News of the Day.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1560, 20 March 1874, Page 153

News of the Day.

Fire in " Lloyd's Weekly " Office. On tlie 29th January, a fire broke out at Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper office, Salis-bury-court, Fleet-street, and proved very destructive. The building is of a peculiar construction, and, the access to it beingvery narrow, some considerable time elapsed before the fire-engines were set at work. The flames spread with rapidity through the composing-rooin and paper warehouse, clearing everything before them in the upper storeys, and in less than an hour the roof fell in. We understand that among other property destroyed was a large quantity of new type intended for the service of the present year. The flames caught the rear of the Fanner uewspaper-office, an adjoining building ; but, fortunately, owing to the indefatigable exertions of the firemen, little damage was done. The issue of Lloyd's Weekly of the 4th February, appeared exactly to time, and with its appearance in no way impaired. It contains the following paragraph : Our Calamitv.—The great calamity which befel our London establishment on Monday afternoon left us crippled, but not disarmed. In two brief hours the order, the economy of space, the toil and care with which machinery of the finest and fleetest kind had been laid behind that house in which Eichardson sate writing his marvellous romances, in days when steam had not given wings to Gutenburg's letters, were swept away, and we looked down upon a monstrous black cavern. To the feeling man there is no more affecting sight than that of a long-planned and patiently realized work suddeuly laid in ruins. The material loss may be covered, but the brain-work—the days of mental exertion, which the flame has consumed—are a dead, dull, heartoppressing destruction which is irrecoverable. Still, " How poor are they that have not patience." The time for regret is short, now-a-days. Pie who sees the building fall must pass a swift hand to the plumb and line, and trowel, and patiently rebuild. We are sure it will please our half-million of subscribers to learn that the calamity which destroyed the greater part of our London establishment left us, as we have observed, crippled but not disarmed. Another large establishment was ready, within a few hours to receive our staff, and to continue without interruption that task of administering living history to thousands of our fellow-countrymen, which their indulgence has crowned with a success unparalleled in the annals of journalism. We have experienced a greater comfort under our misfortune. It made us acquainted with many friends. From the most distinguished among our contemporaries we have received generous offers of assistance that, albeit we had no occasion to accept, we shall never forget. We " can no other answer make, but thanks, and thanks." The cordial general sympathy which has encompassed us through a trying week leaves us heavy debtors: it leaves us also encouraged to undertake even greater efforts than we have already made, to spread the latest news over the widest area. * An Erroneous Report. Our Dunedin morning contemporaries (says the Tuapeka Times) usually well informed on things in general, have been led into a very grave error in regard to Mr Eastwood, at present a patient in the Tuapeka Hospital. The Times of Thursday contains the following paragraph : " The intelligence came to town yesterday that Mr Harry Eastwood, agent for Bachelder's Pantascope, died in the Lawrence Hospital on the previous night, from the effects of injuries he received through the upsetting of a coach about a week ago. Mr Eastwood was so well known all over. Australia and New Zealand, and was such a universal favorite, that we feel sure that those who only had even a slight aquaintauce with him will be saddened by the news of his untimely death. He was a straightforward, genial, aud unassuming man, whose loss will be deeply felt by hundreds, who will often think of pleasant hours spent with' poor Harry.'" On inquiry, We learn that " poor Harry " i 3 not only in tho land of the living, but recovering fromihis .accident rapidly, and passing his time in devouring the Athenaaum literature;'' • J '*' '" ' ! [ : ,' l ' u : ,':

