ENGLISH MAIL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4364, 16 March 1875, Page 3

ENGLISH MAIL.

VIA SUEZ. From the journals to hand by this mail, we make the following extracts : ENGLAND. The Times obituary of Saturday, January 2, contained the announcement of the death of Harriet Mary Churchill, daughter of the late General Horace Churchill, and great granddaughter of Sir Robert Walpole. She died on the 30th of December, in her mnety-hrst * The fever by which Prince Leopold has been confined to his room continues to run a very favorable course. . ~ „ The Queen has received from the Emperor of Austria, a portrait of his Imperial consort, specially copied from a picture by WmterhaSir' Samuel Bignold, for fifty-three years secretary of the Norwich Union Eire Office, died on Saturday, January 2. Sir Samuel was at one pexiod of his life, M.P. for Norwich, in the Conservative interest. Extraordinary religious services were held in Sheffield on Sunday, January 3, by Moody and Sankey. Over lOOOpeopleattendedtheearly morning meeting. The afternoon wasthe greatest ever held indoors in Sheffield. The spacious hall of the Albert Buildings was crowded in every part by an audience of 5000 to 6000, and quite as many went away disappointed. A meeting in another hall was also crowded. Another immense meeting was held in the evening. On January 16, another daring robbery, similar to that committed upon the Countess of Dudley, occurred at the Paddington Terminus of the great Western Railway. His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, who, singularly enough, was about proceeding on a.visit to the Earl and Countess of Dudley by the 2.15 p.m. down Great Western train, had arrived in due course at the, station, where a saloon had been prepared for his use. While the luooage was being got ready for labelling a valuable dressing-case belonging to his Royal Highness was missed. Search was at once made for the case, but it could not be found, and the Duke had to proceed on his journey without it. This second robbery upon the occasion of the departure of a Royal personage has created much consternation among the railway officials. The “ Bessemer ” saloon steamer was taken out to sea on Jan. 7 by the contractors, Earle’s Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, and although not pressed sufficiently to exert the full power of her engines, she attained a speed of more than eighteen miles an hour, or about sixteen knots. The trial was not made under the conditions of the measured mile trials, nor was the intention of it so much to test speed as to test the strength and sufficiency of the engines and boilers. There was some wind and sea throughout the ran past Elamborough Headand back,and the low ends of the vessel—which were, frequently almost immersed —acted most satisfactorily, and cei - tainly gave steadiness to her lengthway, as she exhibited no tendency to pitch whatever. Mr. Heed CB , M.P., and Sir Spencer Robinson, who attended on behalf of the Bessemer Saloon Company, were much pleased with the results of the day’s steaming. The two sets of paddles worked well together, but the working of the two independent sets of engines and boilers in the same ship is a novelty which requires attention, and which may render another private trial or two necessary before the official trip of the vessel is made. Mr. Barnet Hime, the oldest member of the Jewish community in London, died the other day in his 101st year. . A young woman named Alice Davies has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment at the Chester assizes for bigamy. She was stated to have three husbands living, the object of her marriage apparently being in each case to become possessed of furniture and jewellery. ~ On New Tear’s Day Mr. George Sanger, the proprietor of the Hall by the Sea, Margate, Save a dinner to 300 of the most deserving poor of Margate. The old people averaged seventy-five years each, but one woman was ninety-four, and two men were eighty-seven each. The men were presented with overcoats, and each woman with a shawl. It is tolerably well-known that the interesting paper on Bishop Patteson which appeared in the last number of the Quarterly is from the pen of Mr. Gladstone. It is said that the forthcoming number of the Review will contain another article by the ex-Premier. Mr. Roger Lyon Jones, who died at Princes Park,' Liverpool, on January 1, baa left property to the value of nearly £300,000, of which from £200,000 to £250,000 will go to the charitable institutions of the town. Of his lawe fortune he has bequeathed to his relatives “and friends about £40,000 ; and the residue of his estate when realised is bequeathed to the local charitable institutions, the appointment being left to the discretion of_his executors, one of whom, we believe, is Mr. Edward Whitley. Thus a sum of £2oo,ooo—possibly nearer £2so,ooo—will fall to be divided among the charitable institutions of the town. Mr. Jones, we hear, has also bequeathed £2OOO to found two scholarships in the Liverpool IMedical Institute. Lady Chantrey, who died on Jan. 3, at her residence in Brook-street, was in her eightyseventh year. She was Mary Anne, daughter of Mr. Daniel Wale, of London ; and her marriage with her cousin, Sir Francis Chantrey, was solemnised as far back as the year 1809, and she was left his widow upwards of thirty-three years ago. By her death a large sum of money will, it is presumed, become available for “ the encouragement of British fine art in painting and Accordion' to a statement in the Gentleman e Magazine iov 1842, Sir Erancis Chantrey left a fortune of £50,000 or £60,000, which, subject to the payment of a few legacies, he settled on his widow for life, “with a reversionary interest to the Royal Academy in peipetuity, under trusteeship, the interest and profits of which were to be expended in improving and enlarging the present modes of studying the arts, and for the purchase of the most valuable works of sculpture and painting that can be obtained, such works to be placed in a public gallery for the improvement of the General taste and as models for the higher classes of artists.” £3OO of the bequest is to be paid to the President of the Royal Society for the time being for ever in perpetual succession.

