THE THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1879.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3120, 17 February 1879, Page 2

THE THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1879.

When Great Britain happens to have two " little great" wars on, as at present, the news coming through the cable is apt to be confusing and conflicting. It is not every one who has the geography of the world at his fingers' ends or the means of referenda when his memory happens to be at fault. The Afghanistan little .war has reached a crisis; the troops hare gone into winter quarters; and the Natal difficulty will for some time claim more attention at the hands of Colonial readers than the Eastern; so that a few facts regarding Natal may help to make the news as it arrives more understandable and more interesting. From a standard authority we have some particulars of Natal, and we colhte a few of the most prominent facts. The Colony was so named by the Portuguese, who discovered it on Christmas Day, 1498. It was then and for centuries after peopled by the Zulus, and in 1822, when visited by white traders, a chief named Chaka ruled in a most sanguinary fashion. Between 1830 and 1840 it was colonised by Dutch Boers who emigrated from Cape Colony, and in May, 1843, after a severe struggle with the Boers, it was taken possession of by the British and proclaimed a British Colony ; since which time it has made, rapid progress. The Colony is situated on the south-east coast of Africa, about 800 miles east northeast of the Cape of Good Hope, and is divided from Zululand proper by the Buffalo Eiver. It contains a defined area of 25,000 square miles; the soil principally is highly fertile, the climate almost tropical, though quite healthy; and the products are sugar, coffee, indigo, arrowroot, ginger, tobacco; and the pine-apple ripens in the open air. The capital is Pietermaritz burg, or Maritzburg as it is commonly called, with a population of ' three or four thousand persons, situated 50 miles inland; the port town is DUrban »or Port Natal, which has a a landlocked harbor, with a bar of some difficulty, which modern engineering expedients have somewhat removed, and which will ultimately make of Port Natal a good harbor. The population of the Colony in 1869 was 315,250 soula, of whom only one-seventh were Europeans, the remainder being Boers and remnants of Zulu tribes. In minerals, coal, copper ore, and iron have been found, but the mountainous regions are practically unexplored. In view of the present situation, Natal is so situated that probably the first.reinforcements will leach there from India and Mauritius.

At the E.M. Court one female was charged with drunkenness, but as she had been locked up since Saturday, and this was her first offence, the presiding Justice, Mr A. J. Allom, discharged the defendant with a caution. This was all the business.

A meeting of the Cemetery Committee was held at the Council Chambers ibis afternoon. Present—The Mayor in the chair, Messrs Carpenter and Hansen. Specimens of earthenware pegs for numbering graves were received from Mr Dowden of Auckland, and it was resolved that 5000 pegs numbered in duplicate at a cost of 4|d each be ordered from Mr Dowden. The plans for the bridge over the Hapo Creek were submitted to the meeting, and it was resolved to call for tenders at once for the work. Several small accounts were passed for payment, and the meeting adjourned.

A eathee unpleasant incident, which partook of the nature of a " scene," took place on Saturday evening on" the Albert street wharf, when the Gem Comedy and Burlesque Company were about to take their departure to Auckland by the steamer. The dispute was between a money-taker and the manager of the company about some paltry shillings, which the former said was due, but which the latter denied. Some bounceable language was indulged in, and as several persons seemed disposed to take the part of the money-taker, it was only with the greatest diffiiulty that blows were prevented. Eventually, the company got away without a breach of the peace.

We learn that the Thames is about to lose one of its pioneer miners, in the person of Mr James Clarkson, who leaves for Auckland in a few days. In the early dayß Mr Clarkson was proprietor of Clarkson's battery for two years, and was a considerable employer of labor, but, unfortunately, lost a considerable sum of money by the speculation. His brother was more fortunate, having cleared some £30,000 or £40,000 from the Shotover claim. Since his loss by the battery Mr Clarkson has filled many positions in connection with the mining industry on this field, but, unfortunately, the decreasing prosperity of the field has caused him, like many other good men, to pack up his traps and seek fresh fields.

The Southland Times mentions that one of the families who arrived by the Western Monarch stopped at the Immigration Barracks as long as,possible, and eventually with the aid of the depot master got comfortably settled. It has since been ascertained that the unsophisticated head of that family was, de facto, an old colonist, having arrived in New Zealand about the year 1859. He re turned to the Old Country after an absence of five years, and feeling, some time afterwards, an inclination to come out again, came under the " auspices " of the JNew Zealand Government. It would be rather interesting to calculate bow often a man with a large family might successfully perform this feat.

The Union Steam Shipping Company have received advices, says the Dunedin Morning 'Herald, by this mail to the effect that very rapid progress has been made with the construction of the fine new steamer hotomahana. Particulars of her dimensions, build, and machinery have, on former occasions, been given in our shipping columns. It may be now said, to give general readers some idea of her size, that she will be of somewhat greater tonnage than the Wakatipu, and in regard to speed she will have boilers of 500-h.p., and it is expected that her engines will drive her 15 knots an hour. Plans of her accommodation end equipments have been received, and are now to be seen at the Union Company's office. They show that the comfort and convenience of passengers have been studied in the highest degree. There are a great many two-berth cabins; and the narrow settees generally to be found in vessels are superseded by commodious sofas extending ali round the saloon. The seats at the tables consist of pivot chairs similar to those in the Zealandia, and which, are much appreciated by the travelling puplic. On deck there is to be a large " social hall" for gentlemen (non-smokers) and ladies, and which in to be provided with a piano. In the after part of the ship will be a luxuriously fitted up smoking room. On deck there will also be a large cabin denominated the bridal chamber. This will be for parties on wedding tours and others, who are able and willing to pay the additional rates charjgtd for the use of this cabin, which winfte most comfortably and elegantly funnshed.

