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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 108, 7 May 1878, Page 2

The Lancet bas discorered the biggest ■ subject of her Majesty, in Newcastle-on- : Tyne. Mr William Campbell, landlord of the Dnke of Wellington, stands 6 feet 4 : inches in height, and weighs over 52 stone. ! He measures round the shoulders 96 inches, round the waist 85 inches, and round the calf of the leg, 35 inches. He was born in I Glasgow in the year 1856, and haa not quite ; attained his 22nd year. Prom his birth he was remarkably stout, and at nine months ■ old he weighed four stone; at ten years of ■ age be weighed 18 stone, and ha. gone on increasing since theu, and it is with difficulty ' he keeps at his present weight. He was . brought up as a printer, but was compelled, from his size, to give up his occupation. His ; appetite is not more tban an average one, : and, although not an abstainer, he is mode- '■ rate in his use of alcoholic drinks. If Mr Campbell goes on increasing in bulk he will ! surely be too big for Newcastle, and we may look to see the massive Scott in the metro- • polis. Is there not an opening at the : Aquarium? A military correspondent writes to the ' Auckland Star: — In the event of war with Russia, the various colonies will have to keep . a sharp look out for stray foreigners, who ; travel about as artists, engineers, doctors, et hoc, but who are in reality . spies, making themselves acquainted with the geographical : features of our seaports, &c, for the benefit : of their employers. It is conjectured that : Russia desires particularly to avenge her , daughter's husband's attempted assassination ! in Sydney, now over ten years ago, as well as to carry away our Crimean guns on the j Barrack Hill and elsewhere, captured from ' her during that war, 24 years since. ;Gerrnan and Russian quasi-mining engineers were busy . lately on the Victorian goldflelds, and a spy was lately canght sketching the fortifications of Malta. On two e»tates just laid out for building in the suburbs of Bristol, by the local land company, twelve hundred houses are proposed to be erected. The sale of intoxicating liquors will not be allowed on either estate.

A soup kitchen has been opened at Mer A thyr, Wales, for the relief of the starving children o_ thb distfibt, and oh the first day bvet "2/000 were provided with a dinner. The use b_ New Zealand flax has almo-t c-ease'd in England. The transactions ih this fibre at Lbhdoh for tne ihohtti bf February ■did iibt amptiht tb 80 tons. A Ban FranciscG paper recounts a year's wreck on the shoals of married life. There were 243 divorces granted in that city during 1877. On the other hand there were 2,000 marriages. The annual death; rate in San Francisco is 2 per. cent, of the total population. With a population of 300,000, the burials in the San Francisco Cemeteries during 1877 numbered nearly 7,000. The Wanganui Chroiiitie is informed that Certain individuals in the guises bf b nto fide commercial travellers are at present doing a tour of the country, with the object of inducing unsuspecting persons to purchase fabrics, which resemble good and honestly manufactured cloth, but which are nothing mote or less than shoddyj which most people khow is not worth the thrfcad required to make it up. The Christchurch Star says :— The letter of introduction of a prisoner who pleaded guilty to two charges of forgery and uttering ac the Supreme Court from .a gentleman in Ireland to a Canterbury farmer, recommended him as "a promising colonist." A large nugget has been found in New South Wales. The Sydney Evening News reports that a fine lump of gold was brought into Barraba by John Fletcher, from Crew Mountain, and lodged in the Commercial Bank. It is valued at £900. The North Cross Reef Company, at StaweU, Victoria, had a splendid crushiug last month of 2650 tons, yielding 3387 ounces of gold, giving a dividend of 1 2s a share. A most distinguished visitor (says the Post) arrived at the Colonial Museum a few days ago, and has taken up his abode there permanently. His name is a nasty one to write or pronounce at first— Palinurm Hiigelii — but it is not so bad when one gets used to it. He is a gigantic crayfish, measuring, nearly three feet iv length, and about two feet across his outstretched legs. This crustacean monster was one of several caught when the Hinemoa was at Wangaroa Harbor in the extreme north of. the island. All were eaten but this one, which was preserved for the Museum, and has been duly installed in its case by Dr. Hector, who pronounces ifc a very great rarity, and the only specimeu of