THE GLOBE. MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 1882.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2433, 23 January 1882, Page 3

THE GLOBE. MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 1882.

A Novel Pboposal.—Mr J. 0. William, ■on, who may now be regarded as the premier theatrioal entrepreneur of Australasia, has made a suggestion with regard to the transport of travelling companies whioh has the elements of both novelty and enterprise about it. Owing to the fact that in many cases tho dates fixed by the steamship companies, par* ticularly in New Zealand, do not fit in with the arrangements of oompanies, a great deal of valuable time is loot. It is true that on some occasions concessions are made by the Union Company, but these are like the proverbial angels' visits. Mr Williamson's idea is to purchase a steamer for the use of travelling oompanies, her dates and times of leaving and arriving at the various ports being regulated so as to meet the requirements of their appearances in the various cities in the colony, The vessel would be of the first class, fitted especially for passenger traffic, and combining comfort with high rate of speed. The ateamer would take ordinary passengers, as well at those for whose special accommodation she is intended, and it is expeoted that a large revenue from this source would be obtainedMr Williamson is sanguine that, if his sug. gestion were oarried into effeot, the saving of time to the managers of travelling oompanies -would be very large, and as it is understood that the Union Company do not care very muoh for the theatrioal passenger trade, no difficulty ought to stand in the way of it* practical aooomplishment. Attbmptbd Suicide.—Last ovening, a little before 9 o'clock, a young person attempted to commit suicide by throwing herself into the River Avon, near the Foresters' Hotel, but she was rescued by some men, who, hearing her scream, ran to the Bpot, ard suoceeied in taking her out of the river and thence to the Foresters' Hotel, where she was attended to by the landlady, Mrs Searle. Dr. Russell was soon in attendance, and, having prescribed for her, ordered her removal to the Hospital. Fownd. —A woman's dress and petticoat, and also a dog-collar and chain, were found lying on the river bank, near the College bridge, this morning. The police are suspicious of foul play, but can gain no clue as to ownership, or if the wearing apparel belongs to a suicide. Mb Robson. —This gentleman will give one of his grand dramatic and musical entertainments in the Oddfellows' Hull, Lyttelton, this evening. Mr Robson will be assisted by the eminent solo pianist and composer M. liOrenz. Railway Rbfbeshhbnt Room. The contract for the Ralway Refreshment Room at Christohurch, for the ensuing year, has been secured by Mr Goldstone. Lyttelton Magistbatb's Coubt. —At this Court this morning Jane Robinson, on a charge of vagrancy, was committed to Addington gaol for three months. Two of her children, Adelaide and Alice Robinson, were remanded until Wednesday, on a charge of being neglected childron, and an infant hoy was committed to the Burnham Home for twelve months, the mother to re-take control of him at the expiration of that time should her conduot have been satisfactory. A. Murray, for attempting to commit suicide nnder circumstances published on the 17ch instant, was brought up, and tho Court, after bearing the evidence and the statement that the act was done on the impulse of the moment, dismissed the oharge, the accused expressing his regret and giving an aasuranco that a repetition of the offence would not oeour.

High Tide in Lyttelton The tide in Lyttelton on Saturday was unusually high, the rise being nine feet, or about two feet higher than the average ordinary spriDg tides.

Inquest.—An inquest was held in the Court House, Akaroa, before J. Aylmer, Esq., coroner, on Thursday, the 19bh instant, on the body of Catherine Orchard, aged three years, who was drowned by falling into an open well, while attempting to obtain a cupful of water. Dr. Singleton arrived shortly after the ohild waa found, but life was Cb«*n extinct. The jury returned a verdiot of ". Kound Drowned.''

