THE GLOBE. MONDAY, JULY 4, 1881.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2263, 4 July 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. MONDAY, JULY 4, 1881.

American Independence.— To-day being the 4th of July, is the anniversary of American Independence, and consequently the stars and stripes have been displayed from the business premises of American residents in this city. Sydenham Hoeticdltdbal Society.— The monthly meeting of the above society was held on Friday last, when the schedule for the show (which has been fixed for Boxing Day) was definitely arranged. The schedule contains a large number of items in each of the classes, and a handsome amount has been subscribed for extra and special prizes, so that altogether there will be found sufficient attraction for extensive competition. A special feature is a first prize of two guineas, and a second prize of one guinea, for the best cottage garden. A paper was read on “ Cottage Gardening,” which the meeting ;deoided to get published in some form for the benefit of the society. Oheistchdbch Hoeticdlidhal Society. —The monthly committee meeting was held on Friday evening, at the rooms of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association. Present— Messrs Murphy (in the chair), Q, A. Beade, J. Gray, H. Crooks, J. Guntrip, D. Nairn, O. Marsh, and F. Jones. On the conclusion of the committee business, Mr J. B. Armslrong read a very interesting and instructive paper on “Ferns and their cultivation,’' which was listened to with much interest. After some discussion on fern classification and nomenclature, and construction of out-door ferneries and fern houses, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr Armstrong for his essay, and by request he consented to have it published. Mr Armstrong, Mr Guntrip, and the honorary secretary exhibited a number of representative specimens of growing ferns and fronds to illustrate the essay on ferine. Mr Armstrong also showed a fine bloom of Proteajmellifera, and Mr J. Gray showed a handsome collection of blooms of cinerarias, grown at Lady Wilson’s, Cashmere.

Fibb.—At about one o’clock on Sunday morning a fire broke out in a wooden building situated at the corner of Tuam and Durham atreete, formerly used as a school in connection with St. Michael’s Church, but latterly known as the Imperial boarding house. The building was the property of Mr W. Williams, of PhUlipstown, and was, we understand, fully covered by insurance. It was unoocu pied at the time of the fire, the origin of which has not been ascertained. The last perron who was on the premises was a carpenter, who left everything secure on Friday night. Constable Dugan, who reached the place almost immediately after the alarm wa> given, found that the doors and all the win dowa with the exception of one were clossd. It then appeared that the fire had originated in the upper story of the building, which was speedily destroyed, notwithstanding the efforts of the fire brigade. Oddpellowship. The usual quarterly meeting of the Leeston Lodge was held at Spring’s Hotel on Monday last, when the following officers were elected for the current half-year, and were duly installed by G.M. W. Johnston :—N.G., Bro. O. Winny ; V.G., Bro. F. Jameson ; E S., Bro. H. Corbett. 1., the course of the evening a vote of thanks was passed to Bros. S. O. Doyle and J. MoYinnie for the able manner in which they had conducted the lodge business. The quarterly summoned meeting of the Doyleston Lodge was held in the lodge-room on Tuesday last, to elect officers for the current half-year. After disposing of the usual business of the lodge, the following officers were duly installed by G.M. A, Eoberta :—G.M., John Blackler j N. 0., Wm. Durrani; V.G., J. W. Morrison ; 8.5., A. D. Glasson,

