General News.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 318, 16 March 1878, Page 15

General News.

In answer to an inquiry from the Foreign Ministers, the Chiuese Government has very bluntly stated its determination so havo nothing to do with a Mint or a civilised form of currency. The Viceroy of Nanking and all the provincial Governments are said to have pronounced strongly against any such pestilential ideas ; and the silver—if not golden—anticipations cherished in certain quarters are consequently disappointed. A murder was committed recently at Hongkong by a Chinaman, who went to a friend one afternoon and asked him to take a walk with him. The invitation was at once accepted, and the two left together, and seemed to be on good terms. When they got near the lighthouse, the murderer took a knife and

stabbed bis friend three times in the neck without saying a word, and then ran away. The wounded man dragged himself to the nearest police station, made a statement embodying the facts recorded above, and then fell down and died. The police went to look for the murderer, and found him at home. On seeing them he jumped into the water, but he was brought up with a book by his tail and safely lodged in gaol. Russian spies, according to the Ballarat Courier, have found their way to Melbourne. It is said that there are two Russians renting a shop in Melbourne, who, in a boat belonging to themselves, go out in the bay every morning and take soundings, and generally act in a most mysterious manner. Their pretext, it is asserted, is fishing ;■ but they never return with any of the spoils of the deep, and heuce it is thought they are spies who are obtaining information about the bay for the Russians, in the event of an invasion. Report even goes the length of saying that arrangements have been made for laying down a line of torpedoes, and that the Cerberus will be blown up whenever war is declared with Russia.

Referring to the recently conferred decorations of the Imperial Order of the Crown of India, The Times says: —“In the notification of the foundation of the above ‘lmperial’ order, two. or three points are worthy of remark. Firstly, the Royal signature now appears, we believe, for the first time publicly, not simply as ‘ Victoria R.,’ but as ‘ Victoria R. and I.’— i.e., ‘ Regina et Imperatrix,’ though we are given to understand that it has been in use for a year in the signing of military and other commissions which relate to or may have to run in India. Secondly, it does not appear on the face of the document whether the distinguished recipients of this order are to bear any title collectively or individually in right of its membership, whether, for instance, they are to be called ‘ladies,’ ‘sisters,’ ‘dames,’ ‘ dame chevalier,’ &c. ; or whether the order will be marked by any initials corresponding to the ‘ G.C.S.l.’—i.e., ‘Grand Cross of the Star of India.’ It will be seen also that iu the enumeration of the female members of the Royal Family, the name of ‘ Her Royal and Imperial Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh (Grand Duchess of Russia) follows those of her Majesty’s children —a fact which will serve to show that the question of precedence among two or three of the princesses, if it was ever seriously raised, is definitely and authoritatively settled. The eighteen English ladies who are the recipients of the honor may be thus divided. Wives or widows of Viceroys of India, four—namely, Lady Mayo, Lady Lytton, Lady Lawrence, Lady Elgin ; daughters of former Viceroys, two—Lady Susan Bourke, (daughter of the Marquis of Dalliousie), Lady Jane Emma Barfing (daughter of Lord Northbrook) ; wives of her Majesty’s Secretaries of State for India, five—Lady Halifax, Lady Ripon, Lady Salisbury, Lady Northcote, and the Duchess of Argyll ; wives and widows of Governors of Bombay, Madras, &c., six—Lady Erere, Lady Temple, Lady Denison, Lady Strachey, Lady Hobart, and Lady Napier (of

