ALL ROUND THE WORLD.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 178, 15 November 1876, Page 3

ALL ROUND THE WORLD.

The hero of Mrs. Harriet Receiver Stowe's world-famed "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in, it appears, still in the flesh. The London correspondent of the Canterbury .Prsss, writing on the 4th August, says : " We have a notable visitor here nt present in the person of Mr. Josiah Hewson, who is the prototype of Mrs. Boecher Stowed far-famed ' Uncle Tom.' Hj was born in the United Skate* in 1733, and after being held in slavery for forty-two :years, made his escape to Canada. In 1851 he crime to England and collected £.t,000 for the establishment of an educational institution for coloured children in Ciimda. T'trough Hew son's en«r/y. iicliool-houses vl-a bie« erectet in Chatham, Ontario, under the title of tup W'li'erfocce Educational Institute. At one time these estublisJimonts were on the verge of rain, and to save them Hewson sacrificed the whole of his scant savings, amounting to over £SOO. He had come to England in hi* eighty-eigth year to ask his friends in this cuntry to help hiiu in these person d lu*BjS. Hi* case has been taken up- by s.Var,vt well-known philanthropists, and- E have no doubt ' Uncle Tom will sp<wdity obtain she full extent of his necessities, the help he solicits." Reports of a very nnpteasan'" nature have reached us from Philadelphia with roforencw to the corruption prevailing among the corresfoadeuts* sent to the by certatn newspapers. Several of etw contemporaries have established permanent offices on the grounds, and their representatives, it i* alleged, carry on quite a thriving business by extorting money from the exhibitors in return for pulfa givtsn them in the columns of the papers. Many of the exhibitors, who are simple-minded enough to think that such pud's are of value to them, pay the bribes, Mid keep their months shut. Those, on the other hand, who have common-sense enough to refuse to engage in such transactions are afraid of the Press, and consequently are reluctant to give publicity to we proposals made to them by the representatives of certain journals. The exposure of such proposals, unless they are made in the presence of witnesses or in writing— which the emissaries of venal journalism are careful to? avoid—might be easily made the occasion of legal proceedings, from which the exhibitors are naturally anxious to keep aloof.— &itn. A Frtsnch sotdier named Henri Ihthame! lias j\ist died at the hospital of Btcetre, who was wounded in the head at Hastenivalin the war of 1870. His wound had soon healed, but he was left tpite insane, and had fancied himself dead. When people asked after hi* health he would answer: "How is Iftthainetl Poor fellow, he was killed ab Bazenval. What you see is only a machine made to reaombfe him. But it is badly made, and they ought to make another." He never spoke of himself as "I" or "me," but always as "that thing.'" He was sometimes insensible for days together, and would show no- fueling whatever, though pinched and blistered severely. A capital anecdote of the late Sultan is told. He was very fond of gossip, and sent for the banker, Abraham Beg, to learn the scandal of Per* and Stamboul. As Abraham was being conducted to the presence by the Master of the Horse, that functionary begged him, shotild the Sutton question him on the subject, to say that the funds were at thirty, his Majesty having been m informed by his Ministers. Foot Abraham consented. He had not been long with Abuttl Aa;2 when fie was questioned as to the funds, and re plied as ha had promised. T» the horror of the banker, the Sultan expressed himself delighted, and handed Abraham a targe bundle of bonds to seE for him. Abraham sold at twelve, and paid Abdul Aab thirty. It is not often that a Jewish banker tumbles into 1 such a pitfall. An Ayr correspondent of a London journal states t..at the inventory of the personal effects of the late Mr. James fluivd has been registered, and gives a p«rsonality of £1,190,000. At tile tate Saa Francisco baby show, prisee were given for the handsomest ifiaby, the handsomest twins, the one Raving the heaviest head of hair, the one »ith the smallest feet and hands, the fattest dark-eyed baby, the fattest btueI «sf«l buJby, tth* smallest, the best dressed,

the sweetest smiling, and the loudest bawler. Prizes were also given to the youngest mother, the oldest mother, and the handsomest mother. The moss on which the reindeer feeds is now gathered in Sweden and fermented, and distilled to mJ-.-- • ■,■■.<.:>iy. It is said to yield as mnch alcohol as good grain does, and more than three times as much as potatoes. It costs only the trouble of gathering ; and if the Northern Governments do not tax liquors heavily for revenue, people can get drunk very cheaply. They have but to gather the moss, ferment it, and make beer, or boil it in a tea-kettle, and condense the steam. Nothing is easier than to convert good food into bad poison, and to make men into brutes or fiends. What a world it is. A Lyons journal stated that the Archbishop of that diocese recently gave a house-warming, and published the bill of fare that was calculated to make the mouth even of a ymtrmtt water. The editor drew attention to the several dishes of game served, remarking that the season for such had not arrived. The Archbishop's secretary wrot 2 a very rational letter, informing the editor his good faith had been imposed upon, as no dinner had taken place. The editor retorted, asserting he had the bill of fare in his possession, and had received it from one of; the guests. The Archbishop brought an action against the journal for defamation, and the paper was condemned to pay l,oOQfrs. damages, and to print at the head of its principal page that it had been the victim of a practical jote. The Scottish explorer Cameron, who recently returned from the heart of Africa has created a good deal of enmity and disgust among "apostolic circles" in England, by declaring that the average British missionary is a fraud of the first water. " Most of them,'" he says, " are unfit for their work, and despised by the heathen. They go to Africa, draw large salaries, live comfortably, drink their champagne. and then in a couple of ycara come back to tell a dreadful tale of the hardships they have suffered." There is much Yankee go-aheadtsm in Victoria, whose institutions are being more gradually Americanised than those of any other Colony in the Australasian group. At Ri.lt.irat two novel societies have been recently formed, namely, an anti-smoking society and an early-rising society, and both have already a large membership. Members of the? latter society are limited to eight hours' sletp, and a tine of one shilling is imposed upon any member who, if in good health, siumbers longer than the prescribed number of hortrd. Tlieru are three thousand specimens of fish in th« new Westminster Aquarium in London, besides innumerable! crusticeans; and molluscs. The octopus, or duvU-kish, is represented by thirty fine specimens. They are fed on large-, live crabs, which they catch by enfolding them in thyir deadly embrace. Many visitors assemble to witness the savage meal.