Messrs. Moody and Sankey, the American revivalists, having met with considerable success at Sheffield, have removed to 'Birmingham, from whence they proceed to Liverpool and Manchester.

A terrible boiler explosion occurred on January 21, at the machine-making and cotton manufacturing works of Messrs, Lord Brothers, at Todmorden. The employes were assembling after the dinner hour, and nearly all hands had arrived and were about to commence work, when, without the slightest warning, one of the boilers exploded with great violence, shaking the whole of the buildings, and spreading destruction and death around. The boiler-house and an adjoining shed were in a moment reduced to mins, and fragments were scattered in all directions. The loss of life was considerable. Tour bodies have been found, and one is missing. _ Fifty persons were more or less seriously injured; some, it is feared, will not recover. There were three boilers in all, and the one which burst hurled the remaining two from them beds across the canal. The damage is roughly estimated at nearly £15,000. The wreck is being searched for any bodies there may bo buried beneath it, but, up to a late hour last night,with no result. The Marquis of Ilipon, who, prior to hia perversion, was engaged in building a large church in connection with the Established religion, has, in a very proper spirit, caused it to he finished, and is about to hand it over—not to the communion he has lately joined, but—to that which ho has unhappily left. The John Bull says that a rural dean in the diocese of .Rochester vouches for the substantial accuracy of the following statement: —An old Mr. Attwood died recently near Cheshunt. He was about eighty years old and a bachelor; rich, but living very quietly. Ho is discovered to have been the giver of all the anonymous £IOOO cheques. His books show that he gave

