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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 971, 18 March 1871, Page 3

Subscription lists have been opened in Auckland tor the relief of the suffer .ers by the tenible war now devastating France.

The sums already spent by the French in keeping up the cannonade mu3t be .enormous. Each discharge from the big guns, such as abound in the forts, costs no less than £l4 !

The manufacture of colored woollen mats has become an established industry in Canterbury. There are two manufacturers on the Ferry-road, Christchurch, each of whom has a largo sale. The mats are made from the skins of sheep and lambs, the skins being first reduced to a state of softness and pliability, and the wool being dyed in all the varied colors of ihe rainbow.

The Southern Cross, March 4, says : A rather ludicrous attempt to get clear of the irksome duties of Mount Eden Gaol was made on Saturday last by a long-sentenced prisoner named Wilson, and, doubtless, but for the breach of faith of his comrade, the plan would have succeeded. It appears that another inmate of the Stockade, by name Jerry ■O'Shane, was accustomed, towards the ck»e of the day, to clear up and empty the sack filled with chips and other sweepings at a place outside the walls Wilson conceived a ** happy thought," aud immediately proceeded to action. He pei suaded Jerry to place him in the sack alluded to, and, when his instructions had been obeyed, he quietly subsided into dust, and consoled himself with the idea that Jerry was of the same opinion, and would accordingly •" empty him out" amongst the rubbish on the "freedom side'' But, alas for human plans ! Jerry thought better of it, and did not care to undertake such a huge responsibility as to let a criminal be at lafge amongst honest folks ; so he hatched a counter plan. Instead of emptying the rubbish in the usual corner, he matched straight with his load to the authorities of the gaol, placing it at the feet of the chief warder, Mr O'Brien. Captain Eyre, Governor of the Stockade, was shortly afterwards called in; and in front of them both, Jerry emptied his sack. The feelings .of the man who was enacting the " low part" of mere rubbish may perhaps be imagined, certainly not described. Thus suddenly made aware of his peculiar, not to say laughable position, Wilson made a rush for the door, in his impetuosity knocking over Warder Young, who happened to be stationed just outside. But in this last daring effort he was once more thwarted, being pulled up and brought to book for his surprising and irregular conduct. Pie whiningly pleaded the excuse that it was all meant for a "lark"; but the authorities could not see the point to the joke, and the " gaol bird," that so much desired to be like a " lark," was put under strict surveillance—orders being issued to the sub-warders to keep an eye on bim, and so prevent such propensities to sly amusement in the future. The " public spirited " conduct of the man Jerry bears with it its own /comment; and we should be inclined to jthink that those who have the charge of the prisoners will not be slow in recognising the service thus rendered, but for which a tiresome hunt over the crags in the vicinity might have been necessary.

The census of Victoria is to be taken on the 2nd of April next—the same day ,as that of Great Britain. The Southern Cross mentions that a seam of coal was discpverd at the Flat Rush (Auckland) on the 2nd hist.

The Bavarian army numbers now 124,000 men, of whom 94,000 are in France,

A child has died at Mudgee, N.S.W., from a head of prairie grass being taken into the lungs. The post mortem examination revealed that the child had been well nourished. No trace of the right lung could be discovered, but its cavity was found full of purulent fluid, on which iioated a small ear of the prairie grass, the bronchus of the lung terminating in a leathery substance adhering to the pericardium, while the left lung was perfectly in its normal condition. Advocates of the small farm system may be interested to learn that, according to .statistics recently published, 1,430,365 farms in the United States, out of a total of 1,942,241 are of than 100 acres in extent. The favorite size for farms appears to be between 20 to 50 acres, and between 50 and 100 acres, the numbers respectively being 612,245, and 607,668. There are also 52,642 farms of between 3 and 10 acres in extent, while there ate only 5,348 with an area of 1,000 acres and upwards.

Tt is not often a youngster is met with who possesses the presence of mind and pluck shown by a lad named Alfred Ashton, living in the neighborhood of the Mooraboo] Falls. He was out (says the Ballarat Evening Post) in the forest; with a number of woodcutters, and was playing a few yards distance from, when he was bitten on the extreme end of the second finger of the left hand by a snake, which he mistook for a piece of charred wood. The youngster at once ran to the men, and, laying his finger upon a log close at hand, asked one of the numbir to cut it off at the first joint. This was demurred to at first, but, upon the brave little fellow saying that if they did not do as he wished he would do it himself, one of the men severed the poisoned portion. The lad bore the operation with great firmness, merely ejaculating " Oh, my," as the axe's edge passed through the member. The little sufferer is progres • sing as nicely as one one could wish. A correspondent of the Melbourne Argus writes to that journal as follows : —lt will be a disgrace to our modern civilisation if the victims of the war are left to perish unheeded by more fortunate nations, and it is our duty to join our countrymen at home and our cousins in America in alleviating the miseries of our allies and friends the people of France. England can send money, and medicines, and clothes; America will doubtless send flour. Let us do our part, and ship direct to France large quantities of our preserved meats, and so establish a trade between the countries which will last for ever to our ma terial advantage. It is proposed that Parliament be asked for a vote of £50,000 to be expended in the purchase of preserved meats, to be shipped during the next six months to whatever French port is nearest the seat of war, there to be handed over to the municipal authorities for distribution amongst the starving people. The following is the number of persons drowned in the rivers of this Colony during (he last thirty years : Auckland, 227; Westland, 174; Otago, 170; Wellington, 165; Canterbury, 145; Nelson, 102; Marlborough, 48; Hawke's Bay, 40 ; Southland, 37; and Taranaki, 17 —gi v iug a total of 1,115. The names of persons ascertained to have been drowned in harbors, well s ;, waterholes, swamps, and the sea, have been excluded from this list,