I The Wheat Obop ih Auckland. —The wheat crop round Auokland will this season •6 be very good. Some are talking of 50 bushels - to the acre, while it is said the average will " amount to 35 or 40. 'I he quantity of wheat »' sown has this Beason been muoh above the J usual. . , The Linoolnbhibe According to the "Taranakl Herald," Mr Grant, ii one of the Lincolnshire delegates who visited I New Zealand some time ago, has exchanged u his 2000-acre farm in England for the 10 000aore sheep run of Mr Tooth in Canterbury. Mr Tooth returns to the mother country, and - Mr Grant comes out to New Zealand a permanent settler. Mbdioal School —lt was reported by the Ohanoellor, at a meeting of the Otago University Oounoil held on Thursday, that the , medical oommittee had met, and had approved , of Professor Scott's scheme with regard to the medical school; and he suggested that it would be well to appoint a oommittee to aot along - with Professors Scott and Shand in preparing , regulations for medical examinations. It was agreed that the Chancellor, Dr. Burns, and , Mr Cutten be chosen to aot in conjunction with the oommittee in preparing draft regu--1 tions for medical degree examinations, to be referred to the Senate of the New Zealand University. Tbade'Recipbocity.—An article on " New Outlets for Amerioan Products" appoars in the Dacember number of the " International Review," from the p-n of Mr Robert J. Creighton, of Ban Francisco. The writer discusses the question from a national standpoint, and demonstrates by official statistics that the Australian oolonies and New Zealand offer a more promising opening for American manufactures than any of the SpanishAmerioan countries or China and Japan. His theory is that the Anglo Saxon communities furnish the best and most accessible markets for American produots, beoause they are buyers of similar merchandise from the Home country. Mail Routes.—The "San Francisoo Merchant " of December 16th, says :—" If the present Postmaster-General succeeds, as he hopes, in reducing the time oooupied in carrying the mail between New York and San Francisco, twenty-four hours, and Lorillard's new passenger steamers on the Atlantio make their trip as expected in six days, allowing for delays in transferring from train to steamer, letters will reach their destination in London on and within the twelfth day, from this oity. The Australian mail between Sydney and London could then be delivered on the 32nd day, beating |by several days anything the P. and O B.S. Company running via Suez oould possibly do with any vessels yet built, designed or talked of by several days. Certainly nearly a week can be saved over the P. and O. 's fastest time, giving them all advantage they expect from their new boats.' Police and the Liquob Tbamtco.—The new "Polioe Manual" has the following references to the liquor trade in connection with the foroe : —Regulation 167 states that an inspector is not himself to frequent or to allow his subordinates to frequent publichouses, in fact he will best consider his own character and rcspeotability by never even entering them, exoept compelled by necessary duty. According to regulation 229 a constable must not contract the habit of drinking at public places of amusement or in publichouses, nor must he frequent such places, exoept on necessary duty. And regulation 222 states that the members of the force must exert themselves to suppress illegal Sunday or other trading by licensed publicans and others, and officers in oharge are re quired to see that this duty is strictly and > impartially performed by the polioe in their > respective districts. Ovebdoing It.—There are some smart— i very smart—mining promoters in Wellington, i A suggestive tale comes from Terawhiti. < Some Auokland visitors, well skilled in practical mining knowledge, reoently visited the i district, and one of them knooked out a few ■ pounds of stuff in one of the claims, so that i he might test it at his leisure. Travelling ] along the way became rough, and he en- < trusted the paroel to the care of one among i certain parsons who had promiscuously ao- i oompanied him. By-and-bye, adds the i " Post," on getting to a oreek, the stuff was panned off, and yielded nearly a quarterounce of good shotty gold 1 The Auckland birds were too waiy to be caught with " salt " on the tail, and, as the intended victim re- i marked, " A grain might have done the trick, for it would have been a oapital prospeot, but a quarter-ounce to a hatful was a little too i rioh." Tricks of this kind should be avoided ; the bona fide prospects of the Terawhiti district will not be improved thereby. Chance and Change.