away £350,000 in this way ; £45,000 within the tot year. He has left more than a million sterling and no will Mr. Attwood is said to have been connected with the Birmingham Attwoods, and to have mode his money principally by glass. A thousand-pound note was found lying about the room as if it has been waste paper. Early on Dec. 26 Mr. James Parkinson, of Doncaster, was found frozen to death at the house door of his cousin, Mr. Parkinson, Farnworth House, near Chorley. The deceased was paying his addresses to a young lady staying at Eamworth House, and on Christmas Day he was expected on a visit, and the family waited up for him till midnight. It appears deceased had arrived at the Arlington Station by a late special train, and had then walked to Famworth House, and it is supposed that on his arrival at the door he was seized with an epileptic fit, and no assistance being at hand, he was frozen to death. He was to have been married in a few days. Mr. Charles Cobden has just died at the age of sixty-two, the only brother of the eminent patriot and statesman, Richard Cobden. COWDEROY V. COWDEBOY. This was a wife’s petition for a divorce on the ground of her husband’s adultery, desertion, and bigamous marriage with a woman of the name of Rose Isabella Cox. There was no defence to the case. The parties were married at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Ipswich, in 1858. The respondent was an actor, and after the marriage they resided at Ipswich. They cohabited together for about two years, when the respondent left the country, and the petitioner never heard of him until 1869, when he was found keeping a publichouse at Bristol. The woman Cox was living with him as his wife, and it appeared that he had contracted a bigamous marriage with her in 1867. They were married at the registrar’s office, Bristol. It was stated that the respondent and the woman Cox had left the country and gone to New Zealand since the suit was instituted. The case was proved, and the court pronounced a decree nisi with costs. THE WAIFS OF THE LA PLATA. In reference to the rescue of the two survivors of this ill-fated vessel, who were tossing about three days and nights on a raft in the sea, the following is the narrative of the incident by the Dutch captain, who rescued them ; —“ December 2.—Day watch, still breeze ; heavy sea, sailing with all practicable canvas, ship steering S.W. by W., and in the mate’s watch, quarter-past 4 o’clock, there suddenly was a loud cry—as we understood it—of help. At that cry, as well as at the call of the mate, I immediately jumped out of my berth. There was a dense darkness, and a heavy, showery (stormy) sky. Hove-to quickly, but could not ascertain what it was ; took in the topsails as quickly as wind would allow ; consulted together to tack about as near as possible to the spot, as we were certain that the sound had come from human beings, and waited for daylight, hoisting our white lantern beside our fights. When day broke we saw nothing, though we looked out with two men in the rigging, but in vain, being, at a guess, about the same latitude ; it was then already 8 o’clock, the sun having fully risen, when I called the mate out of the rigging to make sail and continue our course, still hoping to sight that which we heard. When sail had been made, we steered three points out of our course, still hoping, with two men in the rigging to look out. Having run a short time, we discovered an object approaching us ; discovered two men on that object, who made signs to us to come and help them. Braced sails immediately by the wind, and bore down upon them, and could not come close to them because of the heavy sea, and there being no boat, hut planks put together and drifting away quickly, one man threw himself into the water close to the ship. Threw three ropes to him which he managed to catch easily, and pulled him on board with difficulty, and took him immediately in the forecastle, where a warm stove was burning, and saved also in the same manner the other. As soon as the second was on board we took him, like the other one, immediately to the forecastle, although they were stiff and cold, and they also had swollen legs. They could not move a foot. As soon as they were below I went to them immediately with a glass of brandy and dry clothes of my own, being skipper, and we did what we could to them, the crew as well as myself and the mate, for they were very weak ; and gave them gradually to eat, and gave each of them a berth of one of the crew. When we saved them we were in '47'42 N; latitude, 5'30 W. longitude.” The quartermaster of the La Plata, who was picked up in the Bay of Biscay from a raft, after floating about two days, has arrived in Plymouth. He has partially recovered the use of his legs, which were numbed by exposure, hut is still very weak and ill. He denies the statement published that a boat cruised about'after the vessel had foundered in search of survivors. Ho has certain information which he will not make public until the Board of Trade inquiry. He says that before the La Plata sailed the crew remarked on the deep stern lading, and adds that she labored very much in consequence. EXTRAORDINARY SCENE IN A CHURCH.

A correspondent -writes : morning the service at the Irvingite Cathedral at Albury, near Guildford—a building which was erected at a cost of .£60,000, by the late Mr. Henry Drummond—was interrupted in a somewhat alarming manner. The service had proceeded to the reading of the prayers, when Captain Syrota, a member of the congregation, was observed to leave his seat. He at once ascended the stairs and entered the pulpit. Closing the door, he stretched forth his hands and addressed the congregation. He said he was commissioned by God to deliver a message, which would not be heard with favor. At this juncture several of the church officials rushed up the pulpit stairs and begged the gallant captain to desist. The request was met by the captain drawing a sword from a sheath, which was concealed under his coat, and, waving it over his head, he said that if any person interfered with him in the delivery of his message, he would run him through to the heart. _ A precipitate retreat was made by the officials, and in the meantime Captain Symes proceeded to address the congregation, warning them that it was his duty to tell them that perdition was their fate if they continued in their present faith. Mr. Armstrong, a barrister-at-law, and an intimate friend of Captain Symes, left his seat, and running up the pulpit stairs, begged him to come down. The captain raised his sword, and, striking Mr. Armstrong across the hand, nearly cut off one of his fingers. The alarm caused by this extraordinary conduct was very great. The ladies of the congregation screamed, and many of them fainted. The male portion of the congregation left their seats, and assembling in knots in the aisles of the church, called to Captain Symes to come down. One gentleman, undeterred by the injury inflicted on Mr. Armstrong, ascended the pulpit stairs to expostulate with the captain. The only reply he received was the presentation at his head of a loaded revolver. Hearing the ‘click’ of the weapon, he slid down the stairs on his back, and hid behind the staircase. During this scene the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, who are regular attendants of the church, left their seats. The duchess fainted, and was carried from the church by her attendants. Captain Symes had now full possession of the pulpit, and, striking the sword on the Bible, he proceeded in a loud tone to deliver what he termed his message, amidst the screaming of the females, and vociferous calls to ‘come down’ of the males. The officials of the church had by this time armed themselves with long poles, and with these they went to the pulpit, and, after a tremendous scuffle, succeeded in knocking the sword and revolver out of the hands of the captain. They then laid hold of him, and dragged him down the pulpit stairs. As the captain violently resisted, a rope was procured, and with it ho was bound hand and foot, and tied to one of the pillars of the building. He was subsequently given in charge to the police, and on the following day was brought before a magistrate. On the certificates of two surgeons he was removed to a lunatic asylum, IRELAND. A brutal faction fight is reported from Oola, in the county of Limerick. While a farmer

