OUR LONDON LETTER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6124, 10 March 1898, Page 1

OUR LONDON LETTER.

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. [From Our Correspondent.] LONDON, Jan. 2f». PRIZE SHEEP AT SBHTHFIELD. The sheep exhibited at the Wellington Agricultural and Pastoral Association's show some time back and consigned by the Wellington Meat Export Company to W. and E. Fletcher, Limited, were on view at Smithfield market last Friday and Monday, and attracted a great deal of attention. There are seven lot 3of ten each, and I understand that Messrs Fletcher are to place the lots in order according to their respactive merit as regards suitability for the London market, and that on' their award prizes are to be given by the Association to the best jots. Messrs Fletcher's award is not yet given, and, of. course, no indication has been given to them of the ownership of the different lots nor of the pastures on which the sheep were bred. The Agent-General and the produce expert, Mr Cameron, paid a visit to the carcases, and the former's expression of opinion has been recorded by Messrs Fletcher in a phonograph, a cylinder of which is to be sent to New Zealand, so that yon may have an opportunity of hearing his words of .wisdom for yourselves. But revenonsa. nos moutons. The muttons had evidently been^ carefully handled, and arrived in bnorht condition and attractive appearance. I hey were Down cross-bred, and all nice weights, with one exception, 80lbs, which was too heavy for the London market. -The other lots averaged from 54 to 6341b5. General approval was expressed by experts, who considered the sheep plump and full of meat, without being wasteful. The secretary for Messrs Fletcher expressed the opinion that better mutton couldn't be produced in any part of the world, and Palmers Stores, Limited, backed up this view m a practical fashion by buying the lot at jd a pound above the present market quotation for prime Canterbury. THE GLADSTONE COLONY In his introduction to "The Gladstone Colony —an unwritten chapter of Australian history-Mr J P. Hogan, after reproinS JS ? 08eJ ety', 8 i° oQlar remark to the effect that when Mr Gladstone's life came to be written in full, the work would have to be undertaken by a limited lia bility company, tellu us that he has oomK" tuted himself the colonial member 3"I s Lordship's biographical syndicate. »"J. the foundation of the Gladstone colony wls but a small and not particularly impoXt incident in the political career of EngWs G.0.M., but Mr Hogancontrives 3 volume of three hundred pages or thereabouta, so one may be pardoned

pressing a pious hope that the gentiemu who may take upon themselves the tusk c writing the remaining chapters of M Gladstone's career aB a statesman will I mote skilled in the art of condensatioi It is true that in addition to giving comprehensive history of the foundatio and vicissitudes of the ephemeral colon of North Australia, Mr Hogan er deavours to present a "complete lumi nous aud accurate account of to colonial side of the career of the greates English statesman of the century." Bu even so his book was much too long. Th history of the Gladstone colony could hay been adequately set forth in one-half th space the member for Mid-Tipperary ha taken, and so shortened it would havi been vastly more interesting. As i stands, however, the work will be veri 'useful to students of Colonial history, an< willfprovide substance for an interesting chapter for the next man who essays i biography of Mr Gladstone. By way o a prefatory note to his work, the aufchoi prints the following brief letter from th< G.O.M.:— Hawarden, April 20, 1897. Dear Mr Hogan,— My recollections oi Gladstone were most copious, and are nov nearly half acentury old. The period, Decein ber, 1845, when I became Colonial Secretary was one when the British Government had begun to feel nonplussed by the questior of transportation. Under the pressure oJ this difficulty Lord Stanley, or the Colonial Office of his day, framed a plan for the establishment, as an experiment, of a pure penal colony without free settlers (at least at the outset). When 1 came in, the plan might have been arrested in the event of disapproval, but the Government were, I think, committed, and I had only to put the last hand to the scheme. So it went ou towards execution. In July, 1846, the Government was changed, and Lord Grey succeeded me. He said he would mako none but necessary changes in pending measures. He, however, annihilated this scheme. For that I do not know that he is to be saverely blamed. But he went on and dealt with the question in such a way as to produce a mess — I think more than one — far worse than any that he found. The result was the total and rather violent and summary extinction of the entire system. Here I lost; sight of the fate of "Gladstone." It has my good wishes, but I have nothing else to give. — Yours very faithfully, W. E. Gladstone. personal. Sir Fredk. Dobson Middleton, K.C.M.G., C.8., the keeper of the Crown Jewels, died in his seventy-third year on Jan. 24. at his residence in the Tower. He had seen service in many parts of the world, commencing with New Zealand. He was with the 58th at the capture of Kawiti's pah, and took part in the fighting in the southern part of the island, including the repulse of the attack on Wangahui, whenhei'eceived honourable mention ""in" the despatches. For his service in subsequent ! affairs he received the New Zealand medal. In India he went through the Mutiny campaign of 1857-58, being A.D.C. to General Luard at the siege and capture of Lucknow, for which he received his brevet of majcr. After ten years' work as commandant and secretary of the Eoyal Military College, Sandhurst, from 1874-1885, he went out to Canada in the latter year, and commanded the forces engaged in quelling the rebellion in the North-west Territories. Mr J. S. Fairchild, the eldest son of the well-known skipper, hos come Home to complete his studies in dentistry, and is now living at Bayswater. Miss Fuchs, of Christchurch, purposes returning to New Zealand by the Arcadia on Fab. 25. For three weeks before her departure she will be staying with her friends, the Webers. Mr Weber is the organist of the German Chapel Eoyal, at St James's Palace. Mr H. B. Yogel, who has severed his connection with the Wheelman, has just had a novel accepted for publication. I understand that the scene of the early chapters is laid in the New Zealand bush. Sir George Grey remains at the Norfolk Hotel in much the same condition as he has been in during the last three or four months, and only leaves his bed in order that it may be made for him. Mr F. H. Hobbs sang at the concert given by the students of the Guildhall School of Music last Wednesday. His songs were two of Korbay's, a popular Hungarian composer, full of character, " Far and High the Cranes Give Cry," and " Had a Horse." His voice has much improved in quality since he came to London. - News of the deaths of two New Zealanders reaches me as I am going to post. That of Mr James M'Cosh Clark, of Auckland, who has been ill for a long time, took place at St Leonards-on-Sea on Jan. 26, and that of Mr John Cargill, formerly of Otago, at Armstrong, British Columbia, on Jan. 2. Major-General Sillery, who died at the age of sixty-two on Jan. 25, at Guernsey, of pneumonia, following on influenza, was another of the old New Zealand fighters who are now so rapidly passing away. He obtained the medal for his service in the New Zealand war in 1866, and afterwards took part in the Afghan campaign of 1879---80. His wife, Chriatina, the daughter of Mr A. "Smith, of Selma, Tasmania, predeceased him.