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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 39, 15 February 1881, Page 2

Tnrc death of Miss Florence Colvillo (Mrs Hoßkin6) at one time a popular actress in New Zealand, is annouuced in the Canterbury rapers. The deceased vva3 on a visit to Victoria with her husband, and died at CollingWGod, Melbourne on the 27th January last. As evidencing (says (he Argus) how stiougly established Melbourne haß become as the great central depot for the sale of wool in Australasia, we may mention that 146,902 bales of wool have been offered for sale in the colony during the season to date, and that 108,953 bales have been sold, these figures closely approximating to those of the corresponding date of last year. The shipments of wool from Victoria show p.n increase of 3G.GGS bales, the lolal exported to date being 2'10,C()4 bales, against 204,009 bales shipped at this date last year. This increase is to a considerable extent attributable to I he additional consignments from the neighbouring Ausl tralian colonise, also New Zealand and Tasmania, -which are bring attracted to this market for disposal at the auction sales iv Melbourne. , Mr Etiwin Booth says that tho most genuine compliment lie over received was on the occasion of his playing lago for the firsfi time at Grn33 Valley, 'in California, then a new mining camp. The audience, which had not seeu a play for years, was so much incensed at his apparent villany that they pulled out their " shoolers " in the third act, iitid bejran hi? zing away at the stage. Otbcllo hai the tip of his nose shot oil: at i lie first volley, and Mr Booth only escaped hy rolling over and over up the stage, aud disappearing through a trap-door. It is reported of a tub-loving university man, who was asked by his examiner, " What was the most remarkable circumstance in the office of the high priest ?" that ho replied, " He washed his face only once a year."

Another engine, and a new one, has gone to £rna&h on the Tarauaki railway. It happened in this way. The fireman at the Taranaki end got up early the other day, and seta roaring lire under the boiler of his engine ; but. forgetting to pat water iv the boiler, tho result was tint he stoked and poked till he burnt the bottom out. And still the engine wonldu't go ! Then (says the P.itea Mail) with truo 'Taramiki energy it was perceived that something would have to be done equal to the greatness cf the emergency ; so it was resolved to send for another engine from Waitura, and after three hours' delay the train for the south was started on its wsy. Sir George W. Cox calculates that the English cttslom o£ horse-shoeing costs the nation every year on an average nearly nioe million steiling in hard cash, every penny of which might b-3 saved if horses were allowed to go unshod. The fac/e afiu iigul'GS oq which he bises this extraordinary conclusion are pafoliuhad in " Frafcer'a Magazine ' for December. Quoting an imposing array of aulhoiities from Xenop'ion, whose unshod cavalry -'marched from Cuuaxa over the Armenian highlands to the w.'ills of Trebizond"down to the "Free Lancet" of the present day* Sir George Cox contends that it is safer/ cheaper, and iv every way bolter to It t horses go unshed over the hardest, roads — especially over the slippery asphalte of London streets. Two millions and a quarter per annum would then bo s^ved in farriers'' bills alone ; but this is only fractional part of the money which would. theii hs »a,vcd by trebling ol the duration of equine existences. Horses which are now used up when hvtlve years ol age would, he contend?, last fourteen jfrm longer if tbej r were not shod; and tho value of this prolongation of the working life of a hoise he estimates at £135,000 000 in twentyone years, or nearly six and a-hftlf millions per annum. Sir George ruins bis case by overstating rt. if he really believes that for instance, a Jhondon cabman, if unshod, would be able to work twenty-three years instead of the nine which now suffice to wear it out he will probably not find a sin«l> practice than to share his opinion, — Ful: Mall Gaze'.le. Mr Macandrew is nothing if not extravagant. He wnnts £40,0a0 to be borrowed foi tho purpose of establishing a free reference Mbrary in connection with the University oi Otago. As one of the members of the council remarked, so absurd a proposal Lhardly decorous in these times. Sweet Home. — A beehive. Substantial Konling. — A good boat. Gentlemen of the long robe are