ENGLISH MAIL NEWS.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 424, 4 March 1890, Page 3

ENGLISH MAIL NEWS.

London, Jan. 10. In organising the new Department of Agriculture Mr Chaplin has come to the conclusion that it is Very desirable to have a thoroughly good statistical branch as of much value to agriculturists. It is hoped that the Treasury will grant the sum needed for this purpose. The London County Council is about to ask pailiamentary sanction that power be given them to conduct inquiries ana negotiations relative to the supply of water or rela tive to markets in or near the county of London. They propose to defray the cost of the inquiries out of the county fund, but would limit the expenditure in the case of the water inquiry to £5,000, and in the case of the markets to dll,ooo. The proposal meets with opposition. As many as 248 architects and engineers, some of them very eminent in their respective professions, are said to be preparing designs tor the colossal tower, to be erected by the London Tower Company. Certain of the designs are not unlikely to be novel and striking. Possibly, when the tower is built, invalids will go up in a lift to genuine fresh air instead of running down to Brighton for it. Anonymous donations appear to be the order of the day, but anonymity in this prying age is not easily preserved. It is now stated by the Liverpool Mercury that the giver of the £lOO,OOO to establish a Convalescent Home in connection with the London is Mr Peter Reid, a well known "city man, who retired from business some years ago and has since that time quietly devoted himself to the work of certain public institutions. Yesterday, at Colohester, an unregistered letter, bearing the West London postmark, was delivered to Messrs Mills, Biwtrea, and Co., bankers, Colchester, containing a Bank of England note for £lOOO folded within a sheet of paper on which was written, •* For the Eastern Counties Idiot Asylum." There was no signature. Simultaneously some unknown donor has placed £lOOO in the bands of the Mayor of Cork, and £l,OOO with the Rev, Canon Harley, Rector of Christ Church, for the relief of poor widows in that city. Like his brother showman Buffalo Bill, Mr Barnum is becoming a society pet. At 27. Grosvenor square, the reeldeuce of the Earl aid Countess of Aberdeen, he will on Thursday, January 80, relate the chief incidents of his life and adventures. Admission will be by ticket, and the proceeds will go to the fund for assisting Irish peasant workers and distressed Irish ladies, Mr Gladstone last evening, for ths first time for six Or seven years, attended the rent audit dinner of the tenants on the Hawarden estate. His son, Mr W. H. Gladstone, who is lord of the manor, not being sufficiently convalescent to take the chair, bis brother, the Rev. Stephen Gladstone,

presided. The ex-Premier, in responding to the toast of the health of himself and Mrs Gladetone, reviewed the history of agriculture for a considerable time past in this country. Dvblw, January 10, Mr Parnell is understood to be averse to a public subscription being started to bear the expenses of the trial in the O'Shea divorce suit, and is desirous of bearing all the expenses' himself, being very reluctant to allow the case to be a further tax ou ths generosity of the Irish people, at home and abroad, who have contributed (frequently out of their dire poverty) such large some towards to the funds of the National League, the Parnell Defence Fund, as well as to numerous personal testimonials to Mr Parnell, Mr Davitt, and to many of the members of the Irish Parliamentary party, to say nothing of their contributions to local organisatibna,

' Edinburgh, January 10. (c is seldom that the announcement of an outbreak of influenza is greeted with rap* tqrous applatlse, 1 Vet this Is what happened when the distinguished professor of pathology, Dr Greenfield, opened his class in Edinburgh University after the Christmas holidays, He told them be bed no doubt they were in for a most virulent visitation of the malady in Edinburgh, and when he said this, tbs young men, who regard him as an infallibility, looked glum. But they began to brighten up as be went on to describe tbe probable effects of the plague on the Pathological School of tbe University, and when he wound up by announcing bis intention of doting it while the epidemic lasted they gave !* three oheers for tbe influenza,” Since then tbe eagerness with which the pathological students of Edin* burgh have devoted themselves to the obser. ration of suspected oases in tbe University alsM-roome and laboratories has been quite pheßonanal.

