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Manawatu Herald, 3 December 1898, Page 2

Holidays are to the front and the Railway Excursion fares are advertised to-day. Excursion tickets will be issued from the 19th of December to 3rd January and are available to 31st January. It is expected at Washington that Germany will acquire the Caroline Islands with the exception of Kusaie, the outlying island, which the United States Government is seeking to purchase from Spain for the purpose of a cable station on the proposed line from San Francisco to the Philippine Islands. i It is probable that Emperor Wil- ! liam will visit Great Britain and Irej land in the summer. The Right Hon. J. Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, in an article in "Scribner's Magazine," i says that no permanent Anglo-Ameri-can Alliance has been arranged, but ; the two nations have been brought [ into closer touch, and will operate together where their interests are identical. In his speech at Bristol, the Right Hon. Mr Balfour, First Lord of the Treasury, made allusion to the agitation which has been going on for the last few months as to the relations between the High and Low Church parties in the Church of England. It would, he said, be wise to tide over the difficulty by means of the power of the Bishops — who lately decided at a conference not to institute clergymen to benefices unless they pledged themselves to keep ritualism within defined bounds. The •' Advocate " says, Mr Wilhelm had his wood gas burning at the old ! English fair at Marton on Wednesday night, there being two jets in operation. It is a nice soft light, and' was favour* ably commented on. In Japan a man can live like a gentleman on £60 a year. This sum will pay the rent of a house, the wages of two servants, and supply plenty of food. At Winnepeg, in Canada, in September, a party of Indians came in from the extreme north, and reported that some strange men had descended there from the clouds. It was hoped that these might turn out to be Andree's party, but so far no more has been beard about the strangers.

We would advise our readers to look through the advertisement of F. Lovedaj', who announces that he has just picke 1 personally from the warehouse the ">est in quality and latest in style to b-■ had. Their name is so wel. known for the quality of their goods that it ne Is no turther comment, they sell somei'iing to wear not to look at, and if tho' ■; previous reputation is sustained, 1 . Loveday can again look forward t ■ doing a great trade in men's and boys Nothing. The Uvlted States Government is disbanding 30,000 troops raised in connection with the late war in Cuba. Two J ipanese are visiting New South W<iles to report as to the suitability of its horses and cattle for export to Japan. A new submarine boat, the invention of an ex-naval offiicer, has made a successful trial at Sydney in the presence of Admiral Pearson. Mr W. T. Wood has been re-elected Mayor of Palmerston. On Monday morning the train for Palmerston leaves at eight o'clock. The Borough Council meets on Monday evening when tenders for carting will be considered. Mr Frvberg, ex-Government timber expert, has laid before the Government a simple and inexpensive plan by which great loss of life which now occurs among bushfellers and a great proportion of bush accidents can be prevented. The Government intends to give the plan a trial. A deputation waited on the Minister for Justice and asked what steps were to be taken to extradite Myers. The Hon Thompson said Government declined to recognise the case as one in which they should undertake the expense of bring him back unless the creditors entered into a bond to reimburse the cost. As they declined to do this, the fugitive now escapes scot free. It is calculated that 1,000,000 acres of forest land are used up every year in Europe to supply the railways with sleepers. Eighty horses generally stand in the castle stable when the Court is at Windsor, and at the royal mews of Buckingham Palace 120 horses are kept. It is claimed by the relatives of Maata, a Maori woman residing at the Tahoraite pa, that she was a young girl at a pa near Mangatoro at the time Captain Cook called at Port Ahuriri in the year 1779. Her age according to these accounts, must therefore be upwards of 130 years. In spite ot her extraordinary years Maata's mind is still clear. Efforts are being made to verify the statements as to her age. — Napier Telegraph. A thousand million persons travel by train in the United Kingdom every year; or perhaps it would be more correct to say that every person in the United Kingdom, on an average, goes by train twenty-five times during the twelve months. The Carlton Club return the £io,---000, paid by Hooley in connection with his admission to the club. Immense quantities of hematite ironstone, valuable for the manufacture of hematite paint, are said tn exist in the Kaitoka ranges in the Taranaki district. At the Guards' Chapel, Wellington Barracks London there was a solemn service in thanksgiving for the safe return of the Ist Batn. Grenadier Guards from the recent Soudan campaign. The deer liberated some years ago to the east of Lower Wairarapa are becoming a serious nuisance. They are creating considerable havoc among the settlers' crops at Ponatihi, Pukengaki, Riverside, and further back, and it is no uncommon thing to find a herd of 30 or 40 animals in the turnip or grain paddocks. Ordinary fences will not stop them from trespassing. Bricks made of plaster of Paris and cork are now used ia the construction of powder mills. In case of explosion they offer slight resistance, and are broken to atoms. There is a breed of mice which has long puzzled natnralists. At different periods of the day they whirl round and round for hours at a time. If a person happens to lift a mouse when it is whirling the animal will resume its whirling the moment it is set down. Sheepfarmers generally should note that under the amended Stock Act of the sth November, 189S, the dipping period ia altered from the Ist Febru- ; ary to the 30th April, to the Ist January to the 31st March. This applies to the North Island only. The North African possessions of France, which have been settled for sixty years, contain 318,000 French colonists; Australia, colonised for forty years, and many thousands of miles distant, contains over 3,000,000 Britishers. Kuaak, a naturalised American, has been arrested at a cafe in Benin. in connection with the robbery of the Duchess of Sutherland's jewels. What our parliament is coming to. During the recent vote of censure proposed in the New South Wales Parliament on the Reid Government in connection with their fiscal proposals, while the leader of the Opposition was speaking a member made a harmless interjection, which so irritated one of that gentleman's followers that he loudly requested somebody to "place his finger on that mosquito." Later on the Premier, in the course of his reply, referred to a leading opponent as a "fat-headed fool." No notice was taken of the remark. This parody would suit a few : — Ah, wad some power The giftie gie us Tae see our creditors Before they see us. On Wednesday next the Foxton Cricket Club propose playing a match with Levin at that place, when it is hoped they will pive a good account of themselves. Members are requested to turn out for practice on Monday and Tuesday evenings in Victoria Park.

Few people probably have ever thought of figuring out the enormous amount of capital represented in insurance offices. A combined revenue hart for the year 1897-98 of 55 British ie offices sent to us by Messrs. W. M. Bannatyne and Co., of Wellington, gives the following interesting facts : — Funds at the beginning of the year, exclusive of capital, £28,764,522; net premiums received, £19,106, 568 ; interest fees, etc., less Income Tax, bad debts, etc., £1,245,582; net losses, £10,779,723; commiss : on, jf3.239.513; dividends, or amount of profit and loss accounts, and bonus to policyholders, £2,152,173 ; funds at the end of year exclusive of capital, £29,622,109; standard of safe reserve of unearned , premium liability, being 50 per cent, of year's premiums, £9,547,569; capital paid up or added from profits, £8,879,---217; surplus of fire fund and capital combined, after provision of safe reserve, £28,952,240. Eleven out of the 55 offices quoted are non-tariff offices.—" Post." The " Herald " says Constable Salmon left Wanganui yesterday to take charge of the Pungarehu station Taranaki. His place here will be taken by Constable Cooper, of Opunake. A monster petition, signed by thousands of the women of Concord, N.H., begged the United States War Department not to enlist married men. The answer to the petition was : "We prefer them ; they are used to fighting. In another column it is announced that Mr A. Peterson, the agent for the Government Life Insurance Department, and Dr. Pugh, the medical referee, are in the district, and would be glad to meet those who are desirous of insuring their lives.