—A quarter of a century ago a young doctor left Scotland for Australia to better his fortune. He had a wife, who, being possessed of ample means in her own right, refused to embark with him, and stayed at home with her two children. For some time after he anived in Australia he kept np a correspondence with his wife, but she still refusing to come he dropped all communication with her. In the new land he rapidlv acquired a lucrative praotioe, and there "beoame the father of another family, who grew up quite ignorant of the faot that they had brothers on the other side of the globe. When the boys in Scotland reached a map's estate they persuaded their mother to go with them to Australia in search of their long lost father. They found him, and were rather startled to discover that he had a seoond wife and family. Wife No. 1 entreated him to desert No. 2, and he did so for a short time. But presently the blandishments of his seoond spouse prevailed, and he returned to her. The Scotchwoman, however, is not going to allow herself to be deprived of her husband, and, what is more important,his large fortune, and she has therefore called in the assistance of the law. A Ship or Shops.—This euphonious title is something more than the alliteration suggested by Max Muller as the first beginnings of language. It is applicable to a practical notion whioh has already taken shape for the better development of certain classes of trade. It appears that commercial travellers on a grand scale, who do their business in all part* of the world; find a considerable dimoulty in disposing of goods for want of suitable show rooms. Even if they took unlimited baggage there would be endless trouble in packing and unpaoking. So a number of enterprising people have put their heads together and havo chartered a Bteamship for the job. The fittings and internal arrangements are specially designed for the purposes of trade. On each side of the main saloon are rows of large cabins, two or three ordinary state rooms thrown into one, and each of these can be hired for the whole voyage as a floating shop. The traveller stocks his establishment at first starting, and on arrival in port, or shortly before, unpaoks and " dresses" his cabin. The advantages to the seller of this method of displaying goods are obvious, while the buyer's operations are equally facilitated by the greater opportunities for seoing and selecting. The first steamer intended for this novel undertaking was to leave Liverpool about the middle of January. Her destination is the Cape of Good Hope, whence she will proceed to South America, and then i no doubt will go by Cape Horn to the Anti- , podes, where she ought to be well received.

Thb Coming Tribulation.—A letter from Jerusalem, which appears in the " Beoord," oontoins the following :—A party of eighteen Americans have reoently arrived here to await the advent of our Lard. They are resectable, educated, and it is said wealthy people, and are to be followed by many more. The poor crazed Englishman, who for several years has been going about the city dressed in gravoolotb.es, and with a heavy wooden cross on his shoulder, carries his oross no more. Age and privation had much reduced his strength, and a fit of fever oarried him off. It is characteristic of the contemptuous tolerance of the Turks that they so long allowed this man to go about haranguing the people, and often oollooting a crowd around him in the market places and elsewhere. Probably they regarded him as insane, and we j mayoharitably hope that this was the case, for he had lately begun to assert that he was no other than the Lord Jesus himself. A German lady, who regarded herself as " the Bride of Christ," and had prepared magnificent dresses in which to receive her Lord, went away to the Jordan and did not return. On inquiry, it transpired that she had died and been buried by the Bedouins. Jerusalem is seldom without two or throe snoh persons holding extreme or fanoiful religious views, and bordering on religions madness. A young man is now here to whom it has been revealed that the Ark of the Covenant is concealed in what is commonly known as the Potter's Field, and whose object it is to find it. Another, a rather gentlemanlike young Jew, has arrived and announced himself to bo the Mossiah. A large and very exoeneive building is in course of erection under the auspices of a Dutch sooiety, and is destined for the shelter of a few who are truly God's children during the coming tribulation.

