ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. (Per R.M.S. Tongariro.)

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 267, 26 May 1888, Page 6

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. (Per R.M.S. Tongariro.)

Lo\ do , April 5. Owing to the intervention of tho Eastor holidays, there has not been much doing since I last wrote.

WILL OF A NEW ZEALANDER. Though it was pretty veil understood thfit the late Mr Ueorge Puppa had made money in New Zealand, and probably still owned considerable property there, few imagined he was the rich man he turns out toha\ebeen. The striking featuro of Mr Duppa's will is that it leaves most of his property to his nephew, Mr Richard Duppa, and not to his son, Mr Biyan Cladwin Duppa, who pets £10,000 only. Mr Duppa's other nephew s receive £1.000 and the nieces £500 each. The residue of the Enpli&h personalty, valued at £64,381, all goes to MiRichard Duppa, who ha* also the Kent estate for life. Hollingbourne is strictly sebtled, tenuie bein^ made conditional on the aSMunption by the tenant of the ancient family name and arms of Do Uphauph. Mr Duppa was a .staunch Protestant, and it is expressly stipulated that no Roman Catholic cvi inherit.

DECREASE OF EMRJ RATION. The decrease of emigration to Australia and New Zealand hat. been phenomenally large during the last twelve months. Of the grand total of emigrants leaving oui shores 72 per cent, went to the United States, 11 per cent, to British North America, and 12 per cent, only to your part of the world.

FRENCH WITHDRAWAL FROM NEW HEBRIDES. It was with {Something \cry like tu'umph Sir Jftine^ Fergusson assured the Houfrc of Commons the" other cAening that the French had withdrawn their troops fiom the New Hebrides within the etipulated period. Mr Bryce, who asked the question, looked much surprised.

PASTEUR'S RABBIT EXTERMINATOR. Sir Francis Dillon Bell had not, prior to his visit to Paris, any faith whate\er in M. Pasteur's chicken cholera remedy for the rabbit pest, or any belief in its doing aught but, mischief. It is theiefore a significant tact that the French sage ha«, if not converted him, at least shaken Ins comietion?. M. Pasteur seems to have taken great pains toacl^e this, illustrating his assertions with experiment', which weie generally successful. Sir Francis has not become a champion of the scheme, but he no longer looks upon it as dangerous, and confesses to awaiting with interest the result of the trial in Is.S.W. Miss Cobbe (Frances Power Cobbe), now a delightful old lady, h- much disturbed at the prospect of our piesently consuming tinned rabbit* v, hich have died of chicken cholera, and wants to know how the can possibly tell that such food will be harmless. How indeed * say I. One thing }cm may rely on. Henceforward the demand for tinned labbitt- tiom jour part of the world w ill decrease rapidh .

MR IRVINI. S AUSTRALIAN TOLR. It is quite true that (a* stated in <-eveial piper.- > Mr Irving has been con^ideiing the feu-ibihty of an Australasian tour, but it i? nut ti us 'that anything has been decided. The gieat actor thinks he would be afaihne if he "staired" alone, trusting to join stock companies for support, and on the other hand the expense of tian«portinsr the Lyceum Company and effect* to Austialu, a-: he ha- done 'to Ameiica, would be too great to contemplate. A compromise will he submitted to Mr Irving on hi? return from the States next week It is sucrge-ted that the Au-tialian Lompoin should cons-i-t of Mr Imug, Mi'-b Ellen IVi n . M r Aleiaader, Mis Chippendale, and tlnee other?, the minor members being supplied in Au-tiaha bv the local impre-ano--n lvi v ant to faim the tnterpiise In rlucb -c. the /■«//' I'lntn would not include " Fau-t,' "The ( v}). or any othei piece igfjumng phenomenal -cenie etlect-, but be . untiiied to "The Bell-," "The L\ onMail, ' "Jingle,"" '"Meichant of Venice,' " Richelieu," and "Hamlet.* The Mel bmiine manager* think (their agent tell-, met that the melodramatic piece- would be the greatest <-uoce— es in the colonic-, and I agre'o with him. The fear i- that M;^ Ir\ing will not con.-ent to be "inn" Hitherto he has ah\a\- insisted on being hi* o\rn manager.

DEPARTURE OF THE GAIETY COMEDY COMPANY Fe^u\itif-,and entcitainment*, and benefits and presentation^ in connection wifh the depaiture ot the Gaietx Company foi Australia, are numboile^. Perhaps tlie swelled atlair of the lot will be the ball at, the Hotel Mctiopole to-night, o\cr whirh Mr Alfred dc Rothschild preside-. Xelhe Fairentake^a bumper benefit next Monday afternoon, and Fred Le-lie follows her. Fred, by-the-^ay, ha- been pre-ented with a f^or^enu-]y fitted dreeing - ba^ by his brethren of Bon Vr<c<"- Club, and Letty Lind positheK wallows in the diamonds left at the stage door nightly.

BISHOP COWIE. "Truth" la.-fc -week contained a veiy pretty paragraph about Bishop C'owie. Ifc complimented him upon being a genuine ■working prelate who had remained 19 yearb in his dioce-e, instead of, like most of his brethren, running perpetually backuaid.% and forward- between the Antipodes and the Old Count)}.

