CUPPINGS FROM OUR MAIL FILES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1967, 14 February 1885, Page 4

CUPPINGS FROM OUR MAIL FILES.

Tiik Lima papers are calling upon the branch of the London Bank of Mexico ainl Ameuca, in that city, to tell them what has become of the piocreds of the ihnch jewels sold through the agency of that Bank, in London, in 1881 TiiKHh wete 22,905 persons killed in India hy snakes and wild beasts in 1883, as appears by a Government report. Of these, snakes killed '20,067, tigers, HSS, wolves '287, and leopaids, '217- There wctt in the ye.ir 47,478 ctttle Killed, hut only 1,(>14 of them died from snake bites l'lth f ondon Chamber of Commerce lias now 1,833 members, viz, ; 1,337 .single *nb,eiil<eis, % film? of two or mote p.utiuis, and 220 life inenibeis Eleven special tiade sections have been formed ii[t to the present, and others are being oigamscd, particularly with a \ien to the repiesentatiou. of colonial trade intert sts. Statistics show that the wheat trade of California, Oregon and Washington Temtoiv, with Europe, gives employment annually to more than 400 bailing vessels goiug around Oape Horn. The avri age passage of each vessel is about 10,000 miles in an a\erage time of a little our four months Of the 440 vessels thus employed in ISS3, 330 bore foirign flags, and tin remainder the flag of the United States. A vkuv interesting lecture on "New Zealand" was given m the National Schoolroom in Basingham. Lincolnshire, on a recent occasion, by Mr U P. Hayward. Mr Hayward ga\e allowing account of the colony, and desciibcd it as offering every oppoitumty for success to those who were anxious to emigiate, and who expected to wotk when they got theie. A gieat nu'iiber of cmiosities from the Antipodes wen* exhibited ; (thaw Is made of llax giown in New Zealand, and piesented to the lecturer by King Tawlnao ; vai ions weapons of warfare used by the Maoris ; model of a Maori canoe, skins of native animals, lumps of gold ore, &c,, &c., besides samples of the coin and wool produced in the colony ; also or.c of the eight assegais said to have been found m the corpse of tho late Pi nice Imperial. At the conclusion, a vote of thanks for his \ery in structive lecture was accorded to Mr Hayward, who, in responding, said he uas shortly lea\ ing England for South Ameiica, and that on his return he should be pleased to give a description of that pirtot the Xcw Woilt which he ■will then )m%e \isit<_<l It is well known that the lato Charles Dickens had keen sympathy with Australia, whore two of his sona settled and piospered, and we belie\c are still le-ident ; but comparatively few colonists are aware that the great novelist earnestly desired to make a voyage to the Antipodes, anil would have done ho in IS7O but for his unfortunate f ulure of health Mr<}. Dolby, in his interest ing woik, " Charles Dickens as I Knew Him," mentions that his " Chief" was actuated not only by a strong parental yearning to see his sons in their new and far away home but also by an impression that " there was the possibility of finding in Australia a new subject for a book." It appears that six or set en years befoic J >ickt us had iccened " a proposal from a well-known firm in the colony (which is not stated) to go out tlieie and give a feet k-s of leadings dining eight months, foi which he w,\-i to receive the sum of £10,000, and all expenses paid." Many weighty considerations made him hesitate to accept that offer, but had his health pel nutted, be intended in IS7O or shot My aftei wauls, to have given n seiics of readings at the Antipodes, "entirely on liis own account." His regret at the enforced abandonment of this trip vas v«jry great. Mr Dolby, who, as Dicktns's nianager in his English and American reading tours, was thoionghly in his " Chief's " confidence, records the interesting fact that " one of the latest acts of his life was to coirect an agreement from Miss fJlynn (Mis Dallas), who had received offers to \i=iit Australia, through the agency of the late Mr E. P. Hingaton, Artemtis Wai d's manager. Mr DicKen3 took immense pains to revise the agreement, inakint, in it such alterations and amendments as would protect her interests in the colonies, and doing it all in an eminently practical business-like manner " Clkvl'.landS Lett hi — The letter which President elect Clc\ eland has addicssed to O W. Curtis in icgard to the position and action of the incoming Federal Administration towaul Civil Service Reform, is a clear, ditcet and unequivocal enunciation of punciplo, and should be hailed with delight by cveiy fiiend ot refoim and good government. It is not the utterance of a demagogue seeking to placate or deceive a strong public sentumnt with specious plenitudes. It is not the ntterxneo of an a'natenr statesman ot an ignorant politician. On the contiary, evei y line of