... A mail bag in transit from Paisley to Liverpool was opened and ransacked at Carlisle on Sunday morning. It was in a guard's van, and left Paisley about eight o'clock on Saturday night, reaching Carlisle about midnight. At ten o'clock the bag was found in a North-British carriage standing on a siding. It had been cut open, and many letters and papers lay strewn about the floor of the carriage. ...

... The eighty-sixth halt-yearly meeting of Is holders of tnis Company was held on Tuesd. uc Royal Hotel, CHlegs-green, Bristol, Mr. d. \f Chairman of the Poard of Directors, presidi moderate attendance. The Secretary wcod) read the notice convening the meeting, u ,C IKO the report, extracts of which have already : ...

... LOCAL INTELLIGENCE. THE SHAKESPEARIAN DRAMA.—On Friday ereuing last, Mr. R. G. Moulton, M.A., delivered the first of a course of lectures on the above subject, at ths Town-hfill, Newport, in connection with the Cam- bridge University Extension scheme. There was a large audisnce, and the leeture was listened to with marked attention throughout. Mr. Monltou com- menced by saying that the course ...

... On the evening of the 4th instant there was a. great fire in Rangoon, and as most of the houses in that town are built entirely of wood, fully a hundred buildings were destroyed in an hour. Of two-and a-half blocks of houses, only three struc- tures were left standing. One of these is the office of the lo^.al Tim s newspaper, and the Ran- goon Gazcttf explains that as the Times office was in ...

... A brilliant pageant was witnessed by the guests of the Lord Lieutenant and Duchess of Marlboro', at Dublin Castle, on Saturday night. After a grand banquet in the Picture Gallery to the Knights of St. Patrick, the Lord Lieutenant, as Grand Master of the Order, presided at the inves- titure of the Earl of Portarlington, as one of its Knights Companions. The usual ceremonial was gone through, ...

... At an early hour on Saturday morning the York Guildhall was burglariously broken into by thieves, for it is certain that more than one has York Guildhall was burglariously broken into by thieves, for it is certain that more than one has been engaged in the affair. An entrance was effected by removing a coal grate at the back of the Guildhall, through which aperture a cellar was reached leading ...

... The fund being raised by the Mayor of Exeter, for the relief of the West »f. England shareholders, now Asacw&tsi to £ 5,000.. ...

... Bishop Colenso has ordered 1 he following prayer to be used during the continuance of the Zulu war 0, Eternal Lord God, through whose inscrut- able providence it has come to pass that the terrible scourge of war is laid by our hands upon a neigh- bouring people, we humbly commend to Thy mercy all those whose office it is to rule at this time, and all who shall be called to take part in the ...

... KOYAL MON. ENGINEER MILITIA.-Notice has been issued that the old hands will undergo 20 days' training this year, not as previously ordered. ...

... A public meeting, promoted by the National Temperance League, has been held in the Library of the Memorial Hall, Farringdon street, to bear an account from Miss Agnes E. Weston, of the progress of this work amongst the seamen of the Royal Navy. Admiral Prevost presided. Miss Weston, who has proved most enthusiastic in the cause, said that the work in which she was at present engaged sprang up ...

... t MILK AND COWS. An Irish doctor who lived to an advanced age, and who drank as a rule nothing but milk and one glass of whisky and water before retiring to rest at night, being asked ko account for his length of years, attributed his prolonged life to the milk he had drunk and the whisky he had not drunk. There can be little doubt that milk, when it can be obtained pure, is not only an ...

... The followine letter has been addressed to the electors of the county of Midlothian by Lord Dalkeith:— Mr. Gladstone having written a letter to Mr, John Cowan, chairman of the Midlothian Liberal Com- mittee, stating his intention of becoming a cand'date for this county at the next election, of which. I under- stand, a copy has been sent to every elector, I think it respectful and expedient to ...