ROUND THE WORLD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2119, 13 October 1885, Page 2

ROUND THE WORLD.

In tho St James' Gazette of August 6 we find the following"ln the Parliament of Victoria the Opposition is rather a small body. In fact, it consists of four members, and is divided into two parties, which respectively rally under the umbrella of Colonel Smith and that of Mr Thomas Bent. The Smithites and the Bontites combino to move votes of censure on the Premier from time to time, but otherwise aro on bad terms. Under the circumstances, the Ministerial party, who number 82 in a house of 86, have an easy time of it, and are going to venture on a Bill to improve the lunacy laws. Mr Service is lucky. As. a rule, Australian Premiovs have a tolerably strong Opposition to contend with. But in Victoria at present they seem to have almost approached the coition uf one of our West Indian Colonies, a negro population, and an Opposition of one, who brought legislation to a standstill by persistent obstruction. It was a fortunate day when the Colonial Secretary could say to the Council, 'De Opposition am drunk under de Speaker's chair. De Appropriation Bill will now be read.'"

A census taker at Buffalo had a fqnny experience. After the usqa) (jneßtions llad been put and answered at a house, he was about to leave, when the woman, who had seemed in an uncertain Btate of mind, made bold to say: "I think it may be another by this time jwaita little while.". He sat for a few minutes. She returned, exclamin?: "Yes, you can add another;. It's a girl,"— Boston Journal, A Madrid telegram, dated August saysA terrible case is just reported from Baraheabel, a village - close to

Madrid, and a summer resort. The parish priest had been attacked by the cholera, aiid in a fevdioura presented all the appearances of death. He wai removed to the mortuary for the night, but, through an inadvertence on the part of the officials, he was placed in a coffin and the lid screwed down. The following morning the mistake was discovered and tho coffin opened, when the poor man was found dead, but in a doubled up position. ,His hands were Weeding, and his nails wrenched off, with other but only too certain signs of having awakened during the night and made fearful but unavailing efforts to break open his prison.

While the extravagant King of Bavaria is squandering his money, and plunging himself heavily in debt, with no other /VB object than his own selfish enjoyment of \ pleasures, which have, however, the re- s deeming merit of being intellectual, his cousin, Duke Charles Theodore, after practising medicine for twenty years, has turned his attention to one branch of surgery with so much success ranks amongst the best oculists 'in Central Europe. During a four months' stay at Mevan he operated more or less successfully and quite gratuitously, upon 125 persons suffering from maladies of the eye, besides prescribing for a great number of ordinary invalids He is now in his castle on the Tepernsee, in Bavaria, where ho is indefatigable in his practice of the healing art. He has a dispensary of his own, where his prescriptions are made up, and the medicine is then distributed by his servants. The last two winters he devoted to attending the clinical lectures in the "Vienna Univorsity, where he took his seat with the rest of the students. His wife is cousin of the Emperor of Brazil.

There is trouble in Chili owing to the organised opposition of the Church to the Civil Marriage Law of 1883, The Government will not allow a clerical marriage any force in law, nor will the Church allow any force in religion to a civil marriage. As most of the women are on. the clerical side, and most of the men oil the Government- aide, there is a general suspension of marriages, except among the very poor. These are content with the clerical rite alone, or indifferent to any ceremony at all, The proportion of illegitimacy in births in Chili is prodigious—exceeding 23 per cent. In Austria, the European country which approaches most nearly to Chili in this particular, it is less than 13 ber cent. ~