A eecbnt telegram froji Wellington informed us that sixteen hundred railway omployei had petitioned the Commissioners to induce the Government to re-introduce to Parliament a Bill for the compulsory insurance of men employed on the railways. We presume this means'that the old Bill, drafted by the Commissioners, shall bo disinterred from the waste-papeF basket, and be made to re-figure on the Order Paper next session. When this Bill first saw the light of day it was looked upon as a. vory ugly duckling, and its neck was wrung with oxooeding promptness. It was rogarded by tho mom with disfavor, although no end of un eft'ort wan miido to secure thoir support to it. If wo romember rightly, tho Commissioners invited a kind of plebiscite on their pot measure, and it was thought, wrongly enough no doubt, that an employe wag a marked man if he vojted against it. Since th?n the Bill has been lost sight of by all but tho Commissioners. For ourselves wo had hoped never to hear of it again ; but it appears that all tho tirno wo thought the thing was dead and buried it bus only been lying dormant. It is strange that it should huvo been awakened by tho voioo of sixteen hundred men, for without queeiion man> of the omployds nro opposed to it. Howovor, tho potition has been forwarded to the Government, togothor with a rough draft of tho Bill, and tho subject, wo are tola, is now under consideration. In connection with this question, it is iuterosting to note that, aooording to tho last roturnu, there are four thousand fivo hundred men employed in tho railway servioa, so that only one-third of the number dosirotho resuscitation of the Bill. The Lyttolton Timeß thinks that as the soheme us originally introduced was to bo made oompulsory, tho Government will probably hesitate boforo agroeing to recommend it to Parliament. Speaking generally, the country is not favorable to » largo body of u>oll being subject to tho coercion proposed by tho. Bill. It is felt that the duty of luukiug , provision for the eventualities contemplated by tho Bill is a private matter. The law should not compel railway employes to effect insurance any moru than it should compel othor seotions of the public service or tliO community at largo to tako a similar stop. There is also the further fact that tho Bohemo is evidently intended to tie a body of mon to the railway service, by holding tho loss of their insurance interests as a whip ovur their heads. Theso considerations, doubtless, oount for very iittto with the Commissioners, but they couiit for a. ijood deal with the general body of the electors, and for a groat deal more with some two-thirds of the railway employes. Many of the employes are alroady members, of benefit societies, and have effected in- : Burunoes on their lives. Their interests in thoir benefit societies are not only financial, they aro sentimental as well, and a Liberal Government ia hardly likely to assist in wrenching these associations asundor to assist what partakes very largely of the nature of a " fad." .

On the fourth page to-day is inserted an interesting article entitled, "A Turkish Poetess." In cur Supplement to-morrow, besides the usual variety of reading matter, will be found thu opening chapters of a thrilling story fron, the pen of the well-known American writer, W. D. Howells, entitled, " The Quality of Mercy." The publishers paid the author the sum of £2000 for this serial. There was no business at the E.M. Court this morning. Robert Douglass, who left Balclutha nearly two years ago, and ie supposed to have gone to Kaikora, Hawke's Bay, is enquired for iv the War Cry. Gilbert'and Sullivan's opera, "The Sorcerer" was produced by the Wanganui Musical and Dramatic Association on Wednesday last, and the piece waa well received. We remind our readers of the entertainment to be given in the Theatre Royal this evening in honor of the visit of the Canterbury cricketers. An excellent .programme has been prepared, which should draw a huge audience. Tho Customs duty for the month of March amounted to £GBll 7s 4d. The amount of beer duty collected was £230 16s Id. The amounts collected in the corresponding month of last year were £5,298 4s 5d and £236 2s 6d respectively. A Wairarapa contemporary says that " a large number of natives of the Maaterton district who are victims to sciatica, rheumatism, and other diseases have left for Napier, where it is alleged there exists a .Negro prophet who can cure all afflictions to which the human flesh is heir."

News from Blackall (Queensland) states that hundreds of men are seeking employment, and offer to work at any rate of wages to enable them to exist. The local storekeepers-and stations are severely taxed by giving rations away. As the stations are shearing in rotation, the men will not be able to find employment. There are too many in the district for the work required to be done. The death is reported from Taranaki of Mr Israel Pellew, a pioneer settler, who arrived in the barque Timandra on February 2i, 1843. He reached the ripe age of eighty years, and was in fairly good health until recently. Hie family consisted of five sons and five daughters, and twenty-one grandchildren. He celebrated his golden wedding last year. He took part in the Maori war, and was engaged in the battle of Waireka. In connection with a statement published by the Dunedin Star that the Hon. Mr Buckley intended to resign and contest an Irish constituency, Mr Buckley states that at present he has no intention of doing so. It is true that he has received from Home a request that he should stand for one of the Irish constituencies, but he has not accepted the invitation or decided upon any course of action in regard to it. It is understood that the Hon. Mr Buckley and Mrs Buckley will thortly pay a visit to the Old Country.

