A CRIME OR A BLUNDER'

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 10185, 25 December 1895, Page 2

A CRIME OR A BLUNDER'

Grover Cleveland has overshot his mark, By hie readiness to insult England to placate the Irish vote he has indicted woeful disaster on the Democratic party, Fouchd declared that some blunders are worse than Crimea— meaning thereby that their results are worse. Of that elasß was President Cleveland's bellicose message to Congress. Indeed, the American Preßs, we are told, do not hesitate to describe his action "as the crime of the century." Solid facts have brought this home even to the most blusterous citizen of She States. Politicians there havo been so ready to insnlt and ;flont Great Britain, and to brag of the aghtinK power of the States, that when their words are taken seriously, and the ohanceß of war oonntad up, they must stand aghast. Brother Jonathan la bo accustomed to worship the almighty dollar that when a thousand millions of them, as expressed in share values, vanish *n a day or two he is amazed and dumbtounded. Two hundred millions sterling Is said to have been the loss on the American Stock Exchanges alone. Probably this is an exaggeration. Bat allowing a very large margin for that thero can be no question that the loss has b6ea enormous, if not unprecedented. And what must have wonnded the pride of the Americans most severely is the faot that this loss has mainly been in United States securities. British stocks have remained practically unaffected, while the mere possibility of war has caused those ot the States to go down with a ruah. If anything were wanting to complete the humiliation it la supplied by the confeßslon of the Secretary to the Navy that, insignificant as ia the American fleet compared to that of Great Britain, he cannot find men to man the ships. There is a manifest error in the cable message which puts the total strength of the American navy at only 1446 men. The nominal strength is over 26,000, and Congress appropriated pay for over 14,000, so probably if wa read thousands instead of hundreds the message will be rightly interpreted. And this confession is made after the unparalleled Impudence involved in appointing an American Commission to investigate Britain's title to the territory she claims in Venezuela. Every patriotic American must flush to tho roots of his hair for very shame at the humlliai tion hia great country has been made to suffer through the pandering of the President to tho Irish vote. For that is the sole explanation of Cleveland's unjustifiable interference between Venezuela and Eagland. Bat oat of evil good may come. It may be that, now the Americans are brought face to face with the possibilities involved in this slavish pandering to a comparatively small section of voters, and those generally the moat illiterate and unscrupulous in the community, they will throw over the yoke, once and for ever, and Instead ot insults to England and spread-eagleism being the passwords to Congress, the party which adopts such tactics will be doomed to failure. If that is the result, Grover Cleveland's insolence will not be without its own compensation.

