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A ZULU BRAVE.
A ZULU BRAVE. Some few years ago, a Zulu hunter, hearing a young British officer speak somewhat lightly of nativeprowess offered to give him a specimen of it by killing single-handed a huge lion which infested the neigh- bourhood. The challenge was accepted, and the brave fellow at once set out upon his dangerous errand, the officer and several of his comrades following at a dis- tance. Having drawn the beast from his lair, the hunter wounded him with a well-flung spear, and instantly fell flat on the ground beneath his huge shield of rhinoceros hide which covered his whole body like the lid of a dish. The lion having vainly expended his fury upon it, at length drew back a few paces. Instantly the shield rose again, a second lance struck him, and his furious rush encountered only the im- penetrable buckler. Foiled again, the lion crouched close beside his ambushed enemy, as if meditating a siege but the wily savage raised the further end of the shield just enough to let him creep noiselessly away into the darkness, leaving his buckler unmoved. Arrived at a safe distance, he levelled his third spear at the broad yellow flank of the royal beast with such unerring aim as to lay him dead on the spot, and then returned composedly to receive the apologies and con- gratulations of the wondering spectators.
POVERTY AND PUBLIC HEALTH.
POVERTY AND PUBLIC HEALTH. The exceptional poverty and distress afflicting a large section of the population must inevitably pro- duce a disastrous effect on public health. That the distress is not so great in the metropolis as in Sheffield, Lancashire, and other provincial towns or counties we readily admit, but it has, nevertheless, been sutfeiently acute to produce, in many instances, great bodily deterioration, and this, if taken in conjunction with the severity of the winter, will account for the notable increase in the death-rate. The middle classes, suffer- ing from the commercial depression, have been obliged to redtfee their expenditure, especially in matters of luxury. The poorer classes, however, enjoying but few luxuries on which they could economise, have been compelled to deprive themselves of the necessities of life while that large section of the population which, at best, is living on the brink of starvation, has been forced over the border and made to endure all the horrors of insufficient food and absolute want. We have ascertained by numerous inquiries, that in poor quarters the publicans are doing very little business the butchers and small eating-house keepers sell much less meat than during the usual winter the consump- tion of tea and groceries has also sensibly fallen off; but, on the other hand, the bakers are doing a good business, for bread is about the cheapest available food. These facts are very significant. The amount of nutritious food consumed in these poor quarters is never sufficient to maintain all the inhabitants in good health; but, now that this supply has sensibly de- creased, we msst expect to find a great want of tone, and witness all the depressing influences that render a people specially susceptible to the danger of infection. Indeed, scarlet fever is already reported to be very rife ia various quarters. That the distress is exceptionally severe and dangerous appears from the complaints made by tradesmen in poor quarters; but the increase of pauperism and the overcrowded condition of the London workhouses further con- firm our opinion. During the last week of January there were 44,709 inmates in the work- houses, showing an increase of 2,900 on the correspond- ing week of last year; at the same time the number of recipients of out-door relief had also increased in spite of all the stringent efforts made of late to refuse as- sistance of this description. Again, during the first week of February there was a further increase, the workhouses containing 45,095 persons. In noting these figures we must not omit the fact, stili further con- firmed by our present investigations, that the poor, as a rule, will not go into the workhouse, however great their poverty. The riff-raff drift into the "house" during bad times; the poor sempstress or the more respectable labourer starves outside.-Lanoet.
THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT'S MARRIAGE.
THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT'S MARRIAGE. A Parliamentary paper issued on Saturday eontains the Treaty between her Majesty and the German Emperor, King of Prussia, for the marriage of his Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught with her Royal Highness the Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. It was signed at Berlin, February 26, 1879. and ratifications were exchanged at Berlin, March 8. The Treaty runs as follows "In the name of the Holy and Blessed Trinity. Be it known unto all men by these presents that whereas her Majesty the Queen of the United King- dom of Great Britain and Ireland, on the one part, and his Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, on the other part, being already connected by ties of consanguinity and friendship, have judged it proper that a further alliance should be contracted between their respective Royal Houses by a marriage, agreed to on both sides, between his Royal Highness Arthur William Patrick Albert,Duke of Connaught and of Strathearne, and Earl of Sussex, Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, &c,, third son of her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and her Royal Highness the Princess Louise Margaret Alexandra Victoria Agnes, third daughter of his Royal Highness Prince Frederick Charles Nicholas of Prussia, and great niece of his Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia. "The two high betrothed parties, as also his Royal Highness the Prince Frederick CharlQs of Prussia, and her Rojal Highness the Princess Marie Anne, his Royal Highness s consort, having declared their con- sent to such alliance,—in order, therefore, to attain so desirable an end, and to treat upoD, conclude, and confirm the articles of the said marriage, her Britannic Majesty on the one part, and his Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, on the other, have named as their plenipotentiaries, that is to Bay Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Grest Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable Lord Odo William Leopold Russell, a member of her Majesty's Most Hooourable Privy Council, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, her Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to hia Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia; "And his Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, Baron Alexander von Schleinitz, Minister of State, Minister of his Majesty's Household, Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, &c., &c., I. Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following articles Art. 1.—It is cone u led and [agreed that the mar- riage between his Royal Highness Arthur William Patrick Albert, Duke of Connaught and of Strathearne and Earl of Sussex, Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha, &c.. third son of her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, Prince Albert of SaxoCoburg and Gotha, and her Royal Highness the Princess Louise Margaret Alexandra Victoria Agnes, third daughter of his Royal Highness Prince Frederick Charles Nicholas of Prussia, shall be solemnized in person in that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called Great Britain, according to the due tenour of tho laws of England and the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, as soon as the same may con- veniently be done. "Art 2.—Her Britannic Majesty engages that his Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught shall secure to her Royal Highness, out of any revenues belonging to his Royal Highness or granted to his R 'yal High- ness by Parliament, the annual sum of JS 1,500, to be paid half-yearly to her Royal Highness for her sole and separate use and without any power of anticipation, during the period of their Royal Highnesses' mar- riage. "Art. 3.