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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1208, 1 March 1880, Page 2

The vital statistics for Oamani, for February show—Births, 23 ; deaths, 13 ; mar-ring'-j, 5. The Rangoon cable is interrupted. Hails for Sydney, per Tararua, will close at Auckland to-morrow, at 3 p.m., and mails for America and United Kingdom, via San Francisco, per Anstralia, close at Auckland at 1 p.m.' to-morrow. At the Resident Magistrate's Court to-day, let'orc J. Allan, Esq., and J. "W. Humphrey, Esq., J.Fa., John Bradley, charged with being drunk and disorderly in Tees-street on Saturday, was lined 10s, with the alternative of 4S hours' imprisonment. Ellen M'Cusker, for a similar offence, was fined as, with the option of 24 hours' hard labor. Edward Wilson was charged with being drank and disorderly in Tyne street, and, failing to answer his charge, his bail was estreated. William Dawson, for being drunk and disorderly in Thames-street, was lined ss, with the alternative of 24 hours' hard labor. Robert Evans, for a similar offence, was fined ss, with the same alternative. Robert Evans, for wilfully and obscenely exposing his person In Thames-street, was sentenced to

seven days' imprisonment, with hard labor. Catherine Grant, for using obscene language in Trent-street, wag ordered to pay a fine of 20s, or go to gaol for seven days, with hard labor. Julia Vaughan, brought up on suspicion of being of unsound mind, was remanded till to-morrow. Janet Leitch, for a similar offence, was discharged. Professor Saccardo of Padua, continues his interesting experiments of artificially coloring the corolla of flowers. There is nothing new in the plan, but the matters employed are original. He simply causes the plants to drink certain colored solutions —aniline chiefly, which, penetrating the tissues, modify color—in fact, dye the nervelets and veins of the corolla. Gardeners are aware that, by mixing iron filings with the soil around hortensias the latter receive a blue tint. The roots of pansies'and stocks, dipped in a solution of green aniline become, colored in their flowers in 15 minutes, but the plant dies in the course of a week.. Watering the soil with a colored solution' does no good, as the earth absorbs the coloring material. ' The information centained in the following letter, which we clip from the Dunedin Star, may prove valuable to some of our readers:—"A shocking case, resulting in the death of a somnambulist by falling from the roof of a house, having recently occurred in New, York, I request the favor of your granting me space to publish an -infallible cure for the benefit of any of yourjreaders afflicted with sleep-walking. SuehfuSn accident can easily be prevented by laying upon the carpet, by the side of the sleep-walker's bed, a strip of sheet-metal—iron, zinc, or copper—so wide and so long that when getting out of bed his feet will rest upon the metal, the coldness* of which will thoroughly wake him, and he will quietly go to bed again. A gentleman I knew in one of the neighboring colonies broke up the habit of-sleep-wallring in his son by placing a strip of wet carpet by the side of his bed.—l am, &c., Charles Wilkess. Dunedin, February 25." The Wanganui Chronicle, referring to the new Deaf and Dumb Institution, which has just been established iri Christchurch, says : —" We look upon it .as absurd to believe that the institution will be anything like self-supporting. , If it is kept up it will be from the first one of the -charitable institutions of the Cplony, and once that character is imparted to it persons who are in a position to pay for their .children will be unwilling to send them. At the same time, the Government ideas about the institution appear to be rather mixed, for we find amongst the list of articles with which a pupil is to come provided, dessert forks and spoons and table napkins.. Very few of the pupils will, we imagine, have been used to the latter convenience."

j At a banquet given in Hamilton to Mr. John Sheehan, by the sons of old colonists about two years ago, when that gentleman was Native Minister, in replying | to the toast of his health, Mr. Sheehan said that Anthony Trollope stated that the colonial youth were not up to the standard of English youths, and that the reason of this was to be found in the want of phosphorous. We notice by a reference to the 2nd schedule of the Customs Tariff Act, 1879, that phosphorus is admitted into the Colony duty free. We presume that Mr. Sheehan,' arixiouS as ever to promote the interests of sons of old colonists, and to place phosphorous within the reach of the most indigent in the hope of bringing them up to the standard of Englishmen, has been the means of accomplishing this patriotic object. We also observe by a reference to the same schedule that oil of rhodium is admitted duty free. Is this done with the view of enabling Government to catch rats at a cheap rate.—Waikato Times. The year 18S1 will (says the Mail) be a mathematical curiosity. From left to right and from right to left it reads the same : IS divided by 2 gives 9 as quotient; 81 divided by. 9 and 9is the quotient. If 1851 is divided by 209, 9is the quotient; if divided by 9, the quotient contains a 9; if multiplied by 9, the. product contains two 9's. One and 8 are 9; 8 and 1 are 9. If the IS be placed -under the SI and added, the sum is 99. If the figures be added thus —], 8, S, I—it will give 18, two 9's. Reading from left to right is 18, and reading from right to left is IS, and is two-ninths of SI. By adding, dividing, and multiplying IS, 9's are the product, being one 9 for each year required to complete the century. The Timaru Harbor Works are being constructed apace. The Timaru Herald gives the following information regarding the present position of the works, and the intentions of the Board :—"Should the sea be calm enough, the monolith casing will be shifted out, and another cap block of the Breakwater filled in to-day. This block being successfully completed, the contractors have not been exceptionally favored hitherto, as swells from one or other quarter have disturbed the sea and rendered working difficult or impossible at frequent intervals. From a report, given in another column, of the meeting of the Harbor Board yesterday, it will' be seen that steps are to be taken to construct a wharf or quay alongside the Breakwater for the use of the shipping. If this can be done without inconveniencing the contractors, there is no reason why it should not be commenced at once."