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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 986, 6 April 1871, Page 2

" Cyril Ashley," says the European Mail, is a charming domestic tale by A.L.0.E., who in her preface intimates that this may probably be the last story she will write :—" The eyes of those who were wont most gladly to welcome each new work from her pen are closed in their last long sleep; a stranger possesses her childhood's home; and her pwn conscious failing in mental energy makes her feel that her sun is gently sloping towards the west." Let us hope that this sad presage may be averted, for certainly of all the writers for girls A Lady of England has been among |he most successful.

The writ for the election of a new Superintendent for the Province of Wellington has been issued, and the nomination fixed for the 6th April (this day), the polling to take place on the 20th inst. It is stated (says the Wanganui Chronicle) that the la;e Commissioner, Mr St. John Branigan, will visit his native country, as a long sea voyage has been recommended as the best remedy available for his malady. We have heard that there are forty-seven candidates for the vacancy caused by his retirement. Among these is Ml* Atcheson, of the Wellington police. Capt. E. G. Loft, of the Canard line, who has just completed his four hundredth passage of the Atlantic, has been presented with 3,500 dollars. We observe from our files that a gymnasium is about to be started jn Christchurch. Everyone (says CasselPs Household Guide) has probably noticed that all good stockings are marked at the top with colored lines, the threads of which the lines are formed being dyod either blue or red. The dyes are not what are called "fast" colorfrs, but are " fugitive." The lines are placed thero by the manufacturer to show that the texture of the material of which the stockings are made was not injured when the articles were bleached, the bleaching being effected by the action of chlorine. Although chlorine when carefully used is comparatively harmless, still, if employed in excess, it so destroys the texture of the stockings, that they quickly come into holes; hence the adoption of these colored lines, as before the chlorine can injure the material to this extent, the red or blue, color of these lines will be removed. .For this cause any stockings which do not show these colors are always sold at a lower price; but, however low the prices at which they are sold, they are not cheap, nor is it advisable to purchase them. We take the following from a late issue of the Thames Advertiser : —-An instance of the manner in which the market has been " rigged " during the last few days, which wa* brought under our notice yesterday, is not by any means a solitary one. A " speculator " asked a broker to procure him a Caledonian at .£7O. The broker promised to do so, if possible, and after the lapse of a few hours met his speculative friend with the intelligence that he had been unable to procure one. c: Oh," replied the speculator, "nevermind, I've bought at ,£6O, and could buy now at <£55." "Well," replied the broker, "then I suppose you can sell at .£7O, and make £lO profit," " Yes I can," replied the speculator, " and make money at it." " Well," said the broker, " here's a deposit, and I'll take two." The speculator replied that he could not sell such a small lot, but would trade for six. The broker, who had an order for that number, offered to close, and give a deposit, the balance to be paid in half an hour. The speculator, who possibly never had a share in the Caledonian in his life, made some excuse, -which was not intelligible, and disappeared, leaving the broker mourning his fate at having spent so much time to no pur- , po«e. There are a number of similar speculators around the corners, talking largely of the cloudy character of certain stocks. It has been suggested to us that such individuals are supplied with some " weighty reasons " for performing what cannot by any means be construed into a " labor of love."

The "Empire City" is certainly progressing. During the last few weeks (says the Evening Post, March 29) the Gas Company's mains have been laid in various directions through the town, and in the course of the ensuing month gas will be available for lighting purposes. Yesterday it was our pleasant duty to announce tho foundation of a company for the erection of the Patent Slip—a work most urgently required, in order that Wellington may be able practically to utilise its natural advantages as a port. To-day we publish a report of a special meeting of the City Council, at which the main details of a scheme for supplying the ciry with water were approved of, and the first practical steps taken towards carrying the scheme into effect. The present year is, therefore, likely to mark an tra-

usual degree of progress, and it is somewhat remarkable that the first steps for reducing two of the most important /proposals to shape should actually have been taken on the same day. Of the three boons —gas, the slip, and. water —-the latter, although last, is certainly entitled to be placed first in importance and desirability. At a recent meeting of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, the following letter from the Colonial Secretary's office was read, in reply to the communication forwarded by the Chamber, recommending Mr Ollivier's patent for preparing the fibre of New Zealand fiax to the favourable consideration of the Government; —" I have the honor, by the direction of Mr Gisborne, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st ultimo, and, in reply, to inform you that, on reference to the Chairman of the Flax Commission, that officer reported that the Commissioners do not feel able to recommend the Government to take the steps suggested till they have the same information submitted concerning Mr Ollivier's process that he imparted to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce; but Colonel Haultain will communicate with Mr Ollivier personally on the subject."