it shows that the man who Ina been called to the position of Chief Mat'istiate of tint, gicat country is thoioughly informed in iegaid to public afFans, an 1 is thoioughly ahi east of the reform spirit of tho day. Thefiiatnml most important question in the American politics of to<iny isbiioli a thoiough lefoiuiation of the public service as will icsult in the abolition of the spoils sjst-.m, and the consequential raising of the tone of tJic public Jifc, so tliat men in whom the highest intellectual power is combined with the stnetest peisonal integuty, will find ita congenial field of exertion. Tlieie aic other great questions awaiting discussion and adjustment, but Civil Service Refoim is the in it, btuiuao until it id fully attained, and its ellect thoroughly felt, any attempt to deal, in a satisfactory way, with intricate economic qucstiona, will result in faihne. Pothouse politicians, w aid-club manipulator and spoils dmdiia cannot be expected to possess any vciy thorough knowledge of the si lencc of political economy. Mr HeudrjtKs, the Vice President-elect, iccently, in .speaking of Civil Service lltfoim, intimated that lie was not in favour of "irfurinaftcrtlu acho<>lma.stei '» fabliion," but that he was in favour of "tut mug th<- rasials out.' In other word?, that •while, by gaibling phras"", he prcttnilf d to be in favour of lefonn, he wns really in favour of thu old system. As tlioso leiiiaiks «oic made just siilweoupnt to a viMt to Cleveland, many of those who, bch -ving in the latti r's earn-ifctness in the u<iiisc ot reform, gave him a hearty N'ipport, were natuially inclined to think that they had hctn duped This timely 1< (ter sets all those doul ts at rest. The Pi' swlent elect has announced in won.'--that convey no double meaning, that lie will not only thotouyhly enforce tlie impel ft ct Civil Seivicu law now in operation, but that he will, also, use the entire Executive power in pi omoting the cans* 1 of icform in the bioadest spint. It is clear, therefoif, that, in the person of Mr Cleveland, the Democrats have elected a enp >l>le and piogresehe man suited to the timcH, and, if the Democratic leaders tally around their chief with that enthusiasm which tluy shovld, the new Demociatic party will undoubtedly be entilisted with the guidance of public afl.iii s for many years to come. If, on the other hand, these leaders tally loiind the i(Ua« rf presented by Hcmlncks, their paity will, on tho first occasion possible, be relegated to that legion of dcfiat fiom which it has just been drawn bv a curious combination of public scntitin nt It is perhaps proper to lemark, in conclusion, that Cl<m eland's letter must have been very cold comfort to the crowd of Democratic political bumim-is who are now quarrelling over the prospective division of thr "Federal patron age" in this State— a Stale in whicli their contemptible incapacity turned a favourable public sentiment of overwhelming dimensions, in two short years, into profound public distrust of equally ov fin helming dimensions.— S.F. News Letter.

It is snd that the English fnm l.ihoi or c its feu ineah a <l«\y. V o'>abl\. a meal ly meal, Indian meal and 1 art"^ me.il Amm in r: S.imt \t ill won be added to the Catholic iul<n<ler The I'rep.natoiy Congugation, C •! , tei-iiitlv lu-ld i im et ing .it the Vatican, ■with CiHdm.il R.ir toimi as pu<-idtnt, to di clde mi the heioic.il (|ii,thtj "t the vntnes of Ji nun.' de Lestonuc Tin-. Ia«ly belonged to one of the most lllustnou-' families of Fiance. On the death of lie." husbind, B.uon de Montf< liand, she retin d into n convent .it '1 oiilou^c, and theie founded the u ligions order of Les l^iilus do Mdiie .She died at the age of 84 A VhKY oomfoi table aiticle has been unpoitid fiom J.ipm, foi the lining of Indus' cloaks diesoing gowns, etc. It consists of .silk wadding, mauiif.ictt.rc I fiom the unspitn tlneads ot the bilk cocoons. It is made in pieces about i yard square, and is sold at about m shillings the piece. It i>- exptctid that this light, warm lining will buperbetie the uimctssiil eiderdown as a lining. It is more easily applied and is less clunny in form. Oscar Wii.de lias prop unded a giavc question. He says : Why should silks of dark copper-brown be fashionable one year and silks of dark bine with white HpoLs be fashionable the next ? We might add : Why should Oscar Wilde be the fashion one year and why should he not the next ? Mr Oscar, though \eiy learned, has pel haps never heaid of the sa> ing which settles his question — " there is no accounting for taste." — Com t Journal. The Maoii king, on his return to his native country, New Zealand, like other great travellers, has given hiaimprebsions dc voyage ; he has done so iiva yon , and we are plad to find that his admiration is in such thorough accoul with that of the civili/ed of all nations. He thinks the most