EUROPEAN ITEMS.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3191, 20 September 1881, Page 4

EUROPEAN ITEMS.

The jurisdiction of Sir Arthur Gordon haa b j on the subject, of some discussion in the ETouso of Commons pinoe our last. Mr Gorst wanted to knovv whether Sir Arthur, as High Commissioner under the Pacific Islanders Protection Act, 1875, was not by that Act restricted to a jurisdiction over subjects of Her Majesty; and whether Sir Arthur Gordon had any authority, as Governor of New Zealand or otherwise, to levy war against the natives of the Solomon Islands. The answer given by Mr Trevelyan ■waß not so plain as could have been wished. After mentioning that the jurisdiction of the High Commissioner extended over British eubjeatsand British subjects only, he stated that Sir Arthur had authority to sanction the sending of H.M.S. Krnerald, and then ■went to state the circumstances under wiiid.* that eanction was asked for. These circumstances are well known to our readers, an ! we need not report them here. But we d-- , enture to repeat that the Governor of Now Zealand, whoever he may be, is not the proper person to hold the High Commissionership of the pacific, and the sooner the duties are transferred to some other authority the better it will be for the whole mercantile element of the pacific. We note that Captain Erskine, the newly-appointed commodore, left Chatham on July 27 in the armour-plated ship Nelson for the Australian station, and the instructions he takes with him will, we hope, tend to diminish greatly the outrages which have been far too common of late in the South Seas. The Nelson, we may add, will be the first ironclad sent for service on the Australian station.

• An association has been formed by a large number of ladies, amongst whom are the Duchess of Sutherland, Duchess of Marlborough, Duchess of Roxburghe, Marchioness of Salisbury, Marchioness of Head ford, Marchione3s of Downshh'e, Maria Marchioness of Ailesbury, the Countess Fitzwilliam, and the Countess of Bective, for the purpose, if possible, of encouraging the use of English wool manufactures, in preference to those of foreign make. The depression ■which has affected this branch of industry has, it is believed, arisen in some degree from the fact that English-made woollen materials havo gone out of fashion, and it is thought that if they could be restored to public favor the trade in them would in some way revive, and the effect of the practically prohibitive tariff, which it is threatened to place on them when imported into France, might be to some extent counteracted.

A couple of weeks ago Cornelius de Boer, a Yoledam fisherman, was fishing for anchovies in the Zuyder Zee. On drawing in his nets, he found entangled in them a large stony mass covered with mussels. Had it been night time he would have certainly thrown it overboard again. On inspection he ftrand the mass was mainly an aggregate of little heaps of stones, which examination proved to be mostly silver pieces, 450 in number. They were ohiefly duoatoon3; there were also a few Spanish and other gold pieces. They were all dated between 1660 and 1680. There were also in the petrified mass some small plates, some of them whole, some broken.

Some time ago an Austrian chemist is said to have devised a new soporific, the action of which is so rapid and powerful that a few drops of it sprinkled on the head and face ■will effeotually stupefy a man in a few seconds and render him utterly defenceless. He gave it the aame of Bancliger, or " tamer," and offered the secret of its preparation for sale to the Austrian Government. But the Government haa not only refused to purchase it, but has ordered the police authorities to foi'mally notify the inventor to discontinue his experiments, and to abstain utterly from using in any way his invention or communicating it to others under pain of being criminally dealt with. Aβ anqexample of land permanently thrown out of cultivation we may cite an instance of a large estate on the confines of Hants and Wilts, and consisting of over 1,000 acres, whioh, after being let to a tenant for a number of years for £300 a year, was at last abandoned by him, and has for some time been without an occupier. The owner, determined to put; ifc to some xise, has now resolved to make a huge rabbit warren of it, and for thi9 purpose has turned out 1,200 rabbite to populate it. Considering that of all animals rabbits are among the most prolific, and that they sell for about Is apiece, the experiment will probably be a successful one, though whether the owner's neighbors will not before long consider they have just cause of complaint against him in the too frequent visits of these industrious burrowers remains to be seen.

It wo.uld appear that the inhabitants of our great "place of arms," Cyprus, are as little satisfied with our rule as the Boers. A telegram from Larnaea states that a petition is being prepared to the Premier complaining of the bad administration, and praying for the annexation of the island to Greece ; or, in the event of that being " at present " impracticable, asking that a Royal Commission may be sent to Cyprus to inquire into the complaints of the people. People who look far a-head have often entertained extraordinary notions with respect to the end of the world. Before now men have been buried with their heads downwards, in the strange belief that the earth will some day be turned over, when they will enjoy an advantage by being landed on their feet. An equally mad story is told by a contemporary of a Lincolnshire gentleman, who has lived to the age of 83, and is now so firmly convinced of the approaching end of the world that he has ordered an immense balloon to be made, by means of which he hopes to witness the destruction of the planet without sharing the fate of its inhabitants. He will take with him in his ascent tinned provisions, brandy, and creature comforts enough to meet his wants for three years. Carrying out his dream, the old gentleman thinks that among the debris of the world will be several large fragments, on one of which he will be able to descend and find a refuge for his few remaining years. It is reported that the visit to Eurooe of King Kalaka, Sovereign of the Sandwich Islands, is due to the singular idea of staying the rapid decrease of the population of his dominions by the infusion of European blood. For this purpose the Latin and Saxon races will have the preference. Great advantages are offered to young men from England, France, or Germany who will consent to settle in the islands and marry wives of the Papuan races. A liberal grant of land, authority in the district in which they may choose to reside, and even a high position at court, will be offered to those adventurous youths willing to go. It is said that Lord Derby intends very flhortly to publish all the correspondence ■which Lord Beaconsfield had with himself and his father, and that the work may be looked for in the autumn. Some of the letters date back to the earliest days of Dieraeli's political career, and must throw immense light, not only on the doings of thoßedays, but "many things" that, to use the earl's famous phrase, "have happened since then." There cannot be a doubt that Lord Derby will be discreet and also tender to the fame of his great father ancl dear friend. Should a doubt ci-osb his mind he ■will know that his duty is to let the doubt prevail. The dead body of a young man named Ambrose Young was discovered at his home the other morning at Whitton, near Twickenham. The deceased resided with lie brother, who is a volunteer. During the latter's absence he obtained his rifle, and 6ome ammunition —served out during the recent Fenian scare in the metropolis—and loaded it -with a ball cartridge. _ He then tied a piece of ribbon to the trigger, and, having made a knot, placed the muzzle of the rifle to his mouth and discharged the ■weapon with one of his feet, blowing the top of hie head completely away. He was sitting in a chair at the time in his bedroom, and on the table in front of him was found a note addressed to his relatives, bidding them " good-bye," and stating that " Elizabeth " was uppermost in his thoughts. It

