Bull Hotel. It was conveyed to a house in the neighbourhood, to await an inquest, which was held at Cambridge, and at which it appeared that Lord Delawarr's mind had been affected by the death of a woman who had lived under his protection, and to whom he had been much attached. The verdict was "Temporary insanity."

23. GREAT FIRE AT DOCKHEAD.-At an early hour this morning a tremendous conflagration broke out at the East-end of London, in the locality of Dockhead and Shad Thames. The fire originated on the premises of Messrs. Peek and Frean. It appears that shortly after two o'clock smoke was observed issuing from the windows of the building, which covers a large piece of ground close to the South-Eastern and Brighton Railways, at Bermondsey. An alarm was raised, and in a few minutes several engines arrived. The flames spread with great rapidity, and the reflection could be seen for many miles round. The firemen went to work in an admirable manner, but the flames took possession of floor after floor, and all hopes were soon given up of saving the building. The flames next ignited the roof, and attacked the different premises adjoining; and at this time it was feared the whole of the buildings near those of Messrs. Peek and Frean would be consumed, but by about four o'clock the firemen had succeeded in stopping the spread of the fire. One estimate makes the probable loss 100,0002.

27. GREAT FIRE IN MANCHESTER.-One of the largest fires which have occurred in Manchester since the destruction of the London and North-Western Goods Station, took place at the carriage works of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, Miles Platting. The premises are situated in the midst of a densely-populated district. The building is of immense length, and three stories high, and for many years has been used for the manufacture of locomotives, carriages, &c. At the time of the outbreak of the fire about twenty locomotives, a large number of carriages, and an immense quantity of timber were stored on the premises; several locomotives were also stationed in the yard adjoining. The fire is said to have originated in a boiler-house contiguous to the works. The fact that the floors of the building were saturated with oil used in the manufacture of carriages caused the flames to spread with alarming rapidity, and the heat to become so intense as to set fire to some adjoining cottages and a small mill. Forty locomotives and 130 carriages were entirely destroyed, and the fire was not completely extinguished till nearly midnight. The company have issued a statement to the effect that after a careful estimate the damage is estimated to be about 80,0007.

29. EARTHQUAKE.-A sharp shock was felt at Doncaster, at a few seconds after half-past two o'clock. Many dwelling-houses and other buildings were shaken to their foundations, and people rushed out into the streets to learn the cause. Persons who were sitting at the time of the occurrence are said to have been jerked forward, or to have been thrown bodily off their seats. Furniture was displaced in upper rooms, and many tradesmen had their goods in their

shops disturbed. One gentleman galloped to the Great Northern plant works, thinking that an explosion had happened. The weather was fine but cold during the day.

30. THE TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS was won by Mr. W. S. Crawfurd's Gang Forward, beating the favourite, Mr. H. Saville's Kaiser, by a head. From the dip the race was reduced to a match between the two.

MAY.

8. A RAILWAY ACCIDENT occurred near Shrewsbury, on the joint line of the London and North-Western and Great Western line from Shrewsbury to Newport, Monmouthshire, to the train due in Shrewsbury at 11.25, which had just passed the Condover station, about five miles from the latter town. Being a fast train it was running at high speed, when the axle of the engine broke, close to one of the fore wheels, which staved in, throwing five carriages and two break-vans off the line into a field about five or six feet below the level of the line. The first carriage was turned upon its side, the second was thrown completely over upon its top, the wheels and heavy framework crushing the unfortunate inmates, four of whom were killed upon the spot, three gentlemen and a lady, the head of the latter being completely smashed, almost entirely covering the roof of the compartment with blood. A third carriage, a composite one, was made a dreadful wreck, being broken into splinters, there being no form of the body left, and the wheels were almost embedded in the earth. The remaining carriages rested in a leaning position on the bank, excepting one nearest to the engine and tender, all of which remained on the rails. Fortunately there were comparatively few passengers in the train, or the disaster must have been much more terrible. The rails were ploughed up for a considerable distance before the actual upset took place. Besides those killed on the spot, two or three others were so seriously injured that they are not expected to live.

