News of the Week.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 4 March 1882, Page 8

News of the Week.

The undermentioned School Committees have voted for the Education Board as follows :— Circle Hill, Milton, Oamaru, Southbridge, Taieri Beach, Taieri Ferry, Te Houka, Naseby, Waikouaiti, Warepa, Cromwell, Mount, Cargill, Stony Creek, Cambrian, and Kurow, for Messrs Fraer, Green, and Ramsay ; HighclifT : , Tapanui, East Taieri, and Sandymount, for Messrs Fraer, Ramsay, and Robin ; Tuapeka Flat and Kawarau Gorge, for Messrs Fraer, Green, and Rutherford; Eweburn, Whare Flat, Hawea, and Roxburgh, for Messrs Fraer, Green, and Stanford; Walton, for Messrs Fraer, Stanford, and Robin; Portobello, for' Messrs Fraer, Rutherford, and Robin ; Sawyers' Bay, for Messrs Green, Ramsay, and Stanford ; Outram, for Messrs Green, Ramsay,'and Robin. The inquest on the recent fatal fire in Smith .street was held on the 23rd ult., but no new facts were [elicited concerning the occurrence, and the jury returned a verdict to the effect that there was no evidence to show how the fire occurred, and that the deceased were burnt accidentally. The Wellington correspondent of the Lyttelton Times says : — " A ourious story about-Sul-livan the murderer is told by the captain of the ship Loch Ryan, which has just come from quarantine. According to him, about four years ago, when ready to sail for England, a man dressed as a policeman took passage for Home; When the vessel sailed he changed his clothes for those of a civilian. During his sleep he 'frequently raved - about the murder of Briggs, a bank manager on the West Coast. It happened that the cook of, the Loch Ryan was a West Coaster, and, knowing of the murders, the' sleeptalking of Sullivan brought his features to his recollection. He told his mates, and several of them rigged up a block during the night, put the rope through the skylight, and had actually fixed a noose over the murderer's head with a view of ' stringing him up,' when an officer appeared on the scene in time to prevent his being lynched," The following is an extract from a letter from the Rev. W. S. Green to Dr Haast, of Christchurch :— " The weather has been very fine, and yesterday we had a long day of 14 hours up and down the Tasman glacier. None of us had ever seen such a moraine before ; it seemed as if we should never reach the ice. When we did, the day was far spent ; but we had time to make a close examination of the three aretes of Moiint Cook, and the conclusion we came to was this : that the south arete was impracticable on account of the notch that shows in your photograph, and also for other reasons ; that the eastern arete is also imprac ticable, as it does not go right to the top, and its j only approach is constantly swept by avalan- I ches; so the northern arete alone remains, and we intend to try it. From our point of view we could not follow it to its base, but we must get at it by some of the glaciers between it and Mount Tasman. This, as you know, involves a long journey, so we are preparing a week's provisions, and if all goes well we shall start to-morrow with a light tent and as much provisions as we can carry, and work up the great glacier, getting as far as possible each day. It will be very hard work, and as Mount Cook proves to be anything but a plaything for an amateur to try his hand on, Mr Barclay . has thought better to relinquish the expedition and return. He proposed doing so himself, and under the circumstances I did not wish to encourage him to stay. I hope in about a week to be able to toll you something satisfactory, but none of us desire to have broken necks." The Council of the National Rifle Association at Great Britain decided at a meeting held on December 7th that the whole of the regulations as to " position" in volunteer companies are to be altered. In future in such competitions the firing must be from the knee at 200 yards, and at 500 and 600 yards sitting, kneeling, or prone. At longer ranges any position, including the back position, may be adopted ; also, that no colouring matter for sights, except black or white, will be permitted in volunteer competitions. A Paris writer says :— " A brilliant example of social, literary, financial, and even political success is afforded by the ' rise and progress' of the bewitching widow who has made for herself so conspicuous and commanding a position here under the Third Republic. Not regularly beautiful, but very pretty, and a mistress of the art of getting oneself up, very clever, very graceful, and possessing_ in the highest degree the undefinable quality of charm, Mme. JMmond Adam, daughter _of an obscuru country doctor, brought up in an obscure village, has made herself the Egeria of the fickle and critical capital, to which she came without money or friends just 23 years ago. She is , literally worshipped by all the leaders of the i

