The Mails.

Otago Witness, Issue 1243, 25 September 1875, Page 5

The Mails.

SIR JULIUS VOGEL'S BUST.

Our Auckland correspondent writes:— "l ought to tell you a joke too good to be lost, and which has a great merit not common to all good jokes, that of being perfectly true. A gentleman who arrived lately from England had to call on Sir Julius Vogel, was shown into his drawing-room and kept waiting, as he considered, a rather unconscionable time. At the end of a couple of hours a j>eison entered, splashed with whitewash, and got into conversation with him. He was struck with the peculiarity of the whitewash, but soon **a\v he was talking to a gentleman. t As the talk progressed he happened to mention New Zealand, and that he belonged to that Colony. 'Oh !' said the whitewashed one, ' I presume then you are one of the subscribers to the bust of Sir Julius, for which I am now engaged in taking the cast? You will be glad to hear that it is making good progress, and that the model will be sent to Rome to (a celebrated artist, whose name my informnut did not catch), and will be very shortly ready for indentation.' The New Zealander stared ; but simply said thtft he was not one of the subscribers, plough he had no doubt the list would be JTiarge one. The story, is )>erf ectly trustworthy, and is creating a good deal of fim here. Some say it is the Bank — which could not have done Iwully by these loans ; others that it is his colleagues in the Ministry : and others, that it is the Agent-General, Rothschilds, Sergeant, and Sir P. St. Julyan who are the munificent donors. That the bust is being executed to be presented by some person or persons to Sir Julius is, however, a great fact, and my informant tliinks that, properly worked, the presentation may give Sir Julius a good lift towards a seat in the Imjierial Parliament, if he is disposed to try in that direction.

CRICKET.

The Eton and Harrow match was drawn in favour of the former. In their first and only innings Eton scored 202, to which the Hon. A\ Lyttelton contributed 50, and \V. F. Forbes, 47. Harrow's iirot innings only reached 110, and during the progress of the second innings it was thought at one time that a complete victory was certain for Eton. When the wickets were drawn on the last day, however, A. C. Ty&sen and L. Chater were not out with scores of 39 and 35 respectively. Sussex, in their match against Kent, won in the commonest of canters by an inning and '2S'.j runs. For Sussex Mr J. M. Cotterill ran up the excellent score of 191, while the total of their innings was 414. At the Gentlemen v. Players match at PrinceV, the latter came off victors by 43 runs. The scoring was very smalL Jupp, the highest scorer for the Players, made 13 and 23 ; while for the Gentlemen, G. F. Grace scored 7 ami 25, and W. G. Grace 20 and 5. In North v. South, the scoring was high. In the first innings, of the South Mr W. G. Grace ran up 92, and in the second, which reached 411 on the fall of the fifth wicket, he scored 73. In the same inning* Cliarlwood and G. F. Grace totalled 117 and 147 respectively. The match was unfinished. The first innings of the North was 187. The Players seem to be having somewhat the best of it this season. In the match, Gentlemen of tbe South v. Players of the South, the former were defeated by an innings and 94 runs. Mr "VV. G. Grace made 9 and 0 ; while his brother, G. F., with two 18' a, was the highest scorer on his) side. Hants has beat Sussex by 28 runs. This constitutes the first victory for Hants, and the first defeat for Sussex during the .season. As an instance of long Hcoriug, it may be mentioned that in a match between the [Tppinghiim Rovers and the tTpper Tooting Club at Tooting, on July Bth, the former made 238 runs without the loss of a wicket.

SAUtON FOB NEW ZEALAND.

