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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 201, 24 August 1880, Page 4

In the House of Commons, Mr Fawcett, in reply to a question, said : — " The annual lobb to the revenues of the United KiDgdom on tho contract for the mails to India, China, and Australia was, in 1876, £216,000 ; in 1877-78, £239 000 ; and the estimated loss on the year 1878-79 is £246.000. The estimate of the loss which would have been incurred, if the postage had been reduced to half the amount, wouid be no more than £26,000 jin addition to. the loss actually/incurred. With regard to the other question, it may be correct to . state that the contract speed of the Peninsula and Orient Company in carrying the mails to India, China, and Australia is some-, what over eleven knotsi an hour — I be- ' lieve the exact figure; is eleven and a half. I am by no means answerable for this contract, which was entered into before the present Government came into office, and I voted against, it. The average length of the Orient unsubsidised company's passage is thirtynine days, and a half. In only one instance has that time been exceeded. The rate of speed of the Orient Company is considerably faster than that of the subsidised company, being fourteen or fifteen knots. Their passages have been under forty days, and, in one instance, their vessels completed the passage in thirty-five days." A Turquoise Mine. — For the firsttime in two hundred years the old turquoise mine in Chalchuti Mountain, New Mexico, has been re-opened. In 1680 work was suspended on the miijie, the cause being the caving in of the shaft and the subsequent death of some one hundred Indians who were hard at work below. An attempt made by the Spanish to force the Indians to begin again and re-open the shaft led to a rebellion, audprobably was one of the causes which forced the Indians to an uprising, and the subsequent exclusion of their rulers from the countrjy. The extent to which these mines have been workedmay be conjectured by the vast amount of debris lying around the - old shaft, covering no less -than fifteen acres of ground. This mine is the only turquoise mine on the continent, and as the gem has always a market value, it will ere long be one ofthe recognised sources of. wealth of New Mexico. The Wellington correspondent of a Southern paper says: — There is one. aspect of the ladies gallery of the House of Representatives which is amusing to witness^— the -md v strious appearance of its occupants. Some are industriously stitching mysterious looking garments or dainty little hats ; others are tatting, , knitting, crocheting, with the except ' tion of one young lady., who reads >as. , ; - Biduously and another who poises a leadpencil in the air and gazes ; pensiv.ely at- » a sheet of paper before, her, in the hope , of something "notable'^ turning up. In" fact, judging from the piles of work in front of some of the ladies,' it is obviousthat but for the unpleasant noise, a sewing machine would not be out oor.f r . place. The scene far more resembles,?, what we should imagine a 'Sewing Bee,* or a 'Dorcas Circle' to be (could the pro- , fane eye of a man penetrate it) than the gallery of a House of Parliament. The Orient steamer Potosi, which hasjust arrived in Melbourne, has her first saloon lighted by electricity in the following manner: — In the four corners are placed as many large globes — each about 18 inches in diameter, of dulled glass, with an electric candle inside each globe. A four horse-power donkeyengine supplies the necessary power generating the electricity. The effect is excellent in the extreme. The light is at once soft and brilliant, powerful and yet extremely pleasant to the eyes. When the vessel first started the globes were simply dulled glass, but either owing to the action of the air, or from some other cause, the glass rapidly lost its opaqueness, and the light accordingly became too glaring. The captain then caused pink gauze to be placed round the globes. The effect of this is exceedingly good. The electric, light is so powerful that it overcomes the pink color of the gauze, and the gauze is colored enough to tone down the light to a shade which can only be compared to that of innumerable wax candles, or perhaps, we (Melbourne < Hferald) should say, the resplendent majesty of the sun himself. All colors appear in their natural hues, and not as they do in the dim religious light of oil or candles, or in the garish glare of gas. Ladies will be glad to learn that the new ; light has a most becoming effect on the complexion. As regards cost, no statistics are as yet to band, but it may be . confidently stated that the expense of the new light?