THE GARDEN.

Calender of Garden Operations, August 6.

mv HOBTOSJ

;.,'kl;/',n/ '\l';K

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

... vA-l must m«*° ■*£ Ai Ji ringßooner- B°th &£«**&*•■ ,„rr A") - Unglazed lc tutting P *■• A „i which can be P^^n&dc^7fnrit'is wrapped up W, din sheets- g^jSftd a™l Altera the SS^S*"lhe fruit keeps well &*^^ : onby , You could "fflffi »'ith,- fre» n the "fresh soil you *S&%mW&mX t^r>Ch a s sglf.sat|«£_'rro f^f?JXA:^™°™'<y tfriLTBCOOS VINES |U» F . tnd -f Vf* T- The ?K "on* of the most Salybug. ™*% introduce**,. it roublesomc- ..M B° chM to the growing 2 from it.whichitrend.era S»aßd_.M_ _M In Britain the'following PKK *» now Practi9f d \ PSK Bi*a,,erd!h nff all tho oose bark; well Wtthen Tt with strong soap-water, then 9,h0 Wffi wood AW- a tar mixture, PfflS 7*o thoroughly at rest... As «*tHJ,SS-c_Sl ar.d difflcn t to mix it tu-ia Te,7 po„*?..T,r_ pared as follows :-To S»K_ rM PSB Placed over the •»e^ iron pot add half a pint of tari s™ft _£ Wo together and add as as will reduce the mass to of cream. Apply when cold •"•f-S an old paint-brush The whole Baa. h, "™„ a"Xwork. walla and floor of the tf^ftn receive a thorough cleaning at tho spring and summer '" eSjm.nXit watch for stragglers: kill as !ee? _, h nake their appearance-on no jSKthera time to Weed.

Pruning Roses.

jjtteKasonfor pruning roses is just to id I will reprint extracts from an ri i written for "Cassell's Popular iy-kfbyT.D.Fish. The pruning of though less severe than it used to be bJ mom complicated. Only a few years Ecethe pruning of roses was as simple and asy as that of gooseberries or currants. CoEOonafter the fall of the leaf as might be, lie pruning was set about and completed. Ago- deal of thought and skill was be ared on the character of the cut whether Bon-be up or down, or sideways, at a fc or acate angle, or as nearly straight kjb the shoot as possible. Close and pete pruning was also all but universal, is! tbe more plants were cut, the bette r |i. were supposed to thrive. All this is wello- ly changed now ; pruning, from far,, almost wholly a mere mechanical ration, has been exalted into the dignity jisience, and the old canon, cut deep or Wofindhealth or bloom, is absolutely re te_k by the modern dictum, the less r-uninft the better. Prevention better than cure has also been applied to the pruning cf rosea, with the happiest results; growth is Kit feted into more profitable'channels M production of fagots for the oven oi fell-ring of charred refuse or burned ari-!_'tie roots" of roses. It is moulded ii'o--_g or furnishing shoots from t-fot All this, however/, adds very ori to tbe difficulties of pruning : fiom a -"j-K&n at a set time, it has' Spread est into several distinct interferences at ftreni periods of growth. From being i_kd to the tops only it has descended t'ierootsas well; at one time resorted to Idly as a handy means of limiting the _-o(p_„t8, it has now become a mighty fate in the hands of cultivators in mould i'tkirforms and controlling the quantity tnl quality of their produce. Roughly ™, the pruning of rosea resolves itself b disbudding, pinching, summer,autumn, iter,spring, and root pruning.

DWtau—This is one of the most Ircportant and newest arts in modern lose nltira Tho term here does not apply to fc thinning of blossom buds, which is own enough, but to the thinning st of the wood-buda of roses, during ■ autumn, early spring or Bummer, wis often practised on vines and fats, and there is no objection to its "[flic-ion to roses, excepting the time at it takes. It is obvious, however, that ■wy alternate bud is removed from the m, it will be so much less hard to prune «UJ-future time, More than this, if ootids are removed in the autumn m the process of bud-filling, those left be the better filled in consequence. should on no account be re »edwith-the buds, as if left intact, and -»g no buds to nurse up at their base, llv i T^ ily be"i" to Pass on H* to the bud nearest to them. These >#ngs while the bud is still in S 2. d T eful manipulation and a ST Practice> however, renders htfS ?W»My easy. A mere i;!i aa\ ot r ire is <*"** luickesfc mode W g Wf. aad a Bnmll movable SLuS- nalf- a*dozen such heaters, S °ne expert to >irtually dist«d Z^Muantty.of roses in a day J* injury to the bark, leaf, or wood

2S_2__ °- r bllfMed in their v<* ep-laced L there without more or ** prng '. but tbe ab°ve * com .*__l L ro°; prnn*nR here is meant iieneedof Ss£? f f these 1S to P^vent Arose- SCtS chiefly. 8 The old wood back severely* * fflnSSS^'S^ wood.still, and **S23H_ than before* The i!T» the s Ln ,eh out for and find a cuttbemback will begin to >t-pmninl ia r' nt A"°tber°result S Mi!:* njncreased amo«nt of is ?ofthemm b t dltf" tofchat,areduc- S«><* E&S the r°°ts and their Nhi B lavour bloom and discourage ffi^ffl***. •» indirect __&*•_ S_2\ niwv,n K of the roots ? Ufthet? be"e«Misanex. 1 1 ? f S ff;f fen were none K^WrluT of. l the benefit of 2* ftiSHHS b\* *° be deter i &^*BiS*SS depend ou tho SH* *8 fi Si t^ etnoss or other fib'^-rooVett<3r C,a63 °*-tli a t id

(hitQmmi.)

