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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 252, 15 December 1880, Page 2

Meerschaum pipes containing indecent pictures hare been seized at Melbourne. The rum business of the United States amounts to £200,000,000 a year. A late ingenious contrivance in photography ii a "drinking picture." The operator takes one negative Of a litter with open eyes. Then he makes the sitter shut bis eyes and remain in exactly the same position while another negative is taken; The two negatives are printed on the same paper, one on each Bide, exactly coinciding. When the doublefaced picture is held in proper position before a lamp, and the lamp is rapidly moved or caused to flicker, the curious effect is produced of long continued winking. Tidings have been received of the doings of Stanley, the African explorer. A Portugese steamer has brought news from Loander that Senor Lino, Captain of the 1 steamer Andrade, bad steamed up the Congo River as far as Noki, two hours' sail from Ribi, where Stanley and his followers have ! established their head-quarters. . During an interview with Captain Lino, Mr Stanley said that the end he had in view was not commerce, but that he merely wished to open up a path for future traders; and that his object in ordering goods to be brought out from Europe and America was .to prevent his being obliged to pay exorbitant prices to the merchants of the Zaire. This is the first time that a Portugese steamer has ventured so far up the Congo. A gentleman informed us recently (says the Tapanui Courier) that, havingia suspicion that some oats he was about to sow might contain obnoxious seeds, he took the precaution to put the whole lot through the fanners— a thing he had never. done before. The result was that from twenty bags of oats he obtained half an American bucketful of sorrel seed and other weeds. This would bo sufficient to cover about fifty acres, and that easily accounts. for the red.patches often seen in a field of corn. Farmerß would do well to attend to this matter. Talk of the influence of Royalty in setting the fashions I Mrs Hayes,-the wife of the President at Washington,, has nearly ruined the wine trade in that city by ordering that there shall be no witie at state dinners. The consequence of this order has been that where 40 cases of wine were sold 10 years ago, there is hardly one sold now. A young lady in Michigan has become a law partner with her father, and the firm's name is Co.olidge and Daughter, Attorneys and Councillors at Law; A Parisian merchant who has several times been robbed by unfaithful cashiers has invented an infallible test of competency. The cashier presents'himaelf, offers his services, and ehowslhis references. Then the merchant — " Show me how you would erase a mistake in your figures." The aspiring cashier gets to work with scraper, ink-eraser, and what not, and if he succeeds in destroying all trace of the erasure he is invited to take Mb hat and leave. An interesting discussion on larrikinism took plsce recently in the Victorian House of Representatives. Mr Service asked the Premier if the Government were prepared to adopt more stringent measures than at present for the suppression of the nuisance, ane suggested the lash. Mr Berry expressed his warm sympathy with Mr Service's remarks, bat thought the first step to be taken was that of compelling the magistrates to carry out the existing law without fear or favor. He said that if the House would support him be would summarily dismiss any magistrate whom he found remiss in this respect, and the remarks elicited loud cheers from both sides of the House. Then Sir John O'Shannassy saw his opportunity, and erot up to have a fling at secular education. Her said that it was useless to adopt repressive measures against the Victorian youth, who were yearly becoming more criminal, aB was shown by statistics, and that the cause of this growing depravity was the education system. Mr Francis protested against this, but everyone agreed that something must be done for the suppression of larrikinism, which has assumed formidable proportions in Melbourne and its environs.