South Wales Echo

SOUTH WALES TIDE TABLE. UAUM*1* SWANSEA,T F NEWPORT May Mor.( Evn.j HgfcjMor. Evn.| HgtJMor. Evn.|Hgt. 4 Mi 2 50 3 23 27 6 1 62 2 25126 2 3 3 3 36 27 11 5 T i 3 53 4 18 28 7 2 55 3 23 27 0 4 6 4 31 29 0 6 W 4 43 5 729 10 3 47 4 1127 10 <1 56 5 2030 3 7 T b 30 5 5031 0 4 34 4 5428 6 5 43 6 331 5 8 F 6 11 6 3231 10 5 16 5 3728 11 6 24! 6 4532 3 9 S 6 52 7 932 3 5 56 6 1329 3 7 5 7 2232 8 10 S 7 27 7 46 32 7 6 30 6 48 29 5 7 40| 7 50 33 0 11 Ml 8 3 8 2132 6 7 6 7 24 29 5 8 lo! 8 34 32 11 "ltoat,j¡ Basin. tPrince of Wales Dk lAlexandra Dk.

The Man About Town. One of the reasons, 1 am told, why the Cardiff Town Council were asked to exclude the representatives of the press from the committee meetings they have been in the habit of attending was that facts were disclosed to the public which the best interests of the borough required to be concealed. These facts relate chiefly to street improvements and other public works, which involve the buying or selling of | real estate, and by the revelation, it is said, the property jobber-that is, I suppose, the outside property jobber- alone received the advantage. I will deal with this point at once with a distinct and emphatic statement. If it is suggested, by any advocate of Mr Sanders' reactionary motion, that it was through the presence of the reporters at the committees that these private matters leaked out, I take it upon myself to say that it is a libel upon all the reporters of Cardift. There are subjects discussed at the com- mittee meetings which the reporters have been asked to take no notice of for the moment, on grounds of public policy. With that request they have invariably complied. There is not a single report in the news- papers on which Mr Sanders can put his finger as an illustration of the danger, or even the inconvenience, of admitting a body of men of proved discretion to their delibera- tions. Supposing that there have been disclosures of plans affecting future interests —as to whose property a new road will cross, or as to improvement plans in con- templation—it will be necessary to look elsewhere for the source of the leakage. I have already disclaimed belief in the charges of jobbery and corruption against the Council, in which the new Radical element" was included. But how, in the name of common sense, could the exclusion of the reporters arrest the alleged evil, if it has its roots in the Corporation itself ? The logical sequel of the arguments of Messrs Sanders and Rees and their supporters would be to require an oath of secrecy trom all the members of the Council. I Reporters, I know, would be glad to be relieved of the drudgery of attending com- mittee meetings, and newspaper conductors would have no difficulty in finding more interesting matter. But it is not a question between them and the municipality. It is a question peculiarly of the rights of the public. Take the case of the Watch Com- mittee, in which it is understood, in many quarters, that Cardiff has been willing to imitate the objectionable example of Newport. Can it really be intended that these meetings shall be held in camera, and the only knowledge made accessible to the ratepayers as to the efficiency of the force, and the good order of the borough, confined to the proceedings where the form is I beg to propose," and "I beg to second" that the minutes be adopted ? Take the case of the Water Committee, the reports of which are becoming of increasing importance, under the present meteorological circum- stances. There are many of us who are watching the weekly reports of the Water Engineer, and regarding with no less concern than Mr Williams the diminishing supply in the reservoirs. Take the case of the Health Committee on the occasion of the rumour of an outbreak of epidemic disease, when they may relieve a panic when their reports are published, and create suspicion when they are concealed. These three instances are selected, not so much because they are more important than others which could be cited, but because they are the committees to which newspapers give a larger share pf attention. Are the bur- gesses willing to submit to a resolution, carried by 17 td 7, in a council consisting of 40 members, denying them independent and prompt information of what takes place on the momentous matters under consider- ation. I shall be told, perhaps, that the information will not be withheld but will be privately supplied to the Press. Thank you for nothing, gentlemen. My faith in the value of supplied information has been shaken by some years' experience. The belief of the ratepayers in the trustworthiness