Correspondence. STATISTICS OF RAILWAYS

Colonist, Issue 29, 29 January 1858, Page 3

Correspondence.

STATISTICS OF RAILWAYS

$*T We desire particularly to state ihatwe do not by any means hold ourselves responsible for either the doctrines or mere statements of 6uf correspon~ dents. All letters lohieh appear Under this heading are written by parties entirely unconnected with the management of the paper. .

THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL AND THE "OPPOSITION." " Man has a right to speak all things, write all things, think all things, but not to impose liis opinions." To the Editor of the Coldnist: Sir, —Allow me to make a few remarks on the fifth session of the Provincial Council, so far as it has gone, and on the " Opposition " in it. The members thereof having been almost to a mau, regular in their attendance, and active in discharging their duties, already-many measures of vital importance to this province have been passed'; these I need not now particularise. But in giving credit to the members of the said Council for making the best possible use of their time to the public business and advantage, I must except a few members thereof, whom I must accuse, and I think very justly, of wasting not only the time of the Council, but their own also; but probably they think their time very profitably employed; but the public think otherwise. This, the reports of their speeches in the newspapers sufficiently prove.

I allude to those who may be termed the opposition members—numerically very small— in having raised a debate on the Lapsed Bills, with a vievr<to censure'the Superintendent. Dr. Monro, poor felldw"foaving, when just upon the point of gaining the Superintendentship, had " the cup of happiness " dashed from his lips—seems to be beside himself. He revenges himself for the mortification he experienced, like a child, and seems to take advautage of theslightest occasion for attacking the Superintendent and the Provincial Executive. He will find to his cost such a game cannot be played with advantage to himself or party, or the disadvantage of the Government. The confidence of the public and a large majority of the members of Council is so great, and justly so, that any opposition to the Superintendent and Government must fail. Tha manner in which the debate od the Lapsed Bills was carried on by the Provincial Secretary, showed clearly no blame was to be attached to the Superintendent, but to the Colonial Secretary, who was convicted of gross delay and negleot of the vital interests of this province.

Dr. Monro is surely by this time fully convinced that his day for being Superintendent— an office which he evidently still covets with extreme eagerness—has not yet arrived, and probably never will. At any rate, his present mode of action in the Council is not even calculated to ensure him respect. His temper is of the worst possible description ; and in Council he does not fail to show this. Of the small band of some half-dozen members of the Opposition who stick to him as their leader with the greatest tenacity, and natter themselves no doubt that that band will increase, and some of them fill the offices of Superiuteodent and meoibars of the Executive, I need say nothing, save Ex uno disce omnes. It would be much better if these would lend their aid. to those desirous of promoting the welfare of the pro vince, instead of foctiously opposing measures calculated to attain that end, and seeking to establish themselves in power and place to the injury of the best interests of the province. I hope " a word to the wise may be in future sufficient for them;" but>©a some people words and advice are useless, and something more stringent is required. An opposition is often beneficial to a Government, and a. fair opposition no one cm complain of; but really, when any body of men descend to paltry dodges and gross puerilities, they are not entitled to notice, much less to the confidence and respect of the public ; they but make " laughing stocks " of themselves.

Hoping that I have not trespassad too much on your sjace, and on the patience of your readers, and trusting this humble effusion may be inserted in your next paper, Believe me, Sir, your obedient servant, CIVIS.

Nelson, January 25th,

To the Editor of the Colonist.

