GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 209, 6 April 1877, Page 15

GENERAL NEWS.

The Pope, replying to an address from a body of pilgrims, made a speech, in which he said Italy was more prosperous before her unity than she has been since that event. At the present time the poor people cannot obtain bread or clothing ; trade languishes, affording the spectacle of frequent financial disasters; the taxe3 are heavier, and small landowners cannot get a living. Speakin" 1 of the idea of a reconciliation between the Church and the State, his Holiness said he had always remained faithful to his oaths* adding, " People wishing to take part in the voting do so, but on condition that you intend to remain immaculate in the observance of the laws of God and His Church."

The Unita Cattolica specially announces that three <n'and Te Deiims will be sung in Borne this year, those of Canossa, Venice, and Borne — the first in celebration of the eighth centenary of the submission of the Emperor Henry IV. to Gregory VII. ; the second for the seventh centenary of the day when Frederick Barbarossa implored the forgiveness of Alexander III.; and the third, for the fifth centenary of the reesbablishment of the Papal See at Borne after 73 years of exile at Avignon. ' The Italian peasantry are flying from their country in such numbers as to cause some of their legislators to think of imitating the action of Germany in a similar conjuncture by preventing any further emigration. Crime is increasing enormously, and income parts of the country brigandage is strong enough to be able to set at defiance all authority. Notably is this the case in Sicily, where it is proposed to send Prince Amadeo as governor with a lar<»e army to restore order and security. A curious case growing out of the state of things in Sicily, is soon to come before the courts A certain Mr. Eose, an Englishmen, was captured by brigands 'and obliged by them to pay a ransom of four thousand pounds sterling • he now gueg the Italian, government for, the amount. Perhaps i£

Lord Palmerston were alive, the British government would take up the case. Certainly it would not be deterred for want of a preeer dent, for, in 1850, did not that government present to the Holy See a bill for the damages sustained by British subjects during the Revolution, amounting to twelve thousand pounds sterling ? But the times arc changed; Italy is a great nation, or at least too great for England at the present moment, with everything else on her hands. — Catholic Review.

The Temps, giving the substance of a letter from Bessarabia on the Russian army there says : — " The army is composed of four cSrps of Infantry, each having two Divisions, of four Divisions of Cavalry, and twelve regiments of Cossacks. The Artillery consists of about 400 field guns, and there are four bridge equipages. The strength of the force is about 140,000 men, 120,000 of them Cavalry. The personnel and materiel are good, the soldiers are pretty well clad and well armed, and the Cavalry is very well mounted. The Cossacks form an excellent light Cavalry. The Artillery are well horsed. The administration, however, leaves much to be desired. The equipage train is entirely wanting in the Russian Army, and the lack of this important part in the materiel is seriously felt ; and the commissariat, amimlance, and hospital services are hardly organized at all, or, at any rate, very badly. Great efforts are being made to remedy all these deficiencies. The field hospitals are already ranged; 30 will follow the army, and nine of these are already in working order. Thirty others will keep in the rear of the army, each of them accomodating 600 patients. The International Society of Assistance for the Wounded has offered the Government 15,000 beds on paying If. 30c. per day for each patient. The first supplies of corn, flour, and cattle are assured, but not for a long period." London has a large weekly newspaper called The Obituary, devoted, as its title shows, to obituary and mortuary proceedings. Undertakers who get up funerals in every -variety, cremationists, embahners, vault-makers and grave-diggers, all have their say in its columns, while the makers of humble tombstones and the sculptors of gorgeous monuments are ready to decorate the last home of man. Crape-makers, manufacturers of all sorts of funeral appliances, and especially mourning mantua-makers, claim the attention of the afflicted in their special advertisement. Wills of distinguished individuals are given, and lost wills advertised ; the cards of attorneys drilled in probate matters, and advertisements for absent heirs, make up a portion of its patronage. The reading matter is all suited to the subject, while the obituary notices form a staple item, and, if necessary, choice notices are written by distinguished writers for the afflicted friends and relations of deceased persons. A sad story comes from the village of Walton-on-Trent. On a a recent Sunday afternoon, when the village children came out of school, one little fellow, aged eleven, named James Mewis, was teasing a girl named Charlotte Butcher and pulling her dresa. She told him to be quiet, and in pushing at Mm with an umbrella the point accidentally entered his eye, and he fell unconscious to the ground. He was taken home, and the effect of the shock upon his father was so great that he -was seized with a fit, and died shortly afterwards. The little boy died about seven o'clock the same evening, and his mother has since been confined to the house owing to the influence of the sudden double bereavement upon her health and spirits.