10. MR. BRIGHT AND REPUBLICANISM.-At a convention of political societies favourable to Republicanism, held at Birmingham, the following letter from Mr. Bright was read :—

Ballater, N.B., May 9, 1873. "DEAR SIR,-I thank you for the invitation to your proposed conference, although I cannot be present at it. You ask for a word of encouragement, which I can hardly give. To possess the best system of civil government is a thing worth striving for, but it may be a wise policy to endeavour to perfect the civil government we have rather than to look for great changes which necessarily involve enormous risks. It is easier to uproot a monarchy than to give a

healthy growth to that which is put in its place, and I suspect the price we should have to pay for the change would be greater than the change would be worth. Our forefathers suffered from nearly a century of unsettled government in consequence of the overthrow of the monarchy, brought on by the folly and crimes of the monarch. France has endured many calamities and much humiliation for nearly 100 years past, springing from the destruction of the ancient government and the apparent impossibility of founding a stable government to succeed it. Spain is now in the same difficulty, of which we watch the experiment with interest and anxiety. For forty years past in this country we have seen a course of improvement in our laws and administration equal, and perhaps superior, to anything which has been witnessed in any other nation. This gives me hope and faith that we can establish a civil government so good as to attract to its support the respect and love of all the intelligent among our people, and this without bringing upon us the troubles which, I believe, are inseparable from the uprooting of an ancient monarchy. I have no sympathy with the object which gives its name to your club. I prefer to try to do good in the way of political reform by what I regard a wiser and less hazardous, if a less ambitious method, and from what we have seen of the past I think we may gather hope and faith for the future.-I am, yours truly, JOHN BRIGHT."

KILLED BY A TIGER.-A fearful story is told by The Homeward Mail of an encounter with a tiger, in which Mr. Joseph Gay, son of Mr. Gay, Controller of Public Works Accounts in the Nizam's territory, lost his life. The tiger had committed numerous depredations in the Chudderghaut district in Hyderabad. Several persons had been killed, and the work of the Public Works Department interfered with. Mr. Marrett, the district engineer, and a successful sportsman, went out with young Mr. Gay to shoot the animal. Mr. Marrett and a shikaree were posted under a tree; Mr. Gay placed himself on the lower branches of the tree to watch, while the beaters surrounded the lair. The tiger appeared so suddenly that Mr. Marrett could only fire, wounding the animal in the jaw, before he was knocked down, and the tiger, Mr. Marrett, and the shikaree rolled over together. Mr. Gay at this moment, in trying to shift his seat so as to get a clear shot, lost his balance, and fell on the back of the enraged tiger. Mr. Marrett had swooned, and the maneater turned on its new assailant, mangling him fearfully. The beaters then succeeded in driving off the tiger to the jungle. Mr. Marrett was not badly hurt, the shikaree was uninjured, but young Mr. Gay died of his wounds six hours afterwards.

13. A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT Occurred to night at the Junior Carlton Club, by which a gentleman named Graham, living at Palace-green, Kensington, met with a frightful death. It appears that Mr. Graham, who was about twenty-eight years of age, and another gentleman were the guests of a Mr. Newton, a member of the club. They dined together at eight o'clock, and afterwards

D

adjourned to the strangers' smoking-room, which is situated on the top floor of the building. Here Mr. Newton and his friends remained until eleven o'clock, and upon all three leaving the room Mr. Graham, who happened to be next the banisters, placed his left hand on the balustrade and challenged one of his friends to a trial as to which of them would leap the farthest down the stairs. Before, however, his friends had time to accept the challenge, he, with his left hand still on the banister, sprang forward, and, losing his balance, the unfortunate gentleman whirled over the banister and fell a depth of at least sixty feet down the "well" of the building on to the pavement below. It was found, upon examination, that he had sustained frightful injuries both externally and internally, and that all chance of recovery was hopeless. He was removed to a convenient apartment, his friends were summoned to his bedside, and his sufferings were alleviated as far as possible by the administration of chloroform. He remained sensible until four o'clock, and at six he died.

