NOTES BY A LONDON CORREDPONDENT.

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 37, 25 July 1872, Page 3

NOTES BY A LONDON CORREDPONDENT.

"W iiATKVKn value may bo attached to the opinion of a street crowd, the value of property in a crowded street is something worth notice. A very unpretending tavern, situated in Finch-lane, Cornhill, known as the Cock and Woolpack, having a frontage of 18 feet with a depth of 55 feet, sdld, with the goodwill of the business, for the enormous sum of £20,800. Another memorable London property at the corner, arid forming part of Stamford-street, Blackfriars, will now cease to be an eye-sore. Mrs. Kecd, an eccentric old lady, the owner of the property, has died and left .£IOO,OOO to the hospital for consumption at Brompton. 'lhe only sufferers will be the bill-stickers and the ghosts, and perhaps the small boys of the neighbourhood, who will be deprived of the enjoyment of throwing stones at the supposed ghostly tenant, The uses to which newspapers are and may be put are various; but I was not prepared for the very latest. The utilitarian character of the suggestion commends it strongly to public notice, and, if it is adopted, r»o man need want for clean sheets. ■, On a cold night, if two or three newspapers be spread upon the bed beneath the outside covering, the occupant of the bed will perceive a - marked increase of warmlh without any perceptible increase in the weight of bedding. So, also, if a spread newspaper be placed over the chest before the overcoat be buttoned up, it will be found a great protection against penetrating wind and cold.

Strikes are now the order of the day. We have agricultural laborers'' {strikes, carters' strikes, builders'strikes; the sailors employed in steamboats carrying foreign mails threaten to strike ; the organ builders have struck; the men ertipldyed on the.'river steamers ar» striking ; and now, worse than all, strikes are to come to our hearths and homes. The servant girls of Bonnie Dundee have sounded the war-note with a shrill blast, and proclaim the grievances of their order through the columns of newspapers. They have risen to the dignity of being reported. The damsels want every second Sabbath to themselves, and a half-holiday weekly, or a whole one fortnightly. They think Sunday cooking disgusting, but if the mistresses will consent to cat cold meat on Sundays, they will not object to cook potatoes. A rise of Wages is indispensable, and the hours arc to be.from seven to seven. If caps are insisted upon, they are to be provided by the employ ers, or allowed for in the wages ; and no objection is to be allowed as to ihe wearing of jewellery. The chairwoman put the resolution to the meeting, and a Servants' Protection Association is the result. What is to follow it is hard to predict. Tliese girls are in the receipt of wages varying from iilO to i;3O per annum, they are fed, lodged, and, as -a rule live as well as those who employ them. They are better paid than agricultural laborers who havo families to support, and compared with men are in afar better position: The infection haa reached London, and superb John Thomas of the calves enters his protest. The butlers and thei' gentlemen's gentlemen cry out about overwork and under-pay. The " wictims in brimstone" (described by Mr Weller) will stand it no longer, and we must eat the cold meat ourselves. In the face of all this stand the fact that in the metropolitan districtabove persons were in the workhouse, and 70,245 were receiving out-door relief. 118,290 people supported by ratepayers weekly. Public opinion is very descriminating, and the domestic servants will come in for a large share of ridicule and a very small share of sympathy. Mr Jacob Bright has tested the House of Commons on the " woman's right question," by the introduction of a bill to confer voting privileges on rate-paying women, and the debate on the second reading, was not remarkable for'brilliancy. The Attorney-General spoke in favour of the bill. Mr Bouverie made a light chaffiug speech, pointing out the danger of allowing the thin end of the wedge to be tolerated, with the possibility of the whole sisterhood claiming equal rights. If the ratepaying women are to assist in legislating, and the married women (not being ratepayers) are to be excluded, what becomes of the equal i rig'hts feature, and the folly of sticking too closely to abstract theories, is demonstrated. Oi»6 feature of tlio debate was comical and characteristic. Several ladies had secured places in the gallery, after the fashion of j ladies of the olden time, to gv\ e encouragement to their favorite knight, who was to mount his hobtty-horse; and although Mr. Bright has smiles to reward him, no cheers were heard, but a very impartial, and not unfriendly looker-on tells us in print, that the remarks of one speaker who was so ungallant j as to oppose the second reading, were received j with at least a faint but not to be mistaken j hiss. -Ihe ladies are not going to settle down j quietly after their defeat, which will have it, j is a victory, and we are to be deluged with j pamphlets and punished with lectures. Has .j this mania reached you yet, if it tins, and j should it prevail, the balance of power will j be unfortunately disturbed. *

THE PROPOSED NEW -STEAMSHIP COMPANY. (Prom the South Anntraiian Register, June 4th. Captain Lawrence, of the Orient liners, baa courteously shown us a copy of the preliminary prospectus which has been issued in London of the projected passenger, cargo, and mail vessels to run via the Cape of Good Hope to the AaSWalias. The company is to be pamed the''London and Australian Steam Navigation Company, Limited, and it is proposed to be formed with a capital of a million, in 40,000 shares of <£25 each. It ia intended toreserve an interest to the extent of £*200,000 for (-subscription' in the colonies. The provisional directorate embodies a number of prominent names, including those of Admiral Sir Spencer ftobinson, the late comptroller ot the British Wavy, and Mr. E. J. Reed, the late chief constructor ; al*o of members of several important Australian mercantile houses. The scheme provides for the construction of say six powerful and swift flteamerfr of tons each, carrying sufficient coal for the whole voyage, yet having room left fyr 2,000 tons of cargo, and ample accommodation for the vessels company and a large number of travellers of various classes. The ships, it is stated, would be built on the Clyde by the.eminent builders of the Cunard lino of packets—a sufficient guarantee, certainly, for excellence of accommodation combined with comfort, speed, and all the modern improvements for promoting economy in working. 11 is supposed that the sort of craft needed would each cost between £100,000 and £150,000, and the statement published mentions 45 days as the interval between starting from an English port and reaching the terminus ;' but Captain Lawrence considers that the estimate is too sanguine, and the limit he would fix would be more like 48 days, within which period, he believes, the trips could be accomplished. Probably the company will not be formed precisely on the basis of the preliminary suggestions, but the propositions have assumed a definite shape, and there is a strong probability of" the line being ere long established. A number of Victorians have for a long time Bet their hearts upon something like this project, and when such steam vessels as are here proposed do run to and from the mother country, no doubt they will compete with the P. and O. Company's ships for the light lading, especially that which is now monthly carried by the ocean, mail steamers, because of the saving of .time. "Whether the promoters of the new venture would think it worth their while to consider the desirability of calling at Glenelg, en route, remains to be seen, but possibly some inducements could be offered by the soft goods warehousemen and other importers. The consideration of this may seem premature, but in an age when plans which one day are considered chimerical are next day accomplished facts, it is well to be prepared for contingencies.

A few days ago an extraordinary largo pig, and one of the heaviest we ever heard of, was killed by Mr. James Backhouse, of Bathurst. The animal measured 8 feet 4 inches in length, and had to be cut into three pieces before it could be properly weighed, it was then found that the carcase alone, exclusive of the inside fat,brought the scales down to 5521 lbs, and it is estimated that altogether the porker would have weighed nearly 800 lbs. ihis, at the present market price of pork, would make the carcase worth exactly <£15— twice the amount now being Obtained per head for prime fat bullocks. —" Sydney Mail.''