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Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1608, 4 September 1874, Page 346

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The announcement of the friendly at-, tention contemplated on the part of the' German Court towards the neighboring Court of Denmark—namely, the official attendance of the frigate Niobe at the milleniary celebrations in Iceland, appears to have occasioned some surprise on the Continent. The display of friendly feeling is intimated to be the result of a similar sentiment evinced by the Danish. Court and population to this very frigate in question during her anchorage in the port of Copenhagan. This was the first instance of a visit other then hostile of a German man-of-war to a Danish port, and it was rather expected that a vindictive spirit would be betrayed by the Copenhagen mob. The reception of the Niobe was, on the contrary, as friendly as could be. The sailors and marines were allowed to mix freely and cordially with the Danish seaman, and the officers of the vessel were distinguished by an invitation to the King's Court. This is reported to have created a very favorable impression at Berlin. A gentleman has just died at Aurice. in the Landes, who might have had some chance of ascending the throne of France, if he had only brought forward his claims in a, proper and popular manner. This great unknown was a M. de Eeynal, " the legitimate and direct descendant of Charlemagne." It is said that his genealogy was based on authentic documents, signed and sealed by no end of kings. What is still more remarkable is, that the modesty of M. de Eeynal was such that he never made any show of his great origin, and never attempted to trouble the State by putting up as a Pretender. He voluntarily let slip an occasion to resuscitate the Carlovingian party and to outdo the Comte de Chambord in his archaeological pretensions. This was, perhaps, a pity. The Carlovingian is the only line not represented in the dyastic world, and, as M de Eeynal leaves no children, there is no chance of its being revived to make the confusion of French political affairs complete. The steamship Sultan, belonging to Messrs Green and Co., of Blackwall, arrived in the Thames from Calcutta on July 19 with a complete cargo of wild animals, including; a rhinoceros, several tigers, leopards, and others of the larger carnivora. During the voyage home a sensation was caused by the escape of one of the leopards from his cage on to the deck, which he for some time had to himself, the women and children and other passengers being closed below under hatches, and the crew taking to the rigging. After roaming about the deck for some time the animal got into the engine-room, but was driven from thence by the fire hose being turned upon him, when he returned to the deck. It being thought impossible to effect his recapture without considerable risk, and to leave him in possession of the deck being inconvenient, it was determined to shoot him. There was some delay in carrying this resolve into execution, for there was no bullet to be found, and one had to be improvised for the purpose. At length, however, the leopard was destroyed, and the crew were enabled to descend to their duties. The anniversary of her Majesty's accession to the Throne, which took place on June 20, 1837, passed off with much eclat. Of the group of Ministers who, thirty-seven years ago, took the oath of allegiance to the Queen at a Council held at Kensington Palace, Lord Melbourne, Mr Sprigg Eice, Lord Cottenham, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord Duncannon, Viscount Palmerston, Lord Glenelg, the Earl of Miuto, Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Lord Holland, Mr Poulett Thomson, Lord Morpeth, Mr Labouchere, Sir John Campbell, and Sir Eobert Monsey Eolfe are dead. Only two members of the Cabinet of that day survive—Lord Eussell, now within a few weeks of completing his eighty-second year, who was then Secretary of State for the Home Department and Earl Grey, then Viscount Howiek, and Secretary at War, who is ten years younger. Mr Disraeli entered the House of Commons for Maidstone at the general election which succeeded the dissolution of Parliament immediately following the Queen's accession; Mr Gladstone had then sat in the first Eeformed House of Commons for nearly five years as one of the members for Newark. • An action has been tried in the Court of Exchequer, to recover £I,OOO, the amount of a policy of insurance efiected with the defendants on the life of a Dr Beasley. It appeared that Dr Beasley had been insured with the British Imperial Insurance Company for a few years. He went on a voyage to New Zealand in 1872, having previously obtained leave from the company to do so, and paid the usual extra sum demanded for tne