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In Ireland the heavy rains caused serious inundations at Cork and elsewhere, and great damage was done, with some loss of life.

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OCTOBER.

5. ACCIDENT TO THE "DECCAN."- This P. and O. steamer, which left Southampton with mails and passengers on September 30, lost her screw when 40 miles east of Gibraltar. A tug steamer towed her back to Gibraltar, where the passengers had to wait a week for the arrival of another steamer to take them on. Among them were the correspondents of many of the London newspapers, on their way to India to chronicle the arrival at Bombay of the Prince of Wales. It was hoped, however, that in spite of the delay they might still arrive in time to compete with their more fortunate collaborateurs who had taken the route by Brindisi.

7. A DESTRUCTIVE FIRE broke out this evening in the extensive and newly-erected mansion and observatory belonging to Mr. Hankey, the banker, at Queen Anne's Gate Gardens, St. James's Park. The fire was discovered by some passers by, who noticed smoke coming from the windows of the second story above the spacious ball and concert room, in which there is erected a large organ. The mansion with the observatory extends from Wellington Barracks to the bottom of York Street, close to St. James's Park Railway Station. As soon as the fire was observed an alarm was given at the nearest fire brigade station, and the men of the garrison stationed at Wellington Barracks were also apprised of the conflagration. In a very short space of time engines arrived from several stations, and the men got to work, but the fire had taken such hold that nothing could be done to save the building. The mansion was mainly constructed of pitch pine, the inflammable nature of which caused the fire rapidly to extend. The flames rose to a height of 100 feet above the building, illuminating the neighbourhood. Notwithstanding the exertions of the firemen and the quantity of water poured from over twenty engines, the effect at 10 o'clock was scarcely perceptible, and the fire was not got under till early this morning. Great fear was felt for all the adjacent property, including the Wellington Barracks. The magazine was covered with blankets, and played upon by the engines. Among the valuable properties destroyed was a splendid organ, recently built at a cost of 20,000l.

9. CONGRESSES.-At the Social Science Congresses, held this week at Brighton, the subject of the Presidential Address from Lord Aberdare was "Crime." Perhaps of all countries, he

observed, England was that in which the conditions of life have been and still are most conducive to the increase of crime. What was the position of the nation at the middle of the present century? We were growing indeed in wealth and population; national education and general intelligence had advanced; yet our gaols were full to overflowing, and our Colonies were beginning to resist the further influx of criminals. Between 1805 and 1841, while population had increased by 79 per cent., the increase of criminals had been 482 per cent. Since that period, however, the increase in crime had not kept pace with that of the population. As an instance of this, his Lordship stated that in 1869 and 1870 he had occasion to consult with Colonel Henderson, the late chairman of the Board of Directors of Convict Prisons, and with Colonel Du Cane, the present one, as to the accommodation which it would be necessary to provide for male convicts in consequence of the entire cessation of transportation and the recent lengthening of sentences of penal servitude. They advised that provision ought gradually to be made for the maximum number of 11,500 male prisoners, which number, they thought, would probably be reached in 1875. Yet such had been the rapid diminution of sentences of penal servitude since 1869, that accommodation for 8,500 was now considered sufficient. Sir Edward Creasy, late Chief Justice of Ceylon, delivered an interesting address upon Jurisprudence and International Law, contending that nations ought in time of war to do each other as little harm as possible, without prejudice to their own true interests. Another paper which excited general interest was that read by Dr. Richardson, the President of the Health Department, in which he drew a sketch of a model city, wherein the sanitary arrangements were so complete that the average mortality would be only 8 per 1,000 in the first generation. Under the conditions set forth, hereditary disease would immediately decline, and future generations become healthier and stronger. The Church Congress was held during the same week at Stoke-upon-Trent, and was largely attended.

