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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIIL, Issue 270, 21 November 1878, Page 5

A Melbourne telegram received a week or two ago stated that two men bad been killed in a fiald by a Hash of ' lightbin*.. At the inquest on the ■bodies th« following evidence was .givtn : — Charhs Wilson, v;atnr carter, employed on Mr W. J. Cl»rkc'd estate atKalkalln, g.a'ed tbut he kne'v both the deceased gentl9toen. At about twfpty minutes to three o'olotk Oi Jlonday diteruooa he was in the pal-

dock near t,he tt;ara plough/when a thoniierstorm broke over the place. The deceased were riding on horseback cloee together at a walking pace acro9s the flu,, about 300 yards fron? who're he was standiog. There was a severe flash of lightning, followed immediately : by a looj peal of thunder, add ia a j moment afterwarda ho saw tha two" horsemen lying on the ground aod one I horse galloping away. Tbere were; eeveral men in the vicinity, some, of whom went to the 1 spot where the, two deceased gentlemen had fallen. Mr' Cbeyue was lying clear of his horse, dead, while tbe horße had also been killed. Mr Petiijaan was lying on his face, also quite dead, about five yards from hia companion. On the bodies being turnel ov ; .r, it was observed that their faces were vory bludk, and blood was issuing froai Mr Cheyno'a mouth aud nostrils* while there was also : n wound at the back of hia head. No external marks of injury were observed about Mr Pethjann. There, were no treea nearer than about 500 yards from the epos where tbe deceased fell. It was raining nt (he time in Jarge drops. The. two horsemen were riding side byaide, but witness did not observe themio the act of falling. — James Bull, engineer, stated tbat bcft'i the deceased men were observed rding at a walking pace towards the Broaduieadowa Boad. Witness did not sac them actually fall, but there was a vefy sharp flash of lightning at tb« time, followed by a heavy clap of thunder. Hearing Wilson call out, he turnel round and saw both the riders on the' ground. Witness ran to tbem at once. Mr Cheyne waa etill breathing, but he ceased to breatfe in about two minutes. Mr Pelitjaan waa motionless anJ quite dead. The horae bad also been killed by the lightning, and Mr Cheynb'c? feot was still in the Btirrup. The spurs Mr Cheyne had on were not etruck by lightning, but his watch-chain was absent although the watch wai uninjured. The watchchain bad heen melted from the swivel. The saddle on the horae had a dent on tbe front part of it. CneswiCK (says the World) has hitherto been kuojvn most for i<a fates. but in future it Will be associated more as the birthplace of torpedo-boats j for it is here, on the left bank of the Tnames, that Messre. Thornycroft and : Co. manufacture tbeir celebrated ateamlauacehef*. The head of the present flrm was originally a unre builder of pleasure-boats for the Thames ;. but ■ being of a progressive temperament, he gradually develcpsd (his business, until he produced fcr river use, a sloara launch capable of running at fie ratu of aix-and- twenty miles an hour. Thia immense epsei was attuned by substituting steel plarea for galvanised iroa or wood, by employing powerful compound eogiues of very aunalF >ompis?, and by adopting lines of I h'e most perfect symrueuy far the bulls The application of tuese launches for the purposes of totp?do warfare followed, it. -may be said, as a matter of course. At tbe preeeut moment some four-aud-twenty torpeJo-boats of the " Ligh'ning" class are in course of construction at the firm's establishment here, at Church Wharf. Of tbis uumbar only five are for our own Government, tbe remainder ore being executed to foreign ordera. It is Hue, I believe however, tbut the English Government are now buildiug launches of the same | type at their owu establishments. Ner do Meßsrs Thornycroft regret this, for • they have fouod the English Govern- i raeut employus far too fi Igeiy, suepicioue, ond vaccilaiing. Besides ihey complain tbat their reputation 's injured by many of lhe changes afterwards introduced in the boa's at. our dockyards, Tbus owiug to sundry alterations made iu tho Lightning sinca it left their hands, ita speed haa beeu reduced by three knots on hour. The Government tbey find most sitisfaetion in doing business with is tha Austrian, which thinks nothing of ordering twenty torpedo-boats at a time, and this' without any vexatious or superfluous restrictions. Afttr Austria, France is at preseut their best customer. A photograph was shown me, exhibiting the result of a torpedo experiment against a French ironclad, and tbe eifact seamad to be terrible, for a yawning bole Hppeared in the vessel's side like the jagged mouth of a volcano. It appears the firm c*a turn out ooe of these torpedo-boata complete in a couple of mouttiE — hat is at a pioeh. Six of these boats arj now cojsiderei tbe proper compliment of a first-rate ui»nof war. Foreign natiou.- mostly seem to prefer tin sp3.r*t9rp9do i Austria

