Clippings.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 227, 15 January 1876, Page 7

Clippings.

GOVERNMENT LIFE INSURANCE. (From the Insurance Record.) Government life insurance, which in this country is but a plant of sickly growth, stunted, etiolated, and giving no promise of vigorous development, would seem to flourish in at least one of our colonies. In another column we give an abstract of the report of the Government Insurance Commissioner for New Zealand to the middle of the pi-esent year, and it distinctly affirms that "the progress of the business has been satisfactory." And the fio-ures given would seem to justify this statement ; the new policies of the year are 1450 in number, producing in new premiums £23,104, and the total of the existing policies is 5064, assuring £1,841,322. We have no means of estimating the gradual yearly increase in business, but as this is the sixth year only, and the total number of policies issued from the first was under 6000, it may reasonably be inferred that the experience of the past year is indicative of growth. Concurrently with this, too, there has been a marked diminution in working expenses, which have gone down from 37 - 41 in 1372 to 1924. per cent, in the year just closed. This compares favorably with the expenditure in connection with the fair run of English offices, and the Commissioner is disposed to think that from the agencies being now fully established a further reduction may safely be anticipated. The investments are in Treasury bills, bearing interest at the rate of £5 2s. 6d. per cent., and £105,300 is thus invested, leaving a working balance bearing a lower rate of interest. • So far as to the past, and we may pause here to remark that it is not easy, without far more details before us than at present to hand, to gather why the Government system should have taken such firm root in this colony. There are New Zealand companies, and some of the more important English and Australian companies have branches in the colony, and are doing a thriving business there. The experience of the mother country is that Government cannot compete with private enterprise, owing to many circumstances, and more especially from not employing agents whose exertions are essential to secure wide-spread and largely remunerative business. It is possible, though we have no evidence on the subject, that colonial life admits of this element of success being adopted in connection with Government insurance, and if so, the expression in the report, " agencies have now been fully established throughout the colony," may be taken as implying something more than that offices have been opened in connection with the postal machinery. In this way only can we account for a measure of popularity on the part of the Government venture altogether exceptional. An important part of the report is that which deals with the immediate future. It seems that the law requires a quinquennial investigation of the colonial business, and the authorities appear to have taken pains in a most praiseworthy spirit that this shall be of a thorough and satisfactory nature. They contemplated inviting an actuary of high standing to pay a visit to the colony, so as to carry on the necessary investigations on the spot. This has been found impracticable, and in place of it the necessary information is to be forwarded to England, and submitted to those eminent actuaries, Mr. W. P. Pattison, of the Commercial Union, and Mr. A. H. Bailey, of the .London Assurance, who are of opinion that the valuations can be made as satisfactorily in London as in New Zealand. It will be seen that in addition to these steps for ascertaining the exact state of affairs in relation to the Government business, there is a great disposition to extend the advantages offered in various ways, the most important being the reduction of terms so as to place them on a more liberal footing, and the inclusion of industrial business. Much of this, however, will probably depend upon the stock-taking, the result of which will enable those entrusted with the matter to see in what direction they can most desirably take action. This, then, is the state of things in New Zealand, interesting in itself, and equally so from the striking contrast it affords to what is doing in the same way in this country. But while there is no probability that Government insurance will ever be anything more than a failure with us, it is satisfactory to be able to take to ourselves as a nation verbatim et literatim the congratulatory sentence with which the report concludes. Individual enterprise, just as absolutely and as thoroughly as State enterprise, in the matter of insurance, is a blessing to the community. To the private companies—just as much as if they were Go-

vernment organisations —the country owes " the increase of provident habits and the decrease of destitution among the people," while assuredly ". the insurer"—that is the person insured—"received the immediate advantage." And, as representing the pioneers of insurance those who made the first venture and took the first risk—when the Government would never have dreamt of offering such a boon to the people, we may confidently say of insurance itself, as this country knows it, " the continued success of such a system is a social object of inestimable worth, and should be carefully cherished. The whole community collectively, and members of it indiv dually, are directly interested in that success, and directly share in the gain."

THE CONTINUOUS BRAKE IN OPERATION.

