Local and General Intelligence.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1174, 26 August 1885, Page 2

Local and General Intelligence.

The Public Works Statement was delivered in the -House of Representatives last evening.

Owing to the peaceful attitude which is at present pervading European' affairs, the Guards who have for* 'some- time' been stationed at Cyprus, and the regiment* .of the' line on duty in Egypt, have been ordered to return to England. Rumors are current in Cairo that the rebelß in the Soudan have captured El Debbeh near Old Dongola, and are now advancing on New Dongola. Sir H. Drummo_d # Wolff has arrived at Constantinople on a special mission to the Sultan respecting Egyptian affairs.

There was no business transacted at the R.M. Court, Lawrence, on Monday last.

Mb SERVICE declines, in view of the limited territory annexed or protected by Great Britain, to ask the Victorian Parliament to increase tbe contribution towards the expenses to the New Guinea protectorate.

The soi-disant priest, who was recently arrested in India aa a Russian spy, has been sentenced to six months' imprisonment. The authorities have not succeeded in establishing hia identity with the ex-Communist, Oliver Pain ; but, whoever he may be, he will be kept cm 1 ; of the way of plying his deep and designing calling, for a time at least.

The Timaru correspondent of .the "Daily Times" says that every effort is being made to develop mining industries ,in . the district. There is a fair prospect of payable coal and marble being found in the neighborhood of the Pareora River, south of Timaru. * Samples of sand have also been found in the district, which, it is thought, will suit for the manufacture of glass.

Mr Wilham Center, on behalf of the Oceanic Steamship Company of San Francisco, has arrived in the Colony for the purpose of teudering for the New Zealand mail service. The Company has already two steamers livid on to Honolulu ; these vessels are of 3000 tons each, have a speed of 15 knots, and are capable of running the distance (between San JTrancisco and Auckland) in 18 days.

The Waitahuna school was examined by Messrs Taylor and Goyen last week, with the satisfactory result that the percentage gained was 91, being the same in standards as in subjects. There are 130 pupils on the roll — six of these being above the standards— and 98 were presented. There were 15 presented in the VI. standard, all of whom passed. The general report is very; favorable. The result must be highly gratifying to Mr Macandrew and staff.

Recent Home telegrams state that the latest reports on the English hop crops indicate that the yield will be both short in quantity and inferior in quality. The St. Petersburg correspondent of the New York " Herald " confirms the statement that Russia has waived her claims to tbe Zulfikar Pass. Cholera is spreading at a most alarming rate at Marseilles and vicinity, and the daily death rate is very large. The garriton of Kassala is said to have come to terms with the beseiging Arabs, who have in consequence raised the seige.

New Zealand frozen mutton has gone down in price, latest quotations being 4_J per lb. which will scarcely leave any margin for profit to those sending mutton Home. The prejudice againßt Colonial mutton, which the London butchers do their utmost to perpetuate, is as much responsible for the low prices as a glutted market. Colonial mutton is retailed by the butchers as English mutton at a high price ; but whenever a shipment arrives in inferior condition, the consumers are immediately made aware of the fact.

Referring to the death of John Crisp, who was killed while drawing a charge of dynamite at Deborah Bay tuDnel, Professor Ulrich requests the "Evening Star" to say that it cannot be too-widely known by persons engaged in mining that an attempt to draw a charge of dynamite that has missed exploding is most dangerous, and is not allowed to be done in European mines. The only safe plan is to put in another bore as near as possible to the unexploded one ; charge, and explode it, and if skilfully done both charges will explode together.

Bismabck in his sudden zeal for colonization has involved Germany in a nice little quarrel with Spain. His action in annexing some of the Caroline Islands has caused intense excitement at Madrid, where a strong feeling against Germany is rapidly growing. The diplomatic relations between tbe two Powers are said to be so tense that an open rupture is feared. The German Government have protested against Spain sending a man-of-war to occupy one of the islands laid claim to by the former, and offer to submit the matter to arbitration, but whether Spain will agree to that has not yet transpired.