of supplied information is not likely to be stronger than mine. It was through this sort of supply system that the ratepayers of Salford were kept in ignorance of the enormous defalcations of their gas engineer. It was by a system of secrecy of the same kind that London was left until now to learn of the amazing "jobbery and corruption which existed in the relation of members and officers of the Board of Works. The present Mayor and his predecessor, and all practical administrators of municipal affairs, have told us that the most important work of a Town Council is transacted in committee. And yet, at this late day, it is proposed in a progressive borough like Cardiff, to hold the committee meetings in secret, to all intents and purposes like the proceedings of the close corporations in the unregenerate days before popular self-government was enforced by statute. The local water question just now referred to suggests some serious reflections. The notification of the Water Committee that it will be imprudent to draw further supplies for street watering purposes from the hydrants raises anew, in a more practical form, the question frequently touched on in this column as to the source from which our watering z, carts are to be fed. The condition of tt- streets yesterday is a sufficient proof that no thought of dispensing with the watering carts can for a moment be entertained. The dust was being blown during the morning by one of those irritating ground winds from which there is no protection and people walking to and from their place of worship were thrown into a state of temper little conducive to Sabbath peace of mind. It was as bad in the afternoon, as those who went out for a walk found it. The wind was not high, but it created little dust storms everywhere, which took all the bloom off the women's dresses, and much of the power out of men's eyes to admire them. No the watering cart is as necessary to our comfort out-of-doors as a house supply is to our health and ease within. Yet all the authorities, arguing by anology, are bidding us prepare for a summer I:ly of much the same character as the last and Lord Portarlington's letter to the Times on Saturday, though it points out that last year's drought was a blessing in dis- guise, will not help to reassure I townsmen who remember what it was to be without water. Lord Portarling- I ton reminds us that the rainless season began on the 4th of June and ended with the gale of the first of September. It will be curious, as he says, to watch the weather in the present month of June. The June of this year will be under the influence of a Saturday moon-by old tradition almost <ttl )Va,ys a wet one. If this old saying should come true in the present instance, it will give us a, splendid grass year, so much wanted after the slender hay crops of 1887. It may indeed seem that the dryness and heat of the summer of 1887, followed by the snows of last winter, have renewed the vital powers of nature, filled the earth with gladness, and will cause the nations of Europe (not omitting Ireland) to look for- ward with renewed hope to the future. But that pretty picture leaves us still in doubt as to whether Nature is not going to repeat her last year's antics and there is not much consolation in the vision of the advantage awaiting us all in 1889. It would be somewhat of a reproach if the Cardiff local governing bodies were reduced to the humiliating position of the House of Commons, and made to confess that they were in need of more stringent rules of procedure. Yet the incident at the Board of Guardians on Saturday, and the scene in the Town Council the day before, would seem to point to the fact that both our municipal and parochial representatives are of no better manners than the House of Commons before procedure was amended. In neither case does the town appear to advantage. On the one matter I said my say in the last issue. On the other, in which Mr F. J. Beavan made an attack on Mr Plaine, I think that every impartial reader will agree that it would have been but fair if the Vice- Chairman had received the customary notice that he was going to be assailed, and why. This unfortunately growing custom of spring- ing charges upon members of public bodies is embarrassing to everybody, and particularly hard in the case of a person called upon to repel an accusation of which he has had no notice, and of which he may very likely have forgotten the circumstances. To U Hull-ite," who writes on the Free Library magazine-room, and to all it may concern, it must again be stated that no attention is paid to anonymous letters.

