Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 103, 3 May 1877, Page 2

I <■■ - „ I'll The. art of advertising will shortly be classed as one of the recognised sciences should the operations of Mr G. Donne meet with no untimely check. Mr Donne is proprietor of the advertising rights on all the North Island railways, and is at present perfecting a system which will make advertising indulgences as popular with the public as their results will be to himself. A start has jnst been made- on the Wellington and Masterton line, the carriages of -which are to be utilised by the display of artistically-con-ceived cards and business announcements, 1 which will occupy the tfnje qj-4 attention of the traveller en route, and direat him to t|ie most- advantageous places for doing business at the end of his journey, The show cards ornament the carriages, and convey decidedly valuable information to the travelling public. — Argus. We (Argus) understand that several members of the Wellington City Rifles have sent in their resignations as .members. The cause is said to be fear of being called upon for active service owing to the outbreak of war between Russia and Turkey. Gallant defenders J There is also a rumor that the whole of the City Rifles intend shortly tojresign in a body owing to the niggardliness of the Government in not providing accommodation for their drill practice. Has the outbreak of war auything to do with this too ? The Governor's reply to the notorious M'Laren at Dunedin was as follows :— " I have received the address which yew have forwarded to me on behalf of the working men of Otago, in which you complain of your inability to obtain employment. Knowing as I do that the current rate of wages in this portion of the colony ranges from 10s to 14s a day for skilled labor, I own this statement causes me some surprise. At the same time, I much regiet to learn that any of those who have come to this colony with the view of improving their condition should have a just ground for complaint; and should any of the working met*, of Otago still be unable to procure employment' frpm private sources, I have much pleasure iii informing

you that my Government are prepared to offer work on the railways to all who are willing to accept it, at rates which, although slightly below the current wages of the colony, are still far in excess of those which could be obtained in England.— No rmanby." In a speech^ at the luncheon given to his y Excellency the Governor'at luvercargill, Commodore Hoskins, replying to the toast of " The Army and Navy," thus referred to the possibility of the colony's being exposed to au attack by a foreign power: — "As regards the danger to this.colouy from a hostile attack, he considered it small. ' The work at the outbreak of a war between "two great nations was so concentrated that no large detachments could be spared to attack the colonies. The dauger was rather from a small expeditionary force, or from privateers. In case of war being declared, our commerce, could be carried almost entirely in fast steamers. As for fighting on land, the danger was a remote one, though he agreed that the young men of the colony should be prepared for that. A little military training was an admirable thing for them, as it taught . them something^ of discipline, and also how to carry themselves well. "V :T ?f. y ilma'.de Murska recently stiff eredVjrom a severe attack jof indisposition, regarding which the Chronicle says-.— Madame -lima de Murska's indisposition, which has lately prevented her appearance in opera at^'the Baldwin Academy of Music, is rendered the. more deplorable when the circumstance' is explained that the unavoidable disappointment of her numerous admirers is ia no way attributable to the prima donna's neglect of : sanitary precautions or careless exposure to the night fogs now prevalent; As far as anxious inquiries have ascertained', the indisposition of the songstress grewiout, of dn inadvertence in the acceptance of a bouquet. The floral tribute was tendered by : Herr Muller, the baritone of the Opera Compauy, and the putative husband of Madame Fabbri. lima received the offering most graciously in the spirit in which it was bestowed, and was absorbed with the delicate fragrance aud exquisite structure of the sweet posies, when her right eye suddenly experienced a prismatic effect that changed the : arrangement of the bouquet to a stellar.formatibn, and the prima donna caught a momentary glimpse of more stars than are conipris'edYin the whole chart of the visible heavens.