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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 4 August 1880, Page 2

In commenting upon the large increase in the Customs revenue for the June quarter of the present year, as compared with that of the previous year, we pointed out that this increase was partly owing to the fact that in the larger towns merchants liad endeavored to frustrate the C-.stoins officers. We pointed out that latgvr quantities of both tea and sugar have been withdrawn from bond, in anticipation of the re-imposi-tion of the duties on those necessities, than were required for immediate consumption, and we sg.jd that a large portion of the current quarter's revenue had, therefore, been anticipated. The results of the last month's transactions proves that we were correct. In the case of Lyttelton alone there is a very marked difference in the amount of duty collected upon tea and sugar last month, as compared with that received during July of 1879. The figures are 1579 : Sugar, LlO4l ; tea, L 1149 ; 18S0 : Sugar, L4ll ; tea, L 305. The total duty show a decline of nearly LSOOO.

It will be remembered that some time since a case occupied the attention of the Oamaru Resident Magistrate's Court, in which Mr. Russell sought to obtain a certain sum from Mr. R. Wilson, of Dunedin, on the ground that the defendant had agreed to give 10s in the £ for the estate of Eddington. Bust, and Co. The case lias been carried on appeal to the Supreme Court, and we learn by telegram that the Judge has decided in favor of Mr. Wilson, with costs.

The monthly meeting of the Fire Brigade will be held at S o'clock this evening. An inquiry was held by Mr. Farquhar, Collector of Customs, yesterday, touching the circumstances attending the death of Cornelius Laird, late mate of the Lizzie Guy. Captain Stevens and Neill Scott, who was at the wheel at the time, gave evidence, but nothing new was elicited. Both witnesses stated that it would have been madness to lower a boat, owing to the -very heavy sea running at the time. The dreariness of the Parliamentary Chamber is occasionally relieved by incidents which appear to be irresistibly comical in such a sedate atmosphere, and it is surprising how gladly hon. members take advantage of any excuse for a good laugh. The other night Sir George Grey was talking eloquently, when, mingled with his musical and rhetorical utterances, were spupds as of the fundamental bass of an organ. They proceeded from the nasal organ of Mr. Vincent Pyke, who was peacefully slumbering on the bench behind that of the members for Rodney and the Buller. "Pyke, Pyke," said they, when the third or fourth snort gave evidence of an oblivious but yet elaborate crescendo, the ultimate extent of which no man could foretell, and which will no\y never be known. Mr. Pyke opened his eyes, and, as if to make amends for lost time, uttered a "Hear, hear, 'in his peculiar manner, which was audible throughout the whole House, and which was heartily enjoyed by the jaded members. A shock of earthquake was experienced this morning at about five minutes past eight o'clock. The shock was tolerably sharp but short. Last evening we referred to the fact of a lady of respectable appearance canvassing the town for subscriptions for the distressed, and mentioned that no one knew how the money had been applied. We have j received the following letter from, we bej lieve, the lady in question, and, as the names and addresses to the several persons are forwarded for our satisfaction, we gladly insert the communication : "Sir —In your issue of last evening you referred to a " respectable looking female" who had been canvassing for subscriptions for a family in reduced circumstances. I believe lam the person referred to, and in reply to the query as to whether the subscriptions obtained were applied to their legitimate object or not, I believe the recipients have been asked that question, and replied in the affirmative. 1 have received several small sums of money, also several parcels of bedding Ac., which were forwarded in due course to the persons for whom they were intended. If the address of either party was not given, it was because I was not asked the question, not from any desire to evade doing so. I pass over the evident hasty conclusion you have arrived at with regard to my intentions, and enclose my address." The fortnightly meeting of the Municipal Council will be held to-morrow evening. The Committee of the Athenfeum and Mechanics' Institute will hold their monthly meeting at half-past seven o'clock to-njorroiv evening.

Mr. W. J. Hurst—one of the Auckland members —spoke in defence of the prodigal expenditure in connection with the Con' stabulary force on the West Coast, and, really, he did so not at all badly. He posted himself just as Mr. Gladstone would have done under the circumstances, and gave some forcefulness to his language by judic:ously and gracefully indicating with his forefinger what he wished to say—(We understand that this is quite the correct thing—vide Bell's Elocutionist.) During the half-hour adjournment, the volatile and witty member for the Lakss District met Mr. Hurst in the lobbies, and the following colloquy ensued : —Mr Pyke : " Hurst, you came out to-night like a Sor'.neives." Mr. Hurst: "Yes, yes; I did pretty well, didn't I?" Mr. Pyke: "I thought so. Balaam's ass spoke once." Mr. Hurst thinks that he met with this saying" long, long ago," and is, it is said, searching Shakespeare, "Paradise Lost," Artemus Ward, and the Scriptures. What an argument for Bible-reading in schools. We would recommend him to " search the Scriptures." The Wellington Post says "There are about 600 New Zealand entries at the Mel?

