The Old Country.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XX, Issue 6211, 21 March 1895, Page 4

The Old Country.

(FROM OUB. ENGLISH CORRESPONDENT.) London, February 8. The recent arrival of Mr Cremer, M.P., in Washington, as a promoter of international peace, has been happily synchronous with the introduction of an important Bill into the Senate, which if passed into law would greatly aid the cause of international goodwill. Senator Sherman, who has introduced this measure, is by far the most prominent figure in the United States Senate, in which he has sat for many years, and he is not only a man of weight and experience, but has filled an important cabinet office. He knows Europe and its public men, and has been longer in public life than any man in Congress to-day. We may, therefore, take Senator Sherman's measure as giving voice to the dominant sentiment of the party to which he belongs, and of which be is one of the foremost leaders, and thus it is at once lifted beyond the level of the multitudes of Bills which are Introduced into Congress .It is proposed to enable the President to enter into diplomatic relations with other Governments through the usual channels, for the purpose of creating a tribunal of international arbitrators, or for establishing any other institution, whereby disputes between nations may be peaceably settled, and war be thus averted. Poor Lord Randolph Churchill's remains have been laid to rest amidst manifestations of sympathy and goodwill from all classes and parties in the State, during which many of the best features of his character have come to light. He leaves, with his widow, two sons, believed to be promising young men. His mother, the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, is much affected by his removal. The Premier (Lord Rosebery) has given great offence to Churchmen who fight shy of history by his warning to them at Cardiff not to inquire too closely into the origin of endowments, or they might find that they belong to the Roman Catholics. Parliament has once more assembled in session, beginning with a severe brush between Lord Salisbury and the Premier, respecting their Lordships' House, in which Lord Salisbury was very defiant, but he found in the young lord a foeman worthy of his steel. In the Lower House was a strong debate on the unemployed, the Ministry consenting to a commission on the subject. To-day the Welsh Disestablishment Bill, the Evicted Tenants Bill, the Local Veto Bill and others will be introduced, and will be safe—till they get to the House of Lords. We are having an Arctic winter throughout England and most of North Europe, as well as in America. In consequence the ranks of the unemployed are largely augmented. For instance 200,000 builders are said to be out of work in London alone. The colonists of Victoria (says one of the great London dailies) intend to pay their Governor only LSOOO a year in future, instead of LIO,OOO, and they will no doubt congratulate themselves upon the appointment of one whose private means will enable him to keep up the dignity of the office. Upon ottier grounds Lord and Lady Brassey wiff no doubt receive a warm welcome at Melbourne. Lord Brassey has always been ready to help forward colonial movements in London, and it was largely due to bis common sense that the Imperial Federation League was not dragged at the heel of a little protectionist clique. If there are any Victorians who still look for such a differential tariff against the foreigner as the Ottawa Conference favored, Lord Brassey will be able to tell them, as he told an interviewer last month, that while the colonies may think it their duty to give their industries an advantage in their home markets, Great Britain has to look for its outlet to foreign markets, which can only be reached by the aid of free imports of food and raw materials.

It is one of the anomalies of colonial life that though immense natural resources lie undeveloped on every hand, the cry of the unemployed is often even more bitter in Montreal, Sydney, and other cities across seas than it is with us at home. At Montreal during the past few days there have been ugly conflicts between the police and the out-of-works, and the wholesale reduction of staffs, to which the great railway companies of Canada are being forced by depression in business, must aggravate the trouble. In these circumstances it is not surprising that Lord Ripon should refuse, as he has just done, to ask the Treasury to grant free or assisted passages to Canada to our own unemployed. The truth is that Canada has for some time had an over-abundance of city workers of all kinds, and all through the Dominion the municipal bodies find it ao easy task, especially in the winter months, to provide work for their own poorer residents. It will be remembered (says the Christian World) that in our issue of January 3rd Mrs Muirhead, of Shanghai, gave an account of the presentation to the Dowager Empress of China, on her 60th birthday, of a silver bound New Testament. It is interesting to learn that her Majesty conveyed to the donors, through the English and American Ambassadors, a very gracious acknowledgment of the gift, and that this Imperial communication was accompanied by a list of gifts selected by herself for the 22 missionary ladies who, by her express desire, had been named to her as having promoted and arranged the beautiful offering of her female subjects. Rolls of silk, satin, crape, embroidered handkerchiefs, watchcases, tobacco pouches (!), are among these presents, which apart from their intrinsic and curio worth, are valuable as showing the Empress Choong-Chi's kindly feeling not to foreigners only, but to Christians and the Christians' Book. A Polish woman, who had doubtless emigrated to the United States in search of a fortune, has at last found a windfall in an unexpected manner. She was working at some paper mill in Plover, Wisconsin, when among the rags she found a tattered vest. She put her hands into the pocket, and to her great surprise drew out a roll of bills, amounting to oOOdol. The proprietor of the mill told her that he had no claim to the money, and she will buy a small farm with it, from which she can make a much better living for herself and children than she now gets. The quarterly report of the Palestine Exploration Fund is usually interesting. It appears that under the recently-granted permit of the Ottoman Government, explorations for 1000 ft have shown a paved street and towers, while there has been found a gate with a sewer under it, which is identified as the "Dung Gate " of the prophet Nehemiah, and the Gate of the Essenes, mentioned by Josephus. It is believed that the wall exposod will be found to include the Pool of Siloam, though Joseplius implied that Siloam was without the wall. A recent storm has exposed a votive table, within two feet of which antiquaries have passed for years, and which shows that the Third Legion as well as the famous Tenth was at Jerusalem between the time of Titus and that of Hadrian. The tablet prays Jove for the welfare and victory of the Emperbr Trajan and the Roman people, " erected by the Third Legion." The Turkish Governor is now giving all the help that is needed. General Booth, has been making inquiries in Winnipeg wiih reference 1 to- a possible- site, there for the "oversea colony" in connection with his social scheme. Woid reaches Home that he has been very warmly met in the matter by the authorities, but it may be doubted if he will find in the North-West a more favorable site than the one he has already been offered in Australia. The fact that Winnipeg is so much nearer to England,