The Sport of Paris records some dynastic facts of a curious J character. With the exception of Spain, Sweden, Italy, Brazil, Servia and Montenegro, all the Christian nations submitted to a monarchical regime are, it says, governed by sovereigns of Germanic race. The House of Brunswick-Hanover reigns in Great Britain, and that of Saxe-Coburg will succeed it, after the death of Queen Victoria, in the person of the Prince of Wales. In Belgium and Portugal Aye again find the Saxe-Coburg family allied with the House of Braganza at Lisbon. The Emperor of Russia is a descendant of the family of Holstein-Gottorp, and, through Catherine the Great, of that of Anhalt. Another branch of the House of Holstein, that of Sonderburg-Glucksburg, reigns in Denmark and Greece ; the Prince of Roumauia is a Hohenzollern, and the King of Holland belongs to the Nassau family. The Emperor of Austria., chief of the Lorraine-Hapsburg House, is of a race purely German. The illustrious family of Lorraine descended from Charlemagne, and this house and that of Hapsburg were merged by the marriage of the last Duke of Lorraine, Francis, with Maria Theresa, the last inheritor of the blood and name of Hapsburg. We scarcely need remind our readers that the Emperor William I. is of pure Germanic race; and the same remark will apply to all the other German sovereigns without exception. The chief among them, viz., the Kings of Bavaria, Saxony and Wurtemburg ; the Grand Dukes of Baden, Hesse, Mecklenburg - Schwerin, Mecklenburg - Strelitz, Oldenburg and Saxe-Weimar; the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg, Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen and Saxe-Altenburg are all of pure German origin. x |France has furnished a Bourbon to Spain and a Beraadotte to Sweden; the last male descendant of the House of Braganza reigns in Brazil ; and the royal family of Italy is of Savoy origin. FinaDy, the small principalities of Servia and Montenegro have local dynasties. Washington was married, but had no children. Adams was married and had one son, whom he lived to see President. Jefferson was a widower; his wife died twenty years before hi election. They had six children — all daughters — of whom only two survived infancy. Madison was married, but had no children. His wife was the most elegant woman that ever adorned the Presidential mansion. She survived him many years, the pride of Washington society, having lived to listen to Clay's farewell speech in the Senate. Monroe was married, and so was John Quincy Adams. Jackson was a widower, and so were Van Buren and Harrison.

Tyler was a widower when he entered office., but soon afterwards

married the heiress Miss Gardener of this city. He was the only President that married during his term of office. Polk was a

married man, and his wife survived him a number of years. General Taylor was a widower. Pierce was a widower, but Buchanan was a bachelor. The social condition of such men as Lincoln, Johnson, and Grant needs no reference, except to add that Grant is the first President who had a daughter married while in office. Death has recently deprived the Carlist cause of one of the eldest as well as the bravest and most devoted of its defenders. Don Francisco Merry was born in Seville, on the 6th of November, 1793, his father being a resident merchant there, of Irish descent, and his mother a lady of noble Andalusian extraction. He entered the British, navy as midshipman, and was present in the Stork frigate at the siege of San Sebastian, 1813, for whi'h service he afterwards received the naval war-medal. In the b- anish navy, which he subsequently joined, he rose to the rank of post-captain, and during the revolutionary troubles of 1820-23 was remarkablo for his truly Conservative Royalist opinions. When Ferdinand VII. was arrested by the Cortes and thrown into prison at Cadiz, Don Francisco Merry proposed to run in his ship and carry the King off in triumph to Gibraltar j but the intention became known through some oversight or folly on the part of the King himself, and Don Francisco, who had gone to Seville to make certain arrangements with reference to the affair, was astounded to read in the revolutionary official journal the entire details of the plot, together with his own name as that of the prime mover. He managed to rejoin his ship in disguise, and when the King reentered Madrid (as Eoy Absolute!) Don Francisco was on the occasion created a Knight Commander of the Royal and distinguished Order of Charles 111.