Paris, January 9. According to statistics issued by the municipal authorities it appears that the average daily mortality in Paris during the first week of the New Year was 3»3, but thia total has since been decreasing. Only 311 burials took place yesterday. It would seem as if there is no limit to the credulity of the public, especially when their cupidity is appealed to. Only about a month ago two swindlers, calling themeelves banker., advertised largely in tbe Paris Press, promising by safe speculations to pay one pound a week for every eighty pounds confided to them. The office of these operations was 11, Bue Turgot, but it is now closed, as they have decamped with the good round sum of twentyfour thousand francs, placed in their hands by dupes who were credulous enough to believe money could be made to bring in six hundred per cent, per annum. Another terrible Scone has occurred at Bodenbach's menagerie, which is still at Beviers, and again Miss Sterling has been the victim, but the consequences to her have been far mors serious than they were on ths occasion of an attack mads upon her last week by the lion Nancy. Although still suffering somewhat from her recent injuries she again entered tbe lion’s cage on Monday night. Nancy again sprang upon her, and this time seized her by the leg with itsjaws. Not until until the beast had received repeated blows from Bodenbach’s trident did it relinquish its hold. Theu followed a furious struggle between the man and the animal, from tho mouth of which the blood was now pouring. Bedenbach continued to deal such vigorous blows with his weapon that the lion was eventually vanquished. Miss Sterling’s leg has since been amputated, and her condition is said to be very critical,

Berlix, Jan. 9. Professor Hirsch, the eminent specialist for diseases of tbe eye, has made a statement respecting tho present epidemic of influenza, which, he says, differs in no way from the malady which has in former years taken an epidemic form and been duly observed, The great attention devoted to the present outbreak is attributable solely, avers the Professor, to the indifference nf the great mass of the medical profession to the teaching of history, and the most astounding assertion of all the statements made about it is that cf the Preach doctors that in Paris tho disease is the dengue fever, Bruns, Jan. 9. In -'-.r,erquence of the recent rioting among 'he .uuipositors on strike in this city the Cantonal Council of Berne has appointed a special military commandant, and han called out two companies cf infantry, with the object of repressing further disorders. VncsKA, Jan. 9,

In reference tn the statement that ths Russian government regarded the .Bulgarian Loan and the mortgaging of the railways as security as an infraction of the Treaty of Berlin, the Vienna journals point out that the lines in question were not in existence at th? time the Treaty was signed. It is declared in Constantinople that the Porte is fully satisfied on the question. Roms, January 9. An important archeological discovery has been made in the course of the works for the drainage of the quarter ou tho right bank of the P.iver Tiber. At the point where the new canal collector traverses the Via Lungaretta, and at a depth of 2Qft. below the surface, th- re have been brought to light the remains of a massive and well-preserved coastruction in square blocks of tufa, They consist of two large arches, one of which has been entirely uncovered, and the other par tally so. They have an opening of nearly 10ft , and u depth of nearly 20f t., the pilaster upon which they rest having a front measurement of about Bft,, and a lateral one of nearly 20ft Over tho frame of the arch rise five courses of blocks of stone, the uppermost of which projects on both aides, forming a cornice. The date of the construction, whiph has a certain resemblance to the Servian walls, goes back probably to the first centuries of the Republic. The engineer, Signor Domenico, Marchetti, who is employed by the Government, traces in the construction the remains of a very ancient viaduct which connected the janicolense, Oestio, and Palatine Bridges. The Via Lungaretta exactly follows the direction of this viaduct, and has preserved approximately the same width. The actual road is lOf r. above the ancient level.

New York, January 8. The expedition sent to South America from the Lick Observatory have telegraphed that their observations of the solar eclipse on December 22 were entirely successful. The American Sugar Refinery Co. intends to appeal against the decision given by the Judge of the Superior Court at San Francisco. Demerara has been excited by the visit of a very small person, who is actually Sin. shorter than General Tom Thumb. This human curiosity is a native of the island of Anguilla. He is a pure black and rejoices in the good old name of Robert Hodge. Robert measures 28in. in height, his weight being a little over three stone. He has the fully developed head of a negro, his vertebra is perfect, but, owing to long sitting his chest has developed the appearance of that familiarly known as pigeon. It is said that “he talks intelligently on passing events, enjoys a good cigar, and a bottle of champagne and has all the desires of a healthy person.”