A coi-respondent writes us as follows: — "Perhaps few of your readers a re aware that the continuous air brake of Steel and Mclnnes is in constant operation on the Caledonian railway. The express train which leaves Buchanan-street station at 10.20 every morning is fitted with this brake, and I believe that in a short time another train will be running with the same safeguard to passengers. The other day I travelled to Edinburgh with this train, returning to Glasgow with it at 4 o'clock in the' afternoon, and had several opportunities of observing the merits of Mr. Steel's invention. Per favor I was allowed to stand upon the engine for the g-reater part of the way, and saw how the driver, who has the entire control of the brake in his own hand, worked it when approaching a station. The brake, it may be necessary to observe, is not only for great occasions—such as for example, when an accident seems inevitable—it is used for every stoppage on the line, and is worked with perfect ease by the engine-driver. The guard, who formerly handled the brake in his van, has on this train nothing of this sort to look after. When approaching a station the driver simply turns a cock at the left side of the engine screen, and in a few seconds the train is brought to a stop. If he has braked a little too soon, he shuts the air valve and the brakes ai-e again off. When approaching the station of West Calder the train was running at nearly fifty miles an hour, and, as a sort of rough test of the efficiency of the brake, the driver turned the little handle at his side. In a moment the train decreased in speed, and in a very short space we should have stopped altogether before reaching the station had not the open valve been closed, when we glided in with a gentle motion. It struck me that had there been a train shunting across the line at the West Calder, and if the driver had not observed the distance signal, he could on seeing the danger before him have brought his train to a dead stop before reaching the station, and thereby prevented a ' terrible collision.' On expressing my surprise at the short space of time in which a stoppage was made, the driver informed me that the train was a very heavy one, and that not more than one-half of the carriages were under the action of the air brake, the other half, containing Greenock passengers, having been taken on during the journey. ' With all the carriages braked.' he said, ' I could have pulled up a bit sooner.'- There was no sensation of a too speedy stop, no shaking of the carriages, but a gentle subsidence of speed quite as agreeable as the long slackening speed of a train of the ordinary kind when nearing a station. The driver expressed the utmost confidence in the brake. He felt perfectly secure with it, for he had only to turn a little handle, shut off his steam, and he knew that his train would be brought to a standstill within a few hundred yards. We know that when a driver sees an accident is imminent, he often enough —and I don't wonder at it—loses his presence of mind, anddoes probably the very thing he ouobt not to do; but he feels himself safe with his continuous brake, as a momentary act on his part brings its full strength into play, and even though a collision should take place he knows that its force will begreatly mitigated, and little or no damage done. This is what inspires the driver with confidence, as he watches the signals while running at a high rate of speed. There are other advantages of this particular brake which commend it further to the confidence of the public. By its means the driver can provide against danger ahead of him ; the brake itself provides against danger attending the train. The air action on each carriage is connected with the apparatus on the engine by means of indiarubber tubes between the carriages—that is to say, there are two indiaruber tubes between each carriage hung loosely, which can be taken out of their sockets if a carriage has to be detached. Should a carriage go off the rails, or a coupling snap, or any accident odschx which would rupture the train, these connecting tiibes would of course snap at once, and at the same moment that the rupture took place, the brake would operate on every carriage of the train. Suppose the rupture took place in the centre of the train, the brake would act at once on both divisions, and bring each to a standstill. It is automatic so far, that whenever the air rushes out of the brake pipes, the brake is brought into action. The immense advantage of this will be seen ' in a moment. Had this continuous brake been on the train to which the teri'ible accident occurred, near Oxford, last Christmas, it is almost certain that nobody would have been killed. When the wheel broke, and the carriage ran on ploughing up the ballast, the tubes connecting this broken-wheeled carriage, with the one next to it, would have broken, and every carriage of the train would have been braked on every wheel, the driver would have known in a moment that something was wrong, and would have shut off his steam. But supposing that the tubes had not broken instantaneously, the passengers in the carriage could have put the brake into oper-ation. Provision is made, or may easily be made, by which any passenger in any of the carriages can reach up his hand, break a portion of the air tube, so made that it can be easily broken, and instantaneously have the brake applied

ind the train stopped. The passengers, are chus secured, so far as human ingenuity can secure them, against a class of accidents that are not infrequent and are always disasti'ous. [ cannot describe the brake scientifically, and I will not attempt it ; I only point out what as was shown to me it could do, and what it did do, and it requires little science to understand that, if all our trains had this protection applied to them, accidents would be far rarer and far less disastrous when they did come. As to the price, I am told it would not add more than three per cent, to the original cost of each train."

THE EDITOR WITH A BULLET IN HIS BRAIN.

