carried aw-iy by the Waters^ of a small stream which he crossed on hjs I'eturn hdmgi, and was dvowned. An eighth victim, a fanrier» returning on horseback from Montpezat. to. Aubenas, was dro vned. in a rivulet which he found on' his passive. Two only of the dead bodies had been recovered — those of Testtia and the miller's sUtsr. The loss of. property announced is very c msidentblft. Several ma'riu*fiictories have been levelled by the force of the wnter^ bridges broVen down, and roads rendered! iirt passable. • The r.ud near JVlaytes is covered with jjravel to th^'depth of 4 ft. la other partn the road is ohsjtfu.jted by., immense misses o}'k rock, which it will require the force of pun^ , powder to fom&ve. T-.e road at Ponte de Villa was carried away to fie extent of 200 yards.-^. Loiter fWvri, 'Paris. Further accounts have been. received incidents c.vised by the ovpiflowinff of tlie rivers 'in the south of France. Tire Rhone at Avignon, suddenly swollen. on Saturday the 10th> oy the flood In the Ardeche, overflowed its, bed. Its yetlo.v, tmiJdy water, corered a. great portion of the Island of. Ba^tbelasse, sweeping away aco isiderable quantity o f timher placed near the banks of the river. .The lower part of Caffeterie was: covered by tho sudden erruption of the waters'. Fortunately/ tlie flood did not last long. Tlie Waters fell to their proper level, and no mark of the immda-! tion remains but the mud left by receding waters. . - -, c

A Btsrtop on £200 a-yeai*.— At a meeting; held in the Christ Church schoalroom, St. Pan- ' eras, for the purpose of hearingan address from Bishop Tafuell, the newly Consecrated Bishop of Brisbane, an interesting incident took place Captain Tomes, wh<>, it appears, has property in different parts of Australia, was present at the meeting) and so moved by the simple and touching statements of (he Bishop, and especially of his announcement of the fact that he was going out to preside over bis vast diocese oa an income of exactly £200 a-yeaf, that he came forward and in jthe handsomest tefms there and then offered/ the Bishop a house which he owns in South Brisbane. If the house should happen td be let before the Bishop ai rives, the rent wilfthen be paid over to him inste id. This noble tfffer, soopportunely made excited, as may be supposed, the enthusiasm of the audience to the highest pitch. ". Perhaps" (says the Guardiflk) »' some were reminded of those who, 'haying land, sold it,- and brought tuo money aurt laid it at the apostles' feet.' " v Austrian Tybanny.— A correspondent of this Dqxly Neufs'gires the following instances of the cruel tyranny which is exercised in the Austrian dominions by the police )--" Johaun Pulkra* bek, director of a printing machine in Prague, and elder of the Moravia church in Berlin, said one flay wheu the tix gatherers called on'him in the presence of his fellow Workmen, that it was a shanl3 that the Em peroi' having issued a depreciated paper, would riot receive if ill payment of the tatfes at the rate of its depreciation. In two days he was seized and imprisoned Hisstarying wife and children are refused all knowledge" of where lie is, and his. old friends in Berlin have been oblicred to make a subscription lor their support.— \ Bohemian R>man Catho-. lie priest was acquainted with *a workman from Berlin who had a German Bible. The wriest culled often to read it. Another priest informed.' against him in the Ecclesiastical Court ; heWad imprisoned in a convent, which places ard always used for such purposes. They have declared him mud, and refuse to tell his 'family where he i«. This happened shortly before t was there." • '■"■

