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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9078, 3 January 1893, Page 4

The Emperor of Germany is determined that the Army Bill shall become law, and is resolved to crush all opposition to it. But even the Emperor of Germany is bound to submit to his Parliament. And Parliament does not seem as if it intended to pans the Army Bill. Count Caprivi's speech in introducing the measure was coldly received. The Bill has since then been fiercely attacked. Notwithstanding that it provides against a national danger, ib has not met with popular favour. Yet the German Opposition would incur a tremendous responsibility by throwing it out. Germany's position in Europe is by no means secure. She is pressed on two sides by powerful neighbours, anxious to become more powerful still. Her military strength falls far short of theirs. It is to adjust this disparity that the Army Bill has been brought in. The unemployed agitation at Madrid has led to serious rioting, Many persons have been injured. Tha Lon. don unemployed have been listening to a sermon in St. Paul's which pleased them m well that they repeatedly applauded it during its delivery. The London Times is urging the Government to extend the sphere of British influence in Africa.

We print in another column one of the most comprehensive and practical com* munications we have yet received on the difficult and pressing subject of how to deal with native lands. The writer has a lengthy and intimate experience in native land transactions, and we are sure he has not lost sight of any element necessary to be considered. It will be seen that he gives his full assent to dealing with the native lands through committees, which we have always insisted was the only possible solution of the difficulty.

Among the passengers by the P. and O. steamer Australia, to Melbourne and Sydney, is the Rev. Chas. Spurgeon, brother of Mr. Thomas Spurgeon. He has been ordered by Sir Andrew Clark to take a sea trip for the "benefit of his health. He is accompanied by Mr. A. Knight, of Auckland (brother-in-law to Mr. Thomas Spurgeon), who is on his way back to New Zealand.

The Lyell Times says:—We have received the Christmas number of the Auckland Wbkkly Nkws, and in every department it is a credit, not alone to the office issuing it, but to the colony in which it is printed.

On Monday next the Auckland representatives to the Primitive Methodist Conference, Ashburbon, leava for. the <. South. They are: — Alexandra - streeb Church (Auckland firsb station), Mrs, Kerr, Rev. J. Guy, and Mr. R. Herbert; Franklin Road Church (Auckland second station), Rev. W. S. Potter and Mr. and Mrs. Maynard. Mr. Joseph Watkinson, of Wellesleystretib, treasurer of the Children's Equalisation Fund, and Mr. David Goldie, who represents the Missionary Society, also attend, the latter leaving on Thursday in order to attend a conference of delegates at Wellington on Saturday, with a view to discuss preliminaries for church union among the minor Methodist bodies. It will bo noticed that two ladies are among the delegates-to the Ashburton Conference, and they have equal powers, and a e entitled to vote on all questions equally with the male representatives. This will be the first occasion in the history of Primitive Methodism in New Zealand in which women will have taken their seats in the councils of the Church and voted side by side with men. The other branches, of Methodism, and the Baptist and Congregational Union*, have so far declined to concede such privileges to women.

A short sitting of the Police Court was held yesterday morning, Mr. P. A. Philips, J.P., presidjn£. One first offender for drunkenness did not appear, and in bis absence he wae fined 20s and costs, or, in default, 48 hours' imprisonment. Margaret Barstow, an old offender, was brought up on a charge of assaulting Norah Williams, by striking her on the head with a stone. The cub inflicted was a somewhat severe one, and Williams had to be taken to the Hospital for treatment, and on the application of the police the charge against Barstow was remanded for a week.

Complaints continue to be made regarding the arrangements for lighting the city. More than once it has occurred that on nights such as last night, when the moon was expected to shine, she was conspicuously absent, and no wonder, for her rays could not penetrate through the dense mist and rain which permeated the atmosphere, and as the moon did not shed her light the* streets during the holiday season, with immense crowds of visitors, were left unlighted, except by such flickers as appeared from hotels and cab lamps. The night from nine to eleven was quite dark. The dark state of the streets last night was a disgrace to the city authorities, and ib is to be hoped that no time will be lost in taking steps to prevent a recurrence of such an incident.

