PART II.

CHRONICLE

OF REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES

IN 1872.

JANUARY.

3. LION-TAMING.-A shocking occurrence took place at Bolton to-day, when a lion-tamer, named Massarti, was worried to death in a den of lions. Massarti was going through a performance, about half-past ten, with five male lions, when one of the lions struck him with its paw, and he fell upon one knee. He turned round and struck at it with a sword he had in his hand, when another lion placed its paw upon his legs, holding him down, and tearing the leopard's skin from his breast. Four of the lions then attacked him, but Massarti kept cool, and struck at them with his sword. They knocked him to the other end of the caravan, when Massarti fired his revolver, which was loaded with blank cartridge, three times among them. While this was going on the greatest excitement prevailed among the spectators, who greatly retarded the authorities in their efforts to rescue the lion-tamer. This was an extra performance, and it had not been deemed requisite to prepare hot irons, as is customary, before Massarti entered the den. Irons were heated, however, but nearly ten minutes elapsed before the man could be got out. He was frightfully mangled, the back part of his scalp being torn away, and lumps of flesh bitten out of his thighs. He raised his head to show that he was still alive, and remarked on his way to the infirmary that "he was done for." He died almost directly he was admitted to that institution.

4. THE PRINCE OF WALES'S CONVALESCENCE is so well established that Sir William Jenner was enabled to leave Sandringham yesterday, and Sir James Paget to-day. Drs. Gull and Lowe continue in attendance, but their services are not so unremittingly required.

6. ASSASSINATION OF JAMES FISK.-This day, in New York, James

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Fisk, of Erie fame, was murdered in the corridor of the Grand Central Hotel. The American papers were full of the story for days, and no such scene of excitement had been witnessed since the assassination of Lincoln. Three years ago Mr. James Fisk, jun., who was then in the midst of his first struggle with the representatives of the English owners of the Erie Railway, fell in love with Josephine Mansfield, a woman of extraordinary personal beauty, destitute of education and accomplishments, a married woman, who had separated herself from her husband and resumed her maiden name. Fisk, although a married man, fell madly in love with this woman. She accepted his addresses, and placed herself under his protection. He confided to her all the secrets of the numerous intrigues in which he was engaged, took to her house his fellowmembers of the Ring, entertained them there with sumptuous banquets, and discussed with them in her presence the various schemes then on foot for the completion of the plan concocted by the Ring. The liaison continued without interruption till a few months ago, when Mansfield, wearied of her lover, supplied his place in her affections by a Mr. Edward S. Stokes, a Wall-street broker, and a quondam friend of Fisk's, who, wounded by this ingratitude and treachery, found relief in a number of querulous and quaint epistles, addressed to the faithless Josephine, which, however, received no reply until a few weeks ago, when Mr. Fisk received a missive informing him that not only these, but all the other letters written by him to Josephine, would be returned to him upon the payment of 25,000 dols., but that if this sum were not immediately forthcoming, the letters in question would be published, accompanied by a full and authentic exposition of the whole of the information concerning the Erie Railway Company and the Erie Ring, which Josephine had acquired during her intimacy with its Head Centre. Mr. Fisk indignantly refused to comply with this demand for black mail, and immediately afterwards was summoned to answer a complaint instituted by Mansfield and Stokes, alleging that he had publicly accused them of a conspiracy to extort money. This case came on for trial at New York. Mansfield and Stokes both appeared; some preliminary evidence was taken, but an adjournment was suddenly effected, and it was presently announced that the case had been abandoned in consideration of Mrs. Mansfield receiving 25,000 dols. Immediately afterwards, however, it was stated that this money was paid, not by Fisk, but by certain Boston bankers of high stan ling, who themselves had been parties to some of the more disreputable intrigues of Fisk, and who feared the disclosures which it was in the power of Mansfield and Stokes to make. The truce thus patched up was of brief duration, for a fortnight afterwards the libel suit was revived, and Stokes, appearing upon the witness-stand, stated that although the originals of the criminatory letters had been delivered up to the Boston bankers on payment of the 25,000 dols., certified copies of them had been retained, which he then proposed to produce. Mr. Fisk, as is well known, had among his retainers a