A Marvellous Story.-— As a party of work* men were resting- so:ne days back during thoic dinner hour on the banks of the Rhone, near Lyons, a large ant crept into the ear of one of tbem. To the amazement of his comrades, the mag suddenly started up, and ran away as ' it mad, paying no att mtion to their shouts. ' Ha was soon seen to fail and roll about in paroxysms of pail). His companions carried him home, and a medical mm, was sent for, bled him, but apparently without affording him any relief, for he again escaped, and ran into the fields. He was followed and overtaken, but his friends could Ao nothing wit!* him. He was in consequence removed to a lunatic asylum to be taken care of. All attempts to get the insect out of bis ear hava hitherto proved, fruitless. . • TttuAifiLti TaiGgoV a* I*i«stA.tiAi»:— A terrible tragedy was emoted on the night of the 14th September, at the bavraeks of tlie 3rd West India Beginunt. Lower Prince-street* It appears that S 3l7 cant During ordered Private James Ilowa.-.l to join the St. Ann's Guard. Howard d jolared tbat it was not his roll, aud bocama ye y noisy in the barrack room in which many men had retired to rest. Ho wa^enjoined sileno;— he continued bis noise. He was ordered in :nore peremptory terms to be so. During ordered au escort of two men, wb;ich he accptnpan ad to take Howard to -the guard room. How ird had by this tune possess^ ed" 1 himself of a kuifo, which must have been concealed under his ' great "coat, when he appeared to be making ready to go to the guard room. In passing nan' Daring, Howard inflicted a mortal blow. Howard was then seized and taken towards tie door by. Private James Nichols, whom he dangerously wounded, During died on the sam ; night on which the wound was inflicted. Nichols died two nights after. Trinidad Press. ' -■..*"

TrtHi Gruat EAsnuttf.— Now that the Great Edstern is eo.nfGrtiihly established at SouUiaiii'p* ton, and saved from all fear of danger, the Improvements required in her machinery And the additions yet wanting in the cabin may be Vroceeded with without delay. The mistakes made in her constitution of tile engines are now becoming app irent. During- the voyage round to Southampton both the engines were carefully watched to siseertain wlmt detects existed', m order that they aiig-ht effectually remedied diir* in(? this winter, and the result of tliia exiiiniiia* tion shows mat several adjustments and alterations, more ..r less important, are required 'in many parts of the machinery of both Screw and paddles. There is one defect iv the plau»"*"6« rather piwiti >a of t!ie paddle engines, which 'is of consequence, ina«iHMch that it oarinot now be re.ueiiied, aud that is, that either the dia, meter of the paddle- wheels is too great, or' the shaft is placed too low il» the vessel. When' the Great Eastern leaves this country on a regular voyage, with full coals and cargo, her draught

<i\ waltr -.vill tut bo shuti of thirty or thirty-one feet. At present she is light and draws only about twenty-two feet, yet the floats of her paddles are reefed in three feet How much must they not be reefed when she conies down some eight or nine feet deeper in the water ? As they •re at present, and with an additional immersion of nine feet, the wlieelsjwould be "drowned" as engineers would term it, and it would be impossible to turn them at more than six 01 «eren revolutions. There is only one remedy left for this miscalculation ; that is, by takingout the paddle engines entirely, and bedding them up some three-and-a-half or four feet higher, an. alteration which is not likely to be attempted, as it would infallibly take five or six months to complete it, and cost £ 15,000 to £20,000. The screw engines are, it is said, neither as well made nor as carefully finished as those of the paddles, and a great* deal of adjustment will be wanted about the connecting rods to make them work with less clatter than they have hitherto done. A screw shaft tunnel must also be made, and the hearings of the screw shaft be altered, from white metal to lignum vitas, and the shaft at these parts caged with brass to prevent the wood acting upon the iron. The airways to the screw furnace are said not to be sp good as those of the paddle ; and this, with the smallness of the funnels, of course, operates seriously against maintaining full steam. The authorities are- talking of sub Stitnting a proper teak deck tor the refuse green planks which are now doing duty, and which I >t the water through in streams to the soloons below, whenever it rains or the deck is washed. How it comes that this deck .was ever allowed to be laid down;' the shareholders must find out for themselves ; as they must also discover, if they can, how it was that the Directors accepted the ship as finished, when, after all that has been dove, it will require at least from £50,000 to £60,000 to complete her this winter, as she ought to have been completed last autumn.— Tint*

Suicide by Charcoal. A sad affair occurred yesterday in the Rue Leonie. A lady of property who had for some years in her service a young woman named Jacqueline allowed tbu latter some months back to bring into tbe house her son, seven years old, whom she had left with her parents in tbe country ; and Jacqueline seemed happy to have the child near her. ! Yesterday the lady on returning home was surprised to see neither mother nor child, aud on searching for them she found both lying of dead in the kitchen, with the remains of a pan charcoal near them. On a paper near the woman was written, " I put myself and my child to •death, because my earnings are not enough to maintain us both." It is supposed that she must have been seized with sudden insanity. — iGalignani.

