two miles distant from his capital. A vast crowd assembled, and prayers and simple offerings of flowers, fruits, and water marked the humble faith of the worshippers. Then the Maharajah took hold of a plough, and, himself guiding the yoke of oxen, turned more than one furrow. Meanwhile the Maharanee, acting as the wife of a peasant, waited upon the Maharajah, and at the proper time produced from the folds of her cloth his frugal meal for the day. Genial showers, it is added, at once descended upon the parched earth, and the people dispersed with shouts of gladness and much noise of tomtoms and shrill pipings.

A RAILWAY TRIAL.-A jury met at Bristol to-day to assess damages in a claim for compensation, brought by the executors of a tailor's foreman named Way, against the Great Western Railway. Way was in a train at Bristol station last summer, when an incoming train, overshooting the mark, dashed into the stationary train, causing injuries to a number of the passengers. Way, who was in a delicate state of health, received such a shock that it hastened his death. The company agreed to pay his eldest son 150l., and the second son 2001.

AUGUST.

2. THE PROMENADE PIER at Llandudno, which has been in course of erection for the last two years, though not quite finished, was opened to-day. The pier is 1,250 feet long, and about 30 feet wide in the narrowest part. At the extreme end a broad platform is being erected, on which a pavilion will ultimately be built. Facilities will be provided for landing on the pier from small boats, and the steamers from Liverpool and other less distant places will also be able to land their passengers on the pier, instead of sending them to the shore in small boats, as at present. The pier is a light iron structure, not devoid of ornamentation, and it affords a charming view of the Happy Valley, the town of Llandudno, and the mountains beyond.

-THE GERMAN DEMAND FOR GOLD.-According to the Frankfurter Zeitung, the new German gold circulation is being rapidly curtailed, not only by exportation, but by inland melting for industrial purposes. The annual report of the Hanau Chamber of Commerce specially comments on the circumstance that, in consequence of the conditions of the gold markets which have existed for some time past, the goldsmiths' demand is almost exclusively supplied from the new coinage.

4. THE TYNEWYDD RESCUERS.-Before 30,000 persons, Lord Aberdare, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, presented medals to twenty-five of the Tynewydd rescuers. Four of the medals were of the first class, the Albert. The Lord Mayor distributed

the Mansion House Fund; Mr. H. Vivian, M.P., the watches presented by members of the House of Commons; Major Duncan presented five medals of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and Mr. Talbot, M.P., the silver tankards presented by the Daily Telegraph. Most of the recipients wore their working clothes, having been requested to appear in those garbs. The place where the awards were made was on an elevated spot surrounded by lofty mountains. Speeches were delivered, and the utmost enthusiasm was displayed; but the immense throng was most orderly. After the distribution the Rev. D. W. Williams, Fairfield, entertained about 500 persons at a banquet in the Market House, which, as well as the town, was decorated with flags and arches of evergreens.

6. MR. GLADSTONE was visited at Hawarden Castle this morning by the members and friends of the Bolton Liberal Association, numbering about 1,400. He at once gave them permission to see the grounds, but at first declined to address them. Subsequently, however, he informed them that he and his son were about to fell a tree in the park, and he would then reply to any vote of thanks they might wish to propose to him. About four o'clock Mr. Gladstone and his son, clad in rough working suits with slouch hats, proceeded to a large ash tree, about fifteen feet in circumference, at a distant part of the park, and set to work to fell it in presence of the whole body of spectators. Before beginning they threw off hat, coat, and neckerchief, till they had on only check shirts and rough light pants, and as the chips flew at the strokes of their axes the admiring excursionists picked up some of the fragments and carefully treasured them as mementoes of their visit. As some relief to the monotony of waiting, the excursionists sang several glees, and, as the ex-Premier paused to breathe awhile, crowds gathered round him with a view to shaking hands. Mr. Gladstone granted the favour to the ladies of the company, but refused it to the men. The excursionists proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone for their kindness in allowing the use of the park and for their presence on the occasion. Mr. Gladstone replied to the vote, leaning on his axe, and expressed his pleasure at seeing so many persons present enjoying the fresh air and the scenery of the park. He went on to speak at length of the contrast between life in town and country, and said he trusted that the time would come when the contrast would not be so great as now.

