GLEANINGS FROM THE PAPERS.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 63, 14 December 1878, Page 3

GLEANINGS FROM THE PAPERS.

At Glasgow the other day a bride was fined T~ Gd, for l«iii_; drunk and incapable. She gave as her reason that she was to have been married the previous day, but as her intended husband was too drunk, the priest would ii"l perforin the ceremony. In order !•> .- ilai e her wounded fei lings, sin- wont and did likewise. The employment of thymol as a substit iti for carbolic acid in surgical dressings is says the a iialucal Conso- <!"•-" f the discJvcry r.f its greater anli■■■; lie and less septic power. Ali cture on the subject has been published in Volkman's series by 11. Kanke, of Halle. The solution used Instead of the ." per cent, solution of carbolic acid consist of one lit thymol, ten pails of al< <>h .1, twenty Of glycerin, and a thousand of water, mill an bo employed as either a spray or 11 solution. An impregnated gauze is also used. Sinco thymol does ii"i ii rit it- the wounds, the gauze may bu laid directly upon it ; otherwise the sine method is employed .as in Lister's plan. If gauze becomes hard and dry it may bo moistened once or twice a day with thymol water. In order to prevent the evaporation of the thymol from the dressing, the gauze is covered with oiled paper. From an experience of forty-ono wi iinds dross' n with thymol the lecturer concluded that tie mctliod leaves nothing to he d-sired as to its antiseptic effect, and thnl it answers better than the carbolio ncid dressing.since the secretion from thn wounds is less, the period of healing shorter, and the cost of the dressings is smaller. Further, it has no poisonous properties, and eczema was never observed in it- use. The resources of New Guinea are unknown as well as undeveloped; its papulation hostile ns well as treacherous, and its climate in the highest degreo unhealthy. The island has, however, been recently prospected not only hy Australians from Sydney, and nondescripts from Fiji, but more recently under direct orders from Whitehall by the Commodore in command of the Australian squadron. The annexation of New Guinea lias, for some unaccotmtahlc reason, been strongly advocated by the Governor of ! Fiji, who it might be"thought had work I enough on his hands in the administraI lion of ins own ' iovcrmucnt to keep him ■piietly at home. -Glasgow Herald. j Sir I;,uii.'! Wolsiley has received petitions from the Christian population of 1 Xikusia prnvi.ig that Greek might be made the oilici.-d language of Cyprus. I'fhe High C mnissioner replied thai the i request ,-011,1 not be -ranted, as English i would he the ollicial language of tic island. | Theatt.nli if llm SultauV Xlinist.rs | is directed at this momeiil to the considei ration of it number of demands that ale being made tor Imperial concessions in | favour of varioii—hemes of iiuproveinent. Many of these are of a character to con- | fee, when carried out. great material hcitcj tii.- on tile Empire. Jiy far the most imi portant of liieso projects in an interi national as well as iiatioiml fciisc is one | for the construction of a railway from j Scutari to Bagdad through the Euphrates Valley. The Duke of Sutherland is at the head of one company, which is being granted to a company, composed mostly of Englishmen, for the construction of a line of railway from Jaffa to Jerusalem, Pacilic colonisation is apparently the next phase of colonial enterprise. his possible that a few years may see many more of the South' Sea Islands peopled by an English-speaking race. It seems likely that the great worl 1 of the Paciric may one day vie with the world that is washed by the Atlantic in prosperity and mii.sation. When this comes to pass men '.y.'.j ,a\ that th ir:' •ol lost< n icomplete.—"History of European < olon'ies. 1 know very Weil thai John Hull thinks ! li ■ can do anything 1 there is very much thai ho can do, but there is one think he cannot do—he cannot give Tur-koy-in-Asia g I government through the Turkish Pashas. If then wc arc to govorn Turkey well, that good government must and will end in annexation. - Mr. Forstor at Greenwich. The English Arctic exploring ship Alert is being fitted out for anew surveying trip, which Nature snys will be carried out principally in the South Pacific Hor first work will be an examination of the inner water leading from the Straits of Magellan to the Gulf of l'cuas, ; ,l..n K the seaboard of Chile; from this she will stretch across the South Pacific Gcean from Fiji, adding en route as far as practicable to the present knowledge of the hydrography of the Low Archipelago —"Society and Friendly Islands. After a few months spent in the neighbourhood of Fiji, and ill an examination, of dangers lying in the track of navigation between the group and the colony of Now Zealand, she will, for the latter part of her voyage, bo employed oil' the north-western coast of Australia, principally ill ascertaining the position of, and as far as necessary charting, tin? various surfs and islets lying oil' the Australian continent, and between it and the ports of the Netherlands India, and at many of which reefs, &c, traffic has been for some time increasing on the search of trepany pearls, ami guano. Sir Kielmrd Wallace, who is nothing unless geneious, has presented to the Earl of Ueaennslield the slur and badge of the garter in diamolidsof extraordinary beauty. Bat th* circumstance that conj f. is a special value upon his graceful act is thai lie- slar and badge hit those which | were formerly worn by the Prime Minis',- \ old friend, Lord 11,-rtford.

