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Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2853, 6 April 1878, Page 2

A coNSiDEBABtE quantity of the goods being unsold from the lafco Wesleyan bazaar at the Academy of Music, it has been decided to re-open at the Academy of Music this afternoon from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and all goods remaining on band at 7 o'clock willlje sold by auction* Tho price of admission has been reduced to ,6d.

The Chicago Advocate *ays that Cow-' per's familiar hymn commencing " There : is a fountain filled with blood " is mere: doggerel. The Advocate' is a religious, publication. .

. We notice by our advertising columns that Mr Sykes of the Auckland Turkish JBalhs, having been to visit the Thames with a view to the establishment of Turkish Baths here, will meet those desirousof forming a company for the erection of Turkish nnd other baths, at (he Pacific Hotel on Monday next at 8 p.m.

The manager of the Tookey Tribute 1 Company calls for tenders for driving at the 300 feet level, tenders to be received up i.o 2 p.m. on the Bth mat.

Some calograms ro British deficits in income are published, but as transmitted they are decidedly foggy.

Members of the Thames Bifle Uangers sre reminded that the fourth competition for Mr Aitkcn's watch, and other prizes, comes off at the Government Range, in two-squads, en -Monday next*-the one firing at 8.30 a.m., and the other at 2 p.m.

'Ike man Andrew Smith, .charged with the commission of rape on his own daughter at Coromandel, was acquitted. The evidence of several witnesses went to prove that the prosecutrix, a girl of thirteen, was a confirmed " liar and thief," and the mother an abandoned prostitute, and the presumption was that the'child had been put up to making the charge against her father. The ease disclosed a shocking state of depravity.

Tkstebday evening, as a butcher's cart was being driven along Pollen street, an accident of a singular character occurred. A calf, which had been apparently tied by the neck, was shaken or threw itself out of the cart, the driver being unaware of it until the shouts of the people called his attention to it. Then he leaned over to try and lift the calf with one hand while holding the reins with the other. He did not succeed, but turned a back somersault out of the cart. He did not appear to be hurt (although his escape was quite marrellous), as he jumped to his feet and started in pursuit of the horse and cart, the' horao having increased his pace at once on finding the reins loosed. Several persons started from different sides of the street, and the horse was stopped without much difficulty. It is a pity thnre was not a policeman near to make enquiries as to how the poor brute of a calf came to be tied by the neck. The spectacle presented, of the animal hanging over the tail board, was not a pleasant one, and when it was put back into the cart life must have been almost extinct.

Tnn following items of Capo news are from a correspondent of the Press Agency, and are dated Gape Town, January 22 :— The euslcrn districts cf Iho colony are suffering from severe and protracted drought. Transport is very highi and some districts aro running short of supplies. Cattle and sheep are reported dying in large numbers.—The Kaffirs at present in rebellion against the Colonial Government have entirely neglected agricultural operations, consequently grain is likely to be scarce and dear.—The Imperial and Colonial Forces have been vigorously operating against the rebellious KaGirs during the past week. Large captures of cattle have been made, and many of the enemy have been killed. Volunteers are flocking from every portion of the colony to the frontier.—A telegram received hero to-day announces the suspension of Messrs Horwood Brothers, of Port Elizabeth; liabilities, £95,000; assets, about £45,000. — Trade in the colony is generally very dull, excepting provisions and munitions of war for the frontier.

Mb H. A. Sevebn has, it appears, been experimenting with telephones in their simple or primitive form to some purpose. He claims, in a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald, to have discovered a way of communicating the sound of the voice or musical notes to persons deaf and dumb. He describes the modms operandi as follows:—" My experiments led me to make the human head the receiving or hearing instrument. Proceed thus ■.—•Put aside the tin at the hearing end, or cause a loop to be made in the string some 3 feet long; put this loop over the forehead of the listener; cause him to place the palms of his hands flat and hard against the cars—let the loop pass over the hands—and now the listener .will hear the smallest whisper, let him be deaf or not. This fact may appear extraordinary; it is nevertheless true, that a deaf person may thus be made to hear the voice, music, <fee. This matter opens up another field for thinking minds : the fact that the organ of hearing may be closed, and hearing of a most delicate nature made known to the brain independently of the ear—that deaf persons may thus be made to hear! To hear by mechanical vibrations sent into tho brain, is, I say and hope, a new application of the telephone of the tin-pot stamp. I trust a series of experiments will at once be carried out at the Deaf Asylum.