NEWS ITEMS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1534, 16 April 1887, Page 3

NEWS ITEMS.

. + In Holland ladles are gra'u !ly. usurping the occupations of the mcle pharmaoeutical a»Biatanta Out of a total of fiftyfire candidates, nineteen out of thirty-one females, and only eight out of tweuty-?our male candidates, were successful m the recent State examination . The senate of the University of St. Andrews has conferred on Mr Richard Laishley, jun. of .Auckland, the degree of Doctor of Laws m recognition of hie valuable and exhaustive treatise upon the eduoaWoaal systems of Europe and America. The compliment— o r rath* r honor — la nli the more valuable from the rarity of Its bestowal, M. de Munkcsy'a picture of " Ohrißt b&foro Pilate " haa been sold for the amazing avim of £25,000 sterling. This is aaid 10 be the highest price ever yet given for a modern p tinting, Tha enthusiastic purchaser is an amateur of Philadelphia, Mr John Wanamaker, who is sbid to be a dealer m dry goods. Another English landmark is threatened The Crystal Pakce, long one of the most celebratad places of entertainment about London, at last haa proved a fiaanolal failure, and Ib, practically, m the h»nda of a receiver. Unless something is done to revive iti drooping fortunes, it will be torn down, and (he land upon \rhioh it is situated will be sold for building lots. A shocking accident has ocoarred at Petersham, Now South Wales. A milk driver, named William Franklin, was pouring kerosene out of h can on to the kitobon firo, whrn the fl-mea reached the liquor m the can, causing a fearful explosion. Franklin was picked up direotly afterwards, mutilated and blackened, but still breathing. The flash waa torn off some portiona of his body and strewn about the yard. Although seriously m. jared, he lived for aevon hours. A Paris correspondent writes :— I hear from Singapore ihat tuere Is talk of the Dutch being forced to give . up Java. "They have been (writes my friend) repulsed again and again m Aoheen, and this possession of Holland has now be6n drained dry to p*y for tbia war. The natives have bean taxed until they can pay no more, and thinga are bad all over the ialaud. It is generally b&UeTed that they will be unable to hofd either Java or Sumatra much longer," Tho German newspapers tell their readers that France is ordering projectiles containing a substance which makes bloodpoisoning the result of any wound received from them. Not content with introducing European toilettes and j iwellery at her Court, tho Empress of Japan is going entirely to revolutionize all the usages of her "society" by establishing a system of European etiquette, based on the rigid codes whioh prevail at Berlin and St Petersburg. The Ministerial bill for the suppression of drunkenneeß m Belgium provides that every person found diuak m a public place shall be putiuhid Vy fine and imprisonment, tba'. the same punishment is to be ii.flioted on every iu v li3cn convicted of having served diluk to an m oxioated person or to ohildren, and that debts incurred for drink takon m a fjubliohouae shall not be recoverable. hi. (srevy receives aa president of the French republic a ) early salaiy of 240,000---dole, bt aides the fjllow-'ug allowances; 20,000d01a for heating and lighting, soivanla, and washing ; 60 OOCdola for his entertainment* and j mrneys ; and 25,000---dois for the maintenance of his game preserves. VV ith respect to Iha latter, it is worth while noting that the game io no longer sent to hospital and barraok, as m former times, but is sold rxsmpt, of from the octroi duty, for the private benefit of the President The cost of his travele ia always defrayed by the ral'way companies over whoso line he travels as a deaa-head, and he has a free box at the Opera and all .the theatres. Ihi most perfect of oth'ofal residences is provided for him m the bosutiful and commodious palaoo of the Elyaee.