CLIPPINGS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 1897, 28 November 1877, Page 4

CLIPPINGS.

The Russians lost; 170,000 soldiers, m the Crimean "War ; the- English, French, and Turks, 150,000; and there were 15,000 Tartar victim's. Of this total, 324,800 were interred m, the Crimea. The engineer Jablichkoff has been sue-; cessfnl thus far with his electric ? light at the new opera house, Paris, where it made the gas lamp 3 hide their diminished ; heads. ' The unanimous opinion of: Parisians is that the light is superior to gas, though cold-looking ; it does hot hurt the eyes. Next week a contract; will be proposed to light the whole oi. the -immense house thirty per cent, cheaper, than with gas. Ladies do not' prefer the new light, it is as good as sunlight on a ball toilette. . : Tho Post of September 20th says : — A rumored disebvory. of : payable gold has; boon .made 'in the immediate vicinity of Wellington, oh tho eapt side of the; harbor, and that not only are some • diggers gottiug payable gold by surface: work, but also that ' the ' reef has been > struck, a piece of which being knocked off and analysed yielded. at the rate of4oz. to the ton. It is said the pro ; -j spectors are endeavoring .to keep the: discovery and ils locality profoundly secret. We do not vouch ■ for the ; accuracy of the report, Avhich has; nevertheless reached us from, a thoroughly credible source. . : . ' ; -l ! Melboumeiswell served with eloquent preachers. Mr Varley maintains hi 3 spell, and olairas about; 3,ooo .conversions here. Rev. Thomas Jones, at £1,200 per: annum, fills the i Metropolitan Independent. Church.- BeVv-C.' Strong and 01 Chapman, at • only '£Boo each,' have th 6 leading Presbyterian 'and ; Baptist Churches. Rev. Gervase Smith, ' D.l).', has ; come as a deputation from the English Wesleyari Cbriference, and is '_a I genuine preacher solid yet familiar,

