NOTES BY OUR SAN FRANCISCO SPECIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4482, 25 March 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

NOTES BY OUR SAN FRANCISCO SPECIAL.

L CHUTtCKES IST JTCSV YORK. ' There, are 45S churches in New York. ; , 'NOVEL MATCH. q The latest thing in sports is an oyster s opening match. s A DILEMMA. , e We are told that Bishop Wood of Philas delphia has issued an order to his Catholic 0 diocese not to attend the prcaching of Moody g and Sankey under penalty of eternal damna- . 5 tion. And as Moody and Sankey have - warned them that they must attend under j penalty of eternal damnation, what are the 7 poor fellows to do ? But," inasmuch, as j They'll be damned.if they do, 4 And be damned if they don't, perhaps they might just as well go to the ; circus, and trust to luck to escape the un- , pleasant consequences in " the sweet by and by."—Louisville Courier. . WHAT IS AN AMERICAN » < The American is a political animal. Ho 1 carries his politics in . his breast pocket . wherever he goes. He uses political influence ; wherever he can bring it to bear with effect, j He is forever organizing and operating machinery and pulling wires and "fixing ; things, and in secret, too. The thing is 111 , the man, and he will have to be made over ; with a new mind and & coat o£ another colonr , before he will stop associating with other I men got up on the same principle for poli- . tical ends, and doing the heft of the business in the dark. GEORQE MACFARIONE. Major G. W. Macfarlane, of King Kalakaua's staff, and Mr. J. W., Pflueger, Russian ■ Consul at Honolulu, went East by the overland train lately. INTERNATIONAL COINAGE. As the avenues of trade and commerce across continents and oceans become more and more developed, shortening the time in which it takes one people to communicate with another, and intensifying and more intimately mixing their mutual dependence, the growing needs of an international mone- ! tary unit ever increases. The memorial of the- Metrological Society submitted some time since to the International Congress will, therefore, be found of interest, both for its suggested solution of the problem presented; by the discord of currencies and the necessity for or supreme advantage to bode rived ; from their unification. The society is ' now petitioning Congress to adopt metric weights in our gold coinage. The actual dollar at present is less than one-third of one per cent, in excess of one and a-half gram, the weight it urges for our dollar; the ideal dollar, our practical unit, fluctuates in value daily more than that. The Japanese Government, two years ago, made their monetary unit, the yen, one and a-half grams of standard gold nine-tenths fine, and three months since the Argentine Republic adopted the same weight and quality for its hard dollar —peso fuerie —which is made by law the unit of their system. The idea was approved by the Geneva Congress in 1874, when a committee was appointed to consider the best means of promoting this subject. It is also said to be favourably regarded by the present Committees on Banking and Currency and "Weights and Measures. AMERICAN RACERS IN ENGLAND. The latest accounts from Mr. M. H. Sandford, who is now in England with a stable of American race horses, indicate a growing confidence in the ultimate success of hia venture. His whole stud is reported as being in the very best condition. The celebrated horse ". Preakness" is .entered in several racing events soon to. come off, and finds many strong backers eren among old English turfmen. Notwithstanding the many attractions on this sid9 of water during the coming season, there are a great many of our citizens who will watch with deep interest the movements of Mr. Sandford's representatives of American thoroughbreds. THE QUEEN. . . : English society is agitated over the news that the Queen has at last intimated her intention of emerging from her long retirement, and a brilliant London season is promised. Her Majesty will personally attend the numerous court receptions and will also give her presence to public entertainments. PLIMSOLL. A conference of ship-owners and others in Loudon, on-January sth, with respect to the proposed Government measure intended as a substitude for the present temporary Shipping Act, had under consideration a letter from Air. Plimsoll, expressing his views at length, and afterward passed resolutions expressive of their own. Mr. Pilmsoll, in his letter, lays down what he regards as the five points of the sailor's charter, and on four o£ these resolutions were passed which concede the substance of his suggestions. The point, on which they disagree is, that Plimsoll Btates that the iron used in building should be tested, as he thinks it is not good. MR. FROUDE AND SOUTH AFRICA. Mr. Eroude, the historian, reached England from Madeira a fortnight ago, on his return from his mission to South Africa, whither, it will be remembered, he was sent to promote the confederation o£ the British colonies in that part of the world. Of course he will soon.be publishing an eloauent report on the subject. What with the South African Dominion that is to be, and the Protectorate in Zanzibar, and the grasp of JDisraeli fastened on Egypt, Africa bids fair ere long to become, in a political as well as in zoological sense, the " Land of the Lion " —and the Unicorn. JOHN WESLEY IN CALIFORNIA. "We have always thought of John Wesley as a calm, dignified parson, with white choker and black leggings, eyes upturned and hands clasped; and the news that he has won a footrace at Los Angeles distresses us sorely. Well, we did have just a little on the other man. CENTENNIAL NEWS. The privilege of selling beer at the Centennial has been sold for §50,000; the pretzel, the Dutch bread and mustard, and the hardboiled egg interests have also been disposed of at good round figures. Is it surprising that the Centennial free-lunch fiend wonders if he is going to have any chance at all ? A NEW SYSTEM OF SUFFRAGE, i A Wisconsin man proposes a new system of suffrage. His idea is to give each man 21 years old one vote, each man 42 years two votes, and each man of 63 years three votes. That is all very well, but why stop at 63 years ? Why doesn't he throw out a little encouragement for a fellow to live 300 or 400 years or more ? WE'VE GOT TO HATE IT. The Rev. Ira Munger has been preaching in Brooklyn the near approach of the find conflagration. Last Sunday night he said to his hearers, "When people tell you there is no hell fire except the fire of conscience, you'd better be careful an 1 look out for 'em. There's not a man in the house but will burn. 1 don't except ter meet yer again until the day of judgment. Why have people lately dodged off from this idea of liberal fire ? I don't know, but I tell yer that fire'll be the end of yer sin. We've got to have it." THE MIGHTINESS OF THE PEN. It would seem that the makers of pens gain greater fortunes than those who use them. Not to mention the lately deceased Gillot,'we learn that Sir Josiah Mason, the wealthy pen manufacturer of Birmingham, England, has built in that'city a scientific college at a cost of 8500,000, and has endowed it with a gift of $150,000. Besides this he has sold his business and intends to z 1 give the proceeds, about §500,000, to. the... , college. He has already, built id Binning-' ham an orphanage and alms houses which cost $1,250,000.