line. From this position the brigade deployed into line--one of unusual length and advanced in excellent order, the 3rd London directing. The line then retired, and subsequently Col. Gipps put the troops through a long series of movements, which, with only one or two exceptions, were very well done. The movements lasted till dusk, when the troops returned to London, and were dismissed. At the same time that the City corps were being drilled, the Queen's (Westminster) Rifles, under the command of Lieut.-Col. the Duke of Westminster, K.G., were going through a series of battalion movements on the space near the Albert Memorial. The muster of all ranks was good. TELEGRAPHIC PARALYSIS is a new malady said to afflict the workers of telegraphic instruments, reported by a French physician to the Académie des Sciences. An employé, who had been engaged in a telegraph office for nine years, found that he could not form clearly the letters U, represented by two dots and a stroke, I, by two dots, and S, by three dots. On trying to trace the letters his hand became stiff and cramped. He then endeavoured to use his thumb alone, and this succeeded for two years, when his thumb was similarly attacked, and he subsequently tried the first and second fingers, but in two months these were also paralysed. Finally, he had recourse to the wrist, which also shortly became disabled. If he forced himself to use his hand, both hand and arm shook violently, and cerebral excitement ensued. It appears that this disorder is very common among telegraph clerks. 19. ATTEMPT AT POISONING.-Some very remarkable cases of poisoning come under notice from time to time, but perhaps a more extraordinary case was never heard than that of two servantmaids, in a village near Norwich, attempting to murder two children, a baby and a child seven years old, to save themselves work. One of the girls calmly gave as her reason for the attempt on the lives of the children that "if baby died she would not have so much work to do this summer; and if the other child had also died, the work of these two maids would have been very materially lessened. The younger of the two maids, who was only fourteen, administered the poison, and told the other maid, who was three years older, what she was doing, making her promise not to tell her master. The children fortunately recovered. for - A FATAL CARRIAGE ACCIDENT took place on the 19th in St. James' Park. It seems that about 7 p.m., when the carriage was near Storey's Gate, the horse took fright and ran away. The coachman and the footman, named Webb, who sat by his side, tugged at the reins with all their strength, but without avail, the animal dashed on at terrific speed and ultimately came in contact with the railings of the enclosure at the Foreign Office. The footman and the coachman were pitched headlong to the ground, two privates of the Coldstream Guards were knocked over, and the carriage was smashed. Happily the vehicle was empty. The coachman received severe cuts and bruises, and the two soldiers were so much hurt that they were at once taken to the military hospital, where they were placed under the care of the medical staff. Webb was conveyed to Westminster Hospital, where he died. COCK-FIGHTING NEAR LIVERPOOL.-A raid has been made by the police at Aintree, near Liverpool, upon a party of about a hundred "gentlemen," who were assembled to witness a cockfight. On the appearance of the police the assembly endeavoured to disperse, and several gentlemen are said to have sustained severe injuries in leaping through the windows. The names of many persons present were obtained, and proceedings were instituted against them; seven of the party were eventually fined 57. each. It is believed that the fight had been going on for some hours, as several dead cocks were found, together with about thirty live ones, which were trimmed in the usual fashion ready for fighting. The stakes are said to have reached 3,0007., and the persons present, many of whom occupying high positions, are reported to have come from various parts of the kingdom and also from the continent. 28. THE PRINCE OF WALES AND THE FREEMASONS.