—If by the will of Divine Providence her Royal Highness should become a widow (which may God long forbid), her Britannic Majesty, being duly authorised thereto by Parliament, engages to grant to her Royal Highness, or to such persons as her Majesty may think fit to name, in trust for Her Royal Highnes, in lieu of dower, as a person al and in. alienable provision, the annual sum of £6,000 sterling money of the United Kingdom, to commence from the day of the death of his Royal Highness, and to continue during the life of her Royal High- ness, and to be payable quarterly on the 5th day of January, the 5th day of April, the 5th day of July, and the 10th day of October in every year the first payment to be made on such of the said quarterly days as shall happen next after the death of hia Royal Highness of such portion of the annual sum as may have accrued between the day of his death and such quarterly day, and a proportionate part thereof to be payable for the .period from the last quarterly day of payment to the day of the determination thereof. "Art. 4.—His Majesty the German Emperor. King of Prussia, will grant to her Royal Highness the Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia a dowry of 300,000 marks, of which one moiety-namely, 150,000 marks-is to be considered as an actual marriage portion, such as the Princesses of the Royal Prussian House are entitled to, and the other moiety -namely, 150,000 marks-is to be considered as a ID special gift of his Majesty, passing over into the free possession of her Royal Highness. "This dowry shall be delivered within four weeks after the date of the solemnization of the marriage to such person or persons as her Britannic Majesty shall authorize to receive the same, to be held by them upon I certain trusts which have been agreed upon between her Britannic Majesty and his Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, and which will be ex- pressed in a separate instrument. "His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, will provide her Royal Highness the Princess Louise Margaret with Princely apparel, jewels, and an outfit suitable to a Princess of the Royal Prussian House. "Art. 5.—Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise Margaret, in accordance with the existing practice in the Royal Prussian House and the House and family compacts, with the concurrence of his Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught, her future consort, renounces formally and permanently, in favour of the male line of the Royal Prussian Margravian Brandenburg family, all contingent rights of hereditary succession to land and people, in such wise that, so long as male descendants of the Royal Prussian Margravian Bran- denburg line shall be living, she shall have no claim whatever and no right thereto. "Butif (which may Almighty God forbid, all male descendants of the Royal Prussian Margravian Brandenburg line should have died out, then whatever appertains to the Princess-es of the Royal Prussian Margravian Brandenburg House in virtue of testa- ments, settlements, laws, and compacts ot the afore- said House shall not be lost, but shall be reBarved to her Royal Highness the Princess and her heirs. "Art. 6.—The present Treaty shall be ratified by her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and by his Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, and the ratifica- tions shall be exchanged at Berlin as soon as possible. witucoe tucrcui mo pieuipu* tentiaries have signed the same and hava affixed thereto the seals of their arms. Done at Berlin, the twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of Oar Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine. (L.S.) "ODO WILLIAM LEOPOLD RUSSELL. (L.S.) "SCHLEINITZ."
THE LORD STEWARD.
THE LORD STEWARD. A state pageant such as that at Windsor Castle on the marriage of the Duke of Connaught invariably calls forth from their normal obscurity a good many functionaries who, in their official capacity, at least, are probably almost ai unfamiliar to the members of the Royal Family as to the strangers present. The Lord Steward, for instance, who figureu prominently among the great State officers, and who holds an office of great nominal responsibility, is rarely required to be present at Court, the actual performance of the duties pertaining to his poet devolving on the Master of the Household, who resides at Court. The salary of the Lord Steward is, we believe, £2,000 per annum, and judging by the duties and responsibilities supposed to pertain to the post, it is by no means excessive. There is no formal grant of the office. It is conferred by Her Majesty in person handing over a white wand, which conveys with it the "estate of the Queen's household, to be ruled and governed according to his discretion. All his commands in Court are to be obeyed. His authority teaches over all the officers and servants of the Queen's house, excepting those of the Queen's chamber, stable, and chapel. He has authority to hold courts for administering justice and settling dis- putes between the domestic servants of the Queen." The Lord Steward of the Household still exercises his judicial functions when occasion requires, but in former days he sat at the Board of Doom," invested with the "power of life and limb," to inquire into all matters of treasons, misprisions of treasons, murders, manslaughters, bloodshed, and other malicious strik- ines whereby blood shall be shed in any of the palaces and houses of the king." At the death of the monarch the Lord Steward breaks his wand over the Royal corpse, and thus resigns his power and discharges all the officers under him.-Globe.
"A NEARER INDIA FOR ENGLAND."…
"A NEARER INDIA FOR ENGLAND." In London, on Tuesday night, before a meeting of the Society of Arts, a paper on Africa as a Paramount Neces- sity for the Industries of England" was read by Mr. Bradshaw, of Manchester, Sir Taomas Fowell Buxton pre- siding. The reader said that in England all trades being at a dead level of depression it became necessary to consider the best means of assisting ourselves. Africa, he was of opinion, would be found to be as Livingstone had predicted it would one day be, U. nearer India for Eagland." It was a land sur- passingly rich in animal, mineral, and vegetable wealth; a land of great lakes and rivers forming natural highways for commerce. There was a population of from 200,000,000 to 400,000,000, and the materials to hand. He thought that £10,000,000 sterling should be raised by shares at a small sum and applied to the making of a railway 500 miles in length which it was computed could be made in about eighteen months; to the providing of steamers for the great lakes, three points of attack being recom- mended-the Niger, the Livingstone, and the lake regions; and the necessary wharves, warehouses, and trading stations. He particularly instanced the cotton trade as an industry which would reap incalculable benefit, far exceeding what had resulted from India, the latter now diminishing from native manufacture. The produce of the country in ivory and gold would be immense, and Mr. Stanley had stated his opinion that on a railway the return traffic would be very heavy. A modified East India Company would, he thought, bring the blessing of security and civilization to the natives. In the discussion which followed the reading Mr. Pell advocated the railway system. Mr. Howard said that he had been delegated by the working men of Preston to urge the question in the cotton interest, Preston having now thousands of looms and spindles idle. Colonel Grant thought the country should be at- tacked trom the eastern coast. The secretary read a paper from Colonel Badger, who said the Sultan of Zanzibar would insist on being consulted in the matter, and had stated that his in- terest in the country could not be overlooked. Mr. James Stephenson, Manchester, said that there was already a Livingstonia Company, which had steamers on the Zambesi, trading for some 800 miles up towards Lake Nyassa. Roads had been made at a cost of from B5 to JS10 a mile. It had also been recently ordered that an exploration should be made from Nyassa to Lake Tanganyka, and there was little doubt that roads would be made and communication established with the London mission there. Mr. Stephenson doubted if colonization would be found to have any other effect than getting us into trouble. The natives were very honest and careful, and one of the worst things that could happen would be to send out bad goods. By avoiding war and fighting with the natives -the Zulus existing very close up to the lakes—he thought we had nothing to fear. Mr. Hutchinson thought that we were running after an ignus fatuus in Eastern Central Africa when Western Africa would offer much greater opportunity. The Sultan of Zanzibar should, he thought, be assisted in protecting and consolidating his country. The chairman having summed up the observations, a vote of thanks concluded the meeting.
