OUR HOME LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1751, 13 June 1885, Page 8

OUR HOME LETTER.

London, April 23, THE ST. LOUIS MUIIDKK.

Great sensation has been caused by a very brutal murder of a young Englishman in the United States, and you will be unpleasantly interested in learning that you probably have the murderer by this time within your coastline. _ The victim was a Mr Preller, a com mercial traveller, who was on his way for an extended tour on business through the Colonieß. He waß accompanied by a " gentleman " who gave his name as Dr Maxwell, tho two becoming compagnons de voyage and taking up their residence together at a hotel in St. Louis. In a few days both dis appeared, and _ some luggage which they had left bebind being searched, there were discovered the mangled remains of Mr Preller. It appears that Maxwell purchased a quantity of chloroform on the day of his disappearance, which he appoara to have ueed for Btupifying bis victim, though the cause of death a3 ahown by a postmortem examination was poisoning by cyanide of potassium. In order to throw the police off the scent, and to make it appear that Preller had been assassinated by someone on political grounds, there was a gash on h's cheat in ihe f rm of a cross, and a picco of p&pev wr.s attached to the trunk with the legend "So perish nil trailers to the great cause." Il has further appeared that Maxwell took a iickel on April (5 for San Francisco, and left the samo evemag by train. As it was the intention of Maxwell, or as he is really Danguier, formerly an officer in tho French army, to aattle in practice iv fcbe Colonies and as ho cannot be traced in America, it is believed that he carried out his intention so far as to leave by the steamer for Auckland on the 12lh of the present month from S.m As you ars doubtlasa awaro, the New Zoaland police have b^6n warned by telegram, and unless he quitted tho Rteamei' at Honolulu, it may be hoped that Maxwell, ne Danguier, will have beon received on landing, and provided with the accommodation at Mount Eden which ho seems to have merited.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford, Dr Herbert Vaughan, ia at preront on his way to Rome, and it is thought that thereafter he will extend his journey to New Z >aland, v«th the object of promoting a very extonsive miasion for the conversion of tho Maoris to the Catholic faith. It appears that during the recent visit of Bishop Luck, ot Auckland, to tho Holy See, arrangements on an extensive scale were_ entered into with the Propaganda fov a vigorous campaign against Hauhauism, and at a recent meeting of Sfc. Joseph's .Foreign Missionary Society it was proposed that an offer should be made by that Society t® heartily op-operate in any further extension of operations having more immediate rofaronco to the education of Maori girls. A missionary of tbe Society (Mr Pafitieoa) wbo wont out to Australia for tha purpose of collecting funds, and who is now in New Zealand, is to make inquiries and eend Home a , report as to tha prospects of Buch a mission, and Dr Vaughan hopes to enlist thn services of a large community of nuna at Rome, who will proceed to the Colony to aid in the work.

A very rosy prospectus has jus'c appeared in the London papers under tha heading of the " New Zauland Gold Amalgamator Company (Limited)." The capital is small, but the profits are great. Only £7500 are required, aud with tbia will be purchased the patent rights in New

Zealand o{ Mr Ilic&ard Barker for »v '■ivSh'ioxi for aaving gold from the ore t\nd C.^'nns"-. Tho invention is to eivrn befewseu f'20,000 aad £25,000 a year by RrnriUug JiCsiriscSS to p>ining companies on n Voyalty o? o»a liikd of the gold saved. But this dws net take into account the " eiioraaoita profits" which are to made fs-clil ra working tailitißs in which tfeerq are between twenty and f^cht-y-five ro«l!ions of gold, to Ray not bisf, o5 aunirpdd m tuousandßof poundu' worth of mercury, tho greater portion of wMcii will be recovered by the amalgamator. Bat it is nofc njesssary lo wait evew tio long as until theao millions are I extracted, for each £5 shareholder will rAp^b fea nii portion £10 worth of sharer ;>X u'aca for each £5 share. But this is pot ri! Uiaadvanlagns, for each ataalgamatincr inachiae, which oostn only £400 or SSOQ to oroct, will save .CGOQO si year to jpvefcy battery on tho gold field. Mr HenryTtipp, M.E,, who kno^s nil about Ihe thing, is now on his way to N -.v Z -aland, nud I it does seem to me a cruel thing tb.+ti such i«l v»\n- { tages as those should ba ramovsd t'lom lbs ] roaoh 9f _NBW Zealand inve«rti>£g s and thrown f indiscriminately ad the heade of aa ucjjmfaful ' Briliah public 5 whei Inorely, bacause it is co good, and betteltsd they are uot c^pab'.o of iraderetanditig the vast cipabu'liiea of 0.-lonial Q^jbet-prise, will probably bo inclined to look askance on therce roliiag millioiu. ludooti ono irreveren print, yclept, Truth, is ume-isoaable enough to navagely deaounco the atnalgainafcor entcEpriso as a gigantic swindle. Those who heard tho lectures of Mrs Dr Potts in her tour fcbrouph lbs Coioaiofi will bs interested to know that cho h&H breaagieat BUCcesß ia. London. Mrs A, M, LoagshoraPotts, M D., as she announrcs heraoU, has ij bean delivering a courue of leclu;ea to enormous audiences at St. James' Great Hall, and eubae queutly another couisa to-r the bauofit ot ihe Women's Hospital, Aa American ideas aro rapidly sappjug the foundations ot bturdy Ettßliah eoprtervatißm, tho " lady medical " ha? I evoked nothing like tho questioning criticisms jl to which the propriety of her lectures was aub1 jected frequently in tbe Ooloaiot;, and ahe seems to have won gulden opinioaa isom all sorts of persons. The frozen meat trade has bsoa Unfavourably influenced by tha weather, which has suddenly become unseasonably h'-t;, ani from ita compolling salesmen to iapid!y quit thaiv English aad Foreign fresh supplies- hasuidiroflly affected tho price of tbe. stocks of irrzea maato. The only large arxival since my last letter has been the cargo of tbi Mailbo- - oygb, which arrived last week, and has been land- d in excollopt condition. 11. conaisls ot 10 219 fheep, which have bi>en selling &b from 4.] I to s?fi per lb, and 23S Jambs, which have taeen bunging from 7d to 7£' l The groafpr poition of the stock, however, is being hold for beltfir piice3. With the except iou of s\ small lofc of 1200 sheep brought by tho Iberia ft om Sydney, and which has not yet baen pl.icoii oa fche paarket, no othor frozen inrai hen b. oa brought in from anywhere within tho last three weuksj, bo that the stocks of meat on hand aro comparatively low.