CUPPINGS FROM THE HOME NEWS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 204, 28 August 1874, Page 2

CUPPINGS FROM THE HOME NEWS.

Terrific thunderstorms passed over England an 1 Scotland on the 24th of June. The spiro of Christ Church, Salford, was struck and greatly shortened, large pieces of solid masonry being detached aorf hurled to the ground. The lightning played in the most fantastic style around the pinnacles of the edifice, and a ball of fire made its way inside the building and cut two holes through the stairs. At ilounßlow, the lightning struck five cows which had taken refuge under a largo oak, two were killed and two others so injured that they had to be slaughtered. In Moraysbire, a Mrs White was sitting in her house when she was struck dead by a flash of lightniDg which entered by the chimney. A child who was in a cradle in the middle of the ro^n escaped uninjured, although ite^cradle w«8 broken in pieces. In PeWi shire two men, while taking refuge under a tree, were struck by a flash add killed on the spot, the tree being destroyed. 7 Speaking at an enormous meeting in Paradise-square, Sheffield, Mr Joseph Arch said that shortly he intended taking four shiploads of the best laborers from the Newmarket district to Canada, to which they had been offered free passages. England could well afford to employ every laborer in the country, and many more than it now contained; but he affirmed that if, tho fawuera of the eastern counties did ifqt settfe the present struggle in an honorable and magnanimous manner — if they did not concede to the men their natural rights as men, and let them enjoy those rights unmolested, if his life was spared they might depend upon it that with the power he wielded with the Canadian Government he would drain the eastern part of England before another spring. A memorial signed by upftvards of 18,000 women of the United kingdom has been presented to Mr Disraeli, praying that he will give his Bupport to the bill to remove the electoral disabilities of women. The list is headed by Florence Nightingale. Two very sad cases of suicide are • the talk of Paris. A retired judge destroyed himself recently at St. Germain; and the same night, as he left a Pa/is club in whichl he had lost et cards more gold than Qe ever could pay, the aide. do camp of a general high in office blew his brains outMilan was visited a few days back by a hailstorm of fearful violence. The street* were deserted in a moment, the Victor Etnnnuel Gallery being one of the places most thronged by persons seeking shelter. They, however, found themselves in greater daoger than outside, from tho fragments of glass hattered down, and they had to crowd into the shops, expecting every moment to see the roof fall in. The damage done to that building is estimated at 90,000 f. The Duorao, the Palace of the Museum, had also a large number of windows broken, whiie the streets were strewn with glass from the shattered lamps. The plants and flowers in the gardens around the city present an aspect of desolation, as all vegetation is quite cut to pieces. Pigeons and other birds were found lying dead on the ground, killed by the hailstones, somo of which weighed three ounces. A correspondent writes to the Times that a hailstorm of extraordinary fury lately burst over Lyons. Hailstones were picked up as large as pullets' eggs, and weighing in some few instances 12oz. to 14oz. All the skylights and greenhouses were sjiaSfcred, and houses in exposed positions had" all their windows* and Venetian blinds smashed. Some people were wounded by the stones. All the crops within reach of the hail are ruined, but the storm seems to have spent its fury over the town. The damage done to the hospitals alone is estimated at £35,000. It is the custom in Germany to announce engagements as well as actual marriages in the public prints. The following paragraph appears in the Dresden Journal with reference to such a notice:— '* With respect to the announcement by which I, at the end of last November, gave notice- of my being engaged to the Dowager Baroness •Zoe von Kofzebue, I am now obliged to state that this relationship has, at her desire and to my regret, been broken off, because she did not find in my deportment that gravity which she had a right to expect — Count Luckner." From an aged ciiizen of Decatur County, Tennessee, says the Evansville Journal, we have the following series of appalling accidents, of which a happy and industrious wife and mother was bereft of her children aod her husband in less than an hour. A man named Bennet Kyle, formerly a citizen of Wayne County, Tennessee, having lost his wife some years ago, married a second, and with her removed toMissouri, where he settled, and engaged in farming. Two children were born to them, and they were prospering and happy. A few weeks ago a letter was received from the wife detailing her terrible bereavement. She had gone a short distance from the house to do the family washing, taking with her her infant cfßldi leaving the other, some two y oars old, at tfjp house with her husband working upon the roof. Having occasion to be absent from her child for a few minutes, when she returned she found a rattlesnake had fastened its fangs upon the Wrist of her babe. She quickly despatched the snake and freed her child, which almost

immediately died. Clasping her infant in her arms, she hastened to tha house, where she found the other child drowned in a tub of water. Her screams of agony upon beholding her second bereavement startled her husband, who, losing his presence of mind, fell from the house, and was instantly killed. Thus, by this singular/ train of accidents, was the poor woman rendered a widow and childless in a few brief momenta.