The Times' correspondent writes from Philadelphia:—"The editor with a bullet in his brain, to whom reference has so often been made recently in the news from America, is dead. His case was an extraordinary one, for he carried a bullet in his brain for over seven months. At Vineland, New Jersey, this editor, Mr. Uri Camxth, who was a man of about forty-five years of age, published a newspaper which achieved notoriety on account of the severity of its strictures. Among others whom the editor criticised was Mr. ChaidesK. Landis, a leading man at Vineland, and the founder of the town, and in March last, after the appearance of a very severe article reflecting upon the family affairs of Landis, that person went to his office.and shot him. For weeks Canuth lingered between life and death, but finally he got so much better that he was able to be about, and was thought out of. danger. His assailant was released on bail, and friends arranged a compromise, by which Canuth, for §12,500, was to withdraw any prosecution. The papers, however, were never signed, minor details not being arranged, and this delay seems to have preyed, upon Canuth's mind, so that this autumn his condition became worse, and he was ultimately confined to his bed, and finally died. Yet, he had lived from the 19th of March to the 24th of October with the bullet in his brain, and during most of the time he was in apparently fair health. His case was regarded by the medical fraternity as an extraordinary one, and yesterday a number of. prominent physicians visited Vineland and made a post mortem examination. The bullet was found about one inch from the point of. entry, and a little below the tentorium. There was marked.congestion of the pia mater in the floor of the right ventricle, especially on the right side; the cerebellum, was wholly uninjured by the ball ; there was a moderate degree of softening of the pleura of the. brain and large ganglia ; the organs of the body were found to be in a normal condition. The result of the examination of the body revealed the fact that, with the exception of a slightly congested kidney, the body was in a healthy condition." Immediately upon Canuth's death, the bail surrendered Landis, and he is now confined in gaol. The great question is now being discussed whether, considering all the circumstances and the great lapse of time, the shot was the actual cause of death, and so indubitably the cause as to convict the-man who fired it of murder. The coroner's jury at their inquest yesterday, after hearing the testimony describing the post mortem examination, asked the leading physician his opinion. He said, " Death was evidently, in my judgment, the result of a gunshot wound, the bullet passing through the brain ; the more immediate cause, however, was the abscesses following the passage of the bullet into the brain." The jury found a verdict declaring that the death was caused by shooting at the hands of Landis. p. ■

A QUACK IN COURT. The San Francisco News Letter, some time ago instituted an inquiry into the antecedents of the various medical men in the city. " It was to be expected," says our contemporary, " that we should have to encounter manifold libel tribulations when we made so thorough and effective a raid upon the numerous band of quacks, abortionists and charletans, -who abound in our midst. The latest case was that of " Dr." Flattery v. Frederick Marriott, of the News Letter, set for trial in the Police Court yesterday afternoon. Colonel Barnes, attorney for the defendant, moved to dismiss the complaint/ claiming that according to the definition of the term libel, in the Code, the publication in question would not come under that head. Judge Louderback held a different opinion, as the article calls the complainant a quack. Dr. Flattery then mounted the stand and presented a tattered, weather-stained piece of sheepskin, the words on which were nearly illegible, and announced that that was his diploma. He had been in possession of it some twenty-five years, and he read it for the edification of Colonel Barnes and the Court, and then confidently awaited the questioning which was to prove how basely and falsely he had been slandered in the article denominating him a quack. The question of Colonel Barnes elicited the statement that in the spring of 1850 he graduated from the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical Institute. - Upon this statement Colonel Barnes produced a paper, which Flattery acknowledged to be in his writing, stating in answer to inquiries by the News Letter, that he had graduated from the Ohio Medical College. The paper was passed to Flattery, who, being suddenly attacked with nervousness, tore it in two. For this ill-timed exhibition of temperthe Judge fined him 20 dols. The Doctor then explained that he had written the paper for the public purpose of humbugging "the slimy den," as. he styled the News Letter office. The doctor's memory was rather peculiar, though not inconvenient, for though he failed to remember the students in his class, as also any work that he had ever studied at college or anywhere else, he fortunately recollected having prepared a thesis on the subject of " Noorollergy." Colonel B.—" Noorollergy," eh ? Now, Doctor, won't you please spell that word ? Faint mumbling from the Doctor. Col. B.—A little louder, please. (Mumbling again.) Col. B.—Now, Doctor, you