Mr. Headyter, Sir, —Can you pleas to tel us wen Mr. Liteland is to get the boneass they promiss for fining gowld? Why we hav got thousans and thousans of it an no boneass comes out. Suer you Nelsoners cannut like to part wid your money. Was nut it a kin of proraissorry nought you gav to anny lukkv disciveror ? Nou hough do you keep your word ? 1 tell you, Sir, you Nelson gents seem to want to snake out of it—that's no fluttary that's flat. You brag aboot gowld, an sa you hav fund plenttey, bud yow hackt as if its no fund at hole. Vary drawl peepel yow ar to incuri'idge trayde. Mr. HeaiJy.ter, I do nut meen yow, hud a click as tha sa at wahtts sem to d«jo write. But if tha carinought pa up lett hem giv a tree monts nowt, and get soni ritch Wyrowera to bakk it. Its a haired cayse to fine yow hawl this gould an yow wont pa a nugget to keep yowr words evid. Your words are verry sheep when tha casst nodting. Bud Sir we laix to yow. Tri an get it. I donet want yow to be purseanall ab.>wt it, bud yow must get it in the write hands. Dear Sir, it will pleas all the diggins if yow. stir it up at get all the gowld that ass been promissd for finin it. All Collin Wood is alikeriof'one mine. It is full of this gowld appear at prensence. Severill gents has mad hurryations on it quiet cipitall. Bud thinges all seatn to go rong. Why the Xaminer seems to be crakt for she sais shed 'Mike to see the screaming and muttering lunatics removed from the neighbourhood of the Government offices, and the whole range of buildings devoted to public business." Poor thinge ! Shes far goun. I hav thowt so long. She tokes such bad dirty langwidge. I fear her headeater has lost the, little loos stuff he hadent qwite in bis nod-dull. He mite lett Counsil and Resident and Postoovyae, but his heads ready for a blister. God help him and y°urs > .

JAMES JABYIS.

Mudflite, Jan. 22, 1858.

[Our worthy correspondent, Mr.- Jarvi*, writes as if it were in our power to settle the matter of the bonus, so long talked about There appears to have been a goodly period of delay, in adjudicating on the conflicting claims of persons for the discovery of a workable goldfield. The long time elapsed since the first establishment of the certainty of the said finding, would stem to offer some reason of complaint; but at last, the arbitrators have fixed a'day, Thuf sday, the 4th of February next, for hearing all the evidence on the subject. 'We hope, therefore, the decision will not be a tedious chancery procrastination. Mr. Lightband's! numerous friends and supporters, who assign to his claim, as fef as we have beard > at the digging} arid

everywhere else, a vast amount of preference over all others, would do well to moderate their expectations in his favour; for, as the arbitrators must be guided by plain and satisfactory testimony alone, all pretensions, however just, should be confined to calm consideration of the entire case. Public opinion does certainly flow almost altogether in one direction, but still it behoves us all to reserve judgment carefully.-— Ed. Colonist.

To the Editor of the Colonist. Respected Friend, —Thou wilt much oblige mysdf and some others to explain what " Tu Brute" means, as published in thy paper? Some think it has reference to the brute creation. I have too high an opinion of thy ability to suppose thotl would'st look for a term to express a great and clever man as among the inferior animals. Not being a classical scholar, and not finding the term in the usual dictionaries, thou wik" do me and some others a favour to explain in next issue. Thine respectfully, ISAAC HOLE.

27th Ist mo., 1838,

To the Editor of the Colonist,

Sir,—'l have been looking for the last three months for the award of the gold bonus. Whoever deserves it should be able to receive it without more delay. How it can be so long witheld honourably is very doubtful. At all events, the reputation of the parties who promised the bonus, is now rather at a discount at the diggings.'1 They"surely do not wait for the claimant, Mr. Lightband, or any other undoubted party with a just title to it, to petition for it. At any rate it is quite time the affair was settled.

Yours, &c, OBSERVER.

Nelson, Jan. 25th, 1858.

To the Editor of the Colonist,

Sir,—The doctrine of coincidence has been exemplified in a remarkable manner of late. When great men have been accused of plagiarism in writing or in speech, the plea of coincidence of ideas has generally been successful. The same result may probably happen in the recent case of chastisement you received from two different aud antagonistic quarters almost at the same moment.