Papahtti Cottbsino Club. —A meeting of this club took place on Saturday night at the Sawyers’ Arms Hotel, Papatmi. Mr D. Thomas in the chair. The programme for .the next meeting, to be held in the latter pa! t : of July, was drawn out, comprising two ' atiikee, viz, Papanui Oup and Sapling Slakes, the latter being limited to twenty.fonr dogs. The settling for the last meeting also tpuk place, £44 being paid over to the winner* as follows :—Members’ Plate, Mr McOonnel, Flying Fish, £9; Mr Fergnsson, Prairie Bird, £5; Mr Brunt, Blush Bose, £3, St. I/eger, Messrs MoOonnell and Haskett, Spy Templeton, £l4 divided : Mr Beard, Master Willie, £3. Caktehbttet Ohbss Curs. —A special general meeting of the Canterbury Ohesa Clubwas held at the Commercial Hotel on Saturday evening, the president, H. J. Tancred, in the chair. It was resolved, on the motion of Mr P. T. Jacobsen, seconded by Mr Cuddon, sen.—“ That the operations of the club be extended so as to included draughts and whist.” On the motion of Mr Veel, seconded by Mr Hay, a committee consisting of Messrs Tancred, Jacobson, Dr. Ellis, and the mover were appointed to carry out the resolution. It was decided, on the motion of Mr Horwood, seconded by Mr Walker, “ That no money be played for in any game at the club room.” Postal Expseihent. —Mr Fawcett intend s, says a Home paper, to make an experiment in the General Post Office which will be watched with great interest and sympathy by the public. He has decided to give employment to a number of deaf and dumb persons in the department devoted to the sorting of newspapers. Tihe will Show.— A Wellington paper says that Mr Gordon Forlong, the well-known preacher, has turned earthquake prophet. He is at present carrying on a church in Dunedin, but has a house at Bulls. The chimneys of the latter were knocked down by the recent shock, and Mr Forlong was duly advised by telegraph of the fact. He therefore wired back that no repairs were to . be made until after the 6;.h July, as there would be another shook of an equally severe character on that date.

A New Development. —Another new discovery by Professor Graham Bell, the inventor of the photophone, is announced from Philadelphia. It is, indeed, remarks the “ Pall Mall Budget,” a development of the latter instrument; and as its name, spectrophone, implies, it enables one actually to hear the spectrum produced by any substance. The principle on which the invention rests is the ascertained fact that light passing through any substance produces a sound characteristic of the particular substance; all matter, Mr Bell prophesied when he announced the discovery of the photophone, would probably be found to possess sonorous properties of the same natnre as those manifested by the discs of selenium used in that Instrument. Beoent experiments by Professor Tyndall have confirmed this prediction; any liquid or gas placed in a test-tube and exposed to the action of a beam of light condensed upon it by a lens can be made, by means of an interrupter, to emit musical tones. Mr Bell carried on his experiments with various substances, as carbon disulphide, lamp-black, sulphuric ether, &s., and while in some substances the loudest sounds are obtained from the red end of the spectrum,, in others they come from the visible part, so that the general conclusion arrived at is that sounds are produced in any substance by the rays whioh it absorbs. Porous and fibrous substances give loud sounds, such as common wool or worsted. Evidently we are here only on the threshhold of discoveries os to the real

nature of light and sound. Mb Bbadlaugb—Since Mr Bradlangh’s exclusion from the House the plaintiff in the action for penalties has given notice of his intention to apply for leave to sign judgment and issue execution against Mr Bradlangh. The object of this is to moke Mr Bradlangh bankrupt, and to vacate the seat. Mr Bradlaugh will resist this application until bis appeal to the House of Lores has been heard. The London correspondent of the “ Leeds Mercury ” says Mr Bradlangh has raised a new and curious point in his appeal- It seems that the writ for voting without being sworn was served on him the very afternoon on which the vote was recorded. Now, it seems that it is a settled principle that all judicial proceedings date from the commencement of the day on which they were taken. That is to say, in this cats the writ served in the afternoon was really in force at twelve o’clock that day. Mr Bradlangh thereforecontends that the writ was served before the vote was given. A Gallant Rescue.— A late issue of the London “ Gazette ” contains a notice that her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to confer the Albert Medal of the second class on George Williams, boatman, Uzon Station, of the Coastguard. The following is an account of the services in respect of which the decoration has been conferred On Sunday morning, the 6th of March last, during a heavy gale, accompanied by blinding snow and sleet, the Norwegian brig Banger, of Fredrikshald, was wrecked at Marywells, on the Uzon Guards, when Williams, by hi* gallant conduct, was the means of saving tbe four survivors of the crew, the master and mate having been washed overboard when the vessel struck on the rocks. Communication with the wrecked vessel was obtained by means of the rocket apparal us, but the crew did not seem to understand how to use it, so Williams got into the breeches buoy and hauled himself out hand over hand. On getting within about 20 yards of the wreck, and finding ho was making no headway, he dropped from the buoy on to the rocks, and made his way over them and through the wreckage to the wreck, on reaching which he found the crew quite helpless. By dint of great exertions he managed to get on board and secure the hawser, but the whip (the endless rope by which the breeches buoy is hauled backwards and forwards by the party on shore) was foul among the wreckage. In endeavoring to clear it the whip carried away, leaving one end on board, the other on shore. Williams then sent one man on shore, but in hauling oil the whip again got foul of the wreckage, and was cleared with great difficulty. Then two more men were landed. One man was then left, with whom Williams himself intended going ashore, but before he could get into the buoy it was hauled away from him. The line* again got, foul, and the man was in great danger of being drowned in the breakers, when William* jumped from tbe wreck, swam to the breeches buoy, and cleared it. They were then both hauled ashore, much exhausted. Williams’* hands were greatly lacerated, and his back severely bruised, and he has since suffered severely from the effects of the exposure and the shock to the system.