have been storming away at me like a boatswain in a gale of wind, but when I ask you to spell this word, what with your' indistinct voice and the caressing way in which you manipulate your nose, I can't catch a sound. The Doctor (defiantly)—-N-e-u-r-o-l-l-o-g-y. Col.B.—Good. Now won't you please tell us what is " neurollogy ?" Doctor —Your Honor, I protest against such' an examination, as it has nothing to do with ' the case. Col. B. —Now, Doctor, don't begin sparring at me. You know it is my painful' duty, in this case, to remove all masks and show you up as an ignoramus. You ought to J take the right view of the matter. Will you ' tell us what is the popular meaning of the ' term caeadus ? . Doctor —Don't know ; I never had a case. Col. B.—Your medical experience has been somewhat limited. : Allow me to inform you that caeadus is the technical I term for a common boil. Now, Doctor, what ' are the bones of the leg ? Doctor—-The femur (pause). Col. B.—ls that all ?. Doctor— \_ I am not prepared to go into all the unimportant minutiEe of anatomy in this case. It is frivolous and unprofitable. The case was frequently interrupted by roars of laughter from the audience, in which were quite a number of medical gentlemen, and even the gravity of his Honor was not entirely proof against the unparalleled ideas of the witness. Col. B.—Well, we have discovered some new facts in surgery, let's take up medicine. What is materia medica ? Doctor-—The materials of medicine. Col. B.—What is therapeutics? Doctor.—lt is a—a —part—part of materia medica. Col. B.—Yes ; what works have you read on materia medica ? . Doctor.—l don't remember, sir, I have not looked into a . book for fifteen years. Col. B.—Been practising medicine all that time? Doctor.—X '.. don't mean exactly that ; I mean that I haven't studied them. Col. B.—Well, will you tell me what work the heart performs? Doctor (ineffably sarcastic). —I presume, sir —I presume—that it aids you in living— > that is, I presume so. Col. B.—Oh, you do. • Well, Doctor, what do you presume is the bone i that terminates the spinal column ? Doctor— The—a—l'm afraid I can't spell it ; the • cpccygem or coccyges. Col. B.'(gravely)—The coccygem. Well, will you tell me, Doctor, if • this bone is ever ossified? Yes, sir, in some cases. And so the; examination proceeded, the witness exhibiting an ignorance- of medical • matters that a grammar school pupil would be ashamed of. Among other startling ideas advanced by him were thit the lungs are; for; breathing ; craniology and gynechology are ■ synonymous terms, meaning the science of c the crane ; and that the usual, method for producing an abortion. was by falling from a housetop. Colonel Barnes offered in . evidence catalogues of both institutions from . which the witness claimed to have graduated, neither' catalogue. containing, his name, either. . as graduate or student. With regard to the antiquated piece of parchment which the \ doctor called his diploma, George C. Hickox, : an expert, examined it and gave, it as.his opinion that the date had been erased, and re- \ written, and that the professors' signatures were so similar that they were very probably all executed by the same hand. Flattery ad- . mitted that he had tinkered it. up a little, having gone over his own name with ink. It was patent to all that the fellow was an utter ignoramus, however, authentic his diploma. , might be, and the case was dismissed. He •was then called upon to pay his fine, but, being unable to procure it, was locked up until ■ morning, when it was forthcoming. . ■

DEEPENING THE MISSISSIPPI BAR.

The Times' coi'respondent says:—-The Board of Army and. other Engineers, who recommended the adoption of the jetty system for ' deepening the channel over the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi River, is now in session at New York, examining the plans of Captain Eads, who has the work in charge. Sir Charles Hartley, the British engineer, who constructed the improvements at the mouth of the Danube, has visited this country at the request of Captain Eads, and will be consulted in the prosecution of the work. The desire is to make the improvement permanently successful in deepening" the channel, and; everything possible will be taken advantage of for the purpose. The jetty, system was adopted by Congress upon the recommendation of the Board above referred to, and work ordered upon the South Pass, the contractor not to be paid until twenty feet depth of water is secured. On June 14 the work began, and although little more than two months have elapsed, Captain Eads announces that the progress already made indicates such success that he expects the largest ships visiting American ■waters will be able before the close of the year to enter the Mississippi -without risk or delay The. South Pass formerly had generally lesf* than seven feet water ; now this has been deepened wherever the works have been constructed to at least fifteen feet. The plan' adopted is simple yet ingenious. The object ia to confine th. 3 current within straight, parallel walls, so proportioned in width to the volume of water flowing through as to produce a certain velocity "which will force the stream to scour out a channel for itself to the required depth. The chief difficulty was devising the means for building these -walls and makingthem secure upon the very unstable foundation. The current passes over sediment many feet in depth and between banks of similar sediment, all deposited by itself. Thus the' 1 " bottom and banks are all composed of soft mucF, into which works of stone would soon sink; Piles (by themselves) : or crib work, or any similar wall, would be soon undermined, and to meet this difficulty it was determined to build the walls of the Pass with broad fiat mattresses of willow brush, lashel securely together, and anchored to an interior row of piles which they in turn protect. At first the piles are driven along and inside the line proposed for the bank, and the mattresses of willow brush are then constructed 40ft. wide and 2ft. thick, firmly lashed together by

cross-bars fastened with hickory pins, and towed into position and anchored outside the piles. Being then weighted with stone, they sink to the bottom, and the deposit of sediment from the current is so great that in a few hours the interstices will be so well filled as to make them a solid mass, and the sediment will continue gathering upon them, laid one over another, until the mass becomes more solid and enduring than any portion of the natural bank. The resistance offered by the willow brush effectually prevents the displacement of any of the sediment lodged in the interstices, and when completed, the wall of mattresses and mud will perfectly protect the row of piles from the current, and the entire mass will be covered with a firm stone paving to prevent injury from storms. The outer ends of the walls, which are exposed to the action of the sea, will be constructed of stronger and broader mattresses, so as to present & solid and durable work. It has been noticed in the Mississippi that the most enduring and hardest removed bar is that caused in a brief period by the deposit of sediment from the current in the top of an uprooted tree which happens to lodge in the channel, and the plan of building these mattress walls is of the same character, the current doing a good deal of the labor. Years will of course be required to complete the jetties entirely, but the expectation is that the channel will quickly deepen wherever it is confined by them within narrower limits. Of the preliminary lines of piles there have been 9860 ft. driven on the jetty for the eastern side of South Pass, and 1950 ft. on the western side. Of the mattress foundation 3500 ft. have been securely laid, mostly on the eastern side. The river's own deposits anchor these jetties more firmly than is possible by any other attainable method, and about 300 ft. linear of these mattresses are daily placed in position. The work is one of Interest abroad as well as here, for the commerce of all nations seeks the mouth of the Mississippi.