Allusion of course is made to the reffiarkable but not characteristic epistle of Mr. Saunders, and the semi-coaxing semi-threatening leader of your contemporary. I have no doubt but this peculiar agreement of such opposite elements will convince your readers and the public that you are following a straight course, unbiassed by party or faction, or personal consideration.-

It is the strong desire of all I have held communication with on the point—that you should still proceed in your career in the same style; —that neither the pecuniary advantage of solitary subscriptions, nor the coaxing, patronising glances of your contemporary will never smother the rough rude energy of your youth, nor the calm judgment of your manhood ; —that you will never dwindle down into tame respectability, nor lapse into insipid conversatisin. BKOADHINT.

To the Editor of the Colonist,

Sir,-—After having read over several times S. P. T.'s last letter, I still remained doubtful how to answer it. I thought most certainly I cannot agrea with him in this, that those "mental sufferings " which he supposed wovild produce insanity, as he- reasoned they would, and did ; on the contrary, I thought that they could, but did not produce it. Then, that insane persons with a depressed state of mind often unexpectedly fall into a mania furibunda, with a tendency to destroy or kill, was clear and right enough ; but as the first suggestion did not require any commentary, the second had nothing to do with our unsettled question. At last it occurred to my mind that S. P. T. did belong to the adherents of Dr. Gall's antique doctrine, and I found it the most to the purpose, of meeting him in this capacity. I hinted in my letter at that fatal influence, which an illusory term, as mania transitoria has evinced upon jurisprudence, but I would not lament so much its introduction, when its applicability was to be supported by phrenological reasonings, as I could then be pretty well convinced that no jurisprudence would ever become so dissolute as to bend under such fatalism. Would ndt that phrenological theory of" localisation" necessarily imply the abnegation of free will, and lead to fatalism in its grossest form? Why, when there is any truth in it, should I be responsible for my actions when they are caused by a part of my brain being in this or that state, which I cannot amend ? When there is truth in it then, the reformer of Geneva, with his desolate and deadening theory must have been the perfectest phrenologist, and we are compelled to call it nece.-sity or instinct when the judge in our Criminal Court still adheres to the former practice of inflicting punishment for offences which are in reality committed by necessity. I certainly acknowledge that I measure the state of mind according to the actions produced, and why should it be different ? Is not the thriving freshness and growth of a plant a certain index of the internal beaLh of its constituents ? Or is it fairer to examine the root of a tree in place of its crown, to ascertain what sort of fruit it bears ? But could S. P. T. convince me that it is surer to judge according to his theory, I would willingly become his proselyte, although I fear Be will not be able to do so. Gall was living more in dreams than in reality, and his followers have up to this time not been able to give any moie satisfaction, to the dissecting mind of the anatomist, or the scrutinising eye of the phrenologist. Phrenology has never, and will never be any thing more than a Speculative business of Charlatans. . The brain is certainly still as incomprehensible in its functions, and is as subtile and complex in its anatomy,- and for that reason alone we may fairly consider it plausible enough that phrenology is of no benefit whatever in psychiatrical investigations.

Before I conclude this, I must suggest to S. P. T. that he seems to me not to have a clear and strict definition of mania transitoria proprie sic dicta, neither doe3 George Combe's case fall into this category, but it certainly shows a great deficiency in the juridical court, and when such cases ate very numerous in the annals of criminal jurisprudence in Scotland, as Combe contends, it is really deplorable.

THETA,

[We have great respect f it German thinkings, yet we cannot but regard the exact and tangible findings of the phrenological school more reconcilable with every branch of induotive philosophy, particularly the science of mind, than any of those sublime theories that have been propounded oh the airy abstract reasonings of certain German sophists, who are now reviving exploded mysticism in every form of sentimentality. The Anatomy of the Brain, by one of the most

successful of continental phrenologists, a countryman, we take it for granted,; of our correspondent, is a study worthy of either English or German students.—Ed. Colonist.~\