The annual report of the Inspector of Machinery shows that 1578 boilers were inspected during the year, of which 41 were found dangerous, and 139 more or less defective. Accidents to life and limb are much less frequent than in former years, as the machinery is better looked after. There were no boiler explosions during the year, whereas in Britain there were 49, resulting iv 31 deaths, and 65 cases of personal injury. In the past ten years there have been five deaths in New Zealand from explosions of four boilers, whilst in Britain the same time 421 boilers exploded, causing 625 deaths and 830 injuries.

It is not very many years ago since the trout was first successfully acclimatised in Lake Wakatipu, and so well have the fish thriven and increased, that they will now probably give a profitable return ou the outlay in introducing them to these waters. The Acclimatisation Society has decided to let areas for the netting of trout iv Lake Wakatipu, Hayes, and other well stocked waters of that region. Trout are iv great abundance in these waters now, and as ice for packing can always be had in quantity, it being one of the natural products of' the district, a good trade in trout should spring up during the incoming season.

Mb M'Kerrow, in his annual report on the coal mines of the polony, says that any increase in the output during the past year is mainly in the bituminous coal of Westport and Grey. The development of these coalfields is important, as it is upon them that New Zealand should depend for the supply of steam and smithy coal. The harbor works at both places are progressing so favorably that where three years ago vessels of 300 tons had a difficulty in crossing the bars, vessels of 600 tons burthen can easily cross them now. Vessels of 3000 tons can load at Newcastle, and in the meantime a ton of Newcastle coal can be obtained as cheaply at Port Chalmers or Lyttelton as a tou of coal from the West Coast. When larger vessels can enter the West Coast harbors the competition will be entirely in favor of the New Zealand coal.

One of tbe peculiar effects of alcohol in excess upon the blood of a living individual is coagulation of the life fluid in the veins and arteries. The smaller blood-vessels are effected first ; but an overdose of alcohol will solidify the very heart's blood, when of course death immediately takes place. Men totally ignorant of this are wont to drink largo quantities of strong spirits for a wager, and often with fatal resulti. A case of the kind recently occurred at Birmingham. It appears that a man named Robert Smith made a bet that he would drink twelve sixpenny-worths of brandy. The wager was accepted, and both men went to a publichouse, where the man Smith won his bet by drinking thirteen sixpenny-worths of brandy. He became very drunk, and was obliged to be carried home, where he died a few minutes afterwards.

In the course of an address at Riverton the other day, Mr Fred Fulton gave vent to the following Bcathing remarks :— On arriving in Riverron he was astonished to find that there were ten or a dozen rum shops in the place — enough, he said, for the whole Colony, and judging by the appearance of the town it was not capable of supporting one. They were only fit for devil's kindling wood, no matter how well conducted. There was a licensed house at a certain railway station, he said, in which the Government was a partner, as it was at a railway station — one of the meanest rum shops be had ever seen, where the vilest " rotgut " was dispensed. The keeper of the shanty in question was chairman of the school committee, a prominent churchman, as well as licensee of the house; it might therefore be said of him, as waa said of Mr Guineas of Dublin, that he represented in himself "education, salvation, and damnatiou."

In a letter to M. Pasteur, Dr Ferran, of Valencia, asserts that the results obtained by him in vaccinating for cholera, became every day more irresiatably eloquent. Anti-cholera vaccination has been practised upon all classes of society, but in many cases the majority operated upon belonged to the pauper class, and even where the sanitary conditions were unfavorable the results were eminently satisfactory. Referring to the official prohibition of vaccination for cholera, which was afterwards cancelled in deference to public opinion, he states that the action was taken in consequence of twp persons belonging to a family already suffering from cholera dying the day after vaccination. With pure lymph there is no danger, and of 16,000 cases for which he had personally inspected the lymph, no evil results followed. He does not claim that vaccination will secure actual immunity from cholera, but that it will alleviate the attack whenever it may come ; and the vaccination, he affirms, can never be the cause of the attack. If the statements of Dr Ferran are verified and confirmed elsewhere, the result will be one of the proudest triumphs of Pasteur's inoculation theory.