ACCIDENT TO A RED DEER IN…
ACCIDENT TO A RED DEER IN WINDSOR PARK. Writing in Land and Water, Mr. Frank Buckland aays:—"Prince Christian has been kind enough to allow me to place on record an event which I believe to be unique in the annals of forestry. _Thia carious catastrophe to one of the red deer in Windsor Park will be of the highest interest to all owners of deer parks. On the 16th of January one of the keepers (G. Wheeler), who has charge of her Majesty's deer in the royal domains, was going his rounds, when, to his great amazement, he suddenly came upon a magnificent red deer lying on his back, with his leg tightly fixed in the forked branch of a white thorn tree. He was lying on his near or left ride, and the tip of his right shoulder was supported against the trunk of the tree. The chest and fore P«J of his body were clear of the ground, suspended dj hia right or off foot between the fork of the tree. Wheeler attempted to remove the foot, but fotma. 89 tightly fixed that with all his force be was quite unabfe to do so. The abearance of the stag « foot was as follows :-The shank bone was fraetujd and splintered diagonally. The fractured bones had nwje their exit by a cut right through & comDound commuted fracture. P bone below this fracture-tough and strongs the red deer's shanks are—were shattere ra^" ments the size of dice. The bone w^ apn fractured at its lower part, and the thick skrn entirely lacerated through. The large a.t ^hQ b^ck "[ ^e bone, as well as the ^re-l.ke smews that work the toes of the foot, were elongated and pnlled out) and 1Q fact avervthine was broken right off except two very Blender sinews and a small portion of the skin. The total length of the portion of the deer's leg caught in the tree is seventeen inches; from the fracture to where it was torn off, eight inches. The leg was caught by the branches of the tree about four feet from the ground, and the lowest boughs carrying leaves were about nine feet from the ground. The deer was dead, and it is not known how long he had been held a prisoner by his foot. As there was no eye-witness as to how this occurred to the stag, it becomes somewhat diffieult to account for this extraordinary event. It is probable, however, that in consequence of the weather the animal was short of food, and that in his wanderings he had observed above his head something edible on the lower branches of the thorn tree, possibly leaves, moss, or lichens, on which deer feed in snowy weather. These he could not reach when standing on all fours. He therefore, probably raised himself upon his hind legs, and when stretching himself upwards and for. wards, the hoofs of his hind legs slipped fram under him, or, elae, when letting himself down again, his right leg slipped suddenly between the forked branches of the tree, and was instantly held there tight. The animal then probably began immediately to struggle, but the more he kicked and fought the tighter the wrist of his foot got wedged in; in fact, when the preparation was brought to me the foot was so tightly fixed into the notch of the tree that it could not have been more jammed if it had been hammered down, and then a long screw passed right through it. In his struggles to gat loose (he was a fine heavy stag, carry- ing antlers with 13 points) the first thing that happened was the fracture of the leg-bone. This allowed the animal to fall on his back, from which position, of course, he could Dot rise. Terribly alarmed at what had happened to him, the poor stag then began to pull and tug at his captive leg, assisting himself so to do by means of his horns. In his frantic exertions to get free, the stag a second time broke his leg, then the skin gave way, and lastly, the large tendons. If his strength had lasted long enough to have ruptured the two small tendons, it is possible that he might have escaped, leaving his leg in the fork of the tree. His Royal Highness, having been informed of the Accident, judiciously ordered the portion of the tree which held the foot to be sawn off bodily. He then kindly sent the whole thing to me, with a request that the foot should be preserved for him without being removed from the fork in which it had been so tightly' jammed by the animal itself."
A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF…
A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF PUTNAM'S RIDE." A centennial celebration of what is known as Put- nam's Ride" took place at Greenwich, Connecticut, the other day. In 1779 General Putnam was in com- mand of the forces in Connecticut. On the 25th of February in that year a force, commanded by Major- General Tryon, Governor of New York, composed of about 1,500 men, chiefly British and Hessian troops, marched unexpectedly upon Greenwich, where General Putnam had arrived a fe w days before to obtain informa- tion as to the military situation. A small body of Ame- ricans posted across the road through the village with three cannon fled at the approach of the Royal troops, and Putnam prudently followed their example -galloping off on his horse, pursued by the enemy's dragoons. On reaching the brow of a hill over- hanging a precipice, the fugitive, it is alleged, rode his horse risht down the precipice amid I volley of bullets from his disappointed pursuers, and thus escaped from their grasp. The precise spot at which Putnam and his horse went over the preci- pice is involved in doubt-indeed, the fact of his riding down the precipice at all is doubted by many of the citizens of Greenwich, who declined to take part in the centennial celebration of the event, maintain- ing that even if the hero actually performed the feat it was in the act of running away from the enemy instead of running to meet them, and had therefore better be buried in ob- livicn. The majority of the citizens, however, entered into the affair heart and soul, most of the leading Connecticut towns sent delegations, several hundred persons went from New York to Greenwich, there was an imposing procession, an oration, services in the church, a benediction, a collation, and the cen- tennial celebration of Putnam's Ride was a decided success.—Pall MaU Gazette.