11. A SHOCKING MURDER has taken place at Listowel in Ireland. Thomas Quilter, who was about sixty years of age, held a farm under Lord Listowel, and was reputed wealthy for his class. He lived for some years with his sister-in-law. After an alleged marriage in England they were excommunicated, but having submitted to the Church, the ban was removed, and they lived apart. The woman's son, John Quilter, had been for some years in the police, but emigrated. Since his return from America there had been constant quarrels, and he was bound over to keep the peace. At the time of this murder information was pending against him at the suit of his mother and uncle. He lived with his mother. On October 11, Mrs. Quilter's servant left at nine o'clock for her home in an adjoining house. At two o'clock a neighbour named Barret was roused by an alarm of fire, and on going out saw

Quilter's house in flames, and John Quilter in the road looking on. With the help of another man the door was burst open, and old Quilter fell out. He was then alive, but died shortly afterwards. The fire had taken such hold of the thatched house, and the means at hand were so deficient, that the people had to let it burn out. The police as soon as possible examined the ruins, and in a hole in the wall discovered securities for 490l., and in a corner the ashes of the woman, there being little more to distinguish them than the steel beads she had worn. They also found on the floor the head of a four-pronged fork, the handle of which had been burned away. John Quilter was arrested, and blood was found on his clothes. It is supposed that the mother was murdered as she lay in bed, that Thomas Quilter was struck down with the pitch-fork, and the house set on fire to destroy the evidence of the double crime.

THE PRINCE OF WALES'S JOURNEY TO INDIA commenced this evening. The Princess had decided upon accompanying her husband as far as Calais, and accordingly at 8 p.m. the Royal pair started from Charing Cross Station, where a large crowd had assembled to bid farewell to the Heir Apparent. At Dover the approaches to the Admiralty Pier were occupied by 6,000 or 7,000 people. On alighting from the train the Prince and Princess were received by a guard of honour, and by the Mayor and Corporation of Dover, who presented an address. The Prince having thanked the Mayor, the Royal party descended the gangway and were escorted on board the Dicey twin-ship "Castalia." The illuminations were kept up with unabated brilliancy, the band of the 104th Fusiliers playing the National Anthem. Then the pipers struck up a lively Scotch air, and continued it while the luggage was being got on board. This occupied but a very short time, the principal portion of the baggage having been sent on a day or two before. Exactly at 10.15 the moorings of the vessel were cast off, and the "Castalia" was got under steam. The troops presented arms and the band played a bar of the National Anthem, changing into "God bless the Prince of Wales," the men joining in singing. Ringing cheers again went up as the vessel moved slowly off. The mail-steamer "Foam" was lying in the bay, and burned a profusion of coloured lights, whose brilliancy lit up the closing scene. The Duke of Cambridge and Lord Sydney returned to the Lord Warden Hotel, and telegrams were at once despatched to the Queen and members of the Royal Family announcing the departure of the Royal traveller. The weather was favourable, and the "Castalia" reached Calais soon after midnight, when the Prince took leave of the Princess, and drove straight to the railway station, arriving at Paris at 7.30 a.m. Here he was received at the railway terminus by Lord Lyons, the English Ambassador, and by the President, Marshal MacMahon, with his suite. The Princess, after resting a few

hours only at Calais, returned to Dover in the "Castalia," and thence to Marlborough House.

THE THAMES STEAM FERRY.-The Lord Mayor of London this morning performed the ceremony of driving the first pile for the pier at Wapping to be used by the Thames Steam Ferry. This is the project of a limited liability company for a below-bridge communication between the Middlesex and Surrey sides of the River Thames, by means of a steam ferry, for loaded waggons of any size or weight, carts, carriages, and horses, as well as passengers and goods. The site which has been selected for the ferry is one mile and a half below London Bridge. It is close to the Thames Tunnel, and near the London Docks and St. Katharine's Docks on the one side, and to the Commercial Docks on the other. A large concourse of gentlemen assembled to witness the ceremony.