and ' ouraelves the Whiteh^bi' ; ] The boats « recall painte J_a dull t neutraltinted efaie^coior, so that tbey aro al! but •' invisible' at //auy considerable dis-l (ance, and one raighteyen pass up tbe river without noticing them lying on ita bank, wwa.it\iace^lhevdtafening clang of this thousand, $nd one J^mr^era engaged in fixing the rivet? from morn to «oort, 8-n& L iie^ A visit) to the establishment is full of iuterest. ,Oo t,6e proposad trip of.ths Pcegiier lo icnoculate the Victorians, witb tbe doitfinea of reciprocity 'lhe Timaiu Herald. saya .~V^e earnestly hop.e.that the rumour reg^diiig, Sir jG. Grey's contemplated free trade crusado in Victoria is' true; It would be infinitely better for hitn to. oecapy,. the r:cfsa in teaching people i ; there.. the rudiments of national greatn«3B, \niid popular prosperity, than in disseminating class hatreds Mid false principles of ;govern ment: .among the people,, of his own country. We wish b.iua a. app.edy departure and a prosperous mission, and,. if.. he goa>, we Bhall watch' hia operations with far greater 'interest/than ! has ever yet attached to . any of. his political proceedings. Even if; he fails immediately to attain his objects,, he cannot out do some gOod by demonsirn'*'ing to Victorian politicians, and Vic- j terian democrats, that the moet advanced vie? s of popular rights are not inseparable from the advocacy of Iree trade, j His b,i_*b. intellectual powers aodvihat singular personal icfluence which be undoubtedly possesses, may do more to. bring about a change of opinion 1 in. that respect than all tbe dry writings bf politiatl economist?, ..or the . interested arguments of local 1 par tisane. We should det>riy like to be present to observe, the effects of Sir George Grey's polished thoughi impassioned. .oratory .oo.a Victorian mob. A man who has succeeded in making the wea't'jy and iidepeadent working classes of Naw Zealand half believe, despite the evidence; of their own senses, tbat tbey ar.e down-trodden slaves, bereft of tbo common privileges I of freeJom by the (yr&nny of the' ownera of a few vaat i estat ( ee, . may possibly be able to persuade the bigoted Victorian democracy. that; tbeir beloved protection in a miserable ' bluudefr. Should be dp so, he will liaye done what no man wflsever able to do before, and ha will hive established a valid cl&im to tho gratitude and respect of posterity throughout -the whole of an importaut eection of the British EmI pire; i A correspondent; of tbe Auckland j Herald says, " Have you ever come across a person with a mania for life insurance ?'' as since my. residence in Auckland I have met with one who bad a perfect craze on the subject, and who wasnever so happy as when he ..was calculating — by tables which he carried about in his jjoeket — his friends' chances of life. He was once doing so in my case, when the following colloquy took . place by my sayiug, " I am afrai 1 that your calculations' include babies and children, who, if not actually weaned on gin-and- water— as is often asserted — yefcare perpetually.stuffed with lollies, and fed iu a.great measure on meat and other stimulating and unsuitable fjod before tbey bave shed their milk teeth ; but, anyway, does it include the dear creatures who at the dictates ; of fashion pinch in their waistvwear trains and high- heeled boots to the great detriment of .necessary exercise to the limbs, , and, consequently, health in general ? ' '• Yes, it does." ' " Then, I object, for lam certainly not in this category.' "Does ifc also include. men who. in their hurry to make money, do nofc giv-e themselves time to eat their meals properly* but bolt their food, and then lie awake the greater part of the nighfc scheming to get rich, who drink undiluted spirits, smoke tbo much, and do everything in excess, and nothing in moderation, completely ignoring the fact that the latter is the secret, or cause of longevity r" ■'."Yes, it' does." "Then I again ' object, because t do none of these things.',' , " Besides," I said, " Look here, man alive, I have also reckoned you up by table C, .and find that if you had insured your life at 18 years of age, you would only have two years, three months, four days,: seven minutes, and two. seconds to live yourself." He shut up, as they say in expressive bufc vulgar parlance, and has never offered fco calculate me since. Looking to the novel forma of disease met with in onr widely-scattered cosmopolitan possessions, the Lancet suggests tbe formation of fls-bloi>i'il medical service, as affording* the means. of obtaining a systematic record of maladies übout which we now procure knowledge alwaya fragmentary, and hence to a certain extent unsatisfactory.