MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1235, 17 August 1883, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

A serious encounter took place between a crowd a,nd the railway officials and police at Strorne Ferry, the western terminus of the Highland Eailway, recently. The disturbance arose from an attempt by the people to prevent the alleged desecration of the Sabbath. It was intended to despatch some tish : by special tram to catch the limited mail at Inverness for London, but on the fishing steamer's lights being seen a crowd of about 150 people, armed with clubs and sticks, turned out, and effectually prevented the fish from being landed. The railway authorities sought the assistance of the police, but their joint forces were totally insufficient to disperse the mob, who remained masters of the situation. The mob remained during Sunday in possession of the railway and pier. Precisely at midnight the oppositionists evacuated the railway offices at Strome Ferry, and betook themselves to their respective homes. Religious services were conducted till 12 o'clock struck. Nearly 8000 boxes of fine herrings, about 80 tons in weight, principally intended for the Liverpool and Manchester markets, are now lying rotting in the sun, They 'will be of no value whatever for the English markets. The Wellington correspondent of the Christchurch Press says : — " Bishop , Moran was examined at great length to- . day before the Education Petitions ' Committee. I understand that during , his evidence he stated, that in the Catholic diocese of Dunedin there were s eighteen Catholic schools, with an attendance of 1350 children, and with i nine male and thirty female teachers ; . that the cost of maintance was £3000 per annum, whilst the number of i children attending Government schools } cost the State £55,000 per annum, but : he considered the children " attending the Catholic schools received a better | education than those at the Government schools. He also said that the Catholics of Dunedin had expended I £30,500 in building schools. He stated , that in England three million children ( attended denominational schools, and only 800,000 attended schools, belonging to the Boards, which receive , all the school rates. He (the Bishop) had been engaged in education work for twenty-seven years, aud was \ thoroughly conversant with the working of the different educational systems, and for a long period he had spent three hours a day on educational work. In the Bishop's opinion there is no such thing as common Christianity, and he is strongly in favor of the denominational system of education . as he objects to the State being the schoolmaster. He said the reason why Catholics objected to the present . educational system was because not only had they gone to great expense in building schools for themselves, but they had to contribute towards the maintenanceof the Government schools, and that the Catholics were in favor of payment by results. He did not consider the denominational system that existed before the passing of the Education Act had been a failure. I hear Bishop Moran gave his evidence in a very clear manner, and he thanked i the Committee for allowing him to appear before them to give evidence. The following from " Truth " offers a splendid chance to any millionaire, Australian or otherwise, or even to any rich woman who has bought a a husband : — Loudqn is a mart of the world. You may buy anything here, from a wife or a white slave, to a castle, a palace, or a pedigree. It is not often, however, that a crown is in the market. Such is the case, in all sober seriousness to-day. There is an island somewhere to the east of Sardinia to be bought, all except the port, which is the property of King Humbert. The rest is en vente the price being and the purchaser will be permitted, if it suits his caprice, to assume the name style, and title of King, such being the title of the vendor who prefers hard cash to barren acres, and barren honor, like a wise old Roman. Here is a fine chance for Mr Shoddy, Mr Brummagem, and those numerous plutocrats who will back any political party that- will covenant to give them a baronetcy in return for hard cash and their votes. A King is surely a cut above a baronet, and among other advantages, he could make all his progeny princes and princesses, and he might recoup him self by selling titles ad lib. Fancy King Samuel 1. growing prize sheep. Doctors should be very, careful whensigning their names to documents. A certificate was signed by a busy doctor the other day, and he accidentally put his name in the space for " Cause of Death." The Registrar says he wishes the profession would be as accurate generally. A recent Californian paper contains a letter from Frederick Liehtenberger, M.D., who states that a companion named Ernest Fluchterapiegel, while prospecting for gold in the neighborhood of Frazer River, found some " geodes," which are masses of quartz, containing half a pint of flued oalled the " water of crystallisation," which was drunk by the unfortunate man, with a jesting remark, and soon after he complained of great weight and pain in his stomach and bowels. In a short time he died, and his body instantly became rigid, and in a few hours petrification took place, the whole body, flesh,, blood, heart, liver, intestines, &c, becoming stone, tfhus, by drinking half a pint, the poor fellow became quartz. Earl Cowper, in proposing the toast of " Her Majesty's Ministers " at the annual dinner of the Herts Liberal Association at St. Albans on Tuesday, referred to the state of Ireland, and' expressed satisfaction at the restoration of order by means of the repressive powers entrusted to Uis. able successor