its kind in any museum. Hitherto it has only been met with occasionally in the Indian Ocean, and it was not. known to be among the denizens of these seas. It is worth a visit. The lady who got her horse shod with gold in Edinburgh has taken it to Spain, it seems, along with £8000 in English sovereigns. So much mouey has never been seen in the couutry since the French left it, and the national excitement is prodigious. It i_ fortunate for her that this is the case, as the police now form her body-guard, or else " the Carlist brigands on the frontier," we are told " would have cut her throat loug ago." She insists on staying in a small inn in a wretched village, where she amuses herself by* throwing money from her windows to be scrambled for by the children. If her horse " threw a shoe" what real " luck" ifc would be to find ifc ; and if the French phiiospher's view be correct, that a wife is all the better for being a fool, what a splendid opportunity she affords to bachalors.— ( London Correspondent of Argus.) ', The Lyell. correspondent of the Inangahua ■ Times writes:—" A terrific flood swept down the Buller river on Tuesday last. The rain poured down in torrents for twelve honrs without a moment's cessation, causing the river to rise to a great height. The water rose to within 6f fc of the disastrous inundation of November last. Betweeu the ..County boundary and Christy's the road is completed blocked up by land slips which wiil probably take a fortuighfc to clear away so as to allow traffic to be resumed. No serious damage is reported up the Buller, though the rapidity with which the water rose is sure to have proved disastrous. The Inangahua river at the Junction rose to a great height, aud the Buller road has suffered in mauy places " A bright story is told of the accomplished , wife— now dead— of General Hooker. When she was the admired Miss Groesbeck,.of Cincinnati, she was once at an. evening .party, when a fashionable young dandy .was asked if he would like to be presented to her. " OU, yes," said he languidly, " trot her out> The lady overheard the remark, and when he was presented, she adjusted her eye-glasses deliberately, and slowly scanned his clothing from boot to collar, The survey finished, she waved her hand and carelessly said; " Trot him back, I have seen all there is of him." t ■■-: ..A writer' in Public Opinion says":— The prospectus has been issued of the Monte de Piete of England, 'with a capital of £1,000,000, in 100,000 certificates of £10 each. The object is to carry ou the pawnbroking business on a large scale in the different quarters ofthe metropolis and principal provincial towns, the interest charged upon pledges being at the uniform rate of 12£ per cent., which ifc is stated will prove an immense saving to- borrowers as compared with the present system ; advances only being made upon sound, solid, easily convertible, and saleable securities. Of the 2^ per cent interest, 7 per cent, is to.be paid by way of dividends on the certificates, and the balance apportioned to the expenses of management contingencies, and to form a fund for the redemption of the capital by annual drawings of £10, the certificates drawn to be paid oft. at £20 each. The Calcutta correspondent of The Times, telegraphing on January 27, states :— " A rather sinister rumor of doubtful authority, though transmitted through official; channels, reports that the Ameer of Cabul is massing troops at Candahar. This may possibly mean a menace to Persia rather than a hostile movement against us, as there is no doubt that.the Ameer is actuated by an equally hostile feeling against Persia as against England, in consequence ofjthe result of an arbitration, according to the terms of which ..the province Scistan was awarded to Persi. Riis. sian envoys are represented as constantly passing to and from Cabul, being latterly, it is said, treated with much consideration. There can .be but little doubt that at the present time Russian influence is paramount in Afghanistan. The Ameer makes no &t---tempt to conceal his enmity' to England! After having received a quarter of a million of English money, over 50,000 rifles and other firearms and 12 guns, he last year publicly proclaimed a religious war against the Indian Government, and was only prevented carrying the menace into effect by the determined attitude of Government. The British power is of course perfectly able to protect itself against any aggressive movement by the Ameer, and indeed, if necessary, to conquer and occupy his territory; but the special significance of his hostile attitud* lies iv this fact, that hitherto in considering the possibility of a Russian invasion of India we have been ac-; customed to regard Afghanistan' as an all' but invincible barrier between English territory and Russian aggression ; whereas now, for all military purposes, that harrier has ceased to exist. The Russians having the Ameer as. an eager ally, the interval of 500 miles is practically eliminated, and the Russian military power becomes at once coterminous with the British, power, and an easy avenue is straightway opened for the former to British India, which can be further improved by Russian intrigue and Russian, money.-" •