The^ publication at home of the account of. the failure of the ova sent out by the Timaru, hnn jnven rise to a oirre-qmndenee on the subject in the Times ami the Field. Writing to the former journal Air J. A. Youl counsels Mr Buckland not to be discouraged, as he himself sent out two shipments unsuccessfully to Tasmania before he succeeded. He recommends Mr Buckland to try his (Mr Youl's) method of packing, and points to the fact that the acclimatisation of tnwt and salmon in Tasmania and New Zealand i» greatly due to the plan which he puraiutl when packing the eggs for ohijnnent. As instancing the successful acclimatisation of the salmon in New Zealand he states that "so long ago as 1869 above 500 Aeautifully grown salmon umolts were Ttarafcci] from the breeding ponds made off a tributary of the Ifolyneux River, in the Province of Otago." This id nev>-6 : as, according to a statement made by a member of Provincial Conncil some years ago, Mr Dawbin eat fc the last of the sjnolts one morning for his breakfast. Mr Youl also informs the readers of the Times that "about 12 months ago a grilse weighing upwards of 331bs was caught in Qic Molynenx River— no doubt the offspring of one of the smolts liberated in ISO'J." This \s also news. In the Field " T.R.G.M." writing from Cralgend Hmise, Stirling, thinks it probable that the supply of oxvgenwasdeficient m the ova tank sent out to New Zealand, as when it was opened it was found to contain a solid masa of ice all frozen together. One third of the char eggs having survived points to this conclusion, as char e^gs do not require m much oxycen as those of brown trout or salmon." "T. G.." who dates bis letter from niitbcrne, stote-j that njmn learning, in January last, that fhe er,j.*, when shipped, were "at once frown .snlitl," predicted, in a letter to the Field at the time, the complete destruction of the ova r>n this Account The statement, he jvlmits was denied, but, he goes on to say, " from the described state of the ova on arrival In New Zealand, I have not the least doubt that the original statement was true, that the ova haA l>een .subjected to artificial congelation, and that, iu.sk-.ul of b-ring merely packed in ice) where they would have been ex^sed to a temjierature of 32 de;,'. Fahr., they have been artificially frozen, and the temperature has been down at zero. I say so the more confidently as their condition^ when-unpacked in New Zealftml, exactly tallies with some experiments of in v own made many years since. " In the Times, Mrßnckiami hin contradicted the statement tuat the ova were froze?).

TILE QI'EES'3 PRIZE.

Captain Peawe, 18th Devon, headed the list in the second uta^e of the nirwt important match of the ineetmg on the :20th July, and thereby secured the splendid '-'ift of Her Majesty. ani;'U]iti»!< to £250, nn<l the chamjmmxhip of Great Britain for the year. I'or neatly iwlf-wi-hour btfere the ciunnieucement 0* nhootiii? at the 1000 yards n lar^e crowd had congregated outride the rnpes, and the position nf matters was freely discussed. By the way, it may not be out of place to state here that nearly every one of the comjretitora sjwke of the unhandy shape of the stock of the MartiniHenry, which they allege preventH them getting a firm grip and a good view of the sight unless tiheii firing front the " iWiubarson iJosition," which comparatively few adopt. A great im. prnveinent has taken place in the weapon, however, and the recoil is not nearly so heavy as it iitedtohe, while the accuracy of shooting 1$ con-