STAGE AND STUDIO.

(By Euterpe.)

Siosoe Agrati'S South Sea Island tour with Walh-lla's Circus has turned out a failure. The rain was continually against them, and the enterprise had to be abandoned in Fiji- Miss Leonora Braham, a favourite of the London Savoy audiences, and for whom « Patience " and other ot Gilberta .leading parts were written, has arrived in Me - bourne under engagement to *M^Jg" liamson, Garner, and Musgrove Shei%aa companied by her husband Mr Duncan Young, late leading tenor of the Geiman Reed company. Mr J. A. South met with a painful ac cident when playing the Old Prisoner m " La Perichole" at the Melbourne Bijou the other day. While kneeling on the stage a rusty nail ran into his kneecap, and he had to finish the scene in considerable pain. Miss Florence Warden, the actress and novelist (author of "The House on the Marsh "), has been married in London to a Mr Geo. E. James. The announcement was unnoticed for a time, a? the lady was not recognised by her real maiden name - Miss Price.

Mr George Rignold has determined to open Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, this month with " Henry V." Mr Bland Holt opened in Sydney in " A Run of Luck " to a L 417 house.

Mr Wybert Reeve's contemplated visit to New Zealand is likely to be postponed for a while. The death of Mr Chas. Wei^htman, known as " Natator, tho Man-fish, and husband of Miss Kate Douglas, at 'Frisco, is an nounced. Hi 3 funeral expenses were paid by Mr Al.Hayman, of the Baldwin Theatre, once known in these colonies; and the Bald win company provided a neat headstone. The encore fiend will be appropriately " fixed " if the following programme can be relied upon : —

The encore fiend whom anyone catches, his

doom's cxtromel.v sore, He's made to stand by a German band and for ever yell "Encore": And there he listens to " Home, Sweet Home, from early morn to night. And at every stanza of that old romanza give symptoms of delight.

They have a "Jubilee dress improver" in London, the same being a bustle, and when the wearer of it sits down it plays "God save the Queen." Why the Queen should be in such imminent danger on these oc casions of rest is not explained. The " Hindoo Patriot" states that several novels have lately been written by Hindoo ladies in Bengali, some of which are of con siderable merit.

The new volume (Volume XXII.) of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," which prac tically finishes tho letter S, has just been issued.

American actresses are warned that audiences will certainly expect them to wear some of the French Crown jewels next season—indeed, it is said that any star who appears without some of these famous adornments " may as well cancel her dates, and discharge her press agent and diamond robber."

Of. Mr Stoekwell, the Dunedin tenor who belongs to Miss Sherwin's Concert Company, a Launcesto.n paper says :-" We honestly compliment him on the success achieved. He has a very good tenor voice—we use the word in its proper sense. It is a voice the equal of wliich is seldom heard here, and we can say we have not listened to such in Launceston since the visit of the Montagu-Turner Opera Company. It is of good compass, and his intonation is really excellent. It is not necessary to know his song: the vocalist utters every word as plainly as if it were spoken ordinarily." The epidemic of odd titles for novels has set in. " She " has been followed by "He " and "It." "Hallo, My Fancy," is an nounced. ' " Wanted : a Wife." " Lovely Wang," " Wee Wifie," and " Dead Souls " are here. So, too, is " What are you going to do about it ?"' '' What hex t?"

Those of my readers who have a weakness for singing and are in want of something quite new and pretty should look out for Cowen!s " Love is a Dream," Molloy's "Dream. Stars," and "Lads in Red," Stephen Adams's exquisite " Star of BetUle hem," a_d RoeckeFs " Winged Chorister." " The Harbour Lights," one of Nelly FarreU-i great successes, is immensely popular with the masses, whilst amongst new comic songs Mr Robert Martin's " Ballyhooley Temperance Army " (encored half-a-dozen times every night at the London Gaiety) reigns supreme.

Of new books Manville Fenn's " Master of the Ceremonies," Rider Haggard's "Yess," which, by the bye, the . Athena, urn " says is his best book so far, and Andrew Lang's very clever parody of " She " re-christened " He," are well worth reading. "Princess Ida" has been successfully groduced at Melbourne by the Comic Opera ompany lately in Auckland, but now greatly strengthened. Mr Gilbert describes his libretto as " a respectful perversion of Tennyson's 'Princess.'" Of the opera, " Scalpax " in the Otago " Witness " says : " As a whole, I cannot speak so favourably as of the other works of the distinguished pair. It appears dull and laboured when compared with ' lolanthe' or ' The Mikado.' It lacks the freshness and orig inalty of those operas. The music is pretty in places, but it bears a kind of mad*, to order aii*. Ido not think the opera will be a success, rapturously as some numbers were redemanded."