A DYING ACTRESS OK THE STAGE. A New York correspondent says :—Miss Charlotte Crampton, once the most popular of American actresses, died in Louisville a few days ago, of yellow jaundice, in her fiftyninth year. Her life had been crowded with strange adventures, and her death was in harmony with her life. She died immediately after playing the Queen in "Hamlet," and Mr. McOullough, who was playing Hamlet with her, thus describes her last appearance—- " She was dying, nay, almost dead at the time. Her limbs were rigid, and her features so contracted that only the eyes and lips moved. Her disease made her face a dark saffron color; ehe looked almost as dusky as Othello, and her eyes, dilated and with something fearfully weird in their expression, positively froze one's bloofl. She had to be led to the entrance, but once on the stage was completely herself, except fo r * at dreadful rigidity which marked her as in many respects already dead._ Yet not a line or even a word of the part did she miss. In this, her last appearance before her beloved footlights, she was as perfect in her lines as when in?the prime of her career, only the mobiMty, the ease, the motion, were lacking, but these were things of the past and had their being in the fulness of that vital spark which was fast ebbing away. When the last scene closed and she passed from the stage through the entrance, one of the ballet girls made a movement to assist her down the steps that led to the dressing-rooms. The kindly offer was rejected with a dignified gesture, and with eyes fixed in death, features rigid, and limbs nearly paralysed, the once favorite actress slowly dragged herself from the theatre for ever."

A CONNUBIAL CONTROVERSY. (From the Detroit Free Press.) The bolt on the back door had needed replacing for a long time, but it was only the other night that Mr. Trocton had the presence of mind to buy a new one and take it home. After supper he hunted up his tools, removed the old bolt, and measured the location for the new one. He must bore some new holes, and Mrs. Trocton heard him roaming around the kitchen and woodshed, slamming doors, pulling out drawers, and kicking the furniture around. She went to the head of the stairs and called down, _ ff "Bichard, do vou want anything ? "Yes, I do!" he yelled out. "I want to know where in Texas that corkscrew is ?" " Corkscrew, Bichard ?." ' " Yes, corkscrew, Bichard ! I've looked the house over and can't find it." " "Why, we never had one, Bichard !" " Didn't, eh ! We've had a dozen of 'em in the last two years, and I bought one not four weeks ago. It's always the way when I want anything." " But you must be out of your head, husband," she said, as she descended the stairs. "We've kept house seven years, and I never remember of seeing you bring a corkscrew home." . " Oh, yes, I'm out of my head, I am ! he grumbled, as he pulled out the sewing-machine drawer and turned over its contents. " Perhaps I'd better go to the lunatic asylum right away." -■, " "Well, Bichard, I know that I have never seen a corkscrew in this house." "Then you are as blind as an owl in daylight, for I've bought five or six ! The house is always upside down, anyhow, and I never can find anything !" f The house is kept as well as any one of your folks can keep one !" she retorted, growing red in the face. . ' " I'd like my mother here to showyou a few things," he said, as he stretched his neck to look on the high shelf in the pantry. ' _ . ■ " " Perhaps she'd boil her spectacles with the potatoes again !" answered the wife. "Do you know who you are talking to!" he yelled, as he jumped down. "Yes, I do !" " Well, you'll be going for York State, if you don't look out !"

" I'd like to see myself ! When Igo this house goes !" _ ..., „~- . " Look out, Nancy !" •" 15 " "I'm afraid of no man that lives, Bichard Trocton !" . , ,

" I'll leave you !" " And I*ll laugh to see you go ! _ Going close up to her he extended his finger, shook it to emphasise his words, and slowly said : . „ .. " Nancy Trocton, I'll apply for a divorce to-morrow ! I'll tell the Judge that I kindly and lovingly asked you th e> gimlet was, and you said we'd never had one m the house, which is a bold falsehood, as I can prove ? "Gimlet !" she gasped. "Yes, gimlet !" " Why, I know where there are three or four. You said corkscrew !" " Did I !" he gasped, sitting down on the corner of the table ; "well, now, I believe I did !" ; ~. . "And you went and abused me like a slave because I wouldn't say a gimlet was a corkscrew !" she sobbed, falling on the lounge. " Nancy," he said, tenderly lifting her up. " Oh, Bichard !" she chokingly answered. _ " Nancy, I'll go right out doors and kill myself !" ~, . " No, you needn't—l love you still ! only only you know a gimlet is not a corkscrew !" "It ain't—it ain't Nancy ; forgimme and less be happy !" . , , ~, . And that household is so quietly happy that a canary bird would sing its head off if hung up in the hall.

