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Kaikoura Star, Volume XIV, Issue 693, 27 March 1894, Page 6

A whale weighing fifty-seven tons has been washed ashore st South Beach, Tacoma. The experts say the animal must be several hundred years old. The whale measures 175 ft Sin in length. Its carcase is Valued as i(J, OOOdols. Mdme. Nordics now in America : has been interviewed on the subject of singing before the Queen. We extract from the report one passage :— ‘ When she began to talk to me I was so overcome that I forgot myself. She asked me how old I was and I actually told her the truth.’

An American writer praises the English as the cleanest people on earth, and declares that the reason for their extra cleanliness is because the fogs and smoke of their island would make them the dirtiest people on earth but for their instinctive cleanliness. The concluding paragraph of his appreciative remarks is worth quoting ‘ It is to the magic of the tub and the towel that the matchless complexions and the superb figures of the English women are due.’

The Eiffel Tower, the Ferris Wheel, or gigantic merry-go-round, and the ‘ Castle in the Air ’ to be supported on balloons at the forthcoming Antwerp Exhibition, are likely to have a rival in the proposed ‘ Mammoth Figure of Justice ’ at the San F.rancisco Winter Exhibition. The figure of Justice is to be 150 feet high, and the scale beam in her hand 300 feet long. Each pan of the scale will seat 50 people, who will swing to a height of 288 feet. The framework of the structure is to be of steel, the scale will be moved by machinery, and there will be telephonic communication between the pans and the engine room, A clergyman has just died in America—the Rev W. J. Potter—-who occupied the unique position of being the only one who was drafted during the war. He showed an earnest patriotism from the beginning of the contest, and expressed a strong desire that he might be drafted. On July 23 his name was drawn. On the following Sunday he preached a sermon ‘On thd voice of the draft,’ which attracted the attention of Secretary Stanton, who wrote to the young clergyman to go to Washington. He was offered release from service, but replied that he intended to abide by the result of the draft. Leave of absence was granted him by his church, and he served ont his term, passing scathless through many contests.