A very painful scandal has occurred jn ■ connection "' with r,a. Birmingham church, of which the incumbent, being, ill, had temporarily entrusted the: ministry to an unbeneficed clergyman 1 , living in the neighborhood. After at tempting to open the service on Sunday, | the locum tenens said he was too ill to proceed, and immediately left the, church. His place was taken by; another clergyman, who happened to bft one of the congregation. An. hour: or two later the locum tenen's was. found on the highway in a state of helpless .drunkenness and. taken in charge by the police. \

A remarkable accident has occurred to Mr JanW Torakinson, Wellington Hall, Cheshire, ex-High Sheriff of the county, and Liberal candidate .for Bcldisbury Division. Mr Tomkinson, in following the hounds, jumped a fence, landing on the towing- path of the Shropshire Union Canal. The animal could not be stopped, and the horse and rider went head foremost into the canal lock. Both went overhead, but on rising Mr Tomkinson and his valuable hunter were fortunately rescued by by standers. ■

A new political toy has appeared in Paris. It represents M. Floquet dressed as a policeman, with a hat in front of him on which his eyes are fixed fiercely. The figure holds a staff in one. hand, which is made, to rise by pulling a string. As the staff goes up a little figure of General Boulanger in , full uniform comes out of the "hat, and it goes again out of sight as the stick falls. The meaning that this ingenious bit of mechanism is intended to convey is that how ever much M. Floquet may strike he cannot hit the 'brave General.'

The latest innovation is paving streets with indiarubber, which material threatens to, enter, into (competition with asphalte. The new pavement is an invention of Herr Basse, of Linden, who has introduced it in Hanover. He used it first in the summer of last year for paving the Goethe bridge, Which has a surface of- about 1000 square metres, or 10,764 square feet. The new pavement, it is stated, proved so satisfactory that 1500 square metres (16,146 square feet) of ordinary carriage way in the city were paved with it this summer. 