Hobbible Cbueltt in Fbancr. — An slmost incredible act of cruelty to a horse has been committed in Paris. A carter, named Cuirassier, of 147, Route de Momrcjil, beat in that road, in the most savage manner, one of three horses which were drawing a heavily laden cart. Either from exasperation at the ill treatment, or from sudden indisposition, the torse refnsed to advance another step, and, though beaten and kicked brutally, persisted in not moving. At length the man unharnessed the animal, and, fastening a rope to its tongue, tied it by the other end of the rope to the back of the cart, and then whipped the other hors>s into a gallop ! The poor, animal was thus dragged until the tongue, was partly torn out ! Seine passers-by, aft.er a while, released the poor horse, and arrested the man. It is not thought the horse can survive the horrible mutilation. The, iri^n has been lodged in the Prefecture of Police to await his trial.

Sagacity of a. Doo— A feyr days ago, as a railway van was going along Keptie-street, a -cbild was. iv danger of being run oTer. Seeing this, a mastiff dog belonging to Mr. W. Reid, fiesher, erung from the side paying, eeized the astonished and frightened child by the clothes, and placed it in safety, to the delight of a great number of onlookers. — Dundee Ad' -wrtiser.

A Stbanoe Stoby. — The following strange story appears in the Union dv Var. We may Yeroark that the name of Sir Edward Egerton mentioned in it is not to be found in any baronetcy : — Sir Edward Egerton, nephew of Sir R Peel, has just left Nice fur Giasse. Tim young man has been occupied for years in procuring the information necessary to discover a will made by one of bis uncles, leaving him a fortune estimated at thirty-two millions— part of the fortune consisting of thirty houses at London, and an entire street at Edinburgh. This will, after the death of the testator, could uot be found, and all attempts to discover it were fruitless. In August last tbe Rer. Mr. Himmel, a Catholic priest at Dublin, received in confession a declaration to tbe following effect: — The opulent testator some time ago sailed foi Italy in the Ville de Grasse, a steamer which was sunk near the lies d'Hyeres. All bis effects and papers were lost, but be himself was saved ; be was, however, afflicted with rheumatism, and stopping at Nice, died there. Just before his death be made his secretary write tojris nephew to beg him to come iv ail baste; but tbe scretary, supposing that he would make a new will in favour of the latter, and having a spite against him, did not send the letter. When be made his confession tbe ex secretary was on bis deathbed, and be prayed the priest to do what be could to repair his wrong. Sir E. Egerton is now about to endeavour to obtain at Grasse or Caunes information as to the precise spot in which tbe vessel in question went down. He hopes that the trunks of his deceased uncle may still be intact, and that in one of them he can find the will. A company is being organised at London to assist him in getting up :he vessel. He has consented to advance £20,000 in English money towards the expenses, and to give five thousand pounds' out his inheritance if the lost will be found at the bottom of the ocean. In the lost vessel were large sums of money, and other articles of value belonging to other persons ; and the question has arisen, whether the English company may not retain all tbe wealth it may fi9b up.

__ Shipwbeck and Loss of Four Locomotive Ekgines.— The ship Jessica, 858 tons burden, ■belonging to Messrs. J. and R. Wilson, of Liverpool, left London on the. 14th August, conveying four locomotive engines, and car riages, wagons, and other rolling stock, and materials for the Baroda Railway at Bombay. When in latitude 10 S., and longitude 25 39 W., the vessel encountered heavy weather, and sprung an alarming leak. Tbe captain aud ciew used their utmost exertions to discover and stop the leak, but in 18 hours after the discover of the leak the vessel was so filled wilh water that they were compelled to forsake the ship. The captain and 13 hands took to the lengboat, and the mate and seven hands entrreri the pinnace, and no sooner had they stowed themselves and got clear off than the vessel sank. Ibo longboat airived with the captaiii and 13 hands at Pernambuco, after bein£ out fire days, but the pinnace had not been iTearc! of at PeiDambiit'tf when the Aron left. The