- THE PIGMY MARMOZET.-Among the recent additions to the collection in the Zoological Society's monkey-house is an example of the pigmy marmozet. This is the smallest and one of the rarest of the monkeys of the New World, and no other living specimen, so far as is known, had previously been brought to Europe. The little animal was purchased by the Society at the end of April from an engineer who had been working on one of the steamboats of the Upper Amazons. It was stated to have been obtained near Pebas, in Eastern Peru. The total length of the

body of this little animal is about five inches; its tail is about the same length. It is therefore the smallest of the true monkeys, though some of the allied group of lemurs are still more diminutive.

MEUX'S EXPERIMENT.-With regard to the well-boring at Messrs. Meux's Brewery, in the Tottenham Court Road, a contemporary says:" All hope of coming upon inexhaustible streams of water below the lower green sand is now definitively abandoned. Perhaps the most unexpected result of these borings is the discovery that not only is the whole series of secondary formations, with the exception of the chalk and green sand, absent, but even some of the upper paleozoic or primary rocks are also missing. Up to a few weeks ago no one could be quite sure that there were not lying beneath the earth, between the chalk downs of Epsom on the south, and of Dunstable in the north, supplies of coal sufficient for the domestic use of London and its suburbs for ages to come; nay, for aught that was known, these supplies might even have been attainable at depths no greater than those from which coal is now being raised in some parts of England with a profit. But Messrs. Meux's experiment has at least determined the fact that no coal will ever be found under New Oxford Street, nor in all probability under any portion of this part of the country. The last stratum bored through at Messrs. Meux's is, in fact, now proved by its fossils to be Devonian. It is a very hard shale, resembling slate in colour, though not splitting so easily. This discouraging kind of core was first found immediately below the lower green sand, at a depth of 1,100 feet, and at 40 feet lower, where the boring was finally discontinued, the diamonds were still cutting through this obstinate substance. The so-called green sand cut through in these operations is represented only by sandstone and limestone; and hence the pieces of cores, which vary in length from 50 feet downwards, and resemble rough and broken pillars of greyish-white stone, can fortunately be easily put together in unbroken succession without chance of disturbance."

7. MARRIAGE OF THE LADY MAYORESS.--The marriage of the Lady Mayoress (Miss Ada Louisa White) with Mr. Cecil Herbert Thornton Price was solemnised this morning at St. Paul's Cathe dral by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Bishop of Ely, Canon Liddon, the Rev. W. C. F. Webber, the Rev. J. M. Roberton (chaplain to the Lord Mayor), and the Rev. W. S. H. Meadows, vicar of Chigwell. The fact that a wedding had not taken place in the cathedral for a hundred and twenty years gave additional interest to the ceremony, and although the building was thronged from end to end, an immense number of applicants for tickets were necessarily refused.

THE GRAND SHEREEF OF MOROCco, Sidi el Hadj Abd-es-Salem, Prince of the House of Wazan, accompanied by the Shereeffa, an English lady, and their two children, with several attendants, arrived at Charing Cross yesterday afternoon. The Prince's visit

is of a private character, and it is not yet known how long he will stay in England.

THE POPE'S DAILY LIFE.-The Figaro gives the following details of the daily life of the Pope :-In winter as in summer the Pope rises at 6 A.M. He then spends his time in prayer until 8 A.M., when mass is celebrated in his private chapel. At nine o'clock he breakfasts, and afterwards opens his correspondence and transacts business with his secretary, Cardinal Simeoni. He then gives private receptions in his library until about half-past twelve, when the semi-public audiences begin. At these deputations are received and addresses are read. These concluded, the Pope, attended by those among the cardinals who are more intimate with him, walks in the galleries, or sometimes in the garden, until half-past one, when he dismisses his suite and, attended by Monsignor Ricci, his major-domo, reads the office for the day. At 2 P.M. the Pope dines, afterwards taking a siesta for half an hour. The recital of the breviary occupies him until half-past four, when he visits the Holy Sacrament in his chapel, and afterwards walks again in the galleries or, when the weather is hot, is carried into the garden. On returning he is again occupied reading his correspondence until sunset, when the private receptions recommence and are continued until nine o'clock. Afterwards a circle is formed by the inmates of the Vatican and general conversation is carried on for a short time, when the Pope partakes of a frugal supper and retires to his chamber.

