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Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 9821, 21 July 1900, Page 4

China war and telegraphic news will be found on page two, Transvaal and cable information on page three, serial on page six, and political news, including an important statement by Mr Seddon on " Our Defences," on page seven.

At a meeting of the ladies' section of the Peace Celebration Committee last nicht it was resolved to accept the City Band's offer of an open air concert iv the Marine Parade rotunda on Wednesday evening next. A collection will be taken up in aid of the fund by a number of little girls and boys, under the supervision of the ladies' committee. Mr F. Moeller has granted the committee the free use of his balconies. It was decided to provide seats and to charge sixpence admission to the balconies.

The A to L Petitions Committee of the House of Representatives has again reported recommending that Mr W. C. Fitzgerald should be paid reasonable costs incurred by him in successfully defending an action brought against him in his position of Public Vaccinator. Mr Fitzgerald put his costs at £735, and the Government only allowed him £367.

" The relic of barbarism which survives in the deduction ot 5 per cent, from the winnings," said the chairman of the Racing Conference, "is now confined to thirty clubs out of eighty-three. The Dunedin district contains 10, Auckland and Canterbury 7 each, Hawke's Bay 3, and Wanganui, Greymouth, and Well ington 1 each. Four .Metropolitan Clubs continue the disingenuous practice of thus adding an illusory amount to their prizes."

The superintendents of the Fire Brigades in Melbourne and Sydney gave Superintendents Smith and Gilberd, of Neiv Zealand, who are on their way to Paris, a turn-out of their Brigades. In" the course of a letter Mr Smith speaks in high terms of praise of the working of the horses of the Sydney Brigade, which impressed him greatly. The turn-ouff was done in Sydney in 14sec, but as the men were standing dressed near the plant, Mr Smith points out that they were not much faster than the Christchurch Brigade. The turnout of the Melbourne Brigade, under Superintendent Stein, was done m 9sec. Theequipmentand plani of the Melbourne Fire Brigade are,. Mr Smiih says, quite up to date, and the horses wonderfully intelligent. Superintendent Stein hasforty-eightstations and ISO rnihs of buildings, some ten, eleven, ami twelve storeys high. It takes him a fortnight, to inspect the stations alone. Mr Smith was furnished by the Superintendent at Melbourne with letters to the chief of the London Fire Brigade, and the Hon J. G. Ward gave the delegates an official letter to the English Ambassador at Paris. Between Sydney and Melbourne and Adelaide the voyagers encountered exceedingly bad weather,, nothing but gales and head sea 3.

Prom English files we learn that a Cambridge cricketer named Sullivan putup the somewhat remarkable average of 600 for six innings this season. The explanation of this marvel is that he has made altogether jn*t 600 runs-, and has only once been out, carrying his bat the other five times.

A London correspondent writes :—What delights every cricketer is that poor J.:nuny Briggs, the comical and popular liti io roiey-poley Lancashire player, who "went off his head" last year under the t-xcitemeut of an Anglo-Australian " test " match and was feared to have become iusurably insane,hasrecoveied alike his health, bodily and mentally, and his best cricketing powers. In onefirst-class match he took all ten wickets in the first innin£s, and lie is also batting capitally.

Some London newspapers still harp upon the probability of Mr Seddon visiting London next (writes a London correspondent). Some New Zealanders, who should know, pooh-pooh the idea j, they look upon the rumors as arising simply from the fact that Mr Seddon has worked so hard, and so rarely takes a holiday, that when he does it is looked upon bs a sign of breakdown. On the other hand, recent arrivals from the eo'ony state that there appears to be great probability of the rumor proving; correct.

Letters received in town by the last South African ma 1 state that Lieutenant) Harold Williams, of the Second Dorsetshires, has been invalided to Durban with a slight attack of fever. Mr Williams's many friends in Napier will be pleased to learn, however, th*t he had so far recovered when the mad left that lie was under orders to rejoin his regimeut at the front a wet*k later.

In a recent issue of the London Daily Groprvc, it is stated that " ihe franchise of women in New Zealand is an accomplished fact, but it appears that many ominous grumblings are heard from thesterner sex, whoee privileges have been encroached upon. According to the women. Inwever, the male grumblings are caused because no man whose moral character has any taint, or who has the reputation of being unkind to his wife and children, has a chance of getting a woman's vote. As a result the House of Representatives,is a model of decorum and procedure. It is doubtless an excellent tiling that legislators should not be mere men of the nature of Socrates or Milton, whose domestic difficulties were the common talk. But surely if these husbands are kept from the exercise of public duties, they will have yet more time and opportunity for wrecking their bad temper on the enfranchised womenfolk. It is conceivable that the increased decorum of the House of Representatives - may be gained at the expense of the enfranchised squabble in private houses." Is this " writ sarka*tic " or how ?

Great expectations were aroused in the aeronautical world by the possibilities of Count Yon Zeppelin's air ship, whose successful flight over a distance of 35 mdes in a trial trip was referred 10 in one of our cable messages reeeutiy. Following are some particulars of this curiosity :—lt was constructed on board a huge houseboat, 472 ft long, " moored to the banks of Lake Constance. The aluminium frame is 416 ft in length aud 38ft in diameter, and the entire airresiiting surface projected upon a vertical plane has an area of 1188-37 square feet. Surrounding a .trellis work attached to-, the frame is a covering fabric, the upper surface of which is. of pegamoid and the I under surface of silk. Seveuteea eom- | partments in all divide the body of uhe balloon, each of which contains a gas bag. Above and below the front portion of the balloon and at each side of the rear portion rudders, are located. Two four-bladed screw propellers are mounted at each side of the balloon body, each of which propeller has a diameter of--3.7ft. and a ?peed of 1100 revolutions per minute. Below the balloon body is ane aluminium platform or bridge, upon which ate situated two 16 horse-power motors, and a 23 gallon tank holding sufficient henzine for a run of ten hours. The weight of both motors is 14301b, and the hourly consumption of the spirit fuel, about 26ib. The balloon body will contain 11,300 cuhit feet of gas and have a lifti»« caj acity of ten tons. From recent calculations the total weight, including a crew of five men, will be about nine tons. Tests were mace with the motors and air propellers secured to a boat 36ft in length, resuitiug in a speed of 9.3 miles per hour.