I The Marlhorough Express understands j 1 chat Mr K. Donald, farmer, has issued a | writ against the Bank of New Zealand | claiming £5000 damages for lodging a petition la bankruptcy against him, and for defamation of character. Last year there were 71 applicants (or , materials far a Christmas dianer at the Charitable Aid office. Yesterday 70 applied, and were supplied with the 1 necessaries for a good substantial meal, Thirty of that number refused the enstomary bottle of beer forming part of the ' anpply. The Fitzgerald Bros, are doing a bumper businecs all aloDg the West Coast, On Monday night they had a i crowded tent in Foxton, and after accdmulfltiag £230 worth of the populace bad to turn a great) crowd of disappointedhumanity away. The cirens will arrive in Napier on the 2nd proximo, and will open up for a season of three nights only. 1 A splendid programme of nthlfitie and ijquatic- events, to take placa at Farndon lark and in the river adjoining on New year's Day, has been prepared by the Napier City Band and the Albion Lodge 'iif Druids. The programme appears elsefihere. Nominations for tha various vents (except swimming) close with the secretary, Mr W. J. M'Grath, at the Masonic Hotel on Saturday next at 9 p.m. Some meu are lucky, In a country town of New South Wales the drought was severe, and one man resolved to sink 1 well. He gob down about 20 feet and came to rock at which he said some' hard jthings. But when he got to work at it he found It was a golden reef, and his first chunk of stone yielded 14 onnces of gold. Then he washed the stnff taken from the lead and got aearly 40 ounces out of two dishes of dirt. In South Australia the wheat crop will be chert nearly half a million buehele, Owing to the drought only a very small percentage of the area whloh was wheat gruwn last year was sown this, although large areas were tilled and prepared for seed In expectation of rain. Large importations will be necessary. Already arrangements have been made for the despatch of a direct boat to Brisbane from San Francisco with a shipment of 2500 tons of wheat. A cargo ot wheat is expected in Sydney front that quarter bufore the end of the year. What appears to be the bloat powerful explosive yet produced has beon obtained iyv Professor Victor Meyer from nltra« methane by substituting three atoms of the hydrogen by one of sodium. The nltroraetnnne Is dilated with sulphuric ether, and the alcoholic solution of the substance resulting from the action of sodium upon alcohol lis then added. The precipitate Is washed with other and ailed by means of concentrated suipburlo acid. The exp'oslve force of the P compound is terrific, as is also that of the producu when potasslnm Is used. Experts in electrical matters say that It ie at present impossible to send a telegraphic despatch through the Hoosac tunnel, 4§ miles from North Adams, Massachusetts. It has been tried with all kinds of wires and with a cable such as is nsed under the oceaD, but In vain, and the electricians are fairly puzzled. The telegraph wires, in consequenoe of this curious condition, have been carried over the surrounding mountains. A careful exploration of the tunnel has been made, but no magnetic or other ore has been found to interfere with tho transmission of a message. Miss Marchant, who has jusfc been appointed Lady Principal of the Girls' High | School, Duuedtn, at a salary of £400 a year, with board and residence, received all her education in Wellington. As a child, she attended Miss Greenwood's school, and she entered the Glrla' High School when about 14. She rose rapidly, till she carried off the gold medal as dux of the school. She took both the B. A. and AT.A. degrees without the advantage o£ attending a University College. She was coached chiefly by Dr. Innes, classical and mathematical master in the GirU 1 High School, Miss Merchant's brilliant success is encouraging not only to her beaohers, but also to the many girl students who are following in her steps. The bureau agents at the following places report in the Labor Journal for the month of December as follows ; — Napier : Building trades, fairly busy, the erection ot the new police-station giving employment to a number of men ; boot trade, factory hands are fairly busy ; clothing trade, busy | retail trades, still qniet ; unskilled labor, a few looal men are now idle in consequence of retrenchment on the harbor workß, there are very few men travelling on She roads. Hastings : Trade in general, quiet ; unskilled labor, very few men have been seen on the roada. Ormondville : Unskilled labor, very few local men idle at present. Woodville: Unskilled labor, very few applicants for employment daring the month, and the number of men on the roads has considerably diminished. There is still a philosopher among the Greeks whose wisdom is able to Bilence the murmurs of the masses. A Greek Jadge on the island of Solo, the other day, decided two claims against a railroad for damages caused by a collision. One claimant was a man who had lost an arm and the other was a widow whoao husband had been killed. The Jadge awarded 6000 piastres to the mon, but only 2000 to the woman. When the spectators began to protest loudly, the wise Judge explained: "My- dear people, the verdict must remain, for you will see it is just. Nikola has lost an arm, and nothing can restore it, but jon (turning to the woman) are still young and pretty. You have now some money, and you can easily find another husband who may be as good, even better, perhaps, tban yonr dead lord." So saying, the Judge left tha ball, and the people obeered hloi. From Germany comes the first official news of a great American discovery said to cure the most dreaded of diseases, consumption and cancer. Consul-General Dekay Albertio, in a report) to the States Department at Washington, saya the discovery, which was announced late in March in the most serious and trustworthy medical school In Germany, is likely to receive considerable attention at the coming Medical Congress In Munich. The discovery was made by Dr Lonis Waldstein, of New York, a brother of the famous archaeologist, Dr Charles Waldst6in. The new treatment, which has been perfected by studies abroad, consists of injecting minute doses of pllocarpine until the lymphatic system U stimulated and the white corpuscles of the blood overoome the poisonous particles which produce disease. Dr. Waldstein's researches have gone to the fountain whence those healthfnl white corpuscles spring, and by enlivening its action the productiveness restores the condition of the bloid, destroying poisonous garms. The importance of the discovery is thought to be far beyond those of Pasteur, Koch and others, A very interesting ceremony, took place recently says the Neio Zealand Herald, at the residence of Mr J. Kirker, Ponsonby. A short time ago he opened his private bowling green and invited a number of Auckland bowlers and their lady friends on the occasion. A number of the bowlers went to Mr Klrker's residence, where Mr William Gome, president of the Northern Bowling Association, In the absence of Mr Holland, the president of the Auckland Bowling Association, who was unavoidably absent owing to his Mayoral duties, presented Mrs Eirker with a full set of ladies bowls for a tink in a case, manufactured at Messrs Wink and Hall's establishment. He stated tb»t the bowlers deaired to recognise Mr Kirker's enterprise and enthusiasm in the canseof bowling in establishing a private green— the firet in Auckland—and also to show their appreciation of bis kindness and hospitality at the opening of his green, Mr Kirber, in a I neat speech, thanked the bowlers for their handsome gift on behalf of Mrs Kirker. The bowlers then had a game of bowls with the ladies present. The perpetrator of a "a crime passlonel" has ever been a sacred person with Frenoh juries. Providing they oan produce a reasonaVe araonnt of evidence to prove that no pecuniary interest prompted them to crime, husbands and wives may pistol, knife, and vitrlollse offending parties, with the full asgurance of acquittal. Until last week, however, doubts existed in legal circles as to the view a jury might take of a «! crime passlonel " in a case where the relations between theparties were what is politely termed " extra - matrimonia,!." Theae donbts have dojv been set at rest, A man named - Kratz was on his trial. He had, it transpired, made the acquaintance casually of a lady who was also somebody else's wife, and who seems to have wished she were not. Her ac« qualntanca with Kratz ripened into a maisonette, but In a very Httle while raadame found she could get on no better with her Jover tban she did with her huaband, The latter had taken her desertion philosophically, but wncti she proposed to leave Kratz he promptly strangled her. Was this a "crime paasionel"? The jnry quickly decided that it was, and accordingly Kratz was ac.qultted. Our Walpawa correspondent writine yesterday says :— The report of the County Hospital for the week is as follows:—Twenty In-patients, Including four females ; four males and one female received during the week ; one male disx cb/irged ; no dontbs — There ia a great Wlux of natives In town to-day, and it is Hald thore is to bo a great feast at the p»b to-night.— The Government are pur. chasing the native Interests in thePlri* plri bock, near Daoevirke, and have already acquired abont half the shares — We nave had a ereat change in the we'thor. Last night a brcezi sprung up f-fta the southward, and the result wop a decided coolnessthatlasteilillnoon to day, I and. wo have tad to resume warm clothing.

