NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1625, 25 August 1887, Page 4

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Atlas, in the World, says;—“After the Coronation the Duchess of Kent found great fault with Lord Conyngham (who was then Lord Chamberlain) because (he 1 Queen’s procession in the Abbey was too crowded, so that the effect was spoiled. It is odd that precise'y tbe same blunder was committed at the Thanksgiving. There was not sufficient interval between tbe different personages, and I hear that the Prince of Wales was particularly displeased at finding himself and bis brotheis , so crowded, the result being that they were quite overshadowed by the stately figure of the Crown Prince of Germany, who was just in front.” In connection with ths Children’s Jubilee in Hyde Park, it i« stated that Florence Dunn, that paragon of punctuality who whs presented to the Queen as the scholar who bad never missed a single attendance, is an Irish girl. A correspondent, calling attention to the fact that the Raleigh House estate at Brixton-rise is about to be sold by public auction, writes to the Telegraph “ Apart from the great need we in this suburb have of a public recreation ground or park, this venerable house is one of the most historical in the neighbourhood of London. It stands in tbe midst of a noblytimbered park of twelve acres, and is in 1 the best Elizabethan sty'e of architecture. It was inhabited for some years by Sir Walter Raleigh. Here he entertained Queen Elizibeth, who was wont, on a fine summer’s afternoon, to cause her barge to be rowed up in the now hidden Eflra, to pay her illustrious courtier a visit, There is danger that this most interesting spot may fall into the bands of the building contractors, and be lost to posterity, An effort, at least, should be made to save it.” One of tbe most remarkable features of the Royal garden parly at Buckingham Palace was tbe ebullient rigor of Mr Gladstone. As the veteran stood bareheaded, with a bright rose in his button hole, before the Royal tent, making the Grand Duke Serge laugh by his contagious mirth, he seemed one of the youngest and liveliest of the festive company. The cares of State have weighed much more heavily upon the Queen than upon the ex-Prime Minister who entered Parliament before she ascended the throne. Mr Gladstone might have been celebrating his fiftieth birthday, so blithe he looked, and so full of animation and high spirits. It is stated that the habit of drinking absinthe is more common to-day in the United States than it was ever before. ; Of its evil effects one writer says The poor wretches given up to absinthe drinking suffer from a peculiar train of nervous symptoms, the most prominent of which i is epilepsy of a remarkably severe charac- ; ter. The last moments of the absinthe drinker are truly horrible. Absinthe, be- ■ sides alcohol, contains several ethereal oils, cf which the most important is the i oil of wormwood. It has been often observed that tbe use of this beverage results in disorders widely different from those caused by alcohol alone, and the oil of wormwood has produced in animals tetanic convu'sions similar to the epileptic form of convulsions which aff ct absinthe drinkers. A Chicago despatch to an American contemporary states that during Mdme. Bernhardt's recent visit to that town she had with her a young tiger, which she caled Minette. The pet, while kind and docile with its mistress, manifested an awkward desire to bile pieces out of the waiters who attended the tragedienne. While one of these unfortunates, named Zogolman, was serving dinner, the pet caught him by the hand and badly lacerated it. Another waiter narrowly escaped a similar fate. Sara cuddled the creature in her arms, and seemed joyous over the fact that none of its teeth were broken, Telegrams from Shanghai state that the forthcoming marriage of the young Emperor Kvaogsu is officially announced. The subject was first mentioned informally at the beginning of last year, and we are now told that the youthful ruler, and, what is more important, the ex-Empress Regent, have at last made a selection of the Indy whom they deem worthy to be the wife of the Sovereign «f the Middle Kingdom. The ceremony is to b« marked by exceptional festivities, the cost of which is computed at £1,000,000 sterling. The l»st occasion of a Chinese Emperor’s marriage was in October, 1872, when Tnngche married the Lady Ahluta. Numerous changes are expected in the personntl of the Imperial Administration. The Crown Prince of Austria’s “Garter” will involve an expenae to the country of at least £IOOO, as he la to get the full “ Royal ” outfit, which is to bo sent after 1 him to Vienna, and all the fees are paid 'forhim. Prince Henry of B«:terburg was the lust “ extra ” oreation, and the Queen paid the fees for him, but declined to provide him with the costly outfit, declaring that “ he could v-'v well do without it; ” J and I do not know (adds Mr Labouchere) , why it should be thought necessary to present the Royal Kmghts with it, as the ornate and extravagant full dress has never been worn by any of them within the memory of mao, except by one German Prince for an hour, when he desired to be photographed in the elaborate uniform of the great English Order. The King ©f the Belgians has just invested £1,100,000 in the purchase of estates in Hungary and Austria. Admiral Tiyon, the rejected of Spalding, is to succeed Sir Francis Sullivan ns Director of Transports. The Admiral is a good officer and administrator (says Truth), and he will be of far more service to his country in the navy than if he were supporting the Tory leaders in tbe House of Commons “ with silence and solicitude.”

