ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 52, 18 April 1877, Page 3

ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

English exports' to New Zealand, £184,000. Special services have ' been held m connection with the. consecration of the Rev. >J. R. Selwyn m New Zealand as Bishop of Melanesia. The "Argus " correspondent telegraphs that a small local -loan for New Zealand has been successfully negotiated during the past month/ The city of Ohristchurch, instructed the Bank of New Zealand to invite tenders for the half of a "• £200,000 loan, the money to be employed m carrying out an efficient scheme of drainage for that city and district. On the announcement, " The Times " warned the colony of the danger involved m making these frequent appeals to the British purse. '■" The rapidity,"- ,says the city editor, " with which the Government and rnunicipali- ' ties of New Zealand bring out new loans is not a good sign, '.and .it -is to bo regretted that works so indirectly beneficial as drainage could not have been made with money raised m the town itself. Secured though it be on the rateable property of the town, said to be of an annual, value of £30,130, this loan can hardly form an enticing subject of investment here." The public for once, however, did not heed these solemn disuasions, the terms, six per cent, debentures at a minimum of 98, were too attractive to be resisted while there is such a, surplusage of money m the market earning next to nothing. Application has been made to the Stock Exchange Committee for a special settling day. m respect to this loan, and an official quotation. ' ; The position of New Zealand securities m our market has undoubtedly been strengthened from the public announcement recently made by the Agent-General, that the Government will not bring forward any further ' loan m London during the present year. In reply to Lord Granville, Lord Derby explained that the reason why the Blue Books do not contain Lord Salisbury's account of the interview with McMahon and Decazes and Bismarck, whilst that relative to his conversation with the Austrian and Italian Ministers was given, was that the former was of a far more confidential character, and that the publication would produce an unpleasant feeling abroad. "The second reading of the Publichouse Closing Bill was carried hj a large majority. - The Queen m openin g Parliament proceeded m the State Coach, drawn by eight cream-colored horses. This Was the first time it has been used for a number of years. The weather was magnificent. .. The Queen is now at Osborne, and is ..in excellent health. The Chinese En^ voys were presented to her by Sir Thomas Wade. , The Duke of Connaught met with a slight accident while out hunting. Mr May, Attorney-General for Ireland, has been appointed Lord Chief Justice. Mr Gibson, Q.C., M.P., for Dublin University, succeeds him, and has been re-elected without opposition. Mr Plunkett, M.P., has retired from the Irish Solicitor-Generalship,' which has been accepted by Mr Fitzgibbon, Q.CI The Rev. E. Bickersteth is likely to be the new Bishop of Rochester, consequent upon Dr. Claughton's transfer to the See of St. Albahs* The renewed outbreak of small-pox at Blackburn continues. At Sfc PeterSj m the Isle of Thanet, the disease is committing great ravages. The village is tabooed, and all communication with it is stopped. In London deaths are now not so numerous. Cleopatra's Needle is to be brought toi London and placed oh the Thames Embankment at the sole e&pense of Dr. Erasmus Wilsoni . '

The Prince and Princess of Walos, with their households m town and at Sandringham, have been re-vaccinated. Mr Froude has accepted the rectorship of Glasgow University. General Tschernaioff has taken up quarters with his family m Vontinn*, Isle of Wight. No public demonstration has been made. Leon, a Mexican, rode 505 miles at the Agricultural Hall, m52 hours. He was to have ridden 600 miles, but the horses could not keep it up. A man named Dance, who deserted his wife and three childreu and joined the Shakers m the New Forest, has been sentenced to three months for desertion. Disclosures were made that the Shaker men and women wei'e m the habit of dancing together m a state of perfect nudity. In consequence of the appearance of the cattle plague m the metropolis an Order m Council has been issued prohibiting the movement from London of cattle, sheep or goats. Similar orders have been issued m Germany and Belgium. Fresh outbreaks of rinderpest have also appeared. Miners m the forest of Dean consented to accept 10 per cent, reduction, on the understanding that when coai has advanced a shilling a ton the old rate should be paid. Treadaway was found guilty of the murder of Collins at Pimlico. A plea of insanity failed. A frightful tragedy has taken place at St. Brien, m Brittany. A journalist named Le Foil sent for a captain m the 71st Regiment, whom he suspected of being intimate with his wife, and stabbed him on arrival. He then went and stabbed his wife to the heart, and finally, m company with a young woman, committed suicide. Commodore Hoskins has been appointed Aide-dc Camp to the Queen. The cattle plague has broken out at Altona, and the -export of cattle has been completely suspended m consequence. The disease is said to > have been introduced by foreign beasts. There were fearful gales on sea and land during January. Between thirty and forty North sea fishing smaks are missing, with about 200 men aboard. The steamer George Washington was wi'ecked off Cape Race, and all aboard, twenty-four m number, perished. . Theirs has had a severe attack of illness. The Count De Chambord is said to be staying at Versailles. Many hundred papers m France have been fined m various sums for slanderous articles against the mother of the Empress Eugenic. • A poor woman m Liverpool, without expectations, has come into seventy thousand pounds through the death of a relative she never knew.