Ettrick), and, lastly, Lady Mary Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, daughter of the Duke of Buckingham, now Governor of Madras.” A correspondent sends us the following translation of a communication to a French newspaper, in which the writer seeks information as to the relationship in law which lie bears to his family:—“ A few years ago I married a widow who had by her first marriage a grownup daughter, with whom my father fell violently in love, he eventually marrying lier. Thus my father became my son-in-law, and my stepdaughter my mother, because she had married my father. Some time after my eldest sou was born, who was the brother-in-law of my father, and at the same time my uncle, because he was the brother of my mother-in-law, My father’s wife, in her turn, gave birth to a boy, who became my brother, aud my grandson, since he was my daughter’s son. Thus my wife was my grandmother, because she was the mother of my mother ; as for myself, I was my wife’s husband and grandson as well ; and since the husband of a person’s grandmother is his grandfather, I have become my own grandfather.” In the event of the writer’s decease leaving assets, it would be a difficult matter to say how they should be distributed. The Government have taken prompt action (the South Australian Advertiser says) to provide without delay for the defence of the colony. On Tuesday, February 12, they telegraphed to the Agent-General instructing liim to apply to the War Office requesting that two 10-inch 18-ton guns might be forthwith supplied, with carriages, dwarf platforms, and fittings complete ; also two carriages, dwarf platforms, and the necessary appliances for the two 9-iuch 12-ton guns which are already at the port, and four sets of C racers for the 9 and 10-iuch guns ; two 64-pounder guns of 64cwt., with two wooden standing carriages and appurtenances, two 16-pounder guns with limbers and waggons complete, and 10,000 ball cartridges for Martini-Henry rifles. Sir Arthur Blyth was also instructed to obtain and immediately forward to Fort Adelaide 500 more Martini-Henry rifles. The AgentGeneral, with commendable promptitude, lost no time in applying to the War Office, and telegraphed the result the next day, after receiving the telegram from Adelaide. The Government received his reply on Thursday, February 14, to the effect that the Secretary for the War Department had undertaken to call for tenders for the supply of the armament and the Armstrong guns, carriages, and racers, as the War Department had not got them in stock. The rifles would be purchased at once, and forwarded by the steamer Garonne, and the cartridges would shortly follow by the Boland. There is some very plain sjreaking about public men in America from the pulpits of New York and Brooklyn. The following is from the report of a sermon delivered in the latter city by the famous Dr. Talmage, as given in the New York World: —“ We find one of the most notorious of villains nominated in New York to the office of State senator— John Morrissey ! the reformer ! Wonder if Herod the Great had better not open an infant school ! John Morrissey, who has been indicted eighteen times for crime l I protest, and it is high time for the pulpits to speak out against this man. Where are the pulpits of New York and Brooklyn? No one in the United States does more to injure young men than that public villain, John Morrissey ! In his gambling hall, every hour, he is covered with the blood of his victims. I have intimated a wish that he might be washed off the face of the earth, but I would rather wish that he never had been born. I take a Fulton ferryboat, and as I pass to the City-hall I am told that the political ring is broken, but find that other glorious reformer, Patrick Shannon. I call on people to shut up their places of business and fight against this outrage. Republicans and Democrats are shouting themselves hoarse in advocating John Morrissey. If this is Democratic doctrine, may the wrath of God split it to atoms—this rinsing of the sewers which the slums of New York are trying to spew into the Senate. Ido not speak as strongly as I might. I want to be prudent. In the name of the American Church, iu the name of the men of the United States, in the name of the God of good, I denounce this villain, John Morrissey.” A scientific inquiry lately made by Dr. Delaunay, among the hatters of Paris, offers some curious results. Accepting it as true, that the capacity of the cranium and development of the brain are proportional to the external volume of the head, also that the intelligence is proportional to the volume and weight of the brain; he shows, inter alia, that certain families develop like individuals—that is, they have a period of growth, then a stationary period, then a period of decrease, previous to extinction. In families in the first period, the head enlarges from generation to generation. The citizens who wrought the revolution of 1789 had bigger heads than their fathers. On the other hand, in families that are nearing extinction, the head grows smaller. The sons of the present ruling families in France have such small heads—according to the author—that they require hats specially made for them. Among certain families newly risen from the common people the head increases from generation to generation. The wide-brimmed hats —bolivars—worn by the Republicans from 1830 to 1848 were very capacious. The quarter in which are the largest heads in Paris is that of the schools. The hatters of the Faubourg St. Germain say they only fit fir.e heads. The Polytechnicians have larger heads than the St. Cyrians, and the students of the normal school larger than those of St. Sulpice, &c. The members of the clergy present a peculiar feature in these statfstics. “In general,” says M. Delaunay, “men from thirty to forty years of age have larger heads than those from twenty to thirty. Not so with ecclesiastics, for their heads cease to grow at about twenty-five. The curds, bishops, archbishops, &c., have no larger heads than the students of the large seminaries.

