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Southland Times, Issue 4630, 14 May 1883, Page 2

Pbe-sessional.— MrH. Feldwick, M.H.R. for Invercargill, addresses his constituents ir the Theatre Royal to-night, Dieect Steam.— The arrival of the New Zealand Shipping Co.'s chartered steamship British Queen will be found in our shipping column. £,The New Location. — The Rev. J. Hobbs will take up his residence at Gore, we are informed, and will minister to the spiritual wants of the Anglican denomination in the very large district around. The Stab of Bethlehem. — The Berlin correspondent of the Daily Telegraph sajs: — The reappearance of the Star of Bethlehem is predicted by astronomers for this year or the next. On November 11th, 1572, Tycho de Brahe discovered a star in Cassiopeia, which equalled Sirius, and even Venus in brightness for a month, and then fell back into its former insignificance. Conjecture has sought to establish a connection between this ephemeral phenomenon and two similar apparitions in 1264 and 945. A not unnatural inference was that the pame increase in volume of this remarkable star occurred before 945, which would bring us to about 630 and 310 and to tbe date qf the Nativity, The star is now again due. A Daughter of Nap°leon I.— A daughter of the first Napol«on and of a young lady of noble family whom Napoleon met in Cologne in 1811, has just died in that city. She was known as the Countess Falkenberg, and for the last twenty years of her life had been so poor that she was compelled to work as a dressmaker, and was buried at the expense of the parisb, She lWed in one small room, upon the walls of which were several portraits of the Bonaparte family, and just before ftej? .Jjteatii she asked the woman who was nursing &er to gijre her a packet of letters ,out of a drawer ajwjl bad th/sm burnt. Napojeon Jbad her, educated in jtafy, wjiere she fived for many years, but having sp,en£ what (little fD^tun^e she bad, she came back to Cologne about £wsnty years ago. A resident at Cologne who waa acquainted wjith her cir r cumstanees sent a petition to the late JSmpemr asking bim to help herj but noting was done, and the only pecuniary assistance she received of late was an allowance of thirty marks a months from a family living on the banks of the Rhine, and related to t/wgojQ B<W»pwte, Kipg of Weetpfaalia,

Hospital Retubns.— lndoor patients, 17 males, 1 female ; admitted during the week, 5 males; discharged, 3 males, 1 female. A Pababisb won Insurance Companies. — The City of Mexico is a good place to live I in fot people who are afraid of fire. There hasn't \been a fire for three years where the damage amounted to over 300 dols. The ! i buiUhngß are fire proof,. built o£ solid maspnt^j witb'itbne staircases, and roof and 'floors; of brick and ceaaent, . : A Fjij^ r Margin. — A gentleman resident in town has favored us with a copy of a small handbill picked up by his brother in Leaden, hall market, London. It sets forth that John B.p liter, meat salesman, is prepared to sell New Zealand mutton, ex s.s. Sorrento, at the following prices^ exclusive • of carriage : — Sheep, or sides, B^d per lb ; Saddles and loins, 9d and ' 9£d ; shoulders, 9d ; hind quarters, 10d ; fore quarters, 7£d ; legs, with neckri or breastPj 9£d ; shoulders, with necks or breasts, 8d ; necks, 7d ; and breasts, s^d. FooTBAiiL.— A game was played on Saturday afternoon on the Eastern Reserve between the Cential School and the South School, and resulted in an easy victory for the representatives of the Central, they securing several goals, and a considerable number of " tries I ', while their opponents failed to score. The onesidedness was evidently owing to the superior age and weight | of the Central School boys ; for the South lads played a cominendably vigcious and plucky game. Master Liddle gave satisfaction as umpire. | Tis Mines in Mexico. — The Toledo (U.S.A.) Blade says the first ton of Mexican 1 tin ever imported, recently crossed the border. Mr Henry Freeman, an Australian tin-mining engineer, waa led by allusions in old Spanish writers, to search for the metal in the district between Durango and Chihuahua. He was very successful, finding large lodes and placers near the former place. He has secured large bodies of the land for St. Louis capitalists, who propose working them, and therefore it may be fairly anticipated that we will no longer be dependent on Europe and Australia for our supply of tin. The ore is very rich, yielding 73 per cent, of fiae, clear, good-textured metal. And Why Not?