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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 249, 19 October 1881, Page 2

How to print initials or a short naihe on fruit, (peach or pear; but especially apple); as a curious novelty, is told in the following, which we cut from the Toronto Globe-.— " While the fruit yet hangs green übon the tree, make iip yobr mmd which is the very biggest and most promising specimen of all. Next, cut from thin, tough paper the initials of the name of your little brother or sister or chief crony, with round specs for the dots after the letters, and the letters themselves plain and thick. Then piste these letters and dots on the side of the apple whitih is most turned towards the sun, taking care not to loosen the fruit's hold upon its stem. As soon as the apple is ripe take off the paper cuttings, which, baying shut out the reddening rays of the sun, have kept tha fruit green jast beneath them, so that the name or Initiate now show plainly. After that bring the owner of tha name to play near the tree, and say presently, "Why, what ara those queer marks on that apple np there." You will find thie quite a pleasant way to surprise the very little Ones. An American paper says the Czar of Russia agreed to give Elder, the builder of his turtle shaped yacht Livadia, a bonus of £10,000 for every knot over fifteen that she should m»ke on the trial. "On the trial trip Elder's own men were on board a«d drove the engine to its utmoßt limit. Tha fires roared back in the furnace, sparks flew, and all the Russians ran away. Elder's men hung on and sent ber down the Clyde like a railway train. Seventeen and a half knots, and £25,000 extra for Elder ! " A recent Sydney telegram says :— A correspondent states that Skuthorpe asserts he has the diary of Leichardt, containing fall particulars of all his transactions. He also has Claisen's diary. Classen, he states, lived three years with the blacks and made three attempts to escape, hut was captured and flogged. Skuthorpe declares he was taken to Classen's grave by the natives, and describes the skeleton of a man with a long black beard, under a tree, on which was described the word "dig." He found the box containing the relics. The Government have promised to entertain Skuthorpe's claim only if provided bona fide by competent persons. They will have tb come to the " cat " yet in Melbourne to put down larrikinism aa they had to take to it to put down garrotting in London come years ago. The other day, in Melbourne, a yomg man of twenty-one years of age was brought before the City Bench on a charge of stone throwing. According to the evidence of the arresting constable, which was not in any way disputed, the prisoner, in company with others, was engaged in the humane occupation of atoning a drunken man who was lying helpless on the pavement, and, added the policeman, "whenever a stone struck the victim the crowd howled with delight." With considerable difficulty be was arrested, and the.prer siding Solon inflicted a 'fine of £3, or in default one month in gaol. The probability Is that even if this young- ruffian goes to-prison he will come out ia the character of a hero, and return to stoning drunken men as rather an amusing and harmless occupation. It appears that Germanrail way conductors are made happy by the addition to their equipment of a paper-mill and printing office, the invention of a' Berlin engineer, to be hang roand the neck, which, according to an exchange, is to completely manufacture, passenger tickets hefore the eyes of .the wondering public. -The apparatus is-said to be somewhat complicated in construction, but its manipulation.!* as simple as ite'workiog is correct, for, should the operator not proceed in the way required by the mechanism, it will not print all the figures and words wanted, but the word ." faltch ". (wrong) in the place where the fault was committed. At the same time this portable printer checks the number of tickets issued, so that at any given moment the money in the hands of the conductor can be compared with the value of the tickets printed and taken., Referring to the approaching elections and the "Working man cry," the' Rangitikei Advocate says :— " Now, we take it that ninetenths of the people of New Zealand are, in the proper sense of the term, 'working men.' They have not been 'born with silver spoons in their mouths, but rather with wooden ladles, and all that they possess, whether much or little, has been acquired by their own unassisted efforts as ' working aaen.' We would give a word of warning td 'working men' of all grades— Beware of the politician who comes forward as the champion of the ' working man ;' for be sure that, in the words of ' Poor Richard,' he has an axe to grind, and ho wants you te turn the grindstone." Bank notes, as a rule, says a Ballarat paper are not the most wholesome things ia the World, but when their condition is such aa to make one loath contact with them it is high time powers were vested in some one to compel their withdrawal from circulation for sanitary reasons alone. Tbis morning we were shown a disgustingly filthy scrap of paper in the form of a £l-note, the smell of which was sufficient to caase a feeling of sickness to overtake one in handing it. Considering the prevalence just now ia the sister colony of one of the most infectious and horrible diseases coupled with the fact that intercoune and exchange of this filthy paper currency takes place daily between Sydney and Victoria, it is rather to be wondered that the disease in question has not already made its appearance here. Democratic railway accidents, says an American paper, are no respecters at ail of persons. The Duke of Athol was in a sleeping •ar in a train bound for O maha. When standing at a Btation, the car was run into by a freight train, which, as an American reporter graphically expressed it, "shook things up lively, but did no particular damage." . Tbe sleepers were alarmed, however, and the duke jumped out. Immediately the passenger train moved on, the accident being, presumably, an ordinary occurrence wbich demanded no investigation ; and the duke found himself on the boundless prairie in his nightshirt. Happily his clothes were sent to him by the next train, and hy this time it ii hoped that he has recovered his equanimity. It haa been reported, on good authority that an expert rabbiter in the Wairarapa district cleared £300 in three months from the sale of rabbit skins.

