ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 16, 13 May 1871, Page 15

ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

The China “ Express” of January 13th says:—There is no truth in the statement that a New Japan Loan will shortly be announced, and its origin must be traced to Stock Exchange influences, as the present Loan stands at £lO4, a point which probably does not suit the «* Bears.” The interest due on the Ist prox. will be announced in a few days, payable by the Oriental Bank. If I were asked (says Dr Russel) why the Prussians had beaten the French in this great war, I should answer that I thought they had done so because they had better heads, arms, and legs than the French. If I were asked whether I thought the Prussians could lose that superiority, I should say that they might if they remained too long in France. We hear that an enterprising merchant, near Dublin, has perfected a plan, which he has patented, for making paper from timber, which appears to be as good as that made from rags. Deal boards are chopped up into fibre, and then placed into a boiler at 2001bs pressure. It then assumes the form of a rich, cream-colored pulp. The inventor is, it is said, is”about to manufacture this paper on a large scale. A new musical instrument is now being exhibited. It is a keyed instrument of six octaves, resembling a harmonium in general form, but very different in mechanism; The sounds are produced by the friction of wooden hammers against a revolving cylinder of wood, set in motion by the ieet. The tones produced are said to be very sweet and most wonderfully varied. One can sometimes hardly believe they are not those of a wind instrument.

The “ Havre Correspondence” says that in his correspondence with M. Jules Favre, it appears that Count Bismarck has disclosed the fact that Prince Napoleon had offered himself to Prussia, not as Regent of France under the Prince Imperial, but as successor to Napoleon 111., with the full imperial power. The Pope’s prison—since he insists on so calling it—contains upwards of twelve thousand rooms, including a chapel as large as an ordinary sized church, and several courtyards, and it has a fine garden and park attached, where, when the weather is fine, he takes his constitutional walk.

The London “Telegraph’s” correspondent at Washington thus describes the Hon. Robert C. Schenk, the new Minister to London: The new Minister is a man of large experience and undoubted ability. He has only been a few years abroad as diplomatic representative at Rio de Janeiro; but he has been in public life a long time, and for many years in the Lower House of Congress. He is a good debater, close, logical, witty, and incisive. He is, moreover, a very shrewd party leader and manager, I take him to be about sixty years of age. He is of the German type, as his name implies ; by no means handsome, but with a clear complexion, and pleasant expression. For an American and a Western politician he has a fair share of bonhomie ; and, if not the equal of Mr Motley or Mr Everett in culture or social graces, he is certainly far better qualified than either for the momentous trust of preserving friendship between the two great families of the Anglo-Saxon race. “ Nature” says that the disasters of a ship have made the Peruvians acquainted with the situation of a new guano island in the South Seas. This is called Baker’s Island, in 12 N. latitude, and 176 E. longitude. It has some smaller islands near, and is surrounded by coral reefs, on which thirty wrecks have been counted. The island has been taken possession of by a North American company, and is peopled by three Americans, one of whom is the Governor, and about a hundred Kanakas. The cargo of the English barque Borneo, bound to London, consisted of a yellowish earth, which the Peruvians say has no smell of ammonia, but may sell at a profit to mix with Peruvian guano. Dr Grace Culvert states that iron immersed for a few minutes in a solution of carbonate of potash and soda will not rust for years, though exposed continually in a damp atmosphere. It was believed long ago by soap and alkali manufacturers that the caustic alkalies (soda or potash) protected iron and steel from rust, but that the components of

these salts preserved the same property as they do in a caustic state new. It does not seem to matter whether the solution is made with fresh or sea water.

A brief paper issued on February 6th by Dr Neilson Hancock shows in a very striking manner the growth of prudent and saving habits among the humbler classes of the Irish community. From 1862 to 1870 the deposits in the Postoffice savings’ banks have increased from £73,696 to £583,165. The deposits and cash balances in Irish joint-stock banks have also greatly increased. In 1860 these amounted to £15,609,237 ; last year they mounted up t0£24,366,478. These brief facts speak volumes for the growing prosperity of the country. Some extraordinary mental phenomena occur in drowing. As soon as respiration is suspended by the indrawing of water into the lungs, consciousness is immediately extinguished. From all that can be gathered in regard to the action of the heart, that organ probably acts, but feebly, a considerable time after the function of respiration is suspended. By its muscular force arterial blood is driven onwardly to the head faster than the veins bring it back, and consequently the mind is plunged, as it were, into profound sleep; for the loss of consciousness results from a sudden apoplexy induced by an extra accumulation of blood in the delicate texture of the brain. When the pulsations of the heart stop, then the tension of the muscles relax; and if no efforts at resuscitation are made, vital heat diminishes gradually, and the next change is an expansion of compressed gases in cavities of the body, due to the first processes of chemical decomposition. If the body, however, is recovered immediately,, even though respiration and the circulation are quiescent, it is possible to re-establish the movement of the blood by artificial warmth, friction, and artificial inflation of the lungs, vigilantly continued for a long while. The trial is not always successful, but so encouraging that the prospect demands the utmost perseverance. With the revived action of the heart, the moment the lungs begin to take in oxygen from the air forced into them, life begins to return. So it is admitted by physiological philosophers that the soul is won back, if it had gone, in the act of restoration; or else it is morally certain its departure at death is a gradual process, which may be interrupted, and is reimprisoned in the brain again by human effort and skill.—“H. Weekly.”