It is said that the Western States are oatstriping the Eastern in educational progress, because they employ a system of supervisors Who are held to a strict accountability for resultsThe Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, Pa., are now proceeding with the construction of 50 larged sized first-class locomotives lately ordered for Russia. A western man has invented something that beats the telephone. He proposed to put a line of women, fifty steps apart, and commit the news to the first as a secret. One soda-water maker in London last year broke, in the processes of filling, corking, cleaning, and distributing bis sods, 100 tons of bottles. The Alexandra correspondent of the Wai' halo TY-mes writes as follows : — "Death has been very busy amongst the old native chiefs of lale* , Weitui Pakukohatu, once the principal chief of tiie Ngatitoaniopoto, died last week at Hikurangi, where he was carried by his people at the request of the _£ing. A large number of his tribe from Mokau, Kuiti, and other places attended the tangi. Weitui was a very old and infirm man, and a short time ago,- while warming himself at the fire, fell into it and was somewhat seriously burnt, the shock of which no 1 dotibt accelerated bis death. Old Hakehfl, Of Furtiu,- shortly after the accident went to see his friend,, and eon-» dole with him in his way, which he did in the following manner :— . Weitui, you are fl tcty old man, why are you staying so long on the" earth waiting to see the end of the world ? It is quite time you passed away; you should have done so before, then you wouldn't have fallen in the fire and got burnt, and so you would have missed the pain you are nbw suffering. I cannot see what use it is for yon to live any longer.' Weitui saw the force of his logic, and determined to follow his friend's advice. He was buried with all honors at Hikurangi on March 23." Those who profess to have grave doubts of " citizen soldiers standing fire,'-' may peruse the following from the Volunteer Gazette with profit :— With reference to the readiness of volunteer troops, at least those of our blood, to fight in earnest, the military correspondent ot the Liverpool Courier reminds us that not long ago, Colonel Laurie, D.A.G., in Nova Scotia, speaking at a Volunteer prize distribution in Loudon, mentioned that in tbe short .campaign of 1861-2 the Canadian Volunteers of a certain district were ordered to the front, and on being mustered, were found to have several thousand more than . the required strength in the ranks, and it was found on inquiry that men who had resigned, or been struck off the roll years ago, . had hurried up, and rejoined the respective regiment. " Now, viewing," says our Liverpool cohtemperary, " the conduct of our countrymen at the Cape and iv Canada, is it possible to imagine that Britons can be heroes abroad and pol troons at home ?" In a recent letter in the London Times, Mr James Howard, referring to its assertion that it is a notorious fact that the best agricultural implements have originated in the United States, says :—" That the best agriy cultural implements have originated in the ' United States is not only uot true, but is the reverse of the fact. With the exception of the reaping and mowing machines (and these are not exceptions in any strict sense of the word) among the great variety of farm machinery now in use, England is not indebted to America for a single idea .; indeed, the ' notorious fact,' acknowledged by those American manufacturers who have visited England, is that English agricultural machinery, as a whole, is far in advance of that of every other country. Allow me to cite a few instances in support of of the statement. The steam plough is of English origin, and is in general use throughout Great Britain ; whereas, in America, scarcely an attempt has been made to solve the problem bow steam power can be applied to the tillage of the soil, and the few, steam-ploughs in use on that great continent are of. English manufacture. Then there is the invention of the steam