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most of the firemen and police officers left, all danger to adjacent property being then at an end, but the floats and two pipes from the mains continued to play on the smouldering ruins for some hours longer, and the Salvage Corps were also in attendance.

20. THE UNIVERSITY BOAT-RACE ended, as all competent judges of rowing imagined that it would, in the ridiculously easy victory of Oxford. The Cambridge stroke, possibly with the hope of flurrying his opponents, led off with a very fast thirty-eight or thirty-nine to the minute, and at the end of half a mile had nearly drawn clear; but from that point Way, the Oxford stroke, who was not to be beguiled into any advance upon his steady thirtyfive, gradually overhauled and then rapidly left him astern, passing under Hammersmith Bridge about a length and a half ahead, and increasing his lead, without any apparent effort, to three lengths at Chiswick Church, and to some fifty yards at Barnes; eventually winning as he liked by about ten lengths. Indeed, after the first mile, it was no struggle whatever, but simply one of the old processions of the '60 era. In justice to the Cambridge crew, we should mention that one of them broke his slide after about a mile had been covered, an unfortunate catastrophe which must have greatly crippled him. The Prince of Wales, with the ex-King of Naples and their suites, were on board the umpire boat; the crews were as follows:

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The Inter-University sports took place at Lillie-bridge on the day preceding the boat-race, and Oxford scored a decided victory by securing six out of the nine events. On the whole, the performances were scarcely so good as those of the last few years, Cambridge being terribly deficient in distance-runners.

21. MURDERS AT PENGE.-A terrible series of murders, and attempts at murder, took place this morning at a house in the Dulwich Road at Penge, occupied by Frederick Hunt, a foreman clerk in a warehouse, who had lately been out of employment. On going downstairs in the morning, the maidservant found a note fastened to the door of her master's room addressed to a Mrs. Guest, an intimate friend of the family who lived near. The note being sent to this lady, she immediately came with her husband to the house, and on entering the bedroom they found Mr. Hunt was absent; his daughter Annie was lying in bed looking quite calm, and dead, and the wife was outside the bed in a kneeling

position, with her face buried in her hands, and her arms resting on the side of the bedstead. Her throat had been cut in a frightful manner, and there was a great deal of blood about the place. In another room the two other children-Percy and Arthur-were found in bed, suffering from the effects of poison. A medical man was soon in attendance, and pronounced the girl Annie, who was quite cold, to be dead, and that the wife, who was still warm, had ceased to breathe. The little boys recovered from the effects of the poison. In the meantime it appeared that the unfortunate perpetrator of the crime, Frederick Hunt himself, had gone to the railway and laid himself down on the line, from which perilous position he was rescued by the signalman, and taken into custody on a charge of attempting suicide. He confessed to the murder of his wife and child, and said that he was mad when he committed it. His former employers gave him an excellent character, and said that he had left their service in consequence of their refusal to raise his salary from 250l. to 300l. per annum. At the coroner's inquest a verdict was returned of "wilful murder” against him; but at the subsequent assize trial his insanity was proved, and he was accordingly acquitted and placed in an asylum.

SYSTEMATIC INCENDIARISM.—In the last three months great alarm has been occasioned in Worcester by the frequency of fires, caused, beyond doubt, by some malignant incendiary. Night after night alarms of fire have been given, and it has only been through the vigilance of the police and the inhabitants that these fires have not been more destructive, some of them originating close to stores of inflammable and combustible materials, and many of them breaking out in the sheds or stables of hotels and inns. From the character of the fires, and certain other circumstances, it is clear that one favourite plan of causing these fires has been by throwing lighted matches or fusees into stables or outhouses where straw or other combustible materials were lying. In some cases stable windows have been broken for the purpose. Notwithstanding the active exertions of the police, and the special precautions taken by the local authorities, not a single arrest has yet been made. The last attempt was made on the Worcester Market House. Two crates of china, packed with straw, were lying at night within reach of the locked iron gates, and these having been ignited, the east end of the market hall was quickly in flames. It was, however, promptly discovered, and extinguished after about 2007. worth of damage had been done. Several rewards of 50l. and 1007. have been offered for the conviction of the miscreant, and Her Majesty's pardon is offered to an accomplice on the conviction of the actual offender.