SINCE the discovery of nitro - glycerine, chemists have been experimenting with various oils and vegetable substances, with the result that a number of explosives have been discovered, many of which are quite a3 powerful as dynamite. A new explosive, known aa kinetite, is at present being studied in Germany. It consists, it is stated, of a mixture of oils and gun-cotton, and is said to be superior to dynamite, as its manufacture and manipulation are absolutely without danger, because it will detonate only under peculiar and well defined conditions of shock. Only the part exposed to concussion explodes, and when fired it burns quietly, with a brilliant light. The true composition is being kept secret.

Referring to the impetus given to mining in the Thames district by the La Monte process, a local paper says :— All the ground for milea upon every side of the auriferous and argentiferous belt of country in the district haß been marked off, and floating is the order of the day. In fact, we have had men here lately who boasfc of their ability to float any thing from a bald bluff to a flax bush, reef or no reef. But the time when ground could be held for speculative purposes has gone by, and men who buy promoters' shares in new ground, no matter how good the position of the same may be, should insist upon the proceeds being devoted to the development of the mine instead of going iato the pockets of the floaters, as has been the case rather too often Upon this field.

It was facetiously remarked by a contemporary some time ago that if a stray nobleman were unearthed anywhere, Wanganui would in some way lay claim to him. The "Waipawa Mail" says: — It is not generally known that the Marquis of Salisbury, who i 3 now Premier of England, was some twenty years ago knocking about New Zealand. His lordship, then Mr Robert Cecil, was wellknown to many of the old settlers even- in the district, but more 90 perhapß on the West 'Coast. In fact, although we are reluctant to give our Wanganui friends the tip, we believe Mr Cecil was mostly in the latter district. Nearly every public man who dies in the world somehow or other leaves a cousin or great aunt in Wanganui ; but now the place can almost claim to have been the residence of the Prime Minister of England.

The Ashburton paper does not approve of " glove fights." Referring to these questionable encounters, it says :— " A glove fight, to all intents and purposes, is a prize fight, conducted with even more brutality than the historical battles of the English * ring,' We say with more brutality advisedly, as in the days of Shyers and King and other talented exponents of tha noble art, the profession attracted tha patronage of sportsmen and gentlemen, who perhaps lacked refinement and the finer sensibilities, but were still some check upon the degrading influences of the sport. The glova fight of to-day is but the conceptiou of the riffraff and ruffians of the Colony, and thepistima of gaol-birds and the mauvaw sujet generally; its infamy is unmitigated by one redeeming feature, and aggravated by knavery and depravity almost unknown at the time the bellicose Marquis of Queensbury presided at tha ropes."

In his speech at the opening of the industrial branch of the Wellington Exhibition on Saturday, His Excellency the Governor spoke in high terms of praise of some of the amateur workmanship on view, making special mention of an organ made in leisuie time by a man assisted by his sons and daughters, a model steam engine by an apprentice, and a model of a bridge by a boy of 12 years. His Excellency remarked that that boy would probably be an engineer one day. " Before concluding these observations," His Excellency continued, " I must not fail to mention one item with which I wish distinctly to draw your attention, and that is the divided skirt, of which there are admirable specimens. — (Laughter.) You may depend upon it, ladies and gentlemen, there is a good deal of sense in the divided skirt, and you should not laugh. The day is not far distant, in fact, when we shall have women's suffrage, and we shall find that the first thing brought before Parliament for debate will be the divided skirt."