In reference to a charge of manslaughter preferred against the first and third engineers of the steamer Yesso, at Hongkong, which has been already referred to in our columns, in Press telegrams, and in a correspondent's letter which appeared in our issue of yesterday, the Hongkong Daily Press publishes a long report in the shape of a supplement, in its issue of January the 17th. The facts may thus be summarised:—On the 22nd November the starboard boiler of the Yesso exploded, and a number of people were killed, amongst them being the second engineer. A survey of the boilers showed that the end plate, which had given way, was considerably corroded, and that six of the eight gusset stays supporting it were corroded through, and that the other two had only a slight connection. The case for the prosecution was that the engineers were guilty of criminal negligence in not having discovered the state of the stays and plate, and reporting it to the captain or owneis. The defence set up was that the gusset stays were corroded in a part likely to be overlooked, that there was nothing in the outward appearance of the plate to excite apprehension, that the boilers were of faulty construction, and that the prisoners had not been wanting in the ordinary skill and care to be expected from persons in their position. The jury found them guilty by a majority of four to three, and were unanimous in saying that strongly extenuating circumstances existed in the faulty construction of the boilers. Sentence was deferred, and the prisoners in the meantime admitted to bail, there being some points of law reserved in their favor. THE YOUNG AUSTRALIAN BLONDINS. The Sydney Mail, in noticing the performance of two aspirants for rope-walking honors, called " The Young Australian Blond in Brothers," aged respectively fifteen and twenty, makes the following observations : " The usual tight-rope tricks were gone through in the usual fashion. For those people who have somewhat of a morbid appetite, the sensational ' trick ' of feigning to slip, or rather to miss the rope, was provided ; and moreover there was this further contingency awaiting them, that if an accident should unfortunately occur, they would have a ghastly spectacle before their eyes. There is, however, little variation in these performances ; that these youths are clever is undeniable, and that they do their peculiar business in a workmanlike manner, and as well as any of their predecessors, may be admitted. But cui bono 1 Allowing that this description of entertainment is perfectly legitimate, what necessity is there that these youths should nightly risk breaking their necks ! It may be answered that they have their living to get. Granted, but would it not be equally clever to carry on their performances on a rope, say, a couple of feet from the ground ? There would then be no risk whatever, or at all events, it would be reduced to a minimum.

