CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXXI, Issue 10309, 30 March 1894, Page 5

CURRENT TOPICS .

One of the most remarkable finds mad* by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, among the family papers of the Duke of Portland at Welbeck Abbey, is a aeries of letters from King Charles 11,, mostly written from St Germains in 1049, to various persons whose names are written in cipher, the key to which has not been discovered. They were found folded nnfl packed together in a little leather boat,' and by their appearance it would seem ' that they had been sent over for delivery, but had never been used. As the Cosnmissionera observe, they "are moetly~of« • kind to which the adherents of the .Stuarts’ must have been accustomed, andth© promises contained in which were not always completely performed.” In brief, they present the young prince in the character of a begging letter-writer on a rather extensive scale. Some thirty correspondent* seem to have been addressed by him in th* month of August of that year alone. Th* following will serve as a sample ;—"1649, August 31, St Germains.-I have had to good testimony of your affection to the King, my dear lather of blesied memciy, that ! desire yon on this occasion to laid me .£SOO, whereof I promise yon, onmj royal word, very faithful repayment. % have troubled few of my friends in th» kind;” Of this missive five copies have. been found, all bearing the royal signature and seal, and therefore presumtively fatended for different persons. A gruesome case, known as the Harrow mystery, came before the Common .Betjean t for trial at London in February last. A wretched-looking woman, Clara Darrfll, pleaded guilty to the concealment of birth of her four children, and was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment. ‘Mere concealment of birth was her verston of .the affair, and the law had absolutely no .evidence on which to frame a more serious charge. The four children, or the remains of them in the shape of certain bleached bones, calcined out of all recognition, were found in the house inwhich the prisoner lived, during her temporary absence from home. That absence was due to the fact that she was giving birth to ® fifth child at an infirmary. First a single skull was brought to light, and then a more careful search led to the discovery of a whole anatomical museum of remain*. The unhappy being had nothing to say but that her children were born dead, sad that she concealed the births, as they took place, for fear of being turned out of the bouie by her father. The bones were so boiled or burnt that it was impossible to form any opinion as to the way in which the infant* came by their deaths. In reference to a letter «ent to th* Premier of Victoria, stating that Sydney is "cattingoat” Victoria in all the intercolonial markets, a memorandum has bans prepared by Mr W. Lawson, of the statistical branch of the Victorian Custom* department, to which the letter had hose referred. It appears that at the and M 1892, Victoria still had the lead in exportation as regards Tasmania and New Zealand, and that New South Wales had retained the supremacy she always held in the case of Queensland. The figures for 1893 are not yet available, but from inquiries made, the officer is strongly of opinion that for some reason Sydney ia gradually supplanting Melbourne in the markets of other colonies. One of th* principal causes is the greater competition in shipping which exists in Sydney. The port of Melbourne has (he advantage in the matter of port charges in the case of steamers, and although sailing vessel* involve long towage, this is partly balanced by reduced pilotage rates.. A table shows the charges on two steamer* and two sailing ships, and in every case the port charges of Sydney are higher, while there are additional coats, doe to the fact that the wharves are private propertyIt therefore cannot be the charges that operate to the detriment of Melbourne. Some companies give differential rates for the two ports against Melbourne, and still more severely against Adelaide. . Still, even under the extra charge for wharf or dock, consignees are better off than under the system of discharging in the bay, and the opinion of many who are vitally In- , terested is stated—that competition will soon put a stop to the extra freight. There was much dislike to the primage duties, which business men considered very in- t j curious to intercolonial trade in the absence of a drawback, which was recognised so impracticable. The most important reasons which tend to assist Sydney in this matter are said to be (l) it* natural accessibility, the shipping Msg taken almost into the heart; of the city, saving in lighterage and cartage; (2) its geographical position, which has made it the terminal 'point for several mail routes; and (3) cheapness of fuel n*Mss*ry for shipping.

The Eridgenorth Town Council are very desirous of discoveringaspring of water at a level sufficiently high to serve a certain district by gravitation- To that end the ; Water Committee have engaged “ for J 27 " a Mr Mullins, who wields a “divining rod” and claims to be an expert in the useof that mystic implement. unanimity of opinion does not reign in the Town Council on thosubject of the wisdom and propriety of this step. On the contrary, a member named Beech bluntly declared that "no greater piece ~ of humbug could be imagined.” Nevertheless this member declared that, he was willing to be converted. “We can soon convert you,” was , the reply of the Mayor, who subsequently added that he could convince Mr Beech that the hazel rod had the power of finding water. “When I had hold of it (he continued) the rod worked my muscles, and it would tell which way the water ran.” More than this, where Mr Mullins had said there was a spring at thirty feet deep, they had actually found one at twenty-five f-etj so that Mr Mullins was even better than hi* word. Still the sceptical councillor was unconvinced; nor did the Mayor's explanation that the rod’s action is “a £pmbinatipn of electricity and magnetism’* prevent his indulging in ironical .observations. ■ •