General News.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4866, 14 August 1884, Page 2

General News.

Darwin's study, of the earth-worni extended over 40 years. After him came - other*whose observations on this insignificant creature haye showed both fabw useful and how dangerous he'may be. ? When his work is in a cemetery, and -he busies himself to bring up; whati'he is popularly supposed to eat, it is not a iitilo dangerous. But scientists:;; have now; shown that the. earth'worm has not a little to do with the formation of what is called: : vegetablemould. Durinj?=thefenij{ht|the>' worm comes ;to the andi^raws leaves into his retreat; ?WhilstitKey eat * soil, their real food is decayed V vegetable:; matter; ■ On the fertilitybf^sbiUthlJ^rth* worm is said to exert ajfavorable; action.;;>'-.. j London 'is the greatest city {the; world ever .'{.saw.- bordjers^f metrbpolitan;and pojic^istribtfl-itai Jc^iputed that there are atvthe ; presentltirai- ' more'than four and a half millions of lonis. The extent of itsi territory^js never I;he same from year to year. Wthinls miles radius, nearly 700 squarer<mUesv ;erejry ■ year new suburbs arise comprising jo ■ »U some 21,000 new houses and tional inhabitants^ or 246 persons ererjr*: day. It is at once the.Court, the seat :pt^ Government, the centre of fashiojijijthe home of alUtbe charities, and?the geneirals rendezvous of all the criminal and des« ? perate classes of the kingdoni.r^ t.i;;':'^f; 5! r ■ .The reason why a price was putupon the head of: Osmau Digna is ithus ex^, plained in theioodon papers?recesVed by the mail:—''■Sir William Hewitt.' has giren an explanation of the ■origin of;Jusproclamation for the capture :of;" Osman Digna that should induce universaJL regret* that he was restrained from accomplish* ing his gallant objects Thel ialla"nt..■• admiral, to save bloodshed, sent a letter to Osman by; twb:native boys, believing ; that with the message of peace their safety could not be endangered ; but that a inhuman monster Osman Digna not onl^y returned a defiant ans^eriibut^he^n^j^! the poor boys' hands,, tied themground' their necks, and, sent them back to the admiral. The mangled messengers'died soon after they arrived at.Suakimi.'v Hortense Schneider, the far-famed Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, who long ago retired from the/ stage, has tfeen : dragged again beJFore the Her j husband, M. Bionne, asks for a separttion, and modestly, demands a pension of twelve pounds a month: No doubt -the: wealthy Grand Duchess will consider hergelf weH£' rid of her bargain, though she alleges she was swindled in the matter of the marriage, as M. Bionhe is " neithM a Count nor aa Italian." ; ;-;;-.:. ':.',. -.S ■■'■■■* ■^■^'"■:*''-:' ■■'■ -■ ■ Some stir has been caused in Edinburgh by the unexpected announcement that the Lord Provost has been arranging privately for.thq xpurchase of, Blackfprd. r Hill^as,aj' public park for thexity.: The City\Oouncil> ha?, by a very large majority, sanctioned the and the Hilliwas'td|haTiy| been opened >o the public in J^i?ne. Iti^ I extent is 107 acres, and the price paid for;: it is £8000. The beauty of' tßoVjewfroin^; ■ it 'is described' rin;'': : Marmion."-; ■>^.?^ {-M! i One must go away from homis if TSo*' ! wants to get news. But^ithenr it sometimes happens that the news isn't exactly as it [should be^SWitnessV for instance, what the Telegraph fold; its readers in a recent leading article concerning the frozeu mutton trade between Neir Zealand > and the Old Country^" Thii ■ • commodity in the Aastralisn colonies and New. Zealand has been regarded as. littl».; else than a waste product until the frozfen ' meat shipments to Rhgland were organ* ised. In the abundance of game, wild fowl, and more dainty meats, the colonists never were accustomed to utilise.; any other portion of the sheep except the leg themselves, the whole of the remainder being boiled dowii for the sake of the ~ fat.'?;v :;vi% Theaunualreturn of births, deaths and marrinqeß shows that 452,643 males and _ 437,1^3 females were born/ and 269,351^ males. L and 253 311^ females died in

England during -1883i whilst^ 205^814'

marriages were solemhisedi The'gMatißst number of births aud deaths was in the first quarter, and of marriages in the last.;'.-; ■ v.v:',•;'■■;•' v'r- .•■■■-. "■.-'-^-^yj-^f'^/.