named Patrick Duggan was returning from Oola to New Pallas, he was waylaid at a place known as The Mines by two men named Casey and Dee, who had secreted themselves behind a ditch. They attacked Duggan, who was alone, with the usual weapons, blackthorn sticks made heavy with lead, and stones. Duggan was soon felled to the ground, and while down his assailants continued to heat him. The cries of Duggan were heard by the “ captain” of the mines, who ran immediately to the rescue. Casey and Dee then absconded, and the captain promptly communicated with the New Pallas Constabulary, who succeeded in arresting Casey and Dee. Dr. Ryan, of New Pallas, was subsequently sent for, and found Duggan in a state of insensibility. He succeeded in removing a number of broken bones from Duggan’s skull, which was fractured in several places. Dr. Ryan entertains but slender hopes of Duggan’s recovery. The Archbishop of Cashel is ill, and little hope is entertained'of his recovery. The emigration statistics show that the number of emigrants, natives of Ireland, who left during 1874 was 73,184, against 90,149 in 1873.

Mr. L. Freeman, T. 0., Waterford, was on Jan. 19 committed for trial at the assizes on the charge of having in October last sent the brigantine Aloedo to sea when in an unseaworthy condition. Two men have been arrested at Caherconlish, county of Limerick, cl arged with administering poison to the clerk of petty sessions of that district.

An extraordinary occurrence took place in Limerick on January 6, at the new docks, the entire north-west portion of Messrs. Bannatyne and Son’s new corn stores, which was lately erected at a cost of from £15,000 to £20,000, falling suddenly, thereby causing the loss of an immense amount of property, and the total destruction of this portion of the building. On Tuesday, Jan. 5, the remains of the late Sir Thomas Blake, Menlo Castle, county Galway, were conveyed for interment to Menlo churchyard, followed by the tenantry. As soon as the corUge reached the gate an attempt was made to carry the remains to that portion of the ground set apart for Catholics. This was forcibly resisted by the Protestants, and a long and furious struggle ensued, during which there was bloodshed. The Rev. Mr. O’Sullivan and other Protestant gentlemen were grossly abused and assaulted. Ultimately, with the aid of a strong force of police, the remains of the deceased were buried after having had the Protestant Church service read. SCOTLAND. The Duke of Argyll recently delivered the last of his lectures on geology at Inverary. The lecture was chiefly devoted to an explanation of the physical formation of the earth’s surface in Argyleshire. At the close a question was handed in as to what, in the opinion of scientific men, was the cause of the internal fires of the globe. His Grace said it was generally believed that the globe was at one time in a state of fusion, while some persons argued that heat was due either to chemical action or to friction and pressure. The duke intends at some future time to renew these lectures. The two new large armour-plated ships contracted for by the Admiralty have been respectively taken by Messrs. Napier and Co. and by Messrs. Elder and Co., both of whose works are on the Clyde. The reserved price of the authorities was £300,000. The large builders on the Thames offered to construct the ships at from £BOOO to £IO,OOO below the estimate. The Mersey people were prepared to execute the order for about £270,000, but the Scotch firms asserted that they could do the work for something like £252,000, or about £40,000 under their southern competitors. The greatest fire in Glasgow for some time occurred on Saturday evening, January 16, the well-known biscuit factory of Grey and Dunn, Kinning-park, being totally consumed. The damage is estimated at £50,000, covered by assurance in ten offices. At the Court of Session, on January 7, before Lord Cnrriehill, there wai an action of divorce, Fergusson v, Fergusson, for desertion, at the instance of Margaret Blair Brown, or Fergusson, against James Fergusson, M.D., lately residing in Moffat, was heard. From the evidence it appeared that the defender left this country for New Zealand in 1865, and thereafter kept up correspondence with the pursuer, which correspondence, however, entirely ceased in 1869. The Lord Ordinary (Gifford), on tfie evidence adduced, was of opinion that intimation of the action should he made by letter sent to the defender’s last known address in Australia, where he had gone, and accordingly he ordered this to be done in June last, and sisted consideration of the case till the lapse of six months from 26th June last. No answer was returned to the letter sent to the defender, and accordingly the Lord Ordinary (Curriehill, who succeeded Lord Gifford) was moved to resume consideration of the case with a view to judgment. His lordship made avizandum and has pronounced an interlocutor, divorcing and separating the defender from the pursuer in terms of the conclusions of the summons, and finding her entitled to expenses. Professor Blackio has succeeded in collecting £2OOO for the establishment of a Celtic chair in Edinburgh University. Inverness having been made one centre for organising a fund, a public meeting has been called in compliance with an influential memorial to the provost.