ROMAN CATHOLICISM IN AMEBICA.

The New YorTc Times repeats the warning uttered not long ago by President Grant as to the designs of the Boman Catholics of America upon the school system of the United States. Our contemporary thinks that very few people can be aware of the constant and earnest efforts made each year by the Boman Catholics in the Legislatures to revive legislation in their favor. During the last winter some twenty different Acts designed in a greater or lesser degree in favor of the Boman Church, or to give it control over the common schools, were quashed in the New York Legislating. Some, as for instance one giving such privileges to the schools of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, even passed the House, and were defeated in committee by the indefatigable exertions of Senator Booth. In fact, this gentleman had the good fortune to slaughter a number of these objectionable Bills. Our contemporary thinks that there is hardly a doubt that if the Senate had been as Democratic in its party composition as the House, the public school system of the State of New York would have received a severe shock. The school fund would certainly have been turned from its legitimate purposes to the support of the church schools. One of the most ingenious of these schemes was planned last winter, and has apparently succeeded. Its object was to secure devoted priestly teachers, who might subsequently be appointed over such church schools as should receive a share in the school fund. The present obstacle to such appointments is the inferiority of the Boman Catholic candidates, who are more ignorant than European priests. The nuns also are complained of as ignorant. The Act above alluded to is one incorporating the Sisterhood of Grey Nuns, and adding a clause by which Boman Catholic nuns, without examination or license, can at once be appointed as teachers of public schools. Wherever the school trustees are Bomanists, they may put in these nuns. These women will soon gain an influence over the children, and the way will be prepared for transferring the schools to the care of the Boman Catholic Church. Or in the regular church schools, as soon as legislation gives them a share in the school fund, their teachers are ready ;■ they they cannot be interfered with by the State superintendent; they hold their place by permission of another. Their ignorance or want of training will not stand in their way. The Act seems to have passed sub silentio. Anyhow, the stroke was a smart one, and sufficiently indicates the nature of the people to be guarded against.

THE RUSSIAN NAVY. Mr. Beed has sent to 2Vte Times a long account of two vessels, named the Novgorod and Popoffka, which had been recently launched in the Black Sea. Beferring to the controversy as to the continued construction of armor-plated ships, he advises "Colonel Strange, and other gentlemen who consider that the building of ironclads in England should be stopped, to suspend their opinions on the subject until they have given some consideration to these Bussian vessels." On a displacement of 3550 tons, and with a diameter of 120 ft., the new Popoffka Monitor, which bears the name of its distinguished inventor, Admiral Popoff, carries side armor of lSin., a deck plated with 2f in. of armor, and two 40ton guns, and draws no more than 13ft. of water. "Not only," says Mr. Beed, "have we no vessels capable of entering shallow waters and there engaging the Novgorod and Admiral Popoff, but I say without hesitation that such vessels cannot be produced, possessing the necessary capabilities, unless it be either by constructing vessels substantially like themselves, but still larger and more powerful, or else by building far larger and more expensive vessels of previous types. . . If we add that in this form of ship, owing to the light draught, the armor may be carried, if. necessary, down to the very bottom of the vessel, we shall see how great reason there is for looking in the direction of these vessels for the further development of ironclad shipbuilding." ' Mr. Beed speaks highly of the " intellectual activity" displayed in the Bussian Naval Department ; and, in concluding, contrasts unfavorably for Great. Britain the Bussian and British systems of administration, giving the following as an example:—"ln England I have vainly protested for some time past against the wholesale construction of long and narrow granite docks, which are quite un-

fitted for modern times ; I have pointed out that our expenditure of millions of money on such docks is hot only worse than useless, but is' actually operating as a bar to our progress in naval construction ; I have shown that iron docks, capable of modification to suit changing conditions, are what we should build. Yet on we go in the old ways, under the guidance of military engineers, who, probably, have not a particle of sympathy with, and can have verylittle knowledge of, our future naval necessities. We have not yet commenced a single iron dock in England for the use of the Royal Navy at home ; all that Ave have done in this direction is to propose this year to build a few iron saucers for small vessels, but even these are to be so designed and constructed as to require the use of a big granite dock three or four times over, with an enormous waste of pumping powers every time a gunboat is saucered. Here in Bussia, on the contrary, the moment the Grand Duke Constantine ascertained that an iron, and not a granite, dock was best alike for the present and for the future, that moment the energies and the money of the Government were applied, as they should be, to the production of the iron dock."