■■': The progress of Britieh merchant ahip-. piDg is phenomenal. ' Ac^oraiiig tt^^jj* liamentary -return it ? appears *thajt^bo tonoage of sailing and steam tesselii with cargoes and in ballast, entered and cleared at ports in^th^United Kingdom, grow; from 9,439;667?in 1840 tb-64;9^i;753 iii ' 1883, the -British tonnage increasing^|^<itnr'* 6,490,485 to 47,039 079j and-;the foreign s from 2,949,182 to 17i922,664.; The^tptalT, toniiage of the United StitesV registered ? for foreign trade^was only 1,292,294 in 1881 against a total in England of 6.208.650 tons. The German Empire had 1,226,650, Italy -990,004, and-i'rancß 983,017 tons. "" : >■ ■■••■■- <-t^:^-:. ■■■..-■;

; The South Australian; Eegister^ states:| ■that Mr Samuel Berry, commission agent, oft Adelaide, has received mfprmatijon of-„ the jtragic death of" his ion, l^ptaiia^ Frederick H. Berry,' in > South"; A.frickis3 Captain Berry -iras.Vat*thehead":£f:j»'^-' hunting ..partyi-wbiicb '(,',neht ■ "mto!^ltlie^l ■ | interior ; for the purpose .'."'obtaining:' tusks in March J ast. ■ Whilst bathing in - -a; river,- along with seretalFof his: com* i pant6nsrheiya9 seized=|t»y a huge alligator, --■* drawn/under water/ and :^b trace Sdftiim^S was afterwards discbrereid. v Ife camrt^l South Australia with his parent^ when ; liie was a child, and; was educated Sat i'Sti ''^' ; Peter's College, A^ years ago he proceeded to South Africa, where he entered into business 4r» sagari;planter. He abandoned this undertaking;- ; when the Zulu war broke outj-and he served during that war undei, (Je^eral Buller as a captain in the I'rdntieic !liight Horse.-'After thei war clo¥ed he his commission, and the next enterprise upon which he entered wasirory hunting,; in which, he lost hisiifel^EledeaEod was 38 years 'of age;'::--;^:^-: K':-Xy'-::y^ACa ;>'-.'■ "-:

According to an Australian paper *'a - recant number of the John o* Groat Journal—a newspaper published in the north of Scotland—asserts that "a hue©" whale, 62ft. long and 72 tons weight, was captured in June of last year at the ' entrance of Bearing's Straits, with one of ' the Henty's Portland harpoons stuck in u'j ? * f ound caused b * the weapon had healed—that is, a cartilage had grown round the harpoon, and sheathed and prevented it frdm penetrating any further and the weapon bore the following brand • -' Henty L 1838/ the L probably stands ing for Launceston, where the F^ntr had a number of harpoons made." *

The Beaconsfield mine on the rirer Tamar, Tasmania, has now been at work ' for rather more than four years, and dor. ing that time.has tamed oat no leu than ' ■ 6 tons 3251b5. 9ozs. of retorted gold, and " has paid during the same period £311,250 mdindends. .' \ , / . The negro population of. America it" »nore»(ing at the rate of 300,000 a yttr, "; •

The followitg is an instance of the way in which the Kxciso Laws are put in Force on the continent of Europe :—Tbe Customs and Excise officers at Boulogne seem to be developing an acuteness which, if not checked in time, may prove disastrous. ' In France, ag is well known, the manu faetnre of lncifer matches is a Govern-* rnent monopoly, and the result is that the article supplied to the public is a miser able imposture, which, as has been said. is warranted not to ignite upon the box nor anywhere else, unless, indeed, it ir thrust into a gas jet, or held by the tongs in the centre of a hot fire. When, therefore,' in the streets or the cafes the authorities see a man strike a match, and light his cigar or pipe at the first attempt, the irresistible inference is that he is the possessor of contraband goods. The next thing is to arrest him, and on discovering his little hoard, to fine him one' franc for every match. This was tbe measure recently dealt out to an Irish gentleman landing at Boulogne, and the treatment of a cafe proprietor there was even more cruel. An English sailor came into the house, and Qn leaving lighted his pipe, and , left hie3s2fc&-DOX behind him. The box was at onC3 pounced upon by a zealous " officer, and, though there were but thirty .. left in it, and the owner had vanished, tho landlord had to pay the thirty francs. The Dean of Bangor, the Very Eev. Henry T. Edwards, M.A., committed suicide in May last by banging himself from? the bedpost with a leather belt. Tbe dean had been unable to preach or conduct services for the past six months. 'Latterly he had suffered from sleeplessness and nervousness, aud was greatly depressed in spirits. The coroner's inquiry into the case was held on Mfiy 26, at Bnabon. The' Eev. Ebenezer Wood Edwardl, vicar of J^uabon, and brother of thedeceased, gave up all hope of ever bdngin good health again, telling witness ' he felt something give away in his brain ' like the snapping of the mainspring of a watch'. He expressed a wish to be placed in an asylum, but witness was averse to this. On the day before his death he was more than usually depressed, and again urged witness to place him in a lunatic gßsylum. In fact, he seemed so conscious of his danger, so determined to be placed - under restraint, that on that day he actually packed.up his things in a port* manteau, saying that be wished to be taken to London and placed in the charge of Dr.JVinslow did-not, however, apprehend any danger, and so did not accede to his wish.