ROUND THE WORLD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2096, 16 September 1885, Page 2

ROUND THE WORLD.

Tradition Bays that famines occur in Japan every forty or fifty years. Modern history records great famines in 1640, 1673,1730,1781j and 1835. This is the fiftieth year since the. last great dearth. The climate has. been very irregular for the past few years, and drought and floods have been experienced provinces, This year atmospheric changes have been very violent, and-old people who witnessed the famine of fifty years ago are entertaining apprehensions as tp the recurrence of the dreaded calamity. The match was burning brightly in his hand, and a solemn look was on his couj£| tenance. The interpreter began to dictate's the oath, when a tall Chinese gent, dressed jn orthodox black, rushed forward and exclaimed, " You Christian; you no blowee match, Kiss the book." And the Chinese witness dropped the match, picked up'the book, and swore tc tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing butthe truth, in the orthodox manner, as was supposed, although the uninitiated could detect no difference in the two formulas. Russia has had a share of the extensive strikes of late. In one case 400 workmen, consisting of joiners, masons, bricklayers, &c., engaged in the erection of a new Opera House at Odessa (an edifice which it is computed, will cost between £IOO,OOO and £120,000), struck for an advance of pay equivalent to about 4sd per diem, on the ground that the hours of labour were too long, ihe employers •stood out, and after three days joe discomfited men returned to theiWork. Their day's labor commences at 4 a.m. and ceases at 8 p.m., with no other mealtime but the dinner hour. They may, of course, snatch a mouthful of black bra© and fruit when opportunity offers. Asl the day's labor drags its weaiy ; length through the long, broiling summer heat without a protecting shade. The day's pay of the craftsmen and laborers r vanes fromlsto4s.

A novel case—M'Alden v Schnedeere -was tried at the Sheriff s Court, Preston, England, lately before a special jury On April 24th last the plaintiff and defendant were at an hotel in Furness, partaking of refreshments, The defendant asked the plaintiff to stir up tho fire, and while lie wa3 doing so poured abox pf red {lye over MrM'Alden's head, observing that he was phrenologically feeling hisbumps, The plaintiff afterwards tried to wash it off, when he found his face, neck, andhair dyed red. The defendant tnen exclaimed jocularly," you willbe a red devil for three monthsi" The plaintiff washed himself again} but the &e he rubbed the more intense the colorMoame, M'Alden was thrown out of emplacement, owing to the ridicule he experienced, the boys and girls shouting "Red IndianJLia .he passed along the streets. He had Wed daily to eradicate' the colouring matter, but without success, for the dye refused to depart, and affected his eyesight, plaintiff appeared in court with finely polished scarlet countenance, and a heaa of bright Chestnut hair, The defendant conducted hiß own case, and. caused considerable amusement in court. A' verdict was found for the plaintiff—£2o, The first part of Mr John Buskin's autobiography has appeared. In the preface he says:—"l have written frankly and garrulously, careless, of what gives mij joy to remember, passim; in total silence things whicli give me. no pleasure in reviewing. My mother's influence in moulding my character was conspiouous. She forced mo to learn daily lung chapters of the Bible by heart. To that discipline and patient, accurate review 1 owo not only much of my general power of taking pains, but the best part of my taste for literature," .

A tragic instance of violent resentment against a doctor occurred during the spread of cholera in Spain. In a'village near Valenco a man was epidemic, and medical assistances called in, rather against the wish of his relatives. H e died in the course of ft days, and the family planned their vengeance against the unfortunate doctor, When ho next called to seo his patient the fact of the death. waß concealed until the doctor- was in the bedroom of tho defunct. Then he was brought face to face with the corpso, and vehemently reproached with being an assassin who deliberately killed the sick instead of administering them remedies. The.personß collected in the room,-in 'thoir frantic irritation, afterwards assaulting the practitioner, insisted on his swallowing all the drugs that were intended for the deceased and bo ill- used him that he succumbed few hours later to his injuries,