The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. TUESDAY, FEBEUARY 24, 1885.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 70, 24 February 1885, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. TUESDAY, FEBEUARY 24, 1885.

Tf, The new Governmeut Printing Office at Wellington is to cost £12,000. When Mr Gladstone made his famous jam . speech, and recommended the British farmer to give more attention to -i the cultivation of fruit, he was evidently not speaking without his book. It seems that from figures m the posses- ' 'sion of the Board of Trade, about 45,000 tons of refined sugar are used every year m the neighbourhood of London m the manufacture of jam and confections, and 6,000 hands are employed m the industry.- ;In Scotland there are eight jam factories, using 85,000 tons of sugar annually, and employing 4,000 people, "whilei the whole kingdom over, the calculation is made that 200,000 tons of refined sugar are used each year. The trade is the development of recent years, and has created an enormous traffic m the pale of fruit. Mr Gladstone was 75, on the 30th of December last. The G.O.M. received a mail of Congratulatory letters and tele* grams of some two tons weight. A railway clerk named L'Hoste murdered his wife m Paris recently, m a paroiysm of insanity. The woman had applied for a police officer to protect her ! from her husband, but on the arrival of the officer she stated that L'Hoste had become quiet, and that a friend having , great, influence was coming to take him 16 Jbifib infirmary. The' officer- accordingly left, bujb the woman shortly afterwards went again for him, as the friend had not arrived. A doctor was sent with her ; but on the way he stopped to call on a patient: When he arrived L'Hose had struck his wife down dead with a hammer, wounded her father, and attempted to commit suicide. At a recent meeting m Auckland a show of hands was called for, when some unknown person yelled out : " Say,' Gleeson, is that yonr hand up there for Aickin?" ""Yes; bedad, it is," was the reply. " Then why the devil didn't you wash ifr before bring it here?" said the unknown voice. Mr G. (after an ineffectual effort -to j>ut himself m sympathetic accord with the guffaw of laughter which ensued) : "Be jabers, if I had ye here' for a minute I'd save ye the trouble of washing your face for some time to ■ come." The unknown person, ot course, fetid not accept the: invitation. A person named Danger kept a publichouse on. the Hutington Boad, near Cambridge. On being compelled to quit the house, which was not his own, he ' built an inn on the opposite side of the road, and caused to be painted beneath the sign, " Danger from over the way." His successor m the old house retorted by inscribing over his door, " There is no Danger here now." The United States has about sixteen 'million children of" school age," but less than ten million are enrolled m the schools. There are two hundred and ninety thousand ,teachers employed m all, j and the schools cost eighteen million sterling, a year.