Rbafbb and Bindbb Tbial.—Tho awards in conneotion with the reaper and binder contest under the auspices of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, have been made. The first prize in the twino binder class was taken by the Wood, the second by the MoOormick, the W. A. Wood machine (No. 8) was very highly commended, and Howard's Simplex highly commended. In the wire binders, the McOormiok was first, and the Aultman second. The judges had considerable difficulty in arriving at a conclusion, the contest being exceedingly close. Abhbubton RACING Club —A meeting of this body was held in Shearman's Hotel, on Saturday afternoon. Mr E. G. Crisp was voted to the chair. After some discussion it was decided that the Grand National Steeplechase Club should have the use of the Ashburton racecourse on 24th May next, and have leave to erect fencing on the course ; also, that a flat race meeting bo held at Ashburton on 18th and 19th April next. Bestbiotions ok Chinese. —The obnoxious ticket-of-leavo system has (says the " Australasian") been adopted in New South Wales in connection with the restrictions upon the Chinese residents of that colony under the now legislative enactment. The following is a, copy of the passport now issued :—" iB hereby permitted to absent himself frcm the colony of New Bouth Wales for days, commencing , and is hereby required to report himself at this Custom House upon his return." |The precious document is then stamped and tigned by a sub-colleotor of Customs, and if not returned precisely within a given time, which does not usually exceed fourteen days, tho holder is compelled to pay £lO before he will be permitted to return to the colony. Theatbb Royal—" Struck Oil " was repeated on Saturday night to a full .house and went with much success throughout. Misb Maggie Moore's sand jig was vociferously applauded, and some admirers were inconsistent enough to demand an enoore, which of course could not bo acceded to. Mr Williamson's artistic acting throughout, especially in the third act, received full measure of praise at the hands of the audience, who were very demonstrative in their expressions of approval. Mr O'Brien was the recipient of a somewhat_ negative compliment, in the shape of being hissed and groaned at heartily in his oharaeter of Deacon , Skinner. To-night, "Struok Oil" will be played, but it must be withdrawn shortly, to j make room for other novelties which Mr Williamson intends to produce during the : season. The next of these will be a comedy ( entitled " Snowball " and a charaoter skotoh . called " The Chinese Question," Miss Maggie j Moore and Mr Williamson appearing in both pieces, supported by the company. j Citt Council.—The ordinary meeting of • the City Council will take place this evening at seven o'clock. East and West Coast Railway.—-A general meeting of subscribers to the above ' scheme will be held on Wednesday next at three < o'clock, in the chambers of Mr T.S. Weßton, to < receive the report of the commissioners, &c. i The Unobbtaintibs ov Law.—About i two months since a contractor was sued at a i Bural Police Court for the sum of £9 3s by a i butcher for meat supplied for the use of two I men employed by him on a contract. The i contractor was also on the spot about; half his < time. When the case was oalled on for hear- i ing, he objeoted to the bill on the grounds i that it was impossible for the quantity of i meat, viz., 571 b per week, to have been con- ] sumed. It is reported that the isagistrate t who presided thought the quantity was i excessive, but as its delivery could not be ( disproved gave judgment for the amount i claimed, at the same time allowing the j defendant two months in which to pay the j amount adjudged. The defendant asked the i olerk of the Court what the exact oosts would c be, and it is stated that the reply was that he i could hardly say on the spur of the moment, ( but the defendant oould see the total by j referring to the newspaper report of the oase, but he thought it would be £1 2s charges, r On the due date the defendant went to the J Court-house to pay the sum of £lO ss, but j found no Court was being held that day, • and ignorant of the clerk's residence he -j asked the station master of the nearest rail- ; way station to take oharge of the money, and | pay same to the olerk when he saw him. This was done, but unfortunately for the . defendant he gave the station master Is short j of the judgment, which was for £lO 6j. To J the surprise of the contractor, the bailiff presented himself at his residence to distrain for j the Is, and costs £1 3s. Defendant was from ( home at the time, but he prooeeded to the B.M. Court, when the Court bailiff told him J 19j would settle it, which was paid accord- , ingly. Naturally the oontraotor feels aggrieved r at the inoorreot sum being stated, as also at j the Court being closed when he went ex- , pressly a distance of between twenty and ] thirty miles to pay tho adjudged amount and j the extra charge in whioh he was muloted. j Lincoln Lodge, No. 1918 E.G.