rather free and easy in their lnnguige in Court at Gtsborne. On a recent occasion, according to the local pnper, a solicitor was addressing the Court, when his learned brother inteijected a remark. " Pardon me old fellow, 1 ' said thr speaker; " let me have my shy first, and then you shall have yours." Mr Gear, the well-known butcher " and meat preserver of Wellington, has lately been in treaty with the agents of the New Zealand Loan mid Mercantile Agency, and Messiv Shaw, Saville and Co, with reference to the exporting of frozen meat from Wellington to tho London market. If either of these companies will ptovide a steamer fitted with Unnecessary freezing apparatus. Mr Gear will undertake to fill her with beef and mutton car cases within a week of the date of her arrival at Wellington. There is every probability of an agreement in this matter being come to, and Mr Gear expects that the first shipment will be despatched inside of twelve months He considers that 4.^1 per lb iv London will pay handsomely. — Press. The Auckland market is now literally glutted with fruit of all descriptions. Time was (says the Star) when wo got the greater portion of our fruit from Sydney nnd the Islands, but a slight alteration has been made in the source lately, and we now have such a large quantity sent in from country districts that the quantity sent from Sydney and the Islands haa greatly diminished. Whangare' seems to be a splendid fruit-growing district, On her last trip from that port the s.s. Argyle brought no less than 250 cases of assorted fruits, and like shipments are arriving every week. It is ;i great pity that some of our industrious farmers cannot &cc their way clear to turn their fruit into jams, &c., nnd in such a way prevent stocking the market and rendering the importation of Hobarfc Town preserves-, quite unnecessary. The immense quantity vow in the market nnd the low prices realised will give evidence of tho neceasity of some such step Dr B. W. Richardson, in a lecture delivered at the Sanitary Congress, Exeter, England, on '■ Woman as a. Sanitary Reformer," opens a new field for the exercise of the female talent. He advocates that ladies should be suilicienlly versed in anatomy and physiology to understand the general construction and mechanism of the human frame, as well as the nature of different foods, and the methods best adapted for making them digestible and nutritious. If women understood the effect of well-selected jiihnents on the growth of the body in youth, diseases such as rickets, with its bowed legs and crooked spines, would, according to the opinion of the eminent lecturer, disappear from the land. The sanitary " angel in the house" should understand the laws of ventilation as well as the methods of house-warming and the effects of heat and cold. She should also be familiar with the position of the drains and know something about the principles of drainage ; she should be able to detect the hue of wall-paper which indicates the presence of arsenic, and be sufficiently informed concerning the water supplied to the household ; to direct, if necessary, how impure water may be made wholesome and potable. A knowledge of the use of disinfectants should also constitute a part of her education ami, in short, a fair information concerning the enemies of the health of the household, with tho weapons which would drive them from the door, would be not the least valuable of her accomplishments. Prince Bismarck possesses more decorations than any one of his rank in Europe. They number in all 400, and 68 are of various nationalities and naturally of a miscellaneous character, varying from a simple medallion " for rescue from danger," the Prussian safety Medal, to the Order of the Red Eagle, the highest and last mark of distinction conconferred upon him on the occasion of the ninrriage of lm only daughter, Marie, with Count Kuno Rautzsu, by his grateful Kaiser. There are, however, two celebrated English orders which Bismark does not possess— those ot the Garter and of the Bath. But of all these decoratious Bismarck is proudest of his Prussian Safety Medal, which when a cavahj'- officer oi the Stargard Landwehr Squadron of Uhlans in the summer of 1842 he bo gallantly earned by saving, at imminent risk to himself, his servant Ilillibrand, from drowniug in the Lake of Lipplehue, in the Neumark. This was the only decoration he possessed for many years, and it has always a place on its breast among the more imposing stars, and nothing would induce