A strikiug proof of the varied nationalities settled in America, is afforded by the list of newspapers published there in other languages than English. There are French, German, Scandinavian, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Bohemian, Portuguese, Polish, Welsh, and Cherokee newspapers. According to the njew volume, of the " American Newspaper * Directory," Gorman journals are by far the most numerous. There is only one Portuguese newspaper, the Novo Mttndo of New York. Illinois oml Missouri have each a newspaper in Polish. The Welsh of New York and Philadelphia have four, and the Indians of the Indian Territory one, printed iv Cherokee. The extent to which newspaper reading prevails in the United States may be learnt from the fact that there are at the present time 7754 newspapers published in the United States, tho Dominion of Canada, and Newfoundland, of which 7330 belong to the Republic, while only 445 belong to the British possessions. The United States, therefore, have 5649 newspapers more than the United Kingdom, in\ which 1690 only appear. New York, as might be expected, stands first among the States in the number of its publications. It issues 1055, of which 98 are daily papers, 681 weekly, and 201 monthly. Pennsylvania has 74 daily papers, 48^ weekly, and 201 monthly. Florida is the only State without a daily paper. Turning to the Dominion of Canada, we find only 46 daily papers, 41 monthlies, and four quarterlies. Ontario the Protestant province, has 255 papers, while Quebec, essentially Roman Catholic, can boast only of 88^ In the former, the weekly publications number 212; only 41 are issued in the latter. ' T

Beake v. The British Imperial Insurance Corporation (Limited).—^ This was an action to recover £1000, the amount of a policy of insurance effected with the defendants on the life of a Dr Beasley lnteof Blenheim, Marlborough. Mr Benjamin, Q.C., and Mr E. Harrison were coun-sel for the plaintiff, the Solicitor-General and* Mr, G. Lewis appeared for (he defendants It appeared that Dr Beasley hed been insured with the British Imperial Insurance Company for a few years. He was on a voyage to New Zealand in 1872, having previously obtained leave from the company to do so, and paid the usu*l extra sum demanded fofc the risk. After a short stay in that colony he returned home. Early last year he again started on a similar voyage and aoun after his arrival in New Zealand was accidentally drowned. His life policy for £1000 having been assigned to another party, the plaintiff, as such as3ignee or his executor, claimed the amount from the defendants. His claim, however being disputed, he brought the present actioto^ The Insurance Company put in a variety of pleas, but the main question f aised was whether Dr. Beasley, in respect to his second voyage to New Zealand, had leave and license from the Insurance Company to travel from Europe. On the part of the defendants it was contended that no such leave had been given, and it w^s further objected that they had received no legal evidence of the death of Dr Beasley in New Zealand or elsewhere. By a curious coincidence, however, one of the jurors stated that he was in New Zealand at the time, and could testify as to the truth of the fatal occurrence that occasioned the death of the gentleman ia question. It was further argued on behalf of the plaintiff that the leave given to Dr Beasley by the company to go to New Zealand, held good for 12 months, and that his death took place actually a day or two before its expiration. The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for the amount claimed, with iuterest. (For remainder of A&uk.see fourth page.) /

