Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 47, 24 February 1881, Page 2

I , . „ ', .— v Archdeacon Edwards, of Dunedin, in a sermon recently deliverd on the text ■" Ye are the salt of tbe eartb," said that ifc was not enough for men to keep themselves undefiled by evil, ifc was their calling to influence mankind for good. There were many at the present day wbo sought rather to avoid con tarninatioh for' tbemselve* than to purify others by their influence. How many people there were, for example, who condemned all theatrical performances as sinful, and would not ou any consideration be piesent at a play. Few would deny that their condemnation of many popular pieces was juat ; but whose fault was it that they were not refined and eieVating ? They were themselves in part responsible for the immorality of the stage, for when good people forsook theatres, they left them in the undisputed possession of , those who prefer immorality ; and if degrad- j ing plays drew large audienbes. while pure | and elevating pieses were performed to halffilled houses, theatres would become more ahd more demoralising. Iv his Lenten Pastoral, Bishop Moran says :— On many previous occasions We called your attention to the all important question of education, and Urged on you the necessity of. providing 'Catholic schools f«r Catholic: children. It is consoling and encouraging to bo able to bear witness to the docility and zeal with which you have responded to this call. Although comparatively few and poor, you bave established and maintained many excellent schools for both Bexes at your sole expense. Bufc though intich has. been done, very much still remains to be done. Renewed exertion*, therefore, will be demanded of all, and the faithful of thia diocese must continue to make great sacrifices, in order to hand down to their children, tho faith onco delivered to tha saints, and without whicb "it is impossible to pleaße God."— Heb. xi, v. 6. You must trust in God and yourown exertions alone ; from the Government you can expect nothing. The Government and Legislature, whilst taxing us for the support of godless and Protestant schools, refuse even the least aid to our own. All Government schools in tbis dipceoe are godleso Und hostile to the Catholic Church. Catholics cannot frequent them without exposing themselvesto grievous dangers to their faith and morals. Of these schools, therefore, Catholics cannot avail themselves, except in cases of very great necessity, and when—such necessity being suppof cd — every possible precaution ia taken to ward off all dangers to faith and morals. Parents and guardians Bhould bear in mind that they are responsible for the children under their charge, and often reflect on these words of the Apostle : "He that ueglects his own, particularly tbo3e of bis own household, has lost the faitb, and has become worse than an infidel ;" they cannot forget their obligation to bring up tbeir children in the "discipline and correction of the Lord." A writer in the Waikato Mail, in a description of the Tokoroa Plain, which is to come before the Lands Court on tho 15tb, says:— "Of one thiDg we at best aro well assured, there are but few acres of tbo whole of its large area whicb will be hereafter found are unproductive, or unable to carry grass and clover. It is a country over which good roads can be most easily and cheaply constructed. On the plains and in the valleys the wild horse haß bia home and pasture. Wild horses have been so frequently described that it will suffice for us to say the horse of Tokoroa is, as seen through the glass, a sturdy looking, short-legged animal, not by any means tbe weeds some people suppose. I particularly noticed a fine black stallion, wbo was in company with a herd of nine others. On some few occasions, we believe, these horses have been joined by borses the property of travellers crossing the plains. \ The Natives say that tbere must be fully jj 2000 of these horses on Tokoroa." j The largest crane in tbe world ia on the point of being completed at Woolwich, having been upwards of four years in process of erection. To give some idea of this stupendous piece of mechanism for lifting great weights, ifc may be stated that 1800 tons of iron and 3 tons of brass bave been used in its construction, and that it will lift three or four 100-ton guns at once. But a . less powerful crane could do that work in detail. This giant among cranes is calculated to raise 1200 tons, and haa been formed for meeting the probable necessity of dealing with specimens of ordnance so enormous as to defy all the means afc present available for mounting them on their carriages, The height of the crane ia 70 feet; it can sweep round, making a circumference of 430 feet, and one man, it ia said, can control it at the , central cylinder. The motive power is, of course, steam, and our readers may fancy what a 200 or even a 300 ton gun would be ; like swinging in the air at any height under 70 feet, held in the grasp of this monster machine, which, if placed at the side of a barbor, could lift largo vessels clean out of the water. Suppose I were to say that a lOOOoa. nugget had been found on the Margaret, I < would be mobbed immediately. I heard i lately that such was the case, so I went to the spot to ascertain the particulars. Of course, as usual, they were exaggerated/ but the find was an extraordinary one for all that. It was not a nugget, but a specimen, and although the yield was. not 1000oz., it exceeded 700oz. — not a bad find for one man. The specimen was a quartz boulder, known to nearly every one on. the creek. I knew it myself well, and had often sat down on it to enjoy a smoke. It was in the very, centre of the thoroughfare, only fifty yards