THE WEEK

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 72, 23 March 1872, Page 2

THE WEEK

There can no longer be any doubt about it. Having two mails per month arriving by different routes is a most excellent arrangement, aud one tbat is calculated to give rise to eager anticipations of the intelligence tbat is to reach us by the next opportunity. The American telegrams may be looked upon as the poetry of " news," those by Suez as the dull prose that dashes to the ground all the excitement that had been roused in our minds by the marvellous tidings that had reached us a week or two earlier. Who tbat had read tbe startling intelligence conveyed to us a fortnight since via San Francisco could have doubted but that our next information would be to tbe effect that war had beeD, or was on the verge of being, proclaimed between the two countries, and yet we are now quietly told that the "Alabama excitement is subsiding," thus leaving us to believe tbat after all there has not been" half tbe fuss over the matter tbat our Yankee correspondents would have led us to suppose. Unfortunately, however,. we are becoming quite accustomed to these American exaggerations, and are not so easily led astray as was the case before we had learned by experience to doubt the correctness of any items of news that had been transmitted by tbe Atlantic cable, and we are getting rather into the habit of laughing at, and pooh-poohing anything sensational that reaches us by that route, and, instead of looking forward to the Suez telegrams to record the progress of certain events of which we had received the first intelligence through the medium of tbe American filter, we are rather inclined to anticipate that they will either directly contradict, or considerably modify the monthly summary which has appeared in the News of the World. Such is the case at present, and there can be no doubt that the "Alabama excitement" as first reported was highly colored, or, at all events, made the very most of. Perhaps tbe most important feature in connection with this subject is the fact — for, coming to us as it does through a reliable source, we may look upon it as a fact — that Bismarck has expressed a desire to have a finger in the pie, he having offered his services as mediator between tbe two countries. Of course he may be perfectly disinterested in so doing, but there are many who think that two nations, speaking tbe same langusge, and closely allied as they are by springing from the same stock, might settle their little differences without the intervention of a foreign mediator. The commercial news continues to be highly satisfactory, especially with regard to two of our principal exports, wool and flax, both of which are reported as rising in value. This is intelligence which will gladden the hearts of many of our New Zealand producers, and stimulate them to make further exertions in turning to account the produce of the country in which tbey have made their homes. There is one item iv the monetary news which is not altogether pleasing, namely, the large dividends declared by the New Zealand Trust and Loan Companies. We may depend upon it that some individuals in the colony are bleeding at every pore for the special benefit of English capitalists when we read of profits being made to the tune of ten and twelve-and-a-half per cent. In the, present : state of affairs there are few . whq ;cao afford to pay such ri! tes of "'interest;*-' (.shall enable the 'shareholders in .■these .^companies to: pocket such handsome dividends. Touching the Nelson and Foxhill railway. It has been suggested to me by

several persons through whose property it is proposed to carry this line, tbat some slight deviations in its course, as at present laid out, would not prove detrimental to the success, nor add to the expense of the railway, as a little consideration for the interests of such persons would result in less iuconvenience to them, in that their farms would not be so mercilessly cut up, and consequently that smaller sums would be demanded by them as compensation for tbat which in some cases would entail a heavy lose, to say nothing of the disagreeable position in which they would be placed by having a lailroad running within a few yards of their residences. I have not seen the proposed route myself, and, therefore, cannot speak authoritatively ou the subject, but if they have any reasonable ground for complaint on this bead it is as well that attention should be drawn to it before it is too late. In connection with this particular line of railway tbe name of Mr. Lightband naturally rises in one's mind, and it appears that the electors of the town are to be afforded an opportunity by his resignation of sending to the Assembly a representative whose views on questions of immediate importance to themselves they will have an oppurtunity of ascertaining before the next session of Parliament. Warned by past experience they will no doubt exercise a more than ordinary amount of care in their next selection. In the country districts the shrill whistle of the steam engine and the busy hum of the threshing machine is just now to be heard iv all directions, the farmers being anxious to realise upon tbe not very prolific crops of the late harvest.

The prices offered are not considered altogether satisfactory by tbero, but this is an evil which it is beyond the power of a newspaper writer to remedy, so that I merely mention the fact without attempting to offer any comment upon it. P.