- About the " same instant, Madame' Fabljri on her * heel and returned into thei flies, exclaiming, in vociferous German, something not written in the opera libretto, to the effect that thafc was the sort of a hair pin she was. De Murska did not reply in the same tongue, and the purport of her remark was not noted. The indisposition occurred during rehearsal. The Aigus understands that a young? man, employed in one of the leading drapery . establishments in Wellington, has received letters from America, originally addressed to him in Dunedin, where he resided up to a few months ago, announcing the death of a rich aunt who had left 90,000 dollars divisible equally between himself and his two sisters. * ... Mr Young, the Canadian Commissioner who recently visited this colony en route to the Sydney Exhibition, has written to an Auckland gentleman a letter, from. which the Herald makes the following extract :— '•' I am very much impressed with thc'lgrandeur of all these colonies, but New Zealand stands out in broad contrast tb the whole, aiid is not . exceeded by any in beauty and in future prospects. I have come to the conclusion that none of the colonies can ever arrive at the greatness they are capable of achieving until all unite and combine in one General Government ; in other words, Federation." Mr John M'Gregor, C.E., has applied to purchase the. area covered by the Kangitata and Tuakitiko lakes (Otago), with the object of draiuing two thousand acres. The Melbourne Leader states that various signs in the political horizon of Victoria portend an early termination of the system of payment of members. It commenced ou the 25th of April, 1871, and after a six years' experience, politicians on both sides of the House are testifying to its utter failure. Even Sir G. G. Duffy, who was in veality'thc Parliamentary sponsor of the Reimbursement of Members Act, freely admits thafc the measure which he took so much trouble to', initiate has by no ' means ans wered his expectations. A locomotive has arrived afc Greymouth by the Wanganui from the Bluff, for the use of the contractors- for the harbor improvements. It is said to have done good work in drawing ballast on fche Inveroargill. line,; but there is some doubt as to whether the wheels are suited to the gauge there. The Argus satirically says:— "lt is understood that the ' Possum ' afc presenfc doing duty wJU shortly be purchased by one of the leading milliners, who will have it transformed into a stationary engine for the purpose of driving a sewing machine— i.e., of course, should the power, after the necessary repairs have been effected, be found sufficient." A meeting of the Certificated Teachers Association was recently held at Chrjstc}*.u**cJ*. when a very large number assembled to consider what course teachers should take ' previous to the introduction of a general system of education for New Zealand. . Mr C. Howard, principal of the Normal Schoo'j was also in attendance. The Rev. J. Cuiaming, President of the Association, opened the meeting by stating the objects the Association had in view in calling them together, aud requested any gentlemen to speak op* the subject. After a long discussion, ifc was agreed on the motion of Mr J. Cumberworth, " Tbat a general conference of teachers be' heldthe on 12tb, whenthe question of education shall be fully discussed in all its bearings." A committee of thirteen members consisting of the officers of the Association, together with Messrs Howard, Bishop, Bahvin, Edge Mayo, Ford, Cumberworth, Meredith, and Mesdames Bowmaker, Hill, and Miss Percy was appointed to make all preliminary arrangements for holding the conference; and it was also decided that the members of the House of Representatives and the heads of denominations be requested to attend. and take part in a general meeriug to be held in the afternoon of the conference. At" the close of the meeting the members of the committee met, when Mr Hill was chqsen phalpman and Mr Howard secretary. It was arranged that teachers from the other educational centres and counties of New Zealand be invited either to attend the conference or send apy resolutions which they would like to be brought before the conference.— l'ress. The Wanganui Herald "is authorised to state thafc the Bishop of Wellington is willing to meet the Hon. Mr Fox in a public discussion on the merits of the^differenfc views held by each disputant on the liquor question. The only condition attached to the challenge is that the tickets for admission should be equally div'ded, and distributed by each party to the discussion. This would prevent a packed meeting and is in itself a perfectly just arrangement.'* We trust that the discussion will take place, and that the locale m}\ be St. George's Hall, in this city. Mr Fo* once bore the reputation of being an able debater and a hard hitter. Nevertheless, we should bo inclined to think that in this instance he would meet more than his match in his Lordship the Bishop of Wellington. Few men in New Zealand approach the latter dignitary iv logical power— Post. The Garden says:— Many people despise poplar as a timber, but it has a golden pro-perty-it will not burn. Some years ago a factory at Nottingham took fire on a second floor, and burned to the top furiously, but did not-downward; alt'iough the floor lay a yard thick with clinkers a* d melted machinery, yet it did not get downwards because the floors were of poplar."

