TELEPHONIC EXPERIMENTS.

   The telephonic experiments which were made at the  Maryport and
Workington offices of Messrs. HINE, on Tuesday, afford a striking  proof of the
wonderful changes which have taken place in this district during  the last half
century.

   Fifty years since there were no railways in  Cumberland; the land between
this town and Workington was a waste; there were no  blast furnaces; and the
telegraph was unknown. Now, the western division of the  county is intersected
by a network of railways; the land between Maryport and  Workington has been
brought into cultivation; blast furnaces dot the whole line  along our coast;
and we are not only able to flash messages along the electric  wires, but to
converse freely with persons six miles away as if they were  sitting opposite
to us in the same room. The telephone is certainly one of the  most marvellous
inventions of human genius.

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD.

   The Local Government Board is evidently determined  not to sanction the
proposal of the Guardians of the Cockermouth Union to try by  piecing and
patching the Workhouse at Cockermouth suitable for the public  requirements. The
Central Authority insists that a new workhouse should be  built. How Mr. PEARSON
and his friends will deal with the letter which was read  at the meeting of
the Guardians on Monday remains to be seen.

   There is one very easy way out of the difficulty.  Let the local
Government Board sanction the proposal of Mr. Arthur BENSON to  form Maryport and
Workington into separate and independent Union. The workhouse  in it's present
condition is large enough for the requirements of Cockermouth  and Keswick.