Dr Lancaster estimates that there are 20,000 cases of small-pox in London at the present time. The Prussian Government have introduced the North German penal code in Alsace and Lorraine in place of the Code Napoleon. The United States Patent Office, during 1870, granted 13,321 patents out of 19,176 applications. Of the patents granted, 349 were to subjects of Great Britain, 89 to Frenchmen, and 206 to all other classes of foreigners,

The Dover Young Men’s Christian Association have, by a majority, deoided not to allow “ Punch” to lie on the table of their reading-room, on the ground that it is a “ publication contemptuous of religious influences, if not absolutely hostile to them.”

The Registrar General’s return for the week ending March 11, gives the aggregate mortality as 27 per 1000; in London 26, in Bristol 24, in Birmingham 24, in Liverpool 41, in Manchester 27, in Leeds 24, in Sheffield 20, and in Newcastle 21. London births, 2261; deaths, 1601. Small-pox, 194, showing a further decrease. The aggregate mortality in Paris is still at the weekly rate of 68 per 1000. The “ Daily News ” states that at a conference on Saturday of the supporters of Army Reform in the House of Commons, it was agreed to oppose, one by one, in Committee, the abuses which swell the expenditure without increasing the efficiency of our military system. In Brooklyn, near the Ferry, I saw hundreds of sparrows boisterously enjoying themselves. They have come to good quarters in America, It is quite a rage in New York and Brooklyn to have houses built to entice them, like our robin-houses. It is only four or five years since they were taken over and naturalised. And they seem to be thriving like most other emigrants. A meeting, attended by about five

hundred persons, including several women, took place at Lambeth Baths, London, on Monday, to consider the best means to adopt for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts. Resolutions for that object were supported by the Rev. G. M. Murphy, who presided, Professor Sheldon Amos, J. Baxter Langley, George Howell, and other speakers, and were carried. Several ladies attended on the platform. Washington, Tuesday.—The House of Representatives, by a two-third vote, has passed a bill for the repeal of the duty on coal. The price of coal and coke has been raised by miners’ strikes and speculators’ combinations to 20 dollars per ton. A meeting in favor of legalising marriage with a deceased wife’s sister was !Hjpld in,Willis’s Rooms, London—Dr. Brewer, M.P., presiding, Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Church, who was unable to be present, wrote: —“ I am convinced that marriage with a deceased wife’s sister is not prohibited by the Word of God. I know that for 3000 years such marriages have been contracted among ray own people, except in those countries where they are prohibited by the law of the land; and I have learned, by my own experience, that such alliances have proved happy.” Resolutions were passed condemning the law as inflicting a great social hardship on the poor, who cannot satisfy their consciences by foreign marriages, and also on the ground that their prohibition over the whole kingdom was unjust to those who are not members of the Church of England, which has prohibited such marriages by its canon law. It was also resolved to petition Parliament and the Bishops in favor of Mr Chambers’s bill on the subject. Among the speakers were Mr Chambers, M.P., Mr G. Hey wood, M.P., the Rev. Lord Bevan, and others.

A return which was moved for by Colonel Barttelol has been issued, showing the sums which have been paid to inventors by way of rewards in connection with ordnance and small arms. It shows that Mr Westley Richards received £2375 for his breach-loading carbine. For the plan of converting muzzle-loading small arms into breachloaders, Mr Snider, Colonel Roden, and Mr Wilson were awarded £16,000. Major Palliser obtained £15,000 for his invention of chilled projectiles, and £7500 for liis plan of converting cast iron guns. Captain Moncrieff received £IO,OOO for his method of mounting guns, in addition to which he receives a salary of £IOOO per annum, and will be paid £SOOO as a final payment when his services shall no longer be required. The Paris correspondent of the “ Times” gives a touching description of the condition of the children placed in the Enfant Trouves during the seige. Here, he says, seated in a large semi-circle round a mild and suffering looking woman who was in charge, were a number of little children, from two to five years old, silent and motionless on their little stooles, the picture of resignation and disease. One-third had bandages round their eyes, from opthalmia, and were sitting in darkness; others had their hands and feet bandaged up, and were covered with sores. Nearly all seemed suffering from inherited disease of a most horrible and revolting character, and, gazing at their shrunken frames, already so disfigured and destined to so much suffering, it seemed almost a cruelty to prolong their existence. Here, as in the room above, there seemed the same incapacity for crying; the stillness among these sick and suffering children told its own tale. And yet this was not an hospital; it was a place of deposit for new born infants and healthy children, and this was their condition after five months’ siege. The abandoned babies are distinguished from those which are deposited by tickets pinned upon their breasts. The mortality from the Ist September to the Ist of January amounted to 960, as against 189 of the previous year. The total number of children deposited was 1366, and the children abandoned 2071, making altogether nearly 3500 children placed in the institution during the last four months of last year. A correspondent writing to the “ Times,” under date 22nd February, says :—I was delighted to hear last night that our lady hippopotamus at the Zoological Gardens was successfully con-