from the police camp, and a party of four Germans '. camped alongside of it. It might be described as a large nugget completely coated in quartz, ', and a Chinaman one day passing broke the skin with the head of his pick, and ihe gold kernel was discovered. The stone was broken up, and three bags of specimens and gravel were taken to the nearest water. The police and a number of Europeans attended to sec the washing. It was supposed the Europeans would make a scramble for the treasure, bufc they were law-abiding, however tempting the circumstance, and the Mongolians took the gold with them — about 700oz. for an hour's work. If I stopped at this the story might be sensational, but there was a rush to the place, and 300 men worked for a week without getting a speck of gold within 300 yards of where the boulder lay. It had been a huge stone rolled from a distance, but took a different, direction from the usual nuggets. — Port Darwin correspondent of the Queenslander. Every farmer should allot a portion of each field to his son, and let him try and " beat the old man's crop." Let the lad keop tho proceedings for his wages,

A correspondent of the Bangitikei Advocate, Mr A. Lopex, makes rather a good point in the "cooked potato" discussion. He remarks that if the astrologers and wise men who have been disputing about the matter had been as skilful as they pretend, they would have perceived afc a glance that Te Whiti was only quoting tho words of another western prophet, Mr Hosea Bigelow, who said long ago— " Taint in natui' To tak' sass and not get riled : Who'd expec' to see a 'tatur All on end afc bein' biled." Ifc is clear to mo tbat whatever Prophet Bigelow meant was just what Prophet Whiti meant. What was the exact meeting 1 am not fool enough to pretend tbat I know. Bufc these are Te Whiti's words from Mr Bigelow's mouth, and I leave our wise men to expound them by this light. At the banquet given to Judge Williams by tbe members of the Dunedin Bar, at tbe instance of Mr Stout, was proposed, "Crimes, and our unfortunate Clients," without which" the cost and mechanism of- . the Supreme Court, and the whole legal profession as a body, from the Judge down to the Usher, would have no end or aim of existence. Ifc was proposed by a prominent member of the Bar that tho toast should be •druuk in solemn silence, or.. to slow music, but the feelings of the guests got the better of them, and the toast was drunk with musical honours. ■'The telephone question in England has •entered a new- and comicaL phrase. The ; Government prevented the Edison Company erecting wires, and then proceeded to advertise that the Telegraph Department would supply telephonic communication. Immediately beneath this advertisement is one by the Edison Company, threatening to prtisecute "anyone iasing the telephone, as infringing their patent. Lord Dufterin bas published a letter in winch he Strongly Condemns " The Three Fs '■ system— fair rents, free sales, and fixity of tenure— pG'i"ti a s ou & tbafc tDe sa,e of tenants' interests has a Wi'A,ZV c ? io saddle the holdings perpetually with double rent, and he says the system, if granted, would only further encourage a new set of agitators to endeavour to dispossess the landlords of the 'remaining vestiges of , tbeir rights. Lord Dufferin favours a . system copied from that adopted at the enfranchisement of Russian serfs, namely; the buying up of a large portion of the land in Ireland, and the conversion of rents into land charges, payable to the State. For the chronically povertystricken districts of the West, bo recommends a great system of State aided emigration to Manitoba, and the north-west cf Canadnj to be worked with the co-operation of the Dominion Government, He points put that as the Catholic Church is supreme in these parts, the clergy of Ireland will not oppose emigration thither as they do to the United States. The Times remarks that i Lord Dufferin's suggestions, although mii teresting, do not forecast the Land Bill, as , the Government will not make grants from the exchequer, or pledge the credit of the 1 country* Bread made from whole wheat soaked before being coarsely ground is used in the French army. Sea-water used in the kneading is said to add flavor to the bread. The revisers of tho authorised version of the New Testament met for tbeir hundred I and third and laat session on November 9ib, in the Jerusalem Chamber, and concluded tbeir work; Tbe company has sat 407 days, and the average attendance has been sixteen oh edtih day of rdeeting. The weapons of war served oufc to volunteer forces called on to face the Basutos appear to be of the class merely made to sell. The Dv Toits Pan Herald, published at Kimberley, remarks thus on the subject : — "The white volunteers have been served out with guns which are safe not to hit any object beyond a range of four or five hundred yards. With regard 'to the swords witb which we notice sotoe of the iuen who are leaving for the front had been served out here, we dare say if tho truth were known they are only too glad to get them out of the Government stores up in Kimberley. They are most unwieldy weapons, and for the execution they are likely to accomplish on the enemy, the men, we think, might as well have been armed with ploughshares. And another thing. Isn't it ridiculous to arm men with swords who very likely never in the whole course of their lives handled such weapons before ? At any rate, we shall be anxious to see what effect such instruments will have in their hands when they are brought face to face with the enemy. To us the whole thing seems very much like playing at war, so far as the Government is concerned ; but unfortunately for those going down to the front the play is all