i^Pqruig the debate on the Premier's 'V resolution there appeared in the'iV. Z. : r^rimest the recognised Government -organ,- :i an article from w Inch <; the followiag is an extract:—" Canter bury and Ot ago have been able to -XKaoage: their affaira with a ekili and a lprndence that have been commendable, although even in their case the. interference of the General Government in the interests of the country at large ,bave been necessary at times. Neither Nelson or Marlborough have any good cleim Jo put forward why they should be left with their Superintendents and Council^ and their little petty Parliamaakge or mismanage their . own affairs; while Westland is perhaps f jU»o "proud^of its newly-fledged honor to "contefflpiate so early a return to its »P r *gi Da r position of a county only. Tfet the efforts to introduce local FroGovernment there has, so far, been ad macn of a farce that possibly 'the public and the officers, of the Province themselves, would be found not unwilling -to resign their functions to the General Government. Nelson, Marlbbrbogh; and Westland, are all incapable by themselves of carrying out •any greats public work. Nelson wants ft better harbor, railways to open up die forest and' mineral lands, and roads an* supplies of water to enable the •miners to develope its auriferous re-j sources; and for all these things the! Government muet be appealed fo f Wesllaod has enormous tracts of auriferous soil, which can only be made profitable by the provision of water in jufficjeot quantity to enable sluicing to ' be carried on on a large scale; and these j|vprks the General Government have now in fiaud. To maintain Provincial institutions in these portions of thY, island is not merely a waste of money in; salaries and expenses of many, kinds, but a positive hindrance to the progress of the districts they afflict. But the experiment may well- be tried in the North Island. There are no natural .boundaries separating the one province from the other. Ail their interests are . common.' The dangers and difficulties they bare' passed through are Colonial, and not Provincial. These are now all- bnt over, and a session of prosperity haa set: in which also is general and not Provincial. "The public works now going on must obliterate those artificial liii.es. jwhich, separate Taranaki from Wellington, and Hawke'a Bay from Auckland, Wellington, and Taranaki. The Nurlfrlsland is ready, we. believe, . for the abolition of Provincial distinctions, and. will rejoice when it possesses but one Government only; while the extinction of Provincial Governments and Councils will be an important step towards the realisation of that united and powerful New Zealand which its . people yet hope to see taking the leading , position among the Australasian dependencies of the Throne." The Italian begging children nuisance has become so great in New York, that the polfca have been re- - ijuired to take active measures to put it r: down. 'Large numbers of children are., imported from Italy, who are - trained to regular and systematic beg- '■■:' gary in the streets by Italian agents, "who maintain an establishment expressly for these unfortunate children. The law of New York imposes a mini- ' mum fine of 250 dollars, and a minimum imprisonment of one year, upon any one' hiring but or employing children . iiT any- mendicant or wandering buai« ness, and the police had made one arrest, with the view of making an ex- / ample, and breaking up the organ ieedr gangs which infest the streets of New York and Brooklyn. / The following is clipped from a l/te Dundee paper:— " Well, Janet, las your husband no come hame yat?" asked Will Morton, of a neighbor's wife. .;.,**. Deed no, Will, he's no halne; pot: l'm sore his Ings micht ring, jfor i Pye raged i)wer him this twa days, fend my, certie ! that's caetbing tae what hVIl — get when he comes ht&ne. Til " f**Stop t stop, Janet," interrupted WilJ, " Tve come wi' nlws 6*"yer /huaband, an' ye maun bear up .while Pm.lellin 1 ye. I thodfet myßel* 7 aß'gude's ony minister tae break thenewfto'his—— n " Oh, ob, shrieked Jane^.clotcbin'Will by the arm, " what'aX came ower my GeorJie? Ob, man, can y?>np have ye nae, mercy 1 Oh, dear, thae railways; where did ye leave him lyin'?" "Calm yourael' Janet, replied. Will, yer husband's no lyin' naegatej be is— is- "Here!" put in y Geordie, who at the preconcerted/ signal stepped forward, and waa in/ Btaatly clasped in the arms 9f b/ 8 weeping wife, while Will delicatfy withdrew, muttering as he went, "I/ve\ gotten yeaff in the meantime, Georaie, «nd gained my balf-mutchkin ; jbut losh hae meruy on-ye when the relapse comes on her!" : | =•• Keep in the temperate zone, if /you would wißh to travel pjeasantly j and fafely. i' I Governor Mpses, of South Caifolina (says the New Ifork Eerald), \h accused of stealing Macaulay's Essiy ou Milton, : add dovetailing it into his message. 0, Moses ! Has rfficial roguery- come to this? This icfeaidf stealing, thejjyery of Macaulay tofcerve ' Sambo in ! Shameful ! \ Nemq tne.lmpune Lacessit. — A pig > br.pke open a can of nitro glyceline, and, swallowed a pound of the sVuff, and now no : oue dares to kick lhat porker, . T Why were the sootheayers of old called augurs r ?r-Because they. w*eL) BUchnoff^rß^boreV. . \ • 'A'Po'iiaddlphia reporter, in de«cribing ihetu/uing^of adog out of Court by prder 4 of %c Bench, says :— " The

ejected canine, as he was ignominiously dragged from the room, cast a glance at the Judge, for the purpose of being able to identify him at some future time." I