present Government. Her # receptions are crowded by all the leading writers, artists, and • new men of the day. Her ' New Review ' is the leading organ and mirror of the time in this region; her comings and goings are, chronicled as though she a sovereign ; sovereigns receive her and talk with her if she visit their capitals, and their scientific and political ' tip-tops ' get up banquets, dinners, and soirees in her honour ; and the! iconoclastic municipal body^ of Paris has just given her maiden name, ' Juliette Lamber,' to a new street. This ' leading lady ' of the Third French Republic has just" opened her. salon, for the present winter, by a grand dinner, and her Wednesday evening receptions are, expected to be more brilliant than ever, as ladies are to be admitted, and politics excluded. It is announced that she is about to make a visjt to St. Petersburg ; and that, on her return, she will give a fancy-dress ball that is > to outshine all former entertainments of the kind in s originality and in splendour. So much, as 1 ' Ouida ' judiciously remarks in reference to a somewhat similar success now at its pinnacle in London, for the absolute devotion of a lifetime to the one sole, carefully-calculated, and ever-present aim of ' getting on !' " At Palmerston on Friday, before Messrs Brown and Arkle, J.P.s, John Lafferty was charged with having travelled on the railway from Oamaru to Palmerston without having previously paid his fare. He was fined 40s, ana ordered to pay the fare (7s), or to suffer three days' imprisonment in default. The annual meeting of the United Otago District A.O.F. was held^ at the Foresters' Hall, l?ort Chalmers, on Friday evening'; Bro. W. G. Geddes, D.C., Ranger, in the chair. After the transaction of the business of the meeting, the officers and members were entertained at a banquet given by the members of Court Robin Hood. An elderly woman, very much intoxicated, while getting into a carnage on the express train on Friday afternoon at Milton, missed her footing and fell between the carriage and the platform. Fortunately the accident was noticed by two of the passengers, who, with great promptitude, caught hold of the unfortunate woman arid extricated her from her perilous position before the train started. Our Gore correspondent writes : — " I hear numerous complaints in reference to the rabbit plague from over the Waikaka River. Whole fields of capital wheat are being cut down and rendered scarcely worth harvesting, and this on farms where there was scarcely a rabbit to be seen at the close of last winter. jA young child, four years old, the son of a miner residing in Munro's Gully, near Lawrence, met with & very se'ridus' accident on the afternoon of the 22hd ult.\ He was playing on a fence when his foot got caught, and he fell to the ground, breaking' both bones of one of his arms. The cHud' is being attended to by Dr "Vyithers, and, is progressing' favourably. j The Dunedin Committee of the AngloJewish Association have closed their accounts iii connection" with the fund for .theirelief of the persecuted Jews in Southern Russia, and by the outward >mail have forwarded Ito London the balance of £15 13s <.'5d which remained after meeting all liabilities in' connection with the fund. {Messrs Joubert'and\Twopeny have, placed at the disposal of the Christchurch Industrial Association two bayp in the Exhibition Building, free of charge, for the purpose 'of a ladies' court, for the display of various kinds of work —such, as crewel, fancy needlework, paintings on silk, lace, &c, &c.— which ought to be at once both the most popular and interesting, in the building. We hope it will / be* largely patronised from all parts of. New Zealand. There will be no charge, for space.; To secure space in "the above department, it will be necessary that application be made to Mr GYaiit'not later than the 6th , March," at his oflice, Union Chambers. ' Jil .v. • According ,to ' tjhe 'Palmerstori Times;' the R.M. Court there was' recently opened at ''6 p.m. instead of 11 a.m., the proper hour. On another day Mr Robinson sat from 11 a.m. 