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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 205, 28 August 1880, Page 4

The revised Education Code for 1880 in England is issued, and it contains 1 , as was expected, some noteworthy amendments in matters' of detail. Thud, needlework is no longer a compulsory subject of State education in the girls' day-schools. Much more latitude is allowed in the subjects to be taken tip by tlie children in the second and higher standards in order to earn the capita-, tion grant. The minimum now required for this purpose is that a' child shall pass a creditable examination in one subject — geography, physical geography, natural philosophy, history, social economy, grammar, needlework, or some other — which has been "taught .throughout; the year through, reading lessons, illustrated if necessary by maps, diagrams^; /specimens, &cJ' It is nowdecided that not more than two pupil teachers shall be engaged in any, school for every certificated teacher. No depression in the standards of efficiency has been attempted, though there is satisfactory evidence of a desire to, rationalise the methods of teaching, which .has been accomplished in moire than one or two particulars. — Exchange. The Denver Tribune says that Cummins City, Colorado, iB under a constant fever of excitement over rich discoveries. There are claims heing located and improved on every hand. Even the moonlight nights' are utilised for 10-. eating claims by those who are coming late in the evening. . j / According to the France, the preliminary workings- for the 'tunnel' uniting England and France have had the most (Satisfactory results. , In 18 months they expect to have reached two 'kilometres under the Channel, and in three or four years to have completed the task. There is every probability of-orie of the suggestions of the recent Christchurch Exhibition coming to a practical issue in Dunedin. The Star says : — " Mr Bertinshaw, who was for many years in the felt-making trade in England, has during the past few months been busy preparing a quantity of rabbit fur to be manufactured into felt hats. He has already turned but several sample hats complete, and these have been submitted for inspection to the softgoods merchants, and hatters ; of this town, with the universal result of their meeting with great approval. Every process in the manufacture of these was of course carried out by Mr Bert- ; mshaw by hand, assisted' \ with ,■ the "bow," and other instruments hr use before the application of machinery to this trade ; but his project is ..to form a company to carry out the J business. For this a capital of £3000 would be ample, the outlay for a suitable building being estimated at not more' than £1200* and for machinery ki about £800. ' 'So cheaply can the raw material be sup- < plied that even by hand hats can be turned out here at about a third of the cost of the imported article, and of superior quality. In these dull times a further advantage would be gained by the establishment of this industry^for a~ factory of the dimensions mentioned would employ, between 200 and 300^ persons." '• The Crops at Home. — Writing 1 ! on June 25th, the Pall Mail Budget. says:— -Crop prospects have been greatly improved by the splendid rains that, have fallen in all parts of the country during the past week..- Farmersrare nojw> disposed to. cry " Hold enough!" as *they want^o^'ecutliiigHhWrblover and' meadow grass, and this they hesitate to do till the weather is more settled. Wheat is coming out in ear, and w;arm, still weather, with plenty of sunshine, will mQst conduce to^a good yield, of grain/ ; It is long since the. chops' have been so generally healthy at this time' of year as -they are to day. For corn and roots' alike { there Hs a* r r go'dd ! ' prospect; ' and, although the hay crop must be short, late pastures have been vastly improved by. the gcpd_Joaking they have had. [Live stafck, jfloo, are'rejoicing inra ! fr'esli feite of: gtass, and have) more, in theii* favor than they have had* since this time last year. ' The New Haven/iZb%rwa/ makes the | curious statement that^a post mortem in the case of B. D. Purdy, Jr., of New Canaan, Conn., "revealed the fact that his death was caused bya broken neck, and that he had been living in fiat condition for three years, as is supposed." Leo XIII. has declared the Bishop of Tourquay, to be insane,; and bas dcl posed him from the" administration" [ JPO*. -ft) l>iY.ftii