I I DESPERATE FIGHTING WITH I DACOITS. FORTY-NINE KILLED AND OVER A HUNDRED WOUNDED. A telegram from Rangoon in to-day's Times says :-Full details have been received of the recent attack on Mogoung. The dacoits who attacked the town were Shans from the Upper Ohindwin»notKachyens,aswasoriginally reported. The fighting was of a very obstinate character, and lasted for several hours. The Goorkha police- men, numbering 75, under Lieutenant O'Donnell and Lieutenant Elliott, Assistant-Commissioner, fought splendidly. Although outnumbered k by six, to one, they drove the dacoita from several strong positions held by them in walled pagodas. The Shans resisted with great obstinacy, and the fighting was frequently hand to band, the Shans crossing their spears with the, bayonets of the police. Nearly one-third of the Goorkhas engaged were killed or wounded, our loss being eight men killed and 15 wounded. The dacoits' loss was Very heavy. In addition to 49 men killed it is estimated that more than 100 were wounded. A fresh attack on Mogoung by Kacbyens is new anticipated.

SELLING ADULTERATED MILK AT CARDIFF. At the Cardiff "police-court to-day—before Dr Paine and Aldertnan Waring-Emily Hankey, a milk vendor residing at Little Frederickstreet, was summoned for selling adulterated milk. Mr Collingwood (deputy town clerk) prosecuted. Detective Smith deposed to purchasing some milk from the defendant, which in the ordinary way was sent to be analysed. Mr Thomas Hughes, borough analyst, had since certified that the sample contained nine per cent, of added water. Defendant fined 20a and costs, or 10 days' imprisonment*.

TOBACCONISTS COMMENCING.—For advice how to open remuneratively from any amount, however small or large, send for Illustrated Catalogue, post free, Lesser Friedlander, 3, Hounclsditch, London. 4

A GENEROUS WELSH LANDLORD. It is announced that Mr Richard D. Price. of Rhiwlas Hall, Bala, has granted a rent abatement of £1,500 t- his tenants. Mr Price has also made a permanent reduction in the farm rents, and Ip-Ays all the tithes.

ASSAULTING THE POLICE AT MAINDEE. At the Newport county police-office this morn- ing—before Major Wallis-Edward and Thomas Gollege, two painters of Barnardtown, well known to the police, were charged with assaulting P.C.'s Ash and Foxall. On Saturday evening the prisoners were fighting at Maindee, when the police interfered and received a warm reception. The prisoners struck and kicked the officers,-The prisoners were remanded in custody until Satur- day. —

SEVERE WEATHERIN SCOTLAND HEAVY FALLS OF SNOW. An Aberdeen correspondent telegraphed yester- day that weather of unprecedented severity had prevailed over the north of Scotland during the preceding forty-eight hours. In Deeside Valley snow commenced to fall on Saturday afternoon, continuing, without intermission, past night fall, and the hills were covered with snow. The snowfall is pheno- menal at this advanced stage of the season, and such an occurrence has not been recorded for many years. The snow descended in large heavy flakes, and tailing on the trees, now in full leaf, produced unusual and fantastic effects. Towards the sea coast heavy rain had fallen incessantly for 21 hours, and the weather was very cold.

THE MONMOUTH COLOUR COMPANY. MEETING OF CREDITORS AT NEWPORT TO-DAY. To-day, at noon, a meeting of creditors of Nathan John Shellard, of 4, Monnow-street, and O-sbaston Mills, Monmouth, was convened at the Official Receiver's office, Newport. The debtor commenced business in 1882 in partnership with George Lindsey, as the Monmouth Colour Company. The capital was L520, of which debtor contributed 2250. The partnership continued until about two years ago, when Lindsey left the neighbourhood. The debtor continued to carry on the business alone in the partnership name but from the outset of the partnership, in which no formal deed was signed, the Capital ani Counties Bank, Limited, held a mortgage on the mills and machinery at Osbaston, and lately took possession under that document. It was on this occasion that the debtor first became aware of his insolvency, which he attributed to loss in the partnership. Tne total liabilities were £689, and the available assets £ 197 Os 7d. Towards the deficiency, bad debts were estimated at 2109 5s Id, and the difference between the cost price and present value of machinery and stock-in-trade at 2150.-Tlie Official Receiver intimated that the debtor was not in a position to make an offer to the creditors, and bad been adjudicated bankrupt. — The proceedings were formal, and the Official Receiver becomes the trustee.