'to 12 p.m. It is complained that Mr Robinson's district is so large that he cannot overtake the business. Mr J. S. Worthington, of Queenstown, is proceeding to England under leave of absence. He is making the trip, according to the, Wakatip Mail, under medical advice, " for the purpose of undergoing what must be a very painful as well as delicate operation for a serious disease — cancer at the root of the tongue." A presentation of a purse containing over 100 sovereigns was made to him before his departure. At the R.M. Court on Friday the case of John CoWan v. The New Zealand Timber and Woodware Factories Company (Limited), a claim of £50 for wrongful dismissal, was heard. — Mr Macdonald ap peared for plaintiff, and Mr Stout for defendants.— The particulars set forth that in November, 1881, the defendants engaged plaintiff as master of the ketch Catlin at the rate of £12 per month, and that reasonable notice on either side to terminate the engagement should have been given. The engagement was to begin when the cargo then on board the ketch was discharged at Lyttelton, which happened to be December Ist. Plaintiff discharged his duties till February 9th, when defendants wrongfully dismissed him from their service without any notice whatever. — Mr Macdonald said that Mr Andrew, manager of the Cation's River Sawmill Company, was advised that the defendants had taken- over all the Company's vessels under some security held by them, and would engage the crews on the same terms. In accordance with these instructions Andrew told plaintiff, as well as the other masters, that when he had discharged his cargo at Lyttelton he was to consider himself in the employment of defendants on the same terms as when with the Sawmill Company. Plaintiff returned to Dunedin from Lyttelton with ■ his ketch on February 9th, l and was dismissed. The main point in dispute was as to the length of notice to which Cowan was entitled. Witnesses were called on behalf of the defence to prove that the custom in the coastal trade was that whenever seamen had been in an employ for one month, they might either leave the vessel or be dismissed without notice on either side, and to strengthen the defence it was proved that defendant had received from his former employers the sum of £40 16s lOd with which to pay the crew, the balance to go to himself. Of this sum, however, he had taken about £36 in payment of his own wages instead of paying the crew in full, and this was put forth as one of the alleged reasons for dismissal, as the demands of the crew were supposed to have been satisfied before the ketch Catlin was taken over by the defendants. — Plaintiff called rebutting evidence to prove that it was occasionally the case that notice of dismissal varying from a few days to n month wan given, and Mr Maerton*ld submitted that this was sufficient to nullify tho plea of usage set forth by the defence— quoting authoritieo in support of his aiginnent.—Judgment waa reserved.

By the last mail we (South Australian Advertiser) have received intelligence iof the illness and sudden death of the late Lady Fergusson, the wife of Sir James Fergusson, the Governor of Bombay. The attack of cholera, which resulted in the unfortunate lady's death, came on, as is usual with such disorders, very suddenly. On the morning of January 6th Lady Fergusson was in her usual health and spirits. At noon on the same day she* was . attacked by cholera; the cramp set, in, very r < shortly afterwards, and. Lady. Eergusson lingered on in great pain for about 48 hours, when she succumbed to the disease, breathing her last at about 1 p.m. on Sunday, January Bth. But a few hours before her decease.Lady Fergusson gave birth to a baby, which, however, wap born dead. The calamity was so sudden and unexpected that it took the wholeof the residents of Bombay by surprise. During /the , • short period of the illness of Lady Fergusson, hundreds of people, not only in Parell,. where -the event took place, but for a long distance round, paid respectful calls' at Government H(?use in order to ascertain her ladyship's state, and when it was known that the end had . come, universal grief reigned throughout the . Presidency, and more particularly in, those parts of it which the deceased had honoured by - I her presence. A circumstance which adds. > additional sadness to her death is that Sir . James Ferguson was absent fronvParell at the „ time of its occurrence. He had gone toßaroda ■ a few days before on a pleasant mission-f-the > installation of the new Gaikwar— aild received-. . thfe unexpected intelligence of his wife's illnes.B , i whilst participating in the joyfulness ,bfthe . j accession to the native throne of a new prince. -• , The occurrence was so sudden that Sir ; James „ » did not receive the news in time to see Lady .