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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 36, 11 February 1880, Page 2

The multiplication of 987654321 hy 45 gives 4444444445. Reversing the order of the digits and multiplying 123456789 by 45 we get a result equally curious, 5555555505. If we take 123456789 as the multiplicand, and interchanging the figures of 45, take 54 as the multiplier, .we obtain another remarkable product, 6666666606. Returning to the multiplicand first used, 987654321, and taking 54 as the multiplier again, we get 5333333334 — all threes except the first and last figures, which read together 54, the multiplier. Take the same multiplicand and using 27, the half of 54, as the multiplier, we get a product of 266666667, all sixes, except the first and last figures, which read together 27, the multiplier. Next interchanging the figures in the number, 27, and using 72 as a multiplier, with 987654321 as the multiplicand, we obtain a product 71111111112 — all ones, except the first and last figures, which, read together, give 72, the multiplier. The Temuka ' Leader ' tells tbis highly improbable story concerning the once notorious Madeline Smith: — "It is asserted with very strong asseveration by a certain party, who has good reason for knowing it to be a fact, that Miss Smith is at present in New Zealand, and has been in it for the last seven or eight years, at least to his certain knowledge. He says that, for four or five yeara, she travelled about with a gentleman who resided not a hundred miles from South Canterbury. She lived in the same hotel and dined at the same table, yet was not allowed to look at, far less speak to, her " guardian angel." After a time, the one getting tired of the other, the lady next appeared ou the West Coast as the associate of a successful miner, to whom she was eventually married by a certain clergyman, who does not conceal the facts of the case, but adds that she turned out to be a good house-wife, and is very affectionate and seemingly as devoted to her new lorer, as she was to all that came before hitn." The special correspondent of the Lyttelton Times writes under date 3rd February :— " Sixty recruits are expected at Opunake from Wellington on Saturday, thirty of whom will be sent ta reinforce the garrison at Waihi. Captain Baker it in command there, and Captain Morrison at Opunake Two hundred men are here under Major Goring, about 120 of whom go out every day on the roads. Their officers speak highly of the cheerful and energetic way in which they perform their hard day's labor under a broiling sun. At night the camp is guarded by 20 pickets and 15 camp gaards. So far all has been quiet, and no unpleasantness has taken place with the natives with the exception that last night a Maori insisted on going into the canteen. As he would not leave quietly, a file of guards was called out, and he was promptly ejected from the camp. As showing the extremely strained relations existing between Maori and Pakeha it may be mentioned that a few days ago a European borrowed a horse from a Maori at Opunake, and on the road towards Hawera the horse fell and broke a leg. Although the poor animal had been lying for day. within a few miles of the camp in great agony, it has been thought inadvisable io shoot it aa it is the property of Maoris, and the act might be interpreted amongst them as one of wanton agression. The advice of Europeans in the confidence of Maoris and cognisant of their habits of thought, has been taken, and they agree in this proceeding. In the meantime, the poor brute is dying by the roadside by inches, a yictia. to Jnespeflieney,"

