NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1031, 2 September 1871, Page 17

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

1 Society, on June Cth, At the 2g.qlq^c&. .. ' m P er on the pro.f6a.sQr Qw«n r§a.d ft , nof tUe Dinor-ius., Qimfoining ft 4^aQ?{pli»»Sternum and pelvis, An immense, influx af str-angei's into Paris has taken place, and within the short apace of two days it is estimated that more than 400,000 persona returned to the city,

It ia said that a petition to Parliament )M to be prepared in Scotland for the disestablishment and disendowment of the Established Churches of England and Scotland.

For the first time for a mimber of years, the Irish militia have been colled out this season, and the Lord-Lieutenaut ia now engaged in a tour of inspection in the south. At fork he reviewed the three local regiments, aud expressed himself highly satisfied with their appearauce.

In Scotland agriculture is going on well, and the coming crops look healthy. Some attention haa lately been paid to sewage as a manure, and it is probable that a company may be formed for collecting and utilising that of the large towns and cities,

Earl Forteacue presided on Jxme 5 over a Conference, at the South Kensington Museum, at wluoh the importance of having an international system of weights, measures, and coins was strongly insisted on ; and resolutions were carried in favour of the decimal divisions,

Portions of the Irish census reivirna are beginning to be published, It ia believed that the total population will be little above 5,000,000. While extensive depopulation has taken place in other parts of the country, several towns in Ulster show a considerable increase. The population of Belfast on the 2nd of April was 174,394. The new French War Minister, General Cissey, aged 61, is a member of a noble Burgimdian family. His father and grandfather were Chevaliers of St. Louis. Both served in Segur'a dragoons. On October 22, he protested against Bazaine's capitulation at Metz, and voted for a sortie of the whole army. A Competent Military Intelligence Department is to be established in Britain. The want of such a department has long been felt, and it is about to be fulfilled not a day too soon. Consequently the Topographical Department of the War Office will be extended, and Colonel Fisher, R.E., will be placed at its head. Mr Spurgeon's many friends will learn with regret that he continues in a very dangerous state of health. He content plated a journey to the Continent, but this project has in consequence been relinquished, and it is said that it will be some time before he is able to resume his ordinary duties.

The Colonial Ciub may practically be said to be no longer in existence ; at any rate the members have not any club-house of their- own, but as a temporary measure they have been admitted honorary members of the International Club, with which there is a talk af the Colonial being amalgamated, The weather in England haa been extremely cold foj? June, A very severe fit of weather has prevailed in North Yorkshire, On June 3 snow fell, and the high moor hills -were quite white, Fruit has been much injured by the weather. A fall of snow, which lasted nearly an hour, took place at Birmingham on June 9. A curiosity is announced under the title of the Independent Reviver, the conductors of which undertake to insert anything that may be sent to them, provided in the first place that it be not libellous, and in the second that it be accompanied by "a penny stamp for every eight words," to help to pay for the printing ! Hot water, ammonia, and a sponge, are said to form a portion of the editor's stock-in-trade,

Among the Princesses of Europe the Empress of Russia and the Princess Frederick Charles are the best painters, the Princess of Wales the best performer on the piano, the Queen of Holland the best poet and author, the Crown Princess of Prussia the beat manager of fairs and public festivities, the Empress of Germany the best conversationalist, the Empress of Austria the best looking lady, and the Queen of Denmark, the best housewife. So says Madame Rattazzi in one of her recent novels.

The Chief Commissioner of Works has it in contemplation to add another attractive feature to the metropolis, by displaying the magneto-electric light on the great clock tower at the New Palace of Westminster so long as the House of Commons is sitting. The light will be visible from every portion of the town, and when it ia extinguished it will be known far and near that the labours of the Legislature are suspended. The arrangements for displaying the light will be under the direction of Dr Percy and Professor Tyndall. It is a much more brilliant light than the lime light. Professor Tyndall lectured at the Royal Institution, on June 9, to undoubtedly

the moat densely crowded audience the fine hall of this Institution has ever contained. His subject was " Dust and Smoke," and in his discourse and experiments he followed variously the courses he haa for the last year or two been pursuing in respect to this topic. He touched

• v ssively on the dust or germ theory of KUtjvw '*f contagious diseases, on the tho source » 'tf* 3 ) an d finally, on the origin of minute * '""''tor for firemen, effects of a new reup*... '^ the enwhioh he has perfected UUw. 'w, of couragement and aid of Captain fen* the London Fire Brigade, in which iho solid particles of tho densest smoke are arrested by films of cotton wool, wetted with glycerine, and the most pungent gases by layers of charcoal. By these simple means firemen could remain within burning buildings for upwards of half an hour at a time with safety and comfort, so far as their respiration was concerned. A Versailles correspondent states that one insurgent prisoner of note boasts that burning Paris is nothing ; but that when London, with all its docks and wealth, has been destroyed by fire and petroleum, the middle classes throughout Europe will understand that they must now give way to the labouring classes, as the nobles gave way to them in 1793. Numbers of the better educated of the insurgents boast that London, Liverpool, and Bristol will be the next scenes of action of the secret societies that have sworn to bring about the revolution which is to regenerate the world. They declare that England will protect them, and that from there they will be able to carry on the war of labour against capital. The same correspondent asserts that a member of the International has turned informer, and a correspondence between the chiefs of London, Berlin, and Paris has been discovered, which pretends that everything done in the latter town was directed from the former places.

The ridge of the great Atlas, south of the City of Morocco, which has hitherto never been ascended by a European, has been successfully scaled by Dr. Hooker, Mr Geo. Maw, and Mr J. Ball. After several unsuccessful attempts to approach the ridge up the valleys south-east of Morocco, a valley about due south, in the province of Reria, was selected as a base of operations, and having gained the friendship of a Shiek commanding the valley inhabited by Schleughs, a mountain tribe of Berbers, the explorers were conducted up a picturesque ravine to a village at its extremity, 7000 feet above the sea. From this point, after a fatiguing climb, the crowning ridge, forming the watershed between the Plain of Morocco on the north and the Sous Valley on the south, was reached a.t a height of nearly 12,000 feet above the sea. The isolated points on the ridge were supposed to exceed this altitude by four or five hundred feet. Rich herbaria have been collected, and observations made on the geological

structure of the plain.