GLEANINGS FROM THE PAPERS.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 67, 11 January 1879, Page 3

GLEANINGS FROM THE PAPERS.

Th.! 11-.-v. lieorge Di-owit. lh* Weleyan j missionary who in April lust, inllieted ! suoli severe chastisement upon the na- \ . fives of Xew Britain, wh i had murdered several of Hie native teachers, at any rate seems satislieil that lie acted in a perfectly legitimate manner in the steps ho took .'ii that occasion. L n :i letter addressed to Iho Advocate, the organ of lim Wosli-yiui Church in Xow South Wales, under date September li, lie j writes : —" Xo one regretted the necessity ! more than myself, for on no one else cniilil the responsibility of the whole • arl'aii- rest, but I have never 'regretted for ' : one m mil nt that we acted us we did. I believe that such another occasion will never occur again here ; but looking back ■ on the affair, now nearly five mouths , since it happened. 1 feel that were 1 ' again placed in a similar position I should with a cleat nsi ienee, act ju~: as ivc did ' in April hist." The Sydney Kvening Xcws of Ne- . veiubcr -I savs: Wo have it on the ' I authority of Mr. (i. !•'. Wino, tlio agent [ for ii ignition, that about 18 months • ago a plasterer reached Sydney from the ' United States of America under the as- •' sistcd immigration regulations of the colony, lie is a man of sober and industrious habits, and was only 12 months . in this colony when he accumulated £IOO : | This sum bo remitted to his wife, with , instruction* to proceed with his three children to England. They reached that country in due course, and then found passage warrants from London to this <l colony, where tlwy arrived by one of o the laUsl lwmitfra.nl vussels. This i +. t only a solitary Instance of the prudonoe|i ol t!ie assisted immigrants from America, a

a Hi' Unit*] State, like oar iW - r \ ic. te toria La an ultra protectiv untry. Th« 11-' people of both places delight in ii..-. le. .- radios .'ii stilts and In tall talking. y. 'l'h v believe that protection means plenty al of money, and short ! ,of work to >f the labourer and. tho artisan. The orniy, verse, however, happens to bo the case ■-. if we lire to judge from the number of | b- liaidworking men who have left these u conntrb - ami taken up their abodes in n New South Wales, where freedom of tl. trade and [prosperity prevails, ii ■ if ever, like our friend from America, it y must bo borne in mind that here it is 11 eossary to Im sober and industrious in it orJer to attain prosperiiy." lt Out- of tli.. Litest American " notions " fJ says :i contemporary] is ;t project for a getting tli.. United States, Great Britain, 0 .iii.l K i-ia to unite in the construction ~ of a railway from Washington City to St. Petersburg, which would lenv dv B Isouie -it) miles of t1,,. way to be .1 m 1 by water. The plan of tho projector .>f t tiiis project, Mr. Greaves, would have ~ . ■ c.ipitil of tie. three countries unite in *ii '.vi.k, each country to cmstruit .. the .• i:i its own portion of the wavto ;, i/Cujii • neled. Ho proposes thai "tho j American capitalists should uitiko their if ;>>.ti";i of tli.'load to some point of (.lie jii'.iisli territory—say to the point where ' tho Columbia llivor runs into Washing-

. i m territory. English capitalists would [ then continue i!m line through N«v .■ Georgia to llio point were tin: Youcau , ltivcr runs into Alaska, thence, through [Alaska to Capo Prince of Wales, on I Miring Strait, to St Petersburg. Passengers and freight would I>b carried I . I'm;,i I 'i,|„. I'rincc of ll'ak on tho Am- ; riciin continent to East Cupe in Asia, . directly o[>posite, and only 40 miles 1 m apart, in splendid steamers, built ami .pot there for that purpose, and owned ( '' l>y tlii.-s_rrrt.-al company, (.'ortninly, the , j project inn-l lie admitted to 1)0 wortliv ' ', of the country of franklin,, Morse, and ! Edison : and "to bestow on the world > . ! the possibility of making a trip through ' America, Asia ami Europe, seated in ! .splendid sai'-on carriages, with land under , lone, ex.-epl fur the sliorl distance of W miles, about as far as from Mover to Calais, mid visible throughout that short . : l.il of steamer travelling, would'evidently ' I he a much Letter aim for the genius and ; res mrcrs lit' the Hi nations thus called upon than the expending of a ' still larger amount of money, .science, ' effort, and pluck in war for the acquisition of one another's territory A carpenter who has returned from ' Fiji, after a three years' residence there, ( sends the following communication to , the English Mechanic in answer to a { correspondent who had requested infer- N 1 mation :—" I cannot think," he savs. „