certain judge of New York whose authority was superior to that of the court in which these proceedings had been instituted; and he now produced an injunction from this judge, forbidding the production of the certified copies. Meanwhile Fisk had gone before the grand jury and obtained an indictment against Stokes for conspiracy to extort money. To-day Fisk and Stokes met in the corridor of the Grand Central Hotel, Fisk had entered the vestibule, and was going up the stairs which led into the hall. When he reached the last step Stokes, above him, standing near the balustrade, rested a revolver on the rail and fired at Fisk. The shot struck him in the left arm; another immediately followed. It struck him in the abdomen, and Fisk cried out, " For God's sake, will anybody save me?" Stokes glared at him fiercely, fired two more shots, and then turned and ran up the stairs. Fisk sank and died in a few hours. Stokes was arrested, but it need scarcely be added, in conclusion, that so "sensational" a murderer as Mr. Stokes escaped capital punishment upon his trial.

7. A BABY HIPPOPOTAMUS.-At the Zoological Gardens this strange little animal expired. It had lived but eighty-four hours. The dam had plenty of milk, and frequently coaxed her young one to suck; but it could never find its way to her teats, and tried in vain at her ears, snout, and paws. It was requisite that the calf hippopotamus should be taken away from its mother, in order that it might be fed by hand, or suckled by two she-goats. It would not suck at all till its eyes were blindfolded, and it was necessary to preserve absolute silence. The sight of people or sound of their voices frightened the shy little creature too much. It lived only six hours after being removed from the mother, and imbibed three pints of milk. The most probable opinion is that it was born with some internal organic disease, like its brother, which died three days after its birth, in February of last year.

11. A TERRIBLE COLLIERY EXPLOSION occurred in a colliery situated in the Lynvi Valley, about three miles from Maesteg and nine miles from Bridgend, by which many lives were lost. The pit where the accident happened is 130 yards deep. The explosion was heard over the whole country. The underground blast had swept through all the works, and there had been a great destruction of life. Eleven men and six horses had been killed.

16. A JURY OF MATRONS.-The scene that was enacted at the Old Bailey on the occasion of the conviction and sentence of Christina Edmunds was one of rare occurrence. There was a profound sensation among the bystanders at the unexpected announcement that the prisoner claimed to be with child, which was not diminished when the words, "Let the Sheriff impannel a jury of matrons forthwith," were heard. Such is the law from ancient times, and in obedience to the injunction the Under-Sheriffs sallied into the court in quest of matrons. After about twenty minutes a dozen well-to-do and respectably-dressed women were captured and directed to enter the jury-box. Mrs. Adelaide Whitlaw, the fore

woman, was sworn separately, and the rest in a body. It was arranged that they should see the prisoner in the Sheriffs' parlour. They retired, and the prisoner was removed. After an hour's suspense, the verdict was spoken by the forewoman in the single word, "Not'."