WIDOW SMYTH'S HUSBAND. (From the Nashville American.) The Widow Smyth called at Mr. Mix's marble-yard the other day, and the following conversation ensued : Mrs. Smyth : Mr. Mix, I am anxious to have my cemetery lot fixed up, to put in new tombstones and reset the railing ; and I called to see if I could make some satisfactory arrangement with you. Mix : Certainly, madame. Tell me precisely what it is you want done. Mrs. S. : Well, I'd like to have a new tombstone put over the grave of John—my husband, you know—and to have a nice inscription cut on it. " Here lies John Smyth," &c. You know what I mean ; the usual way, of course, and maybe some kind of a design on the stone like a broken rosebud or something. Mix : I understand. Mrs. S. : Well, then, what'll you charge me for getting up a headstone just like that, out of pretty good white marble, and a little picture of a torch upside down, or a weeping angel on it, and the name of Thomas Smyth cut on it ? Mix : John Smyth, you mean ? Mrs. S. : No, I mean Thomas. Mix : But you said John before. Mrs. S.: I know ; but that was my first husband, and Thomas was my second, and I want a new headstone for each of them. Now, it seems to me, Mr. Mix, that where a person is buying more, than one that way,_ you ought to make some reduction in the price—throw something off. Though, of course, I want a pretty good article at all the graves. Not anything gorgeous, but neat and tasteful, and calculated to please the eye. Mr. Smyth was not a n*in who was fond of show. Give him a thing comfortable, and he was satisfied. Now, which do you think is the prettiest, to have the name in raised letters in a straight line over the top of the stone, or just cut the words "Alexander P. Smyth" in a kind of semi-circle in sunken letters? Mix : Did I understand you to say Alexander P. ? Were you referring to John or Thomas? Mrs. S. : Of course not, Aleck was my third. I'm not going to neglect his grave, while I'm fixing up the rest. I wish to make a complete job of it, Mr. Mix, while I'm about it, and I'm willing for you to undertake it if you are reasonable in your charges. Now, what'll you ask me for the lot, the ldnd I've described, plain but substantial, and sunk about two feet, I should think, at the head of each grave ? What'll you charge me for them—the whole' four ? Mix : Well, I'll put you in those three headstones — Mrs. S.: "Four" headstones, Mr. Mix, not Mix : Pour, was it ? No ; there was John and Thomas, and Alexander P. That's all you said, I think. Only three. Mrs. S. : Why, I want one for Adolph, too as a matter of course ; the same as the others. I thought you knew I wanted one for Adolph, one just like John's, only with the name different. Adolph was my fourth husband. He died about four years after I buried Philip, and Bin wearing mourning for him now. Now, please give me your prices for the whole of them. Mix : Well, madam, I want to be as reasonable as I can, and I tell you what I'll do. You give me all your work in the future and I'll put you in those five headstones at hardly anything above cost, say— Mrs. S. : Four headstones ; not five. Mix : I think you mentioned five. Mrs. S. : No ; onlv four. Mix: Less see; thlre was John and Thomas, and Aleck, and Adolph and Philip. 2*&rs. S. : Yes ; but Aleck and Philip were the oame one. His middle name was Philip and I always called him. Phil. Mix : Mrs. Smyth, I'll be much obliged to you if you tell me precisely how many husbands you have planted up in that cemetery lot. This thing's getting a little mixed. Mrs. S. : What do you mean by saying " planted ?" I never planted anybody. It's disgraceful to use such language. Mix : It's a technical term, madam. We always use it, and I don't see as its going to hurt any old row of corpses named Smyth. Planted is good enough for other men, and it's good enough for them. Mrs. S. : Old row of ——What'd you mean, you impudent vagabond ? I wouldn't let you put a headstone on one of my graves if you'd do it for nothing. Then Mrs. Smyth flounced out of the shop, and Mix called after as she went through the door: " Lemme know when you go for another man, and I'll throw him in a tombstone for a wedding present. He'll want it soon." Mrs. Symth is now looking at headstones in a marble-yard in Wilmington.

