FROM OUR EXCHANGES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1371, 15 October 1886, Page 2

FROM OUR EXCHANGES

THE FRENCH IST THE NEW J HEBRIDES. '

The French troops in tbe-£few Hebrides are being decimated by feVer.- Referring to this, the Neo Caledofßen says that the disease is ‘ the deadly auxiliary of the Protestant missionaries.” We eannot pretend to each an acquaintance with the ways of Providence as our French contemporary, but if this is really the case, it strikes ns it would be wise for the French to givrfup 'ha contest while they have any men left, for it is evident that the straggle is of such an nnequal character that they mas* be defeated sooner or later —Brace Herald NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS. The Wanganui Herald writing of railway misiuauagemonc, says : —The falling off m the railwaj return* is only what we might have expected from the system pursued, which is highly oa’cnlcated to cramp traffic and to curtail receipts. It is no use expecting figs to grow upon thorns, and Mr Maxwell has been a sad thorn ia the Sash of tho>e who h>ve had io avail the nselvea of the New Zialund railways in th ir business. Mi. -te s are powerless, it seems, ti re*o»m the rallwsy grievance, and we suppose it will ge oa uti edrersni until the country takes a firm f-ts -d and insists on a better system being int oduotd We we-e in hopes, whan the Hoo E. Kichirdson accepted the office of -Uniater of Hallways, tbat a change for ihe Letter would speedily be mooted, but those hopes, so far, have not been fulfilled, nor do they seam likely to be just yet awhi'e. He seems 1 1 have quite given up the idea of establishing Railway Boards of Management, and to have fallen under the influence of the autocrat of the New Zealand Railways, whose rule has caused the lines to fall off In their receipts, until matters begin to wear sn aosst sfactory aspect.

NEW BUILDINGS IN WELLINGTON. The new buildings to be erected la Wellington during next sutmer will go far to remove he depre sion in trade which exists at present. The sums voted by Parliament are: - For new printing offices, £13,000; new tire-proof Library to preserve the records of the colony, £590 ; Geological Museum, £BOO ; painting the G 'vernment buildings, £900; the Fine Arts Society are about to build an Art Gallery ; the Hospital is to have another wing added, to cost £2OOO ; an Insurance Company is about to build a huge hotel and office ; the College Government are trying to raise money to build a Girl's High School; a number of private and villa residences are also spoken of, as there ought to be a vast improvement In trade, not merelyfor the advantage of builders and contractors, but for all other branches of trade. SALVATION ARMY FASTING. The London correspondent of a Liverpool paper writes as follows in regard to the 1 sad straits in which “ General ” Booth finds himself:—l hear that the financial position of the Salvation Army is much more serious than is generally imagined. Recent a camions have weakened the receipts and the desperate step just taken by ‘•General” Booth to recruit the funds shows the imminence of the danger which threatens the army. A ukase has been issued ordering the members of the army during a week in September to abstain partially or totally from certain indu'g-*nciea, each as eating, drinking, and smoking, and to forward the sums thereby saved to the general’s headquarters. No doubt if every member of the army subscribes the price of, say, seven dinners to “ General " 800 h, there will be a prompt increase in the funds; but human n.ture is human nature, and fasting very often is followed by waste and riot. If “ Genera; ” Booth has to resort to tbia method, we are withiu measurable distance of the collapse of the movement, A NOVEL B QUEST. Professor Morlot. who for some years filled the chair of geoh gy in the Academy of Lausanne, left a curious will, which amused many of his countrymen, and occasioned some embarrassment to his executors. One of the conditions was that hia head should still be useful to science afrer his death, and he directed that it should be preserved in tbe museum at Berne, with his name legibly engraved on. the sVnll, so as to prevent it ever being mistaken fo any other. This condition was in due course, complied with, and the skull of the once active thinker, inscribed as desired, may new be seen in the anatomical department of the collection at Berne. x A OURIuUS CASE. A curious case is t empying the attention of the Amstgericht at Berlin. At ihe first representation of ‘ Lorelely ” at the German Theatre, a lawyer named H bought of P,. a personal friend, place which the latter had taken in the front row of the stalls; but finding he coaid not very we,l see what was taking place on Che stage, he sued the vendor for the price of the ticket. Before deciding on the plaint, the judge visited the theatre himself, occupied the seat in question, found it to be badly placed both for teeing aud hearing, and gave judgment for the plaintiff The defendant has taken the matter to a higher Oonrt, and if J}e fails to reverse the decision, will proceed against the mauagement Sboqlff the j udgment ba confirmed, it is “anticipated that theatrical at umgera will bo compelled to guarantee every parson paying for admission a place from which he can both Mtjand beat the performance, ,