TO-DAY'S NEWPORT POLICE- COURT. AN UNPRECEDENTED RECORD. I To-day's proceedings at Newport borough police- court were unprecedented. Usually there is a long list, averaging probably 15 or 20 cases, of which a great proportion are for drunkenness. The bench get through these in something less than the time allotted in sporting circles to a preliminary canter, as averages taken show Seven drunken cases got off in five minutes— that beats record," remarks the sporting member of the press fraternity from his post of observation against the wall. This morn- ing there was literally no sheet no sheet, that is, of charges in the usual acceptation of a Monday court. A case of purchasing old brass and worn out rubber valves from a steamer in the Alexandra Dock without permission of the captain, but with the permission of the engineer, as appeared from a well-thumbed permit from that official, was talked over and adjourned, and a group ot three private improvement cases were passed by, it being stated that some had paid the amount. Mr Lyndon Moore, who was for the marine-store merchants whose trans- action was impuened, congratulated the Mayor and Mr T. P. Wausbrough on the narrow escape they bad of being made the recipients of a pair of white gloves, and this pleasantry led to a little felicitation between bench and bar. The court was deserted by the public, who kept Saint Monday elsewhere, and after being tyled for a few minutes, ended happily with a barren record-an event which has not been paralleled on a Monday in Newport for years.

JOHN CHINAMAN IN LONDON. ENGLISH GIRLS IN CHINESE DENS. There is never any accounting for a woman s taste in anything, from bonnets to babies, from hair-dressing to husbauds. But it is perhaps in the selection of the latter article that the vagaries of her choice are most conspicuously displayed. John Chinaman is not handsome either in native or European costume, nor is there anything dig- nified or even picturesque in his ugliness. Indeed, it would be altogether impossible to suppose that Dame Nature, in her most eccentric mood, could have devised anything more repulsively inane in the shape of a human countenance than that with which she has punished the Celestial. His is the acme of the expressionless as far as faces go. And yet, writes a correspondent of the London Evening News, during my peregrinations through China in London I have come face to face with the English wives" of Chinamen who actually acknowledge a feeling of affection tor their lords and masters. In one case I chatted with a blue-eyed, fair- haired girl of some 22 or 23 years of age, who told me that she bad been married to her." boss for nearly two years. She confided to me that her married life was by no means an unhappy one. John is not demon- strative in his affections, nor too chivalrous in his notions of a woman's true place in the economy of nature. He treats his English wife as be would any other piece of furniture that he considers necessary to his own crude ideas of comfort; but he is never weak enough (subsequent to the brief days of courtship) to allow his feelings, such as they are, to betray him into any outer manifesta- tions of tenderness, unless he has had an excep- tional stroke of luck in gambling. Then he devotes himself for a while to gin drinking and amorous domesticity. He will even go so far as to purchase inexpensive but showy jewellery and other adornments for the" Ingliss girlee who has thrown in her lot with him. Shabby in his own person to the extreme of slovenliness, he likes to see the missis well dressed and the envy of her neighbours. But she has to work, in many instances, terribly hard to secure such indulgence. "I've got to look after the shop during the day. time, attend to the lodgers, keep the house clean, and see to my own children," was the sketch cf her domestic life given me by one of these English wives. N But your husband is kind to you, I suppose ?" 0, bless you, yes! He's 'kind enough in his way. I never saw a Chinese strike a woman all the time I've been here. When he gets tired of his missis' he leaves her, or else gives her notice to quit. But he ain't such a brute as my own countrymen, with all his faults. He don't kick 'a woman about and beat her black and blue, just 'cause she happens to belong to him, like an old shoe." I could not but acknowledge that in this, at least, the Heathen Chinee scores above his Cockney rival. With one exception all the English women in the settlement are confirmed slaves to that deadly and pernicious drug which is the bane of the Celestial in whatever part of the world he may set his foot. The habit, in the majority of cases, was not very speedily acquired by these English lassies; but once it laid hold of them, their subsequent efforts to break themselves of it were all in vain. I have tried with all my might to leave off the opium pipe, time after time," said one of those women, "but I can't do it." These opium- smoking women bore the traces of that degrading vice in their pale, sunken cheeks of a morning, their languor and depression of spirits, their nervous irritability, and the lack-lustre expression of eyes that bad once been handsome, fiery, and full. Slaves to the vile drug, they speedily become oblivious of their painful and isolated position among the women of London, and ulti- mately sink to the level of the uncivilised beings with whom they have strangely elected to spend their lives.

