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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 79, 2 April 1880, Page 2

The Rangitikei Advocate understands that the Rev Mr Newth, the Church of England clergyman in charge of the Palmerston and Poxtou parochial districts, has resigned his appointment, the delicate state of Mrs Newth's health being assigned as the reason of his so doing. The total number of persons who took tickets for the Lower Hutton Easter Monday was two thousand five hundred, nearly all of whom were visitors to McNab's gardens, to see the Druids' sports.— N.Z Times. Mr Montagu Browne has completed arrangements with '.the distinguished actress Miss Dargon for a tour through New Zealand. We hear from Taupo, says tho Napier Teleoraph f that Tougariro is in a state of volcanic eruption, emitting vast volumes of smoke, aud showing a lurid glare at night. No good view has been obtained of the mountain since Tuesday la«t from Tapuaeharuru, owing to the cloudy weal her. It is now nearly eleven years sines Tongariro was in a state of extreme eruption. Mr Justice Gillies, now on his way to Europe, has this time followed the advice of tho Prince of New Zealand bookmakers, Redcap's friend. Some time ago tho Judge and the Prince were fellow-pasaengers to ' Auckland from the South, and as usual the steamer was rather overcrowded with passenger? . 1 may here remark, en passant, that although the two geutlemen have some sympathies in common, their tastes and habits are not altogether congenial. Tho Judge was, of course, accompanied by his associate, whose duty it is to "clear the way and make things straight." Some little difference arose between the Prince and the associate; resulting in very high words, and the Judge had to interfere on behalf of his yonug and learned friend, whereupon the Prince gave the Judge the following sound advue: "Next time you travel leave your pup behind." As 1 stated at t s e outset, the Judge has this time followed the wise in struct ion, and I hope the Prince is satisfied. — Free Lance. The Illustrated New Zealind Herald, of Dunedin, in its leading article, contains the following : — " The idea was started we believe by the Ministerial journal in Wellington, that an eighth member was to be added to the Cabinet when a redistribution of offices would take place. Last; session the Government were anxious to make their number eight, and for that purpose brought in a Bill at the last hour almost ; but abandoned it seeing that it was hopeless to carry it through at such an advauced period of the session. Possibly the effort will be renewed this session, the salary for the eighth Minister being derived by the other seven dockiug off their salaries a sum sufficient for the purpose. The eighth seat would be offered to a Northern member— possibly Mr Reader .Wood." The Tablet says that Butler, charged with the murder of the Dewar family, was not a Catholic, but obtained the position of teacher of a Catholic school at Cromwell on false pretences, that he neglected to preach religious doctrines, and on his conviction for burglary in 1876 described himself as a protestant. We take the following from the N.Z, Herald ■. — The civil servants of New Zealand are governed by fearfal and wonderful la vs. There exists what is called a Government officers' guarrautee fund, to which all civil servants are compulsory contributors. Of course the thing does not work satisfactorily ; but then civil servants may not complain. Growls will, however, be heard when they find so much deducted from their cheques to fill deficiences caused by the defalcations of any member of that service. Some of our local civil servants have, during the past week, been disagreeably surprised by a decrease in the amount of their expected cheques. It appears that some civil servant, a postmaster in O.tHgo, has been a defaulter, and a call has been made to , supply the deficiency. The curious part of the affair i 9 that the call was paid before it was made, for the department made itself right. The following ia the text of tho circular forwarded to each of those privileged civil servants: — " Call iv respect of defalcations in the accounts of T. W. Longuett, late postmaster at Palmerston, Otago. The total deficiency amounts to £484 2d, of which sum £437 17s 2d is recoverable from officers under section 2 of the Government Officers Guarantee Act, 1870, and the regulations issued thereunder. The deductions made on the attached abstract are computed at the rate of one shilling for every one hundred pounds of the amount for which each officer is fjuaranteed.-~jAMEs C. Gavin, PaymasterGeneral.— Treasury, Ist March, 1880." The Scotsman states: — The {(passengers by the Inman steamer City of Berlin, on board of which steamer on a recent voyage to New York the electric light was fitted by way of experiment, addressed on tho of the voyage a note of Congratulation to the company. The experiment is said to have been highly satisfactory. Not only was ths saloon of the vessel brilliantly illuminated, but the steerage, usually the most gloomy part of the vessel, was lighted up iv all parts. Id is probable that the electric light will now be used in all the vessels of the Inman fleet. Strategy. — A certain bald-headed man has a large spider painted on the top of bis head in fly-time. » i

For exquisite absurdity commend us to the following delivered by Elder Sorenson, at the Mormon service in the Temperance Hall last evening, The elder speaking of an angel said : " A great majority are mistaken about the form of an angel, and are much in error on the subject. An angel ia a resurrected spirit without blood, but with flesh and bones, ami he ha3 no veins. The air not being sufficiently buoyant to allow a figure of flesh and blood to fly through it." This certainly shows a lamentable ignorance of anatomy aud aerostatics on the elder's part.