The Inspector of Nuisances at Oamaru does aot hold a very enviable position. The other day he summoned one Mr McCombe, a member of the Borough Council, for a breach of the by^lawaiL Mr McCombe resented this, apparently, and, meeting the Inspector at the Council Chamber, he "went for " that officer in a way that left no doubt about his feelings. The Inspector described the affair in a letter to the Council as follows: — •' He used most abusive and. offensive language, and also fflade arueh at me with Mb fists up to strike me. I simply stood on th? defensive. He then said he would get a policeman to give me in charge. AU I did was not to allow hitn to commit an assault on me. After leaviog the Council Chambers, Mr McCombe said he wanted me to go to the Empire yard to fight bim." He adds that many people threaten and abuse him, and he bears tbeir insults, but be draws the line at his employers. Ih a letter received by a gentleman at Christchurch, relative to the visit of the English cricketers, Liliywhite mentions that Conway's latest instruction? were to leave New Zealand out of the programme alt6gether, in consequence of the inability to charge for entrance to any of the large grounds. However, he says that now there is a new ground at Christchurch he thinks the receipts there and at Dunedin would warrant the team coming, but they would not play at any of the smaller towns, such as Timaru Oamaru, &c, except for a lump sum. They do not care to spend more than four weeks in a New Zealand trip, and not J then unless liberal terms are offered. If the Englishmen come to New Zealand at all, they will probably leave Melbourne after the New Year's Day match there. After all, there i 3 a way by which the habit of smoking can be broken. " One day , while crossing the ocean," said an American judge, " I had a severe spell of sea sickaess. I went up on deck in the hope that the fresh air would act as a reviver. Mechanically, as was my^ habit/ I took out a cigar and lit it, Before it was half consumed the sickness, came on again. Ugh ! it makes me pale to think of it even now. Anyhow, overboard went the cigar, and from that day to ihis a couple of whiffs are enough to turn me upside down. If you happen to know anybody wh o wants to let up on the.habit, just advise him to take a wefed and a dose of sea sickness together, and I'll warrant you he will be an anti-toba,cco man ever afterwards." The «« father " of the English House of Lords is the Earl of Mount Cashell, aged 89. After him there are no fewer than twentythree members of it who number 80 winters or more. These are Lords Albemarle, Bantry, Brougham, Buckinghamshire, Camoyi, Cholmondeley, Churchill, Cottesloe, Ebury, Eversley, Halifax, Harrowby, Home, Moßtyn, Overstone, Portman, Say and Selle, Lucin, Stradbroke, Tenynam, Wilton, Winchester, and the Bishop of Llandaff . This number, to say nothing of sis more who come within a year of it, out of a total of about 580, presents a very healthy average. Says the Taranaki Herald of the 2fith nltimo: — " A day er two ago we were informed that Colonel Roberts and two orderlies were themselves chased to the camp by the natives, in a most inglorious fashion. The gallant Colonel could not doifend himself, or even Btand upon his dignity, hut had to beat an ignominious retreat inside the precincts of the camp." j The Ashburton Mail says:-- It is gratifying to know that the Government will give ievery facility to those Government officers who bad been compelled to allow their life policies to lapse during the last year to take them up again on payment of arrears. i The Chinese have a very lucid idea en author's rights, and inflict a hundred blows upon a piratical publisher. A Honiß paper ja»ys that if this Chinese law were adopted in England and made, retrospective, many groves of trees would' have to be planted and kept under vigorous culture, in order to provide the sticks with which the beatings would •have to be inflicted. A step has been taken in Canterbury which is calculated to raise the old complaint as to the competition of prison with free l*bor. The Lyttelton Times states that tbe offer of the Chief Gaoler at Lyttelton to supply the Orphanage with bread made at the gaol has heen accepted by the authorities concerned, provided the bread can be supplied under the ordinary contract rates.

