NEWS FROM HOME.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 248, 7 February 1877, Page 2

NEWS FROM HOME.

(By the Special Correspondent of the Otago Daily Times.) A CURIOUS WAGER. Towards the end of 1868, the Daily Tunes reprinted from an English paper an account of a wager for 1,000 guineas, made and won by Sir John Throgmorton in 1811, that gentleman undertaking to wear at dinner in the evening a coat made of wool, which had been growing on the sheep's backs the same morning. Through the energy of n clothier named Coxeter, the conditions were fulfilled within thirteen hours, and Sir John duly wore the coat at rejoicings in which 5,000 persons participated. "The event is recalled by tlse death of Mrs. Coxeter, which took place on November 27th, at Newbury. Mrs. Coxeter was then 101 years and nine months old, and retained all her faculties to the last.' She was born at Witney, and distinct'!}- remembered hearing John Wesley preach there. She was married at the age <>f eighteen; and had eleven children, of whom live are still living. DRUNKEN DOGS. The Arctic Expedition has brought Esquimaux dors into increased notice, and the more so as one which was brought to England in the Pandora caused a sensation at Arundel, Sussex, by its depredations among poultry. The rustics mistook it for a wolf, and turned out at masse to kill it, but its owner succeeded in rescuing it. Just at this time, too, Lieutenant Payer, the commander of the Austro-Hunga'rian Polar Expedition, has published his account of its doings, and in his very interesting narrative tells many stories about the Esquimaux dogs. I-lo dwells largely upon the incurable persistency with which the dogs would steal food and conceal it in the snow. One of them, however, " with much levity, suffered himself to be made drunk by the sailors wirli rum. Everything he had scraped together for weeks, and buried in the snow, and carefully watched, was stolen from him in one night by tiie other dogs, which had kept sober." This reminds me that there is in Edinburgh at the present time a large black retiever wtoch used to hunt breweries and greedily drink any beer or wort that was given him. The consequence was that he became quite dissipated in look, with a weak, shambling gait. Suddenly he seemed to " tak : a thocht, and mend," for he visited the breweries no more, unswervingly refused all alcoholic liquor offered to him, and is now going about the streets of Edinburgh with head and tail erect, as respectable in appearance as any dog in the city, as I can personally testify. THE GOTHENBURG LICENSING SYSTEM IN LONDON. In this connection it will be natural to mention an experiment that is now being made to see how the famous system of conducting the drink traffic in Gothenburg will answer in London. The experiment is being made by a company, of which the Duke of Westminster is the leading spirit. He has taken the lease of a public-house in Oxford-street, about half-way between Oxford Circus and the Marble Arch, for the purpose, and is being aided by a number of the leading firms'in the neighborhood, as well as by Mr. Cowper Temple, Mr. Samuel Morley, Sir Harcourt Johnstone, and other gentlemen of influence. The establishment was only opened at the beginning of November, so that it is too soon yet to judge of its success. Well-cooked food of all kinds is provided, together with ale, beer, wine, &C—but not spirits, for the present—and the leading feature of the Gothenburg system, viz., that no profit shall be made from the sale of intoxicating liquors, is rigidly adhered to. One would think this would open up a new temptation, in the shape of cheaper drink. When not required for meals, the dining room is used as a reading room. The experiment is being watched with much interest by those who seek to effect a reform in the drinking habits of the nation. A VISCOUNT IN THE RANKS. Viscount Maidstone, eldest son of the Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, has been attracting public notice by his foolish conduct. He made his appearance at the '