• —The compliments of the season to \tßKt^^& The following- is a list of the tenders m received for a six-roomed bouse, referred to in this morning's issue :-Hansen ana Becken, ilanevirke, £217 10s; W. H. Taylor. Danevirke, £222 (accepted) ; J. L, Scott £274 10s; H. A. Jones, £275 ; H. Liddell, £281 11s; Anderson and Macintosh, £287 10s; Taggarb and Twamley, £289 7s; W. A. Chambers, I £303 12s 6d ; Gore and Stainea, £305 2s I 6s j E. P. Colea, £319 ; J. Harker, £895 . i 53.-Kilz?erald's circus is billed for New J i Year's Ere. ■ There were a good many people about ™ town yesterday afternoon, and business waa fairly brisk. It 1 wm not nntll after nlfthtfal), however, that the sheets began to present a crowded aspect, and the shopkeepers and their assistants to wax , exceedingly bnsy. The country people came in in great cambers, and the toy shopa especially were raided by brothers, sisters, cousins, and aunts (kind SantaClanaee) all in search of just that some* thing which would please the expectant little ones at home. The town waa brilliantly lighted, Chinese lanterns con* triDating largely to the effectiveness of the scene which was one of jollity onmarred. There were more drunken men about than we have seen for some time, bat even they were inolfeasiyely hilarious. After 10 o'clock the crowd bspan to diminish, and many took np positions ob the Marine- parade In anticipation of the Garrison Band concert. The rotunda was thrown into extra prominence by the Dew ligbta recently erected, and the large lamp presented to the Borough by the Gas Company cast a day-like glow upon the animated scene. Many hundreds of people had assembled when the band began to play, but the crowd— a most) orderly one — gradually diminished towards midnight, and made its way/ homewards. Towards midnight tba lbeller spirits took possession of affairs, and seemed to hare a pretty strong bold of them right up to the time of going to press.