LATEST AMERICAN GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6099, 4 June 1881, Page 6

LATEST AMERICAN GOSSIP.

(.FKOJr OTTK SPECIAL CORRESPOXbKNT."| . . Sax Fraxcisco, May 7. ■ i THE CHINESE QUESTION ' is once more in agitation. An enormous mass meeting has been held in our city under the auspices of the Republican League and State Central Committee, regarding the necessity of ratifying the new Chinese Treaty, which is at present suspended in the balance, jn consequence of a deadlock in the United Statee Senate regarding it. Onr new senator, (Jeneral Miller, is taking a course in this matter which is approved of and endorsed by public opinion. It is considered that the question of restricting Chinese immigration is of more _ importance in the present affairs in this State than any partisan questiou that may arise. Whereas in the earlier times Chinese labour supplied a want impossible to fill from piny other source, the temporary.- and .economical, assistance rendered by the Mongols has placed in our midst α-grcat and still growing" evil, ivliieh is affecting our life interests. ..True' it. is that the race has .heretofore been a benefit, in. consequence-.of the impossibility of procuring white men's aid, but now, 'with a State overflowing, with impecunious thousands, and a regular army.of tramps, who are made so from want of employment, it.becomes time to place /a.limit en the shiploads that infest our shor.es. For every benefit that has been derived from the Chinese race a thousand injuries have accrued; and should 'unrestricted immigration continue *e may iconfidently look forward in a few years', time to an absolute ruling by the Chinese people, j There can be no doubt that our population: and wealth is less would" be were the Chinese element banished from our coast, jln the line of domestic' servants alone the i Chinese employed outnumber the whites by 'hundreds, and in the factories "John" reigns as absolutely as.eyer. Therefore' this ■ new restrictive treaty now beforp the Senate, ,and proving a bone Of contention, as all anti-Chinese measures have ever done, Js 'looked forward to with unuauaLanxiety. : A KNOTTY QUESTION.At the present moment Professor Denton, who claims to know all about it, is giving a series of lectures which go further to arouse our curiosity than to convince our faith. I jam not going io do anything more than cursorily, dip into one lecture which treats iof death. Now, death is not an enjoyable topic at any time, and when I hear, .or you jhear, people in sound health wishing them-, selves as dead as the mutton they eat, you. : and I naturally and justly, say to "Thou"art a fool." Let anyone, except one so. aged, or frail that life has become : a. burdeu, .come face to face with the 'grim. monster, and we shall find—you and I—that he'or slie.-will be filling'to give-half of what they possess for a new lease of life'; and, having said so much, let nib introduce you, my readers, to Denton's new theory :—First he jsays, " Death is certain:" We all know that death is certain, therefoi-e He throws no new light,on this subject—alas! Ho goes on to say, (this savant) that were death to cease now, in course of time,' a thousand years or so (time being ji»o object in this case) that we should all be old and wrinkled,, and "there would be no more children or young people;.no more courtingJ" No courting ! fancy it; nothing more for ever of "Love's young dream"—it would be simply Age's old forgotten dreaih, &c—terrible, terrible (this parenthically). He says the folks will think him "silly," but we have not "bottomed the universe or gone to its heart yet," as he has done—good. He declares that death is the beginning of life—this we all know, who believe—and then he goes on to say that there are persons who see the spirit parting from the body—rising up like a shadowy form, and lingering around the inanimate clay for sometime, looking, asit were, regretfully at the clod it leaves, and then vanislring into uppei-space like a thin column of light. The Professor goes on to state, with all the distinctness of a person who has been there and back again, that the next world is a; land of hill, dale, and plain, adorned with flowering slpp*3 and sparkling rivers ; fruits and flowers abound, Tillages, cities, and towns, filled with human bemgsj are in "thi3 "soutland," and yet are tangible. Everybody meets everybody. Bobby Burns,' Will j Shakespeare, &c, are quite 'recognisable people, and hob-nob with meaner mortals. There are halls, museums, theatres.-—in that world you will just "go as you please"— libraries for the book-worm, hammers for the geologist. This is the- gist in brief of ProfessorDenton's lecture. Taking the ills of life into consideration, I don't .think it would be a bad move to go to that most desirable land. "Indeed, it is comforting to feel that there is such h bright reality a stone's throw from the point we now occupy. People are wondering whether it would be anticipating matters too swiftly to take a journey on their own account. The theory is at once so new-and strange that I ; couM not for the life of me resist the temptation of wafting it overthe blue' sea. Just think of it, I shall meet all iny old Auckland friends, ami, being foncV of_ferns, for instance, look forward to" many' pleasant, expeditions in similar gullies to those lovely ones about Auckland, where I made such a fine collection, and, , in fact, took first prize six months after I landed on those beautiful shores—well,' I was just, going .to/ say libw many years ago;' but that would make me out such a sear" and yellow leaf that I pause,; as I don't giyje in to boing "sear" at present, —-you'see, there's nothing like growing old gracefully.