A Nelson lawyer, explaining his rapid increase in wealth as in reputation, said it was due to the tomfoolery of people. For example, a client of mine had a racehorse that he swapped for some land in the Sounds. The racehorse went wrong, and the other man brought suit to recover damages. This made my client angry, and he brought suit for misrepresentation of property. The opposing lawyer was a friend of mine. Each had two suits, and we fought them tooth and nail. Now he owns the racehorse and I own the land in the Sounds.

A woman named Agnes Austin was arrested yesterday on a charge of drunkenness and malicious injury to property.

The New Zealand Primitive Methodist, issued on January 2, contains a report of the mission to gumdiggers carried on by Mr. Field. It says :— During the past quarter Mr. G. A. Field has been on his second mission to the gumdiggers of the North. It is fortunate that we were able to give him a good outfit, for the wetness of the season made the travelling both difficult and dangerous. For eight weeks Mr. Field continued his mission, travelling a distance of 432 miles. He held 22 meetings, which were attended in all by 365 persons ; 94 homes were visited, and 281 diggers' whares. In every case a tract was left, and in 56 homes prayer was offered. During the mission 470 persons were spoken to personally about their own salvation. Eternity alone will reveal the amount of good done amongst these far-off settlers and lonely diggers. The mission is a practical fulfilment of the Master's direction, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in.'" The balance-sheet shows that the subscriptions in aid of the mission have amounted to £41 163 Id. The items of expenditure are : —Salary paid to Mr. Field, £26 18a ; horse, £5 ss; saddle, £2 3s 6d ; bridle, 6s ; expenses of missionary meeting, 17s 7Ji ; account book and postage, 2s 3d; collector's expenses, £1 Cs ; horse expenses, £2 5s 3d ; balance in hand, £2 12s 5Jd : total, £41 16s Id.

The members of the Locomotive Running Department, Auckland, New Zealand Railways, presented Mr. James Hay, one of their number, with a marble clock, on the occasion of his marriage. Mr. Hay has been stationed at Auckland for some years, during which time he has made himself popular by his obliging manner. Tho presentation was made at the running shed yesteiday, by Mr. Richardson, locomotive foreman. The clock was nicely engraved ,in silver, " Presented to James Hay, on the occasion of his marriage, by the members of the Loco. Running Dopt., Auckland, N.Z.R."

The resident magistrate at Invereargill takes a lenient view (says the Tuapeka Times) of one of the most prevalent crimes in the countrywife desertion. A man named Stone, after twenty years of matrimony, went off to Nelson with a young woman, shaved his whiskers and changed his name to Plum, to conceal his identity. On being discovered, he made his wife the munificent offer of 12s 6d a week, which me refused, and sued him for maintenance. The magistrate, finding that she had £6 or £7 in her possession, said that she was not destitute, and dismissed the case, remarking that he had no power to make married people live together.

A correspondent, "One Who Knows," writes respecting the Kermadecs. He says:—"l am much interested in the description of Sunday Island, which lately appeared in the Herald, as it so materially differs from all those of previous residents in that delectable spot. The report written by Mr. Hovell, one of tho unfortunate promoters of the recent settlement in Denham Bay, disagrees in all points from the last description. It seems strange to me that Mr. Carver's name should appear as agreeing with both. I cannot help thinking of the fable of the fox who lost his tail, and in the interests of humanity I think it necessary to ask you to again print the report, which is signed by all the unhappy islanders." The subject has been pretty well threshed out, and the report of IS9O, referred to, is not now of sufficient interest to the general public as to warrant its republication.