10. CARRIER-PIGEONS.-A German paper gives some details of the extraordinary development of the breeding and training of carrier-pigeons in Germany since the late war. During the siege of Paris, as is well known, pigeons afforded the only means of communication between the outside world and the inhabitants of the beleaguered city. In order that similar messengers might be available in the hour of need, pigeon-houses were established, after the conclusion of the war, in most of the larger garrison towns of North and South Germany, and now pigeon-flying has rapidly become a favourite pastime and sport throughout the country. The increased attention thus given to the subject has resulted in the observation of many peculiarities in the birds. Carrier-pigeons of good breed, it is noticed, although they may be started in company and bound for the same place, fly quite independently of one another. Each one selects its own course, some taking a higher, others a lower flight, and speeds on its way without taking any heed of its neighbours. The birds, in fact, seem to know that they are racing, and each one exerts itself to the utmost to arrive first at the goal. In the neighbourhood of every pigeon-house there are always certain places, trees, &c., which are usually favourite resorts of the birds, but when coming in in a race the well-bred pigeon never stops for a moment at any of these haunts, but flies straight to his own particular house, frequently arriving there in so exhausted a state as to be unable to eat the food it is

most fond of. Birds which are sitting, or which have lately hatched young, are generally taken in preference to others for racing; but instances have been known in which carrier-pigeons of good breed which have been taken to a fresh home, and which have hatched young there, have deserted their brood and flown away to their original home at the first opportunity they had of escaping.

11. FATAL FIRE.-At St. Just, near Penzance, five boys, the youngest aged eight months and the eldest about nine years, the children of Henry Angwin, miner, were put to bed in an upstairs room in their father's cottage, and left alone in the house for a few minutes, while the mother looked for her eldest son, a boy of eleven years. On returning she found the cottage in flames, and notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of the neighbours and of Angwin, the father of the children, who came home at this crisis, the five brothers were burnt to death, and, with the exception of the youngest child, nothing but charred remains were found. The agony of the mother, who made desperate attempts to enter the burning house, was pitiable.

14. GALLANT RESCUE.-As a Mrs. Phipps and her daughter, at Southsea, this morning, were returning to their bathing machine on the beach somewhat exhausted, after a long swim out to sea, they heard screams proceeding from a young lady some little distance off. Thinking she was amusing herself, no notice was at first taken of her, but, finding that she was really struggling for life, Miss Phipps swam to her assistance and reached her just as she sank for the second time. The drowning lady, however, who was afterwards ascertained to be Miss Johnstone, of Southsea, clutched hold of her rescuer so firmly that both were almost drowning, when Mrs. Phipps swam to their assistance. She in her turn was seized round the neck, and for a time all the three seemed in imminent danger of drowning, as the tide was running out very strongly. A machine man then swam out, and laying hold of Miss Johnstone's hair, swam back with her to shore. In the meantime, a gentleman went to their aid, and a boat from a yacht reaching them at the same time, the ladies were rescued. This is the second life which Mrs. Phipps has been the means of saving.

15. THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION for the Advancement of Science, commenced its sittings at Plymouth this afternoon, and in the evening the President for the year, Professor Allen Thomson, delivered his inaugural address to "a large and brilliant assemblage in the Guildhall. There were, of course, on subsequent days the usual separate Meetings of Sections, with what we may venture to describe as the usual or average fare. There were excursions by land and by sea. There were conversaziones and aggregate gatherings. There were all the stimulating pleasures of social intercourse to relieve the labours of high intellectual exercise. There were papers read before crowded and scanty audiences--those which had proved most attractive not being always the best. There was the ordinary intermixture of wheat and chaff, of solid instruction and