The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1876.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 42, 15 February 1876, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1876.

Otte European telegrams have of late pointed to the possibility, if not the probability, of a disturbance between Eussia and England, the last advices, prior to those received yesterday by the Kingarooma, stating that the plucky little kingdom of Denmark was likely to be selected as the medium through which a quarrel was to be brought about. Between the dates of the telegrams forwarded to us by the Arawata and those brought ■by the steamer yesterday,, a period of nine days, nothing further of a warlike tendency seems to have occurred, but that Russia has something of a hostile nature in view is scarcely' open to doubt. In Denmark may, perhaps, arise , the casus belli, but it is pretty generally believed that it is in India the attempt to administer "a facer " ,to England will be made. Por years past Kussia has been quietly advancing her military frontiers ia that direction, and, with the enormous army she is now raising, she will indeed prove a formidable foe. That tbe Indian press is fully alive to this will be shown by the following extract from the issue of the 4th December of the Pioneer Mail, a leading Indian journal: — ; Rußfiit, according 1 to her own account of this ma ter, found herself )a*t year in much the same position in which the' man was who, ' haying "st-adily" declined to fol'ow the general example by immersing himself in a mud-pool possessing maddening properties, found himself alone among a world of fools, until at last — unable to bear his solitariness any longer—he roiled himself in the mud to his heart's! content— -finally emerging as mid. as hi» neighbors. " Germany," said Kusiia, '•* has an actire army of 1.370 000 men; and Austria and France are bath doing their utmost to emulate Germany. It is Bimply disgraceftri— 4hat Europe should be a hutre barrack yard in this glorious era of progress and light : verily our neighbors hare gone mad : and alas I we too mußt go mad, were it only to be in harmony wi'h the times " Alter reasoning with herself thus, Kuasia contrive 1 to let her mad neighbors know that, in about seven years, Bbc would have an active army of two millions, wilh a trifling hundred* thousand or two over. This very respectable army is of coiirss exclusive of final reserves; and she calculates that about 1880 she will be in possession of about four millions of men more or less skilled in the art of international butchery. Considering that the Kusnan War Office Coes not experience the same difficulty in procuring willing recruits which is experienced by the English War Office, ani further, that the Bussian population iB increasing at bo extrhordinarily rapid a rate that it will probably number ninety millions in 1880, it is evident ttiat the prospects of an early millennium are anythirg but cheerful, Russia also hints that in the eveut of a war breaking out ' before" the complete reorganisation of her army, she may possibly be able to mobilise some thirteen of fourteen buudrea thousand, mea, hutly, the reorgu-i*

sation of the Cossack force, upon which..shhns been for some time jengatjeM, will;'- oe . corapl* ted next August; after which the very mtereatiug. question 'nsust naturally ariao~ ; WJiatf to oo with it ? ; ; ';N •■•s

to advices from ■Wellington the steamers with -the telegraph cable may be expected to be signalled to-morrow evening. Arrangements have beenj.in^devfpr the| Bafrkly to go and meet' them aW pilot i/hem part of i the. distance, when she will be relieved by the Tui, which is to be specially- sent from Wellington for the purpose. To those who desire to see the process of laying the cable an opportunity ! will be afforded by one of Nessrs N. Edwards and Go's smart little boats, which will be despatched to the- large-; steamers shortly after they are signalled. , j An entertainment in aid of the funds of the Nelson City Cadets will be given i by the members of this corps at the Oddfellows' Hall, on Thursday next. ! The programme comprises songs, hornpipes, readings, gymnastic feats, &c, and should, be the means of drawing a crowded house. Amongst other decorations which adorned the port of Aden on. the occasion of the late visit of the Prince of Wales there floated over a slaughter house in the town " a banner with this strange ..device/" Moßituai te SALtTtant, which, we may add, : for the'benefit of those who are not acquainted with the Latin language, means " Those who are about to die salute thee." ,• , One of our great cattle-breeders (says a contemporary} was visited by. an old college friend, who frequently overtaxed the other's memory by using Latin quotations long forgotten by reason of disuse. One day the host got even with hia pedantic guest ; pointing to a herd of young cattle in prime condition for the market, the visitor said, " You must have had good luck since you commenced this pursuit?" " Yes," replied 1 the host, "It is due W my luck that I can say hinc illte lachri/mce, in looking at my herd." " What do you mean?" cried the astonished guest. " Why, don't you see? . Hence these steers" , «'