... (lUWTEIÙS TELEGRAM.) VENICE, Wednesday.—A slight shock of e irth- quake, lasting seven seconds, was felt here at eleven o'clock last night. No damage was done. ...

... SAD HOLIDAY DISASTER IN III ERICA. [TMW TEL2CEAM.] PHILADELPHIIA, Sunday.—A Curistmas trei set in a crowded hospital at Chicago, on Frday, caught are from the lighted cr.cdles. The specta- tors were closely packed round it, ond tne j clothing of several caught fire. An outcry, was raised, and the crowd ru^LcJ toward.- tiie doors, trampling on one another. Ab,,ut 100 persons were ...

... FACT.* AND FANCIED As late as 1540 here wetebnt seven vocations into which New England women had entered; now the number it 317. II ,w is it tbt. when a churchwarden stands drinks on Mondays, he invariably l'aY05 with threepenny bits. Get your sweetheart a new set of teeth a- Christmas present, was tite invitation of an vertising dentist during the festive season A Junior Reform Club wit ...

... EISTEDDFOD.—The annual asteddfod held in the Drill-hall on Monday last was, notwithstand- ing the inclemency of tl 3 weather, very successful from every point of view. An un- usually large number of competitors presented themselves. The conductor was the Rev J. Volander Jones, New Tredegf, and the adjudi- cators were—mu3ic, Mr D n Davies, A.C., Dowlas prose, poetry, and ecitations, Rev J. ...

... A sad accident js reported from St. Pembrokesinre, where two boys, aged eight respectively, sons of Wm. Reed, smith, residing at Vrouwen, have been burned through the explosion of lamp. It appears the childrer ing to pour oil into tiie wick was still burning. ensued, and both bo* Their cries soon scene, and Reed rescue his sons. burned tu deat il a precarious cor A V ES A ...

... N OSTHAD AM US S PKOPHECY ABOUT 1386. On a marble tablet at Obsrcmmel, in Germany, the following line; are engraved Quando Marcus Pascha dab it, lie Antonius Pentecostem æleùrabit. Kt Joannes ühristuU1 adorabifc, Totus mundus vae clall1a!Jit. This taeans that when Ea-ster falls on St. Murk's Day, 25th April; Pentecost on St. Anbticny's -Day, 13th Juue and Corpus Chrisci on St. John the ...

... Dr. Dipl'ck held an inquiry on Tusday at 38, lledelitfe-gardens, South Jvensinf.on, re- specting; the strange death oi a domestic servant named S: ...

... HEAR AND PROTEST, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE IF we must be alone in rontonstralnig, we feel none the less bound to remonstrate against those apparently useless ars which our Government is actively prosectTtirP' in various parts of the world. Were Parlia- ment in Session assembled we should hear more about them than Ave do, but we hear quite enough to satisfy any observer that our country is ...

... THE TOI«Y LOCAL GOYEIiN- MENT BILLS. The Lontjon correspondent of tha M-mchcder Guardian says :— Lord Randolph Churchill proposes, it; is understood, upon the strength of his former connection with Irelsnd, to take an active part upon th-Local Government 13iII i'or Ireland, o? which the details have been mostly worked out by Lord Ashbourne. But the mea- sure will not have tho first place in ...

... COLLIERY EXPLOSION NEAR WIGAN. 15 PERSONS INJURED. THE PIT ON FIRE. FL'KO.M COG P.ESI'OXDENT.] WIGAN, Tuesday. This morning a serious accident took place at the Taylor pit of the Wigan Coal and Iron Company, at Sherrington, which unfortunately has resulted in injury to 15 persons, and though up to the time of writing, no lives have sacrificed, it is fe; red that in some of the cases the burns ...

... The Press Association is enabled to state that Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Sir Richard Cross, Mr Siai'hope, and Mr Balfour are the committee of the Cabinet appointed to frame a. bill upon local government, the principal clauses of \hich will, it is understood, be intended to meet the needs of Ireland upon this question. ...

... 'THE DRURY LANE PRO- CESSION OF BEAUTIES. MR HARRIS'S «*DREAM OF FAIR WOMEN. The St. James's Gazette, referring to the Tvyury Lane Christmas annual, says It is a wonder- ful pantomime cf glitter, colour, and movement; but the Dream of Fair Women is its one novel feature. Ever since hints were dropped of what Mr Harris was preparing fori his Christmas patrous, gossip has kept the rumiurs in ...