We believe that, the Port Chalmers dock "will be opened some time this month, and that the CHo not being procurable, the Agnes Muir will be the first vessel taken in The scale of charges has not yet been fixed. Respecting our American friends, and the estimation in which their military genius is held by the Prussians, (writes the correspondent of the London Echo) I heard a good anecdote this morning. General Von Moltke was appealed to by <ome gentleman in society the other evening to settle some disputed point in connection with the history of the American civil war. " I know nothing of the American civil war," was the quiet reply, at which more than one in the room expressed surprise. "No" said the great strategist, " I have purposely kept myself in ignorance upon that subject, because there was nothing to be learnt from it. "War is a science, and any record of the mere scrambling of Wo armed mobs can only produce confusion in the mind," Your American readers may perhaps feel flattered by this description of their fight for national unity. Mr and Mrs George Darrell are now playing with great success at the Prince of Wales Opera House, Sydney, Just as a porter commenced waking the passengers for the Southern train at the Spottiswoode Hotel in Pdchmond, Virginia, on the 23rd December, he discovered it on tire in the lower floor. An effort was immediately made to wake up the guests, and the scene became one of indescribable confusion. Men commenced rushing about trying to save their baggage, and women, nearly naked, and barefooted, were seen flying into the snow-covered streets. The steam engines were promptly on the spot, but the water being frozen it was some time before it could be thrown on the building. The flames spread to such an extent that escape by the staircase was cut off, and the guests commenced leaping from the windows. P. P, Clarke, the steward of the hotel, leaped fiom the third storey, receivingfatal injuries. A most fearful scene of disaster then followed. Mrs Emily Cornelius, the house keeper, appeared at the window of the fifth storey, with one or two ladies, screaming for help. The Fire Company's ladders were put up, but the firemen failed to reach the windows by two storeys. While the firemen were endeavoring to lengthen the ladders, the crying disar> peared in the thick smoke, and were soon lost, the room brightening up a moment after with flames. The register is consumed, and it is impossible to gi"ve the names of strangers who may hcive perished. Several are believed to be missingr, as there are about a dozen unclaimed trunks belonging to persons from New York and other northern cities. The weather is intensely cold, so much so that the telegraph wires in front of the burning building were covered with ice, and the .steamers were encased in ice an inch thick. Among the remarkable escapes was that of Mr Shifter, attached to the office of the State printer, who was in the fouroh

storey, and escaped by dropping frorn; one window cornice to another until he. reached the ground. Ho was badly burnt. The correspondent of the NewYork Herald also had a narrow escape. The guests lost all their clothing, and the ladies had to walk barefoot over the snow to places of shelter.

The Lyttelton Times says that the immensely high price obtained for. harvest work in 1870 attracted considerable numbers of men in 1871 from all parts to Canterbury.' Harvest U now over, and the Province is full of fine able bodied men who want work. The fact that these men are leaving the, place because they cannot get work is, eminently suggestive at a time when we are talking of bringing fresh immi-

grants into the country. Has the Government nothing for them to do ? Cannot some of the works that will soon have to be carried out be pressed on a little, so, as to. find employment for men whom it is desirable to retain in the Colony %

The following is from the. Dunedia Echo:—The Reformer, an Edinburgh newspaper, in commenting on the. West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, and especially on Martin's Bay, says that a railway to Martin's Bay is a prime necessity! We suppose the writer is intimately acquainted with New Zealand and our Southern Alps. Perhaps a railway to the top of Mount Cook might also be a prime necessity.