"Thistledown" thus writes in the Australasian :—Butter is a very complex substance, and unless the maker has a scientific knowledge of the composition of the product ho is not likely to turn out a first-class article. In rich butter there may be 88 per cent, of fat and only 10 per cent, of water, while in poor butter there may be only 70 per cent, of fat and as much as 28 por cenb. of water. Water is, therefore,. bhe chief impurity in butter. A watery butter, while it is fresh, may have a very pleasing appearance, and be attractive both in table and smell, but it in well known that butter which contains much water does not keep well, and of course ib is deficient in nutritive qualities. Of the remaining ingredients the milk sugar and the casein are the substances which should, as far as possible, be kept out of butter. They are the substances which are contained in the buttermilk, which the butter-maker endeavours to remove as completely as he can by washing and working. The Government dairy expert, Mr. Wilson, recommends working bhe butber dry, withoub washing, although many good buttermakers consider that a dash of salt water does the butter no harm. Whichever process of working is adopted, the sugar and casein can never be entirely removed, and ib may be that a small quantity of these substances is required to produce those changes which contribute, in some measure, to the flavour which is described as " nutty," and which is so much appreciated in butter. Neverthelesßs, an excess of these two ingredients is very injurious to the keeping qualities of butter. The milk-sugar changes and ferments,, the chemists tell us, while the casein is a nitrogenous substance which putrefies, and the result of the decomposition of • these two substances is stinking butter. As regards mineral matter, ib is resent in very small quantity in fresh utter but when butter is salted ib may amount to 2 or 3 ; per cent.,;; or salt is a mineral substance, and more butter is spoiled from over-salting than any thine else almost. ■ > ■.:•*;:■';..' '<

We have to acknowledge? reoeipb of the time-table for the New Zealand Government ■Railways, and the Welrifl«fton-Manaw»teu and Midland Railway Companies lines for January. The principal alterations are in the Hurunui-Bluff section,' and the opening of the line Springfield to Obarama, on the Midland Railway line. *:■%}■■•-■■ \

It is understood that Mr. James Mackay is making a fair recovery in the District Hospital from the self-inflicted injuries. x A "Peerage" Is the last compilation we should expect from the United States, but this is what the New York Tribune calls its list of American millionaires. Of these it counts 4047, distributed over every State in the Union, except the latest—-South Dakota: New York City contains no fewer than 1103 men said to be worth from 1,000,000d0l bo Iso,ooo,ooodol—that is, from £200,000 t0£30,000,000. All the wouldbe seceding States of the Rebellion have but 136 millionaires among them, and it u quaintly remarked that the millionaire!} of Now York City could buy up all the property in the old islave-holding States, tmd then evict the inhabitants by the process oi their own laws. Another rather staggering deduction is that 4000 individual* own among them the equivalent of the whole farming acreage of the United States. And the list of these abnormally rich men iB, no doubt, growing every day.

The Argus of the 24th ulb., has the following paragraph which shows that Victoria is an active competitor with New Zealand in the butter export industry ;— Only 82 tons of butter will be shipped to London to-day in the R.M.B. Orinuz; by the Department of Agriculture. Applications were received by the Department for space for 659 tons, but only the quantity stated could be shipped, owing bo the major portion of the cooling chamber having been secured by shippers at Sydney. The large quantity on hand has, therefore, had to bis kept in stock at the various factories throughout the colony, and it is hoped that next week the departmentin-ill be able to forward the greater part of ib in the R.M.s. Rome.

The London correspondent of the Christchurch Press says :— Sir Francis Dillon Bell's sen, who . has till now been culy a curate, has just received promotion, having been appointed by the Bishop of Rochester to the incumbency of Walworth. The salary is fair, so that in this respect t'ne move is an improvement. Walworth is,, however, one of the moat dingy and thicklypopulated of South London suburbs. If young Mr. Bell's heart is in his work—and I presume it must be, or the Bishop of Rochester would never have appointed him to the chargehe will find plenty of scope in Walworth for his pastoral energy."

T.M., Mangapai, thus writes:—l would like to call the attention of your readers tc the bot fly, which threatens to be a very serious matter. It is out this season earlier than usual, and seems to be in greater force. It would be well if those interested would take some measures to combat it. Last year we used sulphur and castor oil and kerosene mixed, with' good effect, rubbed on with a cloth or sponge every day or every other day about the necks or legs, where the flies strike. Carbolic soap is also recommended, or even a good hard wisp would take off most of the eggs, but in the interests of the farmer, and of humanity, the horses should on no account be

neglected. For the few weeks that the fly lays its eggs, it will be the duty and interest of all having horses to destroy the eggs as deposited on the horses. A little trouble now may prevent much suffering and the loss of many valuable animals, and help to keep the pest under. Fortunately, we do not require to look to the sheep daily to prevent their being fly-blown, as was the case in the old country, and it will be a disgrace to any man neglecting his horse.

