ENGLISH.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 301, 18 December 1872, Page 2

ENGLISH.

London, December 1 1 .—Lady Doughty, on her death bed, reaffirms that -the. claimant is not Eoger Tichborne. Her declaration has created a strong impression on the public mind, and the popular enthusiasm for the claimant's case is abating. A destructive hurricane has swept over London and caused enormous damage to the river shipping, and public and private buildings. A modification of the French Cabinet has given a healthier tone to the public funds. The present indications of France are pacific. Tin is firm at latest quoted- rates. Copper active at £90. New Zealand consolidated fives 102£. Flax scarce. There is a considerable fall in leather. Taliow a shade easier. There was a' farewell meeting to Bhhop Selwyn. He will be consecrated in. New Zealand. Over 60,000 bales of wool were quitted at the London sales. The next series commences on February 13. Dr Featherston is shipping salmon for Dunedin. A private telegram, dated London, December 10, states that discount is 4 per cent. For continuation of news see fourth page.

> : CRictotNQ Wei- ' lington Post of Saturday last: says :--A meeting of the ■ Idt^r provincial Cricket Match Committee was, held; at .the Wellington Hotel last evening, when the \ . following sub-committees were elected : — Messrs Gray and Flanagan, to co-operate with the Star Boating Clab in obtaining the steamer _Wanganui to, convey the Wellington^ representatives- to Nelson; Messrs Werry arid W. J. Salmon to select the' eleven, arid. Mr Vincent , to act as .secretary, to. the committee. It was also decided to play a match at Picton,! if arrangements could be made to call on the way back. About 20 names were chosen from 1 which the team /will probably be selected. , Thoroughbred, Houses. : — An important sale of blood stock is advertised to take place at Ham, four miles from Christchurch, on the 7th January, 1873. It is the stud of Mr Stephen Noswortby, and comprises, the brood mares Mermaid (imported), Emmeline, Deception, Azucena, Meg Merrilies,Flat Iron, No Name, and Lady Jane Grey ; horses in training, Envy, Hatred, Malice, Lurline, arid Calumny, all by Traducer, arid two out of Mermaid ; ten head of young stock, most of them entered for the Canterbury Derby . of 1873 or 1874 ; and several well-bred mares, with foals at; foot by Sledmere. ' It transpires that Mr Brogden, while in Melbourne, previous to his departure for England, made an offer to the Victorian Government to lay a cable between that Colony and New Zealand. The Age says "at this stage, therefore, it would be premature to speculate upon the character of the proposals that have been made, or as to how far they may clash with subsequent offers to be made by the New . Zealand Government; but there are certain . broad considerations that cannot be entertained too early. There will certainly be some slight advantage to this Coiony in having a New Zealand cable landed on its coast, in preference to some other portion of the Australian seaboard, while it certainly will be more to the interest of New Zealand to be immediately connected with Melbourne than with any other metropolitan city in Australia. The New Zealand Government will, no doubt, keep the question of the Australian terminus an open one, until it has been ascertained what support the • eastern Australian Colonies will respectively give to the scheme." The John Knox and tub Missing BoAT.-^-The following letter was addressed to the Morning Herald by the passengers •of the John Knox on . her arrival in Sydney :— " Sir — Knowing that the .columns of your valuable, paper are always open to a good cause, I will thank you to insert the following:—-' The barque John Knox, B. Jenkins, commander, left Port Lyttelton, New Zealand, on the 13th instant, bound for Sydney, with a strong fair wind. There were several passengers on board. The wind continued for some time, thus carrying her on beautifully through Cook's Strait. When ten miles past Stephen's Island, at about seven o'clock p.m., on the 14th instant, a small boat full, of people was seen by the mate on watch drifting out to sea, in spite of the efforts of the people in her to keep her in shore. The sea was very rough at the time, and it was only at short intervals that the boat could be seen. With praiseworthy baste our noble captain hove his ship to, v although going .ten knots an hour, and / with the aid of his brave men and passengers, succeeded in getting all on board the ship safely, though not without the risk of lives on their part. The boat had been 16 hours on.the rough sea, and it is needless to say the poor creatures, through having " nothing to eat or drink throughout the whole of that time, were found in a very precarious state % and had not aid been given all would certainly have been lost before many hours had passed. Having got them on board, the work just began, and it is with the greatest pleasure I have to mention that Mrs Jenkins (as well as Captain) was untiring in her efforts to , relieve the sufferingSjOf the distressed— consisting of four women, three men, and one child. My reason for writing: to you isto;publicly express the gratitude of all on board to Captain Jenkins and' his wife for their great kindness shown at !l -a time i of needj The boat containing .the^^. distressed ; be-. lpngecL to the -ship City 'of ' Newcastle,) which): 'wa| wrecked ;in .the Strait that; morning. By' inserting the above, you! ■will; greatly;; oblige ~: H. A. Davis, (onj V ; . behalf of, self and passengers per John \ v.i* : ; >?' A^^^y^^^ a ]I'/C-i i^t^^^-'Mj^^^^^ ll^ •# repo'r te'd^ oy . .^!^t\x^^ei^^q^Joep'en^n(i ;: &i >' : Ro'binsoa! young;matima;med;

Degrees otf Heat.-»A Virginia paper says they have begun there to indicate the heat .by. the number of times a day ithat people have to change their collars. Last week, it says, the weather attained a " three-collar heat." New York seems to be hottest of all. It would probably require a .boxful! of collars 4o indicate the degree of heat under which the following verses were produced. They "appear in the New York Punchinello : — Oh, for a lodge in a garden of cucumbers ! Oh, for an iceberg or two to control I Oh, for a vale which-at raid-day the dews cumber !, Oh, for a pleasure trip up to the Pole I Oh, for a lictle one-storey thermoraet?r, With nothing but zeros all ranged in a row; Oh, for a big double-barrelled hydrometer, To measure the moisture that rolls from my brow'! Oh, that ' this cold world ' were twenty times colder — . (That's irony red-hot, it seemeth to me); Oh, for a turn of its dreadful cold shoulder; Oh, what a comfort an ague would be ! Oh, for a grotto to typify heaven, Scooped in the rock under cataract waste, Ob, for a ' winter ol discontent ' even; Oh, for wet blankets judiciously cast ! Oh, for a soda-fountain spouting up boldly From very hot lamp-post against the hot sky ! Oh, for a proud maiden to look on me coldly ! Freezing my soul with a glance of her eye 1 Oh, for a- draught from a cup of cold pizen ! And oh, for a resting-place in the colu grave 1 With a bath in the Styx, where the deep shadow .lies on. And deepens the chill of its dark running wave ! ''