PROTECTION IN CANADA.
PROTECTION IN CANADA. Under date March 16, The Times o! Monday publishes the following from their Correspondent at Ottawa The Finance Minister made the Budget speech last night. Over two million dollars are required to be raised by fresh taxation, and differential duties are imposed for the first time. These are upon salt and tea. Upon teas coming from the United States there is a specific duty of 2c. per lb. and 10 per cent ad valorem. On salt from anywhere but Great Britain and its de- pendencies the duty is 8c. per 1001b. Lord Liorne is the first Governor-General whose Royal instructions omit stating that any Bill imposing differential duties shall be reserved" for the consideration of the Home authorities. Besides the general tariff being raised from 171 to 20 per cent. ad valorem, numetous classes of articles are subjected to highly protective duties. Cotton fabrics pay le. per yard specific as well as If per cent. ad valorem, and when measured by square yards the specific duty is 2c. Silk fabrics pay 30 per cent.; shawls, blankets, and flannels of all sort, cloths, felt cloth, yarns, and knitted good", l\a. per lb., besides 20 per cent. M, valorem; ready-made clothing and wearing apparel, 10c. per lb. and 25 per cent, ad valorem carpets composed of wool 10c. per square yard and 20 per cent. ad valorem; pig iron, 2 dols. per ton; iron in slabs, &c., Per cen^- valorem in bars, rolled and hammered, boiler, and other plates, nail Ond spike rods, In per cent. ad ovawein; rolled wire rods in coil, 10 per cent. iron rails, 15 per. cent.; railway fish plates and such, 17! per cent; iron and steel wire, 25 per cent; and tin-plates, 10 per cent. To benetit Nova Scotia, anthracite and bituminous coal and also eoke are subjected te a duty of 5Oc. per short ton of 2,001b. Cabinet furniture is taxed 35 per cent., agricultural implements and wooden ware 25 per cent., and bread stuffs and barley lo per cent. Machinery for cotton and woollen mills is on the free list The Customs duty on spirits is increased from 1 dol. 20c. to 1 dol. 32Ac. per imperial gallon, and on brandy from 1 dol. 20c. to 0 t5e. There is also an increased excise duty of lOe. per gallon on spirits, and a 16 per 4wnt, duty has been placed on foreign vessels seeking registration in 'Canada. The American bounty on sugar is counter- vailed by duty being levied on the value irrespective of drawbacks. The sugar duties ara-on aU above No. 14 Dutch standard in colour. lc. per lb., and 35 per cent. ad valorem; No, 9 to 14, ic. per lb., and 30 per cent. ad valorem; under No. ,9. 4,c- per lb., and 30 percent. ad valorem. The average percentage of revenue from imports is lof: the.proportion oai imports I*001 Britain being 171, and from the United States less than 10 per cent. The Finance Minieier belk- ves that the countay, owing to the maceer in which the new taria is framed, will receive the greatest portion of the 2,000,OOOdalg. feom foreign ccuntries, and but a small portioa from the mother country. He claims that, owing to the great decrease in vaineB, I10 •« <: iSi Pr°dwce no more than weald the tan o l i73, supposing specific duties had been made y levying the taxation on all articles manufactured in Canada and exported. A drawback of duties paid on material is given on evidence of ex- portation new vessels are to be treated as exports of this kind, except as regards the cordage used, the duty on which is 10 percent. "The above figures indicate the leading changes in the fiscal policy, Protectionists acknowledge that the have abundantly fulfilled their pledge to enter upon a Protective policy. The Opposition acknowledge that apparent prosperity may temporarily result from this readjustment of the tariff, but are sceptical as to its producing the promised blessings for the country." Princess Louise, with some members of the house- hold, occupied seats on the floor of the House during the delivery of the Budget speech.
MONEY ORDERS. BY POST eARDS.…
MONEY ORDERS. BY POST eARDS. The transmission of money through the Poet Office has become 80 much a necessity of the age that any- thing which can be done to render it more easy and expeditious deserves the beat consideration. A great step has been made lately in this direction bv the institution of registered envelopes, and the liberty now permitted to the public to send coin by means of them. There is, however, even in this method of transmitting small debts, a good deal of necessary waste when the postage fees come to be added to the price of registration; and on sums which have to be made up wholly or princi- pally of silver coin this tax becomes a serious item. It seems unfortunate that the charges for small sums should have been raised lately to a higher figure than they had once attained, and the expediency of such a change from a public point of view is far from having been fully made out. As the faci- lities afforded by the English Post Office are thus still decidedly imperfect, it is possible that some advantage may be taken of a hint from the French postmaster. In France there has been in force, since the 1st of Inarch, a new regulation by which a great economy both in time and expense is secured to the senders of money. A supply of marulat- Cartes has been forwarded to many of the local othces, and through them to the public, the use of which is apparently simpler than anything we are acquainted with in this country. The transmitter writes upon the card the amount of the sum to be sent, and having done so has nothing to do but to hand in the card to the postmaster or clerk, and pay the money, plug the small charge made as a fee. There is thus no necessity for him to take back any paper, or to for- ward this to the intended recipient of the mensy. The Post Office charges itself with all the subsequent steps in the process, and thus there is little or no chance of robbery or loss in transitu. It may be well worth con- sidering whether this principle, already partially adopted in respect to international Post Office orders, may not be extended, as it has been in France, to pur- poses of inland communication,—Globe.
A TEMPERANCE MISSION.