bourne Exhibition, as compared with 583 at the Sydney Exhibition. Dr. Hector reported, to the' Commission yesterday that the entries received up to the present "were distributed as follows :—Auckland, 42 exhibits; Thames, 39; Gisborne, 1 ; Napier, 32 ; New Plymouth. 5 ; WanganuL 17; Wellington, 89 ; Blenheim, 5 ; Nelson, 35 ; Greymouth, 3 ; Hokitika, 10; Cliristchurch, 105; Timaru, 4; Oamaru, 6 ; Dunedin, 123; Invercargill, 50 ; and Queenstown, 9." j To rash experimenters on the effects of electric shocks it may be well to mention a case which lately occurred at New Haven, Connecticut. A gentleman was induced to j try a shock from the machine of a travelling j retailor of electricity. After doing so, he turned away, ■ut soon staggered and fell. He was taken up unconscious, and clied in the same state two days after. The medical men pronounced it a case of apoplexy superinduced by electric shock. The Alta California is responsible for the following :—A short distance from Buena Vista is a cave inhabited by spiders, which differ from other spiders in their enormous size, and are quite useful to the needy people of that region. The cave was discovered last December by a party of sight-seers, and the spiders and their work were witnessed. On entering the cave, one is struck by funny looking webs. They are worked like other webs of spideys, but every fibre is ten times as large as the ones wove by ordinary spiders. On passing further into the cave the spiders are encountered. They are about the size of small birds and make a strong j sound while weaving their web, Their webs I are so tough and the fibre so large that it is almost an impossiblity to break down a web. Some weeks ago, while looking at the cave, a miner got to examining the webs. Their strands were about the side of a No. 12 thread, and he thought they could be used for thread. Having a needle in his possession, he broke off one of the strands and found that it fitted the needle. Sewing on a loose button to test the efficacy, he found it as strong as silk thread, afid it answered his every purpose. Since then the people have flocked in and carried away hosts of the webs, but the spiders do not appear to object in the least. There is some talk among capitalists of starting a thread factory there, and using the webs for thread. The Chicago Journal's New York correspondent of July 1 sent the following particulars of the extraordinary attempt by Dr, Tanner to fast 40 days " Since Dr. Tanner commenced to fast —on Monday noon—he has lost four and a half pounds of flesh. Since Tuesday night at 25 minutes past 11 he has taken five ounces of water. His normal temperature shows no material change as yet. During the pight he slept well for seven or eight hours. His face has a ruddy color, and his general appearance is that of a man in excellent health, and under no extraordinary restraints, The third day of the fast ended at noon to-day. This morning, when the reporter asked the doctor liow he felt, he replied, 'As fresh as a daisy. Ido not feel any particularly disagreeable effects thus far, but I expect to at the end of ten days.' " The mail left San Francisco immediately after this, and no further details are yet to hand ; but, from a telegram to the Melbourne Age published yesterday, it will have been seen that Tanner, on 22nd July, had fasted for 25 days, and was " doing as well as could be expected." If the affair does not prove a hoax, it may well cause the savctns to lay their heads together. Just at the present time (says a contemporary) Dr. Tenner's acquirements would be found very handy in some parts of the world —Ireland and Asia Mii}or for instance, nqt to say New Zealand,

A remarkable instance of the advances which science has made in late years in the tracking of disease has come to light during the last few days. An outbreak of typhoid fever was reported in Bristol, as the result of using milk contaminated with fever germs, Dr. Davies, the Medical Officer of Health for the city, traced the source of the epidemic to the supply of milk from one particular farm. He found that the farmer had washed his cans in a stream which passed through his farm, and used no other water, No immediate cause of pollution was discoverable, but two miles above the farm the doctor found sewage running into the brook, and close by, also in the water, the putrid carcasses of several animals that had died of the disease that has recently been prevalent amongst stock jn Somerset, Too much praise cannot be given to the ingenious perseverance of Dr. Davis, and the incident is one full of warning to farmers to be on the alert, not only fpr pauses directly under their eyes;, but for dangers quite as serious though more remotely connected with the §cene of their operations. There js really 110 accounting for taste. The marriage of Henderson Africanus, the black Ambassador whom the Conservatives of Victoria thought of sending Home in the wake of Mr. Berry, says the Melbourne correspondent of the Ararat Advertiser, has been the surprise of the week. Henderson, was really and truly married to a white woman, the widow of an officer. To attempt to explain so extraordinary an occurrence is beyond my power. But, who ever attempted to explain the vagaries of lovely women ? This week another marriage took place, which fairly "knocked" the fashionable world. For some time two gentlemen have been the suitors of a " block" belle. One has seen 65 winters, and was as frosted on the '■ pow" as Jqhn Anderson; the other was aged. 22, and was as han4spme as Apolio, a great athlete, and rjiuch more wealthy than the pld lover—and yet what did tliG lady do ? With the perversity which distinguishes the sex she chose the old fellow, who will be in his grave ere five years - and they were married. Can any reader inform me what guides the feminine mind ?