SEVERE SNOWSTORMS. (From the Some News, January 22.)

The recent snowstorms proved very disastrous to the Scotch railways. Between Tynehead and Falahill siding there were three cuttings where the snow had drifted to a depth varying from four to fourteen feet, and in one of these a goods train was embedded. On the south slope of the incline, however, matters were much worse than on the north side, so far as the passenger trains were concerned. No fewer than four passenger trains were blocked up at the skew-bridge, nearly a mile from Falahill siding. The passengers (about 600 in all) suffered much from the cold. The searching character of the drift was somewhat extraordinary. Although the doors and windows of the carriages were seemingly quite close, the snow came sifting through. The sufferings of the women and children were extreme, and a curious effect of the cold and exhaustion, combined perhaps with anxiety, was that many women and even men got sick and exhibited all the symptoms of mal dc mer. Matters began at length to take a very serious turn, and a last effort was made to clear the line back to Galshiels. A band cf surfacemen, assisted by the constable at Heriot, and a few of the passengers, worked heroically with spade and shovel for a time, seemingly to no purpose, for the snow appeared to drift faster than they could clear it. Eventually, however, the ordinary Hawick train and the Carlisle express had a passage made for them, and a pilot engine going on before, they were slowly backed to Heriot Station. A rush was made from the trail by cold and hungry passengers, and a little shop in the village was perfectly besieged. Everything eatable was soon bought up, and a demand was thereafter made for caudles—not to eat, but to afford some light, for it was by this time quite dark. Several women and children, blue and stiff with cold, were earned into the statioumaster’s house, and the house of the village constable, where the goodwives did all that kind and sympathising hearts could for their unfortunate sisters. The children were put to bed, and had warm drinks administered to them, and by and by all were out of danger. After a stay of two hours, the two released trains were joined, and the lino having been found by means of a pilot to be clear to Galashiels, they were sent back to tha: town, which was reached at 9 o'clock. The j.aasengera not belonging to Galashiels, were provided with lodgings, and everything was done to make them comfortable. Two trains, however, yet remained blocked up in the snow. Long before this, the engine fires had to he damped out as the supply of water in their tanks had become exhausted. When the lino was cleared sufficiently to allow the Hawick and Carlisle trains to be run back, it was believed that oil the passengers snowed up could he conveyed back to Galashiels ; and, accordingly, those in the special and tho Galashiels midday train, were asked to leave their carriages and to