,of his diocese. The Bishop, hov^ey.er, 1 refuses. to accept the Pope's decisipnlon the matter'and writes pungent letters to the Belgium Liberal papers, in which hs states his : intention of appealing to .the law for.reinstatement ihhisßishop4 'ric. Should the Courts decide; in his| favour, a curious complication of law versus infallibility will arise.... The Government of New Zealand may be truly called a paternal Government, bs a epeeker recently showed id Parliament. Ho said, " Wb«t was the, history of a child in New Zealand 2 Vfithin'six mdriWs-afteir^h'e was l borri he was vaccinated by a Government officer; when be was old enough he waa sent to a Government school; as soon aa he could travel he travelled by Go? vemment railways, and if he had tbe ' doubtful fortune of being a. legislator^ he travelled 'f|;ee; if he left the country, in all probability he started from a Government wharf; probably he went into come Government ofiice, and become a Civil Servant; in any event he insured his life in a Government effice'j iflresaved he put bis savings into a Government bank; if he failed the Government whitewashed, him; and J when this careful guarded -child died, the P^ublic.Tr.ustee wound up his .estate. The ri GWernmeht had onlylio establish butchers, bakefflanoTaiew other shops, and the thing would be" complete. Then,the child; Kould' be- borp, live," and: die a Government man, and all the inducements to theft and industry being gone, men might eat, drink, and be merry at Government expense. The Timaru Herald prints a letter received by a resident in Titoaru from one of hia late employes who went to Cape Colony a short time ago. The letter is dated " Beuutort We&t, Cape Colony, 4|h July, 1.8§0," and the. writer, after giving a brief account of, pf bis passage from Melbourne goes on .to say :~-" I am now 336 miles inland. This is the terminus of .the- railway. It is a fine level country, but I don't think it is of much, account for agricultural purposes, as the land seems of too' dry a nature. Things are- in a very bad state here at present. Over^lOO men came here for tbe gold diggings, but there' is nothing at all doing. Most of the gold was being got at a place called Pilgrims' Rest, but the Zulus have driven every white man out of; the district. From all accounts the diggings are very poor at the best. About 20 of the men that, came with us returned to Melbourne by tlie firj&t steamer, and I think more will go by , thenext ,pne, _ There ia little doing here for laborer.s, as; the railway worksare at a standstill. And wages are very low. Men are getting 4a to 5s a day for nine hours' work, and plenty ;of men cSu't get any t'bidg ito d'ov ;at these figures. I believe it is a grand country for anyone with capital, but at the present time it is a poor one for work'ingVtrieh-^ Beefy.M.9 9J^per lb, and mutton 7J; oats, are worth 3a 6d per busheH jlyhereV^are no good * dr^ft horees here;- such' as tbere are fetch high. ptibeW - '.'•• - ■ - ; A;largo dbg belonging to a well-known resident of Timaru le, says the South Canterbury Times, in "the^habit of fobbing the railway department by" taking atrip when he goes abroad: It is quite a common thing for hjim to visit Dunedin and return to Timaru within the same week, and the astonishing thing' is that he travels on his own account without owner or guardian. He has been noticed 1 to follow a train in motion, and to leap on the carriage platform. The other day a resident ' . borrowed him for pig hunting. purposes, but yesterday when the North train- arrived the owner found 'him Cleaning from a first-class .carriage.^ ;This dog isprized for his sagacity .but^e.Slljt'^caUty'j and'railWay authorities will' probably agree; wi|h us. '> i.^n'en^^thy.Jinalia^'n^dtipn for adjourning "over the Derby DSy^ras moved in the Houae bf ■ Commonß,.!,bu .'the;2sth of Maylast, Sir W. Lawson opposed 'the proposition mainly on.the ground .that'' it would not be for the honor, credit,*' and ""dignity of the House to ,ad jpurn^f or a horse-race. The holiday was not 'needed .and., as to this being a timehonored custom it had been in force only about 33 years. He dissented also from the argument tbat racing was a manly national sport, asserting on the contrary, that it y?aß pursued only for gain, and characterising it as an organised system of rascality and roguery. On a division the motion for an adjournment was carried _by 285 to 115. j \^rdD^rebruify:>,to November last yjear rtJ&fere' v wpre*heldiin^Great Britain~27i'' race meetings, the number of stakes fun for being 2920. , Upwards of 2500 horse .competed; in th%e ! 66nf&ls^.fh'eJßsm@ a'niniairfrequeritly; taking part in several events. The value of the stakes raced for during the season was estimated at £500,000, the largest amount given at a single nieeting^being paid away at Ascot, where'j tfie mohey7]prizes exceeded '^2^,qpb\X The' mostVvaiuible race of ! the ryear.Jwas''tn!e.%i6ni Derby, worth £7025 y and next in order came the St. Leger (£6525), the Two Thousand Guineas (£62so)^ ' and the Oaks (£4425). Of the total feurii. accruing frbmstakes in 1879, sixteen nohleblemen and gentlemen carried off about a third, their total winnings being £169,000. The largest amount secured by a siugle individual (Count F. de Lagrange) was £26,136775 Lord Falmouth standing second on . the ; list with £23,523.— 5 tar. ■ lS - ;i Alexander Dumas' fortune is estimated. at , £100,000, outside of his art collection, wbrth nearly as much.' Every penny of ,it he haß derived from hia literary labors. • ■ - . \ . . .

A f visitor) in passing. > ; through a penitentiary ,- come upon a, cohvjet named Ice, and asked the keeper wbat he was confined for. •0/ answered the keeper, ' he froze on to somebody's property." A novel theft was perpetrated in Auckland at the expense of Mr Crocker, bootmaker. A man and a woman entered his Bhop, thp latter requiring to be fitted with a pair of boots,. No sooner did she get a. fit to her feet and her fancy than she walked out of the sbop, leaving the man ostensibly to settle the little account. But ,after r tha woman got a fair start, and was beyond recall, the man discovered that he had no money, and possibly at the same time that he was not liable for the debt, and he also walked off, leaving Mr Crocker sorely puzzled. To solve. the difficulty, he consulted the police, and the result was that the woman was arrested, and brought, before the Court^ tbut .the ( . case was remanded until the man ,'could be found. Subsequently the man, named" George Duncan, was also arrested, and both will be charged H with;larcfcny. . ' 1^ — ■ m^amm wk^. ■■■— —^^^^ m