v A Dunedin telegram toa Wellington caper says:— The, captainf-of. the'-%-Mcestlr ijf/ savage.at the jtreatlnent he \ha^ceivf»f iii^ being kept so .long {riquat£n„n||and reflses '" now to fumigate or do anything/- A raw is , likely. 4 {■:.''■ \ ' \ Tbere.was submitted t^'^tpdljarijrfownN Mercury) an example of tlie remarkable power with which so delicate a substance as a common grass stalk is gifted. The instance is thafc of a potato, through which a plant of English couch grass has made a passage., The grass is alive and flourishing, and om-the^ ; upper side of the potato isS thyb\wing' out : leaves and creeping shoots. euough a second stem has forced its way through the same potato, but from the opposite point. As the direction isitt' each case diagonal, the two form a tolerably perfect St. Andrew's Cross. We understand that the examples of the potato being pierced by couch grass have been known before, but are by no means common. " " ™ " ~ A London paper relates the following ; Mdlle:Titiens sang recently at the Guildhall, Plymouth, and in response to an encore gave the well-known song, « Kathleen Mavourneen.' The authdr 5 * of this song, it appears, was Mr Crouch, a Plymouth music master, who received for the copyright a£s note. He left the town a quarter of a century ago. Exactly a j-ear ago Mdlle Titiens, being in New York, gave the same song aa an enCore, the only time she did so while* ia the States. It excited a furore of applaiise, and when it had subsided she was told that some man, presumed to be a lunatic, was fighting his way over the barriers from thenpifclto the stalls (ifc was in the Opera-house), "saying he was determined to speak to Titiens. The prima donna told them to let him in, On approaching her he. burst into tearsj sobbing ont, " Oh, Mdlle, I never, before ..Heard my song sung as you have r just,? sung it I" " Ycur song. J"' was- the reply, J* why, you are not Crouch, surely ?" " I am rr -itjdeed," replied the poor old composer, "and {l felt I must thank you ; myself." Crouch had scraped together the two dollars for ajpit seat, little thinking to' hear his now famous song made the most telling morceau of the nigh*. Russia isone of the teeing countries in the world in the matter of hofses, possessing some 20,000,000, of these fine animals, or about 27 to every 190 inhabitants, three times as many iri proportion to population as either England, France, Prussia or Austria possesses. Siberia is the best supplied of aH the provinces, having a little less than a horse to every male inhabitant. The horses of the steppes, hough small, are markably hardy. The Crown possesses some twenty establishments, with * 1,000 - stallions and--36,000 brood njares, while there are something like 75,000'stalliong and 700,000 brood mares in private establishments ,Ki . V American industry will largely profit; indeed is profiting,: by the demand upon- it from Russia and Turkey for shi'all arms arid cartridges- We lesira that a supply of Qoit's rifle machinery has arrivedin- Russia, where " it is turning out large numbers of rifles for V the use of the army,- and that vp r;to -Christmas 3,000,000 had been matiufactUred by them. During the ; pastyear TJussia ; imported from another American firm ; J00l000\pisi;ols. Iv addition 20,000,000 of theso-called " Russian cartridges" have been madein 'Bridgeport, Connecticut, and machine to 1 make them having been sent to Russia, 400,000 cartridges are; being made daily at St. Petersburg and Moscow. On the. otJher-Vhand the Turkish Government has contracted to be supplied^-' by , a Rhode Island company with 800,000/ Martini-Henry rifles, of which £480,0 JO haver.' already been shipped, s p f