- once the first cost is paid — wiil not _ exceed that of oil or candles, and will probably be considerably more economical. ( In the Assize Court Palermo a horrible story of Sicilian crime has just been unravellg^^A rich family named Ca talfamo live&sn their, own estate at Cefalu, a small se|ipqr,t.between Palermo and Messina. A neighbouring barber, named. _ Venturella, . intimate with them, and determined to turn his knowledge to account by selling one of the Catalfamos to a band of Sicilian brii gauds. Onided by the barber, tliese

cut-thVoaits secreted-' themselves ih a dairy on the estate, by.the.side of which .the brothers Catalfamos were in ithe habit- of, driving every day from ani inspection of their labourers.. ' In October last-six- of the band rushred'from" tneir hiding, place, 'seized tbe horses, bound the coachman, and running a.nopse over ' thib . head 'of Giuseppe' , CataliaWp^ dragged u l_im,. with' much unnecessary violence to their boat, lying on: the shore. They stowed their cftptiv^ in the prow, and rowed across, > wfcjere they bound the prisoner, and left hv, in the bottom of tlie boat a day without food or shelter. At night seven brigands fetched him, and carried him to a cavern in Monte Pellegrino, whehGe* he was compelled to write to -his brother for a ransom of about £8,000. It took some time to raise the money, but it was forwarded at length, andi on the very day on which the motaey was paid and divided amongst the band (1 lth November) their victim was -assassinated in cold blood, and with; circumstances of peculiar barbarity, his head having been literally sawn from his body with a blunt knife, such as is used by gardeners for trimming plants. This departure; from tharuje^and laws which regulafe "'Sicilian^ robbery was taken because- one of the prisoner's brothers had bad the audacity to inform the police of his capture and detention! The police, for a wonder, traced .eyeryone in this diabolical tragedy, and all twenty of them bave been found guilty, and sentenced either to death or to long periods of hard labour, varying from twenty years to three. A youth named Tappiser has been arrested at Narbonue for poisoning with arsenic aunt and uncle with, the object of inheriting their property. The victims Had already been buried before suspicion had been aroused. The bamboo lance, says londpn Truth', has for many.years,.beea-in use in our Indian army j lately it has been adopted by the Germans, and at last, after some stupid indecision, it is come into use in the English Cavalry. Mr DeLautour recently delivered, a lecture in Wellington on " Young New Zealand," in the course of wbieh he said that he thought there was a tendency on the part of Old New Zealand to despise ordinary -work, and place their children in positions of proposed refined work. This was not as it should be, as it would work great mischief in the course of time. He held Old New Zealand f .sponsible for tbe training of those who would hare to make the future of the country. There were many faults which he hoped would not exist in the next generation, yet tbere were also many ways in which children were brought up which had a very grave aspect, 1 and promised very little for the future. But he would.Bay this for our -youths — they did not bave the tendency /or strong nnd spirituous liquors which, were. very freely indulged in elsewhere; they were', more upright and peri : severing," and more 'inclined to piety tban in the otber colonies. With a greater spirit of self-reliance, which parents, should, teach them, tbey would leave little -to be desired.: The f Times' correspondent says" that the Kussian authorities in Siberia .ma-de. some curious discoveries when examining tbe food which friends are allowed to bring to prisoners. *. Two-hundred anjcL- thirty roubles (half crowns) Were fouii'di dhedayiin a basin of buttermilk^ A man>_was repeatedly found drunk. ;Hi_; wife, brought him milk, and the officers taßted.it, but slill the man was drunk. -- At. 16ng th) it~'was found^thatUhe milk-jug bad "a" false bottom and a hole in the handle. W&afr jv^ll notjtopers.do for drink ? Another wotnau' essayed _to s'muggle^brandy in a pig ? s entrails.. An officersgamhis opinion that 8.0 per cen tof the thousands of criminals tbat had.fpassed .through his hands owed their 1 exile to 'drink. The correspondent concludes by saying.