| is al a standstill, and nearly everybody in a hopcicss'stute, of bankruptcy, where 'all have left except those prevented by ! re angnsta doni. or [ears of the vi dlauee lof Australian detectives. Carpenters th ■:;• kail there. Most of the white iu- [ habitants live in native-built huts, in 'which the only thing in it carp enter's line | is the floor. ' There are n few weath >rj hoarded inns in the town of Leruka, In! I these, if not mil lo or repaired by the occupiers themselves (who are generally ] what are called ' handy men ' with tools), . do not find occupation for the carpenters already on the island. The Government ■ work, sweh as bridges, culverts, and bail li >.;-, is executed by theß yal Eugi- ; ncers i'ite chances of getting a situation kit an; thing else are 'extremely small. ; ti.ie would require a knowledge nf sugar, .ol'eo, and maize planting besides and ah.ive all, an acquaintance with the employed as an overset' to a pianUtio.'l, wlii -li is, practically speaking, the only j wages are, nominally, for a carpenter, IU. a day. An o'ifer of 10s. per due

would be "eagerly snapped up. The climate, though 'free fmm levers and clioli :.i. is very debilitating t i K irope.-ms. I Tim present inhabitants u'ru poor and inhospitable. Provisions are dear; clothes tools, books, &c, prodigiously so. Meal Is. pur Hi.; II .ur, Us. for ol) II..; 1 r, •Js. per pint; tobacco, lis. Cd. per lb.; medicines, books, tec, lOOporcotrt.deaier than in England." [The writer of tills paragraph is evidently one of the detractors nf Kyi. Tho whole paragraph is a mass of false statements, liu. S. T.] There is nothing like resource. We havo just heard of an enterprising young Tynosider, who was engaged to a young lady in tlie South, whom lie had not seen for twelve iMonths, contriving to break off an engagement. II >\v do you think he did it? lie got a sixpenny carte of tho Scottish Giant, and sunt it to her as his own portrait, with a note lamenting his growing fatness. His letters and presents i came buck by return of post. ' Sin Francisco has u u jt,y ordinance making a misilomcanoiir of the act of ' Bleeping in a room containing less than | .->()!) oubic foot of air to each person. No , effort has ever been inn lu to enforce it [ against any hut < 'hinese. , The Government of Capo Colony are ! about to cause a survoy to bo made he- ' youd the line of existing railways to- ' the Orange Itiver with a view to ex- ' tend the railway system to tho b'reo State ' and Qrinual&nu. ' | > The Leeds. Chief nonstable reports a|] decrease of 84 per cent, in the number of I opprollOD ii'ins for drunkenness during I too past year, l'he improvement U due i in a great meaniro to the opening of i o iffbo hou km for tho workiiis-chuMs. !'