Religion and the Poor. ' A bishop has at last declared himself I (says the' Spectator) upon the laborers' ' side—Dr. Harold Browne, Bishop of Winchester. At his last Conference at Ely, he told the clergy, in well measured words, that he was afraid that in all Protestant countries, not in the church only, religion was losing its hold upou the poor. There was no sufficient reason for this in the Church of England, at all events, for "of the two, it had far better lose the rich. Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the promises ? and evil will betide the Church which disregards those whom he has chosen." "The minister of God is the neutral defender of the poor, and he had better err by defending him too much than by deserting him when he needs defence. It # is admitted that in many parts of England the laborer has had his wrongs." . The speech was received by the poor almost with enthusiasm, and was understood by the clergy as a strong hint, at all events to stand neutral in the con--1 test. If every bishop were as wise, the Church would gain advocates such as she has never had. But we are told that Lord A. Hervey—we have not seen the report of his speech yet —has outstripped Bishop Ellicott, particularly in his hostility to agitators, who, so far from being paid hirelings, are voluntary missionaries, trying to keep the people from excesses. Winter is coming on, and it would be well if every man with a heart in him, especially the Archbishop of Canterbury, were to speak it out. The Green Island Murder. The following is an account of the murder committed by Patrick Long at Green Island, Otago, on the 28th ult.» aiising out of a drunken row occurring at his public house. The particulars are supplied the Otago Guardian by persons present: —Drinking had been going on during the evening; and shortly after McDonald had been persuadingMcSweeney, who was very drunk, to go home, both went into the bar of the hotel, but what took place inside on that occasion has not transpired. They were, however, almost immediately ejected from the house by Long. McDonald agaiu went towards the bar-door, but, on doing so, a friend or Long's, named Harry O'Karfe, came up and knocked him down. O'Kanc then beat a retreat towards the bar-door, and entered the house, and the door was closed. The deceased followed, and endeavored to push the door open with his hand. Not succeeding, however, he retired towards the middle of the road. At this time Long came upon the scene from the rear of the house with a loaded revolver in his ' hand, and at a distance of 27 feet fired at McDonald, who fell and never spoke, though he lived about half an hour. Long then retired by the way which he came, taking the revolver with him in his hand. He was arrested about an hour afterwards by Constable Anderson. Careful search was made by the police for the revolver, but it could not be found. A revolver case was, however found behind the bar. Instructions were given by the police to •have a well at the rear of Long's house emptied, as it was thought probable that he might have thrown the revolver into it. " The Decadence of Religion." Mr Gilfillan, the well-known essayist and poet, recently delivered a lecture on •' The Decadence of Religion and the Depreciation of the Pulpit," in Edinburgh. The audience was crowded, hundreds not being able to secure admittance. He condemed the inquisitorial spirit which he said was still in existence in the churches ; also " attempts to galvanize a dead church " by means of " revival movements," which, he said, while tending to fanaticism, had on reflective men little influence. In his concluding remarks he said : " The great evils we have to grapple with as religionists at present arc two. One is the growing indifference to all religious subjects with a largo portion of the community. Overwhelmed with business or lapped in pleasure, eager to be hastily rich, they are neglecting the great subjects which used to occupy our fathers, or attending to them only in the most perfunctory manner, leaving everything to a few prayers and gasps on a death-bead. It is really fearful, this greed of gain. Some people are seeking after it to the exclusion even of enjoying themselves in this poor life. They will enjoy themselves one day, but in the meantime they are so busy accumulating the means of enjoyment as to lose enjoyment itself ; for when they are ripe for it, they arc ripe at the same time for death. Wealth comes too late, and while they have not enjoyed themselves so much as they might have done in this life, they have lost the other altogether, or, at least, have made no proper preparation for its coming. But while this indifference is spreading with many, and is lowering the tone of thought, and rendering men less men than they were in the days of the other years, there is, on the contrary, with others who do think and read andfeel on these subjects too much one-sidedness—some recognizing nothing but what serves to support their own foregone conclusions on the orthodox side, and • entertaining little charity to those who differ from them, while many go as far in the other direction. And so we are in danger, with petty jealousies and minute hairsplittings and miserable mouse-like feeding on the parings of truth, of becomI ing a race of little men,"

Nice Stuff for the Islanders. The Southern Cross, in an article on the trade of the Paumotu group of islands, in the Pacific, says :—On some islands where coacoanut is dried in great quantities, such as the Kingsmills and Mulgraves, the natives, who am a low type of savages, exhibit no desire for any articles of barter beyond knives, tomahawks, blue beads, and tobacco. This last they have been used to obtain from Sydney traders ; it is of the description known as " sheepwash," of a very vile kind, inasmuch as they have been known to retail it to white men at Is. per lb. It was quite of a similar character of excellence to a brand of gin which a year or two back was being retailed in the islands at 9s. per case of 15 quart bottles. It was known by the name of " chain lightning," and in flavor and aroma resembled that methylated spirit which in Australia is distilled out of gum timber in charcoal factories. Tin's delectable elixir w'as brought to the islands by a New Zealand trader, but what city of the Southern hemisphere could claim the credit of its manufacture is one of the mysteries which will probably never be solved in this world. Anecdotes of Landseer. A London letter recalls two more anecdotes of Landseer. In one of the artist's early visits 10 Scotland he stopped at a village and took a great deal of notice of the dogs, jotting down rapid sketches of them on a bit of paper. Next day, resuming bis journey, he was horrified to find dogs suspended in all directions from the trees, or drowning in the river, with stones round their necks. He stopped a weeping urchin who was hurrying ofE with a pet pup in his arms, and learned, to his dismay, that he was supposed to be an excise officer, who was taking notes of all the dogs he saw in order to prosecute the owners for unpaid taxes, so the people were anxious to get rid of their dogs. Another time he went to Portugal, and the King sent for him to express his admiration. " Ah, Sir Edwin," said the King, " I am glad to see you ; I am so fond of beasts."