ANOTHER MORMON MEETING. r ' (From the Globe,) ■ On Monday night the Mormon Conference was brought to a close by a social meeting at the Teetotal Hall, Broadway, Westminster. Tbe proceedings were certainly of such a character as were never witnessed in a " conference " be-' fore. The attendance was not very numerous, but it comprised a-1 the leading members of the coufereuce. At the outset the assemblage engaged^ in singing, in a loud strain, one of their favourite hymns, led on by Elder Bernard, to the tune of " The Low-backed Car." The purport of this song was the long lo>ked-for day when they would all get to Zion (Utah). It seemed to be rather a painful effort to Brother Bernard, and it was decidedly so to those ;of the audience who happened not to be Mor-f mons. ';

Brother Silver, one of the elders, next obliged* the company with a " little harmony/' It was something about—

" I never knew what jcJy was " Till I became a Mormon, &c."

Several songs and recitations were giyen,

One of the elders sang a s>ng styled " Sectarian Nonsense," one verse of Which ridiculed the absurdity of a man when he is ilLgbiag to a doctor/ as' the Gentiles (/.e., all who are not Mormons) do, instead of going to an elder of a church to be healed. .

One of the Yankee elders, fresh from the Salt Lake Valley, said he "felt fust rate." He could fetch in firing, if they wanted it; and he calculated he was always "to hand " when any body was wanted to move the fixins, to hunt up the lost sheep, or to drive the oxen. When anything of this kind was to be done he wag always to hand, to do the best he ooiild*; but he wasn't much of a hand at discoursing. He drew a pitiable picture of the heathenism of this country, and gave a glowing description of the enlightenment and happiness of the saints in Utah.

A Mr. Harrison, who was dne of thd very few Englishmen among these Mormon propheis, next addressed the meeting, He said that Mormonisui and its professors were not to be judged by existing standards; for they were far beyond and above them. It had been said that Mormonism was unnecessary, because there was nothing new in it that was trite, and nothing true in it that was new. This was not the case. It supplemented the revelations of the Bible,and completed them. They had been accused of saying nothing yesterday of polygamy; The polygamy they advocated was not the lustful polygamy of the Orientals* The polygamy of the Mormons was a system which controlled the lusts, and passions of mankind aud reduced the marital duties to some kind of system. Mormonism did not allow men and women to rush into matrimony as dictated by their passions, and without any guiding principle. Mormonism came to them with principles adapted to every condition of a man's life; it entered into the privacy of the chamber, and controlled every action. It taught men to act as God would have them act. This was the difference between the Mormonite polygamy and the Oriental system.

The congregation then indulged in some doggrel verses, which they sang to the popular air of 'Minnie/ of. the words of which song thejr psalm was a wretched parody. '■';.

Elder1 George Read then recited a piece about" The Bishop's Banquet/ describing the good living of the rev. prelates—a recitation which was singularly mal apropos and in verybad taste, seeing that it was immediately followed by the Mormonite refreshments—apples and pears on damp and dirty waiters, with little cakes and biscuits, which were stale and unsavoury. These were washed down by copious draughts of pump water from large jugs. Another Elder then indulged in a little harmony about ' Sleepy Parsons,' the chorus to which was— ■ :

" Heigho! you sleepy parsons ! "Ha I ha! ha! ha! what a lark! " After all your college learning " You will find you're in the dark." The very1 reverend elder gave this song with much,vigour to the air of a well-known nigger melody, 'Oh, Susannah, don't you cry for me,' and he added to the effect by vigorous slaps of his hands upon the stalwart thighs, after the most approved fashion of the Ethiopian serenaders. The effort was very much relished by the audience, who loudly applauded.

Sister Pearce and several other sisters sub* sequentiVf-sang. . An Elder, with a strong Yankee brogue advised- the sisters to sell off all their ornaments, which to6k them so long every day to dust, and to put the money into the emigration fund, to euable them " to gather out of Babylon"—that. is, to leave this country for Utah. The Apostle Orson Pratt then gave the* sisters some advice on the subject of marriage. He said that • marriage, if celebrated by the Mormon Church, which alone had full authority, extended not only till death, but throughout eternity. He urged them not to marry mea not Mormons, or else when they awoke in the Day of Judgment they would find themselves without husbands, and be obliged to remain single throughout eternity< This ha described to be, a horrible eventuality, and propounded the doctrine that a propagation of spirits would go on in a future world, jurit as the propagation of our species go on in this.