A bottle was found on the beach at Otaki on Christmas Day, by Mr S. Dyer a surfaceman in the employ of the WellingtonManawatu Railway Company, containing a message from the sea. The message wae an official form from the Sydney Observatory, and was as folio wai:— This is intended to be thrown overboard at sea so that when found it will serve to indicate the direction of the ocean currents through which it has passed." Then came the following details, filled in with pencil:—"Ship's name, Sophocles ; date, noon, 9th February, 1892; latitude, 42deg, 40 S. ; longitude, 162d0g, 20 E; state of wind, southerly gale four days ; state of sea, high ; ship going from Sydney, going bit London ; signature, A. Smith, master." In compliance with a request contained on the paper,' Mr. Dyer will forward it to the Sydney Observatory, after filling in particulars of where it was found.

The programme of Saturday evening, including the prime comedy of " Garrick," and the farcical comedy, " Cramond Brig," was repeated by the Walter Bentley Company at the Opera House last night, with the star in the title role in the first piece, and in that of the stolid Scotchman, Jock Howieson, in the latter. The house was crowded from floor co ceiling, not a vacant seat being available in any part of the house, and many had to stand. The representations were thoroughly successful, and the applause of the audience was unstinted, the principals being; repeatedly called before the curtain. A complete change takes place to-night, when " Macbeth" will be produced.

The performance of the Jubilee Singers at the City Hall last night attracted « large audience, the entertainment proving a most successful one in every respect. The audience was evidently in full sympathy with the performers, and almost every item on the programme was encored. All the solos were excellently rendered, whilst the choruses, such as " Peter Go Ring Them Bells" and " The Angels Waiting at the Door," were received with the greatest enthusiasm. The last performance of the Jubilee Singers will take place this evening, when on exceptionally interesting programme will be provided.

The exhibition of Edison's phonograph in a shop adjacent to the Savings Bank in Queen-street, attracted a large number d visitors yesterday afternoon and evening, and as a number of those now in Auckland for the holidays had never previously hud an opportunity of hearing the weird reproduction "of the human voice they appreciated the novelty. Visitors had their choice in selecting either the low-sounding and more distinct ear trumpets or the louder trumpet, and the former seemed to be most favoured, the voices being more distinct. The exhibition terminates this evening.

T.S.H. writes bo the Pomona Progress (California) as follows : — " I want bo tell your readers something about the way the best and most successful peach and apricot growers in California thin their fruit. In St. Helena, San Jose, and Vacaville, during the past ten days, I have seen hundreds of white men and Chinamen busy thinning the fruit crops, although the yield there will bo short. In the great Spencer orchard of 135 acres at St. Helena, I saw 70 men at work thinning the apricots. I saw fully 20 tons of young green apricots that had been pulled from the trees, and was told that as much more of the green fruit would be taksn from the branches. I saw a small army of men and boys in the hundreds of orchards about Vacaville, all pulling green apricots and peaches from the trees, and there were big piles of the young fruit in every orchard. The rule in Vacaville and that region is tc leave enough frait on the ten-year-old trees to make 2(X)lbs of fruit when ib ia ripe ic July or August. In this way the trees are never allowed to overbear, and the grower get steady returns from his property year after year. The workmen leave a space of two to three inches between each growing peach and apricot, or, in other words, they leave the distance covered by a man's four fingers between the growing fruit. In Son Jose I saw literally hundreds and hundreds of green apricots and peaches lying undei the trees where they had been thrown by tin men who were employed bo thin the crops. 'We people here have raised deciduous fruits for over 30 years,' said a rich orchardist to us at Vacaville, ' and our long experience tells us that ib is'just as necessary to thin our fruit each year as it is to pick it when it is ripe. We look upon the man who allows his trees bo overbear as a fool and a disgrace to horticulture. The trouble with Southern California deciduous fruitgrowers is that they are too new and young in the business. We": make a science of fruitgrowing, while Southern C'aSifornians are experimenting and had to pull off green fruit from their trees.V, Your oreaardists will, however, soon come to the conclusion that a systematic thinning of < some fruits is the best. A ton of big plump (fruit is better for the grower than a too ana a half of poor, small and measly fruit.'" > .