LORD BUTE AND THE PAPACY. We are unable, says the Rock, to vouch for the correctness of - : the rumor, but it;is confidently asserted that the Marquis of Bute has, offered a large sum of money to secure the early canonisation, of the first Lady Howard of Glossop, whose daughter he has married. This lady, it may be well to remind our readers, was the heroine of the famous Talbot cas», and had a narrow escape from being shut up in a convent. In connction with the noble house of Bute it is whispered that an heir may be expected early in the coming year. We have heard on good authority that the perversion of Lady Flora Hastings, eldest daughter of the late Countess of Loudoun, took place in Lord Bute's house, Romish priests having been introduced while her ladyship was suffering from a severe illness. Her perversion has proved a source of great grief to her father. We have heard also that there is really a great probability of Lord Bute's ancestral seat, Cardiff Castle, passing into the hands of the Papists, who think they have, if not a legal, at least a moral—or rather an ecclesiasticalclaim to its possession, the ground on which it is built having belonged before the Beformation to the Church of Borne. LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT. Extract from "The Struggle for National Education," by John Morley.—" By the consolidation and extension of the policy of leaving the clergy to administer the educational funds of the country, we throw away one of the rarest and most convenient opportunities, first of inculcating and diffusing a new sense of the value of instruction, and of national responsibility in undertaking its provision and control; secondly, of deepening those habits of local self-government which, as the contemporary history of other countries is every day proving to us, are at the very root of our superior political advancement; and we threw away this opportunity, especially in the rural districts, where it was most desirable to seize it and make the most of it. It is a passing fashion at present to disparage selfgovernment as cumbrous, tardy, unscientific, and inefficient. People are ready to laugh at the vulgarity, the personalities, the tediousness of vestries, town councils, and boards; and undoubtedly there is only too much room for improvement in all respects; yet, on the whole, when the vulgarity and personality has filled its share of the time spent in discussion, it is the opinion of those who have had most experience of these bodies, that they usually come to the right practical conclusion. They do what their most competent advisers would have wished them to do. They occasionally bungle, and they occasionally job, but all this amounts to an extremely small fraction by the side of the bungling, the jobbery, and the wasteful outlay of the most minutely centralised systems. From the Byzantine empire down to the last Napoleonic empire, all history tells the same story in this respect. The services of local self-government in preserving good political habits in those who take part in it, is too familiar a theme among English publicists to need further commemoration. . . . It is precisely in the rural districts that the consciousness of national life is feeblest, the sense of public responsibility most confused, the habits of collective action for public objects least formed and least on the alert. . . _. We do not expect any transcendental enthusiasm from small farmers and country shopkeepers, but there is among them, as among other people, a certain amount, if not a very large amount, of the capacity of public spirit. . . . A final point deserves notice. One. of the prime advantages which local self-govern-ment is believed to confer upon us lies in its guarantees for thrifty administration. The ratepayers themselves elect the men to whom the expendituie of rates is entrusted ; the discussion as to the disposal of funds raised by rates is more or less public ; the accounts of outlay are accessible to any ratepayer who cares to know how his money is going."

SOME NOVELTY IN A SHOOTING DIFFICULTY. There is some novelty about the latest reported shooting difficulty in America, inasmuch as the persons chiefly interested in it were a gentlemen named Wells T. Clark and a lady who had formerly been his wife, until her position was altered by the finding of a jury in a suit for divorce. Clark was anxious to marry again, but the late Mrs. Clark disapproved of his engagement, and proceeded to the factory in Fairfield where he was employed with a view to adjusting the difficulty. The final argument which the lady proposed to use in case milder ones failed she carried with her wrapped up in paper, for as the journal from which we glean these facts pathetically observes, "the tyranny of man forbids women to wear garments susceptible of being provided with a hip pocket for a pistol." Thus equipped the lady called upon Clark, and found him laying the joists of a room above. The opportunity seemed to the late Mrs. Clark much too good to be lost, so, unwrapping the parcel, she remarked that she "had got him," and fired. At this point it is generally considered that Clark behaved badly. He returned his exwife's fire both with promptness and effect. Mrs. Clark fired but once, and failed to hit her game. Mr. Clark, on the other hand, fired three times, two of his bullets entering his assailant's forehead, and both surprising and discouraging her. She was not, however, fatally injured, and we are told that she "has faith to believe that she will live to again make a target of Mr. Clark at some future time The weapon used by Mrs. Clark was an oldstyle single-barrelled, self-cocking pistol, which she secured at Enfield ; and the Fairfield Press adds, "It is strange that a woman as intelligent as she is should go into an affray of this kind with such a poor weapon. Mr. Clark shot with one of the smallest revolvers known to the trade, carrying a ball about, the size of a two-grain quinine pill. Clark s pistol was one of the kind which an Eastern youth exhibited to a Colorado pioneer. The West-

ern man who carried two large navy revolvers inquired what it was ? Being told that it was a pistol, he remarked that if the Easternman *' ever shot him with it, and he found it out, he'd lick him like smoke." "On Friday evening," the Fairfield reporter says, " we called to see Mrs. Clark, and found her getting along finely under the circumstances. One-half her face and head was covered with cloths, but her visible eye was bright, and she was able to talk as rapidly and energetically as ever." She had much that was bad to say of her late husband, and under the circumstances this seems scarcely surprising.