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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 190, 10 September 1878, Page 2

The Rev. Dr Guthrie, one of the original founders of the Evangelical Union, purposes leaviug Scotland for New Zealand in autumn his health having broken down under loug continued pressure of arduous labour. A New Plymouth telegram of Wednesday says :— Judge Thomas left New Plymouth yesterday by coacy for Wanganui. When at Waitara the hotelkeepers there declined to receive him in their houses, and he had to go on to Inglewood. The settlers are very incensed at his interfering with the natives and fear that the old King's movement will be initiated again through his action. A recent Sydney telegram says:— From Cooktown news has been received of a very serious disturbance afc the goldfields on the Palmer, which took place on the 15th ult. There was a stand-up fight between eight hundred Chinese from the province of Macao and five hundred of those hailing irom Canton, who rolled up against each other well armed wifch guns and revolvers. A regular melee ensued, in which afc least two were killed and a large number wounded, bufc how mauy is uncertain, A number of the native police were despatched to the scene of the conflict by the warden, and they succeeded in arresting some of the ringleaders, who have since been sentenced to six months' imprisonment. Ifc is supposed that the origin of the row was a notorious gambler, Ah Lee, letting claims to the enemies of his own province at six shillings per head. It is known that several Europeans took part in tbe fight, either for the sake of plunder or the pleasure of joining in the melee. Order ha3 been partially restored, bufc there are still signs of enmity between the two tribes. The Taranaki Herald of Friday says:— "The Ryots of the Madras Presidency where, we believe, Judge Thomas resided) are the peasant cultivators of thafc region' The soil of the presidency is the property of the Empress of India, and tbe Ryots pay a rent for their holdings in the form of a landtax, which is the principal source of the revenue of India. If the land which Judge Thomas so complacently talks of handing over to the Maori race in perpetuity were the property of the British Crown, and the rent was to form part of the reveue of New Zealand, the scheme might not ouly be workable, but probably an improvement on the present system of alienating the laud from the Crown for ever. Judge Thomas evidently indulges in the hope of seeing the Maoris rescued from the fate which bas attended the history of every race of mankind on the face of the earth— thafc of being brought into collision with other races and winning or losing its place among men by the law of the survival of the fittest. If th c Maori race is to maintain its own in the future it is uot by being cockered up and treated as an exotic that it can thrive. It must descend iuto the arena, and take its part in the every day normal life of our cammon industrial humanity by educating its children, by cleanliness aud bealthy hving, and by sobriety. It caunot be elevated iuto a spurious aristocracy and Jive for it would be emasculated and enervated) nor can it live in isolation— for that there is' no time. The struggle haa come, and will end as all struggles must— in the survival of the race and the men who are best adapted to the medium in which they live.