— ln conversation with a friend the other day, Mr Peter Dalrymple stated that he was about to make an effort to get up an invitation to Mr W. E. Gladstone, Premier of Great Britain, to visit New Zealand. This, he thinks, would be a wellearned and beneficial respite from Mr Gladstone's legislative dities, and, at the same time, a good advertisement of our colony. Mr Dalrymple is sanguine that the Premier will be here before the completion of the first section of the Seaward Bush railway. There is an Ambiguity about that gtatement that Mr Dalrymple may or may not have intended — he is qui<"e " pawky " enough for ihe latter course. The idea of a " grand tour " by Mr Gladstone of the immense empire of which he has so long and acceptably beld the reins of power is a moat pleasing one and would form a fitting close to his public life. A Natsrow Escape. — There was very nearly a smash at tbe railway station on Saturday morning. A dray had beea backed up to the goods shed, and it and the horse attached were across the siding, between two vans which were required for a train then being made up. The train was pushed down the siding to attach the vans, and the signalman perceived the dangerous condition of the horse and dray. He called out and made signs to attract the attention of tbe drayman f but his gestures were taken by the enginedriver to mean an instruction to put on more steam . The speed of the train was consequently increased, and the prospects of that horse and dray looked anything but bright. Fortunately the drayman sprang out of the goods shed, and, seizing the horse's head, got him and the cart clear of the line just in time. Had a serious accident occurred the fault could not have been attributed to any of the railway employes. The arrangement of the buildings, sidings, &c, waa the cause of the occurrence, and it is well that in the alterations now being effected the removal of this shed is intended, A Sad Stohy.— News was lately received at Lerwick from the island of Papa Stour, which lies to the west of bhetland, of a very melancholy accident which occurred there a few weeks ago. A boy named John Johnston, 15 years of age, had gone out to the hill in the morning to fetch home peat, and not returning as the day advanced, apprehensions began to be felt for his safety. Men went out in search, and finding the trace of his footsteps in the snow, discovered that he had not gone direct to the hill, but had evidently proceeded to the north-east side of the island to the cliffs, in search of rabbits. His dog was there, running about in a distracted Jstate. The mark of his body was found in the snow, where he had fallen over the cliff, a height of about 1 50 ft, His body has not yet been recovered, and has probably been carried away by the sea. His fait&fal VF^' u l ci not leave the spot, fc>Tat remained there all day, and only returned home for a short time, Next morning the poor animal again took up its watch on the top of the cliff. The decea«ed was the only remaining son of poor parents, who have only recently lost four of their children. The sad affair has cast p gloom over the whole island, and much sympathy is felt for the bereaved parents. The Flying Machine Fad— The London Engineer says that no combination of wings will enable a man to fly until he can wield them with as much muscular power to the pound weight as a bird exerts in flying. If a man had in his legs the muscular energy and leverage of a flea, he cou'd jump a mile in three leaps, and if his arms had, in proportion to his weight, the drivicg power of a wild pigeon's wing, be would have no use for railways or balloons. The transportation problem would be solved. Moving himself so easily and so swiftly, he would not need to move anything else. The albatross, weighing 28 pounds, can keep its wings, 13 feet from tip to tip, in motion all day, while the strongest man, weighing six to eight times as much, would exhaust all his strength in keeping even an albatross' wings in motion half-an-hour. "We have in the bird," says the Engineer, " a machine burning concentrated fuel in a large grate at a tiemendous rate and developing a veryjiarge power in a small space. There is no engine in existence— certainly no steam-engine Bnd boiler combined — which, weight for weight, scives out anything like the mechanical power exhibited by the albatross." Consequently, no machinery yet devised can operate wings with sufficient power to sustain its own weight in the air, and there is no known machinery by which a man can wield the force necessary to fly like a bird. Keely's alleged discovery, or some new process of storing and exerting great electric power in apparatus of light weight, might supply the deficiency ; but science has not learned how to develop in inanimate machinery anything like the mighty nervous energy which acts in the bones, sinews and muscles of a living bird's wing.