- A ceremony of great splendour, which attracted considerable attention, took place at the Royal Albert Hall on this day, when the Prince of Wales was installed as Grand Master of the English Freemasons. The stewards assembled at eleven o'clock, and after having partaken of slight refreshment were marshalled in order, and instructed in their duties by Sir Albert Woods and Mr. Fenn. As to the manner in which they discharged these duties it is sufficient to say that some 8,000 brethren, who had to take their places between one o'clock and half-past two, had settled down in them without the slightest confusion in the time specified. At the latter hour the doors were closed, all communication with the outside was cut off, and Grand Lodge was ready to be formed. At this time the vast area of the Albert Hall presented a sight such as will never, possibly, be seen again. Tier upon tier, loggia after loggia, was filled with men in their picturesque clothing, either as representatives of the various lodges of which they were members, or as grand officers past and present. Blue was the predominant colour, that being the hue of the collars worn by members of ordinary lodges; but besides this there were some hundreds of other Masons who, for reasons known to the craft, wore decorations of other colours; while the members of grand lodges, metropolitan and provincial, were distinguished by purple and gold, of which no sparing use had been made. The procession gradually entered, and filled the whole length of the route from the room where the grand officers clothed to the foot of the daïs under the organ, and Grand Lodge was opened in due form by the Earl of Carnarvon, who was received with immense cheering. The minutes of the last quarterly communication as to the election of a M.W. Grand Master and Grand Treasurer having been read and confirmed, the Earl of Carnarvon directed a deputation of Provincial Grand Masters, Past Grand Wardens, and Grand Officers to withdraw for the purpose of introducing His Royal Highness the Most Worshipful Grand Master. His Royal Highness was conducted to a chair on the left of the Pro Grand Master, and the brethren took their respective seats, except those bearing the insignia, who stood behind the throne. A prayer having been offered by the Grand Chaplain, the Most Worshipful Grand Master was conducted to the right hand of the throne, when the Pro Grand Master invested his Royal Highness with the insignia of his high office, and conducted him into the chair of the Grand Master. The Grand Director of Ceremonies then proclaimed the installation after sound of trumpet, and called upon the brethren to salute the Most Worshipful Grand Master according to ancient form. The Earl of Carnarvon then delivered an address, which was responded to by the Prince, and after the introduction of deputations from the grand lodges of Scotland, Ireland, and Sweden, the proceedings were brought to a close. In the evening a grand banquet was held at the great hall in Queen Street, at which the Prince of Wales presided. SPRING MEETINGS.-The Epsom races commenced on April 20th with most brilliant spring-like weather, which, added to the interest taken in the principal handicap, attracted an immense concourse to Epsom Downs. The course presented an unusually brilliant spectacle. The coaches were more numerous than usual at a Spring meeting, and some of the teams that will probably be found at the Magazine later in the season were out for an airing on Epsom Downs. For the chief event of the day the City and Suburban Handicap of 15 sovs. each, twenty-two came to the post, and the race was won by Dalham, Mr. T. Smith's horse. On the second day, which is usually less exciting, there was again a good attendance. Unhappily the Surrey Stakes was productive of one of those bad and fatal falls for which Epsom has an unlucky celebrity. Coming down the hill Dudain struck against a post and rolled completely over, of course crushing poor Wass, his jockey, who was picked up quite dead. No blame could be attached to the poor lad, but some precaution ought to be taken by the management to prevent a repetition of such a catastrophe. The new course at Sandown Park was opened on the 22nd, and although the weather was unfavourable the racing was far above the average. The Newmarket First Spring Meeting commenced in such glorious weather that visitors were tempted to overlook the poorness of the sport provided on the opening day. Harmonides won the Two Thousand Guineas Trial Stakes with such ridiculous ease that he would have found a few backers for the great event, had not his owner scratched him some time previously. Yorkshire Bride was beaten very easily by Punch in the Coffee-Room Stakes; while Kaiser (9 st. 4 lb.), though made a strong favourite for the Prince of Wales Stakes, had once more to put up with place honours, Carnelion (7 st. 2 lb.) just beating Duke of Parma (5 st. 13 lb.), after a rattling finish. The racing on the Two Thousand day was much better in every respect. Three very smart animals contested the sweepstakes over the T.Y.C., at weight for age; and, though 2 to 1 was laid on Tangible in running, he was beaten the moment he had done pulling, and Horse Chestnut won easily. The chief interest of the day, however, centred in the Guineas, which is thus described :THE TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS STAKES for 3 year-olds. R.M., 1 mile 17 yards. 