A Phyaiologioal phenomenon ha j i I been discovered in this city by one of the district physicians. It is nothing less ' than * coloured woman turning white. Luella Smith, aged 3Q years, who is Uvi) in,' at No. 60, Gano Alley, is not a e mulatto. She's a* black as your hat in '' the face, but her bod; is gradually be- ' ginning to turn us white as any Caucasian. Tliis changing process began about five years ago, and now her body is fully . two-fifths white ; on her breast there is a - white spot about eight inches long and '• six inches wide. ll,r limbs, too present " the same singular appearance, an I, if the change keeps on, will in a few years be '. as white as anybody. At present she is being treated for consumption. The only f while spots about her face are directly belt hind either ear and inside the ears. The I ,1" -tors call this transformation " absorps tion of pigment,* but, whatever it is, it N is extraordinary, and will elicit a good , of attention from the medical profession. , - Cincinnati Enquirer. v Our Yankee cousins have hit upon a t cnpitul method of viewing their Ci.ivere sity boat race between Vale and Harvard. 1 A train of platform cars, with seats for 0 spectator, is to run along the track by r the riverside, kco] ingeven with the coins' peting crews. Each car will bo boarded :, up at the back and si.l.-s, and will hav. - four tiers of seats, accommodating eighty ~ people. ; Boxing (he ears has hitherto been 1 siked upon as a very harmless and simple , -'it of punishment, but parents will do w. 11 if they do not '•are about running the risk of injuring their children for life t > entirely discard "the practice. Medical ', men alone, me Lancet, says can be fully aw ire how fruitful a source of suffering and ,lunger is represented by the box ii] •ii the car. There are, for example, undi r observation at the present moment . tw schoolboys who have been the victims ,f such an assault. Surelv schoolmasters ■night to have learned long ere this the danger of a mode of personal chastise- '' ineiil that has apparently uscp.il the J. place oi'others, which, if more disgusting, » re not attend-d with an i ,pial amount 1 of peril. i Thi iiiiu-r-c of a great commercial country like this will only tl- urish—his- - i ,i attests it again a'd again—under F the shadow of Empire, and those who t- givi up Empiro in order to make commerce , pi. .per will unil by losing both. What • • we desiro is thai England should not ocli ,-upy a position and fulfil a character ,- among tiie nations of the earth such as v.c mould despise among our neighbours i at home Ido not know it' you observed - it, but it struck me with a thrill of c.n----e grutulation when 1 saw that, in taking n possession of Cyprus not one voice, no! . one hand, was' lifted up to resist that - trim fer, and the proclamation of i.i-tiii - \'i- toria's name was everywhere received - wilii enthusiasm, while other nations, - perhaps militarily, more powerful than -• ourselves, have to"struggle with the deep ,1 reluctaii u of the peoples whom th,-y pros r'ess to free. What is the reason o'f the : difference '. It is that we, at all events ' in the cause of civilisation, have won our s -purs before the world. Wi have shown, i n governing India, that where English y rule and English influciico exist, pi ace, a older, and prosperity nre the result, and ~ therefore it is that the prospett of English i-mI- is welcomed by men of every .- nice and of every creed.—Speech by the s Marquis of Salisbury. Th,- Mauritius correspondent of the S. 1 M. Herald writes; It is satisfactory to be s able to report that not only do our sugar plantations prosper, but great hopes are * entertained as regards the increase of 1 plantations of coffee, vanilla, manioc and - aloe. At the same time I must admit s thai emigration to Madagascar still cou- ■ tinues, owing probably to the favourable s accounts constantly reaching this from 1 iheiice iii reference to the numerous ad- " vantages in prospect to settlers there. - The small cost of land in Madagascar, 1 the abundance of labour, together with ' -he fortii-iv ci the scil aiul tk U'iniu iofrom cyclones, combine to render the above island n very favourable and tempting place for agriculturists. Th,- man who i- scrupulouly polite and respectful toall women ill public, but habitually saves coarso maimers and vulgar language for his own wife and daughters, ( is no gentlenieii. lie is only an imposr tor. The young man who oils his hair, . puts swot odours upon his poekef hand- ' kerchief, and bows with charming 0 elegance to Miss Arabella Spriggins and her lady friends, and goes home to sneer at Ids mother, disobeys her wishes and treats her with familiar discourtesy, is a n pinch-heck imitation only of a gentleman. I iciiuine good manners and gentle breediug should begin at home. As a rule the men in a community who are tin most trusted are the best men at home. 1 When a man opens his front gate only to meet his wife's face at the door rudi--1 diunt with pleasure, and hears the shout „ from the eager children:" Papa is coming,' . it is safe, as a rule to loan that man ,j ney. He is honest and will repay yot ,j if he can. I.i N'oilvelleC.ilidonie prinlsa petition o to the Government of the colony in favour of getting the mail steamer bej twoen San Pronoisco and Sydney to call e as Noumea, with a branch from the latter ep! to Now Zealand It states that the y fiibsidy demanded hv the Pacific Com- - puny is £12,1)00. The petition says that t after all its troubles, a bright future is in li I store for Now Caledonia, and sets fortii i- ; the benefits which would How from the ' railing of the mail boat-.

I It is stated by a correspondent that the ! 'v of I- rlin was " iii the market as j I early as July 11, and that on that day offers were made to supply it toa London paper at the round sum of 1,0001." Negotiation was attempted, but "holders * were firm," and a bargain could not Im, 11 1 struck. Foiled in one quarter, the offers •- were renewed, but for the honour of i. journalism, he says, " more must not be -e said." y The fame ~f Lord Beaconsfield is rail pidly spreading. A music hall in South ,1 London, hitherto called " The Alexandra." has been renamed " The Beaconsfield." The same title is becoming common among the London public-house sign- " board-. Mdme. Gagneur, tho French novelist, ' is about to found a home for the adoption of illegitimate children. Victor e Hugo has written her a letter of encoii- . ragement. The number of these births t annually is 50,000. making an average of , 2,000,000 on the ;ilj,000,()00 inhabitants of France.