On Wednesday evening last (says the Marlborough Express, March 11), a public meeting was held in the Literary Institute, in connection, with the Independent Order of Rechabites, Friendly Society. The Rev. J. B. Richardson occupied the chair, and Mr Johnson, P C.R. of the Hope of Wellington Tent, Wellington, explained that the Society was similar to other Friendly Societies, but that its members were required to be total abstainers from all intoxicating liquors. After the public meeting, seven gentlemen were initiated as members of the Order, and the following were elected Officers: —Rev. W. Shiriffs, P.C.R.; Rev. J." B. Richardson, C.R.; Mr R. W. Mor~ ley, D.R.; and Mr R. Ru.*h, Secretary. It was agreed that the name of the tent should be the " Bon Accord " Tent.

The following is from the Sydney Mail: —According to all accounts the snakes of this country occasionally do <ome extraordinary things, and evince the strangest of tastes in choosing materials for sustenance. The last novelty in this line is narrated in the Newcastle Chronicle of 2nd March : On Sunday last a shell gatherer, whose name we have not been able to ascertain, went to sleep, at Blutf Head, with, a handkerchief over his head—he having been apparently in a fatigued state at the time. When he awoke he found, to his great surprise, that his head covering had mysteriously disappeared. On searching for it he discovered, within a few yards of where he had been asleep, a large carpet snake ■•vhich he immediately despatched. The man took it in his head to open the reptile, in whose belly he, to his no small astonishment, found the missing handkerchief, with several mice and insects. The snake must have taken the handkerchief off the unfortunate slumberer's head, and in doing so it is a miracle that he did not bite him." Our contemporary's commiseration seems to be curiously misplaced. Why should the "slumberer" be regarded as " unfortunate" when his handkerchief was so cleverly taken as not only to leave him unscathed but not even to disturb his slumbers ? He did not so much as lose his handkerchief, for he seems to ha v e recovered it before it was digested. Rather say i( lucky man."

An admirer of the beauties of the Scotch language writes as follows in, Blackwood :—The English language, like the Teutonic, bristles with eonsonants. The Scotch is as spangled with vowels as a meadow with daisies in the month of May. English, though perhaps the most muscular and copious language in the world, is harsh and sibilant, while the Scotch, with its beautiful terminational diminutives, is almost as soft as the Italian. English songs, like those of Moore and Campbell, however excellent they may be *s poetical compositions, are, for these rea-.

sons, not so available for musical purposes as the songs of Scotland An Englishman if he sings of a "pretty little girl," uses words deficient in euphony, and suggests comedy rather than sentiment; bat when a Scotchman sings of a '" bonuie wee lassie," he employs words that are much softer than their English equivalents, express a tenderer idea, and are infinitely better adapted to music. The charity of Paris, says a correspondent of the Daily News, is bound less. I had no idea till this winter what a kindhearted people these French are. We have an idea in England that they are frivolous and heartless, and that their kindly manners do not reach below the surface. You should see tlieir self sacrifice their almsgiving—their good-heartedness their boundless liberality. The misery of the poor is very great; but i*. brings out all the finer qualities of French nature, showing how those who have nothing can endure with heroism, and how those who have to spare will give what they have must generously. Here is a good thing from Josh Billings' lecture :—" A man that starts on the first (lav of his marriage as a first lieutenant in his family need never expect to be promoted." An obedient daughter always makes a faithful wife. Let no man who values his own happiness marry a woman of an unfilial nature. A large conger eel was captured near Ramsgate the other day, which weighed 361bs. On being opened, the stomach was found to contain an extraordinary collection of articles, wln>h we saw directly they were taken out. A large thick "woollen glove, three pieces of coarse blue serge, a pocket-comb three inches long, part of a leather brace, a bone button, some tobacco, and a long bone, apparently the legbone of a wild fowl, nearly five inches in length, were all tightly compressed together. We were told' that the fish ate well when cooked. Accordiug to a Ballarat paper, a lady in thai, city carries on somewhat extensively the rearing of silkworms. She has now, it is said, 12,000 cocoons ready for winding. Two vessels transferred from the German to the English flag have been seized by the French as prizes, and sent to Saignon. The English authorities are said to have protested against the proceedings. Affairs in the north of dhina are unsatisfactory. The Chinese are disaffected to foreigners, and regard the massacre idifficulties as all settled.