Tbe following telegram'; dated Valparaiso November 22, gives the latest details of the war in South America, which lat. cable news informs us is now suspended for a tinie i — Before abandoning Iquique to the Chilians, the allied troops burnt tbe towns and blew up the fortifications. The prisoners taken by the Chilians numbered 1,500. Chili has achieved another great victory by land. A J force of allies, 1 1,000 strong, marching northwards from Noria to effect a junction with a reinforcement of 5000 men, under the cornman _ of the President 6f Bolivia, attacked on the _lst November a Chilian advance corps of 6000 men, who occupied an entrenched position at Dolores, near Aqua Santa. The Chilian heavy cannon committed great ravages among the ranks of the enemy, whose cavalry charged three times upon the guns, and attempted to carry them off, but their efforts on each occasion were unsuccessful. In the evening the rear of the Chillian force came up and decided the day. The allies were driven back and their camp takefl, ib which 1. cannon were found. Many wounded officers, including the Bolivian General, Villegas, were taken prisoners, and another of the allied generals was killed. The losses of the Chilians were heavy. , ,The capture of the Peruvian cor T vette Pilcoctiay. __* the Chilian ironclad Blanco Encalada was effected as the former, in company with the Union and Chalaco, was leaving Arica. The Pilcomayo surrendered at the first shot from the Chilian ship, but the others escaped. The crew of the j. ilcomayo, before hauling down her flag, fired the vessel, threw her big gun overboard, and spiked the rest. Tbe Chilians took 180 prisoners. The Pilcomayo is on her way to Valparaiso to repair. In a village school, after an oral Scripture lesson on Cain and Abel, the teacher asked, among other questions, " Why was Abel's offering of the lamb better than Cain's of first-fruits of the ground?" He received, from a lad aged seven, the following extraordinary answer : " Because f r sit makes your belly ache, and lamb doesn't." In lecturing at Christchurch, recently, the subject being his late trip to England, the Rev. J. Berry remarked that in one month last year the English people had jußt 13 J hours of sunshine. In passing through Lincolnshire, the speaker had watched the wretched cattle, mud-begrimed and sopping, and the sheep in the turnip fields, sinking up to their knees in the sodden ground. He instinctively thought of the happier state of things in New Zealand, and the gloom and fog became well nigh unbearable. An aerolite of unusual size and brilliancy (says the New Zealander) was seen a few minutes before 1 o'clock on Sunday morning. It rose from behind the hills to the north of the city, and passed in a southerly direction, directly over it. For a few momenta it left a streak of light, which reached from the northern horizon to near that in the south, everything being visible with a startling distinctnses in the glare of the yellow light, which, by contrast with the preceeing darkness, seemed even brighter than daylight. Ifc exploded near the southern horizon, many of the fragments darting about in a zigzag fashion before they disappeared. A luminous cloud with a phosphoric .light was visible where the explosion occurred for more than an hour afterwards. The Benalla Standard is responsible for the following: — A rather curious incident has occurred in connection with Mr Parnell's anti-rent agitation in Ireland, showing that his tenants expect him to suffer for the cause he is advocating to a considerable extent. By the mail just arrived, Mr Magee, a gooernor of the Ballarat Gaol, has received a letter from a lady relative residing in County Meath, Ireland, and a large landed proprietress, in whioh she states : 'Mr Parnell has a great deal to answer for in putting ideas ioto the beads of the people which they would not otherwise have thought of. has received notice from her tenantry to decrease her terms of rental, and I hear that Mr Parnell's tenants have given his agents notice that they intend to strike off 17s. in the £ on the rents. The agent will not consent to this reduction, and has referred the tenants to Mr Parnell's brother (the agitator being at present in America), and he also has refused to sanction this great reduction ' The writer then goes on to state that the south and west portions of Ireland are in a very bad state, and that many old resident landed proprietors are much dissatisfied, and are selling their properties to leave the country." The correspondent of the Wawanui Herald writes:—" The natives of the Plains, whatever they may say, must undoubtedly feel their utter inferiority to us in the field, the company of warrior laborers at present occupying the land, armed with unrivalled weapons which they refrain from using, must inspire them with respect for our forbearance in face of the great and galling provocation which they have lately dealt out to us. The present of potatoes, &c, lately made by tbe natives marks a very curious phase in this altogether unique quarrel. It was made in thorough Maori style; the food when placed on the ground being duly presented by the head man, wand in hand, who proclaimed ifc the gift of tbe natives to the Europeans. Tho manner of the gift differed in no way from the usual Maori donation of food by tbe owners ofthe land to strangers who are visiting them, and the party who brought it into camp were composed of followers of Te Whiti, and also of some who claim to be favorable to the government. A like present of pork waa made by Te Iki (now in prison for ploughing) to the surveyors at Otakeho, with the information that we are commanded " If thine enemy hunger, feed him," and it is probable that some such feeling has prompted the present gift. On the other hand the Natives who wish to express their loyalty to the Government claim it as a token of friendship on their part. Whatever may have been the feeling which suggested tha gift, ifc was courteously offered and wisely received, and it is to be bop «d that Te Whiti will not so advise his. followers as to cause an acquaintance which has been initiated by an act of courtesy and kindness to terminate in hostilities. Of late the Natives who inhabit the Plains have almost to a man been thorough followers of Te Whiti, notwithstanding tbe assertion of Katene to the contrary, and the Government party, as a party, has ceased to exist." Four of the largest Trades Unions in Great Britain have, during their comparatively brief term of existence, spent over £300,000 in relieving the want of members on strikes.

Mr Gladstone's personal appearance at the present time is thus sketched by a London correspondent of the Philadelphia Press :—■ "In personal appearance Mr Gladstone is an active, lithe, muscular man, rather tall, and of well-proportioned frame. His face and figure have that clear cut contour which generally indicates: several generations of intellectual activity and personal leadership. Mr Gladstone is the descendant of a long line \ of Scottish lairdmen of small wealth and | limited possessions, but accustomed to stand - first in their communities, to think, and lead j The face is scholarly, cultivated, its outlines ; boldly defined by that meagreness of muscle which distinguishes the intellectual athlete. ' There is not an ounce of superfluous flesh pn • it. The thin lips betoken firmness, determiha- * tion, and endurance. Seventy, summers haye sat lightly on him, but the years haye brought their blessing of rest, and his face in general wears the repose of strength and experience — strongly lined with the record of struggle and thought." J ._ '