threshing-machine, one'of almost,, if- not of equal importance— this again is of English origin (as was the horse threshing-machine of Scotch), and was in general use throughout England long before it was known in America. So of horse-rakes, hay-making machines, drills, horse-hoes, elevators, and other labor-saving machines which could be enumerated." In an article ih the Sportsman, on the " Chief Cricketers of 1877," the writer views the Australian team, and warns his English readers that they must not be treated too lightly, although at the same time he "does not believe them to be capable of adding to the laurels they so worthily gained by their defeat of Lillywhite's eleven by a success oyer an English eleven at all representative." He says, that although many players here believe the defeats of English elevens in Australia were to a great extent caused •_ more by their own, indulgences than the skill of the ahtipodearis," still, Midwinter's form was at the last back end sufficiently good to show that Australian cricket is no myth. The home correspondent of the Australasian writes:— "l fear you will be all disappointed to hear that at a meeting at Lord's, of * delegates from the cricketing counties, to settle the fixtures for 1878, the Australians have only had one certain date allotted them, and that is that they play the M.C.C. and ground at Lord's on the 27th of May and two following days. Now, I think, at any rate, they should play the gentlemen of England during their visit here, and I hardly see how it is to be done, as from the 6th of May to the 29th of ' August'e'very day seems to be arranged!" However Lilly white tells me that,' besides the match fixed for them, they will play against the county of Surrey and the 'players of England at the Oval on dates not, yet fixed, and that most likely they will playone match at Prince's. In the provinces they, will play several of the counties, he says, on theircounty grounds. For all this, hbwevefj'l think it will be a thousand pities if they have to return home without a match with the gentlemen as well as the. players;".-,.. „, .. . „, . " A Birmingham man in Japan" says : — The worst thing in Japan is the food, which is really execrable, and in fact unwholesome, and I have to specially say 'what I want in order to get a raeal I, can eat. Nothing can be more disagreeable than to do as the Japanese do, which some travellers recommend. Doing as they do, means after sleeping between two dirty mats, oh the floor, to have to get up to go to an ill-favoured corner of the house; open to tho gaze of all persons in the house and street, .and, there "dipping my fingers into an extremely shallow ' copper bow), and smearing my countenance with a very small damp blue rag, beguile my insulted body into the idea that it ha? been refreshed by a wash, to partake of a tiny ! cup of tea, and eat what was said to be salted plums, but looked and tasted like balls of pink blotting paper that had been lying for some months in mouldy vinegar ; to have for breakfast one saucer, with very flabby fish, cooked some days before, one bowl" of warm salt water, with a fish's eye and tail, and three shreds of bark floating in it, one plate with a section of something' brown' with little holes in it, very soft, very cold, and very nasty, slices of raw egg plant, a dozen beans coated with a sticky substance and a little heap of singularly offensive vegetable matter, like cold boiled turnip tops or neglected saver kraut. Of course cold rice ad libitum. Indeed, the most solid food you can get is either very salt fish dried, or fresh tasteless morsels' 6£ it raw. They seem to have no idea of any tiling nice; all their fruit and even jam is salted, and tbe water tastes as if it had been got out of a bowl containing gold fish. All kinds of horrible things .they will give you— snails, seaweed, large fetid fungus, &c. j

Hollowat'b Pills.— lmportant for the Delicate.— lt is difficult to determine which ia the more trying to the human constitution — the damp, cold days of autumn and winter, or the keen, dry, easterly winds of spring. Throughout the seasons good health may be maintained by occasional doses of Holloway's Pills, which purify the blood and act as wholesome stimulants to skin, stomach, liver, bowels, and kidneys. Thia . celebrated "medicine needs but a fair trial to'.cdnvince the ailing and desponding that it will restore and cheer them without danger, pain, or inconvenience. No family should be without a supply of Holloway's Pills and Ointment, as by a timely recourse to them the first erring function may be reclaimed, suffering may be spared, and lifed laved.