—The - annual meeting of the above lodge was held | in the School, Linooln, on Friday, the 20th I January, at 730. The sister lodges repre- i sented were the St. Augustine, Southern Cross, ( Canterbury, St. George, Malvern and Concord. : The Y.W.DD G.M. Bro. Thomson, assisted by the D.G. offioers, installed the cfßcers for ; the ensuing twelve months. Bro. J. W. An- i derson, W.M.; T. C. Bevel], 1.P.M.; P. W. i East, S.W.; W. H. Comerford, J.W.; Bev. t A. 0. Wright, chaplain ; J. G. Murray, trea- i surer; W. B. Howell, secretary; A. P. O'Oallaghan, S.D.; T. A. Gates, J.D.; E. Townshend, 1.G.; W. G. Jennings, tyler. A. hearty vote of thanks waa accorded to the V.W.D.D.G.M. and D.G. lodge officers for their attendance, also to Bro. Joseph Judge : for his liberal gift of a seotion of land in the township for the purpose of erecting a lodge room. Bro. Davis presented the lodge with a set of tracing boards, which was suitably acknowledged[j and a hearty vote of thanks having been accorded to the giver, the lodge was closed in the usual manner at 9.45 p.m. until the next regular monthly meeting. There was one oandidate accepted for initiation, and one proposed for affiliation. The brethren adjourned to the large schoolroom for refreshments, after which the loyal and Maionio toasts were duly honored. There was a fair attendance of brethren and visitors. The inclement state of the weather prevented many from attending. Inconvenience o» Richbs.—lt is said that the life of Mr Porter Rhodes, whose name is already familiar in connection with the monster diamond he reoently pickedup at Kimberley, is a perfeot burthen to him. He can trust his big stone to no one else. Daring the day, when on view i» Bond street, says the " Home News," its owner has it always in sight. He is himself the bearer when the gem is to be sent for exhibition to royalty or to any bigwig in the provinces, and as he travels he dreads a Lefroy in every fellow passenger. The story goes that he went to show it to the Queen on a day when all locomotion became impossible from wind and snow, and that he spent a miserable twenty-four hours at some wayside station with a hundred thousand pounds in his pocket and nothing to eat. The constant anxiety is telling on Mr Rhodes's health, and unless he can soon dispose of his treasure it will be all that is left of him. The size of the stone is, after all, no protection against thieves. Desperate men who would steal it would also break it up rather than lose the ohanoe of realising the value of their " swag." Musical Examinations. —The Academical Board of Trinity College, London, it may not be generally known, have a system of local examinations in elementary musical knowledge in connection with the college. In this, the fifth year of the movement, nearly 4000 candidates have presented themselves tor examination in Great Britain and Ireland, as well as in some of the British dependencies abroad, including India, Ceylon, Cape Colony, and Australia. Since the institution of these examinations in 1877, about 8000 certificates have been awarded, and the most eminent musicians of this country, among them Bir Michael Costa, Sir Julius Benediot, Sir Frederiok Ouseley, Sir H. 8. Oakoley, and the late Sir John Gosb, have not only borne witness to the excellence of the movement, but have aoted as , examiners to the College. The following extract from the regulations will be of service to intending candidates :—" Looal i centres, under the care of honorary i local secretaries, have been established throughout the United Kingdom and the • British colonies. Applications for the ■ establishment of new centres in the British • colonies or in foreign countries may be ad- > dressed to the seoretary of the College. The I next local examination |(says the Auckland ; "Star") in elementary musical knowledge } will take place on Friday, June 16th, 1882, j for the colonies and abroad, and will be open

to persons of either sex. National prizes of the values of £5 and £3 will be open to candidates in each division, senior and junior. The examiners are also prepared to undertake the adjudication of certain local prizes.