A TEMPERANCE MISSION. A week's temperance mission took place at Sheffield on Sunday by the preaching ot 956 temperance sermons, and on Monday there was a Conference in the afternoon, and a meeting at night. Both Mr. Roebuck, M.P., and Mr. Mun- della. M.P., had been communicated with to take the chair. Mr. Roebuck wrote as follows:- Were I ten years younger than I am I would cheerfully accede to your request to preside at the proposed Conference but I am now physically incap- able of fulfllling the duties imposed upon the chairman of such a meeting. Men will meet with strong feelings to which they will be inclined to give expression in strong language. To preserve order and good temper will need great firmness and strength, which latter would fail me, and I should be helpless in the boisterous surge of conflicting opinions. You must, therefore, be good enough to excuse me when I meet your request with a negative. The subject to be discussed is very important and very difficult, requiring for its solution large experience and much knowledge of mankind. I sincerely hope that the question may be treated calmly, in a wise and generous spirit, and in a temper that may lead to wise and useful conclusions.-I am, yours very truly, J. A. ROEBUCK." Mr. Mundella wrote, excusing his non-attendance on the ground of his Parliamentary duties, and In the course of his letter he said Much of the distress and privation of present and past years would have been averted bad we been a temperate and thrifty people. We can never become truly happy, prosperous, and free as a nation till we become sober and self-denying. The waste of money caused by intemperance is fearful and prodigious; but the material injury is trifling compared with the injury which intemperance inflicts on the moral, religious, and intellectual life of the nation. To endeavour effectually to remedy an evil which is at once a national curse and disgrace is the duty of every honest patriot and true Christian."
IS TRADE REVIVING?
IS TRADE REVIVING? The Statist says :-Apart from the statistics of trade, which relate to the movement of goods and the activity of transactions, there is a question aa to improving tone in the markets of the country which requires examination. Everything is prepared, or preparing, for a revival of cheerfulness, of prices, and, in short, of trade; money is cheap, wages are low, the hours of labour are extended, stocks are reduced, and prices in the wholesale markets are down to what appears to be a minimum range. It may, perhaps, reason- ably be hoped also that the effects of failures and of bankrupt competition will no longer be so strongly felt as of late in many trades. Under such circum- stances we may look for a revival of speculation in various markets, which shall eventually spread to all, and replace the prevailing depression by hope and activity. Here and there we do actually find evidence of the growing speculative power referred to. In the corn, the iron and tin, the cotton markets, this first sign of reviving trade is apparent. We believe that the weather has a great deal to do with the improvement, a marked increase of shipping activity being in consequence of the better weather, reported from Hull and other ports; and as regards inland trade, the break-up of the long and severe frost has been followed by a marked activity in build- ing and agricultural operations, iron, wood, tools, machinery, materials, labour, all being immediately in request to make up .for arrears. A slight impulse of this kind, coming upon the easy state of money matters, and upon the low state of stocks and prices which prevails in nearly all trades, is sufficient to put an indefinite spring into the commercial organism. It is quite according to theory and experience that there should be small and isolated beginnings, but the improvement will spread, a most powerful acting cause being the desire to go into stock and to hold stocks of goods when prices show a tendency to rise.
WEEKLY REVIEW OF THE CORN…
WEEKLY REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE. Belfs Weekly Messenger says :—" There has been a fair consumptive business passing in the wheat trade during the past week, with scarcely any variation in prices. The deliveries of home-grown produce have been upon a very.moderate scale, but the importations from abroad have somewhat increased. The demand has been chiefly for good dry produce, the supply of which is somewhat restricted, and' the value of this description has been well supported. For medium and inferior qualities the trade has been quiet, and towards the close of the week showed a tendency to weakness, but no material or quotable change took place in prices. In fact, as the week approached its termination the tone was generally less firm, owing to the milder weather and to the prospect of more liberal supplies from abroad. We may now expect that the resump. tion of the navigation of the Baltic and other frozen ports will take place, and that every facility for trade will be afforded. The American supply afloat has already increased, it being estimated at 1,404.000 quarters, against 1,140,000 quarters last year and a feature of some importance is that the United States markets have lost the buoyancy which was recently peculiar to them. lJuyers are evidently awaiting the arrival of larger supplies from the farmers, now that the canal navigation will seon be re-opened. Their purchases are therefore restricted, and prices ruled de- cided in their favour."
LOSING AND FINDING IN PARIS.
LOSING AND FINDING IN PARIS. It might have been expected that the Exhibition year in Paris would be a rich one for the finders of lost articles, and the returns just issued by the Prefect of Police fully bear out this anticipation. It must be observed that the list issued by the bureau makes no mention of those cases where the articles lost have been stolen or have fallen into the hands of thieves, although we may be pretty sure the great ma- jority of the property dropped or mislaid shared this unlucky fate. Excluding, however, the whole of this category, and counting only those things which were brought to the depots and retained there to be claimed, we have still a list of most astounding dimensions and of most heterogeneous contents. The amount of actual money in gold and silver and bronze paid in to the office amounts to about 63,000 francs, and the value of the notes, bondB, shares, and securities for money, to no less than the extra- ordinary total of 984,747 francs. Gold and silver ornaments and jewellery sufficient to furnish forth a large jeweller's shop have been stored at the office for months, and of watches there were alone found acd brought to the police no less than 500, almost exactly half of which were gold and the other half silvef. The record at any rate is highly to the credit of public honesty in Paris, although it would have been interesting, could that have been possible, to compare it vlth a list of articles lost and never heard of again. An enormous number of the things re- covered were ± oudJ~ by cabmen in their carriages, and it seems that tlFrench Practice of publicly signalis- iDg the driver's ^?ne of an act of probity is not lthK°1ut,Jtfl8 ^fctQ the character of the class. Prol vftblyth part of the whole return is, hov ^ever, the propor- tion of articles claim ed to those unclaimed. It appears that of the whole n. im|»er of about 22,000 articles found, only about 12 0.™ were ever cal,l,ed for' 80 that as a rule, not more tha. i a very small percentage of the persons who lose an i >rticle in the streets ever take the trouble to go to the p 1lice to make any inquiries at all a'Out it. The woi "Id is after all more honest than the people of the world1 isuppooe.- Globe.
THE FESTIVAL OF THE HORSE.