risk. After a short stay at that colony he returned home. Early last year he again started on a similar voyage, and soon after .his arrival at New Zealand was accidentally drowned. His claim, however, being disputed, he brought the present action. The insurance company put in a variety of pleas, but the main question raised was whether Dr Beasley in respect to his second voyage to New Zealand had obtained leave and licence from the insurance company to travel beyond Europe. On the part of the defendants it was contended that no such leave had been given, and it was further objected that they had received no legal evidence of the death of Dr Beasley in New Zealand or elsewhere. By a curious coincidence, however, one of the jurors stated that he was in New Zealand at the time, and Could testily as to the truth of the fatal occurrence that occasioned the death of the gentleman in question. It was further argued on behalf of the plaintiff that the leave granted to Dr Beasley by the company to go to New Zealand held good for 12 months, and that his death took place actually a day or two before its expiration. The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for the amount claimed, with interest. <■ •

The Paray le Monial pilgrimage, which was made bo much of last year, is now given up. The enthusiasm has cooled. The committee, failing to obtain sufficient funds for the trip, advertises that the money for tickets already taken will be returned. The death is announced of Mr John Blackie, sen., at the age of 92. He was the founder of one of the principal publishing firms in Scotland, and contributed greatly to the spread of sound aud useful literature during the early part of the present century. • - , Compound bribery is one of the features of Durham electioneering. Several pitmen swore to having received sovereigns from a liberal agent for their votes. One of them, after pocketing his sovereign, sold the secret of it to the Conservative agent for thirty shillings. The statement that young Duke Nicholas was sentenced to banishment for stealing his mother's diamonds is officially denied. His case is still under the consideration of the Emperor. The American woman who induced him to commit the crime proves to be Josey Mansfield, who caused the shooting of James Fisk by Stokes. Mr Whalley has been sued in the Court of Queen's Bench by a fellow champion of the Claimant—Mr East, of the Queen's Hotel, St. Martin's-le-Grand for £IOO advanced to the Defence Fund. Plaintiff having alleged that the money was advanced on Mr Whalley's personal security a verdict was given for the full amount. A strange and fatal accident is reported from Scotland. David Galloway, a boy of four years of age, was amusing himself in a yard, where a number of ploughs were laid up, when one of them suddenly fell, the left stilt catching him in the neck, and killing him. His death must have been instantaneous. A telegram from Claremorris, County Mayo, reports a tragic occurrence. A young man named London attempted to commit suicide by stabbing himself. His mother, who witnessed the act, immediately dropped lifeless. The son has been lodged in jail, charged with attempted suicide and accelerating the death of his mother. On June 21 a thunderstorm of brief duration but of great violence burst over some districts of the North of Scotland, At Aberdeen a house was struck by lightning. Fortunately the inmates were at church, and the damage was confined to the shattering of the walls. The gas in the rooms was ignited by the lighting, and the pipes were fused. Eain fell in torrents for some time. An Innerleithen correspondent writes: —" The Tweed has not been so low since 1826, in which year the corn was so short in the stalk that it had to be pulled by hand.' The volume of water is so diminished that it all goes into the mill-lade at Walkerbum, and one may walk across the proper channel of the river dry-shod. Sheep and cattle are suffering severely from the heat, and the extreme dryness of the pasture and damage to hill sheep in Peebleshire will be serious if rain does not fall Boon. Already the usual death-* rate has been slightly increased by the drought." The Western Star has the following : —" A decided illustration of the fact that ' use is second nature,' occurred on Thursday last in Eiverton. Some of the immigrants had just come ashore from the steamer Wallabi, and were passing up Palmerston-street, when one of them spied some second-hand watches hanging up in a shop window, and involuntarily exclaimed, ( We'll be all right, Jim—here's a pawn shop.'" William Blackman, one of the Dorette immigrants, was brought before the Eesident Magistrate at Gisborne on Tuesday, charged with having stolen a mare valued at £lO, the property of Alexander Blair. Mr Blair stated that shortly after missing the animal he met the