appears that last summer he wa3 engaged to a young woman from Shropshire, and the banns were duly published. A quarrel then took place between them, :ind the girl went b:\ok to her home. She returned to Whitton a short, time ajjo, and the deceased asked her to go for a walk with him. She refused, and he then went home, where he committed the act during the night.—English Paper. Some weeks since Mr Burcher, of Tarrant Street, Arundel, missed a turkey and lien, ;:ixl :i., si\:ruh failed to reveal their whereabouts, abandoned all hoped of recovering them. A few days ago, however, on his having a number of sacks filled with produce removed from his store, the turkey was found, caged in by the sacks, and still alive, ,\lt-}i'iiirr!i' forty-one d;iys had elnpsed since ib<- binl'j •,>i-,fir-;e:>:(?r.t. .A a regards the ■;■>;;■ iV::. i.:;v.\ .'ivr. • ■■■'•>'< ' ;, ;T h.\*. its pirk'.r]. 'nriw- wi'i-e viable, ami it i? thought that 'he -ill >nn<t have made a meal off its dead ■ .;:-'■:■. '!?>it if H:f Mirkf'V npjiW.tpd helping .'jiiisHf'. 'lien <:!:» bird must be sadly want■na, in sa-jadry ; anyhow the gobbler can bicist ; I.living beaten V.'r. Tanner by one day, though it had no water to moisten its lips, or friends to cheer it up, as the doctor had. July 15 was one of the hottest days ever experienced in England. Wo trustworthy record exists in which the temperature of the air—that which a properly placed thermometer records in the shade—reached so high a point. The Astronomer Royal reports that at Greenwich Observatory the highest shade reading was 97 1, Mr Steward at Wimbledon 'amp registered 97. The maximum on July 5, which attracted so -mich attention, was 92 7so that the temperature was more than four degrees higher than on July 15. The significance of this return will be seen from the fact that since liheyear 1856 there have been only two occasions—July 21 and 22 of the year 1868 —in which the temperature of 93 deg. was reached. Lord Hatherley's title becomes extinct'by his death, and is the thhd peerage of the United Kingdom which has been extinguished this year, the others being the Earldom of Be'aconsfield and the Barony of Hantner. The additions to the peerage this year have hitherto been but two, Prince Leopold having been created Duke of Albany, and Lord Odo Russell Lord Ampthill. The great objection evinced by the Princess of "Wales to the indecent fashion of leaving the arms entirely naked to the shoulder, dispensing with sleeves altogether, and relying upon the shoulder straps alone to maintain the bosom of the dress in position, has been met with extreme cleverness by Worth, who ha 3 sent over all the dresses made by him for the Court entertainments at Buckingham' Palace with a transparent epaulette leading half way to the elbow. It is looped on the shoulder with a fibula either of jewels or flowers, and has been named by a great autocrat a manche alα Tiouri. The effect is very light andi pretty, seeming to float like wings through the dance, and suggesting ideas of the coolness of the zephyr. The two days' sale of the recentlypurchased furniture for the town residence of the late Earl of Beaconsfield attracted a large number of ladies and gentlemen, all anxious to see the interior of the house in which the great statesman lived, and the room in which he breathed his last. But as soon as the hour approached for the commencement of the real business of the clay the'rooms were given up to the auctioneer's assistants and to the furniture dealers, who were there in considerable numerical force. Some few of the personal friends and admirers of Lord Beaconsfield remained, desirous, no doubt, to secure some special relic upon which they set an exceptional value. The library was without books, the walls without pictures, and the table drawers without a scrap of paper. A melancholy interest was taken in the " Arabian bedstead, wifjh brass railed head and foot, and a set of cretonne furniture lined and trimmed," in whioh Lord Beaeonsfleld passed many of the earlier days in his fatal illness. Here he performed the final business act of life—that of correcting the proofs of his speech upon the Candahar question in the House of Lords — the last of his speeches in that A ssenibly. Amongst the articles sold may be mentioned a tiny three-tier whatnot, in satinwood and purplewood, a pretty toy; disposed of for 22 guineas; a pedestal writing table, which fetched 20 guineas ; and. a stand-up desk, from which Lord Beaconsfield used to address deputations that waited upon him in his own house, which was purchased by his friend, Lord Barrington, for 30 guineas.