. A Host extraordinary disinfecting compound for purify insf the atmosphere of the sidk room has been presented to the Berlin Medical Society. Oils of rosemary, lavender, and thyme, m the proportions of ten, two and a-half, and two ' and a-half parts respective^, are mixed with water and nitric acid m the proportion of thirty to one and a-half. The bottle should be shaken before using, and a sjionge saturated m the compound is said to possess extraordinary properties m controlling the odours and effluvia of offensive and infectious disorders. By the way (says the author /of. Sydney Gossip m the Australasian), a sort .. of "iocoserious " turn was 'given to'the inquest on the Cootamundra railway accident by the Intercolonial boss betting man, Joe Thompson. He, with a number of bookmakers, were passengers m jthe train*- And thus lie 'described Jiis pecuniary 'losses :— " I had a £10 note, ten Jis notes, and a lot of cheques m my trousers pocket when the smash came, but when I struck the shores and asked " Harry Giles to feel m my pockets fbrthe "stuff," he found 'nix.''' Oneniipht find more elegant language than Joe's whsreby to depict his losseß, but the Doric simplicity of Joe's diction is more pathetic than any possible word-paint-ing. ■ . ; •■.;.. It the recent social gathering .of the* ■ Nev Zealand Educational held m Auckland, some rrierriineut was caused by one o£ the speakers wishing; the delegates " a speedy return to their' homes." A correspondent writing m j • the Sclvoolmaster shows that the merri < ment was displaced, and that the gentle- ' . man who -used the word " speedy " did so with perfect proprietary. His explanation is that the speaker was the native of an English comity which, perhaps more thin any' other, retains the use of the "English spraec " with its original meanings. With the inhabitants of Oxon oz Berks " speedy •', does not mean " immediate," nor " hasty," but " prosperous "or " successful." We have still the use of the word m " God speed you," " Speed the plough." Sir Daniel Goodh surely must ; have been investing m some joint stock newspaper enterprises, for this is what he says of them :—" Very few instances are on record of limited liability or co-opera-tive newspaper companies proving successtul. Those who invest m them, as a rule throw their money away. Such enterprises are generally promoted by needy adver.turers, who thereby secure tor themselves billets for a time, until funds are exhausted, and then liquidation ensues. The prospects of large profits and good dividends are never realised only under most exceptional circumstances, and that only by the most judicious" management. Proprietors of well-established newspapers, who run them upon economical lines, experience much difficulty tor many years m making them pay, even working expenses ; what, then, must it be m the case of companies whose expenses are much heavier!?" Herr Anton Jargens, the head of a firm m Holland which is sending weekly 110 tons of butterine or olermargarine to England, read before the society of ; Arts recently an iteresting paper on the production of what is now an article of I food consumed by thousands who are j doubtless under the impression that it is butter. He made no claim to the artificial product being equal m flavor or delicacy to the best butter ; but he asserted without dissent from the many scientific men present that it was superior to butter of low quality : that it was econo - mical, palatable, and a wholesome article of food, .which thoroughly satisfied, those to whom it was supplied ; while it had kept real butter at a, price within tb^ reach of many who otherwise would have been obliged to forego its use. — Professor Eedwood (the chairman). Prof. Olding, and others, affirmed the economy wholesomeness, and palatability of butterine; but all deprecated its use for! adultura'tion or its sale as real butter. i " This is the reason why cats wash, their faces after meals : A cat caught & sparrow, and was about to devour it, but the sparrow said, "No gentleman eats me till ho has first washed his face with his paw, but the sparrow flew away. This vexed puss exceedingly, and he said : " As long as I live I will eat first and wash my face afterward." Which all cats do to this day. Servantgalism humor is about played out, but the following strikes us as being somewhat novel. She was a young Scotch girl, and she had applied for and obtained a holiday from her mistress for a bay excursion. On the previous night she made the singular request that the | kitchen meal for the following morning should consist of some more^ recherche bill of fare than usual — bacon and eggs, or a grilled steak, or some equally toothsome delicacy. "Hech ma'am," she said, " it's nae the food that I want for myselfj' but supposin' I should be ta!en "ill, it wad look sac mean to let the high folk on the 'scursion boats know that I had naething. but ■ porritch for break - fasty ... „ .. .' .'.'■'," ..-. Friom'tt Wellington exchange we learn that the other day a lady, who was wheeling her perambulator m the middle of the road, was approached by a constable, who. told her to " take the footpath^" a request which she quickly ac: ceded ,to, the officer assisting her to break tho law by placing the vehicle ori" the pavement. We are informed that other members of the force have acted similarly since tho Act came into force, probably considering that the clause relating to perambulators is not at all required and ought to be wiped out 01 existence. . The Scotsman of 13th November contains a lengthy obituary notice of the Rev. Charles Clouston, minister of the parish of Sand wick, Orkney, at the age of 84. . The ddeoeased was. ordained m 1826, and his father had been a minister of the church for 60 years, it will be seen that the ministrations of father and son have extended over a period of 120 years, probably an unprecedented fact. A correspondent of the Grey River Argus thus sums up the position m Christchurch :— "As a matter of fact, business is iv a very depressed condition, and it is no uncommon thing to Hear this subject .spoken of m all the business circles. The wonder is how this state of things is to be remedie-i. On all sides you hear stories of losses atid the uon-paying character of companies and their investments. It i« no secret that one of the largest companies m Chrislcliurch, whose offices are of a palatial description, has lost within the last eighteen months the sum of £70,000; and unless the harvest for this year is first class this company will find itself most seriously embarrassed. This is not a solitary instance.. The Masterton Borough Council proposes to construct gas works within the town, to raise the sum of £10,000 for j this purpose under special loan, and to pledge such gas works for the, security of tho loan. A good story comes from Liverpool.; An American went to the theatre to see the " Forty Thieves 1 " Never having paid more than twenty-five cents, (a shilling) for a seat m his country, he was surprised at being charged two i shillings. Tossing the ticket back to the seller, ho quietly remaiked : "I guess you can keep it mister ; I don't want to see the other thirty-nine." And out he walked with true Yaukee dignity. A trust fund of £1000 has been created by the will of a Frenchman who recently died, the money to be. expended for the relief of soldiers wounded "m the next war with Germany."

Tlie Graphic printed five hundred and sixty thousand of their last Christinas number. Diphtheria m Now York is ft more fatal scourge than cholera is likely to be. One week recently sixty per cent. 6£ the reported cases proved fatal. One of the mosf'attractive objects at the Nice Exhibition is a Chinese clock. which is said "to date bass eight hundred - years before the death of Cliristl "*" "" The process of drying timber by sor rounding it with common salt ib just now attracting attention. The peculiar power of salt for extracting moisture is well known* . -• - ■■-»•■■ • A pair of gates and a man with a . wooden leej would be more likely to preve"nt accidents at" railway crossings than a bye-law, and a notice-board. A young physician m Vienna, accused of the unscientific treatment of a sore finger, was fined and sentenced to repeat his examinations. Preferring death to such disgrace, lie shot himself. v The steamer Tui will leave Foxton for Welliugtoti to-morrow, Wednesday the 25th, at 5 p.m. The Jane Douglas arrived m Wellington from" Foxton on' Suuday. The •■following'was Her passenger list :-^MiSB Patterson, Mrs and Miss Baillie, Mr,and Mrs Hush, Messrs Betmet, Francis, Harvey, Maginnity, Toogood,2 Stewart, I Cate, and Nullett. The Gear Meat Company are freezing , 5500 carcases of mutton, to be sent Home by the Rimutaka, and will then freeze 5000 to go by the Doric. During the progress of a case heard m the Magistrates Court, Wellington, Mr Wardell said he considered that an habitual drunkard was a person who misspent his estate, injured his health through drink, and broke the peace. Mr Shaw remarked that the definition of the Judges at Home >vas a man who was convicted of drunkenness on three -different occasions. A turtle, weighing 1501bs, has already been imported to Christchurch from Levuka, and secured to furnish the sonp at the coming banquet to Sir Julius Yogel. Mr Harry Diver, son of the late Dr Direr, is a member of Wilmott's Dramatic Company and plays tho part of the detective m the " Golden Plough" with credit. Mr Ballance does not seem to have been pleasing the people up North. Tho Auckland Star says that "no Minister, I since responsible government was estab- | lished iv New Zealand, succeeded to power with such brilliant opportunities and under siich favorable circumstances ar Mr Ballance;and no one basso speedily destroyed the hopes that centred m a change of administration.