his base of operations, than Australia really counts for nothing, as distance could hardly he accounted a disadvantage. In any case General. Booth is not likely to decide definitely upon' a place for his venture until he sees his way to making a good beginning with it. Already a considerable number of '• the submerged tenth" have been sufficiently trained in the ways of agriculture to make them fit emigrants for the " oversea colony." What they now need is the " colony " and the word to go to it. The report of the Committee of the Conference on Light Railways seems to be a very carefully-considered document, and will be good matter for the contemplation of colonial rulers. The gist of it is, that, subject to ordinary safeguards of private interests, the County Councils should, in the first instance, deal with projects for the construction of lines of limited scope, and thus avoid the expensive tribunal of a Parliamentary inquiry. The Committee considers that a large proportion of the contemplated lines might be treated with more laxity than is possible under present regulations. And, indeed, when we consider that many of the lipes now rather dreamt of than proposed would be little more than tramways, it does seem absurd that they should be treated as if-they were fullgrown railways. There does not seem to be very much reason why in many cases the lines should not run by the side of, and mainly on the levels of, existing roads, as in the case of the first electric line in the United Kingdom—that from Portrush to the Giant's Causeway in County Antrim. And if the provision and maintenance of roads is part of the duty of County Councils, we caunot perceive why they should not provide wholly or in part useful tram-lines. On this subject the Committee has, timidly enough, expressed no opinion. The report of the Committee was passed unanimously. So says a London journal. Madame Patti will, after an eight years' absence from the lyric stage in London, make her reappearance in opera at Coventgarden during the forthcoming summer season. The negotiations which have for some short time been in progress between Sir Augustus Harris and Madame Patti were brought to a satisfactory issue on Saturday evening, when the diva passed through town on her way to Berlin, where she is to begin a short concert tour in Germany. Madame Patti has undertaken to sing at Covent-garden in not less than six performances, in the course of which she will appear in a round of her favorite characters. It should be added that the engagement has been made by the courtesy of Messrs Harrison," of Birmingham, whose contract with the great prima donna entitles them to an exclusive claim on her services in this country. The last occasion on which Madame Patti sang in opera in London was on July 1, 1887, w hen she made her appearance (for the first and only time upon the boards of Her Majesty's theatre) as Yioletta, in La Traviata. Her return to the scene of her greatest triumphs of her long and brilliant career will unquestionably be hailed with delight by opera lovers of every class, and it will, moreover, lend an especial degree of eclat to Sir Augustus Harris' eight summer season at Covent-garden. A woman living at Heap-bridge Heywood, was supposed (the Press Association states) to have died on Thursday, and she. was washed, laid out, and measured for her coffin, a piece of linen being placed over her mouth. Eight hours later, however, as two women were tidying the room, the supposed corpse blew the linen away and raised herself up in bed. The two women were terribly frightened, and in their hasty retreat both tumbled downstairs, and are now suffering from slight injuries as well as shock. Some time elapsed before any one else could be induced to enter the house ; but eventually several persons went in together, and found the woman still sitting up in bed. She, however, succumbed later. The doctor expresses the opinion that her death was accelerated by shock. During the night the woman conversed with her son, who had carried her upstairs for dead, and told him of the awful sensation she felt whilst unable to speak during the washing and laying out of her body. Ghosts have appeared—or rather been heard —at Durweston, a Dorset villiage near Blandford. The spirits are of the rapping and scratching description, and nearly drove the widow West and her three daughters to distraction. The rector and schoolmaster were called in, and agreed to watch through a night. Mrs West had provided a slate and pencil, and requested the spirit or spirits to write on the slate if there was anything to communicate. The slate was placed on the bedroom window inside the room. The woman and her daughters went to bed, leaving the door open. The rector and his companion remained at the top of the staircase with a light, awaiting events. They heard scribbling on the slate, and then four taps with the pencil. They rushed in and found Mrs West and the children in bed, and not a sign that they had moved, but on the slate were the words'Mony,' ' Garden,' with a nought above and below. The rector, it is said, is prepared to swear that no one in the house wrote the words. So far nobody has dug in the 'garden' for the 'mony.' The spirit, or spirits, must have left school before 1871.