Judge Richmond is reported by the West Coast Times to have become aDnoyed at the waste of time the lawyers occasioned in the Reefton murder case. He expressed a wish that counsel on both sides would gire the judge and jury credit for common seme. He felt, during the progress of a number of unnecessary questions, like a person wbo opens paper after paper, wrapped apparently round some object, and ultimately finds nothing. Mr South rose in order to make some remarks npon His Honor's remarks, when he was very promptly requested to sit down, and refrain from making a speech. Mr South quickly took the hint, and Hig Honor then observed that if counsel had some deep design to unfold tbey might go on with their apparently irreleTant questions He explained that even a judge's nerves were apt to get a little irritated over so much ado about nothing. Recently intelligence has reached England from the Soudan which leaves no room for doubt that the African slave trade con tinues to be in vigorous operation in that country. It is indeed stated that no fewer than 50,000 or 60,000 negroes are still annually conveyed to the Turkish and Egyptian ports of the Eed Sea, where they are disposed of to dealers from all parts of the Sultan's dominions. Yet it is unquestionable that in 1879 Colonel Gordon dealt what promised to be a death-blow to the slave trade in the Soudan. His Lieutenant, Gessi Pasha, who has lately suffered terrible hardships, fought and beat the slave-traders in a pitched battle, in which they, relying upon superior numbers, made the first attack. Gessi Pasha inflicted a crushing defeat upon the slavetraders, and liberated immense numbers of slaves. If Colonel Gordon had been properly supported by Tewfik Pasha, there is reason to believe that the slave trade would have been driven out of the Soudan. Since his departure his old enemies have to a great extent regained their former influence, and have succeeded in reviving on a large scale the traffic in negroes. It is quite true that the traffic cannot be effectually suppressed until domestic slavery is abolished in Egypt, but yet Colonel Gordon's esperience snows tliat by the adoption of a vigorous policy the number of victims may be greatly diminished, and the trade rendered both hazardous and unprofitable. — London News. With regard to the remarkable discovery of a patch of S3lb weight of gold, the "Ballarat Courier" says : — " We have recorded from time to time the unearthing of some extraordinary pockets of gold on the Indicator line of reef, Wbite Horse Ranges, but the Snd of Messrs Tinworth and party on Wednesday night is the heaviest chronicled for many years in that locality. This party haTe an area of ground formerly known as Pearce's lease, and while driving along the course of the lode oa the above date broke down about lewt of gold and quartz, which when pounded up yielded the handsome result of 831 b weight of gold. It may be mentioned that Messrs Tinworth and party have not been over- desirous of making public their good fortune, and we are informed that only a short time since they dropped upon a smaller patch, which enabled them to divide something like £2000 amongst them." An assertion of extraordinary character (says the N. Z. Times') was made by an individual who spoke at the pubhc meeting held last night at the Arcade. The person referred to positively stated that, if he chose, Le could place bis hands on the two men who raised the fire iv Manners-street which resulted in the demolition of the Opera House. Doubtless the Insurance Companies will see their way to endeavor to compel the party who made the assertion to either prove or retract hia words. George Hamilton and William Gwynne, whilst travelling in a railway carriage in the Welliogton district, engaged in a religious discussion, and Hamilton having made tome remarks dispaiagitg to Cathodes, a scuffle ensued, and the heads of both tho cum batants went through a window. They W;re brought before the R.M. at Martou, who fiaed them each £1 aud co3is. The Paris Omnibus Company is a wealthy corporation. The Company possesses s<j depots, the buildings ara valued at .£1,320,000 aad its 1^,342 horses are rated at- £5ti0,000. There are 34 lines for tbe omnibuses and 14 for street railroads. Each horse travels ou an average ten milts daily, and the conductors and drivers ate on duty 14 hours every day. The tomb of Dean Stanley is ia one of ihe recesses ot the bay windows of Henry VII. Chapel in Westminster Abbey, His wife aiso lies buried there, a slab iv the floor.markin g the spot. The Dean a number of years ago published the btst book on the Abbey ever written, with a ghostly but very interesiin g accountof explorations iv the vaults where the sovereigns of England from Elizabeth to the Georges were entombed. The Scotch correspondent of the Otigo Daily Times writes : — ''The case of the families of the fifty-eight Shetland fishermen (for that is now ascertained