-. Fergusson alive. . '.> „. • . . -. The anniversary services.at "Wesley Church, • ' Port Chalmers, on Sunday were conducted by, the Rev. E. Best, who preached a most'effective sermon in the forenoon ; in the afternoon the rev. gentleman addressed the heads ' of * families and children ; and in the evening he' ' preached again. Large congregations were ' present on each occasion. ' • ' ( ' A shipment of Loch Leven trout ova, consigned to the Acclimatisation Society from • Howietown Fishery, Stirling, Scotland, ar,- , rived at Port Chalmers by the' Rotomahana , on the 22nd ult. The whole,*. of ,the- eggs— about 10,000 in number— were^ however, found . . to be destroyed, and this deplorable' result ia - thought to be due to the manner of packing. When the case containing the ova was opened ; there was not a bit of ice left in it, and, the , trays containing the, fish were 'found, (to', b,e . bottomed with zinc, which- is likely, v to hav^e, . hkd, an injurious effect".', In -cases where .the Society have received ova from .America pro? , vision had been -made for renejwmg,the;ice,on, r the way but, but in this instance the box ciop-,-, taming the eggs' was completely, fastened up, From the development of. r the,iish^ it.is calou- . , lated that their death must have .been" quite - recent: , The ova., was brought by the* Orient - steamship Potosi to, Melbourne,, where it', ; wsß,,\ transferred to.the Rotomahana, it being stored , ! hi the ice-house, of .that ; v,essel. ,- A' shipment^*,, ; salmon ova is to arrive -~f or; the .Society by, the ship John Elder, whicb/is due about the middle n ojf next month. •- „,.,,! .' . : »/t ,, • m: \ An extraordinarily large amount 'of' money: passed through the three totalisators on the 1 racecourse at the" Autumn meeting' just con-"" • oluded. - No less' than' £18,245' was invested •- during the three days, yielding a 1 gross com-' 1 mission of more than £1800.'". There is, c b"eßides,' • « little doubt' that >many' persons day were !- unable to get near the machines to put their '\ money onj' and the 1 Jockey < Club must in this 1 > manner ; have lost aconsiderable < amount.v"ltik ;: difficult to stfggest offh and a- means 'by which; this excessive crush • immediately before l^an important race can be' avoided; but something might; certainly bedone'to place the matter on •- a more satisfactory" footing.!;- A'^natural- 1 fiuman weakness^- of course, 1 -induces intending^'speculators to hang- back until some definite"; idea can be formed as to the current of public • opinion, but it is tolerably evident that this"' weakness should be-cqerced or coaxed by the Jockey.'ClutfSfito 'some',' betteiSjhannel. - : Itis'; . to be hoped the' matter .will :be given consideration before the , next meeting at Forbury Park. . •;■'"• "' ( ; ftf <t !>! > ATimaru telegram states 'th'at! at an e"arly v , hour on Sunday morning a brilliant metepr'; passed over that town. It was visible for fully" a quarter of a minute, and rendered the night almost as light as day. A similar sight. 1 was observed in Dunedin, probably 'the 'effect' 'of t the same meteor. The time 'was about I.3o'oclock. f „,. , ( , , ! Among the passengers by the s.s. Wakatipu, from Sydney, detained at the Quarantine Island (says a recent New Zealand Times), is a Chinaman who strongly objects ' 'to being ] vaccinated. In the best " pidgen English" he l led the ' Health Officer to 'understand that, rather than submit to the pperation, he was prepared to pass the remainder of his existence on Soames Island. He pronounced the accommodation at the Quarantine station "welly good," and appeared pleased at the prospect|of a detention which meant good quarters, plenty of food, and no work. . ' At; the R.M. Court. Outram, on Saturday last, Henry Wiles, , storekeeper tat 'North Taieri, was charged , by William Ward, a railway labourer, with having, assaulted him near Mosgiel on the 11th February.