Our Waipawa correspondent writes:— ' ' The sale of privileges in connection with the Waipawa County Racing Club's meetins on the 7th April attracted a god attendance of speculators, and in consequence the bidding was spirited. The sum of £45 5s was realised, as follows :—©rand-stand bar, W. I. Limbrick (juo.), £27; grandstand luncheon-room, M. Sheehan, £2 10s; outside luncheon booth, M. Sheehan £5 ; fruit and fancy stall, J. M'lntyre, £4 ; race-books, J. Mogridge, £6 los.—The young men of Waipukurau are arranging a bail in aid of the County Hospital, to take place on Easter Monday."

The negotiations between Lloyd's Agency at Timaru and the Hume Office with reference to the Elginshire were completed yesterday. Tenders were called a fortnight ago to be in last Thursday. Several were received, but only one was considered available, that of Messrs Scott Bros., of Christchurch, for £ 10,000 for the delivery of the vessel in the LyHelton dry dock. This being cabled to Lloyd's was refused, with instructions that uo offer be taken except on the principle of payment in proportion of the vilue saved. Messrs Scott Bros, being informed of this offered to dock tho vessel on the principle of " No cure no pay " for onethird of toe value of the vessel in dock. This was cabled Home, and yesterday a reply came accepting it. Messrs Scott Bros, begin work at once. The vessel is roughly estimated at £15,000. The following further explains an Australian cable received not long ago :—" A dastardly murder has been perpetrated at Condobolin. A youug man named Georgo Ryan, in company with a young woman, named Alice Andersen, was returniag home from the races. When two miles below the town, the couple were suddenly confronted by a former suitor of Miss Anderson's, named Wm. Stone. The latter was carrying a gun, which he levelled at the woman. She galloped out of range, whilst Ryan dismounted, caught the gun barrel, and struggled with Stone for the possession of the weapon. Stone pulled the trigger, and shot Ryan in the abdomen. The wounded man fell and rolled on to his side, when Stone fired the remaining shot into his shoulder, and stood over him whilst ho loaded the gun again. The wounded man begged Stone not to shoot again, and the latter rode away after the woman. Ryan died before help came. An inquest was held, and a verdict of wilful murder recorded against Stone, who was found next day by hie father, shot dead with the gun by his eido. The Cronetadt Viestnik, which devotes much attention to naval affairs, contains an account of the now Russian battle-ship Georgei Pobeidonosets, which was laid down in the yard of the Ruseian Steamship and Commercial Company, at Sebastopol, in July, 1889, and which is now being completed for sea. Her length is 339 ft Gin; hor breadth, 69ft; and hor displacement, at normal draught of 26ft 7in, 10,280 tons. The machinery and boilers are by Messrs Maudslay, Sons, and Field; and. with forced draught, the engines are to develop 16,000 indicated horse-power, and, with twin screws, to drive the ship at a spsed of 17.5 knots. The barbettes and machinery for the guns ere from the works of Putilow; the steel armour is by Schneider, of Oreueot, the torpedo discharging apparatus is from the works of Bellino Fenderich at Odessa ; the anchors and cables are from the Russian Admiralty Works. The vessel will carry six 12in 52-ton guns arranged in three barbettes, seven 6in gune in the battery, eight 3in Baranoffski quick-firing guns, and six 1-pounder quick-firers. The torpedo tubes, of which there are seven, are all submerged. The coal capacity is 700 tons. The maximum thickness of the belt armor is said to be 16in, and that of the barbette armor the same. MrT. A. Edison thinks that electricity will play such a part in war when that time comes as shall make gunpowder and dynamite go and sit in humble obscurity with the obsolete flint arrowhead and call him brother. He says:—"Every electrician, when that time comes, will have his plant for making the life of his enemy electrically uncomfortable. Here is one item of defence which I have in mind. It is simple as ABC. I have never spoken or written about it before. With twenty-five men in a fort I can make that fort absolutely impregnabla so far as assault is concerned, and should only need twenty-five men in the fort to do it. This is not guesswork, but a matter of absolute scientific certainty. In fact, twenty-five men would be a very liberal garrison. Foreign soldiers undertaking to whip America could walk arouud such a fort as mine, but they never could go through it. It would not be necessary to deal out absolute death unless the operator felt like it. He could modify tho current gently so as simply to etun everybody, then walk outside his fort, pick up the stunned generals and others worth keeping for ransom or exchange, make prisoners aleo of others if convenient, or, if not convenient, turn on tho full force of the current and play the hoso on them once more, and send them to the happy hunting grouuds for good." Mr Owen, chemist, Hastings street, has received direct from the maker a new supply of Popsalia, Kola Wiuo. Bovril, Pumilino Essence, Rocho's Embrooation (for whooping cough), Quiuino Wine, Anti-Catarrh Salts for Hay Fovor, Influenza, etc.