on one side," In an obituary notice of tho father of the Archbishop of Sydney, recently deceased, it is stated that out of eight living sons aud four daughters; seven sous entered the priesthood, and four daughters became nuns. Amongst his brothers and sisters, two brothers entered the priestbobd aud two of his sisters became nuns, only ono of tbem being married. Amongst the funny devices for tho extermination of rabbits (says the Ballarat Star) is one by Mr. Thornell, wbo has submitted a plan to Government for approval. It is descriqed to be tbe coating of some of the animals with a " stinking" specific, and then sending them into the wild rabbits' burrows. The latter will then be driven out, netted, killed, and their skins sent to market. The Minister has requested the scheme to be submitted in writiDg. Wbat guarantee does the inventor give that the rabbits are not like a good many of the human species, regardless of stinks, however horrible ? The «. Liberal " candidate for the vacant seat in East Melbourne, tbe irrepressible Mr William Gaunson, does not appear to be very particular as to the style of language he uses when addressing the electors. The other evening, when speaking from a window of the Old Governor Bourke Hotel, in answer to a question, he replied, " I hope, gentlemen, that Edward Kelly and Judge Barry are happy together in heaven. I knew Ned Kelly, and I thing he was a grossly ill-used man, and I think the Executive, seeing the number of signatures to the petition, might have spared his life." Ifc is not to bo wondered at, seeing tbe audience he was addressing, that the candidate's observation was received with some slight mark of approval. A recent Auckland telegram says:—Toetoe, a Waikato chief of the Ngatiapakurn bapu, has died. He was one of two chiefs who accompanied Dr Hochsletter, of the Australian scientific exploration, to Europe. Toetoe was introduced to several sovereigns in Europe, and when in England, to the Queen. On his return lio was despatched by the Government to the Waikato on the 1 breaking out of the war, to endeavor to , negotiate terms of peace with the rebels, but joined bis people. A writer in the Sydney Mail, dealing with the action of the late Intercolonial Conference in reference to reciprocity, says.— " Tbe New Zealand delegate, Mr Dick, laid bis finger upon the plain matter of fact defect that the people of Australia want to bare remedied before they indulge in visions of federation, when he said be thought that the Cuatoniß duties were one point on which there was a necessity for union to some extent j but ho did not think we must be absolutely united on everything in the tariff before we could be united at all; aud that he should like to see us united in reference to the three or four articles of intercolonial consumption, and exchange those productions with ono another. By-and-by we Bhould find out what other productions there were upon which we could unite for the purpose of introducing them into the different colonies free of charge. With Mr Berry at ono end of the rope and Sir Henry Parkes at the other, the " tug of war " will continue with nothing more than an oc caßional alternate yielding of an inch of ground ; but if such sensible suggestions as tbose offered by Mr Dick and Mr Morgan are acted upon, both parties cau meet midway and give a united pull for tho common good of Australia. If they will not do that, let both extremities bave as much rope as they like, and— well, there will be the usual consequence. Says a writer in the Australasian :■ — " If you. cannot find out how to grow wheat at 2s Gd per bushel and live, you will either havo to give up wheat growing or dio."

The World is responsible for the following thrilling narrative: — Mr Gladstone seemS to have been greatly petted in hiß visit to Sandringham, and it was by the Prince of Wales's especial desire that he read the morning lessons. On his dnpartiire his Royal Highness himself anxious about the health of tbe Premier, and, with a view to the inclemency of the weather, pressed upon him the loan of a fur coat, which W. E. G. gratefully but firmly declined." There need be no hesitation about accepting the statement as literally true. It is altogether too stupid to be an invention. But the World is only half informed, aud its news is rather stale. It should bave added the date, the sth of November, and Mr Gladstone's reason for refusing the courteous offer. He sxispected that the Prince was playing a practical joke on him, to make him look like the hero of the day.— -American Paper. A Victorian'paper says that there is being fitted up near Melbourne a house which is ' to be called " The Celibate's Retreat," and which is intended for the accommodation of bachelors who wish for a more "free-and-easy " style of living than is obtainable in a well-regulated household. Each celibate will have a separate bedroom and study, and there will be a common dining-room and parlor ; bufc at the same time should any celibate wish to dine solus, ifc will be allowed. Tho rules to be observed are punctuality, cleanliness, and temperauce (not teetotality). No ladies will be allowed to enter tho "Retreat," but at the same time it is to he understood that these gentlemen do not make a vow to perpetuate their celibacy. A Sydney paper relates tbe following :— Near Albany fonr little children were playing about their father's stacks ; one, a boy of six years, struck a match, and on its burning his fingers threw tt down. The .straw, quickly caught, and hurrying the younger children to some distance, he ran screaming to alarm his mother. On returning with his mother it was found that the bat y, a boy of two years, had been caught by the flames and was burnt to a cinder.