j Affairs in Ireland. t THE CRIMES ACT IN BELFAST, j The Privy Council met on Saturday and issued proclamations extending the third and fourth sections of the Crimes Act to Belfast, in view of the prosecutions for the aUeged insurance frauds. By these sections the Attorney-General will be enabled to have the cases tried by a special jury in Belfast, or to charge the venue to another town, which will probably be done. It is likely that the sections referred to will be extended to the whole sections referred to will be extended to the whole of Ireland.

I ASSAULTS Oli CARDIFF POLICE. A BATCH OF CASES. At the Cardiff police-court to-,ifty-befora Dr Paine and Alderman Wirii)g-William Sheen and William Lynch, two respectable looking sea- men, were charged with being disorderly and causing an obstruction in Bute street on the 2nd inst. The prisoner Lynch was further charged with assaulting and kicking P.O. Pedlar in Hope street on the same occasion. P.O. Oxley said that at about 11 o'clock on Saturday night he found the prisoners lighting with two females outside the Marquis of Bute public-house, Bute-street. Witness got the women to go away, but the men followed them, and altogether behaved in so disorderly a manner that they had to bo taken into custody. They were first taken to the Lower Station, Hope-street, where Lynch kicked P.O. Pedlar, who was assisting witness. Sheen, it being his first appearance, was set at liberty, the other prisoner being fined 5s aud costs, or five days' hard labour. Thomas McCarthy, charged with being dis- orderly and causing an obstruction, also with assaulting and kicking P. C. Porter in St. Mary- street on Saturday night, was fined 10.3 and costs, or seven days' imprisonment. Mary Dwyer was charged with behaving in a disorderly manner, and throwing stones to ths danger of the public in Tyndall-street, on the 3rd iust. From the evidence of Inspector Tamblyn it appeared that on Sunday eveniug the police had occasion to visit some houses in Tyndall-street, where they suspected an illegal sale of drink was going on. A crowd assembled and commenced stoning the officers, prominent amongst the more riotous being the prisouer. So serious became the aspect of affairs that reinforcements had to bo brought down before the mob could be induced to desist. The inspector was himself struck by a stone on the eye.—Prisoner was fined 20s and costs, or 14 days' hard labour.— William MuIIins, an old man, who kicked P.O. Phelps on the leg in Pendoylan-street, a street adjoining Tyrtdali-streefc, while the affray was in progress, was also fined 20s and costs, or 14 days. John Da vies was charged with wilfully breaking a pane of glass in the door of 30, Custom House-street; also with assaulting P.O. Roddy on the 3rd inFit.-Prisoner, it seemed, was at 30, Custom House-street, which is a coffee tavern, last night, and, behaving badly, had to be ejected. The door was closed after him, and he thereupon dashed a loaf of bread he was carrying, tied up in a handkerchief, through the glass door. P.C. Roddy then took him into custody, and he became very violent and assaulted the officer. -Priaoner was fined 5 and costs, or seven days, for breaking the door, and 20s and costs, or 14 days, for the assault.

