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Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 29 July 1881, Page 2

It is hardly a flourishing sign of the times r that tbe business in the Magistrate's and Warden's Courts yesterday only occupied a few minutes to dispose of. Is it that the ' people are too busy or too poor to indulge : in the luxury of litigation ? ■ •:■,, \iij. The Westport Times expresses the opinion that tbe County system has proved a failure in its district,' and the Grey Star concurs io the same view with regard to tbe Grej County. " ' ' The greediness with which any and everj tit bit of gossip reflecting upon Mr Weston is sucked into the columns of the Herald ie the' clearest possible evidence of its anxiety to pander to the taste of Mr Weston's opponents. But in view of the way in which tbat paper opposed Mr Weston's election, the publio will be able to understand with what unction the service is 'performed. It w'll be observed, however, that these little homethrusts are never given without some emollient, in the shape of a wishy-washy laudatory paragraph in another part of the paper, as a sort of sugar coating to the pill. But this awkward effort at pulling with the hare and running witb the hounds is rather to thin not to be seen through. We have eyery respect for Mr Beeves, but nothing but the strongest personal Animus *tyoul^ induce any person to make his remark* against his colleague on such aii occasion the subject of a special telegram. ' But the source whence the messages come is well known here, aud there is no doubt as to tbe amount of dependence which the public will place upon them. Mr Weston having thoroughly belied all the croakines of his opponents! their efforts are „ now under a thin hypocritical guise directed towards the congenial task of pelting him with mud. Persons who have undertaken the sale of tickets in Jacques art-union are requested to complete their canvussing and make returns to the treasurer not la f er than Wednesday next, in order that tbe dato of the dtawing may be fixed. Mr Qt. W. Sampson, postmaster, informs us that the San Francisco mail reached Westport by the steamer Kennedy yesterday, and

will be brought on by the Westport coach today. The tender of Joseph M'Hugh and party for driving extension of the Inangahua Low Level Tunnel, 200 ft, has been accepted by tbe directors of the company, the price being 30s per foot for driving, and 24s per hundred for laths. There were eight tenders. The American "Builder says the accumulation of soot may be prevented by putting a quantity of salt into the mortar with which the intercourses of bricks are to be laid. Then there will never be any accumulation of soot iv that chimney. The philosophy of it is thus stated— The salt in that portion of the mortar which is exposed absorbs moisture from the atmosphere every damp day. The soot thus becoming damp, falls into the fireplace. Tbe Sjdney Bulletin Bays :— A story almost —we wish it were— incredible is told in the daily papers. At Scarsdale, in Victoria two boys went out shooting. One, a Chinese lad, accidently received a charge in the leg, to the alarm of bis companion, who attempted, with his sister's aid, to bandage the wounded limb. While thus engaged, bis elder brother appeared upon the scene, and with an atroc^ ous readiness of resource, perfectly bdtoJyrny in its coolness, deliberately cut the little sufferer's throat with his penknife, and threw the body into a neighboring waterhole. At least, so says his younger brother. The tragedy only oame to ligbt through the ac cidental discovery of the remains. The companion of the murdered boy, aged ten years, then made the abore disclosure. The last General Government Gazette notifies the appointment of Mr Elmer as Registrar of Eleotors for the Grey Valley, vice Mr Kenrick resigned. There is great exniteanent at the largo returns of gold on the Gympie goldfields. One sharebroker ia reported to have disposed of £150,000 worth of shares in one week. On tho last day of the Adelaide Birthday Meeting £6108 pawed through tlie totalizators.. The best diyidend ofth%^ **as that on the City Handicap, won by Miss Harriet, the investors of £1 receiving no less than £20 6s. During the four days £21,410 passed through the maohinos, and the Club netted thereby £1200. A gentleman anxious to ascertain the effeot of transplanting by night instead of- by day, made an experiment, with the following results:—He transplanted ten cherry trees while in bloom, commencing at four o'clock in the afternoon. Those transplanted during daylight shed their blossoms, producing little or no fruit, while those transplanted in the dark maintained their condition fully. He did the same with ten dwarf trees after the fruit was one-third grown. Those trans* planted during the day shed thin fruit ; those transplanted during the night perfeoted their crop and showed jao injury frotn havjqg been removed. With each of these trees he moved some earth with the roots. The incident is fully vouched for, and if a few similar experi- • ments produce a like result, it will be a strong argument to horticulturists, &c, to do such work at night. A man bought a gallon of gin to take home, and, by the way of a label, wrote his name upon a card, which happened to be the seven of clubs, and tied it to the handle. A friend coming along and observing tbe jug, quietly remarked, ' That's an awful careless way to leave that liquor!' «Why?' said Tom. i ' Because somebody might oome with the eight of clubs and take it.' Two eminent German scholars, Dr. Behm and Herr Wagner, have published an estimate of the population of our globe. To obtain an absolutely correct estimate is a matter of 1 difficulty, as but few nations ever have a 1 census taken. Until 1853 the only modern nations whose populations had been systematically counted were the United States, Great Britain, Prussia, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark,} and Greece. Since 1853 many other countries have had censuses 1 taken, so that at present we can ascertain with considerable exactness tbe number of ' inhabitants of each of the leading countries of - Europe ' and America. In estimating the population of Asia, Africa, and Oceanic*, Messrs Behm and Wagner have been aided by the whole literature of travel, as well as • by certain known laws respecting the proi portion of inhabitants to the square mile, as ' regulated by climate, civilisation, and eir - cumstances. Some of their conclusions are r of much interest. They estimate the popui lation of tbe great division's of the globe thus i —Europe, 315,929,000 ; Asia, 834,707,000 j Africa, 205,676,000 ; Asia, 95,495,000 j A us- ' tralia and Polynesia, 4.031,000 ; Polar regions, 82,000, Total, 1,455.923,500. Increase since their last estimate, one year and nine , months ago. 11,778,200. A few of theirjstfc-. mates of particular countries may interest our readers. The Dominion of Canada, they think, has now a population of 3,839,470. about one inhabitant to a square mile. The i population of the Uni: ed States, leaving out i 300,000 Indians, they conjectured, from partial returns of the census of 1880, to be about 48,500000* Mexico, 9,485,600; Greenland, 10,000, In Europe they assign to the German Empire of Frederick William, 53,943, 360 1 the Austrian Empire. 38,000,000 ; Great Britain and Ireland, 34,517.000} France, 36,905,788 ; 5pain,' 16;625,860 j Italy, 28209, 620 ; Sweden, 4.531,863 ; Norway, 1,818,853 ; Switzerland, 2 792,264; Kussian Empire, 87,950,000 ; Turkish Empire, presents to us the inconceivable population of 434,626 500. The British Empire of India follows'with' a total of 240,298,509. Japan is thought to have a population of 34,338,504. Fourteen hundred and fifty millions is a good many people to inhabit a comparatiyely insignificant ball of matter whirling through space; but the earth is not half peopled. The island of Australia, ~ eight tbousand miles in circum* ference, contaius about two millions of people, whL:h is one inhabitant to every square mile and a-half of land. ' The German Government have prohibited the use of tobacco among boys under sixteen yean of age.

