ANCHOVIES AND TOAST.

Auckland Star, Volume V, Issue 1305, 14 April 1874, Page 3

ANCHOVIES AND TOAST.

PENSION TO MARTIN X TUPPER.

That "poet," Mr. Martin F. Tupper, has been rewarded for his jingling rubbish by a pension of £100 a year. One can't help feeling that the money might have been better disposed. The sale of proverbial philosophy has, I believe, exceeded that of any other book of the same kind, and the author's profits have been large. Ag for the merits of the book anything more utterly maudlin and weak has never seen the light of day. But then queer people do get pensioned sometimes. There was " Poet Close " for instance. Pensions are like kissing, they go by favour. TYPHOID FEVER AT CAMBRID GE. There has been a great sensation at Cambridge caused by an outbreak of typhoid fever in Gonville and Caius College. Some of the men have fallen victims, and others are still ill, and the disease is spreading in the town. No one seems to be able to make out the cause. It has been attributed to defective drains, bad water, and all sorts fo things. Medical evidence is fast driving us to the conclusion that every disease from which we suffer arises from the food we eat or the water we drink, and until fire is brought more into use as a consumer of ash heaps, dust bins, sewage, Ac, disease - (zymotic) will increase and spread with population. CRISIS IN FRANCE. The French Ministry have passed through a strange crisis since I last wrote you. Soon , after date of my last letter they suffered a * signal defeat on an important measure, and soon afterwards sent in their resignations to Marshal McMahon. These the Marshal would not accept, so the Ministry again met the Assembly, and stood by the result of a vote of confidence. On this the Assembly expressed its undoubted confidence in the cabinet as it stood, and so within twenty- i four hours eat its own words. That is of course nothing for a French Parliament to do in these days, but it displays the fear in which the representatives of the nation stand of the Marshal and the army which he commands. They have brought their celebrated "Mayor's Bill" into active operation, by which Mayors of Communes are appointed by the Governmont, and not elected by their respective communes. Thus you see, more than ever France is Paris. The effect of such a system is to place the country entirely at the mercy of Ministers for the time being.

MIJ>DLE CLASS EMIGRATION. There has been rather an important meeting held in London in connection with a society for the promotion of middle class emigration from this ceuntry. It has always been urged, and I think with great truth that the middle classes are just the people who ought not to go to the colonies because they are usually so helpless when removed out of the particular rut in which they have all their lives been in the habit of travelling. But this society thinks differently, and a number of people spoke relating their happy colonial experiences, and telling their middleclass hearers that they ought to leave England and long prices for the colonies and cheap grub. This is all very well, but I suspect most of the speakers had had experiences of rather an easy nature. There was a Captain St. Aubyn, whose name I don't remember, who. said he had for years held an appointment in New Zealand, and that it was a charming place. This was all very well, and if every half-pay officer could get an appointment in New Zealand no doubt £ « mild be advisable for such people to remove there without delay. But it strikes me that you already have too many peopla holding ""appointments," and that you could even dispense with a few of the people you already have, who draw nice salaries out of your over-taxed working bees, and do precious little for what they get. In one respect New Zealand is infinitely worse than England in the matter of Civil Service employment. Your lower class officials are paid wretchedly, and your higher class extravagantly. It is not so here. Salaries'of clerks are small enough, but they can scarcely be reckoned undef the head of "starvation salaries," whilst those of the higher grades are very moderate if comfortable. But then public opinion is so much more felt here than in New Zealand, and we have such a very differentT class of politicians It *an easy matter to bring an English. Minister or high official to the bar of public opinion because he is always a gentleman and. a man ot 2ffi WplSfS <£%£% Industrie, and live on their wits, aad have no political characters to lose. And that makes all the difference. MASONIC TEMPLE IN PHILADELPHIA. Some time ago I sent you a description of a magnificent Masonic Temple which had been erected in Philadelphia. T-he cere mony of-opening the _ame is described as having been most impressive. At the oeai cation the procession of brethren' who. marched six a-breast, extended for three miles- along the prinoipal streets oI the eify. The oraffe is immensely strong

in America. In Pennsylvania on the first of January, 1873, there were 345 lodges, counting 3!!, 185 members, 57 of the lodges being in the City of Philadelphia. In the whole of the United States there were at that date 556,295 Master Masons, 117,971 Royal Arch Masons, and 36,535 Knights Templar. me. Williamson's election. i We were all very glad at this end to hear of John Williamson's return as Superintendent. As an administrator he has never been beaten or even equalled. I ' i