A QUARREL WITH A LODGER AT CARDIFF, I ALLEGED USE OF THE KNIFE. At the Cardiff police-court to-day-before Dr Paine and Alderman Waring—Kate Harrington, a woman of 30, who appeared in the dock carry- ing a child in her arms, was charged with cutting and wounding Annie Wills oa the head with a knife at 48, Ordell-street, on the 2nd inst. Prisoner lodged with prosecutrix, who on Saturday gave her notice to quit. In the evening prisoner, who had been out, returned home the worse for liquor, and commencing to quarrel, seized and threw the prosecutrix to the ground and stabbed her with a knife in the head. Prosecutrix's husband, who was in an upstairs room, hearing the sounds of the scuffle, ran down and pulled the prisoner off. He heard her say, I will do for you."— P.C. 99 said when he apprehended and charged prisoner, she said I did not use a knife, I only threw a cup." Witness noticed a broken cup in the room where the affair took place.-Dr Styles, who attended to prosecutrix's injuries, said he found she had a clean-cut scalp wound three- quarters of an inch long, extending to the bone.— Prisoner was committed for trial at the quarter sessions, the magistrates intimating their readiness to accept bail.

9& BOTTLES" AND PUBLICANS' SPITE. At the Marlborough street police-court, London, on Saturday, Henry Weaven, alias Bottles," a little old man with a huge shock of black hair, was charged with begging in Portland- street. He was a nuisance to the passers-by, and was taken into custody.—Prisoner Oh, dear, oh, dear Why, it's all publicaus' spite. A lot of boys halloa after me as I go along the streets, and they pelt me with mud, I have been a hard- working fellow from a man to a boy (laughter)- I mean the other way about—from a boy to a man.—Mr Newton: What do you do for a living? —Prisoner: Whatever I can. Sometimes I carry water, and at other titres beer—(laughter)—when I can get it.—Mr Newton Is lie known here ?- Sergeant Brewer, the gaoler, said that he had been charged many times.—Mr Newton Have you any questions to ask the sergeant ?—Prisoner (again laughing): Why, it's all police makings up; they know how to do it, (Laughter).—Mr Newton I don't think it is made up this time. You go to prison for six weeks with hard labour.

A LADY AMATEUR DOCTOR AT I WORK. 'I A good after-dinner story is just now being Circulated. If the original narrator is to be bolieved, a member of the Ladies' Ambulance Corps was walking along the Strand a few days ago, when sbs saw a man knocked down by a passing cab. As the poor fellow's leg was said to be fractured, a young woman stepped from the gathering crowd and at once volunteed to put the limb in splints. In the absence of proper materials, she borrowed from the sympathising onlookers a walking stick, a parasol, and about a dozen handkerchiefs. Thus furnished, she dexterously applied her material, and was rewarded for a skilful undertaking by the warm praises of those around her. On proceeding to raise the sufferer, however, it was discovered that matters were not quite right. An investigation revealed the fact that the wrong leg bad been set, and (says the London correspondent of the Newcastle Chronicle) the bandages, as a consequence, were sadly and slowly unwound.

GREAT JEWEL ROBBERY IN LONDON. An extraordinary robbery is reported to have been perpetrated in the West End. A man is said to have visited 73, Portland-place, and, representing that he was from the Grosvenor Gallery, requested to be allowed to look at the electric-light apparatus with wlAIJ the establish- ment is provided. His request was granted. The man bad a bag with him this is now supposed to have contained his burglary apparatus. Be that as it may, he is said to have managed to remain in' the house until an opportune moment presented itself, when he forced open a number of drawers, and escaped with jewellery and valuables worth at least £ 2,000. I