with it to-day than on any previous occasion at Wimbledon. Punctual to a minute, the firing was resumed at half -past 2, at which hour the wind was blowing brisker than during the forenoon, while it varied from right to left Avith every puff for a time. Towards the close it was in the teeth of the competitors, and consequently interfered with previous provisions as regards elevation. To commence with, Captain Pearse lodged an outer high on the right, followed by an outer high on the left, while Wace had a ricochet and a miss. Smellie missed his first shot also, as did M'Vittie, and now all hope died away in the hearts of the Scottish riflemen of securing the prize. Indeed, unless Pearse missed every succeeding shot, it was seen that he could scarcely fail in obtaining the victory. Some faint hope was indeed experienced when the Devon man missed with his third round, while "ducks eggs" were repeatedly signalled for Wace's shots, and on the other side Chalmers was making up the leeway lost at the first distance by a very fair score with inuers and one bull's-eye. M'Vittie continued missing for the third time, and then was credited with a bull's-eye, but it wos then too late, as was also the capital shooting of Colour-Ser-geant Griffiths. Indeed, when Captain Pearse pulled himself together, and after his misses planted an outer and an inner on the target, it was put beyond all question that he would be the winner, for by that time Chalmers and Smellie had completed their score with the exception of one shot, and no matter what was recorded for them or Pearse, the latter would still be first. Eventually he finished with two inners, which brought his total up to 73. The finish was therefore quite a tame and unexciting affair, and the cheers with which Captain Pearse was received lacked the usual warmth of ring attending a more exciting finish. He wa3 heartily congratulated, however, by his late rivals, and then quietly stepped over boundary railings, and made " tracks " for the Council tent. There was, in obedience to an order by the Executive, no attempt made to "chair" him on the way to the official marquee, but he was followed by all the crowd, who gave vent every now and again to a cheer. At the Council tent he was received by Lord Wharncliff c, Captain_ Mildmay, General H'Murdo, and other officials, who proceeded to verify his score. During the twenty minutes which this necessary work occupied, the band of the Victorias and a large v crowd assembled in the grand square, and when Lortl Wharncliffe stepped out of the Council tent and announced Captain Pearse the winner of Her Majesty's prize for 1875, they gave a ringing cheer. The victor was immediately " chaired," and a procession formed, headed by two mounted policemen and the band of the Victorias, who struck up " See the conquering hero comes." In this manner, and followed by a large crowd, the hero of the hour was carried to the camp of the Victorias, where his health was duly proposed and druuk in a flowing bumper. In acknowledging the compliment, Captain Pearse is reported to have said : — " One of the winners of this important prize attributed his success to teetotalism. Now, I do not attribute mine to that. I consider I owe it to faith in my Bible. About six months ago that feeling came over me, a:-.d since then I have felt that everything I have done has been done with a higher motive. I hoped to win this prize to-day that I might have an opportunity of saying this. That opportunity has come, and lam glad of it. In the present state of my feelings, I hope you will excuse me saying more." Captain Pearse, it may be said, is a tall, handsome man of 6ft. 2 or 3in., belongs to the village of Hatherley, in Devonshire, was lately called to the bar, and is a member of the Middle Temple. He is a steady Snider shot, was one of the reserve of the English Twenty in the late International Match at Edinburgh for the Snider trophy, and secured the third place in the first stage of the Queen's. Although 73 is the highest score recorded with the Martini-Henry for the Queen's, it is not equal to the 69 and 71 with which Lieutenant Angus Cameron twice won the coveted prize, inasmuch as the hitter's scores were run up under the old system of marking, and the former with the five points for the bull's-eye, a centre, an inner, and an outer counting as well. The average shooting, however, is much higher than was ever made with the new military breechloader in open competition. The following are the winners of the Queen's Prize since its foundation: — 1860 . . Privato E. Ross, 7th North York .. .. .. 24 points out of 60 1861 .. Private Jopling, South Middlesex 18 , 42 1802.. Sergeant Pixley, Victoria fiifles 44 marks out of 84 1863 . . Sergeant Boberts, 12th Shropshire .. .. 65 „ . 84 1884 .. Private Wyatt, L.RB. .. 60 „ 84 1865 . . Private Shaman, 4th West York 64 oj 1860 .. Private Cameron, 6th In- " verness 89 „ „ 84 1867 ..Sergeant Lane. Bristol R. 57 84 1863 .. Lieutenant Carelake, sth Somerset 65 „ „ 84 1869 .. Corporal A. Cameron, 6th Inverness 71 .. . 84 1870.. Private Humphreys, 6th Surrey 66 „ .. 84 1871 ..Ensign Humphrey, Cambridge University .. 68 „ , 84 1872 .. Colour -Sergeant Michie, London Scottish.. ..05 84 1873 . . Sergeant Menzies, Queen's " Edinburgh .... 60 84 1874 . . Privato Atkinson, Ist Dur- " " ham .. „ ..04 84 1875.. Captain Pearse, lath Devon 73 " \\ 105 A HEAVILY-WORKED LINE. Perhaps the heaviest piece of main - line traffic in the world is that on the London and North - Western Railway between London (Euston Station) and Rugby — a section 83 miles long. On this section the following trams run through :— 3O express mail trains at 40 miles an hour ; sat 36 miles an hour ; 29 passenger trains at lower speeds, and stopping at all stations ; 32 express goods trains at 20 to 25 miles an hour; 27 ordinary goods trains, and 22 local goods and mineral trains inakin^ a total of 64 passenger and 82 freight trains in 24 hours ! THE SULTAN OK ZANZIBAR. The Sultan of Zanzibar made, on the 13th of July, what is understood will be his last public appearances in this country. In the morning he received, at the Alexandra Hotel, two deputations. Ine first consisted of the Committee of the Bible Society, headed by the Earl of Shaf tesbuiy, who presented the Sultan with a handsome xtvabic Bible, bound in red velvet with gilt knobs, clasp, and lock. Lord Shaftesburv, in making the presentation, begged His , Highness to do all m bis power to circulate the i ■™ jlc * n « )n ar bl * P e °P le — ("If it please God," His Highness interposed)-and, Lord Shaftesbury added, "It is the prayer of thi« Society and the whole people of England that your Highness may be blessed in your government, to your own happiness the good of your people ana the glory of God/ On receiving the Bible the Sultan begged Dr Badger to say that he fectl y well what the Scriptures were, and that he recognised the book the moment he ££f e wI'ATS 5 .Ion; ° De P™ vioußl y k Zanzibar. He added, "The words of Jesiw-upon waomba peace—are always acceptable to us Tbj. Koran me»fa w ft, fcble & tbV&w

