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Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6998, 9 June 1894, Page 3

Mrs Humphrey Ward made £30,000 by her second novel, "David Grieve." The following is the result of the French Derby : —Gospodar 1, Toujours, Styx 3. Thomas Delaney, who was concerned with another man named Horo m running an illicit still m a • forest near Warrnambool (Victoria), was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment, without the option of a fine. The phonograph is rapidly coming into favor with public men m the Old World. Lord Rosebery and Mr Balfour both use it, and the new Solicitor-General for Scotland dictates into one all his legal business, and sends the " records" to his confidential clerk m Edinburgh. 3_The Barnes Common murder m England is creating considerable interest. On May Ist a sporting butcher named Wells was found murdered on the Common, his head battered m with a heavy iron wheel tyre, which lay beside him. A man named Davies made a confession, which he subsequently contradicted, and it is now reported that he is insane. A rather extraordinary rumor has lately gained currency m the United States. It is to the effect that Great Britain is carrying on an insidious but certain process of undermining American influence m Nicaragua, and is making ready to construct the Nicaragua Canal with British capital, and control it, when constructed, with the aid and consent of Nicaragua-. Diphtheria m its worst form has appeared at Miepoll (Vie). Six children have succumbed to the disease, and others are seriously ill. It is stated by residents that the drainage from a butter factory m the vicinity is m a very bad condition, and the outbreak may be traceable to this. Tho Standard Dictionary which is just being issued by a New York firm is amonumental piece of compilation. The work was commenced four years ago. Considerably over 200 specialists and nearly 500 readers have participated m the labor of j its preparation, and up to date the cost of production has been close upon LIOO,OOO. The publishers boast that the work will be found extraordinarily rich and full, and they produce figures as evidence to bear out this statement. Here is a record of the words and phrases beginning with " A " given m the principal word-books up to date : —Johnson's Dictionary 2,886 words, Worcester's 6983, Webster's 8,358, Century 15,621, Standard 19,736. This is a startling illustration of the growth of tho English language.; The Wellington Post of Tuesday .says: — William Henry Harris, a middle-aged man, who was at one time a schoolmaster at Gisborne, and who is now serving a sentence of 12 months' hard labor for obtaining money by means of false cheques at Auckland, was charged at the Magistrate's Court with having forged and uttered a promissory note for £50. Accused was undefended. Evidence was given by Ivatt Graves, Secretary to the Wellington Loan Compauy, to the effect that on tho 15th December last the accused called at the company's office m Grey street and presented a promissory note, stating that the signature at the bottom was that of Mr Beswick, postmaster at Gisborne. Accused endorsed the note, which was forwarded for collection, and it was then found that the signature was not Mr Beswick's. William W. Beswick, Chief Postmaster at Gisborne, deposed that the signature was not his, but was a good imitation of his. The accused reserved his defence and was committed for trial. _£The Dunedin Star of Thursday has the following : —" A smart piece of telegraphy was recorded by the local telegraph officials yesterday. A cablegram to London was despatched at 2.30 p.m., and the reply received m Dunedin at 8*45 p.m. As a matter of fact, the reply was handed m at the London office at 9*7 a.m. (English time), but allowing for the difference of time between the two places, which is eleven hours and forty minutes, the actual time occupied m transmitting the message from London to Dunedin was one hour and fifty-five minutes. This is annihilating space with a vengeance, and is, we imagine, the best telegraphic feat over such a distance of wire ever performed m connection with this colony's work. .The message would have been transmitted over these circuits without break — Loudon to Teheran, Teheran to Bombay, Bombay to Singapore, Singapore to Banjowangie, Banjowangie to Adelaide, Adelaide to La Perouse, La perouse to Cable Bay, Cable' Bay to Dunedin, about 13,500 miles. Can a race that grew to its full stature amongst the marshes of the Baltic, the fiords of Norway, and the humid hills and dales of Britain hope to retain itspristine vigor on the sweltering plains of India or Australia, or m the ice-bound wilds of Canada ? Will a new type of Englishman finally evolve itself m Florida,inNew South Wales.and m Bechuanaland ? In short, will the Anglo-Saxon ever remain vigorous and fertile within the limits of the tropics ? On the answer to thesa questions, as the Lancet points out, great destinies hang. After pointing out the material for a solution of the question, our contemporary says : —" In New Zealand, tho position of which m the Southern Hemisphere corresponds rather to that of Italy than Great Britain m the Northern Hemisphere, tho people, it is shown, are losing tlie melancholy, restlessness and anxiety said to be characteristic of Englishmen, and are becoming cheerful and light-hearted, like the southern races of Europe. The pessimist, would, of course, reply here that by the absence of hard winters and severe struggles with tho elements, and through high wages and abundance of food, the New Zealander tends towards a mere dodo-like existence, which, by sapping his vitality, ■adll-Uad.nltimatclvtohiaextioction/' |