MAIL NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4119, 3 June 1874, Page 3

MAIL NEWS.

Out of 106 men who have recently attained mathematical honor's at Cambridge, England, and 29 who distinguished themselves in law and history tripos, there were 40 boating men, 15 cricketers, 10 football players, and IS who devoted themselves to other athletic sports. The Tichborne jurymen, it is said, are sotting apart a portion of the fees to which they are entitled for the purchase of a piece of plate, of uniform pattern, bearing an inscription commemorative of the great trial in which they took so conspicuous a part. The jewels of the Duchess of Edinburgh, now at Buckingham Palace, are valued at half-a-inillion sterling. The Queen’s Mauuday Thursday gifts to a number of deserving men and women corresponding to the age of her Majesty were distributed on April 2 at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were present. At the Sheffield Town Hall, on Saturday last, Edward Home, a spring knife cutler, was committed to Wakefield for fourteen days for refusing to scud his daughter to school, as required by the Education Act. Ho had been twice previously fined. American papers publish au estimate of the business done in 1873 by European steamship lines plying between Europe and New York, as follows :—Trips, 33CS ; received for passengers, 19,804,000 dollars, and for freight, 39,773,000 dollars ; making a total of 59,577,000 dollars. A schoolboy duel at a boarding-school near Lincoln resulted in the injury of Master Seagrove, one of the foolish combatants. The other, who bears the name of Burn, was tried for the offence at the Lincoln Assizes lately and acquitted, Seagrove is reported to bo going on favorably, though a part of the bullet still remains in his ankle. The Last of tub Tichborne Suit.—lt is perhaps worth noting that the suit of clothes which Orton wove on Saturday was the shabbiest he had been soon to wear since the trial began. Not a single scrap of paper was found in any of the pockets, and the only article, except the few shillings already mentioned, which he possessed was a small silver scarf pin, whicho himself was never seen to wear, and which is of little value.—“ London Correspondent.” An action for libel against Mr, PHinsoll, M.F., founded upon statements published in Ship Ahoy, was tried at Liverpool assizes on Tuesday, the plaintiffs being a firm of shipowners' belonging to that port. The jury found for the defendant. Last year the value of unmanufactured tobacco imported was £2,013,547, against £1,552,914 in 1872. Of manufactured tobacco (cigars) and snuff last year £1,389,159, and in the previous year, £1,093,301. At the Nottingham Assizes last week, J. L. Swindells, an extensive lace manufacturer, was sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment, for defrauding his creditors. Since the conviction his disgrace has so preyed on his mind, that lie died in his cell on Sunday morning. The Rev. Mr. Watson, who killed his wife at Stockwell two or three years ago, is now at Farkhurst. He is employed as a tailor. Mr. William Harris, .a retired merchant of Dundee, has handed over to trustees, property and securities to the Value of £IO,OOO for the benefit of impoverished persons (male and female) who, from a better condition in life, shall have been reduced, by misfortune or other innocent causes, to necessitous circumstances. Discovery in Kerry.—Au instrument for observing the altitude of the sun has recently been found under a stone near the harbor of Valentia, county Kerry, Ireland. When discovered it was enclosed in a case, which, on being touched, fell to pieces. The graduations wore very carefully and accurately made, but there was no maker’s name or date. The instrument was of a most primitive kind, being intended to be suspended from the observer’s thumb while he made the observation, and no such instruments have been used for the last two hundred and fifty years or more. Two ships of the Spanish Armada are known to have been.wrecked near Valentia, and it may have belonged to one of them ; or perhaps it was stolen from some merchant vessel and concealed where it was found. The Liability of Husbands.—The Bill promoted by Mr. S. Morloy to amend the Married Woman’s Property Act, contains the following provisions ;—So much of the Married Woman’s Property Act, 1870, as enacts that a husband shall not be liable for the debts of bis wife contracted before marriage is hereby repealed, but a husband shall not, after the passing of this Act, be liable far the debts of his wife contracted before marriage, except by reason of any marriage which shall take place after this Act has come into operation, and then only to the extent of any property to which he shall have become entitled in right of his wife by virtue of such marriage, or otherwise, in right of, through, or under her. The Bill bears the names of Mr. Morloy, Sir J. Lubbock, and Sir C. Mills. Humiliation During Lent.