THEATRICAL JOTTINGS. ■ In tiiis world one usually finds it "a feast : or a famine." What it ■■will be in the Dentonian spheres is another thing. .After having only two theatres running for nearly a year, every door of the others flew open a month ago, and now we have indeed a plethora of variety, .opera, and minstrels,' with not a single legitimate play, and now, ■we are on the qui vive for Cole's Circus— tliatis the children are— -hig and'little. Mr. Cook, the advance agent, speaks highly of the manner in which the show was received in New Zealand. He says they never did such a splendid business anywhere. In fact,' all artists speak well of your place and people, and they seem to particularise Auckland. The Beer Halls are becoming really fine places of amusement. The best artists are engaged there, always being sure of their pay—and, you know, the money don't smell of beer. True, the smoke is somewhat blinding and calculated to choke one, but, I presume, the singers get used to it. At the Tivoli Harry Gates and- Hattie Moore have sang for 536 consecutive nights in opera, and their throats are still intact. Alice Lingard has gone to England to play, and at the same time put her children to school. What a sweet woman she is i Miss Nellie Corlett is engaged to go : to Philadelphia in July. The years having passed over, and the delicate little baby, .who first saw life in the Aucklaud Government Domain, is now a slender, graceiul girl, with talent that will one day speak for itself. "Some day," she says, she hopes to revisit the land of her birth. Eleanor Carey, also of Auckland, is making her mark in the' East, where everyone goes to get a chance, or, as we say, a "show." Miss Clara De Vere, who; came from a tour in New Zealand, has also gone Cast with the Soldene Troupe. I just note these things, fancying some old friends may like to hear" all about them. Wo have had the Mendelssohn Quintette ■ Club from Boston. 'What a rare treat it has been, and such a relief from the theatres.! The artiste;—fivein number—are' each excellent, Giesej ,the violinist, .being simply marvellous ;in his manipulation of the big fiddle. I never heard anything to beat it.' Combined with breadth of tone, is a rare, sweetness, and, as to execution, he runs up and down the instrument as though it were a toy—a.charm-' ing player indeed,' and appreciable, inasmuch as 'cellists, as a rule, are rare in such a high degree. The ■ kind of ' playa which are drawing large houses in these theatres may be added up under the, name of "sheer nonsense. , ' "The Tourists in. .a Pulman Car," is a combination which is novel, the scene being laid in a railway car, which is formed of "the whole stage. The tourists are supposed, to be snow-bound, ' and amuse themselves in various ways, singing, dancing, &c.,' but there is.nothing in it.- " Dreams" is another, nonentity of the same kind j and this is the .stuff that draws when a really good play! is presented .to a poor house. Verily we live in an age of shams. : Silver Pex. ,-

Scarcity of Moxet.—There Is no doubt but the present condition of all kinds of business and industry is fearfully depressed, and it behoves every family to look carefully to their expenses. "Winter is coming on when children are liable to Croup, 'Whooping Cough, etc. Coughs and Colds will prevail everywhere, and Consumption, with other throat and lung diseases, will carry off many. These diseases should not be neglected. Doctors' bills are expensive, and we should advise our people to use Bosciiee's German Svrup. It never has failed. One bottle at 3s (id will keep your whole family well during the winter. Two doses will relieve any case. Sold in all towns in New Zealand, and wholesale T>y New Zealand Drug Company, Auckland, Wellington, Dnnedln, and Ch.ristch.urcU; ■ ■ • -■ • ,