find their way into those of the backgoing trains. Though several refused to do so, the great majority of the 300 people who were in these trains jumped out, and sought places in the others. This was, perhaps, the most unfortunate part of the afternoon’s proceedings, for nearly every carriage in the Carlisle and Hawick trains was already crammed to excess, and no room could be found for the unfortunate passengers from the other trains. The latter accordingly had to wade through several feet of snow back to their own carriages. Their quarters had previously been comparatively warm, but during their bootless journey to the other trains the snow had drifted into the carriages and rendered them anything but a comfortable or inviting retreat. Shivering in the cold damp carriages, the horror of the situation was increased by finding their clothing, wet with melted snow, freezing upon their backs. Still the pitiless snow and wind beat upon them, and in the darkness it looked as if many of the more delicate passengers would be frozen to death. All the stimulants in the train were speedily consumed, and here and there might be heard the wailing of hysterical women, the groaning of those who were sick, or the low muttering of the numbed. The railway officials exerted themselves to the utmost to rescue the unfortunate jiassengers, and appear to have behaved most humanely. "Women were carried through the snow to Old Tala Inn, occupied by the families of surfacemen, to the hut at Falahill siding, and to the station agent's house, near the railway. Mr. Dunn, farmer, Falahill Farm, hearing of the serious state of matters, sent carts down to the trains, and into these were carried about thirty poor people, who were all' but unconscious from the cold and exposure. They were conveyed to the farm-house, where they were revived under the most humane treatment, and provided with food and warm drinks. Mr. Dunn also kindly’ sent down to the train a supply of whisky for the use of those not so overcome with cold. About eleven o’clock a special train despatched by the company, with provisions, brandy, and whisky, arrived from Galashiels, and probably to this timely succour was due the preservation of some lives. X)r. Macdougall, Galashiels, accompanied the train, and he at once directed all his energies to relieving the worst cases. Going from carriage to carriage, he, with great assiduity, rubbed the halffrozen, cheered the down-spirited, judiciously administered stimulants, and altogether did a world of good. Two ladies were very ill, and much concern was felt for their safety. One, named Miss Mary Ann Miller, said to belong to Galashiels, was hysterical ; and the other, Miss Katie Anderson, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, was very sick. Both were carried to the station agent’s cottage, where they were put to bed and attended to by Dr. Macdougall, and it is satisfactory to state that, though weak and ill, they were able to be removed home. The passengers who could not be accommodated in the surfacemen’s huts or in the few scattered houses in the neighborhood were content to spend the night in the first-class carriages. With cushions, doors and windows were barricaded to keep out the snow-drift, and a wonderful degree of warmth was by and by attained. Some attempts were laudably made to raise the sinking spirits of the depressed by several young men, who endeavored to sing. It so happened that among the belated travellers were the members of a quadrille band from Edinburgh, which had been at a ball at Selkirk on, the previous night, and they attempted to cheer the down-hearted by scraping a tune or two on the violin, but the cold and miserable surroundings proved too much for even the light-hearted musicians, and soon a moody silence fell on all those left in the train. A weary night was passed, but with the rain, which at length came driving through the wind, hopes were entertained of a speedy release from their awkward plight, and in the end these hopes were realised, for all reached home in safety, though sadly distressed and overcome by their night's adventure in the snow. ANGLO-NEW ZEALAND ITEMS. The other day “a young fellow” was brought up at one of the police courts on a charge of swindling ; and as his friends promised to send him to “ Australia," the magistrate let him off with a light punishment. It might, perhaps, be instructive to know, says the European Hail, how it is that “ Australia” has become so potent in lessening the punishment of criminals. Can it be “ that distance lends enchantment to the view 2” or is it that, in the estimation of our legal functionaries, virtue is so predominant there that vice cannot fail of being reformed. Any way, as the plea is by no means exceptional, it would be consolatory to know upon what principle of law or equity it is so often successful.

Sir Arthur Gordon will leave London in February for Fiji. It is understood that he has appointed Mr. Edward Eyre and Mr. A. L. Gordon as his private secretaries, and Captain Oliver, Eoyal Artillery, and Lieut. Knollys, 32nd Light Infantry, as his Aides-de-C'amp. It is intended to appoint Sir Arthur Consul-General of the whole of Western Polynesia, as well as Governor of Fiji. Gold from the Palmer goldfields has recently been sold in London at £4 2s. 6d. per ounce.

The Tintem Abbey* for Dunedin, has. on board no fewer than 1130 living birds, viz., blackbirds, thrushes, . starlings, goldfinches, redpoles, of each' 100 ; hedge sparrows, 150 ; linnets, 140; goldfinches, 160 ; yellowhammers, ' 170 ; and, lastly, partridges, 110. These birds have been collected with great bare and expense by Mr. Bills, son of the n-entleman who has in former years achieved such great success in talcing cargoes of birds to the Antipodes.

Tenders were invited simultaneously on behalf of the Governments of Now South Wales and South Australia for one million sterling in four per cent, debentures, for the former, and £600,000 at the same rate for the latter colony. The minimum was fixed at £9O for every £IOO debenture. In the case of New South Wales, £568,800 were tendered for at and above the minimum ; the balance was afterwards applied for. For the South Australian loan tenders for £38,800 were received ; this amount has since been increased. Mr. Nicholas Chevalier and his confrere, Mi’. McKay Smith, have selected four very beautiful water-color drawings for the Fine Art Gallery at Sydney. These include “Boats off Eevel,” by Mr. O. W. Brierly, a Scene on the Wye, by Brittain Wallis, and two landscapes, one by Mole and the other by Wimperis. . These are, all of them, excellent works of art, and will be a decided acquisition to Sydney. So soon as the Spring Exhibition opens, other paintings will be secured. The French Government has recently shown its appreciation of preserved meats by entering into contracts for 1600 tons. 1300 of these have been contracted for by South American importers, the other 300 falling into the hands of an Australian house. The Australian Meat Agency (Tallermau's) have recently delivered, or is now in course of delivering, a parcel of GOO tons of Australian moat of various brands to the same Government, and that portion the contract delivered has given perfect satisfaction, It is said that a part of this lot is intended for New Caledonia.