COMMERCIAL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 80, 2 April 1873, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

New York, February 38. — Flax is quiet and steady. For good qualities Bl£ cents, are offered. There is a heavy decline in wool. South American sorts have receded 5 cents. Australian, being scarce, ' is firmly held; at 50 to 60 cents. Limited sales of inferior sorts have been made at 50 to 53 cents. Kerosine has declined and is offered at 28 to 32 cents. San Fbancisco. — Wheat is weak at 1 doi. 75 cents.

• — • i in _ —»-»« New Use por Flax. —At a late meeting of the Dublin Mißeroscopic Society, Professor .M'Nab gave some details of his examination of the " vegetable hair" (brought forward by Dr Frazer at a previous meetiDg),.now much used for the For remainder of news, see fourth, page.

6ffli^r K --™* n *'"-*wrr<~'*~''*>^^ manufacture of *' chignons," and forming a beautiful gloßsy "hair" capable of being dyed any- (fashionable) colour ; DrM'Nab, however, had arrived at the conclusion that this,, was produced from the New Zealand flax, the fibres being used in the rougb, the finer portions not being .. eliminated. . "Snider," in the Weekly Herald, says: — A curious statement appears in the Alta California to hand by the last nnail. It has been ascertained, that journal says, that there ia some mysterious and unaccountable connection between crime and pickles. It is proved beyond despute that very great criminals — such as murderers, notorious burglars, and ruffians of tbe order of the bowie knife and revolver, — all have a passionate devotion for pickles. The journal in question cites no less than ten cases where men doomed to death have asked as a last favor to have pickles included in their condemed bill of fare. The request, says the Alta California, h&B always been complied with. This piece of information has caused me to reflect, and I have asked myself whether the , total abstainers and the Good Templars and the Permissive Bill men should not institute a series of enquiries into this matter. Perhaps after all it may be found that a Permissive Pickle Bill should be introduced into our Colonial Legislature and that before such condiments are allowed to be vended the permission of five- sixths of the householders of a district should first be obtained. If what the Alta California states be true I can only say thafc it is more remarkable than tableturning and table-rapping. But then American journals are so notoriously given to — be mistaken. Justice is no doubt administered in a queer way iu some parts [of" the colony, but we do not know tbat the method described in the following paragraph, taken from the Tuapeka Times, has yet been surpassed : — The're is a township in one of the agricultural districts of Otago, in or near to which no Justice of the Peace resides. . It is, however, so far advanced in civilization as to possess a gaol, and a resident policeman. The latter is a vigilant guardian of the peace, . who takes a professional pride in having his gaol occassionally occupied. In the ordinary course of things it would be useless for him to " run in" perpetrators of small delinquencies, for it would be impossible to have cases tried within a reasonable time. But the policeman is a man who will not allow trifles to interfere with the discharge of what he considers his duty; so to the duties he is paid for discharging, he. adds those of the " great unpaid." Whenever a man in this district getß drunk or otherwise misbehaves himself, he is incarcerated for a time the policeman considers sufficient to atone for his offence. Such primitive simplicity in the administration of justice is worthy of all praise and extensive imitation. The Missing Comet — Biela's— which was divided into two by some disturbing influence in 1846, and which in its periodic return in 1866, and again this year, had managed to escape observation, has been found by a very curious astronomical conjecturer. Mr Hind had indicated to the Astronomical Society that the great meteoric shower of November 27th last, was, in all probability, part of the train of Biela's comet; indeed, a well - known astronomical writer in the Daily ■, News had suggested this explanation as probable before Mr Hind showed how closely the two phenomena corresponded. A Continental astronomer, Klinkertues, took the hint, and telegraphed to Mr. Pogson, at Madras. "Biela touched earth on 27tb; search near Theta Centauri." The neighborhood of Theta Centauri cannot be well observed in Europe, and even at Madras the time for observing it well is not long. On the third evening of his research Mr Pogson found what he sought for — the truant comet. It was described by him on his second sight of.it as "circular, bright, with faint but distinct tail," t but the companion comet atthe last advices Mr Pogson had not seen. Thus astronomers have not only got hold of one at least of the missing twins, but have a further confirmation of the connection between meteoric fights and comets. The calculated path of a comet passing near the path of our earth suggests a flight of meteors, and the flight of meteors comes.. Again, a flight of meteors suggest the passage of a comet, and the comet is found just where it is looked for. > ' Considering- that some of the most important telegraphic Vires which now connect the civilised countries of the world; in an almost complete chain, must -necessarily pass, through the domains of^ wild and savage' populations, it is wonderful that so little damage is done to them by the r remaining " children nature^'- ■';'", It appears, -however , ;t^ai(thev " healthen " pGhmee" has --not- kept^his^ hands off the / ; i curious western J;o^^ -. l;. : :-fernVTelegraph\

iu one year of .no less than thirty-five breaks in their deep sea cables between Shanghai and Hong Kong, and Shanghai and Nagaski, in Japan. It wasfound, upon enquiry, that some adroit Chinese thieves - were making a living by fishing up the cables, cutting them, and selling the pieces. In some cases they reset the cable so as to enable it to grow. A visit by tbe police to some of the villages near Shanghai resulted ia finding pieces of cable in most of the native old iron and junk shops. Iu one place a mile and a half of caMe was found. At length all the thefts were traced to au old Chinaman and his wife, who made a living by dredging the harbour of Shanghai for what they could find. Spectators at Fires. — A witty correspondent of the Canterbury Press writes: — The general public rather like to go to a fire. I don't know why, but I know lots of steady-going citizens who will, at the sound of the bell, arise in the dead of night, and run two or three miles on the chance of seeing even a small conflagration. If such folks would confine themselves to being simply spectators it would be no matter to anyone, but they will* insist on being of use when there are perhaps hundreds of fire-devouring Richards in the field already. In their endeavors to learn the origin of the fire — to get a good sight of it, or save goods — they get in tho way, and make the lives of ths firemen and police a burden to them for the time being. The attempts at salvage made by some of these beings are sometimes superlatively idiotic. I saw one swivel - headed chunk tbe other night throwing crockery into the street to save it, ami crying out wildly to others who were working "Keep cool, for goodness Bake, keep cool." I could have incremated that fellow with delight and danced a breakdown all the time. I have one invariable plan at a fire. I sit down in the glare and cry. Someone thinks I'm suffering, and takes me away to drink. The overzeal of eome people" might be cured by a little judicious reporting. After giving the usual particulars of the fire and voting tbe thanks of ihe community to the Brigade and Police (which to speak truth they usually well deserve), your reporters might add a few words of praise such as the following: — "We observed Mr Kabstable getting in everybody's way, acting like a drivelling idiot." "Mr A. S S. Siduous, by his unceasing but utterly insane exertions, increased the loss to the NZ. Insurance Company by about £80. We hope he will escheiv fires for the future." "At one stage of proceedings the curiosity of seven larrikins became of 6uch a character as to induce Mr Superintentendent Harris to order them to be squirted on. This order was obeyed with most effective results."