The plot is simple and brief. King Gania (Mr W. Elton) has a daughter, Princess Ida (Miss Colborne Baber), who was be trothod to Hilarion (Mr Lenmane), son of King Hildebrand (Mr H. Vernon), at the early age of 1. The Princess manages to persuade herself that woman is superior to man, and starts a female university with 100 scholars, who forswear all dealings with mankind, and even object to Dr. Watts's hymns. King Hildebrand is furious at the Princess's obstinacy, and im prisons her father King Gania, and his three stalwart sons, Arac, Garon, and Scynthius, represented by Messrs Benham, Grundy, and Brenner. These gentlemen always appear clad in exaggerated com plete mail and carry huge two-handed swords. Hilarion and his friends, Florian (Mr Frederici) and Cyril (Mr W. H. Wood field), determined to storm the university, and introduce themselves as female stu dents. Some funny business, much akin to clowning, follows, their identity is dis covered, and they are sentenced to death. King Hildebrand declares -war against the Princess, who arms her students in some very fine armoured suits, but they refuse to fight, as they cannot bear the sight of blood. Deserted by her friends, the Princess still holds out, and declares her intention. to leave her cause to posterity. It is gently pointed out that if her doctrines should ever be followed in the near future there would be no posterity for her to rely upon, an argument which convinces her abruptly, and she gives her hand to Hilarion ; Cyril and Florian pairing off with two of the nobler students.

The gem of the opera is said to be a song in the' first act—" The Maid and the Monkey," admirably sung by Miss Aggie Kelton. The audience were hardly satis, tied with a double encore. King Gania has two patter songs. Mr Lenmane, the new tenor, has a pleasing voice, a cultivated stylo, agreeable presence, and an indisput able knowledge of stage work. He became a favourite hit once. Mr Frederici, the new baritone, has a fine robust vqiqc, but he appoais rather obtrusive on the stage. He ampliliof. Hf{. part, and that not too well. Mr Woodlield, Mr Howard Yernqn, Miss Alice Baniett, and all the stock favourites were enthusiastically received, and demon strated that their Now Zealand tour has not > spoiled them.

DRAUGHTS.

We omitted to state with reference to the numbered board, in last Saturday's issue, that the Black men are placed on the small numbers, namely from 1 to 12. and the White men on the squares numbered from 21 to 32. It is a recognised rule in draughts that the Black always move first.

PROBLEM No. 1.

By H. Henderson, Auckland. Black.

White,

Black to play and win.

The following game was played between Mr G. Blakey and H. Henderson in the Auckland Draughts Club Tournay :—

Game : No. 1 "Cross." Blakey's move.

*This sacrifice of a man is sound play ; the end game is extremely well played by the Black. D. Ed. +14-9 or 14-17 loses.

$18-14 results iv a loss for Black,

Draughts in Scotland.

Played at Wick between the champion, Mr Wylie, and Mr J. Davidson. Game No. 2 : " Ayrshire Lassie." Davidson's move.

*A grave blunder to make after bringing the game to a draw. I folt rather chagrined.—J.D.

The following game was played by corres pondence between H. Henderson, Auck land, and J. Illingworth, New South Wales.

Game: No. 3. "Alma."

Illingworth's move.

We shall be glad to receive solutions to problems or criticism on games published in this column. We shall also be glad to receive original games or problems from our readers for insertion providing they come up to our standard. All communications please address to Draughts Ed., Star Office.

The Auckland Draughts Club Tourna ment is now drawing to a close, and it is expected to be finished in the course of next week.

Draughts should be a favourite game with the ladies, because it moves the men, so to speak.

Mr J. Wylie, the champion player of the world, is expected to arrive in Dunedin the early part of next month, and Auckland draught players will then make a move in the matter of a visit from the champion. A great many draught players in the colonies seem to have the opinion that Mr Wylie has never been beaten in a match. Such is not the case, as Yates of America, Martin of England, and Anderson of Scotland lowered the colours of the present champion of the world. At a " re stricted " match the *' Herd Laddie " has never been beaten.and I don't think he ever will.

Where was the Bridegroom?

An unusual spectacle was witnessed late the other night in the St Lazare railway station at Paris. A large weddiug-party of bucolic persons from Ermont, a little town at some distance from the French capital, alighted from that place at 10 o'clock. The party was of the usual French type, and such as may be seen any fine day traversing the glades of the woods of Boulogne and Vincennes, where many Parisian honey moons are celebrated. There were the bride with her orange-blossoms wither ing in the chill night air, her father, mother, cousins, and aunts decked out in gaudy finery, bridesmaids in white dresses rendered rather dingy by smoke and dust, and the best man in a secondhand dress suit, wearing the conventional white choker and patent-leather boots a trifle too big for him. But where was the principal person to the party—the bridegroom ? The answer could only be taken up by echo for that matrimonial candidate had been missing all day, and when, as in the famous hymeneal banquet oi "The Ancient Mariner," the guests were met, the feast was set, he was nowhere to be seen. It appear that the bride's father is a farmer at Ermont, and his daughter was betrothed to a false-hearted joiner at Enghein-les- Bains. The marriage was to have taken place at ten o'clock on the morning in question in the mayor's office at Ermont. A sumptuous breakfast had been prepared at the best inn, and everything was ready. But the majestic mayor, encircled with his tricolour sash of office, waited in vain, for the bridegroom never appeared ; and, weary of delay, the wedding guests ate their breakfasts in solemn silence, and then spenttheday going from Ermont to Enghein and back again, looking high and low for the missing man. The 111-fated bride went three times into violent hysterics. The bridesmaids did their best to console her, and the best man sent scouts in every direc tion, but all to no purpose. At nine o'clock at night the-whole party left for Paris, in hope of finding the bridegroom, or some tickings qf hint, at the Prefecture of Police. The officials on duty in that etablishment copld, of oourse, do nothing for the unfortu nate rustic's, who bad to return, slowly and sadly, to Ermont' by the midnight train. .

THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM.

Prof. Proctor's Oplinoa.

Many readers may, I think, be interested to learn precisely what astronomers really know and think respecting that famous star which blazed out in Cassiopeia in the year 1572, and whose return to temporary brilliancy is expected by many non-astro nomical persons and by a few astronomers at about this present time. Ido not propose to discuss the imagined connectian between this star and the Star of Bethlehem, an idea which could only suggest itself to persons perfectly ignorant of the astronomy of to day and also of the astrological notions of past ages. All that astronomers know with certainty about the star called Tycho Brahe's is that it shone forth with great splendqur on the night of Nov. 11, 1572, in a spot (close by the star Kappa of Cassiopeia) indicated with considerable precision by the Danish as tronomer, and that it continued visible, though with gradually diminishing lustre, until March, 1574, after having shone for nearly seventeen months. We may be tol erably certain that it shone out suddenly on the night of Nov. 11, because Tycho Brahe was in the constant habit of studying the aspect of the heavens, with which he was perfectly familiar ; and such a star as the so-called new one, shining in a region of the heavens where there are no stars of the first or even of the full second magni tude, could not have escaped his attention for a moment had it been shining on the 10th of November as he saw it on the 11th. How far back we must set the real time of the outblaze we cannot tell. Supposing the star about as far away as the first-magnitude stars—taking their average distance—may be supposed to lie, we may assume that tho light of the star in its suddenly perturbed condition had taken not fewer than twenty years to reach our earth. But as a matter of fact, we do not know enough about the distances of even the nearer stars to be able to speak with any confidence on this point; only we may be tolerably certain that the average distance of the hundred nearest stars, or suns, is more than a million times the distance of our own sun, and, as light takes nearly nine minutes in reaching us from him, it must take fifteen or twenty years, on the average, for light to reach us from one even of those nearest stars. Most probably, however, the star which so amazed Brahe had been affected by the tremendous change which caused its sudden accession of lustre more than a century before his time. In passing, one may note how strangely this thought bears on the fanciful notion that the star seen by the " Wtee Men of the East" was that remote orb, set in conflagration a hundred years or so before the time of tho Nativity, in order that, after travelling several hundreds of millions of millions of miles, it might attract the at tention of the magi and guide them on their two hours' walk from Jerusalem to Beth lehem.

We havo very little to connect the star of Tycho Brahe with those said to have ap peared in the years 945 and 1264, on the strength of which supposed connection the star has been supposed to shine with ab normal' brightness at intervals averaging about 312 years. Cyprianus Leovitius, a Bo hemian astronomer con temporary with Tycho Brahe, asserts that in a manuscript chronicle he found records of the appearance of a star in 945 between tho constellations Cepheus and Cassiopeia, and of another star which appeared in the same region in 1204. Since the position of Tycho Brahe's star might in those old, inexact days have been fairly enough described as between Cepheus and Cassiopeia, though really well within the latter constellation (it is shown close by the lower rail of tho Seated Lady's chair back, at page 106 of my " Easy Star Lesson"), Leovitius suggested that the stars of 945 and 1294 were merely apparitions of the star afterwards seen by Tycho Brahe. The astronomers of that time im mediately pounced on the opportunity of deriding Leovitius for mistaking as an ac count of a star what really related to a comet, pointing out that in 1264 ono of the most remarkable comets over seen made its appearanccr But Tycho Brahe, anxious apparently to establish the respectable antiquity of his star, defended Leovitius against the attacks of Pontanus and Camerarius, who had been leaders among those questioning the validity of the statements made by Leovitius. Still it remains the fact that all the evidence astronomers ha-ve on which to base a belief that Tycho Brahe's star is a period ical variable is the doubtful assertion of a little-known astronomer respecting two very questionable statements in an un known manuscript, about two stars which probably were not stars, but comets, appearing in a part of the sky which might possibly have been, but most probably was not, the place where Tycho Brahe's star appeared, and intervals between the three apparitions (if we daringly assume the same orb was seen, being 319 years and 308 years, periods not precisely or even approximately equal. With no other evidence available it re quires more courage than any astronomer living probably possesses to assert -as some who know nothing of astronomy have asserted—that Tycho Brahe's star appears at intervals of 315 years, and will be next seen in August of this present year.

Richard A. Proctor,

CRIME IN FRANCE.

Carious and Interesting Statistics From

the Courts,

The report published by the French Minis ter of Justice for the years 1881 to 1885 contains some curious and interesting statistics. The annual average of charges which came before the criminal courts during that period was 4,382. The number of persons acquitted rose from 17 to 27 per cent., which leads us to conclude that French judges and juries have become more lenient. As usual, the number of cases in which the jury accorded the benefit of " ex tenuating circumstances" was very large, being no less than 74 per cent. Of the yearly number of prisoners found guilty 29 were sentenced to death, 120 to transporta tion for life, 88 to twenty years of the same punishment,39l toB years,and..lltoless than eight years. Five were condemned to per petual confinement, three to twenty years' confinement, and 627 to 10 years and under. Among the remaining culprits 1,316 were sentenced to a year's imprisonment and 272 to six months and under.

As regards the death sentences, there was a considerable increase : from 1876 to 1880 the number was 127, whereas from 1881 to 1885 the number rose to 148. Of the criminals on whoni death was pro nounced, seven only wore women ; 17 were aged from 16 to 20, 52 from 20 to 30, 41 from 30 to 40, 20 from 40 to 50 and 16 from 50 to 60.