Here Oscar Schrmdt, a professor in the University of Berlin, has been reading his countrymen a lesson (says an English paper) on the moral to be derived from the Darwinian theory of the origin of species. The problem which the professor sets himself to solve is this: Does Darwinism make for the aristocratic or the democratic principle in politics P Can Darwinism be enlisted in the cause of Socialism? Herr Schmidt declares that it cannot. On the contrary, Darwinism, he says, may be called the scientific justification of the idea of aristocracy; or, to put it more plainly, of the right of the stronger to govern the weaker. Socialists, observes the professor, connect the idea of the progressive improvement of the human race with the idea of equality. But equality is an illusion, as Darwinism, once accepted, proves to demonstration. .Natural selection and the struggle for the supremacy of the fittest seem to have been regulated by no theory of justice to all, or of the right of the weaker to have their case equitably argued before tbe stronger. In the history of nature, as written by Mr Darwin, force, tempered occasionally by circumstances, has been shown to be supreme. The weak is vanquished by the strong; the " sma'l capitalist " is killed by the big capitalist. Such a history teaclies that, however beautiful in theory, equality has never been a fact.

One of 4he last ideas is that girls should be taught to ride on both sides with a reversible crutch to the saddle (remarks Mayfair), aid the medical profession appears to recommend the practice, as inducing a straighter carringe of the body. Since the Princess of Wales' illness, and the affection of the knee from which she unfortunately suffered so much, she has always ridden on the wrong side of the saddle, or what we are accustomed to think is the wrong side, and did we not know her fair face so well already we should easily distinguish her in the Row by this fact. Her Royal Highness, however, does not appear in the least degree incommoded by the change, and rides as gracefully, and with as firm and apparently safe a seat, as ever she did.

Robert Heller (whose name was Palmer) was born near Canterbury, in Kent, about 1830. His father intended him to be a musician, -and placed him in the London Academy, where he made considerable proficiency as a pianist, winning both a scholarship and a medal.

Just as we are going to press we hear that an accident happened to Mr William Young (of Messrs Hewin and Brother's), this afternoon at 3.30. He was riding along Pollen street near Sealey street, when his hone stumbled over a fireplug and both horse and rider went down, the latter seriously injuring the cap of the knee. He was taken to the Hospital.

Atias writes:—The Prince of Wales and Dr Lyon Playfair were standing near a cauldron containing lead which was boiling at white heat. " Has your Hoyal Highness any faith in science ?" said the Doctor. " Certainly," replied the Prince. " Will you, then, place your hand in the boiling metal, and ladle out a portion of it ?" "Do you tell me to do this P" asked the Prince. •• I do," replied the Doctor. The Prince then ladled out some of the boiling lead with his hand, without sustainiog any injury. It is a well-known scientific fact that the human hand may be placed uninjured in lead boiling at white heat, being protected from any harm by the moisture of the skin. Should the lead be at a perceptibly lower temperature, the effect need not be described. After this let no one underrate the courage of the Prince of Wales.

The Geelong Times reports an amusing scene in a railway carriage with Mr O'Hea, M.L.A. We extract the following: —"The tricks, the shufflings, and the venalities of certain members of Parl ament were commented on, and finally our expressive friend, probably inspired by frequent imbibations of Bull's incomparable whisky, and carried away by the rush of his virtuous feelings, declared that most of those who bolstered up the Government were as bad as Ministers themselves. This was the last straw upon the over-burdened camel. A little quivering voice came from under the grizzly moustache in the corner. It was charged with suppressed passion as it said: " I shot a man, sir, in Paris 25 years ago in a duel, for less than you have said here to-day.' ' Did you P' answered the other, who, it had been vouchsafed to us, was a member of a large carrying firm and a Ballarat J.P.; • Did you, sir ? Then all I can say is that you ought to have been hanged long ago for your bloodthirstiness. '

A stoet is sent to me (Atlas in the World) about the late. Mr McNab, Curator of the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens. "When Dubufe's celebrated paintings of Adam and Eve were on exhibition, Mr McNab was taken to see them, and was asked for his opinion. " I think no great thing of the painter," Baid ; the great gardener. " Why, mon, Eve's temptin' Adam wi* a pippin of a variety that wasna known until about twinty years ago ! " As genuine a bit of criticism as that of the farmer who told George Morland that he had never seen eight little pigs feeding without one of them having his feet' in the trough. Morland altered the picture.

As W. Avekell expects to be leaving tbe Thames in a few days he respectfully requests all long-standing ACCOUNTS to be settled AT ONCE, otherwise proceedings must be instituted for their recovery. Advt.