To this it may be replied that such a plan would not pay—that all excitement and sensation being gone, people would have nothing to amuse them. If this is actually the true state of the case, there is not much difficulty in meeting it; it is merely a question of £ s. d. Let a net be placed a few feet under the rope along its entire length, so that in case of any accident the fall would be harmless instead of fatal. No other result than the latter could happen under present conditions. Without in the least _ desiring to deprive the youths of such credit as this description of performance entitles them to, still, until precautions are taken to prevent any horrible calamity occurring, it is not an exhibition that can be recommended.' 'igf OTAGO RAILWAYS. (Prom the Daily Times.) The important work of filling in the'gaps in' the arterial line of railway in the Provincial District of Otago has for some time past been energetically prosecuted. With something like certainty it may now be said that through railway communication from Bunedin %o Christchurch will be established about the middle of May, and before that time the Clinton section of the south line should be completed, in which case there will be a line of railway complete from I/yttelton to Invercargill. The section of the northward line from Blueskin to Waikouaiti has been pushed on rapidly by the contractors, Messrs. D. Proudfoot and McKay. It is expected that by the end of the week the rails will be laid to Kaik, and the small tunnel at Waikouaiti is fast approaching completion. The rails have been laid through the tunnel ; its side walls have been built, and the roof will be finished in the course of a week or two. The next section of the line is in the hands of the Government, and fair progress has been made with it The bridges are all finished—the engine has been running over them for some time—and the rails have been laid from the Bendigo Hotel to near the Maori Kaik at Waikouaiti. In the course of ten days there will be only a gap of sixty chains on the railway between Dunedin and Waikouaiti, and that gap will be filled up before the end of the mouth. On the Kartigi section the contractors, Messrs McKenzie and Paisley, have been, it appears, making every effort to comply with the terms of their contract. A large number of men have been employed at work on this section from four o'clock in the morning till it was dark in the evening, and the line is now ready to be opened from Moeraki to the Horse Range. The bridges are almost finished, and the contractors promise to have the line ready to be opened to Palmerston by the end of the present month. Should the weather continue favorable, it may be expected that before the beginning of April the Railway Department will be able to run trains from Dunedin to Waikouaiti, and from Palmerston to Christchurch, leaving only a gap on the main line of eight miles, which it will not take more than a few weeks to fill up, imd complete the railway communication between Dunedin and Christchurch.

On the line south of Dunedin, the contract between the Balclutha Bridge and the township is almost fiaished. Some few weeks ago this section of the line was opened, but the buildings were not then erected, Satisfactory progress has been made with the work of the next section, which has been performed under the supervision of the Government officers. On this part of the line thei-e have been constantly at work from 70 to SO men, who applied to the Government for work as unemployed. The line is now being ballasted, and can be finished within two months. It appears probable that the next section, the Clinton contract, will retard the opening of the line. Only about 100 men are engaged upon a work which should be undertaken with four times that number. The local papers have expressed their opinion that the progress of the work is not satisfactory. Until this contract is finished, the line to Invercargill cannot be opened, so that its progress is a matter of public interest. The work should be prosecuted with all possible despatch. THE MARE THAT Wi£S SHOD WITH GOLD. Referring to the mare that was recently shod with gold at Edinburgh, " Man about Town," in the Sporting Gazette, says:—That mare has a history. Pier owner, Miss Thomson, is an American heiress worth about half a million of dollars. She has naturally been, ever since she reached a marriageable age, the object of persistent attention on the pare of a crowd of needy fortune-hunters, and her life has in consequence been rendered a burden to her. They drove her nearly wild in New York, and she had . a very narrow escape of being hunted down. It was in this wise. One of her admirers was a dashing and handsome fellow, but a terrible scapegrace, and she did not care for him ; but he amused her, and she found it at last very difficult to geb rid of him. She had just purchased this mare, and in one of her mad freaks she told this gallant suitor that he might' have her hand if he could beat her mare in a halfmile gallop, she riding the mare herself. He accepted the challenge, and a moment later she repented of it. However, there was no help for it, and the race for a wife had to come off. It was a neck-and-affair, for the stakes were heavy, but the mare drew away at the finish, and won by a length. It is in gratitude for the victory which saved her from a husband that Miss Thomson recently had that maro shod with gold. Such is the story which I have from New York. Miss Thomson, I believe, fancies that the assumption of an eccentricity almost allied to madness is her best defence against the fortune-hunters who pester e her here as much as in America. She wears shoes herself which would hardly disgrace a Lancashire Avife-kicker, and is otherwise so attired as to shock anyone with aesthetic ideas of the grace of woman's costume. She will be a very Katherine to win, but possibly she may find the Petruchio who will tame her. I don't know whether she is worth the experiment ; but I know a good many men who would make it for the sake of the half million of dollars. J

