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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 923, 21 January 1871, Page 3

Mr O'Shannassy has introduced alterations in the Married Women's Property Bill of Victoria which seem to reduce the arrangements of man and wife, as regards their separate property, to a sort ■of trading partnership. The primary object of this bill was to give to a married woman, by legal right, that control .over her own property which has been heretofore secured only by marriage settlements, with the extra machinery of trustets, &c; but the principle of the bill, as altered by Mr O'Shannassy, is to make the wife as much a trader as the husband, and placing them so entirely on an equality that their domestic ties are but a sort of secondary contract, to be annulled as readily as any other civil arrangement, at the pleasure of the parties. The Sydney Mail says, " Silk is looking up. We seem really likely to launch the industry successfully. To afford stimulus to it a valuable consignment of cards of seed and paraphernalia of silk culture, and spinners of silk, and information valued at .£250, has arrived as a from the Japanese Government to the Acclimatisation Society through Sir H. Parkes. It was conveyed free of cost by the P. and 0. Company. To show the proportion to which the trade in eggs has attained, we may mention that the Delhi, one of the largest; of the P. and 0. Company's steamers, has been engaged to convey eggs from Japan to Europe. The supply of seed being too great for the immediate wants of this colony, Dr. Bennett decided upon at once forwarding cards to Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, and New Zealand, which has been done." Under the head, " Good Shooting," an English contemporary says : —We should be glad to know what our naval authorities consider to be good shooting. The Army and Navy Gazette has lately given an account of some marine artillery practice at Vigo, in which the ill-fated Captain took part. The target selected was a rock, 200 yards long and 60 feet high, against which was directed, from a distance of 1,00.0 yards, the fire of three first-class vessels, the Captain, the Monarch, and the Hercules. The Captain fired 11 shots, and hit four times; the Monarch fired 12 shots, and hit five limes ; and the Hercules (a broadside ship) fired 17 shots, and hit ten times. Whilst this practice was being made " the sea was as smooth as possible." There is an old joke amoDgst gamekeepers about unskilful sportsmen not being able to hie a haystack, but what are we to think of the artillerists of our finest iron-ciads not being able to strike more than four times out of eleven an abject equal in size to a considerable Hock of buildings, and this at a range at which Volunteers make bull's-eyes more often than not ? If a large inert mass, such as described, was never hit or seldom, under very favorable circumstances, might not an active gunboat be scatheless ? unless, indeed, it were demolished by a shot aimed at something else. It has been the unanimous opinion of even the "oldest inhabitant," that pigs were incapable of sustaining themselves for any length of time by swimming, from the fact that from their peculiar mode of using their fore legs the sharp hoof would cut their throat. The following will tend to disabuse such impressions : —The lugger George and William, Hunter, of Lowestoft, when seven miles off Southwold, picked up a live pig. It is evident that poor " piggy " had had a long swim, for there wa3 no vessel to be seen near the spot, and the conjecture is that it was either washed overboard, or fell over unobserved by those on board the vessel from which it had been lost. The Ballarat Courier understands that " a very discreditable organization is about being formed in Melbourne to Utilise the Payment of Members Bill at the next general election. It seems this organization, or firm, perhaps, would be the more correct term to apply to it, will lend the deposit money of .£SO to any intending candidate, providing he obtains a substantial person to back his bill, and it' successful in the contest,, he is to pay the firm a portion of his salary as a quid pro quo for the accommodation, besides refunding the advance out of his first year's 'screw.' If unsuccessful, the candidate or his backer is to refund the deposit pioney the moment the contest in which they have been concerned is decided, whether the candidate polls a sufficient number of votes to save it or not,

In the case of popular candidates, we believe it is intended to forego all security, so as to enlarge the operations of the firm. It is easy to see that an organization of this kind would be friutful of immense mischief, and it is therefore to be hoped that the authorities will take steps to suppress it where the parties become known to them." The following humorous malapropos incident is recorded : —lt happened the other day that the Crown Prince of Prussia praised the Bavarians for their bravery in the presence of some soldiers belonging to that corps. '* Yes, your Royal Highness," remarked one of them, " bad you only led us in 1866 " (meaning the time when they were fighting against Prussia) " we should have beaten those confounded Prussians." A ludicrous story is reported concerning Dr Livingstone which pretends to account for the long disappearance of this explorer. A letter has been written by a Detroit lady, now sojourning in Syria, which states that Capt. Burton, British Consul at Damascus, is informed concerning Dr Livingstone's adventures in Central Africa. He says that Dr Livingstone was persuaded, much against his wish, to marry a rude and blustering native princess, and, when he afterwards proposed to leave Mrs Livingstone in order to prosecute still further his topographical investigations, his fond fatherin law and mother-in law interposed such strong objections that he is virtually kept a prisoner. The matter was kept a profound secret by the doctor's friends until recently. The Detroit Post is responsible for this curious story. It is stated that the Mayor of Southampton (Mr Frederick Perkins) intends closing his fifth year of mayoralty by giving a grand fancy dress ball in honor of the marriage of the Princess Louise, at the Hartley Institute, on Nov. 8, for which upwards of 2,000 invitations have been issued. At a recent meeting of the town council an address of congratulation was voted to Her Majesty. We (Daily Southern Cross) notice in our obituary columns an announcement of the death at Sydney, on the 31st December, of Mr Alexander Kerr, late manager of the Wellington, and formerly of the Auckland branch of the Union Bank of Australia. Mr Kerr was one of the oldest New Zealand colonists, having come out with the first baud of settlers to Nelson in the Fifeshire, arriving in the early part of 1842. He was born at Linlithgow, in Scotland, 11th January, 1828, and had not completed his 43rd year. He entered the Bank as a junior clerk at Nelson in Jan., 1843; served at Auckland as accountant at the opening of the branch in 1847, and then for three years at Sydney; returned to Nelson as a manager, paid a visit to England on a year's leave ; and on his return was appointed manager at Auckland, and finally manager at Wellington in 1868, which appointment he held at the time of his death. The professional qualities of the deceased gentleman were highly valued by the directors and principal ofijeers of the Bank to whicb his services were devoted for so many years, while his uuiform justice, consideration, and urbanity, endeared him to the numerous subordinates in its various branches with which, from time, he was connected, With a perfect freedom from all pretension, Mr Kerr was possessed in a marked degree of good sense, and good feeling, With the strictest honor and probity and the prudence, reserve, and reticence so essential to his profession, he combined a frank and manly geniality and kindliness, which secured for him both the respect and esteem of the wide circle of friends and acquaintances who lament his premature decease.