prisoner leading it. Thomas Kilburn deposed that on the 21st instant the prisoner offered the mare to him for £4, saying that he had bought it at auction for £5, but, being short of cash, would sell it for £4. The prisoner, after being duly cautioned, pleaded guilty, and was committed for trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court at Napier. We take the following from an upcountry journal:—" A new-chum Chinaman, whose knowledge of English was limited to a few of the cardinal oaths of our language, was engaged a few days since to cook for a gang of men who were at work on a station. The first day all went well, but on the second, John to his horor discovered he had no meat to cook j and as John had no one else to apply to, he began to pray to his Chinese gods, who sent an answer to his prayer in the shape of a traveller who had been amusing himself with catching rabbits. These he delivered to John; and, while the heathen was busy, with a diabolical smile moved a litter of puppies from the place where they lay, and then impressed on the brain of the Celestial that the proper name for the animals he had just been at work on was ' puppy.' As John knew no better, he assented with a pensive smile, and by the time the men returned he had them served up ready' for their dinner. The dish was highly relished, and all went well until one asked John if he had any more. The answer came quickly, ' No more puppy ; welly good puppy, welly good.' A fearful misgiving instantly reached every stomach iu the company, and one made a bolt towards the place the puppies inhabited, and, to his horor, found they were gone. With a yell he informed his companions they were poisoned. The result was a rush towards John, who bolted, through the door like lightning, and nothing has since been heard of that Chinaman. The next thing was to go to the nearest fence, over which they spent the next half-hour in a vain attempt to bring the soles of their boots up through their throats, While thus engaged the wag who had .played the trick quietly replaced the litter. The feelings of the men, when they returned and found the puppies, can be better imagined than our pen can describe."

The South British Insurance Company's half-year closed on Monday. They will pay a dividend of ten per cent., their income from investments equalling the amount required for a dividend. An Indiana lawyer used the word ,( disparagement " in his plea, and the- judge told him if he couldn't' quit using Latin words ho should sit down. The lawyer uudertook to xlefine his position, and was fined £2O for contempt of court. Two goats were discovered the other day at VVaipori, snow-bound in a drive, in which they had taken shelter frora the storm. They had been missing sixteen days and had evidently been imprisoned all that time by the snow drifting over the mouth of the drive. During their enforced confinement (says the Tuapeka Times) they each gave birth to a kid. When discovered the young ones were dead and the old ones as may be imagined had very little life left in them. There are avenues to profitable industry for which women are by nature specially adapted if they would qualify themselves for the work. Take the question of nursing : its duties are of a noble character. They require study, experience and skill closely akin to those of the physician. A nurse equal to her work would have a much more independent position than the ordinary run of governesses. Herejs a wide field for female industry. The demand for nurses is in excess of the supply. In wealthy homes, in the homes of the middle classes, and in tho homes of the poor, there is room for the employment of trained nurses which, with all the efforts that have been made since Miss Nightingale commenced her crusade, which will not be filled up for many years to come. One midsummer day, when iEolus slept, and the thermometer stood in the nineties, a lady entered a shop and asked for parasols. The obliging proprietor spread out before her samples of a large and varied stock. " Have you any of this shade a size larger?" said the lady. The size larger was produced. " I think on the whole I prefer the size smaller." The size smaller was presented. " Have you any of this size a lighter shade of blue ?" The required shade was brought out. " Haven't you any of this kind with a crooked handle?" Tho shade with the crooked handle appeared. "Have you any with the crooked handle not so heavy ?" said the lady, and so continued her inquiries for every conceivable size, shade, and weight possible in the line of parasolsAfter nearly an hour had been thus consumed, the fair shopper gathered up her handkerchief and gloves and moved for the door. " Can't I sell you a parasol ?'' inquired the exhausted proprietor. "0, dear no !" replied the lady, " I was merely inquiring the prices. lam