— Mr Denniston' appeared on behalf of the acdused. — Complainant stated that on the day in/question, when' on his way to Mosgiel, he' met accused on horseback. Accused said " Holloa, ■Ward, I'm near tight." Witness replied,,?' lt's many: a- good man's case." Accused, passed witness, and then- turned ■back and<>askeid ■whether he was going, to pay.thg few'shillifi'gs owing to him. Witness replied that he did not owe him anything, as he had given & pound to accused's .wire., Accused, got .off ..his nprse, and threatening to " take it out " of witness, struck him with hand on the side of 'the head, causing blood to flow from the wound, thus inflicted. Witness was • knocked Idown by the blow, but got up and ran away. Accused therl threatened to take his life and ran after him. He overtook witness and again knocked him down and kicked him. Witness did. not give accused any provocation. — By Mr Denniston : Witness was not much hurt, and would swear he had not lifted his hand to the accused. Witness was quite sober, and the only reason for the quarrel was that accused said he owed him money for liquor sold.— Archibald Burnett saw accused strike and kick at complainant, but could not say whether he actually struck or kicked him. ' There was a fresh cut on complainant's head.— Accused said that when he met complainant on the road near Mosgiel, the latter seized the bridle of his horse and said he wanted witness to go back to Mosgiel to have a drink. Witness told him to let go, and he refused, so he dismounted and knocked complainant down. Complainant ran away, and accused went after him, but did not injure him. —His Worship said that an assault had been committed, there could be no doubt, and it was exceedingly improbable that if—as stated by accn.iod— coinp]''.inaTit wanted him to have a i drink, he would have assaulted him for that. I Accused would bo fined 40s and costs, in , default four days' imprisonment in Duuedin i Gaol.

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At 'a meeting 'of the Mosgiel Athenaeum Committee, held on Wednesday evening, 22nd- , inst., the following resolution was moved -by, Mr P. Dey, seconded by Mr J. H. Murdoch, and carried unanimously :— " That the most cordial thanks of the Committee be accorded G. S. Robertson, Esq., 39 Bond street, Duiiedin, for the very handsome contribution (±,20 18s Gd) so generously given them ; that he be made a life member of said institution, and that the secretary be instructed to convey this expression of their feelings to the donor, with their sincere wishes for his future prosperity. On Saturday, at the Resident Magistrate's Court, Outram, Henry Wiles, a storekeeper on the Otago Central railway, at North lawn, was fined £10 under the new Licensing Act for sly grog-selling, the offence having been committed nearly six months ago. Evidence was also adduced to show that the accused had been fined £25 at Palmerston over three years ago for a similar offence. Mr Denmston defended, and among other contentions raised the usual one that the new Act was not in force l at the time of the offence, as the licensing districts had not then been proclaimed. jHis Worship overruled the objection, saving that section 230, in his opinion, implied the operation of both Acts on the point in question, 'and gave his decision accordingly. . Under the heading "Cheap Trains" "'Setler," Invercargill, writes as follows in the D.aily Times :— Your efforts in the direction of inducing the managers of our railways to adojpt a system of frequent excursion trains at flow fares having been successful, will you tfy to teach the managers to exercise some intelligence in carrying out that system. , Let me show you how unfairly the country settler is treated. If a settler between Invercargill and Gore wishes to take advantage of the excursion traiwß running to Dunedin races, he has to. pay the Ordinary single fare to Gore and back j say he lives five miles from Invercargill, he has to pay for 70 miles before he can take advantage of these low fares, and then has to pay. the same price as those who travel from Invercargill : that is, the unfortunate settler has to pay— if he travels first-class— about 15s more than the townsman. I may say that between Invercargill and Gore there are three stations where stationmasters are in charge—Edendale, Mataura, and Woodlands,— so that there is no excuse for our intelligent managers tp say that there would be a difficulty in selling excursion tickets. I see by the