Testament, and we only wish that all people would walk according thereto." A copy of the New Testament in Arabic was also presented to each of the Sultan's suite.

RACING TELEGRAMS.

During the four days of the Epsom Eace Meeting close upon 13,500 messages were forwarded and received at the Post Office and the Grand Stand, and of those no fewer than 1650 were transmitted on behalf of the Press. On the Derby day the total number of messages dealt with approximated 4500, being an increase of 300 on the number for the corresponding day last year. On Friday, when the Oaks was run for, the number of messages was just under 3200, being an increase of nearly 500 on the same day in 1874. There were over 2800 messages for delivery at the racecourse, and considering the varied character of the addresses, the migratory habits of the addressees, and the extreme difficulty of locomotion in and around the Grand Stand, it is surprising that less than 100 remained undelivered at the close of the meeting. A staff of 22 clerics, two inspectors, and six messengers was employed from early morning till late at night in disposing of this mass of work, which, it is hardly necessary to say, is considerably greater than that of last year. In 1870, the first year after the Post Office acquired the telegraphs, the Derby day produced less than 1600 messages, and the total number for the week was hardly in excess of that dealt with last Derby day alone. CARDINAL CULLEN ON THE o'CONNELL CENTENARY.

Cardinal Cullen has issued a pastoral to the Catholic clergy of the diocese of Dublin, in which he says : —

You are aware that Ireland has determined to show her respect for the memory of her greatest statesman, Daniel O'Connell, and her grateful remembrance of his gigantic labours in her behalf, by celebrating in the first week of August, with great pomp and display, the hundredth anniversary of his birthday. In the city on that occasion there will be festive processions, with banners and emblems and music, through the streets, in which the Municipal bodies of Dublin and of the country, the professions, the trades, and all classes of the people will be represented. These rejoicings will show the depth of the veneration in which O'Connell's memory is held by the Irish people, and as they will be altogether of a civic and popular character, all Irishmen, Protestant and Catholics, can take part in them, and show their gratitude to the distinguished man who conferred such benefits upon our common country, putting an end to the prevailing despotism, and opening the gates of the Constitution to all classes.

THE WIMBLEDON MEETING.