rUthera j»ood story of Qmam ii Gnu who is iii Palis, is just now being to]i Tho General attended a Ministerial n CCption. On bis arrival a uw-t put.-: tous-lookiug major domo, gorgeous i silver braid, anuoiiiu'cl in a stentoria eoi.o. "Monsieur lo QJndral Granl former Presidenl of the United States . America." Tli.' General was so take aback at hearing himself thus poinpousl announced that, instead ..:' mounting tu stair, he slipped into tli.- smokiug-roo:i on the ground floor, whera he wis snh soquently found tranqbilly enjoying Id cigar and brandy-and-water. M aiiwhil. tli.- Ministers and "swells" upstairs wen warmly shaking hmi Is with a beardei gentleman who Bail entered immediately after the iiunouiicomeiit of General Grant anil who bears a striking resemblance t' the ex-PiiMidunt, lull who unfortunately turned out to lie the manager of the re freshmen! department- -tbo furcinmi ii fact, of tho linn of confectioners witl whom tie- contract for the evening bad been made. This, worthy tradesman was astpondo i at his cordial reception, and at the empresseuient with which the galaxy of dignitaries were welcoming him back ti Trance. A careful inspection of fir- coast ol Cyprus has led lo the conclusion tiiat b'umagousta u\:i< lie decided upon as the future port of tin. island. Very interesting returns have just been published by tli" Imperial Maritime < loinpany of China showing tli.- share taken by each nationality in tli.- carrying trade between China and foreign countries for !577. 'I'll) total shipping entered and cleared from and to foreign ports was 2,715,000 tons, of which 2.132,000 was British, .)«:J,OOO tons representing the shipping of all olhrr countries of the world. Tu" m is! marked features in tiewhole year's carrying t radc compared with pluvious year.--, are the insignificant and rapidly decreasing share taken by the United States; the immense increase in local shipping of foreign type taken liv China; and tho enormous preponderance if Great Britain in all branches of the Irac'e of < 'hina. foreign, local, and internal transit, over all the other couiitri'w of tie-world taken together. An interesting experiment is being mad" bv the municipality at Rhcims. fliat body has founded a school of iulustry, capable of accoimnodating :it)D pupils, and affording a course of insfruci.ms covering a space of three rears, to which boys between 12 and l.'i years of igp are admissible from other schools.

j It possesses a stall' of six professors, and there is a teacher in each of the workshops. In one of these practical mechanics is taught in all its branches, steam piwer, a "forge, benches, an I all kinds of tools and implements bring provi led. In another part of tho cstabtablishmeiil the boys learn tha carpenter's, 1 joiner's, and cabitnet-maker's arts, in a third department weaving is carried on by in inns nf numerous hand-looms, and the textile fabrics produced are from designs d"vised upon the premises. A portion of the building is devoid to the study of chemistry, an 1 as Rhcims is one of the seats of the woilen manufactures of Erance, the pupils are taught how to analyse the staple, how to wash and cleanse it without injuring its fibre or its lustre, It iiv to extract from it tii ■ natural grease and reduce it to a solid substance, how t' prepare dveing colours, and how to apply them. Attached to the school is a large piece of ground, planted with trees, shrubs, herbs, and flowers; and here the science of botany is taught. The institution has now been in existence for 2 years, and the advantages it otters seem to bo eagerly embraced by the rising generation in uhciins, who Hud in it much more entertaining and profitable occupation tlnui in lounging about the the streets of the city after nightfall, and poisoning the air with the fumes of cheap tobacco ; for the evening lectures, which are free to all the residents in the place are numerously attended and highly prized. Altogether, the undertaking is one deserving of the warmest approbation, and its stieccsS will probably lead to the example thus set being emulated by other cities. It is tho kind of education which is most wanted in this "workingday world,'' and nowhere so much perhaps, as in the colony of Victoria.—Melbourne Argus. An extraordinary fatality in one house and family at Kincbley is recorder! by Dr. Saunders in a report recently presented to the Burnet Sanitary Authority. During the year 1877 one child died at this house of dipthcria, two more were ill with the same disease, but were removed, and recovered ; another child died :>f erysipelas, and a third died of plubits. The water used for drinking purpose was from a shallow well, and was polluted. The house itself was situated in. and formed part of, the enclosure of a formraid, which was surrounded by buildings in all sides, and contained the usual unount of farmyard refuse, but with less thanes of the air, which must be rendered mpara by the manure, &«., becoming lilntcd. 'i)r. Saunders mentions the ease lartlculnrly, because ho thinks it very leslrable to break down tho tradition bat familiar slinks, Mich as from farm'aids and certain offensive trades, lire larnilcss. The cases of dipthcria which iavc happened through his entire district cue every one been under tie- influence ■I impure air, although from sources nt (mutual, and, thoroforc thought little if.