Ezra Brown, another Apostle from the Salt Lake Valley, addressed the audience in his shirt sleeves. His speech was full of Yankee humour, rather course, but it told well with the saints., He said he felt "fust rate." He referred to. the subject of marriage, and to his own wives and children whom he had left in Utaty and said he believed that all his wives would not apostatise, and that therefore he would not be likely to undergo the misery of remaining single in heaven. He described Brigham Young as the best and holiest man in the world, and said he did not wonder at the sisters falling in love ■,, with him. Every good man, he said, ought to have more than one Wife. He said he would advise the editors who abused them to corisult their works, and they would find everything "as right as taturs/' He indulged in a variety of jokes of the same class.

The proceedings terminated shortly after 10 O'clOCk. ' ■■■"-.; -..::.

(We omit to record some of the more improper sayings and doings of the evening.)

An American Way of Detecting Murder. —The astonishing and intensely interesting fact wa3 recently announced of a discovery that the last image formed on the retina of the eye of a dying person remains impressed upon it, as on a daguerrean plate; Thus, it was alleged that if the last, object seen by a murdered person was

his .murderer, the portrait drawn upon the eye would remain a fearful witness in dea'th, to detect the guilty anil lead tohisconyiotioii;' A series of experiments have' recently been made by Dr. Pollock, of Chicago, to test /the;correctness of this statement. In eaclh, experiment that Dr. P» has) made, he has found that an examination of the retina of an eye with a microscope reveals a wonderful as ; \vell as'a beautiful sight, and that in almost evety instance there was a clear, distinct, and marked impressioiL The recent examination of the eye of J. Be^rdsley, who Was murdered in Auburn* conducted by Dr. Sandford, corresponds with thos& made elsewhere. The fellowirig is the published' account of the examination :—^At first we suggested the saturation of the eye in a weak S)lu^ tton of atrophine, which evidently produced ah enlarged■ .state, of the pupil. On observing this we touched the end of the optic nerve with the extract, when the eye instantly became protuberant. We now applied a powerfuriens.aud discovered in the pupil the rude, wom-awiiy fig.ire of a man, with a light coat, besides whom was a rounl stone, standing or suspended in the air, with a small handle stuck as it were in the eath. The remainder was debris, evidently.lost from the destruction of the optic and its separation from the-mother brain^ ;'Had we peiformed this operation when the,eye was entire in the socket, with all its powerful connexion with the brain* there is not the least doubt but thafc^we should have detected the lasfcoidea and "impresiioti made on the eye of the unforttlnateman. The thing would evidently be eptire; and perhaps we should have had the coatour, or, better still, the exact figure of the murderer. The last impression before death is alWajrs more terrible on the brai a from fear than from any other cause; and figures impressed on the. pupil more distinct, which we attribute to the largeness of the optic and its free communication with the brain,

Thb Moniteur du Calvados states that a workman of Orne, in that department,' having read in some foolish book of the great properties possessed by a rope which had served to,hang a man, committed suicide and left behind him the following note :—•" Farewell my wife and children! as I have no fortune to bequeath I leave you an article which will enable you tq succeed in all your attempts. Divide amongst you the rope with which I have hanged myself." ■' ' "•■■ ■•■- ::- •'.■■■ ; r