captain and two of tbe crew return to England by the steamer Avon. As the weather was moderate it is hoped that the pinnace may have landed on some other part of the Brazilian coast. Relics of the Plague of London.— A few weeks since the workmen, in digging out the foundation on the east end of Th,ree Nuns- court by bt. Michael's Church, Aldgate, came to a considerable quantity— upwards of a cartload — of human skulls and bones, abo,ut seren feet from the surface. In some of the papers it has been conjectured that they formed part of the sweepings of some adjacent churchyard after the fire of London. This was more likely the great pit, or 'dreadful gulf." as De Foe calls it, provided for the parishes of Aldgate and Whitechapel, which, during a foi might after it was opened, had thrown into it 1114 bodies, when they were obliged to fill it up. De Foe adds, "I doubt not but there may be some ancient persons alive in the parish whnarehetter able to show in which part of the churchyard the pit lay better than I can : the mark of it also was many years to be seen in the churchyard, or the surface lying in length, parallel! wth the passage which goes by the west wall of the churchyard out of Houndsditcb, and turns again into Whitechapel, coining out near the Three Nuns Inn." — N,oie* ond Queries.

Frightful Affair at Paris. — The Marche St. Germain lias been tbe scene of a frightful crime, committed under the following circumstances : — A fishseller in the market, named F- , about three years ago paid a visit to his birthplace in Auvergne, and on his return to Paris brought with him a young woman, about 21, who has since lived with him as. servant. The wife of F soon discovered that an improper intimacy existed between them, and the peace of the house was disturbed by it. A short time since F , who has two stalls in the market, gave up one of them to the young g' lr \ t who no longer continued his servant. After being installed in her new situation, the girl announced to her late muster that sh« intended shortly to be married. This he at first treated merely as a jest, but at the same time hej told her that he would take caie to prevent such a thing, as he would kill her rather than sbe should do so. Two days ago she repeated the same story to him, when he took out a large krife ftom a drawer, brandished it before her. This alarmed the girl, and she ran off. F pursued and, on overtaking her, plunged the knife up to the handle into her body. She was carried to Hie hospital, where she soon after expired. F was arrested, and sent to the Prefecture.

Feahfox Coalpit Accident. — An accident has occured at one of the pits belonging to Earl Granville at Star-green, Hanley Potteries by which 10 men weie killed. It appeared tVatlS men were ascending the pit iv an iron cage, and on arriving near the top a bell in the enginehouse rings a signal that the engine should be stopped. The bell rang, but the engine man was neglecting his duty, and the " cage" with the men was drawn up to the wheel and over turned, and the men thrown out. Six of the poor fellows fell down the pit mouth and were dashed to pieces, four were killed on the bank top, and the remainder escaped. The engineer is in custody. A verdict of manslaughter, and the prisoner was committed for trial to the assizes