— Auckland Star. Eloquence Wasted— "l know I'm losing ground, sir," tearfully murmured the palefaced freshman "but its not my fault sir. If I were to study on Sunday, as the others do, I could keep up with my class, sir— lndeed, I could ; but I promised mother ne-ne-never to work on the Sabbath, and I can't, sir, nene-" — and as his emotions overpowered him he pulled out his handkerchief with such vigour that he brought out with it a small flask, three faro chips, and a euchre desk, and somehow or other the professor took no more stock in that freshman's eloquence than if he bad been a graven image. — Acta Colutnbiana. A feather will indicate which way the wind blows, and by the some rule the seizure of two Italian ships laden with arms for the Albanians now iu insurrection against the Austrian occupation of the Western Turkish provinces tells very plainly how the sympathy of the Italian people tends. The old feud comes to the front on the slightest provocation, and there is little doubt that the extension of Austrian power and influence under the Treaty of Berlin has excited bitter jealousy in Italy. The seizure of vessels recently made does not, of course, involve the Governments of the two countries, but it is none the less indicative of the attitude Italy would be likely to take up in any war in which Austria was actively concerned, and thereby throw considerable light upon the eventualities dependent upon the realisation of the recent fears of another war in Europe. — Auckland Star. Very remarkable changes have taken place during the forty-two years' reign of Queen Victoria. She has outlived by several years every bishop and judge whom she found seated on the benches in England, Scotland, and Ireland. She has witnessed the funeral of every Premier under her except Lord Beaconsfield and Mr Gladstone. Not a single Cabinet of her uncle aud predecessor's day now survives. Of the members of the Privy Council who sat in June, 1837, to administer to her the oath, only four survive. She has received the homage of four Archbishops of Canterbury, four Archbishops of York, and five Bishops— Chichesterj Lichfleld, and Durham successively. She has filled each of the Chief Justiceships twice at least ; she has received the addresses of four Speakers of the House of Commons. She has entrusted the Great Seal of the Kingdom to no less than nine Lord Chancellors. An accident of an extraordinary nature occurred at the Holte Theatre, Aston, Birmingham. The stago is lighted by two electric lights, and, wlien the candles are not burning, two brass connections, used for the purpose of crossing the current, are hung up over the orchestra. After the performance of the pantomime, Mr Bruno, the eupuoneum player, wa3 leaving with the other members of the orchestra, when, presumably out of curiosity, he caught hold of the brass connections referred to. The man in charge called out to him with the object of warning him of the danger he was incurring. The warning, however, came too late, Mr Bruno received the full shock of the electric cur- . rent generated by the powerful battery, which supplies the whole of the lamps in the buildings and grounds. Mr Bruno was unable to disengage himself, aud pulled the wire down. The shock rendered him insensible. A medical man was soou in attendance, and restoratives applied, but Mr Bruno died in forty minutes afterwards. . The Bishop of Guild ford died suddenly iu Ryde, at the parish church of AH Saints, under painful circumstances, on Sunday, December SI. The deceased bishop had arranged to preach two sermons in the morning and evening, in aid of a fund which had been started to complete All Saints parish church, and to add a syire and a peal of bells to the edifice. He took part in the services, and preached an eloquent aud very impressive sermon. At the conclusion of his sermon, Dr Uiterton made an allusion to the many friends the church had" lost by death, and urged all those present to show their gratitude for the many mercies vouchsafed to them by giving according to their means. Having finished his sermon, he came down into the chancel and read the prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church militant, and was kneeling before the communion-table while those who did not intend communicating left. Very few, however, had gone away, when the bishop was heard to cry out, and immediately fell forward on his face. Everything was immediately done that could possibly be thought of to restore him from what was at first thought to be a fainting fit, but within five minutes he was dead. Heart disease was the cause of death. The Army Find Navy Gazette of the 24th January says :— " So ' Prou-Frou ' is to be restored to the boards- of Her Majesty's ship, and the rustle of the petticoat, the patter of little feet on the poop, and the spooning of the signalman and nursery-maid will again have their place iu the interior economy of our men-of-war. Ten years have made the Admiralty forgetful of those causes which led to a stringent order being issued against the residence of women on board ship, and married commanders of training ships were recently granted the pleasure of their wives' society. And now the Flag Captains at Portsmouth and Devonport; have been given permission to shift their residence and take their wives and families on board the flagships. It is a capital thing for the captains, being equivalent to a very considerable addition to their pay, relieving them as it does of house rent and accompanying expenses, but the system was not found to work well in days gone by, and we fail to see ouy reason for believing that the former objections will be found to have been removed. The establishment of nurseries afloat will give rise to the belief that there really is aa • Pinafore » and ' Bib ' iu Her Majesty's Fleet." The gloomiest view of England's future is taken by the PaU Mall Gazette. It complains that the nation shuts its eyes to the fact that the unstrained levies have ceased to count in modern warfare, and experience goes to to show that great masses cf men skillfully handled are an absolute necessity if any country is to hold its own on land. With Germany, Austria, Prance, Italy, Russia, even Spain and Koumania, armed to the teeth, possessed all of them of a system of militaty service which English statesmen refuse to adopt or to find a substitute for, the British army holds a very different position from what it did in 1848 or even in 1866. Even the very enumeration of forces show the difference ; for who twenty or thirty years ago would have thought of giving consideration to Italy or Spain ? Yet toJay the first- named country is au element of iisturbance the more iu an already troubled medley ; not the less so because she has worked hard to have a powerful fleet, and at ;his moment in conjunction with one other jountry, might occasion England grave embarrassment for a time. Prance and Italy lold a position ia the Mediterranean Sea iuch as no two powers have held in this jentury. And it should never be forgotten hat the British Navy is nowadays almost mrely experimental.