The Brush Electric Compmv, at their manufactory at Cleveland. America, have constructed a Tamp of 100,000 candle power, the largest and most powerful in the world. It is intended for use in the army. Mr Vanderbilt, the railway king of America, has commenced the building of a mansion to cost £300.000. We learn from Auckland that the diamond rock drill is at work testing the extent and depth of the Eamo coal bed. We notice that New Zealand potatoes are fetching 41b per ton in the Sydney market ; New Zealand oats, 4s 6d j and New Zealand malt 5s 9d per bushel. The proprietors of the Melbourne Age and Leader contemplate actions against all the country papers that have stated tbeir (the Age and Leader) circulation has fallen off. The Printer's Register says : — Tasmania cannot boant of its Press when compared with that of her sister Colonies. There are only two dailies, or perhaps I would not be incorrect i f I were to say three newspapers, published in the whole of the Colony, the others being, in fact, simply the weekly summaries of the daily journals. Upwards of __________§_____£&&&& **l*[__i century ago, when New UA dWyet awb»*±f¥»J&. Diemen's Land had a flourishing Press Hobart Town supported two or three daily journals ; now it has only one. Launceston also had two dailies till within the last year, when the Cornwall Chronicle, after an existence of thirty years in various forms, succumbed. However, the tide in affairs of Tasmanian journal'sm hasebbed.and now presents a cheerful prospect. There are many districts capable of supporting a newspaper $ townships that are growing daily in size and im- j portance. whioh keep paoe with the age, with the one exception that they lack tbeir local news-sheet. But this state of affairs is ripening to a crisis. It only wants an energetic spirit, like Mr Joseph Ivess's, to sound tbe death knell to this lethargy, and plant a journal here and there, when the people will marvel how they existed so long without such a sine qua nonj aud once acquiring their use, they will be unable to dispense with them.