going into mourning, and have one for sale." The Auckland Evening Star, 14th Aug, writes:—The next lecture of the winter course in connection with the Young Men's Christian Association will be given this evening at the institute by the Rev. David Bruce, minister of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. The subject will be " The proper place of the Sabbath in Christian Ethics," which no doubt will be treated in that liberal spirit which characterizes the addresses and discourses of Mr Bruce. The Sabbath has for many years past elicited a great deal of discussion, and many volumes have been written upon the Sabbath since 1849, when Mr Henderson, of Park, Glasgow, offered three prizes for the three best essays by working men on its temporal advantages to the working classes. To the astonishment of Mr Henderson 1045 essays were sent in, the best of which was the " Pearl of Days," by the daughter of a Scottish peasant. This young Scotch lassie was not eligible for a prize, as the competitors were to be working men. Still Miss Smith (for that was her name) was successful. Her essay, the " Pearl of Days,".was published under the patronage of the Queen, and not only brought her nearly three hundred pounds profit from the sale, but a husband besides. The winner of the third prize was David Farquhar, an engineer of Glasgow, between whom and the fair authoress a correspondence ensued which ripened into more than friendliness, for it warmed into an affection which resulted in a Scotch marriage. A late Melbourne Argus says :—-An unusual addition to his passenger-list is reported by Captain Paddle, of the A.S.N Co.'s steamer Wentworth, which recently arrived at Melbourne from Sydney. On the departure of the Wentworth for Melbourne, a bright-eyed chubby little urchin, of some four summers at mosi, was noticed trotting about on deck, and making himself thoroughly at home. Naturally enough it was supposed that the little fellow belonged to some passenger on board | but as time passed on and no one claimed the waif, inquires were instituted all over the vessel, and of the hero of the situatiou himself, beyond the intimation that his name was "Johnny Drover," there was nothing elicited which could throw any light on his antecedents, or afford guidance and direction for his future. From being quite unnoticed, Johnny henceforth became the " observed of all observers," and was made free of the ship, received cordial welcome in forecastle and saloon, and showing himself quite cosmopolitan in his appreciation of the attention vouchsafed to him. Throughout the trip, Johnny never seemed to give a minute's consideration to the peculiarity of his predicament, and, being gifted apparently with a sunny temper, any anxiety as to the result of his involuntary cruise does not trouble him. To relieve the fears of those who might be near to him, and to whom he might be dear, Captain Paddle very thoughtfully despatched a telegram to the manager of the A.S.N. Company at Sydney on Monday morning, stating that he had this unexpected passenger on board, and would bring him back on the return trip. A small fund was raised by subscription on board for Johnny, which will be invested in some new clothing for him here, and he will return a happier, if not a wiser mannikin than when he left home.

Gratitude.—Euphemia Lovelace fell into the river tho other day and was near drowning ; but succour was at hand, she was drawn out senseless, and carried home. Oncomiup--to she declared that she must marry \iv noble and courageous rescuer. " Impossible."' exclaimed papa. " Why so, is he already married ?" " Certainly not; but; dear me, ——it was a Newfoundland dog." On the Line.—The United States newspapers have a characteristic story about a Virginia railway company that was made to pay $25 for killing a rooster. The engineer said that lie spoke to the gentleman as kindly as possible, with the whistle, but when the fellow dropped one wing on the ground, raised his good eye heavenward, and commenced whetting his spur on the rail, forbearance ceased-to be a virtue, and he let into him with 13 freight cars, and forwarded him to his happy scratching ground by lightning express. A Remarkable Work of Art.—The Otago Guardian's Vienna correspondent writes: -" Apropos of pictures, the most curious thing to be seen is in the Minorites' Chapel ; it is a most exquisite copy of the " Last Hupper," about 12ft. square, let into the wall ; it is not a painting, but a mosaic of every colored stone. Near, I defy any one to distinguish between it and the finest painting ; at a distance, I remarked it has a better effect; the blue vcining in the white table-cloth, like one thread, is most wonderful, and the perfect coloring of the faces and hair is quite beyond description. Metastasio's tomb is also in this church." * "■■■ "■ ; >