A Lesson from the Chinese.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6027, 26 March 1891, Page 4

A Lesson from the Chinese.

In many respects the Chinese are a moat rational and practical race. Here is a case in point. During a recent anti-foreign-devil riot at some place between Tong-tu and Kaiping, the mob by way of emphasising its patriotic sentiments, destroyed a good length of the railway that has just recently been carried through the district. The local mandarin— a Chinese Ruskinite apparently — instead of using the forces under him to quell the riot, sent his soldiers to assist in the pious work. The embankment was levelled for some distance, and the rails were thrown into the river, and an attempt was made to destroy the bridges. Mr Kinder, the head engineer of the line, laid the state of the case before the Toatoi of Tientsin, who is the . head director of the undertaking. Toatoi sent for the mandarin and addressed him thuß:—"To please yourself and friends you have destroyed the railway track. To please me you will put it back just as it was before. If one month from to-day the trains are not running the same as before, you lose your head, and your family and ancestors are disgraced. Mr Kinder estimates the damage and loss by non-runninar of trains at fifty thousand taels (^about L 2400), which sum you will have to pay out of your own funds to the company. For labor, all your officials, soldiers, and the townsfolk will work as you direct, j receiving no money for their labor ; and all salaries are stopped till the repairs are complete. I shall appoint a board of punishment to return with you, with power to torture and imprison anyone who makes the least disturbance or trouble." The mandarin begged for mercy on tho plea that as the country was all under water, he could not possibly get mud or stones wherewith to build the embankments. The Toatoi saw the force of this plea, and said ho would give him a chance. He could pull down any of the forts he liked in order to provide material for the repair of the railway, and he would give him three months after tho railway was completed to rebuild his forts at his (the . mandarin's) own expense. In rather under three weeks the trains were running again, and they are now rebuilding the forts. How long would it have taken to j bring about the same result in England ? i —Truth.

The latest addition to farming pursuits is in vogue in portion of France, where they go in very extensively for the breeding of rabbits. The writer of an article in the National Review states that the profits derived from the sale of rabbits' I wool — which is found to be superior to that grown on sheep — is such, as to render the returns considerably larger than from any other small farming operation. A. woman sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment at Lyttelton for stealing luggage went about her work in an impudent and open manner. As there was a crush j at the station, she assisted herself, and was making her- way. towards the Takapuna, whe» Major Douglas and a clergy- \ man, taking pity on seeing her struggling with the luggage, assisted her and put the packages on board the steamer without discovering that they were helping her to make away with their own luggage. Major Douglas failed to recognise his own Gladstone bag. The newest fad is to have one's character told by one's feet (says the Boot and Shoe Trades Journal). Corns are translated into bad temper. Small fat feet mean tliafc their owners are quick, energetic, and given to flirtation. A long narrow foot indicates aesthetic tendencies and a reserved disposition. The proper thing to do is to have a cast taken of your right foot. From ifc a professor of chiropody can tell you everything about yourself. Large, well-formed feet indicate breadth of mind and firmness of purpose. Broad-soled, flat-heeled feet show a mean, grasping disposition ; a high instep, a nervous, passionate nature ; and a wellformed, neat little ankle, self-consoious-ness and vanity. Mr B. C. Faurot, president of the Columbus, Lima, and North - western Railway, has completed contracts with My John W. Young, eldest son of the late Brigham Young, the Mormon prophet, whereby they are to share possession of about 3,000,000 acres of land in Northern Mexico, granted to Mr Faurot by the Mexican Government three years »go, on tho stipulation that a railway ..would be builb from Deeming, New Mexico, to Cashilambompa Bayou, on tjhe Pacific coast. Mr Young reports Jiat 15,000 people are ready tp cojonjso

this grant, and there is axcelletit reason for believing that; they are all Mormons anxious to leave Utah. Since the Gentiles obtained practical control of Salt Lake city the Mormons have been quietly seeking a new location. Mr Young, who is an extensive railroad contractor, has recently completed a large Utah contract. A small colony of Mormons has already settled on lands adjoining Mr Faurofc's proposed colony, where they are free from the restrictions of tlio United States Government, and can practice and teach polygamy without hindrance. The Secretary of the Nelson Club, writing to the Wanganui Football Club, says the annual match will have to fall through. He attributes tho scarcity of good players to the fact " that the Banks and Government seem to treat Nelson as a health resort for invalids, and have removed most of their good men and filled their places with fellow 3 who are half-dead and unfit for any kind of sports." In St. Antonio, Texas, recently, there was a "great cattle lassoing contest of cowboys," in which it is claimed the world's record was beaten, Will Capps tying down a steer in 43£secs. Some of the contestants were seriously injured. The London News, in commenting on the Nicaragua Canal scheme, says America seems about to triumph by sheer persistency ; in half of Monocal's anticipations are realised, he will rank among the world's greatest engineers. It is rumored (writes a London correspondent) that the Poet Laureate has a new sheaf of verse almost ready for the press, and that another slim green -backed volume may be anticipated when autumn brings round tho usual announcements of the publishing world. In Great Britain 100 cities taxed themselves for public libraries. I The largest tonnage passenger steamer ' on the Atlantic is tho City of Paris — . 10.000. Eighty thousand strangers visit New York daily. Husband — "I don't think much of that Bramble girl." Wife—" Well, you had better not." A London matrimonial agent boasts of having arranged 40,000 marriages between members of all classes of society,