Mining Vbntubbs.—Some excitement was caused in business'oircles on Thursday night by tho receipt of golden news from Beef ton in Dunedin. Aooording to telegrams despatched to Mr J. F. Watson and other agents a noh vein has been itruok in the Imperial mine in that locality, and the effeot upon shares in that and neighboring claims has been eleotrical. Imperials were a week or two ago offored at 39 6d. but few were obtainable yesterday at 17a 6i, so sudden and rapid has been the rise. Private telegrams from the Jooality (says the " Times ") also speak of the " find " in glowing terms, and Just-in-Time and Hopeful shares (both of which mines are on the same lino of reef) have proportionately increased in value. Okiminai, Statistics fob Engiand.— The annual report by the direotors of the conviot prisons in England for the year ended 31st Maroh last has been issued. It shows that tho number of male oonvicts reoeived into Government prisons under fresh sentences during the period in question was 1483, besides 159 lioensea revoked, while the female oonvicts numbered 232, bosides 39 licenses revoked. The number of sentoncos of penal servitude passod in England and Wales in 1880— viz., 1523—differs, it is stated, but very little from the number in the year preooding—viz., 1502, which, as then pointed out, was lower than in any year on record, except in 1873, when it was 1493. Including Scotland, the number of sentences, 1654, is lower by 2 than in any previous year, the corresponding number in 1873 having been 1656. The steady decrease in the number of sentences of penal servitude as compared with former years is, tho report points out, very remarkable, and may fairly be taken to indicate a diminution in serious crime. In regard to the employmont of convicts in England the directors state that they much regret that it has not yet been found possible to come to a decision as to the manner in whioh the oonviots now engaged in executing the large public works shall be employed when these works are oomploted. They have done what is possible to provide employment at Dartmoor for a few men more than those who are now engaged there,

but as this will meet the necessities of the oaso to only a limited extent, they cannot, they state, conceal their anxiety on this subject. Thb Fbozen Meat Trade. —Exporters of frozen meat have still a great deal to learn. Tho " Argus" correspondent writeß from London:—"Whon I wrote you by last mail the shipment by the Orient had arrived in Bplendid order, and it would have brought a good price had not the Cuzco shipment done bo muoh harm. Now tho Garonne meat is on the market in bad condition, a lot of it condemned by the inspector. I believe the machine on the Garonne did its work as well as that on the Orient, but tho meat was spoiled before it was put on board. Tbe meat that the inspector takes is perfeotly sweot, but tho bulk of it has a fungus growth on the iniide of the sheep. The sheep look all right on the outeide, at least some of them do, but when opened you see this growth from the ribs on eaoh side. On one that I Haw it was as large as a dinner-plate, nearly an inch thick, white, and not easily rubbed off, felt like soft leather. Some of the other sheep the inspeotor took on account of small black spots. Ido not know what causes these black spots. The fungus is, I think, caused by the meat having beon frozen in a damp atmosphere at Orange, allowed to thaw on the way to Sydney, and put into the ship wet. Some of the Bheep in this shipment were prime, others again were wretchedly thin. One of the salesmen said to mo, they mußt think we are badly off for meat when they send us such stuff as that. Another reason I have for thinking the meat was not in a frozen state when put on board is that it is in all manner of shapes, like some of the first Protoa shipment. One good feature in this shipment is that there is not so muoh dripping or discoloration as in the shipments previous to the Orient." Tunis as a Gbain gbowing Countby.— The possibility (says tho " Pall Mall Gazotte") of American wheat being eventually driven from the markets of Europe by grain from Tunis has been suggested. Land can be bought in Tunis, it is said, for half the price «t coats in the Western States of the American Union, and it is so fertile that it will yield two orops in the year. The quality of the grain, moreover, is equal to that of the muohprized Hungarian wheat. Excellent horses, though of a lighter breed, can be bought for a fraction of the cost of horses in the United States, and draft oxen far less than one half the American price. Finally, while the American product has to be carried hundreds of miles by rail to the coast, and has then to undertake a long sea voyage, the most remote Tunisian farms will be comparatively near the ooast, and tbe port of La Goletta is only sixty hours distant from Marseilles, rather less from Genoa, and only twenty-four hours further from Trieste and Fiume. The farmers, moreover, will be able to grow a vast amount of other produce, which wi'l greatly inorease the remunerativeness of their farms, and consequently decrease the cost of raising wheat. All that is required to develope this competition is the extensive immigration of industrious European settlers, with European capital and agricultural appliances ; and the wealth waiting to be seoured is so great that auoh immigration, we are informed, is sure to follow French annexation, and the seourity for life and property consequent thereon. It may be suggested that recent events in Algeria do not promise that security to life and property would necessarily follow Frenoh annexation. Leaving this consideration on one side, however, the argument is interesting as beating on the future of the American farmer. Granted the full settlement and development of North Africa under a more liberal commercial regime than the French seem disposed to introduce where they set foot, the American farmer would soon find out the injury whioh the American tariff inflicts upon him.