The Anna H. Smith, which lately arrived at Queenstown from San Francisco, touched afc Pitcairn Island, and found the inhabitants, about 86 in number, all well. The population does nofc advance very rapidly. In 1873, it was 76, all told, male and female. The Lyttelton Times is responsible for the following concerning an eccentric hen:— Mr G. Ritchie, baker, of Colombo-street north, informs us of a curious circumstance. He possesses a faithful old horae, of exceedingly quiet ways, and one of the hens belonging to him has taken to reposing on the animal's broad back. A few days since he Was somewhat astonished to find that the hen had chosen this singular place upon wliich to lay her eggs. Mr Ritchie has satisfied himself by ocular demonstration of the truth of this freak. The New Zealand Loau and Mercantile Ageucy's circular of Juiy ISth remarks:— That New Zealand is attracting capitalists and the better class of emigrants from this and other centres is evidcuced by the fact that according to the census returus of the Province of Canterbury lately published, about six thousand persons have diiribg tho j last four years found their way thither afc their own expense, the number of unassisted as compared with assisted passages being in the ratio of one to three. Aud there is no reason to doubt bufc that similar statistics furnished from other parts of the colony would show equally favorable signs of progress. A new story has got abroad in Rome as an illustration of tbe economical disposition of the Pope, and his determined efforts afc retrenchment of the expenses of the Vactioan. Leo XIII. Avas taking a walk in the gardens^ when he came across a cow pasturing upon one of the. lawns. Ho asked to whom fche intruder belonged. There was a general shrugging of shoulders among his attendants, and the head gardener was called to accouut for its presence. " Thafc is the cow," replied he, '•' from which your paternity has your fresh milk every morning" "But I never drink milk," said the Pope. " Then ifc must be the cow belonging to the Cardinal Secretary," observed the gardener. "If Cardinal Franchi wishes to drink new milk in my house," said the Pope, " he must pay for it; he receives his money for this purpose." Au order was afc once giveu for the expulsion of the cow. The Ashburton Mail of the 2nd iusfc. saysi — The tide exhibited some strange vagaries in the harbour on Sunday. To a certalu extent, no doubt, this was caused by the heavy weather which has been experienced outside, and to which the disasters to shipping at Timaru, recorded elsewhere, are attributable. We believe, however, that some cause other than atmospheric must have been afc work to cause the exceptional irregularities observable on Sunday. At about 12 noon the tide was lower than ifc has been for a long time past. Again, at 3 o'clock and up to uearly 1 5, ifc was extraordinarily low, while shortly after 6, the water reached such ft height as to invade the road round the beach. We should not be surprised to hear of some disturbance of the earth's surface which may account for the phenomenon. The British Government have definitely determined to add to the list of England's colonies, by annexing New Guinea. The following telegram appears in a Syduey paper:— " Londou, August 10.— In deference to thc strong expression of publie opinion in Aus- | tralia, the Imperial Government have deter- ! mined to annex the island of New Guinea. | The Government will await the arrival of Sir Arthur Gordon in England before they ! decide whether it shaii be under his juris- | diction, as High Commissioner iu the South Pacific, or whether it shall be attached to one of the Australian Governments. Straws serve to show which way the wind blows (says an English paper). A tailor was the straw which served to show the British Government the direction the diplomatic wind was taking during the recent negotiations bet weeu the British foreign office aud thc Russian ambassador to the Court of London— Count Schouvaloff. That astute diplomatist, previous going to Russia to Consult his master, the Czar, appeared to sniff powder, for he courtermanded the gorgeous, aud consequently highly expensive, new liveries which had been ordered for the servants of the Embassy. Shortly after his arrival at the Muscovite Court, the Count telegrahed to the disappointed Snip the joyful tidings that he was to proceed wifch those liveries. The news reached the ears of the Ministry who naturally came to the conclusion that pacific counsels were prevailing at St. Petersburg, aud acted accordingly. Never before, probably, did a tailor play so importaut a part in diplomacy. The story is no myth. Writing from Constantinople, the correspondent of the Times thus describes the effect produced on the English fleet at Ismid, by a recent earthquake .-—A great scare was occasioned a few nights ago by a very severe shock of earthquake. Nothing less than Russian torpedoes exploding under the bottoms, it was thought, could have produced such an effect upon the ironclads. The heavy masses of floating iron were lifted and shaken about like the merest toys. The oscillation was so great that articles of considerable weight were thrown about, and the general effect of the earthquake was exactly whafc might be expected from the explosion of a large torpedo. The first and most violent of the shocks occurred about 9 a.m., jusfc when most of the blue-jackets were sound asleep. The alarm was great, and though there was no general" beating to quarters," lights were flashing about everywhere, and bugles sounding, calling the men to repair any mischief that might have been occasioned. Mr Layard, our Ambassador, was there at the time, having gone dowu with a party of friends in the Helicon on a visit to fche Admiral on the previous Wednesday. The effect upon the vessel was exactly as if she had been run into stem on by some craft at fuil speed, and every one hastened on deck under the impression that the ship was about to founder. Ou shore the sound of falling houses aud the screams of frightened inhabitants soon explained the nature of the accident. At Ismid about 15 houses fell, as well as the tops of several minarets; but no lives were lost. Afc Borussa and Sabanjah, further inland, the damage was much greater, and several persons were killed. The following letter was recently read at a meeting of the Dunediu Education Board from a gentleman in the country, who signs for himself and other parents iu his district: "Gentlemen— Patience is indeed a great virtue; but ifc would appear that we parents need the endurance of Job to deal with you geutlemeu. For these two years past we have been endeavoring to bring before the notice of the Education Board the necessity of establishing a side school in this district; bufc up to the present nothing has been done by that august body in the matter; iu fact, little notice has been taken of us by ifc. We see our children increasing in years and growing up in ignorance, and we deplore their state, so much so thafc we almost feel disgusted at the very name of free compulsory State education. Gentlemen, you do not feel the need of education, but we do — and a school we must have. Ifc is no use you telling us there are 'no funds.' You must provide us with the means fco educate our children. We will not take any excuse, a school we must have, and that without further delay. We do not require any of your elaborate edifices. A good cob building will suit us fine. All we require is education for our children, and we must have it, and if more notice is nofc taken of our requests than has beeu we must see whafc the Minister of Education says upon tbe matter."

It is seldom, I hope, that duplicity arouses my admiration; but I think that the young woman, Julia Constant, charged wifch begging the other day with her baby, has set a good example to her fraternity. Upon a passer-by, who happened to be a detective in plain clothes, asking to look afc the child, she said that the air would be iujurious to " thc poor little thing," which as the thermometer was about 88deg. in the shade, naturally aroused his suspicions. He insisted atid discovered ifc to be a rag baby !— London correspondent. The San Francisco Bulletin of August- 1 relates the following instance of the administration of Lynch law in Louisiana :— On July 30 a party of masked men, variously estimated afc four to five hundred, rode into Monroe afc 10 o'clock, forcibly took from the parish gaol four colored men who were confined there charged with murder, took them to the Court House square, and hanged them to the limb of an oak tree. Three of the victims were implicated in the killing of W. C. Fitzgerald last May. Fitzgerald was a white constable afc Trenton, who had attempted to arrest the men, as is alleged, for disorderly conduct iu the streets. They had been tried, and one of them was sentenced to a penitentiary for life, atid the other two remanded for a new trial. The fourth victim was charged with waylaying and murdering another colored man in cold blood. He had beeu sentenced by fche District Court to the penitentiary, but obtained a new trial. The verdict of the coroner's jury was, " That said parties came to tlieir death by hanging, and the same was done by parties unknown " The dangers of football, when played in a rough style, were very forcibly illustrated recently during the progress of the game between the Ballarat and Albert Park clubs. " The game," states the Ballarat Star, " was not played at all in a proper spirit, for which the local meu must not be wholly blamed ; and it was a chapter of accidents all through. The player who received the mosfc severe injury was Forbes, aa Albert Park man, who was thrown down during some rough play, and broke one of the bones of his left shoulder. The disabled man was taken to the hospital, where his shoulder was temporarily attended to prior to his going to Melbourne in the evening. Another AlbertPark player had oae of his fingers broken during the game, while the third received a kick on the uose, tbe bridge of which appeared to be broken. The principal wound received on the Ballarat side fell to the lofc of Brophy, who had one of his fingers bitten by an opponent."