General Intelligence.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXVII, Issue 1374, 27 August 1895, Page 3

General Intelligence.

*- —___ . The Daily Times says that the people are beginning to see, as may be concluded from a recent article of Mr Keir Hardie's in the Nineteenth Century—that, if an aristocracy of rank were to pass away, an aristocracy of money would take its place, and that this would be infinitely worse from the position of the working classes. One of the largest, if not the largest, petitions ever presented to the Legislative Council was that of 15,400 Roman Catholics of the colony, praying that the inspectors of State schools might be permitted by the Legislature to inspect therefore, unaided—schools. The length of the petition was nearly 100 yds. > The Timaru Herald has made an estimate of the loss of sheep by the snow in the country that Timaru is interested in. The to'tal number of sheep in that particular part of the country at last shearing was 530,000, and the aggregate loss is set down as 293,000. This will leave 237,000 in that part of the country. ... A Minister stated in the House the other day that a Maori medicine man had been pretending to cure diseases amongst his countrymen at Awanui, by practising according to his native methods, and by uttering ancient incantations, and that the Government were considering whether they should not prosecute him. But amongst ourselves (says the Auckland Herald) we have men who profess to cure diseases by methods not one whit more rational than those adopted by Maori medicine men, and yet nothing is done and they are believed in by men and, women of good education. An extraordinary case was heard at Manchester lately. A man named John Cox was'charged with begging. Apparently he was bleeding profusely from the mouth, and this alarming symptom aroused the sympathy of the public to a very profitable extent. The frequent emission of blood aroused the suspicion of the police, and they set a watch. On the appearance of the police, the artful beggar darted up a side street, wiped the blood from his mouth, and calmly began to smoke a pipe. But when the policeman had passed out of sight the bleeding and the begging began again. On being searched he was found to have concealed a bottle ot blood from a slaughterhouse. Out of this he filled his mouth and so produced the gory effects described. He was sentenced to a month with " hard." A CORRESPONDENT of the Daily Times writes as follows :—With reference to a statement which appeared in two Dunedin papers last week—that upwards of 400 persons had died of cancer in New Zealand during the last 12 months, and that in the last year the number ' had increased by 100—I write to say that if the Kegis-trar-geueral's returns are to' be relied upon, the total number is nearer 100, the normal monthly number being about seven or eight. From an examination of about 25 Gazettes I find that the highest number for any one month is 25, but there was another month with only two cases. In one case I found 14, but in the following month it was four. In one month I found 15, but the majority of cases are five, seven, eight, and so on. If there is a large number in any one month there is almost sure to be a small number in the next. I write this so that it may not be accepted that deaths from cancer are so numerous in New Zealand as has been represented. I believe the number of cases are increasing which is greatly to be deplored. The charge of manslaughter against Joseph Jewitt aud Andrew Kennedy, arising out of the recent lamp-thro wiug affair in a Chinese deu in Haining St., Wellington, which resulted in the death of Louie Smith, was heard last week. Sir Robert Stout appeared for Jewitt, and Mr Wilford for Kennedy. On the application of both counsel,- the Chief Justice agreed to try the prisoners separately, the Crown offering no objection. It was decided to try Kennedy first. Two witnesses who were present when the row occurred, swore positively that Kennedy did not throw the lamp, while one of them swore that he saw Jewitt throw it. The evidence was rather conflicting in character. No evidence was called for the defence, counsel laying stress on the fact that it had been deposed that at the moment the lamp was thrown at the unfortunate woman the prisoner was struggling on the floor with Wilson, The jury, after a short retirement, found a verdict of " Not guilty,"

There are between 8,000 and 10,000 unemployed in Sydney. A Reefton publican advertises this warning :—" Debts of houor.—A number of book debts owing to the undersigned, if not settled within two months from date hereof, will be published to let the public know where honor is nil. At the inquest on the bodies of the victims of the El Dorado mine accident, Victoria, the jury returned a verdict to bhe effect that there was no evidence to show that the deaths were caused by neglect or incompetence on the part of the manager or the owners of the mine, but the jury agreed that there was a want of proper judgment in the management, and that there should have been additional strength in securing the point where the breakage occurred. A correspondent of Modern Society writes :—" Camphor is becomiug scarcer and scarcer. The Japanese Government have placed still further restrictions on. its export from their dominions, and it seems that the officials who have replaced the Chinese in Formosa have received instructions to do the same with respect to that island for the present. This will seriously interfere not only with many medical compounds, but with the manufacture of smokeless powder, into which camphor largely enters, and so . Japan seems to have suddenly jumped into the position of the universal arbiter of war, conducted in accordance with the latest scientific discoveries, as the yellow-faced Jap practically controls the supply of camphor, and thus of the smokeless powders which so extensively manufactured throughout Europe." The Rev Father O'Neill, who was present at the recent annual meetiug of the Gaelic Society of New Zealand, in a racy speech, spoke as follows :—He could not, he said, presume to speak on behalf of the Irish Gaelic Society in the presence of members who knew the language better and who had the opportunity of doing more than he for the society, but as a member of that society he had>', a great amount of sympathy with the Gaqlic Society of New Zealand. He had very recently had the advantage of sniffing/ the heather in the Highlands of Scotland, and was then as nearly being a Highlander as it was possible for an Irishman to be.—(Laughter.) Highlanders and Irish, were practically the same, for they were all descended from the same ancestors, and in olden days when Scotland was not sufficiently populated the Irish sent some colonies over, who' throve well, and they were proud of them.—(Laughter.) Amongst the arguments which induced the young in this city to learn the Celtic language, which was practically the same as the Gaelic, there was none more powerful than that it was the language spoken by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Paradise.—(Laughter.) On that score it was to be hoped that the movement now taking place would eventuate in a very happy success. He expressed his gratification that, no matter what their convictions, people could, unite fdr the.Bociai and moral amelioration' of the community; and amid roars of laughter the rev. gentleman proceeded to relate how it was a sign of grace that the Rev. Mr tfyley had given him a section for a Catholic church at,Catlins, and stated that if that did not get him (Mr Ryley) iuto heaven he did not know what would.