Fa*e of Liberators.—So it is, and must always be, my dear boys. If the Angel Gabriel were to come down from Heaven, and head a successful rise against the most abominable and un* righteous vested inte'rest which" tills poor old world groans under, he would most certainly lose hi3 character for many years, probably for centuries, not only •frith upholders of said vested interest, but with the respectable 1 niass of the people whom he had delivered} They would not ask him to dinner, or let their names appear with his in the papers; they would be very careful how they spoke of hirii in the palaver at. their clubs. What can we expect then, when we have only poor gallant blundering men like Kossuth, Garibaldi, Mazzini, and righteous causes which do, not triumph iu their hands; men who have holes enough in their armour, God knows, easy to be, hit by respectabilities sitting in their lounging chairs, and' having large balances at their bankers; But you are brave, gallant boys, who hate easy chairs, and, have no balances or bankers. You only want, to, have your heads set straight to take the right side, so bear in mind that majorities, especially respectable ones, are nine times out of ten in the" wrongs and that if you see a man or boy striving; earnesflgT on the weak side, howevei' wrongheaded or blundering he may be, you are not to go and join the cry against him* If you can't join him, arid make him wiser, at any rate remember) that he has found something in the world which he will fight and suffer for, which is just what you have got to do for yourselves, and to think and speak of him tenderly.— Tom Brown's School Dayi.

Juvenile Heroism.—Lately, a boy named Williams happened to be walking on the banks of the river near the town, and whilst amusing himself with throwing stones into the Water, the bank gave way with him, and he was pi'ecipitated into the stream. Master Arthur Battye, who chanced to be near the spot, instantly threw himself into the water at. a spot where the river is very deep, and at the imminent peril of himself, succeeded'in bringing the boy, who was considerably larger than himself, in safety to dry land, though much exhausted and unable for more than a hour afterwards to express his gratitude to his preserver. It is seldom that we have it in our power to chrdriiclie so notable an instance of heroism in brie of such youthful yeaiu.— Bathurst Free Press. .■■'-."

Hasipstead HEATH.-*lt was a hot day, with so fierce a sun that every cab and carf that passed along the road by the heath drove through the pond on the top to freshen the horses. . The gnats were flying about the donkey's ears, .and they—poof bruteH-^werfl most of them lying down on the sandy ground, sleeping till their time of torment arrived. But though it was three o'clock, and brougham's had all drive!n up to 'Jack Straw's Castle,' and dinners had been ordered, yet no donkey riders appeared) All the proprietors were in a dreadful state of excitement at the prospect, of so bad a day's.work, and the men in flannel jackets, with their whip's and Bticks under their arms, were spread out.alqng the road watching like skirmishers for any. one advancing. ' I never saw anything like it,' cried Mr; Sparkler, unloosing, in despair, the girths of some of his stud, 'Fine weather seems thrown away on some people. They deserve to be drowned in rain.' • Bad doings! bad work!' answered Mrs. Suttey, a proprietress of six animals; 'we shan't get a little loaf to-day, much less a big one,1 and addressing her assistant, she added, ' you'll have td go without your meat to-day, Bill.' Another of the owners remarked, mournfully,./ Sorry I ain't se n mare gallop to-day, Tobias,-' ' I've only had two out this morning,' said Mr. Sparkler.' ' Old Milkmaid and Maria Punch is'going over to Highgate, but that won't pay rent.' Whilst they were lamenting their-want of customers, a gbVerness with two- young ladies by her side, threw the whole, flannel jacket crew into confusion by, making signals expressive of a desire to take assim'ne exercise. It instantly became a tiißsel as to who should have the job, Or, to use the words of the boys themselves, ' it was a regular scrummage for the gals.' Before the imprudent fair ones advanced ten paces on" to the sward,- they behe'd some twenty men arid some fifty donkeys rushing at full speed towards them. 'Hi.' hi! hi!' roared the drivers, urging on the galloping squadron before them'.—' Here you are mum ! here's Lady Snuffers the bdst as ever wore a bridle,' cried one. ' Little Everlasting Teakettle, miss, the pride of Hampstead,' shouted another. ' Gentleman Jerry, ladies, a real blood donkey,' roared a third. Dreadfully frightened'by the terrible position they were in, feeling themseves being gradully suffocated by the long eared herd, with a black nosed donkey pushing its nose in the ribs on one side, and another animal, with a cold in his head, rubbing against the"mantil a on the other, the three forlorn damsels allowed themselves to be lifted off the ground'by the first that dared to" lay hands on them, and before they had even tiirie to scream they were seated in their saddles and. being .led away. Then abuse from the disappointed fell in a volley on bonnets. ' You ought to be ashamed of yourself, you wicked old woman,' howled one at the governess* ' makin>r fools of havd-working-people.' ' You deserve to be chucked off, you young cat,' snarled another, at one of the young ladies. * ' If I was a gall I'd give you something should do" you more good than riding/ growled a third. And away the popr things were carried, the imaginary pleasure Qf the ride entirely dispelled by the idea that they had unconsciously done sqnie dreadful act'of injustice to tiio Hampstead donkey keepers.— Paved with Gold.