17. REVELATIONS OF THE RACE-COURSE.-In the Court of Exchequer Mr. T. H. Masterman, a trainer of race-horses at Middleham, in Yorkshire, brought an action against a jockey, named Cameron, to recover the sum of 827. 6s., the balance of an account in connexion with the turf. The transactions out of which the present litigation arose extended over the years 1868 and 1869, the defendant being the rider of several horses, and the plaintiff the owner of some of the animals taking part in the races. The whole account of the plaintiff against the defendant comprised a vast number of items, amounting to 3317. 11s., from which were deducted certain sums for which the defendant was credited, leaving the balance as above. Cameron had repeatedly promised to pay, but having frequently urged excuses for his omission to do so, plaintiff felt himself compelled to bring this action. In his crossexamination, plaintiff said, "The defendant rode a horse for me at Newcastle. I did not find fault with him for winning that race. I had certainly backed Algeria in that race against my own horse, Honesty. Defendant asked me to back Algeria both for himself and myself." In answer to the judge, plaintiff said that the defendant could have "pulled" Honesty, and so prevented him from winning the race, if he pleased. "He won that race, however," he added, "against his own interest as well as mine, because he was drunk. He said he could not help it. If he had been in his sober senses both he and Honesty would have been in the background." (Laughter.) Cameron was called to contradict the plaintiff's case, and to show that the balance was really in his (Cameron's) favour; but after he had been examined for some time, his counsel said witness gave such a different version of the affairs between him and the plaintiff from that which he had been instructed to urge, that he felt it hopeless to proceed further, and concluded his observations thus, "I am afraid he is riding 'Honesty' to-day, at all events." Verdict for the plaintiff, 827. 68.

23. AT A MEETING held at Exeter in support of the Permissive Bill, at which Bishop Temple presided, a most uproarious scene took place. His Lordship was greeted with the most offensive epithets, and the mob charged the platform. Severe fighting took place. One person had his ribs broken, and several others were wounded. Resolutions in favour of the Permissive Bill were carried in dumb show. On the Bishop declaring one carried, a bag of flour was flung at his Lordship, covering him and Sir Wilfrid Lawson.

AN IRISH WORTHY.-An inquiry into the death of " Master M'Grath," the famous greyhound, resulted in the discovery that the heart weighed nine ounces and a half. This is rather more than the See Report of Trials.

average weight of a man's heart. Master M'Grath's running weight was 54 lbs., from which it appears that the celebrated "black" possessed three times the heart-force of a man. Professor Haughton believes that this was the real cause of his extraordinary running powers.

24. TERRIFIC GALE IN THE METROPOLIS.-This morning London was visited by the heaviest gale that has occurred in the south of England for many years. Its force was greatest between four and six o'clock in the morning. In all parts of London houses have been unroofed and chimneys and garden walls blown down, but no fatal accidents are reported. At half-past five o'clock one of the pinnacles of the buttress of the central tower of the Houses of Parliament, weighing two tons, fell with a tremendous crash, carrying away with it a large portion of the roof, and breaking down the iron girders. A large piece of stone, weighing several hundredweight, bounded off and dashed through the roof of the telegraph office in the central hall. Fortunately no one was there, or there must have been loss of life. The damage done amounted to several hundred pounds. On the Thames several casualties occurred through vessels breaking from their moorings, and some barges and other small craft sank.

28. DESTRUCTIVE FLOODS.-During yesterday and to-day the waters of the Thames at Windsor and Eton rose rapidly. The view of the inundated country from the viaduct of the Great Western Railway is very striking. The western suburb of Eton is inundated. On the south side of the Thames the water has covered the roadway and penetrated some of the houses, a punt having to be used to reach the flooded domiciles.

In the neighbourhood of Reading the ordinary route between the town and Lower Caversham is quite impassable; and the Kennett Valley presents a vast lake.

On the Weymouth and Portland Railway, near the Old Castle, about 100 yards of the bank sank entirely below the level, and for a considerable distance the rails, with the sleepers attached, were suspended in mid-air.

The Severn has overflowed its banks from Montgomeryshire to the Bristol Channel. Yesterday the river had fallen about eight inches at Worcester. It had reached a height only about four feet below the highest point of the memorable flood of 1795.

Late last night, as a luggage-train from the Midland Station, Northampton, was passing over the Nene-bridge, near Castle Ashby, the bridge gave way, owing to the floods, and the tender and a number of carriages, some laden with timber, fell into the river, others across the line, and the traffic generally was stopped.

On the 29th an extensive landslip occurred on the Great Western Railway near the Victoria and Paddington Junction, by which upwards of fifty tons of earth were displaced. The embankment, which is here about thirty feet above the level of the surrounding land, gave way, completely destroying the down metals, and forcing