Respecting the social position of the con demned to death, 70 were agricultural labourers, 48 workmen, 15 commercial em ployees, 8 servants 1 a notary and 1 a private gentleman. 33 were quite ignorant, and 113 ceuld read and write; 109 came under the class of old offenders ; 14 wore parricidists. Only 27 of the total number were guillotined, the merciful President of the Republic having commuted the penalty of the remainder into transportation.

A sentimental writer asks, " Did yon ever watch a dear b'abv waking in the morning?" Many times. It generally occur." • !>«wii 'A o'clock, and enables the fabhc' ,i, a splendid appetite for brc ..'. -.. .

THE LARGEST AFLOAT.

The Latest Addition to the English

Navy.

Naval men and marine architects are dis cussing the latest addition to the British navy. This is a magnificent twin-screw, armour-plated battle ship, and she promises to be the most powerful ship of war afloat. She was named the Sans Pared, by George Hamilton. The Sans Pareil, with her engines and fittings, is the heaviest vessel ever launched in England except the Great Eastern, her weight being over 6,000 tons. She is 340 feet in length, 70 feet in breadth, 37 feet 6 inches in depth,and of 10,470 tons displacement. Her engines will be 7,500 horse-power natural draught and 12,000 horse-power forced draught. Her arma ment will consist of two 16-inch 111-ton guns, one 10-inch 29-ton gun, twelve 6-inch 5-ton guns, nine 3-pounder quick-firing guns, twelve six-pounder quick-firing guns, two 1-inch Nordenfeldt guns, eight 14-inch Whitehead torpedo tubes, and four O. 45 ---inch Nordenfeldt guns. She was built by the Thames Ironwork and Shipbuilding Company. This same firm twenty-seven years ago launched the first armour-clad ship, the Warrior, and since then has turned out armour-clad ships aggregating 127,212 tons of displacement tonnage.

Quarrelled With His Father.

A pahty of undergrads, walking along a back street in Oxford, saw a donkey tied to the door of a"pub," while its pro prietor, a worthy coster-monger, was en joying his pipe and pint within. One of them at onco suggested that the panniers should bo placed on his back, and the bridle on his head, while the rest led the donkey away. In this condition stood the youth when the coster, somewhat beery, came to the door. Said the undergrad, "You must know, sir, that I quarrelled with my father seven years ago, and for my bad conduct was changed into the shape of an ass, to endure every hardship for thab time *, which now being expired, you are bound to set me free." The tale, coming on the top of the beer, impressed the coster, who took off the panniers and bridle. A few days after, tho same coster was at a neighbouring country fair for the purpose of buying another moke. After viewing several beasts, to his astonishment his old identical ass was ottered to him, and seeing his former master, set up a piteous bray in token of recognition; but Hodge at once passed on to another, say ing, "So you've quarrelled with your father again, have you ? But dang me if I'll have you again."

Mr Gladstone and Oysters.

Whatever else be the result of the peregri nation into South Wales, the world has at least enriched its knowledge by learning that Mr Gladstone does not eat oysters. The occasion on which the discovery was made ia delightfully chronicled by the step dogger (for the "Daily News") of the great man on his travels : — Having in view the close of the season, one woman at the door of an oyster shop in vited Mr Gladstone on his return from his walk to come in and have some oysters. Mr Gladstono courteously declined. The good woman would not take a refusal, but pressed the point. " I don't eat oysters," said the statesman. "Never mind, come in, man, anyhow," responded the fishwife. " But, my good woman, oysters do not agree with my digestion," said he. " I don't care," continued the temptress, taking him by the sleeve ; "but you must come in, man. Have one oyster—have one, at any rate that won't kill'ee." The ri"ht hon. gentleman, however, was firm ; even this form of coercion was not according to his way of thinking. In tho end the crisis was averted by the appearance of Mrs Glad stone. " There, my good woman," said Mr Gladstone, pointing to his wife, " that is the oyster eater, and my son there eats them too." The people around laughed and cheered, and in the end the Gladstone party went into tho modest refreshment house and ate brown bread and oysters.

Mrs Gladstone, as the oyster eater, is charming.

Crime in Corsica.

Corsica at the present day (the Paris cor respondent of the "Daily Telegraph " re marks) sustains its reputation, in some parts of the island at least, for thorough going bloodthirstincss. The assizes there, which have just concluded, showed a list of twenty murders—a number by no means rare. One of the latest murders tried was that in which the victim, a M. Francischi, belonging to a good family, was shot by an old soldier named Carton, who had once lain for dead on the famous field of Reich shofien, and was discovered under a heap of dead troopers who had " gone down ' in the great charge of the Cuirassiers. Carton had married a young wife, qf whom he sup posed Francischi to be enamoured. The woman swore before a crucifix, and in the presence of a priest, that she was innocent; but Carton refused to believe her. Shortly afterwards she died, and the neighbours asserted that she had been poisoned by her hot-headed husband ; but this was not proved. Carton, however, who was a real Corsican, despite his French name, vowed vengeance in the true Italian spirit, even after his wife's death, on the man whom he accused of seducing her ; and, on meeting Francischi a short time ago. he fired a bullet at him from his revolver and then tried, ineffectually, to shoot himself. The victim lingered a few hours, and on his death-bed swore to the priest that Mdme. Carton bad never been his mi-tress. Carton, in consideration of his services as a soldier, was only condemned to twenty years' penal servitude. But it is wearisome to dilate on the terrible scenes of which Corsica is con tinually the theatre. As the writer of some highly interesting articles which have ap peared on the subject in the "Temps" says, the place is a fragment of the Middle Ages which remains imbedded in the Mediterra nean, and order has been preserved there insufficiently, at an enormous cost to France.

