Miscellaneous.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 665, 23 March 1859, Page 5

Miscellaneous.

AwFur, Di9COTBEY.—A panic was lately created among the officials of several departments of the Governmentby the discovery of a mare's nest. On the Ist instant a bale of goods, such a« are used in silk factories, arrived at.tho address of a French gentleman engaged in the Kbyal Institution of San Lucio. The previous formalities having been gone through by Signor Calabro, one of the custom house officers, they proceeded to inspect the bale, when, lo and behold! twelve balls covered with plate and brass nails were found. Calabro affirmed that they were useful in weaving. Cavaliere Sava, who was called as a- high authority, declared that they were infernal machines. Signor Taglioni was then consulted, as being a great mechanic, and being connected with the police. The inspection was made in the presence of the Prefect and at the Prefecture, and the conclusion of the wise man was that the balls were incendiary bombs. A report was made to his Majesty, arid another meeting held, the great generals of artillery—Nunzhnte and Agostino, being invited. "Nothing could be clearer; they were bombs," and Taglioni, long in the service of the king, was ordered to test them. Love, even such.as his, failed, however, in the presence of danger;' but at length he promised to do so in his own house, and received one of the diabolical balls. A day passed, and nothing was done. Taglioni's family would not permit it: "A widow and-fatherless family," such .was the picture which haunted their imagination. At length Taglioni was shamed-into si solemn promise to perform the experiment in n grotto., at his villa, at Posilippo. An inspector of police accompanied him ; instructions from Generals Nunmnte and Agostino were given him. From a great height the ball was cast into the grotto, and the assistant of Taglioni hurried into concealment. No sound was heard, and the idea was that the ball had fallen upon soft material. It was sought fof/and again cast down on a harder material ; the aching ears of the attendants tingled with expectation—yet all was silence. The devil was then opened, hut instead of being a bomb it was found to be a wooden ball, covered with plates, such as are used for gymnastic purposes in Marseilles. All the other balls were likewise opened, and proved to be only balls, and Naples is laughing at her authorities —Custom-house, and police, and military, who have been frightened out of their propriety by twelve wooden balls from France. — Naples correspondence of the Times.'. .- Advice to the Young.—Jerrold said to a young gentleman who burned with a desire to see himself in print: —" Be advised by me, young man : don't take down the shutters before there is something in the window. ' ■

Servants and Helps.—One of those " English muffs, ye kno," came! over into the "States" the' other day'from Canada.: He took lodgings at an inn in a bordering village which shall be nameless. He had dinner; and among; those who sat at the table with him was the waiting-maid, whom he designated as "servant ;" but he received an indignant correction from the .landlord:—" We call our servants, Sir,' Helps.' They air not oppressed; they air not Eussian scurfs." " All right," said the "bloody Britisher," "I shall remember." And he did; for in the morning he awoke the whole house by calling out at the top of his voice, which was like the tearing of a strong rag,—" Help! help!—water! water!" In an instant every person equal to the task rushed into his room with a pail of water. "I am much obliged to you, lam sure," he said, " but I dont want so much water; ye kno' —I only want enough to shave with 1" " Shave with!" said the landlord, "what did you mean by Calling ' Help! water!' we thought the house was fl-fire." "You told me to call the servants ' Help,' jand I did; did you think I would cry water when I meant fire ?"— American Paper. .

- The Lowdean Pro,fessorsh^. "ofv v.Jk^trononay, vacant by the death of the Dean of Ely < has been conferred upon Mr. Adams, fellow of Pembroke, late fellow of St. John's. It will be remembered that Mr. Adams claimed the discovery of the planet Neptune with M; Leverrier, which honour, it is understood, he lost by not timely publishing the result of his investigations. .."■":'