Histoeicai ! Fide " Ju,.ors Reports and Awards, New Zealand Exhibition." Jurors ; J. A. Ewen, J. Butterworth, T. O. Skinner. "So far as the Colony is concerned, the dyeing of materials is almost entirely confined to the re-dyeing of Articles of Dress and Upholstery, almost useful art, for there are many kinds of material that lose their colour before the • texture is half worn. G. Hiesch, of Dunedin (Dunedin Dye Woeks, George 6treet, opposite Eoyal George Hotel) exhibits a case of specimens of Dyed Wools, Silks, and Feathers, and dyed Sheepskins. The colors on the whole are very fair, and reflect considerable credit on the Exhibitor, to whom the Jurors recommended an Honorary Certificate should bo awarded." Honorary Certificate, 629 : Gustav Hirsch Dunedin, for specimens of Dyeiag in Silk Feathers, &c.

This Company is projected for the purpose ! of purchasing and thereafter carrying on Messrs. Guthrie and Larnach's well-known Woodware Factories, and their extensive importing Timber and Iron Business. j An agreement lias been entered into with ' Messrß. Guthrie and Larnach to sell to the ; Company their new Factories, together with all their other buildings, with the entire ' machinery, plant, and stock of every descrip- ! fion, at the actual net cost, all as certified by I Messrs. A. W. Morris, C. H. Street, and | Edmund Smith, after a careful examination 1 of the firm's books and vouchers ; and also ' their magnificent fleet, of coasting vessels, all I at the present actual value, as certified by Captain Thompson, Harbor-master ; A. M'JKinnon, Esq., Shipbuilder, Mayor of Port Chalmers; and Keith Ramsay, Esq., Ship- ' owner, Dunedin ; the new Company taking \ over all current agreements and uncompleted orders or contracts. (For the purpose of these and all other valuations, the gentlemen named have been appointed by mutual agreement between Messrs. Gutbrie and Larnnch and the Provisional Directors.) It has also been arranged that the new Company shall take over the entire debts due to the firm, i secured and unsecured, at par, but shall be en- I titled to receive on all unsecured debts interest ' at the rate of eight per cent, per annum from the day when stock 19 taken up to the date ot actual payment, and in addition a commission i for collecting of 2\ per cent., Messrs. Guthrie ' and Larnach guaranteeing the entire amount ' of the unsecured debts to the Company. i The prudence of this arrangement will at ' once be apparent when it is remembered that I i

the Company thus keeps in its own hands the entire connection of the retiring Firm, and thus prevents its customers from being subjected to a possible outside pressure ; receiving, moreover, a commission for the collection of debts which its own staff of officers will be j able to overtake in the usual course of busi- , ness, without cost to the Company. The whole of the freehold and leasehold lands held by the firm to he taken at present market value, as certified to by Messrs. A. W. Morris, C. H. Street, and Edmund Smith. Four thousand of the Company's shares fully paid up have been agreed to bo allotted to Messrs. Guthrie and Larnach as consideration for the goodwill of their very remunerative business, they undertaking themselves to pay all preliminary expenses (including brokerage, advertising, &c, <fee), in connection with the floating of the Company. Stock will be taken as on the day the Company enters into possession, and the debts due to I the firm will be taken over as from the same date. j The timber business is most extensive, and J may fairly be said to be the largest in the ( Australasian Colonies. In connection with | this branch of the business there are several | bush mills, and a large fleet of coasting vessels, employed regularly in carrying supplies for the requirements of the factories a 9 well as open markets. j The import, iron, and hardware business of | the firm is also very extensive. These several branches at present represent a most valuable and important part of the Firm's trade, and ! the promoters feel confident that they can be j most safely and profitably extended. ; In the New Zealand Woodware Factories there are four distinct departments, viz. :—: — Ist. Sawing, planing, and moulding factory. , 2nd. Door and sash factory. I 3rd. Tub and bucket factory. j 4th. Furniture and turnery factory. The trade of each of these is capable of great and profitable extension, and as an cviI dence of the great outlet for the products of these works, Messrs. Guthrie and Larnach have been compelled to run the machinery overtime, on an average two nights per week, since the opening of the new factories. The whole of the extensive factories and i stores (specially designed by David Eoss, Esq., ! architect, of this city) are substantially built j of brick and cement, on solid bluestone and concrete foundations (all timbers being of the best and most durable descriptions), covering an area, including the timber yards, of several acres of valuable land in the chief streets of the city. The whole of the splendid modern machinery was designed and planned by an eminent engineering firm in Glasgow, under Mr. Guthrie's immediate supervision while in Britain, and after a very careful inspection of the principal woodware factories in America, Britain, and on the Continent. Each machine has been firmly placed on a solid bed of concrete where necessary, to prevent the possibility of vibration, and to avoid wear and tear. The contract for the purchase of machinery was entered into when materials and labor in Scotland were at their lowest. The important advantages to shareholders in a joint stock company of entering into possession of a large manufacturing and importing business in full operation on a fixed date, with a thoroughly trained staff of officers and men, and a large mercantile connection, without having to wait for the erection of buildings, importation of plant, stock, &c, or being subjected to any of the risks and delays incidental to the starting of a new business, and with all preliminary expenses paid, should be at once apparent to investors. The following special advantages are worthy of notice : — Ist. The whole of the machinery in the Factories is driven by one pan 1 of powerful engines, worked by two men, an engineer and fireman, whose wages may fairly be said to constitute the whole expenses in connection with the motive power, as the only fuel required to keep up steam is the sawdust and shavings drawn from the different factories as soon as made, by mt-ans of pneumatic tubes, and deposited in a large brisk safe, ready for consumption alorgside the boilers. By this means all rubbish is utilised and made a source of profit, and the cost of labor reduced to a minimum.