The Standard says that in every respecb the meeting at Wimbledon may be said to have been highly successful this year. There is, however, one objection to the system of the National Rifle Association, which is that they aim. rather at producing showy results at long distances than an approach to perfection at short ranges. A large proportion of the shooting began at 800 yards and went up to 1000. Now, save against a large body of troops in close order, ammunition i.s simply wasted at such a distance, for it must be remembered that the object fired at is, in the case of single men, not only very small, but at a distance which is both unknown and constantly changing. As a rule, it would be folly for even the best shot to fire at a skirmisher at a greater distance than GOO yards, while, as to trie majority of soldiers, they should not ordinarily attempt to hit a man who was more than 400 yards off. It speaks well for those who attended the meeting this year that not a single act of disobedience of orders has been reported. Nor has the inclement weather been without its use, for it has enabled the volunteers, in a slight degree, to realize the hardships of campaigning. Indeed, their endurance has, during the past week, been put to a severe test, for, during some days, not a soul in camp had a dry stitch of clothing. It is, therefore, to the credit of the volunteers that comparatively few shirked the unpleasant ordeal to which they were subjected.

rochefort's challenge to cassaignac.

The Times of the 30th July reports that Henry Kochefort, on the 10th inst., sent a challenße to Paul de Cassaignac, calling him to come to Geneva at once, -with seconds. The cause of the challenge was a certain article appearing in Le Pays, in 1872. De Cassaignac replied with an excessively abusive letter, giving Eochefort the choice of weapons, and naming his seconds. Eochefort's seconds have met those of Cassaignac, in Paris, to arrange for the duel. They claim that, as their principal is the insulted party, he has not only the choice of weapons, but the right to determine the distance. They then demanded that the men meet with pistols, at five paces, and shoot at the word of command. De Cassaignac's seconds said this was simply murder, as, when the arms of the combatants would be extended, the muzzles of their weapons would almost touchy Eochefort's aids refused to admit the objections, and said that their principal, considering the importance of the case, had been very particular about the conditions. The friends of De Cassaignac then proposed that the distance be thirty paces, each combatant to be allowed to advance five steps after the word is given ; the time of firing to be optional ; the shooting to continue until one falls. Eochefort'a seconds declined tlu's, and the matter rests for the present. The Daily News has a despatch stating that a paper has been drawn up, signed by the seconds of both parties, declaring it impossible to settle the conditions of the duel.

Tennyson's "queen maky."

The Quarterly Keview says : — " We incline to think it the best specimen of the literary drama which has been written in our time. It is, at least, admirable in form. It is better than Mr Browning's dramatic studies, which have no form at all. It is better than ' The Spanish Gipsy,' which has a hybrid form. It is better than ' Both well,' as it has more backbone, and less of the enormous volume and verbosity, which, we think, would always prevent Mr Swinburne from achieving success as a dramatist. _ Of the dramatic spirit, in the Shakesperian sense, the play, as we have said, has nothing; it lacks tho personal interest ■which might recall the genius of national action, and excite the ardour of patriotism by the representation on the stage of great historic examples. It is guilty, too, of the blunder, at once historical and dramatic, of making a heroine out of Bloody Mary. Of course it will be acted. Tib and Joan will appear in miraculously accurate costumes of the period ; Aidgate will be very ' richly decorated ;' and we shall be delighted with the exact representation of Lambeth Palace and St Mary's Church ; and a popular actress will doubtless draw tears from sympathetic eyes when she exclaims that ' she has slain her Philip !' It will be acted, and then, like all plays that want the soul of action, it will disappear from the stage. But as an intellectual exercise, as a scientific study of abstract motives, as a stimulant of those subtle ideas which the luxurious modern imagination delights to substitute for action, as a monument of ingenious and refined expression, in all thesp points Mr Tennyson's drama may long continue to afford pleasure to the reader. And more thm thip, a$ * tp« vrhtn tta toadi-

tion of the poetical drama has been forgotten on the stage, it would perhaps be idle to expect."