THE FESTIVAL OF THE HORSE. The Mahommedans of Egypt, although they have not yet established either a "Derby" or a "Grand National," are nevertheless in full enjoyment of an annual solemnity called Doceh, 'or the festival of the horse." A correspondent of the Journal des Dibats gives a substantial account ")f the manner in which it was performed this year, in the presence of a concourse of spectators, native and foreign, almost worthy of Epaom Downs or Newmarket. For the benefit of those who do not happen to know what is meant by the Doceh, it is explained that Mahomet was its original founder, and that the episode in his life which is thus commemorated oc. curred at the important moment of the flight from Mecca to Medina. The tradition given by the Deoats is that the prophet was riding in all speed away from his enemies, and on arriving at a village called Yatieb, which was full of his adherents, found the population prostrated on the earth before him. However de. lighted he might be with this proof of his influence or sancity, the fugitive was not able to pause even so long a time as would allow the worshippers to rise. He rode on over the bodies of the faithful, who endured the ordeal without flinching, and were in return preserved by Allah from any injury under the horses' feet. Such a circumstance could not fail to commend itself as an excuse for a religious ceremony; and accord- ingly the dervishes every year make a grand affair of the horse festival in the part of Cairo called Boulak. They cause a number of enthusiasts, chiefly camel drivers and donkey drivers, to lie on the ground, and then the imam, mounted on a white horse, rides over them, while the dervishes howl out verses from the Koran. This account of the festival and its origin is all very well in its way but it will strike readers of Gibbon as exceedingly unhistorical. And Mr. R. L. Mitchell, in his English Egyptian Calendar, gives a very different and much more probable version, according to which "the onstom dates from the end of the last century," and was instituted by the Sheikh Yunaa, "a saint who possessed the power of riding a horse over glass without breaking it.Globe.
SPECIALLY SEASONABLE.
SPECIALLY SEASONABLE. Best stock for our soupe maigre, among seasonably sent ills, Of all Man's given blessinip there's none that equals Lent-ils. —Punch.
SMELFUNGUS on FEMALE SUFFRAGE.
SMELFUNGUS on FEMALE SUFFRAGE. (In answer to an inquiring Frieni ) Yes, Sir, I do think the House did well to fling out the Ladies' Bill. No, Sir, I don't object to Female Suffrage at all, Quite the reverse. But I hate half measures. Mr. Courtney's Bill was a half measure, Sir. It left out the married women the better half of mankind. Yes, Sir; and the better half of womankind, too-I mean for electoral purposes. No, Sir; not because married women are at all better qualified to vote then single by greater experi. ence and knowledge of affairs—though they ought to be. But, Sir, because protected by the ballot, a great many of them would vote in contrariety to their hus- bands. Does not Mr. Carlyle, Sir, affirm that the people of this country are mostly foels ? If, as such, the men generally vote for the wrong candidate, their wives, voting for the other side, would vote for the right one. Yes, to be sure, Sir, although no wiser than their husbands. No, Sir; Female Suffrage would not necessarily lead to Universal Suffrage. Legislation is seldom logical. But the enfranchisement of all women should be included in that of all men. Yes, Sir; the reasons that hold for Female Suffrage hold for Universal Suffrage. too. If none had votes but those who had jense and knowledge enough to make a wise use of them, the constituencies would be smalL You would have an oligarchy, Sir, composed of persons like you and myself. The next best thing to that would be the largest possible constituency, in which the majority, incapable of voting with intelli- gence, would be subdivided into the greatest possible number of parses and persons. Then, Sir, its nume- rous conflicting elements, their votes being dictated by their opposite passions and prejudices, could politically nullify one another. Sir, the Tories refrain from voting for Female Suffrage only because they are biding their time to dish the Liberals by conceding Universal Suffrage to Democracy. In the meanwhile, Sir, hooray for Female Political Emancipation.-Punch..
RAPID FIRING AND HEATED BARRELS.
RAPID FIRING AND HEATED BARRELS. The Times of Monday published the following letter :— Sir,—I note in your columns an interesting dis- cussion going on in reference to the Isandula affair, as to the feasibility of grasping the musket barrel after rapid firing for the purpose of using the bayonet. Let me contribute a fact in evidence. In the re- cent Civil War in the United States, at the battle of Perry ville, in Kentucky, October 8, 1862, I took into action a company of 51 men, 21 of whom I lost in the engagement. We were armed with the old-fashioned, smooth-bore, muzzle-loading, Springfield musket, United States Army pattern, rifled for our use. This piece is of wide calibre and carries a large charge of powder. Mymen carried each 60 rounds of ammunition. During the conrse of about an hour we repulsed three several assaults of the enemy, and our rapid firing was, therefore, divided by two intervals. During the repulse of the third charge the pieces became al- most unmanageable by the heating of the barrels. The men could neither hold nor load the most of them, and I managed to hold my line only by using the pieces of the dead and wounded at our feet. By using some of the pieces thus alternately, they would cool off enough for moderate use. As the men expended in this action all of the cartridges of their fallen comrades as well as their own, there were more than 60 rounds fired per man. la my judgment it does not take many shots of very rapid firing to render a musket inefficient for comfortable use, although that, again, may depend somewhat on the calibre of the piece and the conse- quent quantity of powder burnt. W. W. NEVIN, late Captain U. S. V. American Exchange, 449, Strand, London, March 11.
THE CORONER'S BILL.
THE CORONER'S BILL. A paper en this subject was read on Monday evening by Mr. W. H. Michael, Q.C., President of the Health Depart- ment, at a meeting of the Social Science Association, Adelphi, London. The lesturer pointed out that the new Act as it stood made little or no alteration in the existing state of the law. He held the opinion that it would be much better to adopt the Scotch method of pro- cedure by the procurator-fiscal, in place oi the present .antiquated, cumbrous, and almost useless coroner's court. Over the question of whether a coroner should be a lawyer or a medical man much ink had beeu unnecessarily shed, but he believed that legal train- ing was more requisite than medical knowledge. Under the present system it was impossible for that official to know whether an inquest should or should not be held, and the Bill made no alteration in this important respect. Coroners were still to be elected in counties by the freeholders;, but he hoped that this provision would be removed from the Bill. It would eertainly be most energetically protested against. Power was also given to continue their juris- diction as to inquiries into treasure trove, and he would strongly urge the desirability of extending it so far as to include inquiries into fires where no life had been lost. In the discussion which followed there was a concurrence of opinion in favour of the election of coroners by county boards, and the non-existeifce of a public prosecutor was deplored. It was hinted that the new Bill did not do what was necessary to make coroners' inquests effective, and left untouched the whole of the present defects of the law. The speakers included Messrs. E. Walford, Ernest Hart, as d Dr. Hardwicke.