THE WELSH GOLD MINES. I am going down to Wales next week to see Mr^Pritchavd Morgan V gold mine at Dolgelly. A mutual friond tell? me the | Australian i» quite the king of Merioneth^ here. His estate, hh house, his hortefe and his carriages are the talk of the county. As for the gold, \i is visible enough to the experienced eye ; indeed, there can be no doubt Morgan ha? found a rich pocket, though whether there's more than the pocket seems in doubt. An expert values what is in sight at £40,000. About lewfc of gold haß already been taken out and lies for inspection in solid bars at the engineering offices at Westminster.

THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT and his bride are expected to arrive in Liverpool to-day by the Cunard steamer. His ticket-of leave expires next week, and the big man will then again tec free lo prosecute his so-called "case." Prior to leaving New York Sir Roger told some rare yarns to a "'Herald" reporter. Needless to ?ay, it is not true that Miss Baring (sister of Baring Bros.) mean? to find him money for law expenses, nor is it a fact that the Magna Charta Association have subscribed money for this purpose, it is, however, believable that he can, at any moment, lay his hands on the real Arthur Orion (himself?) In my opinion, the genuine reason of the claimant's return is that lie has at la«t made up his mind to come to terms with the Tich borne family and couiess. The Tichbornes are, no doubt, anxious to have Castro's identity acknowledged, and as the old man has nothing to lose and a great deal to gain by tellinjr tsbe troth, methinks h« will do so.

"THE CORSICAN VENDETTA." I take some kndoa to my self that long before "Mr Barnes of New York " jumped into popularity, t recommended the story to my colonial nowspapor friends as a suitable one for serial publication. The Auckland Star published the talo with the improved title of "A Corsican Vendetta." Over here the book is having even a bigger sale than "Called Back.'' Tho .stalls arc literally piled with different editions ot tho fctory. " Upon my word, 1 believe I'm selling nothing else," a Strand bookseller said to me yesterday. "A pertect/focm for the tale seems to have seized folks." Other tovtunato early timta of mine were, " The Lea\enworth Case " (published in the Auckland Stak long betorc it became famous), and "The Silence of Dean .Maitland." 1 made a sad mistake, chough, when 1 refused the serial rights ior Mow Zealand ot Robert Louis Stevenson s " Kidnapped, prior to its publication in " Young i'olko," but I had not read the story, and 1 feared it would be too jmenilo lor newspapei leadeis.

MISCELLANEOUS. Mr Froude, who is a oollcctoi of earl) Enulish and Roman jewellery, ha-. lust had his- house buigled, and bunw thousand pounds' woith ot \aluables eaiiied oil. The " fetar ' recently made the mistake of a\ening that the Ciiand Old Man was a. })aitnei m Mr "Ned Black's sheep station. He should ha\c said Mr Stewart, not- \\ Ewait Cladstone. Mi Bland liult paid Mi Wilson Banett JISUO tor the Austiahan rights ot " The (Golden Ladder." The same managor ba.s seemed thoietuKil ot " Ben-my Chree," Mr Jlall Caine'b diamatie \ersion ot "The Peemster. '' \uur old fiiond Bi.sliop Abraham otticiated tit the continuation t>ei\ict.s at. Eton hist week, Mlien 170 lads neie conlnmed. He pleached a \en tme tcnnun, which wab listened to w ith close r.ltcnlion. Tne New Zealand anil Austiahan L.mtl Company Bill wti;? read a second time m the House ol LonU la&t \\ edncfcday. 1 ha\e gieat hopes of .-eeuung the seria rights foi'jSew Zealand 01 the new mnel L\\ the authoi ot " The Silence ot Dean Maitland, '^lucii has just been chri-'vened •' The Keproach ot Annesle) ,'' and will in the liisL instance iuu through M'uruu s Maga/me. Mes^i- W . A&h by and Co , w ho-e business i has gio^n consudeiably duung the la^r jeai 01 t\\o, aie about to iemo\o to laiger and moie commodious' olliue^ in Leadenhallstieet. l\u ties who in\est ill s in Sir Walter Bullei s beauiitul '' Birds ol Zealand will almost certainly be able to the work (it the) wish to) at a huge piotit in a few} eaic tune. These limited ediuon&aie always proiitable .-peculations. Sothcians and other great bookseller aie lfsemng a tew copies puiel) wioha \iew to busiiiL-N. The iirst edition ot the book would e\ en now fetch t2(> to £28 at auction. ho Mai y Andoi son's ,/'«/(" i is, after .ill, onlj a bagman oi "drummer," to use Yankee pai lance. Alas 1 what a come down this must, be foi ] oor Doctor (.Juiiin, aftei all hib "gas ' about Dukes, Earl- and ! Fnncei. E\en \ our okl tuend L on-ul . Grithn will teel it a bit. i The new (.nculais l-sued by the Emigrants Intoimation Oihce will etiectually damp the aulour of person- wishing to settle in Australia or .New Zealand. Apparently >ou only want the most, eligible agucultuial laboureis, and not too many ot them.