Lord Spencer. Tlie re .nedial measures passed during his own vice- royalty would ultimately, he believed, produce a union of feeling, and not Aerely of name, between England and Ireland. The Solicitor-General, in responding,claimed for the Government a sincere desire to promote the good of thecountry by repairing the errors of their predecessors and by advancing the; interests of all classes. The Melbourne Argus says : "An offer has been made by Mr Bosisto to place a bund red- weight of eucalyptus oil in the hands of the Government for transmission to- Egypt, with a view torts being used in the treatment of the cholera patients. In the Lancet of June 2 particulars are given of the ex- , periments made by the medical committee at Lyons as to. the •> possibility of treating the bacterial poison of zymotic diseases. The committee find, it seems, that 'thymol and oil of eucalptus are capable of attenuating the virus in 48 hours, and the Lancefe remarks that this discovery is of importance, as it has . hitherto been supposed that the power of destroying bacteria by attenuation or annihilation was 'beyond our ken.' Mr Bosittto was anxious that the oil should be tried on a large scale in connection with the cholera virus. Mr Service accepted the offer, but on communicating with the Peninsular and Oriental Company he was informed that under present circumstances cargo cannot be landed in Egypt" The marsupials in Queensland are nearly as great a plague as the rabbits in New Zealand. During eightmontha of last year in one district, that of Bauhinea, there were 64,563 kangaroos and wallaroos destroyed, and in. another, that of Beylando South, 163, 556 wallabies. The total number of animals exterminated during the eight months was 424,651 kangaroos and wallaroos, and 551,276 wallabies, or nearly a million of all kinds. And yet the burden of the Inspector of Stock's report is a <jk>tnplaiut of the apathy with which the work of destruction is carried on, and a recommendation to make the task compulsory- over the whole Colony, instead of leaving it to local irresponsible boards.. The Christehnrcli correspondent of the West Coast Times telegraphs as follows : — Caution your readers not tohave anything to do with Diamond Companies or to come over to the socalled diamond fields. It is certain that all the jewellers in Chri&tchurcli have had "specimens " of the supposed jewels submitted to them and not one has proved to be a genuine diamond. Besides this the stones are in sucll quantity that if they really were diamonds the price would fall immediately to a nominal figure, as literally cartloads are to be obtained. The feeling here to-day is very despondent, as it is believed a cablegram has been received containing bad news. The contents of the cablegram are kept a profound secret. A man advertisesin to-day's papers, 5 diamonds for a 6& stamp. It is a notorious fact that the Church and the stage have never exactly "hit it" in the past, and do not, lor the matter of that even now, notwithstanding the efforts of a few liberal-minded divines. The moral power of the Church being great, e\en in these days of scepticism, the histrionic body is generally very well content if it is. left alone to realise its nefarious little profits without provoking aciiveopposition. It is at all events not given as a rule to the dangerous experiment of bearding its formidable opponent, and an act of daring on tlie jjiart of a New Zealand theatrical entrepreneur which has baen brought under my notice certainly deserves publicity. It is revealed in a letter from a Wesleyan clergymen, of Hftkitika. This epistle begin, mirable diotu, by thanking the manager in question whohad intrepidly solicted clerical patronage for his entertainment. Astonishment evidently did not paralyze the reverend gentleman's fighting power. His wrist must have been strong and steady when he delivered the following home thrust in reply . — " Will you kindly allow me to return the compliment by inviting you and the members of your company to the services to be conducted in the Wesleyan Church on Sunday next, at 11 , a.m. and 7 p.m. Thestewards will J»o glad to find you freesittings and you. will uot be under, any obligation to contribute to the voluntary offertory. The subject of the morning discourse will be ' Tha true life, and moral discipline,' and that of the evening. « The one thiug needful* — the other portions of the services,, including music, as usual. I would especially remind you that this may be the last opportunity you will havo of accepting such an invitation, for the end of all things is at hand. Lot us. therefore be sober, and watch unto prayer." It is the