direct and powerful. Varley is one of those men who care for nobody, and he lashes out right and left at the actual vices of the day and place, not indulging m mystic talk apropos of nothing. He loudly tells the women to "burn those feathers ! " — but they don't. The Tarrengower Times, referring to the Salt Lake m Mallee, says :— " That the inhabitants of the Wimmera gather the salt m summer time, when it becomes sufficiently dry to be fit for use. It makes excellent table salt, and requires little or no preparation. Indeed, it is frequently sent to the table m its natural state ; sometimes it is rolled out with a rolling-pin to refine it. Squatters U3e it extensively for their sheep to keep them fiee from fluke. In winter time the lake has the appearance of a large sheet of water, which at that time it really is, for the rain dissolves the salt. The most favorable time to visit the lake is m the summer, when the heat of the sun dries the water off the leaves, the beautiful white salt glittering and sparkling m the sun, as if strewn with diamonds." If they do not find gold m Taranaki it will not be for the want of searching for it. Ever since the day upon which a "prospect" was washed out of the gizzard of an unoffending duck made memorable m Bong by Thatcher, the comic vocalist, they have been on the hunt for a goldfield m Taranaki. A. late number of the Taranaki Herald says : — A telegram was received recently by a gentleman m town, stating that the greater part of £1,000 had been subscribed m Oamaru, for the purpose of prospecting Taranaki for gold, and that twenty-five shares had been reserved for this district. Six experienced diggers were to leave Oamaru by the first steamer for here, who will, on arrival, proceed to explore the whole of the district. The Dunedin Times says : — " The City of Dunedin can justly boast of the condition of its side-walks. It has a greater amount of asphalte pavement than any other city m the colony, and the paving is of a much superior quality. Wellington, one of the oldest towns m New Zealand, has scarcely any asphalte or any other kind of paving on its footpaths, while m Auckland the asphalte such as there is of it — has a greater tendency to stick to shoe soles than mother earth. That m Dunedin, on the contrary, is solid, smooth, and agreeable for walking purposes. In various parts of the suburbs at present men are employed putting down asphalte paths. Albany street has lately been adorned, and Cumberland and Castle streets north are being prepared for a like embellishment. Shortly there will not be a street m the city without a good and substantial pavement." What says Timaru 1 A number of very handsome anddurable articles of furniture have lately been manufactured out of New Zealand red pine, at Messrs putlirie and Larnach's New Zealand Timber and Woodware Factories Company's Works, Princessstreet. It is only recently that the red pine has been used m the manufacture of the better class of furniture, and its trial has proved most encouraging. In the show-room of the factory there are now cheffoniers, sideboards, small fancy tables, and a number of other articles made out of red pine, which look almost as well as the best cedar. A good deal of new work m kauri has been done. The kauri bedroom suites, Gothic style, and imitation inlaid, are worthy of special notice. The silver birch, being nearly as strong as hickory, has been foiind to be the best wood for ebonising for drawing-room furniture, and o considerable quantity is being used at the Factory. It is considered to be preferable for that purpose to the English beech. A large quantity of oak, totara, and cedar is also being used ; and the work of the Factory is steadily increasing. Speaking of the sweepstakes, D. W. Virtue writes to the West Coast Times as follows : — Seven thousand four hundred pounds have been engulphed during the last fortnight m these publican whirlpools, originated, carried on and finished by pure rapacity and avarice, without leference to the motives of religion, honour, fear, or shame. Merchants, lawyers, doctors, teachers, ; heads of public departments, and families have been willingly drawn m, and you, Bir, have published the disgrace. On the last 'occasion you informed us "That £200 was raised at the'last moment upon the rattle of the dice, from 1 parents^ young men, and mere children, and this is held up as an evidence of prosperity ; an argument as convincing as the gambler's last throw, which completes his ruin. Legitimate debts are left unpaid to supply and complete the infamy, and no murmur is made nor does the State; interfere. God has spoken to ub m his late fever visitation and His' voice ha 3 been disregarded ; the gambling mania ia proof against the warnings and monitions of God, of history, and of man."| The Russian Imperial Guard, which is' how reported to have been ordered to the front, is said to have' originated m a regiment which was styled.by Voltaire "The Praetarian Guard of Russia," and by; whose influence the revolution which dostroyed Peter HI. m 1772, to make room for Catherine 11., was mainly effected. An organized household brigade gradually; grew up around this nucleus, which, had attained large proportions when the [wars' of the first Napoleon occurred. The Rus- ' sian Imperial Guard figured conspicuously' m the most desperate battles of that great conflict. In the Crimean War, however, ', its Bhare was merely nominal, and sinee '. its close it has never been m the field at all; but it is believed by competent judges that its quality has not deteriorated, and that whenever called into battle it will give a good account of itself. • : . The Postmaster-General's Annual Report, issued to-day (says . the Globe, of Sept. 5), contains many curious facts. In Aberdeen a' person, was observed to deposit a letter m a disused street hydrant, and on the cover of the box- being removed three other letters were found, the senders of which had similarly mistaken the water pillar for a pillar letterbox. ■ .The lotters had 1 been passed into the box throngh the space formerly occupied by the tap-lever. In a newspaper which reached the Returned Letter Office were found to be enclosed four sovereigns, and m another a gold locket. Nor 'does this kind of recklessness appear only m connection with newspapers ; for a letter haying a yery large seal at the back was observed 1 m course of transit, and' on. the Beat, which had become slightly, chipped, being examined, gold coins of rthe value of 31 10s were discovered, to be embedded m the wax.; Miscellaneous articles," numbering 14,346, reached the Returned Letter Office, wholly destitute of xovers. The, Benders of newspapers very often infringe the 'regulations by sending unr authorized articles of various kinds,'concealed between the folds. ' , Of such enclosnres,:the fplloyring ambngat others were observed arid tobacco, ; collars, seaweed j : f erh'3- aid. flowers, gloves/: handkerchiefs, itrtoicp^tteriis, sermons, ptbek. ings, lace, postage stamps, and moheyDurihg the' fifteen months^ ended, the 3lsfc March lasf uq less." than ,s93, registered «

letters were returned to the countries of origin m consequence of their containing coin or jewellery contrary to the provisions of the General Postal Union. Of these more than threefourths were from the United States. The Post Office continues to be made the medium for the transmission of Bmall articles of almost endless variety. Among others the following articles were observed : — Musical instruments and cutlery, artificial teeth and eyes, wigs, flowers, fruit and vegetables, game and fish, medicine and perfumery, articles of dress, leeches, frogs, snakes and lizards. Several of these, (however, beingprohiibted articles, were sent to the Returned Letter Office. A live snake which had escaped from a postal packet was discovered m the Holyhead and Kingstown Marine Post Office, and at the expiration of a fortnight, being stil unclaimed, it was sent to the Dublin Zoological Gardens. A packet containing a live horned frog reached Liverpool from the United States, and was given up to the addressee, who called for it. Another packet, also from America, reached the Dublin Post Office, containing two live lizards, and was similarly given up to the addressee on personal application.