advertisement that the same applies to Oamaru. If a farmer lives a few miles this side of Oamaru, he is punished to the extent of not being permitted to participate in the privileges of the Oamaru townspeople. Do you think, Mr Editor, if you were to tax your ingenuity to make a niuddle of a good system you could do it 'worse 1 This is Boypotting the settlers between Oamarji and Dunedin with avengeancel . If the details, of management of our railways are like thi% is it any wonder there is confusion? Every improvement in management has to come i from outsiders, even to the details. ■It took' considerable hammering on your part before the management could see the advantage and profit of cheap trains. Will you kindnr try and hammer into their "muddleheads" a little intelligence? [ Great activity has prevailed at Logan's Point during the last 14 days,, the quarrymen having been busily, engaged preparing |f or a heavy blast, for which purpose a tunnel was driven into the hill 24 feet in length, with a T Bhape 15 feet on either side. It was charged with 2250 pounds of the Owake Mills powder, and shortly after midnight on Saturdaj| word was sent from the Railway. Department that the line was clear, and the charge might be exploded. This was done, and had the; effect of thoroughly dislodging between 20,000 and 25,000 cubic yards of stone. j A fire broke out in a. seven-roomed! house in Duke street, near the Great Northern Hotel, on Monday morning at about 3 o'clock. The house, which was totally destroyed, was the property of Mr iJames Ashcroft, and was insured in the National Office for £375. The house was i occupied by a butcher named Arthur jAllen, and he and his son Ernest were the only persons in the house at the time of tHe fire, Mrs Allen and another son being at Balclutha, Mr Allen retired to bed at ll o'clock, leaving' a small fire burning in the kitchen range. He was awakened by his son calling out that the place was full of smoke, and on fushing into the passage he found it full of smoke and the back part of the building in flames.' Mr Allen's furniture and effects were insured in the London and Liverpool and Globe Insurance Company's Office for £250. He estimates his loss at this amount. The brigade arrived on the scene very quickly, and rendered good service in preventing the flames from spreading to the adjoining buildings. One effect of the retrenchment in connec tion with the Department of Justice is the discharge of Mr Peter Farrell, who has so long held the position of Clerk of Court at Tokomairiro. He leaves the service on Ist April. , A yacht race for a sweepstake is to take place on Saturday afternoon in the Harbour. The course will probably be from the Otago Rowing Club's shed, up to the wharf, and thence round by Macandrew's Bay — twice round. Three yachts are certain to take part, and there may be five. The vital statistics for the district ,of Dunedin for i, the past month are— births, 150; deaths, 44 ; marriages, 34. For the, corresponding month of last year they were 129, 36, and 46 respectively. A meeting of the British-Israel Association was held on Tuesday evening in the Dunedin Young Men's Christian Association's room ; Mr R. N. Adams in the chair. Mr Paton was elected secretary to the Society. Mr W. G. Jenkins read a very jinteresting paper on the political position of the European Powers with respect to the Eastern question in the present day, which provoked a spirited discussion. Tha customs revenue collected at Dunedin for th)e month just past reached ai total of £38,©5. For January the total was:£3B,ll4, and for February last year, £29,636. The' monster sale of runs was concluded on Tuesday, with the result that for the most part they were purchased by their present occupiers, at an average advance of 250 per cent, upon the amounts previously paid as rental. At a meeting of the Laboiirers' Union held qn Tuesday night the following officers were elected : — Mr Charles Bird, president ; Ml 1 T. Watt, vice-president ; Mr R. Nash, secretary (third term re-elected) ; Mr J. May, treasurer (re-eleoted). There were six fresh candidates for membership. A correspondent infwrms us by telegraph that the result of the poll for the extraordinary vacancy in Dunstan riding, Vincent County, was :— S. Welsford, 76 ; James Smith, 1. The position of the defeated candidate, it is understoodj is due to the finessing which has ruled in Vincent County affairs of late. Had Mr Welsford been elected without opposition he would have been able to take his seat at one of tjie last meetings ; arid it appears that, out of, fti desire to prevent l?im doing bo, opposition Yws obligingly foun4 far to, i i \ \' ' i