2nd. The four Factories being worked under one roof, a great saving is consequently effected, not only in the motive power, but also in the management, ai the whole can be superintended and controlled by one manager. 3rd. The Tub and Bucket Factory, now in full operation, has a monopoly of the supply of these indispensable articles, there being no other Tub and Bucket Factory in the Australian Colonies. A large return may therefore be looked for to the credit of this branch of the business.

4fch. The whole of the Factories, especially the furniture Faotory, being worked in connection with the general timber business, is carried on most profitably, not only from the fact of the first cost of the timber being procured at the cheapest possible rate, but alse that large quantities of short cuttings of timber, which would otherwise either be sold as job lots at a low price, or sent to the furnace to be consumed as fuel, are utilised. The Union Sash and Door Company in Auckland is of a similar character to the New Zealand Woodware Factories, only being muuh less extensive. It is, however, a very fair criterion to base calculations upon, as to what may be expected from the New Zealand Woodware Factories. The Company referred to has only been in active operation for a little over four years, and has paid annual dividends of 20 per cent., besides carrying large amounts to Reserve Fund ; so that in addition to the very handsome yearly dividends, the original £5 Shares of the Company are now quoted at £7 10s, and a new issue alloted to shareholders, on which £2 10s has been paid up solely out of Reserve Fund, are quoted at £3 108, making the present total market value of the original shares £11, or a premium of 120 per cent.

In connection with this, it is a fact that the profits shown to have been made in Messrs. Guthrie and Larnach's business for the same period considerably exceed that made by the Union Company in proportion to the capital invested ; so that the promoters have good reasons for believing that not only will large dividends be paid regularly by the Company, but that its stock will at once become a much-sought-after and favourite investment.

Mr. Guthrie has consented to be fully identified with ths business for a number of years as managing director. Mr. Guthrie's practical skill and long experience in the trade are well known ; the high position to which the firm has attained under his management indicates the measure of prosperity which may reasonably be expected in the future ; and as a proof of Mr. Guthrie's and hia partner's faith in the future prospects of the concern, they are willing to hold one-fifth each, or equal to two-fifths of the entire capital, on their own private account, purchased in fully paid up shares. And as a further proof of their confidence in the future prospects of the Company, they have decided to guarantee that the Company's net profits for the first three years shall not be less than ten per cent, per annum on the actual capital for the time being employed in the business, or equal to a sum of about £57,000 to be paid to the shareholders within three years. They expect and believe thut the profits will considerably exceed this rate, but investors will by this means know the rate of their minimum profits.

By way of further securing the observance of the guarantee, the firm have agreed to deposit, with the Directors of the Company, scrip of the Company during the first year of the value of £50,000 ; during the second year of £40,000 ; aad during the third year of £25,000 ; and to execute a legal charge upon the same in favor of the Company. Intending shareholders may therefore rest assured that no more legitimate or remunerative outlet for capital, or one presenting better or more extensive future prospects, has ever been offered in New Zealnnd.

The reasons which have induced Messrs. Guthrie and Larnach to take this step are :—

Ist. That their term of partnership expires by effluxion of time iii the course of a few months, when it ia the intention of one of the partners to retire from active business.

2nd. That the plant, machinery, and general appliances of the firm are now of .a character which opens up a largely extended and extremely proH table trade, which, however, calls for the employment of an extended capital.