~ "Mr "DßAß^y wiJUyou" play your thou-sand-dollar-^piJllc a "?■ " said ah American farmer to his charming daughter, six months after her -return from a fashionable boarding-school. The young lady's musical performances had dwindled, piece by piece, toa solitary polka, and the fond parent's sole compensation for his many years' outlay was this precious " thousanddollar polka" and his own sorry joke. England's Naval Strength. — Among the remarkable events of 1871, the Times places. 7 , the production of tbe biggest gun ever manufactured in England . This gun, constructed for tho turret of the new ironclad Devastation, weighs 35 tons, and throws 7001 b. shot. A smart 42-gun frigate in former times threw from her broadside about 4501 b. weight of metal. The American frigate President, a ship of pxtraordinary power, threw about 8501 b. But the "Woolwich infant" alone throws 7001 b. at a single discharge, and when we consider that this is thrown in oue mass instead of being distributed among twenty balls, we : may form some notion of the effects obtained. If the Devastation should actually carry two 35 ton guns in each of lier two turrets, they would be as destructive as tho broadsides of a whole fleet of our early ironclads. The Queenslander gives an abridged report of an imaginary lecture by Professor Allinamess ou the Ist January, 2872, on " Australian Natural History of a Thousand Years Ago." We give extracts : — " Tho Emu, or Aymu. — This ferocious bird was one of the same species as the ' mowev bird ' of New Zealand, so called from its scythe-shaped beak, with which it could mow down several men at a time. The emu differed from the mower in having a short sharp beak and capacious throat. Even better than human flesh it liked cats, and from the mode in which it secured them derived its name. Knowing the fondness cats. have for making love during tbe midnight hours, the emu approached the dwellings. of the settlers after dark, and would utter a mow of seductive sweetness. The cats — poor victims to misplaced confidence — would leave the shelter of the roof to join their lovers, as they thought, and be forthwith devoured by their relentless enemy. They were thus called ' mews,' and, to distinguish the sexes, ' hemews,' and 'she-mews.' As they died out, the maie's appellation got applied to both, and thus we have emu." The Morepork : " A species of . bird identical, it is supposed, with one mentioned in very ancient writings — the ' harpy.' Like the emu this bird had a favorite description of food—namely, pigs. But instead of using any art to entrap its victims, relying on its enormous size and strength, it used to enter the huts of the inhabitants and utter its awe-inspiring cry, consisting of the two words ' More pork ! ' A pig would be immediately sacrificed, in order to bribe it to depart. Instances even have been known in which inhuman parents have, in the absence of pork, presented tho monster with a young child, in order to secure its departure." The Stuff of -which a Premier should be Made. — The following piece of satire is from the Australasian : — We regret to observe that the chief secretary continues to suffer from illness aud debility. Mr. Duffy seems to be disqualified, both by temperament and phgsique, for a very active participation in the rough-and-tumble fights of political life in this colony. To be a successful and commanding combatant, a man ought to have a forehead of brass, lungs of leather, nerves of steel, a constitution of iron, and the hide of a rhinoceros. He should have no feelings of his own, and should be perfectly regardlesss of other people's. He should have no scruples of conscience and no sensibility of shame. He should regard the public revenues of tbe colony as a fund to be manipulated — with a due regard to legal forms — for the sole object of propitiating supporters, buying over opponents, and maintaining himself aud his party in power. He should be able to make use of any instrument, however despicable, that may suit his purpose for the hour, and to break it up and trample ou the fragments the moment it ceases to be serviceable. He. should know how to fawn and "boo" like Sir PeitinaxMacsycophant, and to be hard, vindictive, aud remorseless, like Sir Giles Overreach. He should be a self-made man, and he should "worship his maker." He should be able to watch the signs of the times, to trim his sails according to the direction of the aura popularis, and put himself at the head of any party which happened to he in the ascendant. He should have no friendships, no sympathies, and no elevated; aspirations. Ho should possess neither depth of view, hor depth of insight. He; should regard human beings as machines, and entertain a stern contempt for the; higher faculties of our nature. He should; consider himself the centre of 'the* 'social, and political system of the country in; which he has attained to power and eminence, and should act accordingly. <