fined yesterday. Both mamma m t baby were doing well last evening, indeed, better than could be expected, as the female is a surly brute, and the sages hommes feared that she would bite her infant in two as soon as it made its appearance. But, on the contrary, she is very affectionate towards it, and, as she has a splendid udder of milk, there is every chance of rearing the, calf. Of course, the public are not as yet admitted to see it, for the dam is very suspicious and jealous. Even the keepers are obliged to act on the sly for the present. There have during the last half century been a few instances of the birth of hippopotami in Europe; but they have not lived long, if born alive. A number of British subjects in Rome, some Catholics and other Protes. tants, have made a representation to the British Minister at the Italian capital, to the effect that, on Friday, the 10th instant, they were subject to insult and danger when, for the purpose of devotion, simply attending the Lenten service in the Church of the Gesu. They state : The congregation, on attempting to leave the church, found the doors beset by a band of men, some hundreds in number, armed with bludgeons. We stayed in the church until Signor Gadda the Royal Commissary, appeared with twenty or thirty soldiers, who made several arrests within the church. The soldiers had their swords drawn, and with cries of ‘ f Birboni,” slashed right and left as they chased men and women into the side chapels and behind the rails of the high altar, where a priest was celebrating mass and administering to communicants. Women fainted, and one of us saw a female savagely struck in the forehead with a sword, and the blood gushing from the wound. Several of us saw unoffending persons struck with swords. Signor Gadda was present during all this. When we appealed to him for protection, and informed him we were foreigners and British subjects, he escorted us with a file of soldiers to the, outside of the church as far as the Via Cosßarini, when he saluted us and left us.

“La Province ” says :—■** The revelations of the Blue Book distributed to the House of Commons, contains the discussions which have taken place in that House, as well as in the House of Lords, and, above all, tbe articles in the English press, leave but few doubts as to the policy of the English Government with regard to France in the war against Germany. This policy has been not only a neutrality favourable to Germany, but also opposed to France. The States which sympathised with France from a similitude of race, religion, political interests, degree and class of civilisation—Belgium,ltaly, and Austria —have been watched and discouraged by England in their action in favour of France. History will say, and will say soon, what has been the motive of the English Government for this policy. The friends of England declare that it wished by these means to prevent a general European war under conditions disastrous for Western Europe. If this fact is established later on, England, while sacrificing France, will have rendered a service to European civilisation, and France would only have to blame herself for having engaged without armies in so disastrous a war. But many persons dispute the danger invoked by England, and it is certain that in the discussions of the press and of Parliament only a feeble allusion has been made to it. Without doubt, the denunciation by Russia of the Treaty of 1856, after the surrender of Metz and the large armaments it has made for six months past, cannot permit of any doubt on the subject of an understanding between Russia and Germany; but was this understanding of a nature to oblige Russia to interfere in every case ? This is energetically denied by many politicians. Diplomatic history will soon decide this debate. At all events, the conduct of England towards France for the past six months frees us from all engagement towards it, and leaves France absolute liberty of opinion.” —R.

British Columbia is looking up. We hear that four or five of Thompson’s road engines are being employed in the transportation of freight on the great Cariboo wagon road—which, by the bye, in the canons of Frazer, is one of the finest pieces of successful engineering on the coast. The Lane & Kurtz Com*

pany, who have obtained from the now enlightened Colonial Government a lease for thirty-one years of four miles of “The Meadows” (lower end of Williams’ Creek), have forwarded a quantity of steam machinery, pumps, &c, to that region. A private telegram has just been received reporting rich discoveries (coarse gold) on Jack-of-Clubs creek. The doubters may be reminded that the much-abused Williams’ creek, in the immediate neighborhood, has yielded up to the present time not less than sixteen million dollars’ worth of the precious metal ! All old Caribooites, whatever their experiences of the past may have been, have unlimited belief in the quartz of that section. Nowadays Cariboo is connected with Victoria by steamers and first-rate stages. One can live up there in excellent style—the beef, even in other days (the writer’s experiences were obtained in ’63) was better than the average of that we can get here. The country only wants moderately cheap labor, and the advantages derived from the employment of steam machinery, to enable it to go ahead in brilliant style. The (Lane & Kurtz) Cariboo Mining Company is the first in the field, and deserves success. Until the above-named consignment was forwarded, British Columbia did not possess a single set of steam hoisting and pumping machinery. Letter.”