attractive exhibition in England is the shovelling up of gold in the Bank of Kngland. Even those who possess a hundredfold more than they sec are im pressed w ith the grnndness of the manner of treating filthy lucre which is theie displayed. — Court Join nal. It is a somew hat lemaikable fact that the cheapest way to send a certain ela-s of goods from Liverpool to London is \ii NewYoik. This arises from the keen competition between outlaid bound Atlantic steamers for pi oti table, dead weight. The other day about 1,000 tons of tough fieiglit Mds otteicd for caniage to London, no time being specified The London lines tendered at >>2 TiO a ton, but one of the Atlantic firms undertook to deliver it for s| 30 a ton, .nul the olioi was accc[/tt-iJ, Tjik nnmber of blast furnaces in blast in the United States at the commencement of Oetobct, 1884, wai 234, as coin pared with .'{4o at the commencement of October, ISSo, 413 at the commencement of Octobci, IS^, 43."i at the commence ment of October, 1 SSI, 424 at the commencement of October, ISSO, ."!37 at the commencement of October, IST?', find -,~t) at the commencement of October, 187S Tiik son of a cleigjman in Doisetshiro eloped recently with a cousin residing in Ins fatho's parish, anil tl.e couple were mairied in the chapil of the neighbouring work-house The reverend sue vented his fury by having his son's two ponies and favoniitc dogs shot. It would seem in order to treat this leveicnd g« ntleman to a substantial dose of the whipping post, or a substantial coat of tax and featheis. A cra.vu monctaiy bonfiie will shortly take place in Rome: The bank-notes withdiawn fiom circulation in accordance with the law suppressing the forced cur rency of piper money will be formally binned in a specially-erected ftirn'ance, and gieonback«, once woith nearly three millions steihug, will vanish into smoke. U. 8. Gkant. — No private citizen has been talked about so much recently n^V. S (iiant. Hi<j unfortunate connection with the late banking and brokerage firm of (>iant and \\ aid has aroused for him national sympathy. There can be no doubt that he is, in a financial sense, in a biokcn-up condition. Many clients aie being made, and many schemes proposed, foi the put pose of placing (jenetal (irant iv a position which will secure him agiinst the pangs of poverty. We think some of these movements are prematme, and, a8 we understand the matter, what is known as the New York Tunes' Fund is almost a certain security for the General's peace of mind. As to the suit instituted by Vanderbilt. and the lcsult, that is purely a business affair, and Grant, like any other citi/en, must abide by the decision of the courts. There should not in this especial instance he a particle of sympathy for the defendant. In the losses of the fit in of which (Jeneial Grant was a silent paitner, he must bear his shaie as rationally, if not as joyfully, as he would have boine the profits, weie theie any profits. The public mind seems to be in a fog with ng.ud to the 1 financial condition of the man who was once the Hist soldier and citi/tn of the Republic. It is not as bad. weaie eel tain, as it is icpieocntcd to be, and if it were, why then Geneial Giant has only been bubject tjthe ups and downs which is the late of man, and which has been the lot of thousands a3 illustiious as he has been. These he will, no doubt, , bear like a man, for all the sages agree in ' asserting that inisfoittine, and not fame, t is the ical teat of manhood. It is certain that General Giant is so suitatc d that he cannot come to actual w.uit, and it the worst comes to the woist, it will be found in his c.ise that Republics aie not ungrateful to tlich groat ami iJlu&ti ions citizens. An examination of the career and histoiy of this icniaikableman shows only one serious fl iw in it, and that is, or was, his attempt to violate a tiadition of the Republic as fixed and inviolate as Constitutional law, when he sought, through pecuh.il agencies, to secure his election as I'iesidcnt of the United States for a thud teini. That was Giant s leal misfoitiiue, bc-idfs which all lustioublcs sink into insignificance. Such will be the veidict of histoiy. That step will not be foi gotten, and should not be ; it is a warning to the fiituic citizen who may be elected to the. highest gift in the will of the people, that he must not, powciful thoug'i ho may think himself to be, attempt to tiample upon the traditions of the people. We should remember the deep und inner meaning of all the.se things, and though we may be citizens in humble and lowly life, it is our sacred duty to watch with jealous care the motivcaand actions of our public servants. We should gti.ud .igamst indij-ciinnnate hero woi ship, and, with malice toward none, rendei into Cesar that, and that only, which iightfully belongs to him. — S.F. Nivvs Lettei.