—On Monday, at the Durham Lent Assizes, Mr. Justice Denman was asked when ho would take a class of cases requiring the exclusion of women and children. “ I shall take those cases,” ho answered, “ on Wednesday,” and then pointedly added, “ Wednesday in Lent.” “ This,” his lordship wont on to say, “ is the season of humiliation, and we cannot undergo a greater humiliation than trying such cases.” The goods of the llov. Giles Hester, a Nonconfoimist, of Sheffield, have been seized and sold, in consequence-of his refusal to pay the school-rate on the ground of a conscientious objection to the 25th clause of the Education Act. In a letter to a gentleman at Ardwick, Mr. Gladstone expresses an opinion that a superior organisation, the fruit of long-continued and patient attention on the part of the Conservatives, has been the main cause of tbeir recent victory; and ho advocates judicious action among the local centres of the Liberal party with a view to reconstruction. The following letter lias been published ; “ 10 Downing Street, Whitehall, 20th March. —Sir,- —I am directed by Mr Disraeli to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of March 10, enclosing two resolutions passed at a meeting of working men held at the Eclectic Hall, Denmark Sroet, with a view to the release of the Eenian prisoners, and asking him to receive a deputation of English working men on the subject. Mr. Disraeli regrets that it is not in his power to receive snob a deputation. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Algernon Turner. — Mr. John de Morgan.” The Morniwj Post says : —-“Wo boar, on what wo believe to bo good authority, that tho Government will take an early opportunity of setting free the Eenian convicts at present in confinement. Mr. Disraeli can adopt this course with perfect personal consistency, having deprecated the partial amnesty granted by Mr. Gladstone, on tho ground that all the Fenian prisoners ought to bo released or none.” Shortly after Easter a deputation will proceed to Home to present to the Holy Father the bourse containing tho offerings of the girls of Great Britain and Ireland. Those offerings amount to about £3OOO, A Parliamentary ■ paper has been issued giving tlnn particulars of the vote of credit which will bo asked for to defray the expenses of the Ashautoe expedition. Tho total amount is £900,000, Of this £257,000 is for the expenses of tho army, £301,000 for the navy, £102,000 for Captain Glover's expedition, and £102,000 for contingencies. The largest items, under the head of “ Army,” are £IOO,OOO for provisions and forage, £40,000 for carriers and laborers, £39,000 for clothing, £31,000 for extra pay and allowances, and £310,000 for warlike stores. Under the head of “Navy,” £31,000 is required for transport of troops, and £-18,000 for naval stores—coals._ This statement, it is explained in a note, is only approximative, and subject to modification in detail. At tho last mooting of the Board of Guardians at Slioroham, one of the relieving officers reported the death, at Hove, of Esther Black, aged 70, who had for many years been in the receipt of 2s. fid. weekly as out-relief. She occupied one little room, whore, after her death, her will was found, in which she bequeathed £SO to the Sussex County Hospital,

and a like sum of £SO to the Brighton Lyingin Institution. The residue of £I9OO goes to nephews and nieces. It is right to add that a representative nephew has refunded to the parish the money which his aunt had received. There was a very high tide in the river Thames on March 20, which did considerable damage. The destruction of property has been immense, and much misery and discomfort have been felt by the poorer classes on the river side who live in the basements of the houses. Tho exact height of the tide at London Bridge, as taken by the officers of the Thames Conservancy, was 4 feet 3-1 inches above Trinity high-water mark, the highest that has occurred in the Thames for some years. According- to the returns of the Thames Conservancy, on November 12, 1852, the afternoon tide rose 3 feet 9 inches above Trinity high-water mark at London Bridge, and at Lambeth 4 feet. On March. 1, 1809, 4.15 p.m., the tide rose 3 feet 7 inches above Trinity mark, and on November 3, in the same year, the water reached 3 feet 3 inches above the mark. Tho tide rose in a corresponding degree on most parts of the coast, and large tracts of land were submerged. —European Mail, April 7. Romance in Heal Life.—A correspondent at Eastbourne sends the following;—“Au extraordinary marriage is reported at Eastbourne. Tlie facts are stated to be these ; Some few mouths since a middle-aged man visited tho town in search of work, and took a job of brick-cleaning at one of the martello towers. He formerly, it appears, was in very good circumstances. Wiien young, he emigrated to the Capo, and carried on the occupation of a grazier, hut the Kaffir descended upon his farm and robbed him of all ho had. This misfortune caused him to return to England, and for a considerable time he resided with his brother, who is in a largo business near Bedford Square, London. Getting at length tired of an idle life, he resolved to seek employment, and fortune led him to Eastbourne. After trying one or two kinds of work, first as brick-cleaner, and next as bill-poster and deputy town crier, the et-demnt grazier started as Bath-ohahman, and was constantly engaged by a lady staying at Hartiugton Place. Being well-informed and able to converse in French and German, her chairman proved a very agreeable companion, and an intimacy sprung up between the two, which culminated on Monday in tho sometime Capo grazier, brickcleaner, and Bath-chairman leading the lady to the hymeneal altar. Tho marriage created a good deal of sensation, the lady, it is stated, having an income of £3OOO a year. The ceremony was performed at the parish church, Eastbourne, the Rev. T. Pitman, vicar, officiating. The wedding breakfast took place at the Gildridgo Hotel, and early in the afternoon the newly-married couple started for their wedding tour.” Tho following is a list of the ships and number of emigrants sent out to New Zealand by the Agent-General during the month ending March 31, 1874 :—The Buckinghamshire, for Otago, with 490 souls ; James Wishart, Auckland, 233 ; Queen of Nations, Auckland, 374 ; Waikato, Wellington, 308 ; Northampton, Canterbury, 393 ; Halcione, Hawke's Bay, 337 ; Dunedin (from Glasgow), Canterbury, 595 ; Hindostau, Otago, 34-1- ; Caroline (from Queenstown), Otago, 350 ; Peeress (Timaru), Canterbury, 200 ; Stonehouse, Canterbury, 430 ; Carlsburn (from Glasgow), Otago, 310. Total, 4413 souls. The report of the Eastern Extension, Australasia, and China Telegraph Company, to be presented on April 14, states that the total earnings of the company for the year ending December 31, 1873, amounted to £223,322, the working expenses to £48,992, and the repair and maintenance of the cables to £14,116. Interest on debentures and income-tax have absorbed a further sum of £3239, leaving a balance of profit for the year of £150,905. Three interim dividends of per cent, each, aggregating £89,887, have already been distributed, and there now remain £07,087 for appropriation. The directors now declare a further dividend of 2 per cent., free of incometax, making a total of 01- per cent, for the yeai-, which will absorb £39,950, leaving a sum of £27,137, which will be carried to the reserve fund, thereby raising it to £41,553. At the levee held by the Prince of Wales on March 26 the following were among the gentlemen presented Mr. George W. Rusden, Clerk of the Parliaments, Victoria, Australia ; Sir William Stawell, Chief Justice of Victoria. Mr. F. S. Dutton, 0.M.G., Agent-General for South Australia ; Dr. Walter Bulier, of New Zealand; and Mr. Chas. Childers, were also present. A Distinguished Crossing-Sweeper.— At Westminster Police Court, William Thomas Johnson, described as a major unattached, wearing au undress uniform, decorated with a Crimean medal with four clasps, and also three other medals, was charged before Mr. Arnold under the following circumstances :—On a recent afternoon Mr 12. Denning, the Inspector of the A Division at the House of Commons, found the defendant, with a new broom in his hand, sweeping tho crossing in Bridge Street, Westminster. Several members of Parliament were passing, and, as tho prisoner’s appearance collected a crowd and caused an obstruction, tho Inspector requested him to go away. He refused to go, and Mr Denning had to take him into custody. At the station the defendant handed him a pamphlet setting forth that lie complained of a serious grievance against the authorities after long and arduous military services—first in India, next in the Crimean, and again in India. He had been invalided home, but, having recovered bis health, sought reappointment, which tho military authorities declined to grant. He admitted that his object in exhibiting himself in tho way described was to call public attention to bis case. In a conversation with the Inspector he stated that lie was in receipt of a. pension of Cs. per day. The Inspector offered to liberate him if ho would promise not to go back to where ho had been found or repeat the offence ; but he declared ho would give no such promise. Mr Arnold now repeated the offer, observing that if ho had any grievance to complain of this was certainly not the preper course to pursue. Ho had collected a crowd and caused an obstruction. The defendant said ho must decline to make any such promise. He was then ordered to find one surety in £lO for Ids reappearance, and, refusing to send for any friend, was committed to prison. AMERICA. At Modock City, United States, on March 17, an oil tank struck by lightning burst, throwing the burning oil in all directions, sotting fire and destroying several houses and tanks. Loss, 32,000 dollars. An engine standing in tho Pennsylvania Railroad Company’s yn.rd at Altoona, Penn., got started in some way without any person on it, and ran through the round-house, across an open space, and through a large machine shop over 300 feet long, in which over 500 men were at work. One man, named Curfmau, was killed, and another, named Bradley, had his leg taken off, and cannot live. The engine smashed everything in its course. Sonic extraordinary events have happened in the western part of the State of North Carolina. Tho Alleghany Mountains extend through this region, and it is inhabited by a simple-minded, uneducated, and rude people. Nothing of a volcanic nature has ever been perceived in any part of this great range of mountains until last month, when one of the mountains, called Bald Mountain, began to show alarming signs of volcanic movements. There came from the mountain a terrible noise, resembling thunder, or the roaring of heavy artillery, and the earth for many miles around was frightfully shaken. On February 22 tho noise was awfid ; the people living on the mountain and at its base wore thrown into a state of terror; tho whole mountain was shaken ; tho cattle rushed madly away. The simple people believed that tho end of the world was at hand ; they gathered together in terror, and sent for the neighboring preachers to conic and pray for them. Day after day tile mountain groaned and the ground shook, and “ for sixteen days and nights tho people continued iu almost incessant prayer.” During this time the people lived in .common ; no attention was given to labor or property ; the horses and cattle wore turned out into tbo

forests ; and the whole of the people believed that they had but a few days more to live. The top of the mountain still continues to be agitated ; an area of nearly an acre on the summit is constantly in motion, and smoke is issuing from it. The devorced wife* of the late senator Sumner, a few days before his death, petitioned the Supreme Court of Massachusetts for a decree which would permit her to marry again. The death of Mr. Sumner has relieved this lady from her embarrassment, and it is said that her new marriage will soon occur.