Dining on Snails.

Jay Gould has set New Yorkers to eating snails. Nearly every afternoon since his return from his Far Western trip the great financier ha 3 stopped at tho office of a transatlantic steamer company, stayed a few seconds in the agent's sanctum, and emerged with a brown paper parcel, which he carried home with the air of possessing something very precious. These pack ages contained each about a quart of snails, of the sneeies eaten in some parts of France, and specially imported by some of the steamship men ns a favour to friends. Mr Gould got his appetite for snails in New Mexico, however, and " got it bad," as one close observer declares. He has the things cooked under stringent orders to boil them first in their _hdl»i'.tt|f)p submerge them in a highly-flavoured sauce, and finally roast them. They are served in the shells, -which by this time are thoroughly browned. When ] eaten they are piled hot on a plate after the mannerof roasted clamsandtheeater extracts them byholdinga shellin his left hand, while with a fork in his right he gets the curious morcel out. The taste is pleasant, if one isn't squeamish, and a liking is easily ac quired for the "escnrgots," as they are called in tho restaurants, where they have beon this week suddenly introduced. Some are brought from France, but the hulk aro gathered by boys in tho outlying districts. Jir Gould has hitherto been famous for a plain diet, and . n his mania for snails is all the more a Wail-street wonder.

HUMOROUS.

A big spread—The sky. Musical piracy.—Stealing a march. Internal improvement—Artificial teeth. A stirring adventure—Making a pud ding Only a question of time—Asking the hour.

Neither fish, flesh nor fowl.—Vegetables, of course.

Be content with your lot, especially if it's a lot of money.

A word to the wise is always sufficient, no doubt, but the trouble is that so few are wise.

" Alcohol will clean silver." Yes alcohol, well stuck to, will clean out all the silver you have. People call it " putting up " at an hotel, because there is so much that they have to put up with. A man we have heard of has such acracked voice that he rarely says anything without breaking his word. '' A good man never dies," says a philosop her. If that is the case we shan't waste any more money on physicians. A merchant who advertised for " a man to take charge of the glove department," received a call from a professor of boxing. 'I wonder what makes my eyes so weak?" said a masher to a gentleman. " They are in a weak place," responded the latter. The woman whose favourite hymn is, "I would not live always," has spent L 230 for patent medicines during the last ten years. How times change. A writer says that thirty years ago a man who wore hair on his upper iip was considered either a lunatic or a foreigner. Now he may be both. " Laura," said Mrs Parvenue, on the hotel piazza, to her daughter, " Laura, go and ask the leader of them orchestras to play that 'sympathy from Meddlejohn' over again : it's such an awful favourite of mine and your father's too !" Czarina (coming in to breakfast): " Good morning, my dearvitch." Czar : Good morningscoff." Czarina: " Allow me to congratulate you upon escaping assassination during the night." Czar: "Thankski. Will you please taste the coffee to see if it is poisoned ?" A number of ladies on a steamboat on the Thames were horrified on having an or dinary-looking man among tne passengers pointed out to them "as one who had buried seventeen wives." He was a grave digger, but that didn't occur to the horri fied ladie_.

Canine Sagacity.—"Can dogs find their way home from a distance ?" is a question frequently asked. It's according to the dog. If it's one you want to get rid of he can find his way back from Africa. If it's a good one he's apt to get lost if he goes round tho corner.

Kathleen was crossing a ferry in company with a wealthy lady and gentleman, and said: "Darlint, I have had a drame. I dreamt that madam gave me a pound of tay and your honour a pound of baccy. Oh, but Kathleen's drames go by contraries .since then. It was your honour that gave the tay and the leddy the baccy." " Have you Josephus's works?" inquired an old lady at a bookshop the other day. "Jo— C — who ." asked the assistant. "Josephus. His name is Josephus." "Oh, ah, Josephus — Josephus. New writer ?" " Law, no, he's ever so old." " Dead, ain't he ?" " Dead. Yes, very dead by this time. Died a thousand years ago." "Thoughtso, for there ain't many of his books called for now."

In a recent action for damages against the owner of a dog said to have been mad, the witnesses were mostly rural labourers, and the learned gentleman of the law had no little difficulty in eliciting evidence from them. One witness, in particular, annoyed counsel for the defendant by his obtuseness. " Did you consider the dog rabid ?" at length asked the learned lawyer abruptly. "Rabbit," echoed the rustic, "he wis nae rabbit. He wis jist a clean daft doug, ye gowk !" At a ball recently a young medical studient suddenly came face to face with a dear, kind, fatherly looking gentleman, with white hair and of a highly respectable appearance. They both stood transfixed. The same idea flashed across both of them. " Your face is familiar to me—very familiar — but can't remember where we have met so often." However, the friendly impulse was carried out. They shook hands warmly, partook of a friendly glass, and departed, still ignorant of each other's name and occupation. But the young man was de termined to solve the problem, and he seized on the waiter and said to him, " Tell me, waiter, who was that distinguished strangor with the long white hair ?" And the waiter whispered slowly, " please, sir, that's the pawnbroker."