the grim Chancellor to put it aside. It haa often amongst diplomatic grandees excited curio6ity and on one occasion with a celebrated Ambassor even ridicule. To this diplomatist's sarcastic question as to the meaning of so simple a dec "ration, Bismarck, with a look which went through hia questioner, replied, " 1 am in the habit, your Excellency, of saving a man's life sometimes." — 1-1 n me paper. The obituary of the Times of December Ifith contained some remarkable illustrations of prolonged existence in nine persons — viz , five gentlemen and four ladies, whoso united ages amounted to 787 years, giving an averof 87 years and over five .months to each. The oldest lady had reached the great age of 95 years, the youngest of the same sex was 81 . years old, Of the gentlemen, the oldest was also 05, tho youngest 85- The following were the respective ages : — Bl, 8-J, two at 85, one each at BG, 87, 8!), and tAvo at 95. The same obituary recorded the deaths of. half a score of septuagenarians at ages ranging from 70 to 79, and giving an average of 74 years and over two months to each. The Russian Government is now findingtime to hunt up and punish army contractors who took advantage of thn confusion of the Turkish Avar time to do a nice bit of defrauding. A young Mecklenburg noble -went recently to Monaco with an old family servant, and avou at a sitting £12,000. Next morning tho old and .trusted servant was missing. He had taken 'the money to the young noble's home to prevent the latter gaining it nvvay,

The Adelaide Coffee Tavern shows a Joss of .£230 for six mouths. At a recent ball given by Lord Ardilaun in Ireland, constabulary escorted the guests, the house was patrolled, sentinels placed under the windows, and weapons were stacked in the hall. The improvement in travelling js ahown by the fact that in 18GO il. took a, passe:ngi.-: live days to go from New York io ,\'ew Orleans ; in 1880 one can go in (JO hours and 45 minutes. There were no less than fifty or sixty at table, and when the guests were in the height of animated conversation, and just as the cloth was diawn, they were interrupted by .a crash. A servant, in removing a cut-glass epergne, which formed the central ornament of the table, let it fall, and it was dashed into a thousand pieces. An awkward silence fell upon the company, who hardly knew ,',-■" to treat the accident, when the host, the late' well-known George I>tl W ™lic T L'd their einbaiasstnent by chccrni.^ ? xc , lm ~ ing, " James, break as much as you like, ..\} c don't make such a confounded noise about it!" And under cover of the laugh this excited, th'o fragments were removed, and the talk went on as if nothing had happened. There are good times in store for the Tasmanians, for, according to Baron Muller, not only are dicolylcdocna) plentiful, but the monocofcylcdonciu are acquiring numerical strength^ and the aeotylodoaoa) are putting in a vigorous appearance. People are asking whether this means an improved condition of the money market, or a reduction in the price of food, or that clothing will be cheaper this year than it was last; but they may rest assured that the statement is potent with significance. The Baron would never use such long words had he not sonic good news in reserve. A counlc of weeks ago (says th S.F. TWw Letter)" a little woman ami two children made their appearance at the Grana v.('n" tral, iv Taiioe City, Lake Biglei 1, The woman was plainly dressed and so were both of the children. T?ioy w^'c not taken much notice of, and no one cared to W'.ko the acquaintance of the modest little lady in plain clothes Then the woman, who saw herself snubbed every day, got her dander up and sent down to San Ifraucisco for the balance of her clothes and likewise her children's. They came. Next morning she appeare dat the breakfast table with a toilet: from Worth, and her diamonds dazzled everybody. "Oh, good inorning, Mrs. Smith," came from all sides. But this was only the beginning of the toilet boom. At lunch she was simply magnificent, and at dinner overpowering. She had nine Saratoga trunks to draw from, and her littlcjdaughter's evening dress created a regular furore. "Sow came her turn to put on airs. She simply treated everybody with the coolest kind of politeness. Of course she was civil, but didn't overdo cordiality to any extent. After overwhelming the place for a few days with nu avalauche of style, she packed her dresses, sent them back to San .Francisco, and resumed her plain 23-dollar suit. j