*—" l left Asia with the impression that.if a prisoner chooses to behave decently well, he. may be in Siberia- more conif or table' than in many, and; as cooifort-. able as in most, of the prisons of the world." iyTheLPateq : }Mail says.tfiatseveral men at theArmeS Constabulary camp have been on sick leave lately. ;Some attribute this illness to the fact of a former camp having :been pitched in low swampy ground; Tbe next site chosen was decidedly breezy, the tents being often blown down. It might have been .as well if tbe men had not been supplied with New South Wales campaign tents. Some say (adds 'ihe Mait) they are, of the kind used thereduring summer. These are scarcely suitable for our climate during winter. The men used to get bo wet tbrough the thin canvas that they contrived shelters, ! which they propped with poles inside the tents.: These- poles wore holes in the tents, and it is said that some of the officers were surprised at the appearance of tbe mysterious apertures. The principal charges against Ned Kelly are the murder, of * - Sergt; Kelly, and Conr stables Scanlau and Lonigan, various bank robberies, and the murder of A ron Sherritt, and the resistance of the police at Glenrowan. The is also a long catalogue of minor charges, which are more formidable than any ever brought against a criminal in this colony. It is proposed to assign counsel for the defence in case of Kelly's friends declining tp do to. A centenarian at Hill Farm, in the parish of Stoke Prior, near Leominister, in May. His name was Thomas Smith, and lie had beenvin the employment bf one family for more tban 50 years. He did agricultural work until he was 91 years, of age., A leading London dramatic journal is responsible for the following:—" The Pirates of Penzance will, it is now almost settled, make a tour of the world. They start on 17th Maynext, at San Francisco, under the guidance of Mr James C. Scanlan, who went .to California fpr that .purpose. It is then intended that > the *- whole troupe shall make the grand tour of Australia and New Zealaud. Three years ago it was estimated. that there were in Chicago at leasts 3.0,000 boys

and girlswho ?were habitual frequenters of the drinkiDg .salodns_of that city, of which' there were some 30Q0;' . A Californian has; invented a torpedo in the shape of a kernel- of corn, which is designed for the-bjeguilemeht of festive crows. As soon as tbe offensive crow takes bold of it it explodes and blows the top -of his head off/ "'"■'". " ™' " ! Old postage stamps are bought up, washed, re-gummed, and sold as new -by New! York dealet^ wbo thus defraud the; Government of something! like a million of dollars every: year.;,. , -.','.•. -. ■' f ' , T There Were, -by "latest . advices; ..three Admirals in the port of Shanghai, also, eighteen sbips of war,- pointing to tbe fact that Shanghai would be the foreign naVal . bead-quarters in the- eyent; of ; hostilities breaking out' between Eussia , and ;the Celestial Empire. , Switcbery, of Bone Boffe, hSs cfnly 200,000 sbeep, and has, therefore, (says iEgle's) to be very careful and economical. The selector's daughter, who performs the combined duties of cook, laundress, and housemaid, is acquiring a rapid fortune out of her splendid wages of 4s per week. What wonder, then, that Switcbery should say to Mrs S., upon hearing I that Jane had, without bis knowledge 1 ; or sanction, given away one of the four latelyarrived kittens, " Wbat, my dear -give atfay a kitten ? Why, she might as reasonably give away a bullock of mine, or a tiorse, oir a sheep. Now, on principle, you know, and as a lesson to her, I will charge Jane 2s 6d for that kitten. Just band me that accoubtbook, dear. Thanks." But Switchery was perhaps not more gifted with that charity which beginß. (and ends) at borne than Trundle of Sheepshbllow.. Upon his manager .concluding thirteen 'years' faithful 'service, T. objected to the removal, of some hens. '•But, sir," remonstrate^/' the A departing manager, " I bought and paid for the original stock." "Just so," said Trundle, "but they hare been fed on the station crumbs i "