Alleged Postal Featids ik the Uktthd States.—The “New fork Journal of Commerce ” gives the following summary of the alleged frauds in connection with the postal service which have been brought under the notice of the Government at Washington. There are several postal lines in the far West upen which scarcely three letters a week travel. The total number of distinct lines or services in the Union is 9225, and in the year 1878 5,900,000i015. was voted by Congress for the carriage of mails for the year 1878 9. It appears that between 1878 and 1880 several petitions and influential representations were addressed to the Postmaster-General's De» partment, in consequence of which the despatch of letters was " accelerated" on ninety-three of these lines. The “acceleration ” consisted usually in the mails being despatched more frequently than once a week, as had been hitherto the case. The persons interested in these ninety-three lines had their remuneration for carrying the mails raised from 727,119.101. to 2,802,214d0l —that is, nearly quadrupled. This loft little more t han three million of dollars to meet the charge for carnage of postal matter on the remaining 9000 lints. A deficit was inevitable, and the last Congress was asked to vote a sum Ito cover it. It was thus public attention was directed to the matter, and it was freely alleged that the petitions in the main were fabricated, end that the under-secretary for the Postal Department was a party interested in the increased subsidy paid to the ninetythroe lines. Tt o Cabinet of President Hayes was unable to investigate the matter. But President Garfield and his Postmaster-General have pledged themselves to have a thorough invest gatnn. Ellbbmbhb Fabmebs' Club,—The fortnightly meeting of this club was held in the Lecaton library on Thursday, Dr. Chapman in the chair. In the absence of Mr Dudley, who has promised to read a paper on “ Bust,” Mr J. Bennie, in order to prevent discussion lapsing, made a very good speech, taking for his subject, “ What is the system of farming for this district ?” which was well discussed by the following gentlemen :—Messrs Osborne, A. McLaohlan, Waby, Scott, Ford, and the chairman. After a hearty vote of thanks had bean passed to the chairman and Mr Bennie, the members separated.

The Fisheries Dispute between EngXAND AND THE STATES.— The “Alta Califorma” of June 4th says that “ Secretary Blaine has brought to o successful issue the negotiations with the British Minister at Washington, in regard to damages for the Fortune Bay outrages. The British Government concedes a sum amounting to threequarters of that claimed by our fishermen While this will be very gratifying to the good people of Gloucester and other fishing towns, the chief value of the decision lies in the avowal of the justice of our position, and the indefensibility of the course of the Newfoundland authorities. It is an admission that the United States are not to be cheated out of the fishing privileges for which they paid so largo a price. This question of damages being now disposed of, there remains the necessity of further discussion and stipulation, so that what has been left obscure by the clause of the Treaty of Washington may be cleared up, the rights of both parties i i the fishing grounds may bo distinctly defined, and the probability of future misunderstandings greatly lessened. There is but little danger that England and the United Slates will ever again be at war with each other; but these frequently recurring disputes are unprofitable and nr. pleasant, and the people of both countries would be well pleased to see them come to an end. The Eagle and the Lion should bo the best of friends.” Another American journal, referring to the’ same matter, expresses as its opinion that ” the the time is not far distant when Great Britain and the United States will join issue and compel other nations to settle their differences by word and by pen, and not by the sword.”