The British Ambassadob at, Nagasaki.— There was soon a general flurry, for the Japanese appeared to have been waiting for their Dutch friends to awake, to inquire if he might be visited. Japanese officials, with pockets full of pnpeiypens, and ink, hurried off—jolly "good-natured-looking fellows, always ready to laugh, and in appearance resembling more the Kanaka races of the South Sea Islands than the Chinese we had left behind us. Their dress in some respects was Chinese, and their language sounding very like a composition of discordancy of that most discordant of languages and the soft liquid sounds of the Kanaka tongue. But how they interrogated us! —what was tiie ship's name, our name, the Ambassador's titles— everybody's name and age—everybody's rank and business—what did we want —whither' were we going—whence did we come —how many ships were coming — where -was our Admiral ? — Indeed, a Russian Custom House agent or a British census paper could not have put more astounding questions, whether in number or nature, than did these Nangasaki reporters. We were as patient as naval officers, or angels, may usually be supposed to be under such circumstances; answered all their questions, allowed them to see, touch, smell, and hear everything, except the British Ambassador, who was in his cabin; and then dismissed them with a glass of sherry and .a biscuit. The captain and first lieutenant had hardly congratulated themselves that, at. any rate, that portion of -the pleasure of visiting Japan was over, when another boatful of reporters arrived, tumbled up the ladder, were very well behaved, but asked exactly the same questions, and went exactly through the same farce ns th^ first party had done. They were, we, learnt, duplicate reporters, whose statements served to check and correct those of the first set of inquirers. Directly they left us, a twosworded official arrived—two swords in Japan, like two epaulettes in Europe, indicate an officer of some standing. He introduced, himself through a Japanese interpreter, who spoke English remarkably well, as a " chief officer." who had an official communication to make. Would he sit down —would he be pleased to unbosom himself. Could he not see the Ambassador P Impossible! What! "a chief officer" communicate with an Ambassador! We wore truly horrified. The chief officer must be simply insane. Did he couple the representative of the Majesty of Great Britain with some superintendent of tradeP The chief officer apologised; he was very properly shocked at the proposition that he had made. He saw his error, and, what wa3 more to our purpose, the Ambassador assumed a size and importance in his eyes? which it would have been difficult to have realized. The " chief officer" then put his questions:—" Did Lord Elgin intend "to call upon the Governor of Nangasaki p" " No; he had not time to do so." "Did he expect the Governor to wait upon him P" " The Governor could please himself; the Ambassador would receive htm if he came," "If the Lientenant-Governor called on Lord Elgin, would his Excellency rpceive him.?" " Yes." This was all the chief officer had to say. _ His mission was a special one. He begged to wish us good looming, merely adding that the Governor of $aj(j§faaaki hoped the Ambassador would kindly acojip a small present which would shortly be sent.. The present arrived shortly afterwards—a stout cob-built pig, of 3 cwt.; and such a quantity of pumpkins ISlacktfood's Magazine.

. Major-General Waddington, a comrade pf the late Sir Charles Napier, and conspicuous for his devoted courage at the blowing upot'Emaun Ghur in the deserts of Scindej.died recently. He had been 46 years in the service of the East India Company as an engineer. BCBEW STEA.MEBS —THEIB CONDITION AND PBOSPECTB. (From the'MorningChronicle.') The sale of the French^screw-steMmer Frangois Arago, by auction last week at Birkenhead, by order of the high Court of Admiralty, has excited attention to the low prices ruling for that descrip: tion of property, and speculations as to the future of the fleet of screw-steamers at present on sale. Many have been forced on the market from the bankruptcy of the companies for whom they were originally constructed.

Since 1852 screw propulsion for sea-going ships has increased in a much greater ratio than the legitimate demand :—

1. From the exaggerated value attached to the combination of the screw-propeller with sails.

;. 2. From the great stimulus given to it by the Russian war.

3. From the great facilities of credit given to speculative shipbuilders and owners in this country and on the Continent from 1854 to 1857.

