Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 421, 12 May 1904, Page 7

Traveller.

. | Tst&'k&iL * ..." Sf(J*£ Niagara's many fat&litieß iithai Ifcte? of the young man who S* walking with his bride' -t Luna Island, Just fftt' the brink of the- falls they stopped to greet a .part? of friends.. husband, in merry mood, took in>,his arms a-little girl of t *,. party. Teaßiagly he held her never doubting the security of hj 'strong grasp. The terrified child struggled and screamed, and in* the struggle slipped from his arms and fell into that whirl of foaming water. "'=£"''. ■/'■■'.; ■ '-'' Overwhelmed with the awfulneas of his act, and doubtless actuated by a wild thought of saying the child, the young man leaped after her to his own, death, and the two were swept, away before the. horrified gaze of their friends. „..'.'.

LIBRA.DOB. ... Colonel Willard Glazier, the American author and explorer, haß returned to civilisation after nearly two months spent in the desolate interior of Labrador, This is his second expedition, and, like the first, it was only partly succesdfal, the distance travelled:.being much.less than had been anticipated. The two expeditions have only skirted the edge of the 200,000 square miles of practically unexplored territory; yet Colonel Glazier reports the discovery of six rivers, fifteen islands, four bays, and ten mountains. A large amount of new botanical and mineralogical material was secured, also some valuable knowledge of the natives, a people akin to the Eskimos*.,. ' ■' . f

An interesting member of. the party was the explorer's daughter, Miss Alice W. Glazier, who pluckily Btuck to her father throughout'-the •trip."''There were sixteen others, all from various American universities. The expedition was to have crossed the peninsula, but the ruggedness of the country and a.plague of mosquitoes and flies drove the party back to the coast, which they traversad from Battle Harbor to Cape Mugford." The combined collections of specimens are considered of very considerable scientific value, though the amount of money invested in supplies and transportation is large, and the commercial disooveries practically none. It was especially hoped to find gold. bearing quartz or gravel m the interior, but-no ore fiads: of value were made. ". ■ „

-- . CHINA. .. ; During the European difficulties wits 'China no little divergence of opinion waj, expressed as to the population bf; tha* great Asiatic empire. - A new census o China has just been completed, 'and "the returns indicate that the population has been rather underestimated than overcalculated. v At least it shows the enormous total ■population of 426447,000, according to. the cabled reports. The nu c&ber; of inhabitants in Manchuria, Mongolia, Thibet and Turkestan was only estimated. Thus more than one-fourth of the world are contained within the Chinese empire, -\ Even 1 the British ' Empire, with its vast possessions on every continent, has 30.000,000 fewer inhabitants. than .China: 'ln 1890 Mr E, G. Bavenstein estimated the inhabitants of the earth at 1,487,900,000,, Since then the number has increased at least 62,100,000, making a present total of 1,550,000." TVe British Empire, including India and the recently acquired possessions in South Africa, contains 396,105,000 peoples the Bussian empire comes next with less than onethird as many, 129,004,000; the United States, including island possessions, numbers about 89,000,300; France and her colonies have 65,367,000, No other country passes the 50,000,000 majority.

1 THE FBENCH EiILWATS.

From a recently published report it appears that the total number of employes on the French railways was as follows : Managers and clerks, 3076; traffic department, 116 227; locomotive and rolling stock, 74.248; road and buildings, 75; 177-; making a total.of 268 728, of whom 26,754 were women.

1 3Jne salaries of the officials and work-, men do not rule high, and are regulated more by the time a man has been in the employ of the company than by the kind of work he is called on to perform, excapt, of course, in the esse of skilled artisans. Moreover, salaries vary greatly, not only bn<|3iffß?e&t railroads, but often on the eame line. Thus, the Orleans Bailroad divides its lines into seven sections, and a platelayer employed in the second section (Department of the Seine. etOfae and the district :ronnd Paris) will receive £SO a year, whereas, if at work in the seventh section (Tarn and Haute Loire Departments),! where' livinsf via very'%uch cheaper, he would get only £3B per annum. It is therefore difficult to give exact figures, but it may be estimated that an ordinary porter receives .£4 63 a; month, a head porter £5 2s, & pointsman from £5 4a. to £5 15a, and a platelayer £3 15a. Th'fedriver o£ a locomotive earns on an \ £7;'lis per month, and his'reifmim 1 for saving coal, &6., usually amount tot»8 ,-18 a. ' j Stokeri receive-about £S per '■ month, with £l'23 6d as' extras."'A foreman in the workshops earns as- much /as£lo per month, an ordinary workman £4, and an apprentice Of the 71,273 msn working on the principal railroads," 8651 receive from £2 '153 to £3 143 a month | 22.573 from £3 15? to £4 7a; 17,692 from £4,83 jo £5 sa; from £5 6a £7 33; 2680 from",>B7 43 to £8 143;#9916a to £14103; m&%7 receive'more than" £l4 103—that : is" to^BSy;'€6percent, of the menlrdoeive front £32-7 ato£s *3 per month, ands4fper cent.^>f«the get front £2 16? to £6 8j per months >«<; The men«,work/oh>an -average, ■ twenty? eight and one-half days per month,, and frofe" seven ;to t twelve a Nearly 15'jer-centi of lodged.