LATEST ENGLISH NEWS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1054, 28 June 1880, Page 2

LATEST ENGLISH NEWS.

Professor Loewenthal, a German, thinks that the coming war-ship will be made of India rubber. His idea is to make the entire hull of rubber one foot in thickness, " strengthened below the water-line by a light steel frame. The vessel will be driven by an ordinary atearn-engine, and will will ha^e no masts. At the bow will be a projecting spar, to which torpedoes will be affixed, and the entire crew, including the helmsman, will be on the lower deck out of the range of shot. When a cannon ball strikes the india rubber ship it will pass directly through it and above the heads of tlie crew, and the hole by it will instantly close. Pay no attention to such futile attacks, the india rubber vessel will steam towards her adversary and explode her torpedo The doomed vessel will instantly sink, while her elastic destroyer will be driven hundreds of yards backward by the recoil following the explosion. Such a vessel says the inventor, could destroy all the navies of the world, and after her work was done she could be made as strong us ever with the aid of two or three bottles of cement.

The Court of Appeal in England has given a decision which upsets popular belief. Mrs Mellor, the wife of a man in a respectable position (manager of a railway hotel Bradford), ordered some articles of dress of Messrs Debenham and Freebody upon credit, which were sent to her at her husband's residence in the usual course. There was no contention that the dresses were extravagant, orjunsuited to Mrs Mellor's station, or overcharged, or objectionable in any way whatever. Indeed, Lord Justice Bramwell seems to have thought that the very vague word " necessaries " might have been fairly applied to them, and no question as to their price was so muoh as raised. Nevertheless, when the bill was sent in, the husband refused to pay for them, alleging, quite truly and conscientiously, as it would appear, that he had strictly forbidden his wife to buy anything upon his credit, that she had disobeyed his commands, and that consequently he shonld not pay for the dreßses. He adhered to this decision, and Messrs Debenham sued him for the money. The Court, however, decided that the husband was not liable, and Messrs Debenham, whose business, with that of every other silk mercer, is attacked by the decision at the root, carried their plaint up to the Court of Appeal. There, however, three Judges — Lord Justice Bramwell, Lord Justice Baggally, and Lord Justice Thesiger — unanimously agreed, in two elaborately-reaaoned judgments, that the Court below were right, and that if a husband prohibited his wife from pledging his credit, that prohibition ended his liability, even though it was privately given, and remained entirely unknown to the tradesmen concerned."

When the poor Czar ia down (or at all events considerably depressed) all sorts of illnatured stories are told abovit him. Among others, that has lately visited a certain monastery which had lent his father a million of roubles, the ancknowiedgement for which had been given in his own august hand. The monks thought the Emperor's visit a very opportune one for getting back the money, and reverently produced the bond from its casket. "No, no," said Alexander in a voice broken by emotion, "I will not; rob you of this priceless treasure, worth ten times the sum it represents. Keep it, keep it, as a holy thing of far greater value than all your relics of saints and martyrs."

The British army is to be posted as follows this year i — Standing army at home will consist of 101,541 men, of which 83,000 are posted at regiments and 13,000 at depots. India is to garrioned by 62,000 British troops. The colonies will have 27,500 in lieu of 30, 000 ; Cape Colony will have a complement of 4,866 ; Gibraltar and Malta will be apportioned about 5,000 ; Cyprus in addition to militia (active) 560 ; North America and West Indies will be furnished with 6,000 ; St. Helena will be garrisoned by 228, and Mauritius 428 Britishers. The total of all, the army serving at home, India, and the Colonies, will be 191,649.

The following is an extract from a home paper ; — " We heard rather a droll story of Mr. Gladstone : After his winter campaign in Midlothian he was asked what his personal feelings were. His answer was, 'See Esther, v. 13.' The following was discovered : — ' Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai, the Jew sitting in the king's gate. ' "