The practical result of long sea voyages has proved auxiliary screw steam-ships a costly mistake, and full-powered ones too expensive to compete with clipper ships. The war demand, partially revived by the Indian mutinies and the Chinese war, has ceased. The failure'of the Western, Newcastle, and other Banks has put an end to the credit system of the shipbuilders, and the general result is that screwsteamers are selling at about one-third, or, as in the case of the Frangois Arago, one fifth of the original cost, when they can be sold at all, for the difficulty ■is to get a bidder at any price. In Hamburg the "Petropolis" and " Teutonia," two magnificent screw-ships, were offered by public sale a few days ago at £10 per ton, having, cost near £40, and* not a single bid was made for them. On the 28th a new screw vessel of 2400 tons, belonging to the same owners, or rather to their creditors, is to be sold by auction.in the Clyde. On the 30th the fleet of steam vessels belonging to the Genoese company, comprising 6 screws, four of them of 1800 tons, came to the hammer, to be followed by the Antwerp steamers, built lor the Transatlantic trade, of 2000 tons each. Iv Fiance, the Franco-American company having lost their capital of 1,000*006 francs (£64,000), their halfdozen vessels, of 1600 and 1800 tons, must be sold to pay off the liabilities of the company r. and the fleet of the European and American company, composed of equally magnificent ships, must follow, if the position of the concern is to be judged of by the price of their shares. Here, then, are twenty to thirty large screw steamers, that must be cleared before the market can revive. Where are the buyers to come from, arid what are the circumstances that will rule prices ? First, of the whole, the great majority are of the highest class, auxiliary screw ships. Perhaps there are not above two or three that could pass the Admiralty \ standard to twelve knots at the measured mile. .

It appears clear these vessels will be sold at the price at which they will pay as sailing ships, consequently their value is raised by the freight market, and their power of competing with the improved class of timber ships now at work. With their engines taken out many of these ships would answer admirably as carrying vessels j^'and we predict this will be the fate of all auxiliary ships. The fact must be looked'in the face that, in the present state of steam navigation, no auxiliary, steam vessel can pay on a foreign voyage that does not, carry her coal for the whole distance. Hence the advantage of the proposed 5000 tons steamers on Captain Ford's plan. The two or three of the lotthat can steam twelye : knots must look for customers in the large mail, companies, and take what price they can get for them. • The smaller class of' screws on sale, from 400 to 800 tons, will be absorbed by the coasting and continental trade in time; but the North, of Europe and other kindred companies have so swamped the market that a considerable time must elapse before the broker's lists are seriousty.diminished. The owners are, however, in a better plight than the holders of large steamers; for one purchaser of a 2000 there are twenty for a 100 ton screw. Is screw steaming at an end then ? Far from it. The joint-stock companies and banks, who have been the principal means of creating this surplus of ill-adapted screws, are for the time done for," but the legitimate trader will go on gradually and profitably developing steam navigation,usinghis experience, and, what is of equal consequence to success, his own money,inconstructingthebestdescription of vessel for the particular trade she is required for,' until, in the progress of time, a new generation of directors and their dupes get up steam navigation companies, raise prices fifty per cent, in all building yards, pay sham dividends, build in twelve months what ought to have been spread over ten 3'ears, spoil legitimate trading; finally, go out in bankruptcy, and glut the steamboat market as it now is. lEISII DISAFFECTION. Some time ago two brothers, " the Coririaoks," were executed at Nen«gh, in Tipperary, for tlit" murder of Mr. Ellis. The population susppcted that they were unjustly convicted. Politician* found that the panel whence the petty jury is taken was almost exclusively composed of Protestants. The mob observed that among the witnesses was an accomplice, an approver, ;i gaoler. The judge, Keogh, leaned in his charge against the accused. All these things roused a strong feeling in the country which the malcontents were not slow.to use. They summoned a meeting at Nenagb, to petition for inquiry ; and ten thousand people came at the call of the priests. The O'Dono'jjjhue presided. .Several priesta addressed the crowd. The speeches were highly spiced, and two of them remarkable for violence. The O'Donoghue discoursed in this wise : —