24. THE ALEXANDRA PALACE.—The opening of the Alexandra Palace and Park, at Muswell Hill, beyond Hornsey, on the north side of London, was a pleasant festival to many thousands of visitors. This new place of public entertainment is the property of a Limited Liability Company. The grounds are situated in the most agreeable part of Middlesex, exactly six miles from Charing Cross, but amidst rural scenery of delightful freshness, variety, and beauty. They have an extent of 220 acres, laid out in park and garden, on the summit of a range of green hills, adorned with flourishing oaks and elms, which commands on every side, north and south, east and west, views that cannot be surpassed in the neighbourhood of town. Hornsey, Wood Green, East Barnet, Totteridge, Finchley, and Highgate turn their best aspects towards the Alexandra Park; and there are several openings for a more distant view, reaching far into Essex and Kent; but one scarcely wishes to look beyond the verdant slopes and well-wooded rising grounds of this vicinity. The entire estate here belonging to the Company is 600 acres, the greater part of which is reserved for building mansions or villas.

The Alexandra Palace has been constructed by Messrs. Kelk and Lucas, from the designs of Messrs. Meeson and Johnson, architects. It is an edifice stately and dignified, as well as elegant, in the characteristic forms it presents, both outside and inside. The plan is that of a nave with three transepts, the centre being surmounted by a dome, 170 ft. in diameter and 220 ft. in height; the length of the nave is 900 ft., or half that of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham ; the central transept is 430 ft. long; the other two transepts are each 320 ft. long; the breadth of the nave and of each of the three transepts is 85 ft. The architectural style is Italian, with arabesque decorations in blue, grey, and gold, on a ground of chocolate brown. The lighting is not from the roof overhead, but from ample side ranges of lofty windows, and from two gorgeously-coloured large round windows of painted glass, at opposite ends of the nave. Stone

coffers and vases of ornamental design, containing a variety of flowering shrubs and plants, alternate with statues, or groups of sculpture on pedestals, along the nave. The whole interior, nave and transepts, is surrounded by a series of galleries. The grand organ, above the orchestra in the central transept, is an instrument of great size and musical power, constructed by Mr. H. Willis, under the superintendence of Sir Michael Costa. In the north transept there is, at its west end, a spacious and commodious concert-hall, with another organ; at its east end a theatre nearly as big as that of Drury-lane.

The opening entertainments consisted first of a flower-show in the nave, which was a very pretty sight, whether on close inspection or viewed from the gallery at either end, and a grand concert afterwards in the central transept.

27. SIX PERSONS BURNED TO DEATH.-Between one and two o'clock this morning, a fire broke out on the premises occupied by Mr. J. G. Sparrow, a job-master, in Grosvenor-mews, Berkeleysquare, which resulted in the loss of six lives and serious injury to four other persons. Six could not be rescued and were burned to death. The injuries of the others were caused by burns and by jumping from the second-floor window, and they were taken to the Middlesex Hospital. Grosvenor-mews consists of two small streets, with a row of houses between them-the corner house, nearest Berkeley-square, being occupied by the unfortunate persons who were burned and injured. The dwelling contained five rooms, situated above a straw-loft over a stable, there being an entrance at each side of the mews. How the fire occurred is, and seems likely to remain, a mystery, considering that the house is wrecked so completely that only the four walls are standing.

28. EPSOM RACES.-A more pleasant day as regards weather than this cannot be imagined; still the morning was dull and cloudy, which apparently had the effect of lessening the attendance at Epsom, for the crowd on the hill seemed scarcely so large as usual, though the people in the ring and stands were as closely packed as possible. The result of the Derby was as follows:—

Mr. Merry's Doncaster, by Stockwell-Marigold (F. Webb)
Mr. W. S. Crawfurd's Gang Forward (T. Chaloner).
Mr. Savile's Kaiser (Maidment)

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The following also ran :-Count de Juigné's Montargis (Carratt), Mr. W. S. Crawfurd's Beadroll (Lowe), Lord Aylesford's Chandos (T. Cannon), Lord Falmouth's Andred (T. French), Mr. Dane's Snail (Baverstock), Count Renard's Hochstapler (J. Osborne), Mr. F. Gretton's Suleiman (Fordham), Lord Lonsdale's Somerset (Custance), Mr. H. Levy's Meter (Parry). Betting:-9 to 4 agst. Gang Forward, 4 to 1 each agst. Kaiser and Hochstapler, 8 to 1 agst. Montargis, 11 to 1 agst. Chandos, 20 to 1 agst. Suleiman, 40 to 1 each agst. Doncaster and Andred, and 66 to 1 agst. Meter.

The horses got off at the first attempt to a capital start, Beadroll