Suicide has lately been a thing of common occurrence at Vienna among tho. speculator! lit tho Bourse^— Home NfifofNovmbtr 16.

silver;

■ (bs sir g. stephenson.) Tse extent of railway now (LBj6) Completed izi Greafc Britain and Ireland is 8054 miles. These lines have cost £286,000,000.There are more than fifty miles of turineL There are 11 niiles of viaduct in the neighbourhood of London^ . The earthworks of the railways measure1 550,000,000 cubic yards. The earth thereof would form a pyranifd a mile and a half iii height, with a base larger than St.'James' Park'. Eighty millions of miles are run in the course of a • year by the trains'. , There are 5000 railways, engines; arid 150,000 working vehicles. The engines in a line would extend from London to Chatham. The vehicles from London to Aber- ' deeri. The various companies employ 90,000 officer* and ' servants. The engines consume annually 2,000,000 tons of coal'. In every tninute of time 4 tons of cdal convert intd " steam 20 tons of water". Ii) 1854,111,000,030 passengers were conveyed upon railways'; each of whom travelled an avorage of eleven miles. The receipts of railways in 1854 amounted to £20^215,000: The receipts of every railway have continued to in- " crease. 20,000 tons of iron requite to be replaced annually ' on account of' wear and tear'.' 26,000,000 wooden sleepers require to be replaced yeafly. ~ . '300,000 trees are1 annually felled to make good the decay of the sleepers. 300,000 trees require fbr-llieir growth &OQO acres of fdrest land*. , , . Trains carry upon ah average 200 passengers. ,I'SOO passengers at | of'a'penny per mile produced ' ss. 2 jd. per mile. But for the facilities afforded by railways the penny postage scheme could not have been carried out. £70,000,000 of money has been paid to landowners' and others as compensation for property interfered with by the lines. The electric telegraph extends Over 7200 miles, requiring 36,000 miles of wire. 30u0 persons dre employed by the electric telegraph'. 9000 men are employed directly upon the railways. 40,000 men are employed indirectly. , . . * Tin 50 of the entire population of the kingdom are dependant upon railways'; >, • . The anuual receipts of railways have reached £20,000,000, which is nearly half the amount of tiia ordinary revenue of the State. ; .. . ' ,:;' The saving of a farthing a mile in the expenses oi( t running the trains would make a difference of £80,000 ' a-year to the railway companies.— The Interview),

Sighing. —There is nut a more pernicious habit, nof one that grows more insensibly, upon a man, than that " of sighing. Besides wasting ' a great deal of good breath that we want for something better, it wearsa ' out the lungs;.it induces irregularity of respiration; it quickens the action of the heart; and it depresses ' the spirits—just as a hearty laugh exhilirates them1. With some, too, it is a mere habit H I have known some veiy eventempered men who seem to take it as : a sort of safetyvalve for blowing off superfluous wind from their chest; and so inveterate does it grow upon them that they come out with their supiratioris at all sorts of queer times and unsuitable occasions, treating it may be, a whole company who are listening to a witty raconteur, or a lively song, with a " heigh ho !" that is quite appalling. From whatever cause it arisen, I pronounce sighing to be a vain, pestilent and profitless operation, to be discountenanced alike by physician philosopher, and friend If a man is down in the world, it will not raise him; if he is sinking, it will not' float him,-if he is empty, it will not till him; and if he is poor, 'tis the worst way in the world to raise the wind. " A plague of sighing," says pleasant old Jack Falstaff, " it blows a man up like a bladder." It does worse, say I, it blows a man off like froth, from" a tankard of ale ; it blows a man out, like the flame from the wick of a caudle.— Dublin University Magazine. .'',.-