Mr. Thomas Whistler Smith is dead. The cause of death is said to have been diptheria. The Murder or Captain Leyobsteb. — The diabolical murder ot Captain Leycester, the. paymaster, is the all absorbing topic of the moment. .On the night of the 2nd the event occurred^and, as far as we know, for the first in its history, Walter has been the scene of one of the most atrocious tragedies that ever disgusted human nature. About 12 o'clock at night the intelligence was first communicated to Captain Mason and Major Strange. The former officer soon after wrote to Mr. Vans Agnew, the principal assistant magistiate, and that gentleman, together with Mr. Reade, the magistrate, were speedily at Captain Leicester's house. ( From about I o'clock of the morning of the 3rd, up till near 11, the magistrate assigned by Mr. Vans Agnew was carrying on a vigorous inquiry, regarding which it would be premature in us to touch. The servants of Captain Leycester were examined. A noil mortem examination of the body was held, the the medical testimony wns recoided, and other investigations made, with a view to unravel the mystery which at present Teils the dark and tragic end of the unfortunate deceased. We have not heard that any clue has come out as a starting poiut from which to grotmd any satisfactory theory as to the cause of the murder and the probable perpetrator?, but, no doubt, as the inquiry proceeds, something will develop itself which will afford such clue. All that has transpired, we believe, is that the decased was shot with his own gun, and that some of his household must have been privy to the foul deed. Mr. Reade is this day again engaged in going on with the investigation, and we are sanguine of the result, though ignorant of the measures and means bj which a solution of the mystery is likely to be obtained. We purposely refrain from touching on any facts and matter which yesterday's examination excited. Everything being in the dark at present, and suspicion resting nowhere in particular, the conduct of the inquiry will prove both a difficult and laborious task, and we can only wish the authorities all the success which on every account it is so desirable their energetic efforts to discover the guilty should meet with. — Vizgapatam Chronicle. Immolation of Children — A melancholy event took place three days ago in the Commune of Lesme (Soane et Loire): Two little boys, one six and the other four years of age, were left (o play in a small hut built of branches of wood and straw in the middle of a field, while their parents were at work on the farm. They must have set fire to the place with chemical matches, as a person passing saw smoke and flames issuing fiom the hut. He gave an alarm, and when at last the fire was put out, the bodies of the two children were found, completely calcined. Another accident from chemical matches, also attended with fatal consequences, occurred a few days since at a farm in the Commune of Chapelle Janson (Ille et Vilaine). Three children of a farmer set fire to a quantity of straw in a barn, in which they had been left alone duripg the absence of their parents. The barn, with all its contents was destroyed, and the children consumed in the flames. The mother has siuce died from the agitation caused by the event. 1 A Complicated Mabriagb Question. — Scandal is busy with an event which has something of the ludicrous. A nobleman of Milan, of some wealth, who had contracted marriage by civil contract before the legal authorities found it expedient to disown it after a while in order to connect himself with' a Maltese lady of great personal attractions. The second marriage was solemnised in church. But the lady in her turn, having beqp courted by a man higher rank, and of greater wealth, instituted proceedings to unnul her marriage, upon the plea of bigamy on the part of {he husband al.

leging, now that it serred her purpose, that bis first marriage was legal. The new banns were published, but the husband of the two wives instituted proceedings to forbid them- The matter is now before the courts, and it remains to he proved, whether the husband of the two wives is ; jto become a bachelor, and the lady, ambitious of a second husband whist the first is living, to be pronounced a spinster.

Whecks if Bidefokd B*y: Loss of nearly Fifty Lives. — During Tuesday night ar»rt Wednesday morning, the Ist and 2nd Nor., this coast «as again visited by a gale of the fiercest description, resulting in the wreck of several vessels in the Bay, and. the loss, it is considered in the neighbomhood, of nearly fifty lives. Three vessels, two of which have been identi fled as the Wanderer and Refuge, have heen wrecked, and the scattered timbers washed on shore at the back of Northam Burrows, not a single soul, it is feared, being saved to tell the tale. One of the vessels, judging from her masts and timbers, is evidently a ship of 150 C tons, requiring at the least 30 hands. On Brauuton Sands a brig of 320 ti^s, called the North Esk, of Sunderland, John Cuipp, master, was driven ashore about 1 1 o'clock on Tuesday night : all hands saved. She left Llanelly on Sunday, for jHavre, with a cargo of culm, and soon after met with a gale, which curried away her main yard, and two hours after both top. sails. On Tuesday morning the wind wore round, off Lundy, N.W. by N., when she shipped heavy seas, which washed overboard her boats, compass, and binnacle. At 9 o'clock set foiesail, wore ship at 10, and struck, it is supposed, on Baggy Leap, and half filled with water; shortly after she ran ashore off the Braunton Burrows. The crew (six hands) remained in the maintop rigging the whole of the night. Soon after daybreak two countrymen observed the vessel, and gave information to the lighthouse keeper. A flag was immediately hoisted from the lighthouse, and a crew of volunteers passed over from Appledore and launched the lifeboat of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution with the utmost dispatch. The crew had been since U o'clock the previous night in the maintop. The captain assured the reporter that, although he h;i<l seen many wrecks, he never witnessed anything more quickly and courageously done than the saving of himself and crew by the lifeboat