26. A CLOTH MANUFACTORY DESTROYED BY FIRE.-Early on Good Friday morning a fire broke out in the cloth manufactory of Messrs. Cogswell, of Trowbridge, Wilts, and resulted in the almost entire destruction of the premises and machinery. The fire originated in the upper storey and spread with great rapidity.

The firm is one of the oldest in the West of England, and the manufactory was celebrated for a make of black doeskin cloth. The damage to stock, building, and machinery is estimated at from 7,000l. to 9,000l.

29. EASTER MONDAY was generally observed as a bank holiday, not only in London, but throughout its most distant suburbs. There were nearly 50,000 visitors to the Crystal Palace, 12,603 to the British Museum, 23,174 to the South Kensington Museum, 5,175 to the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens, and 34,955 to the Zoological Society's Gardens. The numbers were smaller than on last Easter Monday-a fact which is probably due to the occurrence of the holiday so much earlier in the season. At Hampstead Heath, which was visited by many thousands of persons, mostly of the artisan class, a large number of the visitors signed papers protesting against the contemplated erection of a hospital for contagious diseases at Hampstead, stands for that purpose, with pens and ink, being placed at all the entrances to the heath.

The Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs, and others of the Corporation, went in state from the Mansion House to Christ Church, Newgate Street, where the Spital sermon was preached by the Bishop of Ely, who in the evening was one of the guests entertained at the Mansion House. At the Mansion House the usual Easter Monday banquet was given, and upwards of 200 guests assembled.

About 3,000 men took part in the metropolitan volunteer fieldday, which was held on Barnes Common. The forces were divided into two bodies, an attacking and a defending party, the former under the command of Lord Ranelagh, and the latter under Lord Truro. Volunteer operations also took place at Alexandra Park and elsewhere, and there were military manoeuvres by regular troops and volunteers at Dover. The Tower Hamlets volunteers spent a pleasant day at Ilford. The 37th Middlesex volunteers marched on the 27th from St. Albans (to which place they marched on Good Friday) to Hertford, where they attended Divine service on Easter Sunday, marching back to town on Monday.

Besides the gatherings of volunteers in or near London, there was an Easter meeting of artillery corps-namely, the 9th Kent, 1st Surrey, and 2nd Middlesex-at Sheerness for gun practice, and the operations were continued and brought to a close on Monday.

Several thousand persons marched in procession with banners and music to Hyde Park for the purpose of making a demonstration in favour of the claimant. Speeches were delivered by Dr. Kenealy, Mr. Guildford Onslow, and others, and resolutions were passed expressive of the sentiments of the meeting.

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HIGHWAY ROBBERY IN THE STRAND.-A very daring robbery was perpetrated in Newcastle Street, Strand, about nine o'clock on the same evening. A gentleman, his brother, and wife had come out of the Olympic Theatre between the acts; they were about to re-enter the theatre, and had reached a badlylighted portion of Newcastle Street, when they were hustled by

three powerful young fellows clad in suits of grey, wearing billycock hats and carrying heavy walking-sticks. On demanding an explanation of such an outrage, the three fellows knocked down the husband, and assaulted both him and his brother with their sticks, striking with such violence as to draw blood. In the struggle they threw the lady with violence to the pavement and robbed her of a valuable gold watch and chain. A large crowd gathered to watch the fray, but abstained from interfering. No policeman was present during its continuance, and the three ruffians made off with their booty in the direction of Stanhope Street. A policeman arriving on the scene in about a minute after the transaction was informed of the matter and gave chase. Two other constables joined in the pursuit, but the fellows succeeded in effecting their escape.

