The Press. SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 1870. NEWS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XVI, Issue 2165, 26 March 1870, Page 2

The Press. SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 1870.

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The English mail was not signalled last night when the Telegraph office closed. According to the New Zealand " Gazette " ] there are 196 medical practitioners in thej colony. I There were no nominations yesterday for the vacant seats in the Lyttelton Borough Council. The Lyttelton amateur dramatic performance will be repeated on Tuesday next, at _ho Colonist Hall, with the addition of another farce entitled " No. 1 Round the Corner." The number of visitors to the Art Exhibition yesterday was uprr-.Js of 350, and as it closes to-day, we have no doubt all who have hitherto neglected to visit it will avail themselves of this final opportunity of doing so.

His Honor the Superintendent- received a telegram, yesterday, informing him that the proclamation of the dissolution of the Provincial Council and the writs for the General elections have been sent by the Wellington.

We are requested to state that the popular entertaiments at Kaiapoi will be ..renewed shortly. A committee, of ...management, will probably bo electee! at the quarterly meeting of the members of the Institute pu Thursday evening next. In Chambers yesterday,. before-E. S. Willcocks, Esq., Registrar; the following orders were made in bankruptcy :—Re John Green. Mr Wynn Williams obtained en order of adjudication, meeting of' creditors to take place on Monday, April 4, at one p.m. Re Henry Pemberthy, jun. The bankrupt in person obtained an ; order of adjudication, meeting of creditors to take place on Monday, April 4, at half-past eleven a.m. In re Theodore and Augustus-Doyle and Thomas Lester Osborne, orders confirming tho choice of trustees were made, and the last examinations fixed for Thursday, May 6. ' We beg to call attention to a notice in our advertising columns announcing an alteration in the telegraphic charges on and after the Ist of April. From that date ordinary telegrams from any station to any station.will be charged as follows :—For the first, ten words, Is, and for every additional five words, 6d. A proportionate reduction has also been made in the price of press telegrams. We congratulate the Government on the step which they have taken, and we have no doubt it will lead to the telegraph being much more largely used than has hitherto been the casW

The performance at the Theatre Royal commenced last night with-1 r All That Glitteris Not Gold," or in other words with "The Factory Girl." As presented last evening some portion of the piece was broad farcevery broad —the remainder —bub we refrain from criticism, and gladly turn to the burlesque of "Lalla Rookh," which concluded the entertainment, and which passed off With that success Which its sparkling representation and splendid scenery ~ has hitherto obtained for it. The same programme will "be, submitted to-night. :1i - ''■ ■ L '"'~\' <k ") ; \'i '.; The; Rev. Wohlers, in a letter to.the "Southland- ttews," says "the simplest and surest remedy for cabbage blight is powdered dry earth, strewn thickly on the affected parts; If it is not too far' gone, the blight will disappear after two or three powderings j but when it is bad, or on parts of the leaves where the powder will not stick, then it must be rubbed on a little—the latter is the quickest cure. Let no,-.one fear that the powdered earth will hurt the plant; even if the very heart infilled and covered with it, the cabbage or turnip, when relieved ; of the blight, will, by growing, soon throw the earth off again." As the best mode, of preparing flax has evidently not yet been arrived at, and as even the principle of the process is still a moot question, we. consider that every information that can be given on the subject is of importance. We"have been informed: by _fr ; Howe,, of Howe's farm, that nearly twenty' years ago he prepared four tons qf flax for' Mr Fitzherbert, arid the plan wb__h he adopted was as follows: : —The flax leaves were: JBrst bruised by beating. The bundles were then placed in small pita dug in. ' a swamp, and left there until eufSeiently retted. They were then .combed and.washed. The production is stated to have been soft and of good colour. After immersiqn,. fermentation soon commenced, attended, by a strong smelL The flax at this period had to be ? weighted with stones to keep it down. Fermentation was sometimes accelerated by covering the flax, with manure. Mr Howe . states that he found bruising oi* breaking up the leaf to he indispensible to th* success of the operation. The whole leaf, when, unbruised, was not acted on by the waiter to a sufficient extent. There is no doubt that Jthe., principle of plan is a good one, and Worthy of further experiment, which we trust it will receive.— "Post." The "_Kew York Times " asserts that Mr Fish has directed Mr Motley to intimate to the British Government that. the.Administration of the United States would be well disposed to receive overtures from Government on the Alabama claims, if those overtures were made at Washington and not, in London, i c., through Mr Thornton's "discussions with the American Government,) instead of through Mr Motley's discussions j with the -British The reason why what the "New York Times " calls "our people" would.prefer this, procedure is not in the highest degree respectful to Mr Motley. The Americans seem to have lost all faith in the power of their Ministers abroad to resist the fascinations of aristocratic drawing rooms. They are modest enough to think that Mr Thornton will not have much difficulty in resisting the fascinations of American drawing rooms. We suppose the American people should know their own Ministers best, and we must, of course, bow to their decision on so very important a matter —the rather as it implies a compliment to our Envoy at the expense of their own. But we may just confide to the Americans that our people believe Mr Beverdy Johnson, in spite of his evident liking for English dinners, to have played his diplomatic cards remarkably well, and with no symptoms of soft-heartedness. Indeed, it may be truly said that he took tcs in, as well as our dinners. , The Japanese paper handkerchiefs are assuredly coming, if the ** Globe" be right. The paper collar manufacture has how been extended to less prominent but more important garment-of great strength and flexibility, which can bd sewn with _ machine, giving seams almost as strong as a woven fabric. The inventor has particularly applied it to the

