ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXI, Issue 185, 30 July 1895, Page 4

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Here is a pic'ure of a poition of Ihe Chinese Army as it weut forth to do ba^tfe wilh th^ Jnp<u j-so. "Wo exiract it from the Daily Graphic tpecial commissioner's story:— The bulk of tbe battalion etrolla.l or hurried akng according to tsale of the individual. The men, singly, or in small parlies, twos or thieee, cani< d tmskefe, buckols, bundles, and tents biting on poles, muskets or nißgaz : ne riflss with impartiality ; while teut poles, huge shallow cooking pane, umtlressts, spades, picks, teapots, Btcolfl, paper luutir»3, formed part of the cargo, besides umbreUas, of which each man possessed one, if rotwo. Some staggen d unr?er wheel' barrows, some were seated on doi.keyp, with the peasants carrying tho rifles or muskets— the hitter tppear to bo of Chinese manufacture. Most were on foot, of course, many being barefooted, some footsora, aud the footgear itself included sandals (straw), sloes, and boots. "Warganui is ojening up a large export trade in pumice for insulating aud soap-making purposes with tho eiater colonies. h'onae 30 tons o:tme down by tbe Stormbird recently, to be iorwarded to Sydney by Norton Bcos. A loading firm in Wanganui is now advertising for 10,000 sucks, aud a repiesentative of a large manufacturing firm in Melbourne will Bhortly visit and inspect the quarries, with a view of teetinc ihe capabilities of the etocc, and making the necessary arrangements for its disposal in Australia, should tho examination prove satisfactory, A trial shipment will be sent to England for ex perimentul purposes. The Wellington coi respondent of the Lyttelton Times wires that it is generally recognised that, on the Aj;ei.t« Generalship becoming vacant in October next, it would not be fair either to <he colony or to Sir W. Perceval to ask the latter to accept another extension of his term of effice for a year, and it is therefore concluded that a new appointment will certainly be J armomiced before Parliament prorogues. Speculation so far favors the chance of of the Hon. W. P. Beeves, but that conclusion is only arrived at by assuming that fcir P. A, Buckley will waive his c'aitn, which is recog" ni?ed as superior. Tie name of Sir W. Buller is sometimes mentioned as that of a possible Agent-Genera), but be is not likely to bo chceeu, excapt in the event of no other way being found of deciding the contending claims cf Mr Reeves and Sir P. Buckley. A lad named Stevens, of Mokotuku, is at present in the Waipukurau Hospital suffering from an ii jury to one of hislegß, caused by tb.6 blow ti a cricket ball. Little Lope is entertained of saving the boy's lag. The Tui&u' from London, via way ports, arrived in Wellington harbor at 9,30 a.m. yesterday, -but owing to the strong southerly wind great difficulty was experienced iu barthing her, two hours delay takii.g place in this reaped:. During the voyage, Spragu^, the ship's carpenter, died from infl imination of the lunge, and was buried at 8o;i. A peculiar story (says the Christ •> church Press) cjnirs from iha back country in connection with the recent heavy fall of stow. Several men were rescuing sheep from four fe-t of snow on to tracks cut for that pu p:>BJ at Mount Peel, when fchoy witnessed a most unusual gipht. A bare had been left on tho track by a hawk, arid this six or seven sbeep literally toil upon and devoured, leaving scarcely a trace cf the animal behind. A sheckirjg story of the sea w*B told at Victoria (Vancouver) en June 7tb, on the arrival of a steamer wi!h the survivors of the American schooner, C. G. White of San Francisco. This vessel was wrecked some wr eki ago ou Kodrak Island, Alaska peninsula, during a horrioane accompanied by blinding snow. Tec of bar crew perishel, but the remainder succeeded in reaching the mainland in a destitute condiion. They Sot out to reach the opposite side of the coast, but had to cross anew -covered mountains as far as Okynk/ Here it was found tlat six of tha men were euffeiiug so severely from tin effects of the journey that ih'^fr fiet h;d lobe amputated in order to save their lives, Mr Douplas, noanoger for Mr Musgrave, at Lftke Htron station, visited Aahburtoii on Tueeday (the Lyttelton Times Bays) with the news that the homestead had been completely burned down, and that bis wife and two young chi'dren had n^r.-owly escaped with tbeir lives. At the lime of the fire about 3ft of snow was Ijiug on tbe ground, ani Mr Douglas had great difficulty iu making hi-s way out alone, leaving bis wife end children in a Bhepbprd's huh Mr Douglas eaj s that the winter up at Luke Heron has been the woret by far th it ho has yet experienced. Referring to the recent presentation of Imperial Volunteer m^dils, Christchurch Truth says' — Li.ut. Col. P<tS Lieut.-Col. Bonir, aud Maj.jr Slater have the honor of being the first in the colonies to be gazetted for the decoration, and thy are the la^t (o r c^ive it. Perhaps the Defence Office cm say why. This delay causad certiiii Australians to claim the hcurr, but tboy promptly admitted tht-ir error. Our Zealanders wrre gazetted on th9 13th bepteraber, 1894, nud the Australians twelve days Liter. The latter received tbeir decoration ou the 22nd of December list ysnr, while out's have been kept out of tbeira till now. There is every reason to believe that before many sears cro over the te'antegraph will be in as gin. rul us* a* the telephone. The viHcogo Times-Herald reproduces * number of letters sent to it, by means of the new motlol of transmitting messages, from Olevc-lur.d, a distance of 441 miles. They aro very clear, and are s;.id to be exact fac similes of the original messages. The machine used was the invention of Pro.> Cablton Cobkwell, foreman of the Gazette, Middletown, N.J. believes that Cbamberlains's Cough Remedy sbuuld be in every home. He used it for a cold and it effected a epeedy oure. He says : "It is indeed a grand remedy, I can recommend to all. I have also seen it used for whooping oough, with tbe best results." For sslo by f, Shaw, Meaioal Hall Blenheim. ,

fesaor Elisha Gray. It is the result of m-'iiy je>rß of lubor, and is believed to have- reached tho pdut of perfection, No operator is required. The semicr id u message wiitrs on a transmitter wi h with an ordinary pen or pencil, which iu connco'e'l with ilia machine by means cf two thin rods of steel. As ho writes or draws, every letter and cuive and line is inetaiitftnfonsly reproduced at the other end of the wiro by a p6n wbich work* fc.ufconjaticiilly and duplicates the original message with a faithfulness that nothing oooltf exceed By this ingenious instrument it will b^ posriblo for a war artist to teleaiaph ft sketch from the battlefield, Indeed, there is no limit to the possibilities tins invention opens up to the imagination. Fif'y- three cases of Mnrtir i-Henry rifles came out by the Toinui from London, coi signed to the Defence Depart me or. 41 1 know an old Boldier who had chronic diarrhoea of lorg standing to have been permanently oured by taking Chamberlain's Colio, Cholera and Diarrhoea Remedy," says Edward fihutnpik, a prominent druggi?t of Minneapolis, Minn. " I have sold the rem« edy in tbia oily for over eeveo years and consider it superior to any other medicine now on tbo market for bowel cornplaini3." For sale by F. &haw, Medical Hall, Blenheim. __^______ — _____