"People of Tipperary, there are I know well enough in the present Government —I believe the Irish portion of the present Government—l lu'lieve that Mr. Attorney-General Whiteside, and Lord Naas too (groans)—l believe that they are Orangemen. (Gvoans.) I believe that if they could they would crush to the earth the frieze-coated sons of Ireland. (A voice—"Three groans for them!" Loud groans,) But please God they never shall do that. (" Never," and loud cheers.) Though we have Orangemen at the helm of affairs we will demand justice for Ireland. Who are the Orangemen P Are they Catholics of Ireland? No. Are they the Protestants of Ireland ? No. Who, then, and what are they? They are a miserable set of isolated political fanatics, cut off from all sympathy with those in the midst of whom .they dVell. I will tell you ;what they think themselves to be> They think themselves to be a garrison in the midst of this country to change, ii they can, the. ancientr'religioii of our forefathers, (cries of "Never") and to drive our poor people across the ocean to America or to Australia. If yon were to hear what these Orangemen say of ynu, —if you were to read their newspapers, you would suppose ■that they could govern Ireland; wlanvas the fact is, that in. the three great provinces of Munster, Gonnaught, and Leinster, .there, is not one single place where Ornngeism in the face of day dares_to erect a platform, and proclaim its opinions. (Cries of'No, nor ever shnll.') Even in the north of Ireland they cannot hold their meetings either, but

are afraid to>' fcrunt themselves beyond the narrow limits of a back parlour." Hut Father Kenyon, of Templederry, made the speech of the day. Here are a lew choice specimens:— " Time was in Ireland when the prionts of Ireland—ay; and the bishops of Ireland, too—would scorn to petition the Saxon Parliament. (Loud cheers.) Men of Tipperary, I ami here to tell you not to put your faith in Parliament or. in petitions. A fragment of justice we may endeavour to get. They may condescend in a mere matter between man and man ; that is just possible—that is all, More than that if you expect real justice, universal justice—you shall be surely disappointed. The English Parliament and the English Government are not concerned for you. They may administer justice to their own people, but yon are a foreign people ; they havo.tlieir lu-els upon your necks and. their hands in your pockets, but they have no notion of dispensing justice to you. (Cheers.) Men of Tipperary, we are met here for other purposes too. We will petition Parliament—even, 1 will demean myself so far for that little fragment of justice, because I believe it to be possible; but I would not deceive you in the least by making you believe that any real justice can be hud by that means."

In flowing jthrnses he described the Just Judge, and .then the Unjust Judge, and named Judge Keogb as the latter, calling npon the meeting to petition Parliament to hang that vile man Keogh, who had traded in the credulity of the people of Ireland. What does Father Kenyon trade in? Then he said:—< : ;

" It is fifteen years now since we renewed the baptismal vows of our patriotism—not, I believe, since 1843 ■ and it is time for us to come and refresh them. Since last we met in this neighbourhood, delusion has come upon us; we have lost our trust in God, and in ourselves, and we have allowed ourselves to be drifted whithersoever the winds and the wavers might drive us; and yet, my countrymen; what wis true for us then is true for us now.' We' come here, then, in spite of all the falsehoods that are being propagated daily—in spite of all the Lord Lieutenants that have come here since to delude us— An spite of all the flunkeys in all the towns of Ireland that pretend that Ireland is prosperous—we come here to tell them all, and to tell the world, that there is an undying principle in our heart that assures us that all .this is false —that we are not prosperous^that we would not be prosperous if we could, for what is prosperity if we cannot be-free? (Loud cheering.) Let us treasure up our wrongs ; and keep them until God inspires us at some happy moment and opens away for us. (Cheers.) We have come here, then,-to renew our duty to our country, we all pledge ourselves that we shall unite to free our trampled country. We will condescend to petition for this time, and God send it may be the last. (Loud cheers.) ,

, The ; meeting adopted a petition to. Parliament, praying for inquiry into the case of the Cormacksi In strong contrast to this Ultramontane yell from Tipperary, is the conduct of the English Protestants. Six young women have heen banished from Sweden because they were converted from Protestantism to Romanism. A host of English gentleman—princes of the Church, peers of Parliament, members of the House of Commons, officers of religious societies—have handed in a memorial to Count-Platen,-the Swedish ambassador, pointing out theinjustice'and impolicy of this: imitation of - the, Church of Rome, and praying, that the rights of conscience may he sacred in Sweden to all alike.