VENUS IN CONVULSIONS. A correspondent of the Pioneer Mail gives the following account of “facts as witnessed by myself, wife, and two Mahommedan servants, all four seeing the phenomenon simultaneously, and not for a minute or so but for upwards of an h onr ” ; —“At about 8.30 o’clock on the evening of May 29th, while sitting at (tinner, one of my ome in from outside and s»id; ‘S r, just step out and see what a tamaaha is taking place with the star Sook’—the native name for V®- 118 - Out we went, and, sure enough, there was Venus, large and bright, but, strange to say, falling tiro, three, and four feet at a time, then oscillating from right to left; sometimes dashing to the right and then to the left several feet ut a time. These movements continued in rapid succession, and were plainly apparent to all at once ; but this wae not all. Venus, when we first saw her, was, say, apparently four hundred ■ yards übof e the horizon} fVhi.o wa cbing

her wo observed a star (some two yards, to look at) above, suddenly fall into Venus and there remain. We were amazed. The natives exclaimed : 1 The last day is at hand,’ and so on. Wo watched Venus rapidly descending until she dipped the horizon. At times she appeared her usual size, and quite bright; then again hardly visible. Psrbaps the phenomenon can be explained by someone versvd in astronomy. I again repeat that what has been described was seen by myself, *ny wife, and two native servants, and could by no means have been imagination.” AMERICAN TESTIMONIAL TO MR GLADSTONE. A memorial sent to Mr Gladstone by admirers in the United States was presented to him at a garden party given by Mrs Gladstone at Dollis Hill, on July 9th. The presentation was made by the Hon. Joseph Pulitzer, of the New York World. A majority of those with him were newspaper men. The memorial is a massive piece of silver work. Mr Pulitz-r, in his speech, dwelt upon the ex-Premier's relation to the Irish question, and in his reply Mr Gladstone spoke of the irrepressible interest in the Irish cause felt in America. SHOOTING AT WIMBLEDON. In the shooting matches in the first stage of the Queen’s prize at Wimbledon in July, Dodds, of Ist Dumfries Regiment, and Gardiner, of the Ist Cumberland, tied for the first prize, and subsequently shot off the tie, Gardiner winning the bronze medal by fourteen points against eleven in three shots. Qilfies, of the 19th Canada, and Heath, of the Ist Manchester, tied for. the Prince of Wales’ prize of £IOO and a badge. Gillies won in shooting off the tie. Three Canadians, Gillies, Thompson, and Laogsbrath, obtained money prizes in the tyro contest. The silver modal for the highest aggregate score in the second stage of the Queen’s Prize shooting, was won by Hill of the Eighth Lanarkshire Eiflsg. The contest for the Kolapore Cup took place on the 20th, The English team won with' an aggregate score of 710, the Canadian team second with 663. The second prize, which the Canadian team received, was £BO.