A GOOD joke is told of an incident which happened on board an Atlantic steamer. A lady waa sitting reading near the man at tllß wheel for an hour or two one afternoon, when the captain told her politely that her " attractions "had put hjs ship miles out of her course. The indignation of the fair one, who mistook the compliment, may better be imagined tluin described ; but she marched off in high disdain before the captain had time to explain that certain steel perquisites of her wearing apparel disarranged the compass, and that he did not mean to accuse her of flirting with the man at the wheel, A parallel case occurred a few days ago as one of the Union Company's boats was leaving Lyytelton. The compass veered about in a most erratic way, to the no small concern of the captain, who made a close examination, but could find no clue to the mystery, until it occurred to him that a lady standing close by might be the cause. The lady was politely asked to retire, when the compass needle at once sought the pole. It is almost supeifluoua to add that the lady wore a " dress improver, 1 "

GriEVES hotel at Blue Spur was destroyed by fire on Monday morning. The house, which was a ten-roomed one, was totally destroyed, n8 well as the furniture and stock-in-trade. Mrs Grieve states that about 5.30 on Monday morning she awoke finding her bed-room full of smoke, and on goiug to the billiard-room found it on fire, the flamed passing through the roof. She immediately aroused her children and called for help, when Mr Mills appeared upon the scene, but nothing could be done to save anything, The house was insured for £100 in the Victorian Office, and the stock-in-trade for £200. Constable Daubney was at the scene of the fire by 8 a.m., and from what information he could gather, Mrs Grieve thinks that the fire must have occurred through one of tho lamps in the billiard-room exploding. Sho put the lamps out before going to bed, but fears that one may have been left partially extinguished only. It is estimated that Mrs Grieve'e lobs will be fully £100 over tho insurance, and as her account of the oriein of the fire seems very probable no inquiry will be held.

OUR Mount Stuart correspondent writes : — On Thursday evening last, tha Rev. J. Skinner delivered a lecture on "Mount Blanc" in tho schoolroom. The lecture was illustrated by some very good scenes shown by the aid of a magic-lantern. As the same lecture was de< livered in Waitahuna on Tuesday evening, and pretty fully reported in your issue of Saturday, there is no needfof reproducing it. Considering the size of the district, and the long distance some of the audience had to come, the attendance was pretty good. A few comic scenes at the close of the lecture afforded some amusement to the younger members of the audience, and were duly appreciated by them. Mr Jackson occupied the chair, and at the close of the lecture proposed a hearty vote of thanks to the lecturer. I need hardly say that this was carried by acclamation. After the usual vote of thanks to the chair, and the pronouncing of the benediction, the audience dispersed.—Ploughing is now well advanced, and in a few cases a considerable amount of sowing done. The gooseberry bushes are beginning to show signs of vegetation, and should the fine weather continue spring will be showing herself on everything around us.

A private letter handed to us from Mount Criffel contains a few additional particulars relating to the new goldfisld. The party who left Lawrence a short time ago have been prospecting, but so far without success. They took ud a claim next to tbe one which Mr Laroach (Minister of Mines) saw working and which he so favorably mentioned in his report. They bottomed three holes but got nothing ; and they tried several other places, but always with the same result. The only places in which gold is found would appear- to he, in the hollows, all of which are pegged off. Outside of these hollows, which are very narrow, no trace of gold can be found. The party mean to prospect further on towards Mount Pisa as soon as the snow will permit them. There has been one slight fall of snow since they arrived, and the frosts are still very keen. None of the old diggers are on the ground yet, uor do they intend to visit it till the end of September. The track from Pembroke to Mount Pisa has been commenced. Mr Monteith has got a man at work building hia Btore, but the 'man is only able to work a few hours daily. There is timber laid down for an hotel. Mr M'Dougall is building a new bake-house at Pembroke, with the intention of packing bread to the diggings. The writer of the letter advises miners not to go to Criffel until _ew finds are discovered, unless they intend to go prospecting further along towards Mt. Pisa, The following are the present prices of a few articles at Pembroke :— Bread, 9d ; potatoes, 53 6d per cwt ; sugar, 6d ; tea, 2s 6d ; salt butter, Is 4d ; rolled bacon, lg ; long, handled shovels, 6s 3d ; teats (Bft x 10ft), 17s 6d.