to be iheir exact number) who perished in the recent disastrous storm in those regions, has been taken up with practical sympathy in most of the Isrge towns in Scotland, and the relief fund now approximates £6000. The Queen sent j£2s, a Manchester gentleman £500, and £1000 was quickly subscribed in London. The destitute are reported to number nearly 200, among them bang thirty-three widows and about 100 children. The remainder are aged relatives who are dependent for their support upon the men who perished in the storm. Some of the published accounts of the want as weli as the sorrow, caused by the catastrophe are very pitiful, salt skate (and but little even of that) heing the only food in some of the dwellings of the bereaved. It is hoped that one result of the present circumstances will be the adoption of some system of aiding the fishermen in the Northern isles to provide themselves with proper boats, and so greatly lessen the chance of a recurrence of such a disaster. Mrs Millais, whose beautiful face has become familiar through the picture of the ' Huguenot Lovers,' was one of the Grey Bisters of Perth, who were commonly called the ' fair maids of Perth.' She was a slender, blond-haired girl, but is now described as fat. fair, and forty, the mother of grown daughters. The Queen of the Sandwich Islands has her gowns made all in one piece, in the native style. But they are of blue velvet striped with gold, of peach pink and white jet, and of blue satin with crimson crushed rose 3. Slippers for Her Majesty are made of the same material ag the dresses. Horrors accumulate. Young ladies have now taken to driving gigs, with the groom seated by their side. What, aski a London writer, would th» ladies say if Young England drove their gigs with a good looking lady's maid seated in close proximity ? It would bave an odd look, yet where is the difference? The London correspondent of the Boston Post writes : — A great procession, such a one as Europe has not seen for soma years, is now on the march. It is not so gay and picturesque a procession as that which recently entered the city of Venice amidst the booming of cannon, the ringing of countless hells, and the plaudits of the multitude ; but i it is neverthle.33 a great procession, worthy I of some notice. Riding ahead is a company of Cossacks heavily armed. Behind them are twelve regiments of human beings, one thousand to each regiment — men, women, and children, broken-hearted and forlorn. Most of this wretched army wear heavy manacles on their ankles, and are destined for the dungeons of far-off Siberia, sometimes known as tbe lead and silver mines. Their crimes consist in their loving liberty more than slavery. On all sides of this mournful throng are the Cossacks, and doubtless another Company of them is in the rear, to see that not one of the poor unfortunates, weighted with chains, shall perchance escape. No country but Russia would permit itself to be disgraced by the passage of such a procession. A delightful country it must be — with explosions, executions, Absolutism, Nihilsm, the knout, imprisonment, slavery, poverty, floods and famine — to call to its particular attention the rest of the world. The English language ba3 never been equal to finding a word to express chic. The Americans have now kindly supplied the deficiency by giving us the word 'snappy.' A dead and-alive young man is said to have no 'Bnap,' whereas a band-box turned out young girl, with white teeth, coral lips, pink, dimpled cheeks, sunny hair, and white, soft hands, is described as ' a decidedly snappy maiden.' fekft { 'Snappy.'

A duck fell ill the other day, and the doctor applied a remedy which he called the coup de grace. A post mortem examination disclosed an old curiosity shop inside poor canard's gizzard; to wit. 22 iron tacks, 6 pieces of larger nails, 3 flat hits of iron, 3 small pebbles, 7 hits of pot, and 1 nail 2 inches long ; total of indigestible items, 41, That large nail proyed a stickler, for it crt through the gizzard, and was working its way to foreign parts. That iron 2-in«her was a nail in the duck's coffin ; the poor bird went coffin' about, and finally took to limping, as if one foot were already in the grave. Authorities differ as to the proper kind of stuffing for aduck, but a marine-store-dealer's stock-is-trade is not usually recommended as a substitute for sage and onions. Whether this duck was properly stuffed is doubtful, but we are anxious not to stuff the reader. The Australian Trade Review for the month of August says: — "Nowhere on the face of the earth, at the present moment, is material prosperity bo great and so wi e'y diffnsed through all classes of ths community as in New South Wales. With immense and raried resources, with a growing commerce, with unrestricted inconrse with tke whole world, unembarrassed by political strife, she possesses every element necessary to ths rapid development of a powerful nation.