A CLEVER SWINDLE. ! (From the Europccln Mail.) What at present appears to be an impudent systematic fraud on an extensive scale has just been exposed through the action of the Birmingham police. Some six weeks ago a firm calling themselves "Bentley, Kemp, and Co., wine merchants," opened a shop at 325 Broadstreet, corner premises, which have recently been constructed. The shop was taken for a period of six weeks only, the rent, which was at the rate of £IOO a year, being paid in advance, and preparations were made to carry on business in an ostensibly bona fide manner. The name and calling of the firm were painted conspicuously on the window, and the j)lace had quite a substantial business-like appearance. A similar aspect was imparted to the interior of the shop. Three or four clerks, who had been engaged by advertisements, were to be seen busily occupied, and everything was in the I I orthodox style of a commercial establishment. Within three weeks, however, certain circum- ' stances transpired which necessitated inquiries I ' by the police. It was ascertained that "Messrs. ' ' Bentley, Kemp, and Co." had advertised exfceu- - sively in all the principal newspapers in Eng- ' land, parts of Scotland, and Dublin. Column J advertisements were. inserted at their request announcing that "Messrs. Bentley, Kemp, i and Co." make Christmas hampers their < specialty, and. expatiating on the excellent 1 qualities of the wines and spirits contained in i their "renowned one-guinea hamper" As a ] further inducement to purchasers the adver- '- tisement set forth th.*t with each double Christ- « mas hamper, the price of which was £2, would 1 be presented a small casket containing samples > of three choice liqueurs in cut glass models of 1 ordinary decanters. The hampers were to be £ sent, carriage paid, to all parts of the kingdom, c on receipt of a post-office order, payable in j i favor of James Bentley. So skilfully were the j - arrangements carried out that in nearly every ! 1 instance the newspapers gave credit to the j I firm for those extensive advertisements, j i and in the course of a few days Messrs. | ( Bentley, Kemp, and Co. began to reap a rich i c harvest. Confiding people from all parts of | f the country transmitted Post Office orders i and cheques, and it is stated that as many as i: 40 and 50 a day were received. Subse- t quently, with a view to facilitate negotiation t of crossed cheques and the changing of the a money orders, and to give the advertisers a a more respectable standing, an account was a opened with one of the banks in Birmingham, s The applicants for the Christmas hampers at 'J length became troublesome, and would not h any longer be put off with assurances that ! s " the articles have been sent," and " that our I u carman has just been despatched with them to j s the station." Complaints and also commuui- j t cations about the firm were being daily re- b ceivcd by the police, who siit a watch on ! n the premises, and on Christmas Day tiie bubble | f burst with the apprehension, on a charge of i

fraud, of one of the firm, who gives the name of dames Bentley. He had evidently made himself acquainted with what the police were doing, for when Detective IToare went to arrest him at his lodgings he had made preparations to leave the town with his wife ; and he attempted to draw a considerable sum of money from the bank that had accumulated there, but he did not succeed. The premises of the firm were afterwards searched. There was not a trace of any wines, spirits, or other goods in the place, and neither could an excise wine dealer’s license be found. Amongst the papers seized were a list containing the names of upwards of 200 evening and daily newspapers, including many of the largest of the London and provincial papers, in which the “ Christmas hampers ” had been advertised, and some dozens of letters written on elaborately-pre-pared memoranda requesting the insertions of announcements, and adding that “ this is definite, and if not approved of you will then please consider present order cancelled. We may add that if the advertisement is well displayed, and given a prominent position in your columns, it will lead to other advertisements of ours appearing in vour journal.” A large number of manuscript copies of lengthy advertisements were also found. The fraud is said to have been only too successful, the perpetrators having netted a large sum, exclusive of the money detained by the bank. Unfortunately the confederates of Bentley, of whom there are believed to be two, are unknown, and all efforts of the police to trace them have hitherto failed.