A NEW VOLCANO.

Lava Pouring Down Its Sides and

Bavlspe In Ruins.

A Tucson (A.T.) special from Hermosillo of June 6th says : " Explorers sent out by Governor Torres to ascertain the existence of the volcano as reported near Bavispe, Sonora, have returned. They report an active volcano fourteen miles southeast of Bavispe, in the Sierra Madre mountains. The party could not approach nearer than within four miles of the mountains. The crater was pouring forth immense volumes of smoke, lire and lava. Boiling water is sued from the side of the mountain, and lava in vast waves slowly poured down the mountain-side into the canyons, which are being filled up. The boiling water had destroyed all the vegetation in tbe valleys in the vicinity. One peculiar feature of the volcano is its great activity. Boulders weighing tons are hurled down from the crater. " The exploring party say the noise pro ceeding from the mountains is most terrific, like a number of engines at work, accom panied by sound of thunder. The air is dense with smoke and cinders. The party had great difficulty in approaching within four miles of the mountains owing to the great chasms made by the earthquake, and all the roads and trails are totally wiped out. The country is fearfully broken up. One of the party states the country around tho vicinity of the volcano for many miles looks like the judgment day. The entire surface of the earth presents a woe-begone appearance. Within ten miles of the vol cano the town of Bavispe is a, complete ruin. The people have all moved out on the. high plains and are living in tents and in mortal fear. There is a constant tremor and a con tinual series of shocks daily.

"Since the first earthquake shqck there have been one or more tremors daily throughout Arizona. " There are many others in Southern Ari zona. I have myself seen a pieqe of lava in which was imbedded a fragment* of IndiftP pottery, showing that the outflow was sub sequent to the occupation of the country by the Indians ; and two years ago I visited an extinct volcano in Northern California, which was so recent that some of tbe trees killed by the beat had not entirely rotted away. " We have been gathering data of the Sonora earthquake (May 3rd) which gave birth to this new volcano, and we have re ceived from all the affected parts of this country about 200 reports on the subject—. enough, we hope, to establish the compar ative magnitude of the occurrence and give us a knowledge of the indications and vio lence of the quake*. It* centre seems to be about sixty or sixty-flv# miles south of our Arizona line in Old Me*ico. Its limits ia comprehended by about, two thirds pf each of the Territories of New Mexiqa and Af i zona. lx> was n_ fc comparable in vifllenflo $r extent to the Charleston earthquake."

POETRY.

SCOTCH PARRITCH.

In boilin' water, salted wee', 'Tween finfters, rin the ruchsome meal, < While the brisk spurtle gars ihem wheel In jaups an' rings-^ Ac quid half-hour, syne bowls may reel Wi' food for kings. Nae butter, syrup, sugar brown. For him wha sups shall creesh thy crown* Put milk alaije, maun isle thee roun', Till thou dost soom, Then a' man needs is ao lang spoon, And elbow room. Gie France her puddocks an-1 ragous, Gio England puddings, beef, and atews, Gio Ireland taties. shamrocks, sops, And land sac bogie, True Scotsmen still will scaud their mou's Ovrer Scotland's cogie. Puir parritch! here thou'rt scant respeckiti For frizzled fare thou'rt aft neglecklt, But Grecian's Spar a sune was wrockit 'Mang drinking horns. And Scotia's thistle may he sneckit Whan f-t'e she scorns. But mark the Scot ayont the sea Welcome his meal, wi' dewy e'e; , , ..'• He gars the first made parritch fie© Frae oot tho dish. While that his pock ne'er toom may be Is a' his wish. Proud Scotland's sons, o' hill and glen, Hae roused the world frae en' to en' Wi' doughty deeds o' tongue and pen, Coal, steam and ateel— 0! what has mado those mighty men But Scotland's meal. On Bannoekburn, and freedom's day, When Britons met ia war's array, E'en though the Northmen knelt to saj Their creed or carritch, What made the differ in that fray Was Scotland's parritch. For makin* flesh and buildin' banes, There ne'er was siccan food for weans; It knits their muscles steeve as staces, And teuch as brasses *. Fills hooses fu' o' boys wi' brains, And rosy lassies. My blessing on the dusty miller Vv ha gies me gowden health for siller; My blessing on each honest tiller, Wha breaks the clod, And gars green, corn, Death's foe and killer Spring frae the sod 1

THE PAST.

I would not change the vanished days When thou and I were young together For all that future years may bring Of fair and cloudless weather. I would not change the old grey house E'en for a palace fair and stately, For every room is fancy-filled By those we loved so greatly. The trees 'neath whioh we used to walk Stand still, no r.hange of time revealing; But oh! what change., we have known In face and form and feeling. Where are the forms we used to know, The forms of those so ioved and loving? Some sleep beneath the churchyard sod. Some o'er the earth are roving. Few, few are left to love us still Of all the old familiar faces, And when I look around I sigh , , To sec the empty spaces. And even thou art far away, Although our love fate cannot sever, For we two shall be one in heart For ever and for ever. Still, still I would not change the days When thou and I were young together For all that future life may briug Of fair and cloudless weather. Inda.

HER LETTER TO HER SAILOR LOVE.