84 subs. Mr. R. C. Vyner's Camballo, by Cambuscan-Little-Lady (J. Osborne) 1 2 3 On the last day of the month nearly 3,000 spectators, including nearly every prominent athlete both past and present, assembled at Lilliebridge, to witness the four-mile match between W. Slade (onemile amateur champion) and J. Gibb (four-mile amateur champion). The pair met in the Four Miles at the Championship Meeting last month, when Slade, who had previously won the mile, did not finish the distance. On this occasion, however, he completely wiped out this defeat; for, after waiting on Gibb until reaching the top of the straight in the last lap, he came right away, and won by forty yards, in the unparalleled amateur time of 20 min. 22 sec. 30. FATAL COLLIERY EXPLOSION. A terrible explosion took place this afternoon at the Bunker's Hill Colliery, North Staffordshire, the property of Messrs. W. Rigby and Co. The mine is situated not far from the ill-fated Talke Colliery, where so many lives were lost a few years ago, and is but a short distance from Bignall Hill Colliery, the scene of the lamentable catastrophe last Christmas-eve. The bodies of forty-two men and boys were recovered, and from their appearance death must have been instantaneous. The damage done to the pit was comparatively trifling, beyond the destruction of nearly all the lower stopings. Some of the bodies were so horribly burned as to be utterly unrecognisable by their features; others, by their peaceful expression, seem to have had a painless death, produced by after-damp. A son of the manager (Mr. Sumner) was at the engine at the top of the dip, and was blown against some timbers with great force, while his hair was scorched off his head. He died soon afterwards. He was highly respected in the neighbourhood, and had been married only a fortnight. Of all the men in the part visited by the explosion not one escaped to tell the tale. How the accident happened can only be known so far as the scientific investigation of the Government inspector can reveal it; but there appears to be good ground for believing that it was caused by the firing of a shot for blasting purposes MAY. 1. OPENING OF THE ALEXANDRA PALACE.-The new palace of popular entertainment, built in its own pleasure-grounds on Muswell-hill, Hornsey, in place of the edifice destroyed by fire so quickly after its completion two years ago, was this day opened to the public. The weather was as bad as it could be on the first day of May, and the whole company of many thousand visitors had to remain indoors; but there was plenty of gratification for them in the vast and splendid building. The most distinguished part of the assembly consisted of the municipal dignitaries, in number approaching one hundred, of many English cities and borough towns, with the Lord Mayor of London at their head. These came in their official character, and the members of the Metropolitan Board of Works also attended; but among the visitors and spectators were many persons of rank, members of the House of Lords and of the House of Commons, judges, prelates, foreign ambassadors, and other gentlemen of position, with a bright-looking crowd of ladies. The ceremony was merely that of presenting an address to the Lord Mayor, and of his declaring the palace open. This was followed by a grand concert, and a banquet in the afternoon. The building, which covers an area of seven and a half acres, is a parallelogram in form. The great hall in the centre, 386 feet long by 184 feet wide, has a semicircular roof supported on four rows of columns, and is adapted to receive 12,000 persons. It is adorned with a series of statues of the Kings and Queens of England, and the roof is decorated with bright cinque-cento paintings. In addition to the central hall are two large open courts, with corridors around them for picture galleries, &c. An Italian garden will occupy one of the courts, and there are also handsome conservatories. 4. A PERILOUS BALLOON JOURNEY.-An aeronaut named Youens has had a narrow escape from death in his descent to the earth. He had been engaged by the Messrs. Sanger to ascend from Nunhead Grounds, Peckham, and commenced inflating the balloon at eight o'clock in the morning, but in consequence of a scarcity of gas the balloon was only three parts filled when the time to ascend came. Several gentlemen wished to accompany Mr. Youens, but he declined to take anyone with him. The ascent was rapid until he got into a south-south-east current, which carried him back to the place from which he started. A slight breeze sprang up again from the southward, and ultimately Mr. Youens found himself over the River Thames. When between London Bridge and Southwark Bridge the balloon appeared stationary. At a quarter to eight it was carried by a south current towards St. Paul's Cathedral, and Mr. Youcas states that C |