14. CIVIC VISIT TO EPPING FOREST.-It will be remembered that last year the suit was decided which had been instituted by the Corporation of London with a view to preserve the rights of the public in Epping Forest. It was determined this year to celebrate the victory then gained by a public visit to the Forest, and accordingly this morning the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, many of the Aldermen and members of the Court of Common Council, with the officers of the Corporation and a select company, including several members of Parliament, and amounting to 700 in number, went in state from the Liverpool Street Station of the Great Eastern Railway by a special train to Snaresbrook. Up to their arrival there the weather had been pleasant, but thence it took a decided turn for the worse. The rest of the journey was performed in 150 closed carriages, each drawn by two horses, to a place called Fairmead, High Beech. It took place unfortunately in a drenching and relentless rain, relieved only by the sylvan beauties of the landscape. The procession from Snaresbrook to Fairmead was formed in the following order :--Mounted police, City Marshal, deputation of Coal and Corn and Finance Committee, members of the Common Council, Chairmen of Committees, Deputies, Metage on Grain Committee, Coal and Corn and Finance Committee, Under-Sheriffs, Officers of the Corporation, Chairman of Coal and Corn and Finance Committee, general company, Members of the House of Commons, Sheriffs, Aldermen, the Lord Mayor, and mounted police. All along the line of route, regardless of the rain, the country people turned out in great numbers to witness the spectacle. The party reached Fairmead at 2 o'clock, and there had luncheon, various toasts and speeches concluding the entertainment.

16. NEWMARKET MEETING.-Seldom has a more eventful meeting been held, even at Newmarket, than that which took place this week. For the Cesarewitch no less than thirty-six horses were sent to the post, the field being the strongest, numerically

speaking, which has contested the race since Hartington's day. The race was won by Prince Soltykoff's Duke of Parma. The great event of the week was the match between Galopin and Lowlander over the Rowley Mile, for 1,000 sovereigns a side, the old horse conceding 12 lb. for the two years between them. Galopin had the call in the betting, but for all that a large number of reputed good judges stood by his opponent, who, they argued, would outstride him over the essentially galloping course on which they had to contend. The event, however, proved them wrong, for after waiting behind for about three-fourths of the way, Galopin closed with his rival, and speedily getting the best of the struggle, went on and won the match cleverly, if not easily, by a length.

RETURN OF THE" PANDORA."- This vessel, which sailed in June for the Arctic Regions, arrived to-day at Portsmouth, bringing a good report of the " Alert" and the "Discovery" up to July 27th, at which time those vessels had reached safely the Carey Islands, north of Melville Bay, in lat. 77°. The "Pandora" brought home a young Polar bear, four Esquimaux dogs, and several curiosities in the shape of canoes, skins, and other articles.

19. BLONDIN AT SEA.- The celebrated tight-rope walker performed an extraordinary feat on board the Peninsular and Oriental steamer "Poonah," on her voyage from Aden to Point de Galle. This vessel is the longest the Company possesses, measuring 431 feet. M. Blondin undertook to walk on the tightrope from the main to the mizen mast and back. Accordingly, a stout 7-inch hawser was made fast to the mizentop, hove through a heavy block in the maintop, and hauled taut by the steam winch on deck. Lateral motion was prevented as far as possible by guys made fast to the sides of the ship, but the motion of the vessel herself could not be avoided. When Blondin stood in the maintop, pole in hand, he hesitated long enough, with one foot on the rope, to make many people think he had repented. The task was one to try even his nerves. The mizentop is of course lower than the main, and the steadying guys had pulled the rope down in the centre, so that he had to start down a rather steep incline. Blondin is accustomed to guide and steady himself by fixing his eyes on the rope about twenty feet ahead of him, but what with the rolling of the ship and the vibration of the powerful engines (the "Poonah" was running between twelve and thirteen knots) the rope he had now to walk on was drawn into such sinuous waves that he described it as looking more like a snake than a rope. Before he had gone five yards he was forced to sit down, to steady himself and avoid two or three rollers which came in succession. Twice again he sat down, and then reached the mizen mast amidst hearty applause. This part of the journey was made more difficult by the sun being directly in his eyes. His return was quick and easy, till he had passed over about three-fourths of the distance, when the swell caught the ship, and he had to stop and sway from side to side, till he seemed to be quite out of the per

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