A MAMMOTH TREE.
A MAMMOTH TREE. We take the following from Land and Water I cut the enclosed from a San Francisco paper, and if my comments on the age of trees are worth inserting please do so. I enclose a shaving of red wood that counts about twelve years to the inch, which multi- plied 15 by 144 gives the age 2,160. We are constantly felling timber, and in contact with Californian timber- men, and we are of opinion the "Sequoia gigantea" are of great age. We came to Oregon in 1875 and bought a farm in a park-like beautiful location. It was surveyed by the Government twenty-three years previously; it was necessary to survey it again to find our boundaries, and our surveyor came to a small oak described in his minute book as marked on the south side. We cut in, and found the figures of section, etc. I counted the rings, and they corresponded exactly to the date of the original survey. Last year I grubbed the land to make a wheat field, and was attracted by the quick growth over our notcu. I off with my axe the new growth and again fiva rings showed the theory of rings correct. I think this little incident worth inserting in your paper with the following account of a big red wood tree showing in California. While hunting in our Oregon mountains we often came to trees between two and three hundred feet high as straight as an arrow.—HUNTER AND TIXAPPEB Eoys Of OBEGOX. A section of the largest tree in the world is now being exhibited by Messrs. fti*:Kearnan, H. H. Tuttle,' and Hubbs, at a vacant lot on Market-street, near Sixth, for a few days before boing exported to New York and Europe. This tree, called Old MoseB' from a mountain of that name near'^hich it grew, was Discovered jy Professor Knowles in 1874, on the Tule River, Tulare county, seventy-five miles from Visalia. It WM 240 feet in height, and must at one time have been considerably higher, from the fact that the top had been broken off at some long past period. The tree, when broken off, was twelve feet in diameter, and had two projecting limbs, measuring nine and ten feet in circumference. The tree wall 111 feet at the base, and the section now on exhibition measures nearly 100. It took nine men four days to chop down the tree, and the exhibited section was taken from the site of its growth at a cost of 5,000 dols., sixty-four horses being required for its transportation. The age of this gigantic tree is estimated, according to the methodofcalcniatingtheageof trees, at4,824 years. Its circumference exceeds by tour feet that of the largest tree in the Mariposa Grove. The diameter of the section in this city is almost thirty feet. The interior of the tree is sufficiently capacious to admit over 200 persons. This gigantic nature's wonder will be found an object of admiration, and well deserving the attention and study of the refined and intelligent throughout San Francisco. The proprietors have erected a galleryan the interior of the tree sufficient in size for the accom- modation of an orchestra."—To this Land and Water adds :—"Our correspondent is not explicit. The red- wood is Sequoia sempervirens, well known to grow over 300 feet high. The plan of counting the annual rings of a given space and then multiplying the capacity is not a safe one, for it is a fact known to all that in the centre of a trunk the rings are much wider apart than they are on the outer circumference, for here they are often so close that it is impossible to count them with- out the aid of a lens. The Sequoia gigantea is the well-known Wellingtonian, or true mammoth tree of California. In the museum at Kew there are photos of several-one the Grizzly Giant," 101ft. in circum- ference at base the Mother of the Forest, 78ft. cir- cumference, height 315ft. and another 32ft. diameter. Therefore the two referred to by our correspondent are not extraordinary."
ON NATALITY IN FRANCE AND…
ON NATALITY IN FRANCE AND GERMANY. In a recent interesting paper on this subject, M. Bertillon comments on the fact that all the effort of the French agricultural population, the thrifty bourgeoisie, is applied to forming and amassing capital. Germany, on the other hand, seems to have more aptitude for producing men, a race of warriors apt to seize with strong hand capital already formed." The German Empire counts at present more than 40 million inhabitants, and has a general natality of 40 per annum and per 1,000 giving annually 1.600,000 live births. But if she were limited to the French smallnatality of 26instead of 40, she would count only 1,040,000 live births annually. Thus, compared with France, Germany rears an annual excess of 560,009 children over what French natality would give, and this excess produces annually, according to tables of mortality, about 343,500 adults of 20 years of age. But, on the other hand, if we take as base what a man costs to bring up, it appears from various calculations that we must estimate at not less than 4,000f. the value of an adult of 20 years of age. Then 4,000f. + 343,500 = 1,376,000,0001. This is the annual sum which the excess of German natality over the French costs. A like calculation made for France shows that she would have to expend annually 1,240,000,OOOf. to bring up the 500,000 infants that are wanting to equal the German natality, which would become 310,000 young people of 20 years of age. Thus France capi- talizes a milliard and a quarter to the detriment of its posterity, and Germany pays more than a milliard and a third for its own multiplication.
THE MARRIED AND UNMARRIED.
THE MARRIED AND UNMARRIED. As most men are either married or unmarried, par- ticulars as to the comparative health and longevity of those whoare in both conditionsmust be of very general interest, and on these points a French medical man has supplied some fresh information. From his statistics it appears that the married men have much the best of it at almost every period of life, except in the cases of those who marry when they are prac. tically children. The cares and responsibilities of married life are fatal to the immature to a very large extent. In a thousand married men, from 25 to 30 years of age, six die annually, while there are ten deaths among a imilar number of bachelors. Of widowers between the same periods as many aa 22 die, but, if they live, as a general rule they marry again. Going on to a later time of life, we find that between the ages of 45 and 50, out of 1,000 married men 11 die yearly, and out of 1,000 unmarried 20 succumb. To discuss statistics taken on adifferent subject, it is calcu- lated that out of 1,000 bachelors between the ages of 25 and 35, about 110 enter the state of matrimony in the course of a year. Of a thousand widowers of the same age more than three times as many, oob, seek and find a second partner. The writer also turns his attention to those who have been married and are neither widows, widowers, nor dead- the divorced. Those who think they will have better luck next time, and try matrimony again, re- enter the condition, between the ag a ° 26 and 40, not eo readily as powers, but mare readily than bachelors and after 40 a^ grater propor- tion of divorced men than of widowers make a suc- cessful endeavour to marry, and~an endeavour- concerning the results of which the writer i, sileut- to live happily ever afterwards. If, therefore, Ham- let had carried his proposition that there should be no more marriages, he would probably have increased the death-rate in Denmark as regards adults.-Evening Standard. Professor Anderssen, one of the most celebrated chess players of the present time, died on the 14th inst. at Breslau. He was the winner of the first prize at the Inter- national ChesS Tournament held in Lodon 10 1861, when he was victorious over Mr. Staunton and other emiueot players and he was one of the prize winners at the tournament held in Paris last year in connection with the International Exhi- bition.