Woolwich Police Court towards the end of last month among some recruits, and represented himself as desirous of paying "smart-money" to obtain his release, as he had repented of having enlisted. He had enlisted, he said, because his income, which was £SOO a year, was insufficient for his maintenance. He was released on payment of £1 smart money, Is. enlisting money, and 2s. 3d. for subsistence, and received the usual certificate to protect him from arrest as a deserter. Three days later, however, this young hopeful enlisted again for a service of twelve years in the Royal Artillery, giving his name as John Halton (Fineh-Halton is the family name of the Earls of Winchelsea, and desci'ibing himself as of no occupation. The officer commanding the regiment exercised his discretionary power of rejecting any recruit, and declined the valuable services of Lord Maidstone, who, determined not to be baulked of his purpose, thereupon enlisted in a cavalry regiment. The silly little fellow once before attracted public notice by asssaulting a .gentleman who objected to his bringing liis dog into a railway carriage with him. The pauper viscount's assumption of airs on that occasion were the cause of much merriment to half the newspapers in the county. He is now twenty-four years old, and in 1871 was a cornet in the West Kent Militia. He is also at the present time engaged in passing through the Bankruptcy Court, and his estate is cheerfully described as consisting of "no accounts" and "no assets." His father is well known in "society" as a diner-out and writer of verses on fashionable trifles. In fact, lie is in London what the Quatorziemes used to be m Paris. IRISH NOTES. Chief-Justice Whiteside, of the Irish Court of Queen's Bench, died at Brighton on November 25th, aged 70. He had been ailing for some months pa?t, but his death at the last was so sudden that it gave his friends and admirers a painful shock. It was caused by heart disease. The deceased was a native of the County Wicklow, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He made a great reputation for himself at the Irish Bar, and was engaged to defend O'Connell in 1843, and Smith O'Brien and his fellow-con-spirators in 1848. In 1862 he still further increased his fame by his splendid speech on behalf of Theresa Longworth, in the celebrated Yelverton case. He held various political appointments under Conservative Governments until 1865, when he was appointed to the office he held at the time of his death. He was also author of three books on Italian, and two on Irish subjects. His death is looked upon in Ireland as a national loss, and his funeral, which took place on December 2nd, was one of the largest ever witnessed in Dublin, being nearly two miles long. The carriages which followed the hearse numbered close upon 300, and their occupants included all the most influential men in Dublin, from the Lord Lieutenant downwards. The body was interred in Moimt Jerome Cemetery. Sir Arthur Guinness, the well-known Dublin brewer, has dissolved partnership with his brother, Mr Cecil Guinness, on account of his state of health. Sir John Esmonde, Home Rule M.P. for County Waterford, died on December 9th. The ever-eccentric Major O'Gorman has just registered two fillies under the names of " Lease for Ever " and " ISTo Lease no Rent." THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. The officers and men who composed this expedition have been very extensively lionised during the past month, and the public dinners at which they have been entertained is quite bewildering. As a rule the officers and men have been entertained separately, and, if anything, the latter seem to be in the most favor. At Portsmouth the men were entertained at dinner by the Corporation, and the Town Councillors went so far as to wait in person upon their guests. A few days later the men sat down to a similar feast provided by the Lord Mayor of London, in the Egyptian Hall, at the Mansion House. The man, ninety-six in number—were brought up from Portsmouth at his Lordship's expense, under the command of two of their officers, and were brought from the station to the Mansion House in private omnibuses. The dinner was as sumptuous as if. the Lord Mayor had had Her Majesty's Ministers for his guests, and the men regaled themselves to their hearts' content with champagne, pheasants, plover, and other delicacies. "When dinner was over, each man was supplied with an ounce of tobacco and a briar-root pipe. Speeches, songs, and a burlesque dance by the chief boatswain of the Discovery and a seaman of the Alert, varied the evening's proceedings, which were enjoyed by all, and the men's conduct throughout is described as having been irreproachable in every particular.

Some discussion lias arisen regarding the question of total abstinence from intoxicating liquors as illustrated by the'experience of the Expedition. There were six teetotallers on board the two ships, besides two or three who joined their ranks while the vessels were in commission. The latter suffered from scurvy like the other non-abstainers, and one of the teetotallers—a Good Templar—who broke his pledge also suffered in the same way. The man who did the most work was named Adam Ayles, and Captain IsTares speaks of him as being ' ' as fine a fellow as ever stepped." He is an abstainer from both alcohol and tobacco, and he and Lieutenant Aldrich share between them the honors of hardest work, greatest exposure, and entire immunity from scurvy. The lieutenant took grog, but very greatly diluted with water. Two other abstainers, who did respectively 98 and 60 days' sledging, as compared with A*" t -.ts_ 110 days, also escaped scurvy, buy besides

Lieutenant Aldrich only one grog-drr Nlj who was employed in sledging was fortunate. Dr. Colon, the senior medical officer of the expedition, is understood to be preparing a report on the subject, and it will no doubt give rise to lively discussion. A statement by the 'World, to the effect that the abstainers in the expedition " were found totally unfit for their work when they got into the Polar latitudes," is as far from the truth as the assertions of that journal usually are. The scurvy question has given rise to an acrimonioxis discussion in connection with the supply and use of lime-juice as an ants-scorbutic. Captain Nares has been charged with criminal neglect in the matter, but as far as I can determine amid the mass of conflicting evidence, the charge is one without foundation in fact. It seems now to be pretty certain, however, that lime-juice as an anti-scorbutic is not adapted for use in the polar regions, however valuable it may be in the tropics, and scientific men are consequently casting about for something which will effect that which lime-juice has failed to accomplish. An Admiralty report on the matter is expected shortly, when the official enquiry respecting it which is now going on is completed. It is mentioned as a curious fact, both the officers and men of the Expedition have, since their return to England, suffered more from the inclemency of the weather than during the whole of their sojourn in the Arctic regions, nearly all of them having been under treatment for colds and bronchitis since they came back. When 1 think of the whether we have had for some weeks past, I am not at all surprised at such a state of things. MORE ABOUT THE STKATHMORE. When shall we hear the last of the wreck of the Strathmore ! It seems as though the papers had conspired to keep its evil memory green in the minds of their readers, for it is even yet continually cropping up in the public prints. The latest case of the kind is in connection with what is called " A curious instance of physiological change wrought by eating a peculiar sort of food exclusively." It is alleged that the perpetual diet of penguins' eggs caused even the dark members of the shipwrecked party to become fair, their hah.- also turning light, even to their eyebrows. It is added that on the island all the birds were white, even to the crows. The Pictorial World, which makes the above statements, which are curious enough, if true, it adds : —" The Rock of the Twelve Apostles, in the Crozet group, would be a good place for negroes who wish to become white, if there are any such ; or it might pay to form a company and import penguins' eggs for use when the mania for blondines shall set itll again."