RAT LABOUR.—The "Telegraphic Journal" states that a mode has been found of utilising the labour of rats. An inspector who had been sent to re-lay some worn-out cable, and who had been foolish enough to pull out his wires without thinking how to get the new ones in, hit on the idea of placing a rat, to which a piece of string had been tied, in the tube, and sending a ferret after him. The contrivance answered admirably, but on being repeated the rat faced about and fought the ferret. The electrician, by twitching the string, however, succeeded in parting the combatants, and the rodent performed for the second time the task required of him.

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2. A RUNAWAY TRACTION ENGINE.-An agricultural traction engine became unmanageable and did considerable damage in Stamford to-day. It was left in the High Street by its owner in charge of a man who, contrary to orders, put on steam. engine rushed down the street at a rapid pace, and from some cause or other the speed did not slacken. A lad at the wheel did his best to steer the engine round a corner into a narrow street with a deep descent. Luckily, one of the wheels struck the doorstep of a jeweller's shop, and so broke the gearing, or the ponderous engine must have gone into a cellar kitchen or have steamed its way through the shop. As it was, every part of the front, the finest in the town, was shivered to splinters. The proprietor, who was in the shop at the time, fortunately escaped with a few slight contusions about the head.

6. MERCHANT TAYLORS' SCHOOL.-The installation of this ancient school in their new buildings at the Charterhouse, which include parts of the old Charterhouse School, the gown boys' buildings, and the master's house, took place this day. The Prince of Wales, accompanied by the Princess, the Duke and Duchess of Teck, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, took part in the

ceremony. An address was presented in the lecture theatre to the Prince of Wales, who briefly replied, and declared she school open. A Latin ode was then declaimed by Mr. Shearman, the head monitor of the school, and the Archbishop of Canterbury offered up a prayer and pronounced the benediction. A luncheon was subsequently given in the Assembly Hall.

UNSEAWORTHY SHIPS.-A public meeting, called by the Plimsoll and Seamen's Fund Ladies Committee, was held in Exeter Hall the same day, to consider the Government Merchant Shipping Act Amendment Bill. The chair was occupied by Mr. D. Brown, a shipowner. A procession of seafaring persons and others, with banners, scarves, and a band, marched up the Strand to attend the meeting, which was a very full one. Mr. Morley, M.P., moved the first resolution :-"That having regard to the dreadful and preventible destruction of human life at sea, this meeting strongly insists upon the duty of the Government to secure an efficient and compulsory survey of all unclassed ships, and also a load-line to prevent overloading." This was unanimously carried, as was another resolution, expressing an opinion that means should be adopted for securing the employment of good iron in shipbuilding in future, that deck cargoes ought to be prohibited except under strict limits, and that grain cargoes should be properly secured, or else carried in bags.

7. LAUNCH OF THE "ALEXANDRA."-The ceremony of launching this splendid iron-clad ship was performed to-day at Chatham dockyard by the Princess of Wales, in the presence of her royal husband and a distinguished assemblage, among whom were the Dukes of Edinburgh and Cambridge, the Lords of the Admiralty, and about a hundred members of both houses of Parliament. Their Royal Highnesses took their places in the gallery prepared for them at 25 minutes past 12 o'clock, the two bands in the slip playing alternately "God save the Queen" and the Danish National Anthem. When the party had taken their seats the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Bishop of Rochester, performed the service set apart for the launching of ships in Her Majesty's navy. It consisted of the 107th Psalm, a special prayer appropriate to the occasion, and other prayers. This short ccremony being over, the preparations for launching were rapidly completed. The Princess of Wales sat at a small table, on which was a pretty toy, as it seemed, of ivory and gold, being the handle of a lever, which, by dropping the shores, would at once set the vessel at liberty. When all was ready the lever was moved by the Princess of Wales, the dog shores released, and the bottle of champagne dashed against the bows of the vessel. There was a slight movement, but the vessel did not go steadily down the slips until a minute afterwards, when the power of a hydraulic ram was used, and then, amid loud cheering, she gradually slid into the water, turned gently round towards Rochester Bridge, and was soon brought up in deep water. The ship thus auspiciously launched has taken the best part of three years to build, and it

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