THE PALACE HOTEL, SAN MANCISCO. The immense glass roof over the central court of the Palace Hotel, the largest of the kind in the United States, is about completed. The court is 84 feet wide by 144 feet in length. The glass roof is supported by heavy iron rafters 45 feet in length, meeting in the centre and making one grand curve of 90 feet from side to side. Heavy conjugated glass is used for glazing. Each pane over-laps the one below it like a shingle. Along the inner side of each sash is a groove to drain off the moisture from the ascending air, so that it will not drop into the court. How to keep this vast surface clean was a problem for a time ; but the difficulty was finally overcome by one of the superintending carpenters, who invented a " kedge," a slender frame 22 feet in length and about 3 feet high and wide. A light shaft runs through it, with a cog-wheel in the middle and a beam at each end on which is wound a -|-inch steel cable. Another steel cable, half an inch in diameter, is run up along the side of each rafter. When not in use the kedge remains in the inside corridor of the seventh story. When it is to be used two men get into it, draw themselves up to the edge of the roof, and thence along the wire cables to the peak. One section having been washed, they lower themselves to the corridor, roll the kedge on castors to the next section, raise themselves again, and repeat the operation. One side being finished, the kedge is turned to the other side, and worked along that until the entire roof is cleaned. Work on all the departments of the building is being pushed forward as rapidly as possible, and every exertion will be made to have the hotel ready for business by the middle of September.

ACADA3IY OP SCIENCE. At a recent meeting of the San Francisco Acadamy of Science the following novel theorywas propounded :— Judge Hastings road a paper on the phenomenal changes of climate in past epochs, and deduced the following conclusions : " That the greatest periodic obliquity of the earth's axis to the orbit, once in 21,000 years, is not the cause of the chauge in climate to past epochs. That the eccentricity of the orbit is not the cause of such changes ; that they may have an auxiliary effect in producing a constant revolution on a portion cf the crust of the earth, yet they are not the catiae of the great climatic effects. That thia revolution has caused the transposition of the country once under the Equator to the Polar regions. That during all past ages, and through all time, so long as the earth shall revolve in its present order round the sun, with its present variation of the inclination of its axis to the ecliptic, the temperature of the climate of its zones never has and never will chano-e. That during the great cycles the surface of "the earth undergoes transpositions, so tiiat the land which we now inhabit in the lapse of time will be found in or a part of the torrid zone, or some hotter place, which God forbid. That, therefore, from the foregoing, it must be the conclusion that the fossil remains of the elephas primogenius, rhinoceros tichorineus, and the mastodon giganticus, and of the smaller types of animals now found within the Polar zone, represent animals which never were inhabitants of_ the northern Polar regions." Your savants might advantageously endeavour to find out what position New Zealand once occupied before this grand transposition was initiated.

THE EARTHQUAKE IN COLOMBIA. By the arrival of the Shannon at Plymouth on the 16th July, further particulars have come to hand of the late terrible earthquake on the borders of Colombia and Venezuela. A letter from Salazar says :— " Cucutais in ruins, not a single house remaining. The killed are calculated at 5000. Kosario, San Antonio Capacho, Guasimo, San Juan de Verena San Cayctano, San Christobal, Tarida, Soberatira la Grila, and the adjoining villages are in complete nuns. This place has suffered severely and the adjoining country is nearly devastated. Ohmacofca, Chapo, Sainpalona, Cucutilla, Arb dedas, Santiago, Gallindo, and Graualote have also been great sufferers. ]\ r ot one stone remains on another in the city of Cucuta. The number of the dead is calculated at threequarters of the entire population. The few families which are saved are now on the outskirts of what was the city, living on what they can procure, but they will soon be obliged to retire, as the putrefaction of the dead will not allow them to remain. It is heartrending to see the wounded, who can have no care, and who cannot remain longalive in their present condition. Noadequateideacanbsformedofthecondition of affairs here. Thieves and robbers from the surrounding country have swept down on the ill-fated city, and hardly a single safe has been saved from the Custom House. Pillage is general. 400 mules were killed in the streets, and as there is no one to remove them the stench is becoming frightful. The storehouse of Puerto de los Cachos was sacked and burned by bandits. In Predecuesta the town hall is destroyed, and in Pamplona the cathedral is in ruins. Fro n several sources, we hear that the Venezuela side has suffered, if possible, more severely than the Colombian, and while it is possible that these statements may yet be exaggerated, nevertheless, in the mildest aspect it cannot be less than an awful catastrophe. There seems to be a general silence in re"ard to the volcano, but we hear that it is still in operation. From Ocana, letters say the shocks still continue, and great alarm exists in the valley of Cucuta."