production of petticoats, which are either printed in imitation of the fashionable skirts of tho day, or stamped out with open work of such beauty and delicacy as no labor with scissors and needle could imitate. The marvel is that theee really beautiful productions can be sold retail at "sixpence each. Imitation cretonnes and chintzes for bed furniture are also made, a set costing retail about sa. The felted material "is so flexible that a curtain may be twisted into a rope, and shaken out again, -howing as little creasing as a chintz similarly treated." There are also tablecloths embossed with designs of great.beauty. This felted paper may, in the end, have a serious influence on the production of the woven fabrics it is intended to displace. Imitation leather, impermeable to water, is likewise made of it, and produces a cheap and useful covering for furniture, and even serves for shoes.

Tha Englishman of the continental imagina-, tion is about the moat curious being one could conceive. He is alw-js doing impossible things, which no other person, would think of attempting. Tho last exploit of his which we have heard is related by a South Russian newspaper. According to this authority the English consul at Odessa reoently received a visit from one of his countrymen, who, asked the shortest way to India. The consul advised his visitor to commence the journey by'■' crossing . the Black Sea. He answered that ho wished to go by land. -'Then;" said the consul, "go with the mail." " Not at all," the Englishman answered, * r I must make the whole -journey on foot." The consul • offered, no .resistance, but gave the man all necessary information, and he then set out on: his long and difficult journey. A few days afterwards a second Englishman called upon the consul. "Have you seen a traveller," asked this new visitor, '* clad something like mc, on his way to India on foot ? " The consul answered in the affirmative, adding that tha man must be out of his senses to undertake such a journey. " Oh, not in the lea9t," was the answer, "he wagered he would go from Calais to India on foot. I am following him in the same way in order to see that he fulfils all the conditions upon which we agreed.". . • .\

The " Scientific American " of 28th Augußt contains the following :—"Beading in the late papers an account of the recent melancholy death of the Engineer Roebling from tetanus, or lockjaw, reminded mc of an incident in the military campaigns of a friend of mine, a major in the 18th Indiana Cavalry during the war, and which he only a short time ago related to mc among other, events of his '■ soldier life. In view of the late unhappy event, I deem it worthy of being generally known, as his remedy is vei*y simple,!quick, efficacious, and obtained almost anywhere. It would, in the above case, have certainly saved the life of a very useful man. His command was then — Christmas, 1864 —in.middle Tennessee, near the Alabama line. , c?Ono qf his men was wounded slightly in the foot* enough to go back a few miles to the Nearest hospital! and as the command was, after a short march or so, going into winter quarters, and nOt wishing to leave it; he concluded to I pressJbn with it. The consequence was he ! todUcpld in x his wounded foot, and tetanus onsie'd' before they reached their winter quarters. AH their surgeons and assistants ha<d ! beep .deft at various hospitals, and the hospital Steward, knowing nothing better to do-, had made arrangements to abandon the man, aa to die at a plantation. The major \asu|plly learned; his* condition, and, as it tyo a life; or death: anyhow (or Bsfther certain he reiolvedt to try an experiment and *save him if possible. The man had the lockjaw more> than forty hours; they had no medicines -along Tvith them" (useless, if they had), "and the major's only resource was a plug of navy tobacco. He cut off a square .pf it. (about three inches square) put it in a mesa pan with! boiling water, until it was hot through, and saturated with the water; taking it. oujv"'he: allowed it to cool bo as hot* to blister; \MH,\ flattening it out, he placed it on the pit of the. man's, stomach. In about five minutes the*, patient turned white around the lips, which: also began to twiteh —the man was getting; very sick —and in nine 7 'or ten minutes tho. rigid muscles relaxed, and hjis, jawa fe\l open J Indeed it seemed as rf i:he*~patrent would r faU: apart and go to pieces, so utterly was hisofi-j tire muscular system* relaxed. The tobacco; was immediately removed, and some whisky- j given to stimulate him. 'Next day the; man was taken along in an ambulance, and in. a.few days mounted his horse all right, as'hold: a *sojer boy'_aß any. So.much for a.dead! man. It seems necessary in this disease to; ; produce nausea, or. sickness of the stomach, to ;j cause the rigid muscles to relax. It ia very i difficulty or almost impossible, to administer } internal medrcihes, and some external. appli- } cation becomes necessary to produce nausea,] and this is furnished by the tobacco. -The] major found afterwards that damp tobacco j applied to any part of the body would pro- j <|uee sickness, but much more quickly of j course when applied to the stomach."; I