calmness and perfectly justifiable nature of this retort that lends it effect, andLshouldcertanly hold that the Church has scored ouft upon this occasion. All the necessary " points " are carefully made. Against, possible poverty or p.irsimo;iy, stands, the comfortable assuranco of free sittings and no compulsory' aliusofferiug. The programme (including music) is sketched in business-like-form, and the rev. gentleman, it may be surmised, was "fully prepared to, show his visitors that the " one thing needful " was not in his opinion the' drama,— be it never bo ••legitimate." In case persuasive methods should tail, there is further on a patent endeavour to frighten the sheep into the fold, the writer agreeing with several of niy up-conntj^f eoiTrespohdonts, that the end of all things is at hand, in themost literal sense. There is only one point in -the whole epistle at which the rev. gentleman lays himself open to a charge of ill-nature, and even this is uotpi-ven, and may savour uio-« of

reproof than satire. What does he mean by that concluding, " Let us be sober ?" It probably puts into words a suspicion excited by the unparalelled audacity of his correspondent. The Allusion is mild, but I donbt much •whether it is accidental — Civis Mr Pyke lately made some strong remarks on the manner in which the Education Petitions Committee conduct their business. Mr Swanson had moved for the addition of three names to the Committee— Messrs Fergus, Fish, and the mover. Mr. Seddon proposed to amend this by adding, in the interest of the Roman Catholic portion of the community, the names of Messrs C. J. Johnston and Dodson. Supporting the amendment, Mr Pyke said the Committee had displayed an extraordinary amount of bigotry, and had actually refused to take the evidence of one gentleman representing the Roman Catholic iuterest. He added that since his acquaintance with that Committee the human race* as represented in the M ouse at any rate, lad fallen very ranch in his estimation. Archibald Forbes is said to havo netted about £6000 by ha trip to / Australia. The much travelled Smythe ! lias also done well, despite the fact that Archie has a sharp eye for the bawbees. * In an article on Australian charateristics, contributed to a Sydney contemporary, Mr Archibald Forbes ' frankly confesses that when he left England he was under the impression that Melbourne was in youth Australia. He knows better now, but he reckons it among the disgraces of Britain that the great mother country " knows ao little, of her lusty off spring under the Southern Cross. Proceeding to dilate on the characteristics of the "■colonists, he says, "You havo no life in Australia that corresponds at all -to the life in one of the great E.uropean centres— London or Paris, for i instance. Nowhere are you more than merely locally, or af the furthest provincially, metropolitan. Evan your greatest cities retain sonic.of the villiage aspect." But in rural -Australia there is no life of that 'bonnie, phlegmatic, vegetating tyre which oue recognises in all the hy- '. ways of Enrope. Our rural classes, he .'thinks, are a pbshing, energetic, wellinformed set of people. They do not fcelifeve in standing still, or sitting .down coutented with their lot, whatever that may be. They are constantly striving to better themselves, and in Australia. Mr Forbes tells ua, there is no lot to which a purposeful man .cannot attain. He believes the Aus- • tralians are honestly proud of their "«ouiitry ; of what they have done to make it great; of its vast resourcesu rces and natural beauties. Me sees nothing to object to in this kind of v blow," a^d of the other kind — the baleful, detestable, ignoble ". blpw.^!_^ JhaJ. "stinks of brass," his experience is that Australians are singularly guiltless. Arrongant snobbery he has not detected in the colonies, but of that he may not be a very good judge. Politics, lie declares, to be the weak point of Australia. A member goes to Parliament not so much accredited to legislate for the good of the commonwealth as to agitate, struggle, intrigue, bully, for the constituency that sends him up. He is not an item in the aggregate of a Legislature ; he is a delegate from little Peddlington or Bungorooiborra, Mr Forbes has no faith in federation. It is a chimera, and may he relegated to the limbo of indefinite immensities; He has a good word to say of social life amongst us. The female element is as pure as it is sweet and gracious. Among the male element decorum is 'stringent. He complains, jhowever, of a want on the part of the men of that graceful cowtesy towards ihe other sex, which it is always a pleasure to recoguise. There is nothing either very new or very deep in Mr Forbes' article ; but as the remarks of one who is a pretty shrewd observer of life and manners, and who has seen a. good deal of the world, it is not with out some little interest. Gorged Livers, — Bilious conditions •constipation, piles, dyspepsia, headache, cured by "Wells' May Apple Pills." sd. and Is. boxes at druggists. Moses, Moss & Co., Sydney, General Agents for A ustralasia. j We know Hop Bitters are above and ■ beyond all as a nutritious tonic and j curative. Read thoroughly the \