The Southland News learns that the police made a raid,,on twp ChißP.se..ga^l?ling-hoiises a;t Round Hillat midnight on Saturday. A man standing Gentry' was fiiv-t captured, and the huts were then surprised. Seven men were arrested, and about £10 sterling impounded. A number of men escaped through the sides of the hubs. ..,,,, „ , The first ordinary shareholders meeting of the Finance, Loan, and Agency Company (Limited), was held on Tuesday, the business being the election of a directorate. Mr H. J. Walter was in the chair. At tor some discussion it was resolved that the late directors be; reelected in a -body, with the exception of Mr Quick, who did not offer himself for ro-election. Two gentlemen were nominated for .the vacancy (Messrs A. Rennie and Wm. Langlands), and a ballot having been taken, the latter was electel.with 2G9 votes against 05. This concluded the business. > t What appears to be a cruel eaee of negligence on the part of the authorities ofjthe Melbourne Hospital has been brought udder the notice of the Age. On the 3rd .February a man named George Hamstead, an old resident of Heidelberg, took 'his aged wife to the Hospital on an order irom the Itev. A. J. Pickering. She was duly admitted, and on Sunday, the 12th February, Ilamstoad visited the institution, taking with him some delicacies? for his invalid wife. His surprise and grief may be imagined when he was told that the patient had been dead and buried for over a week. Had any intimation, been sent, Hamstead would have had the satisfaction of burying* the remains in the local ground, and the (state would. have been saved the expense of a compulsory pauper's burial. . \ ' 'A ■ s ilicitor in a country' township (s-ays ' JSgles" in! the Australasian) having §om-. pleted some legal business for theolandlord of \ the principal tavern in the place, presented his bill of costs in person. The landlord scanned the items, said he 1 was satisfied with ' the charges made, and added,'," If you pay for a bottle of wine, I will give you a cheque." }The lawyer, delighted with such unexpected promptitude, at once assented, and the wine was brought, paid for, and imbibed. When the sitting was finished (with the bottle), the landlord said, " I will go and fetch, you that cheque." In a few minutes he returned, and handed the expectant a cheque, signed by the attorney himself (for a pound or two more than the bill), dated 18 months previously, and marked with the magic initials " N;S.F.", In an article upon the Ponsonby seduction case in London, The Times has the. following : -r^'The modern ( bar 'system has added pnormously to the advantage on the man's pai|; and to the woman's danger. It is well thaft this 'should be borne in mind. Yc-ung woiner^ who' are exposed to special 1 danger must learn in time to take care of themselves; .. Emma Cummins'terrible story will serve as ■ a 'time y reminder to a good many of them. • Girls who suffer themselves to be led awayhdve nojright to expect constancy' on the man's part. | The certainty rather is that it will, not be long be-, fore he tires of his new possession,. and jflings it from him with as little genuine care »as he bestowed in first acquiring it. The' after fate of the bagatelle he will not much concern hiniself about. Whether she ever takes rank again as an honest woman, or whether she goesj from bad to worse, he will think it her affair, And not his. She has served his turn, and he h&s nothing further to do with her. This ia the treatment which women must look for I from their unaccredited lovers. It is the treatment they have received time out of mind. Itfis; so to say, a recognised part of ,the game. It is of little use to employ hard names abojat it. Shocking and indefensible it may most pustly be termed, but it will be repeated all 1 thef same while human nature and the laws and customs of society continue as they are." i The census returns for New South Wales have been issued. The population of the Colony, as finally corrected, is as follows :— Sydney, 103,379, ; suburbs, 120,832 ; country districts, 527,257 ;— total, 751,468. The sexes are:— Males, 411,149 ; females, 340,319. The total increase of the population since 1871 is 247,407. , , ' ' I' , I