A SCENE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. In the House of Commons, on July 22nd Mr Disraeli announced that the Government had abandoned the Merchant Shipping Bill for this session. He expressed the hope°that the session would be closed on the 10th or 12th of August, or possibly, at an earlier date. Mr Plimsoll took the floor and delivered a speech in which he violently attacked the Government.' He said the consequence of the abondonment of the Bill would be the destruction of thousands of lives. Mr Plimsoll spoke vehemently and excitedly, using extraordinary epithets stamping his feet and gesticulating wildly, setting the House in an uproar. Mr Plimsoli first earnestly implored the Government not to send thousands of persons to undeserved and unhallowed graves through the conduct of shipowners of murderous tendencies. Upon being called to order, he advanced to the table and gave notice that he would ask on Tuesday next whether certain vessels which had been lost, entailing great sacrifice of life, belonged to Mr Bates, member for Plymouth ? Mr Plimsoll added "that he was determined to unmask these villains." In reply to the Speaker he said he applied that expression to members of the House, and refused to withdraw it. Mr Disraeli moved that Mr Plimsoll be removed from the House. The Speaker ordered Mr Plimsoll to withdraw his remarks. Mr Plimsoll left the Chamber, shaking his fist at the Government benches as he went out. The House then began discussion as to what action it was proper to take in regard to Mr PlimsolPs conduct. Several speakers urged his excitability as an excuse for his offence. Mr Sullivan, after Mr Plimsoll had left the Chamber, apologetically hinted that he was momentarily insane. Mr Bates subsequently made a personal explanation in regard to. the remarks pf Mr PfimwU ?onw»% fe.ijn«af,

He acknowledged that he had lost five ships during the last two years, but said they were well equipped, were classed A No. 1 at Lloyd's, and were only insured for part of their value. He expressed pity for Mr Plimsoll, who, he said, was not responsible for his actions.

A STKAXUE STOKV FROM AMERICA.

A curious incident is reported in the American papers. About ten years ago a Jew in straitened circumstances left Transylvania for America to improve liis position in the NewWorld. He left a wife arid several children behind, and promised that as soon as it was within bib means he would send them some money from America. There fortune smiled on him, and when lie had amassed a sum of GO,OOO florins lie resolved to return home aud surprise his family with his wealth. He started without having apprised his family of his intended return, ami on his way home he arrived at Hamburg, where he was seized with so dangerous an illness that he made a will bequeathing all his property to his wife. He recovered however, only to (md that during his illness his money had been stolen from him by a man who had nursed him. A few benevolent persons sympathizing with his mibfoi-tunes, collected about 100 florins, wherewith the unfortunate Jew resolved to return to America, in order to retrieve his fortunes. In the meanwhile, the nurse had decamped with hi& booty to America, where, shortly after his arrival, he died suddenly. The American authorities sent the coffin, with the 60,000 florins, to Transylvania, and, as the will was also found in the coffin, the authorities at the same time acquainted the relatives with the death of the testator. After the usual period of mourning, the wife contracted a second marriage. The first husband had, however, again saved a considerable sum of money, and eventually returned to his native country to find his wife married to another man. The event has caused great sensation in the neighbourhood, and it is stated that a conference of rabbis is about to be held 1 on the subject.