NEW RIVER COMPANY'S SHAREb.
NEW RIVER COMPANY'S SHAREb. At the Auction Mart, Tokenhouse-yard, London, Wi daesday, Messrs. Fox and Bousfield offered sale several shares in the New River Company, which are at an enormous premium and have on formef lIirr iliar occas.ons been readily bought up. The shares s li comprised 46 lots, and consisted of 15 95ths of A King's share (the nominal value of which is about £ 22,000), and 13 190ths of a King's share also foul 96ths of an adventurer's share (of the same nominsl value as a Kind's share), together with twenty £100 new shares, fully paid up. The 95th and 96th partS of the King's and adventurers' shares were sold fat j3945 and B940 each, being at the rate of between 300 and 400 per cent. above the nominal value the 190th parts of the King's share were sold at the same rate of premium. The new JSlOO shares sold for jE325 each. I he entire proceeds of the day's sale amounted to 29,400.
TAKING THE INITIATIVE. -
TAKING THE INITIATIVE. ^?e.^>aip8 Lyons Railway Company have taken the initiative m several measures which tend to pro- mote the comfort of the travelling public and lessen the disagreeables attendant upon railway travelling (says the Evening Standard). Recently, with a view more especially to serve the interests of poorer passen- gers, the directors turned their attention to the refresh. ment department, and to prevent the humbler classes from being either imposed upon, or compelled to carry their provisions with them, undertook to pro- vide them with refreshments at the various buffets on their line at a stated and extremely moderate tariff. A second resolution, scarcely Ieee beneficial in its effects, has just been taken. Persons with a long journey before them are very often wearied with the incessant movement, and would gladty break their journey by a few hours' repose at any of the towns by which the train passes. To enable those so disposed to do this without augmenting the price of the railway' ticket, it has been decided that in future any one who has to travel over a distance of 500 kilometres or upwards can stop at any intermediary town he pleases, rest there awhile, and resume his journey with the same ticket, on the stipulation that he reaches his destination not more than twenty-fours after the train in which he started. This fresh mark of consideration on the part of the Paris-Lyons Company for the public will, assuredly, be appreciated and turned to account by many.
AN ITALIAN EXPEDITION TO NEW…
AN ITALIAN EXPEDITION TO NEW GUINEA. The Times' correspondent at Rome gives the following prtrticulars of a proposed Italian expedition to New Guinea ior the purpose of establishing a new colony there Menotti Garibaldi, son of the General, and Achille Fazzari, his companion- in-arms, intend, unless Eng- land should interpese any obstacles, to sail in the summer or autumn with 3,000 Italians, for the southern coast of New Guinea, establish a colony there, and found a new city under the name of Italia. Their object is to find an outlet for that spirit of adventure and enterprise which the making of Italy aroused in many who are still young men. More than eight years have passed since their patriotic task was accomplished. It might be supposed they ought to have settled down by this time, and many, indeed, have done so but there are many more either unfitted to return to the calm routine of daily life or unable to do so, whether through want of early training or the impassibility of turning their abilities to account in a country where the 30* pirations are great, the means of carrying them out next to nothing, the competitors many, and the prizes very few and of small value. The expedition to New Guinea, the colonization of an unopened country there, and the foundation of a new city are the means by which Menocti Garibaldi hopes to provide the outlet required, to open careers for those who cannot find them at home, and to relieve the country from a number of restless minds which, wanting other em- ployment, cry out for Italia Irredenta or dream that a Republic would give them all they want. I «-rn in- formed that the arrangements are almost completed. that the money required, some 30,000,000 f., is ready, and that applications to join the pioneer party are more than can be granted. Among those who have thrown in their lot with it are between twenty and thirty now sitting as deputies in the Italian Parliament. It will number about 3,000, and will be divided into two parts the military, commanded by Signor Fazzari, for the protection of the settlers against the natives; and the agricultural and industrial, to lay the veritable foundations of the colony and turn the resources of the country to account. Four steamers are to be engaged to carry the adventurers to their destination and convey all the requisite stores and requirements from spades, pickaxes, saws, and planes to printing* presses and a telegraphic cable, with which to place themselves at once in communication with the northernmost point of Australia. Their intention is to land at the mouth of one of the rivers, encamp there, and live partly in their tents and partly on board ship until they have decided on the most healthy site for their new city. The originators dis. claim all intention of founding a convict settlement, of which, also, Italy is in need. But they hope to afford a haven for the 6,000 or more emigrants who leave Italy every year for South America, to meet a more miser- able fate than that they thought to better. They repre- sent-and such, I understand, is, in part, the tenour of the communication made through General Mene- brae to her Majesty's Government-that they are not going to New Guinea influenced by any spirit of rivalry towards England's interests there. As the children of Garibaldi they remember what England did for them. They intend to raise the Italian flag over their new walls, but they will con- sider themselves almost as English subjects, or, at any rate, her volunteer allies, and intend to do all they can to merit her sympathy and support. Such, in brief, is the substance of a conversation I have just had with one of the leaders. The chief direction of the enterprise rests in the hands of Menotti Garibaldi, and in it are numbered members of all trades and callings, arts and sciences, excepting only-I was emphatically told-advocates. Many are men who leave the possi- bility of brilliant positions behind them in the hope, they say, of doing honour to themselves and their country. They know all the difficulties they have to encounter, and are prepared to meet them.