My own beloved, the day is long, The night comes lone and drear, And sad the music of my song Since thou no more art here. Thoughts drift to thee, my darling one. Across the distant sea, Whilst wonder riseth, art thou, love, Forlorn and lost like me. When stormy winds blow loud and strong, And moans the mighty sea, Tis then to God I bend in prayer To calm the waves and fltorm; To bring you to a haven fair. And save my love from harm. . Speed on the way, my own sweet one,' And haste thee back to me, For I shall be but sad and lone Till lite is shared with thee. His Reply Star of my love, thou art most dear In all the world to me, To my fond heart who knows how near, My love, I love but thee. £ - Thoueh the wild tempests flerce'y blow, And moans tho surging sea, My soul is stormless, for 1 know That I am ioved by thee. How blest to feel that One above Keeps watch o'er thee and me, And sweet it is to know, my love, That all is well with thee. • God spare us, lass, and haste the time When you and I shall be Joined hand in hand by rite DJvine, My life at one with thee. Yet now, farewell, this tress of hair, iy Thy gift, I greet my own. * Is it a dream? Say thou art there, And I no more a one. £. G. Legeb Erson.

Official Opinions.

A Washington despatch of June 8 says: " There is nothing intrinsically improbable in these statements," said Captain Clarence E. Dutton, United States Army, chief of the bureau of volcanic geology, to an Associated Press representative who called his attention to the despatches received this morning announcing the volcanjc eruption it Sonora. "On the contrary, it is a matter of surprise that we have not had somo volcanoes in our own territory within the hisiqric period, or rather tbab we haven't had more, for it is now known that Mount St. Helena, in Washington Territory, was in a state of activity and sent out large quantities of lava and ashes as late as 1843. I can specify from memory a remarkable evidence of recent occurrence in several localities where violent erup tions have taken place. One is near Fill more, jn Utah; another at the base of Mount Trumbull, on the border of Grand canyon, the third near Fort Stanton, jf. M., near the Texas line, and another at Grand station, on the Atlantic and Pacifio Railroad, sixty or seventy miles from Al buquerque.

Preserving Timbers.

FpoM the fact that as charcoal would Bjj»' dure for ages in places where timber wpukj decay speedily, the practice of charring tha surface of fence posts and other timber has been very generally recommended aj)4 widely adopted, with supposed satisfactory results. A writer in Wood apd Iron, how. overtakes the contrary view of this matter, alleging that repeated experiments wjtn charred timber have furnished conelusivijj evidence that such a process not oijjy deep not tend to increase durability, but actuftUy promotes premature [decay. Two posts, he says, split from the same log may be set side by pide in the ground, the suj-faceof oije being charred and the other not, and it will be seehv that the charred post will perisft before the other, the same being alsg true of railroad ties, and all such timber as may be exposed to the alternating influences of web and heat. It is admitted, of course, thab could the entire timber be changed from its perishable condition to one solid piece of charcoal, the durability would be promoted to a surprising length of time, but thg strength of the material would then bo de stroyed. The simple fact is that chi*row" i* not impervious to water, mil v wat^r reaches the timber below the charred surface dec»y wijl qo.nroencf aopn after tbe. jrratn ol the wood has boon oxpo«ad to tbe htfiaeaot of (be wMibe_.-" _jrw l__Do9 Jobm-*''

THE AUCKLAND EVENIxNU STAB, SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1887.

3



11-15 23-18 8-11 26-23 4- 8 30-26 10-14 22-17 18-22 17-10 6-15 26-17 15-19 24-15

11-18 23-14 9-18 31-26 2- 6 28-24 8-11 26-23 6- 9 23-14 9-18 17-14 11-15 25-22

18-25 29-22 12-16 24-20 16-19 32-28 7-11 27-24 19-23 24-19 15-24 28-19 23-26 19-16

11-15 16-11 26-30 22-17 *5- 9 14- 5 30-26 17-14 26-22 14-10 15-19 11- 7 19-23 7- 2

23-26 18-14 2- 6 17-13 26-31 +14-18 20-16 7- 2 31-26 £18-23 16-11 2- 7 26-23 23-18 11- 7 6-9 23-18 15- 6 7-2 9-2 1S-15 5-10 2- 7 drawn 22-18 21-17



11-15 24-20 8-11 28-24 4- 8 23-19 15-18 2*2-15 11-18 26-22 7-11 2*2-15 11-18 30-26

10-14 25-22 18-25 29-22 2- 7 27-23 9-13 32-28 6-10 22-18 .14-17 21-14 10-17 18-15

17-22 26-17 13-22 20-16 7-10 15- 6 1-10 16-11 8-15 23-18 22-25 18-11 10-14 19-15

25-30 24-26 12-16 15-16 16-19 11- 7 19-23 7- 2 30-25 2- 6 14-17 20-16 17-22 16-11

23-26 11- 7 3- 8 7- 3 8-12 3- 8 12-16 8-11 16-20 11-15 26-30 15-19 30-26 10- 7

25-21 7- 2 21-17 2- 7 17-21 19-15 26-23 6-10 *5-9 w.w.



11-15 23-19 8-11 22-17 3- 8 25-22 11-16 27-23 16-20

32-27 S-ll 19-16 12-19 23-16 9-13 26-23 5- 9 23-18

i- 5 30-26 9-14 18- 9 5-14 26-13 6- 9 31-26 2- 6

29-25 15-18 22- 8 13-31 8- 3 9-13 23-19 6- 9 25-22

31-26 10-15 16-12 14-23 31-22 21- 5 19-15 13-17 10-19 5- 1 3-10 17-21 19-23 drawn 27-18 20-27