Hollow ay's Pills.—Persons of bilious habit, or who are liable to attack of dyspepsia, should " fortify their systems against the relaxating heat of . summer by a course of this mild aperient and alterative in- "the spring. ; (It not only regulates the secretions, and removes obstructions from the bovtjijlail v . ,„, bul braces and re-vitalizes the digestive powers,' when weakened by indulgence, or rendered torpid by. a sedentary life/ The testimony of invalids of both sexes and all ages hi every part of the globe, demonstrates beyond question that all internal diseases not resulting- from malformation are capable of being cured by this great remedy.

A Dangerous Visitor.—An alligatdr, some sbt or seven feet in length, has been seen, it is stated, at the Upper Hunter. These animals are very numerous in some of the northern rivers, and the straggling over of a "specimen" or two during these wet seasons seems tar from improbable: Indeed;, we have always been inclined to attribute} those stories of the mysterious bunyip, which have from time to time reached Sydney, to the presence of some of those creatures in the Southern waters' ■^—Sydney Herald.

The Rain Cloud and tiie Flower.—The ground is dry and hard, the sky intensely bluet; the hot rays of a summer sun are pouring down' upon the earth, and fields and gardens, trees and flowers pant for rain; Suddenly a rain cloud nd bigger than a man's hand seems to arise out of tho sea, and expanding, floats negligently in the deep sky, its dark black body edged with gold and

" Bless the rain cloud,' saith the parched earth*

- A little flower, pale and nearly dead, lifts up its head, and with a supplicating voice prays to tho rain cloud.

" 0 raiu cloud ! beneficent rain cloud ! let fall a drop of water into my cup: I am thirsty^ panting, dying : relieve my want, and may the God that made both thee and me, bless thee !"

But the proud rain cloud refused to listen to the prayer of the flower^ and carried its mighty self away, its dark black body edged with gold and silver. Yet the treasures of the rain cloud must be dispensed; and better, so the haughty vapour thinks, that it should fall on the ocead that needs it not, than the flower that perishes for .lack,of moisture: , ' , ~ . t . ~', ■ i . So the little flower drops its head and dies;

Such are the workings of Avarice.

A Moxsteu Snake.—Lately > a monster snake was killed near the Itun of Water, on the Yass-road, between two and .three miles from town. The reptile waa discovered in a large hollow log, which a wood carter was cuting through; After it was rendered harmless by two or three heavy blows on ■ the head, the log was split up for the purpose of , getting at the monster to measure it. It was found' to be abotit nine feet long, and of the thickness of a man's arm.— Sydney Herald.

A guard in the employment, of tile Midland Railway Company^ who.hail charge of a fast train, was engaged iu strapping on luggage at the top of ■ a carriage, when his iiead came in contact with a loot-bridge near Sileby station, and he was hurled off the carriage with great force. When picked up the unfortunate man presented a shocking ap~ " pearance, the upper portion of his head being com- ■ pletely riven oft, and lite, of course, quite extinct* — Hoine JSlewiy November 16. ,

." Bunkum." —The following circum-s stance gave rise to this term :-r-Aboiit the close of the last century there existed in the United States a notorious individual named • Colonel Bunkum. He was oi\ the stumporator genus, a great braggadocio, and an unfailing breaker of promises. On this account the^tatenients and promises.of pdpu-f larity hunters are aptly called " bunkum*'*