RUSSIAN ENCROACHMENT ON CHINESE TERRITORY. (From the Hongkong Press.) Russia has long been regarded by the Government of Peking as an aggressive and encroaching neighbor, and with good cause. It is not so long since the Czar annexed a large strip of territory on the Amoor, extending his frontier considerably further south at the expense of his Imperial Majesty of China. The Moukden correspondent of our Shanghai evening contemporary now gives publicity to a rumor, which he says is current in that city, to the effect that the Russians removed the boundary stone between themselves and China in Mongol territory for 500 li inland without saying by your leave, and that the officials entrusted with looking after the boundaries have not dared report the matter in Peking.” Now, if true, this is a fact that should be remembered and inquired into by the Chinese Government. It is possible, of course, that it has been done by understanding. A short r time ago the Russians supplied the Chinese army in Central Asia with grain when they were hard pushed for supplies, and although this has, we believe, since been paid for in cash, an obligation remained. Perhaps that has been wiped off by permission being given to the Russians to rectify their boundaries in Mongolia. It is Muscovite policy never to lend assistance without adequate recompense, and when remarking on the fact of Tso Tsungtang’s braves being provisioned by the Russians we expressed our conviction that the service was not rendered for nothing. It is quite in consonance with Russian practice that the Chinese should not be asked to cede any territory openly, while it would equally suit the Govei-nment of Peking to make such a cession sub rosa. On the one hand, the Russian Government does not care to attract the attention of other European Powers to its schemes for aggrandisement in Asia, and, on the other, the Chinese Goverment would much prefer to keep quiet any concession it might feel compelled to make to its northern neighbor. It is very plain that Russia is not content with her present boundaries in the Far East. Her latest move was the annexation of Southern Saghalien. It is true that this territory was acquired with some show of decency. It was, indeed, called au exchange of territory, and exchange is popularly considered to be no robbery. But the barren rocky islets which were handed over to the Mikado in lieu of | Saghalien, with its valuable mineral deposits, cannot be looked upon , as a quid pro quo ; ic j was a mere apology for it ; and the tansaction I can only be compared to a big shoolboy taking away a junior’s new cricket bat and handing him a tin whistle as compensation. The Japanese have not ceased to regret the loss of Saghalien, and regard it as having been virtually wrested from them by copulsion. If the Kuriles had been accompanied by a sum of money, there would not have been so much room for comment, but the bargain was so manifestly one-sided that it was impossible not to be struck with the fact. In all their dealings with China and Japan, the Russians are pretty sure to get the best of it, and both the former nations are well aware of this, and regard the St. Petersburg Government with natural distrust. They are haunted by a suspicion that Russia is crouching, tiger-like, on their confines waiting and watching for an opportunity to spring. The Japanese papers have not hesitated to express this belief and their regret that the Mikado’s Government allowed Saghalien to be incorporated in the Russian dominions. In China there is no public opinion, and, practically, no Press ; but we know that an uneasy feeling prevails among official circles concerning the designs of Russia. The restraining influence of outside opinion lias hitherto kept the Russian Government somewhat in check in theFarEast. Foreign trading interests in China are so large that any attempt at uujustifiable aggression on China for the sake of territorial aggrandisement by one Western nation would speedily be resented and resisted by the rest. The tortuous windings of Russian intrigue are, however, not easily followed and we may be ! sure that the Muscovite statesmen will let slip no opportunity, and lose no chance of making 1 such opportunity for the extension of their ; territory southward. The Chinese do well to ' be suspicious of their great and powerful neighbor ; it is from the north that all danger ■ from foreign sources menace. It is their policy to cement close and friendly relations 1

with England, Germany, France, and America, none.of which Powers desire to enrich themselves by desp>oiling China of territory, and who simply wish for the privilege of unrestricted trade. By giving facilities for the extension of commerce the Chinese Government will not only enrich its people and fill the Imperial Treasury, but it will knit more firmly the ties which unite foreign interests with its own, and thus obtain greater security from aggression.