I The Loss of the "Caerau." I THE BOARD OF TRADE INQUIRY, JUDGMENT OF THE COURT. J THE MANAGING OWNER FINED £ 100. At the Town-hall, Cardiff, to-day, Mr T. W. I Lewis, stipendiary magistrate, who had been assisted by the assessors, delivered judgmentinthe case of the loss of the Caerau, the inquiry into which occupied the attention of the court nearly the whole of last week. The court found that there was no evidence to show that when the vessel last left the United Kingdom her hull, engines, boilers, and machinery were not in good condition, and the hatchways, engine-room openings, fidlev gratings, ventilators, and all the deck openings were not properly covered, and could not be effectively secured in heavy weather. The boats were sufficient, and in good condition. The court was of opinion that at the time of the loss of the vessel, and for a considerable time pre- viously, it was the practice to overload her with irou ore on her homeward voyage from Spain to England. The court found that the evidence did not justify the zonol;igion that the owner way aware of the ^oj'Orloading, The maunging owner, Mr Maw<Q, in neglecting to use reasonable rneaus to insure the seaworthiness of the vessel by having the load line authorita- tively fixed, was guilty of a breach of duty, which, in the opinion of the court, is highly culpable, and for which breach the court condemns him in the sum of £100 towards the cost of this enquiry.

THE LIVES OF NOTORIOUS CRIMINALS. I PERNICIOUS EFFECT ON BOYS. i At Wolverhampton police-court, on Saturday, three boys, aged from 14 to 16, of respectable parentage, were charged with stealing silver pencil-cases and other similar property, valued at B4 7s 6d.—Mr Willeock, who defended, said that the mainspring of the offence had been the litera- ture the lads had been reading. They had recently had the opportunity of reading in some of the local newspapers the lives ot notorious modern criminals of the Jack Sheppard class. It was solely on account of this pernicious litera- ture that the lads, all of whom bore good characters, and one of whom had on some occasions been entrusted by his employer with as much as L40, were before the court.—Mr A. C. Twentymau said that himself and his fellow magistrate, Mr C. Clark, entirely agreed with Mr Willcock's remarks as to the evil which the publication of the lives of these criminals in sensational story style was doing. They heard similar expressions of opinion right and left out- side the court. The lads would be bound over for six months to come up for judgment if called upon.

HEAVY PENALTY FOR WATERING BEER. At the Westminster police-court, on Saturday, Hemy Pratt, landlord of The Three Pines beer- house, Manor-street, Chelsea, was summoned by the Excise for adulterating beer by the addition of water.—The defendant did not appear, but on proof of service of the summons evidence was given, and was to the effect that two samples of ale taken from defendant cellar were adulterated respectively to the extent of one and a half gallons and one gallon of water to the barrel. When the samples were taken, defendant denied the adul- teration, and said to one of the officers," I was only fined £ 10 at Westminster police-court last Saturday for a similar offence, and I should not be so silly as to do it again."—Mr Partridge fined I him 225, or, in default of distress, one month's imprisonment.

REMARKABLE CASE OF MIS- TAKEN IDENTITY. I A remarkable case of mistaken identity has just been brought to the notice of the Shrewsbury police. About three weeks ago a dead body of a man was found floating in the River Severn at' Shrewsbury, and at the inquest subsequently held the deceased was identified by a police-constable as a butcher named Vaughan, who had formerly lived at Guilsfield, Montgomeryshire, and who had been known by the witness for 20 years. This, it now turns out, was a mistake, for Vaughan has reappeared amongst his mourning friends, and has created no little sensation in the district.

THREATENING TO HORSEWHIP I A CAPTAIN, A LADY IN THE CASE. I At the Greenwich police-court, on Saturday, a defendant named Oxley, living at Forest-hill, was summoned for threatening Huddlestone Powell, of Perry-rise, Forest-hill, a captain in the army. Complainant stated that the defendant went to his house and asked him to fight a duel with him. As Oxley left the house he said, I will lay my whip across your back." He could not say if the accused was sober. He was not actually afraid of the defendant, because be was afraid of no one; but his own temper was not a good one, and a breach of the peace might be occasioned.—In cross-examination complain- ant observed that whether defendant said anything about coming to an arrangemen with reference to a Miss Whittaker had nothing to do with this case. He supposed Oxley wanted to fight a duel with him for something ho bad said about him. He had never suffered from sunstroke. The accused bad served him with a writ. Defendant explained that he served the writ, acting for a solicitor, on behalf of Miss Whittaker, and these proceedings were taken to try to frighten him. The words he used were, For the way you have acted you deserve to be horsewhipped, and any decent man would say the same thing."—Mr Marsham said the defendant had no right to use the words about horsewhipping, and suggested that be should consent to be bound over to keep the peace.— Oxley consented, and was bound over.

A FOX-TERRIER AND HIS LIKENESS. AMUSING COUNTY COURT CASE AT CARDIFF. This morning an amusing case was heard at the Cardiff county court-before His Honour Judge Owen—in which the question of the likenoss of an oil painting of a fox terrier to the original formed the subject of dispute. The plaintiff was Mr Payne, artist, who claimed J35 5s of the defendant, Mr Ralph Perry, of the Queen's Hotel, for a picture ot his dog. Mr C. J. Jackson was counsel for the plaintiff, and Mr Arthur Lewis for the defendant. The dog and the painting were both produced in court, the animal looking decidedly shy of the whole business, and evidently looking at the picture with looks of astonishment. Mr Jackson called two artists to give evidence that five guineas was not too much for the painting. Mr Garef who received his training at the Royal Academy, told the court that he certainly recognised the likeness. The Judge What do you think of the fora legs. (Laughter.) If you put such a pair of legs on a dog like that, don't you think they would require alteration ? Mr Arthur Lewis: And some slight alterations in the ears. (Laughter.) Witness: The ears are not so bad. (Renewed laughter.) Witness, continuing, said he thought the price was a fair one, considering the picture had been ordered. Mr Church wood, artist, was of the same opinion. The dog and picture, which were both placed on the table, were carefully compared limb with limb to the merriment of the court; and the witness, while thinking that the portrait on the whole was not a bad one, admitted that the legs, head, ears, and other points in the picture would require a few slight alterations.—Mr Perry, the defendant, who was called, said he ordered the paint- ing very reluctantly, and that he had had to suggest several alterations at different times. Mr Payne made most of them, but finally grumbled that he would be kept a fortnight touching up the portrait. (Laughter.) He also remarked that he was not prepared tc satisfy the prejudices of everybody in Mr Perry'* house. He said tie did not consider it a good likeness. The Judge: It's not a flattering likeness of the dog. (Laughter.) Finally, on the suggestion of his Honour, the case was allowed to stand over for two months, the plaintiff to make such alterations as were necessary in that time. Mr Jackson appealed that for the purposes of his art he should be allowed to have the dog, a request that was con- ceded amid laughter.

11 A BRADFORD TRAGEDY. > I SINGULAR DEATH OF A WOMAN. I Two police officers were summoned on Friday night to a shop in Earley-street, Bradford, occupied by Francis William Neale, staymaker, and there, in a back room, found the dead body of Mrs Neale. The body was clothed only in a chemise, and was apparently much bruised. The husband of the deceased, who was taken into custody, made a statement to the effect that ha bad found her in a state of intoxication in eompacy with a person named Black, that be quarrelled with Black, whom be ejected from the premises, and that on returning to the shop sometime afterwards be found his w> £ » .j'inconscious, and apparently in a fit. He euosequently gave information to the police. 1 ■- I

A THEATRICAL MARRIAGE. II At the Chapel Royal, Savoy, on Saturday, the marriage of Mr Cyril Francis Maude (of the Vaudeville Theatre) to Miss Winifred Emery (of the Lyceum Theatre) was solemnized in the presence of a large congregation, most of whom were well-known members of the theatrical pro- fession. The officiating clergyman was the Rev Henry White, chaplain of the Savoy and Chap- lain-in-Ordinary to the Queen. The service was fully choral, and the bride was given away by her brother, Mr Burton Lis me y acting as best man. The bridesmaids were little children.