A great improvement in Sunday observance in the army and navy has, it is said, taken place. But there are old officers, like the gallant admiral, who deplore the fact that "the service is going to the dogs," because there is not so much pipeclay used on a Sunday as there was when they joined the service.
Lord Sudeley, of Toddington, near Cheltenham, has the following fruit trees planted in his grounds—Gooseberry trees, 93,000; plum trees, 20,083; black currant trees, 167,000; apple trees, 2,919; pear trees, 852; damson trees, 8,845; cherry trees, 532; red currant trees, 10,000; raspberry trees, 25,000; cob nut, 100; strawberries (acres), 52. In addition, 100 Scotch firs and 10,000 poplar trees.
The Hampton Court Vine.—This noble vine is more than a hundred and fifty years old, and nearly as many feet in length; its stem is thirty-two inches in circumference. In a good season it will yield more than two thousand bunches of fine grapes, weighing on an average seventeen ounces each bunch, or, in the whole, nearly one ton. They are of the finest black Hamburg kind, and are said to be reserved chiefly for the Queen's table.
Running Away with a Ritualistic Crucifix.—It is stated that a crucifix adorns the eastern end of Bourn church. Many of the parishioners are opposed to certain Ritualistic practices, and have shown their disapproval by leaving during divine service. During the week the church is left open, and on Monday, September 17th, a young lady entered and took away the crucifix. The lady, having secured the crucifix, proceeded to Bytham Station, and thence to Essendine. Arrived there, she went into a friend's house and had a cup of tea. In the meantime, the Vicar and the young lady's brother started in pursuit, discovered the missing ornament, and brought it safely back and replaced it in the church. The event has created great excitement in the village, and we understand that legal proceedings will be taken.
Wolves and Telegraph Lines.—It is believed in Norway that wolves are frightened away by telegraph lines. While a vote was pending on a grant to a new line, a member of the Storthing remarked that, while his constituents had no direct interest in it, they would support the grant because the wires would drive away the wolves. It is stated as a remarkable fact that since the first telegraph line was established, twenty years ago, wolves have never appeared in its neighbourhood. Wolves, it is known, will not enter a roped enclosure.
In connection with the Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, a hospital ship was launched from the yard of Messrs. Fellows and Son, of Great Yarmouth, on September 29th. She is 100 feet in length, and of 152 tons register. She is to be fitted up as a hospital ship, for the treatment of accident and illness among the fishermen of the North Sea. She is named the Queen Victoria, and Her Majesty, who takes much interest in the Mission, subscribed £50 towards the cost of the vessel. The launch was witnessed by a large number of people. The Queen Victoria is the same type of vessel as those already in the Mission service.
A New Alpine Railway.—A railway from Visp to Zermatt is about to be built, an undertaking that has for a long time been considered impracticable. From the year 1891 travellers will be able to reach the El Dorado of Alpine tourists in about two hours and a half from the main line in the Rhone Valley, and step out of the railway carriage almost at the foot of the mighty Matterhorn. The line is already marked out, and follows pretty closely the present bridle path. It is to be narrow gauge, without cogwheels, and will cross the Visp torrent five times. The curves will be rather sharp, and there are to be six small tunnels. The capital for building the line is said to amount to six million francs, and work is to be commenced this autumn. The length will be twenty-eight miles, and as Zermatt is 3,160 feet higher than the starting point, the incline will be over two per cent.
An Ancient Document.—According to a telegram received from Lloyds' Signal Station at St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight, a letter, supposed to have been written 103 years ago, was picked up on the beach, at Rock End, on October 3rd. The following is a copy of the document:—"Office of Ordnance, 11th July, 1785. Gentlemen,—His Majesty's ship the Trusty, being ordered to be paid off at Portsmouth, you are, by the Board's directions, to cause her powder to be taken on shore, and lodged in His Majesty's magazine, under your charge.—I am, gentlemen, your humble servant, Aug. Rogers, Secretary. Respective Officers, Prondy's Hard, W. A." There is a memo, on the back of the letter—"11th July, 1785. Aug. Rogers, Esq. Trusty paid off."
The number of preserves in Austria alone, not counting those in Hungary, is stated at 15,764. and on these there were shot, in 1887, 32 bears, 113 wolves, 24 lynxes, 9,490 stags, 60,252 roebucks, 7,709 chamois, 2,998 wild boars, 26,411 foxes, 9,729 polecats, 1,055 otters, 2,672 badgers, 333 marmots, and no fewer than 1,439,134 hares. Wild rabbits are scarce in this country, and are not counted in the general record, but 27,797 were shot in Bohemia, where there are most warrens. The totals for feathered game are—4,498 grouse, 1,300 wild geese, 102,748 pheasants, 1,336,934 partridges, 34,448 quails, 12,652 woodcock, 7,614 snipe, and 28,914 wild ducks. The birds of prey shot were 561 eagles, 38,610 owls, 1,365 horned owls, and 106,353 hawks, kestrels, kites, and vultures.
The Rabbit Pest in New Zealand.—The United States Consul at Auckland, in a recent report, describes the extent to which New Zealand has been economically injured by rabbits, and the cost incurred in endeavouring to exterminate them. Nothing, he says, could so overrun a country since the locusts in Egypt. The rabbits have so eaten out the ranges that the capacity for maintaining sheep has greatly lessened, and the flocks have fallen off in numbers. At the Stock Conference of 1886, it was stated that rabbits reduced by a third the feeding capacity of land, and the weight of fleeces had decreased by 1 lb. to 1½ lb. each. The number of lambs decreased from thirty to forty per cent., while the death-rate increased from three to thirteen per cent. Since 1882, when the Rabbit Act became law, Government has expended £7,000 on Crown lands alone, and it is estimated that during the last eight years private persons have spent £2,400,000 in extirpating rabbits. The methods generally in favour were fencing, poisoned grain (generally phosphorized oats), and ferrets, weasels, and stoats. Large numbers of men have been hired from time to time to make war upon the rabbits, and it is said that these "rabbiters" encourage the vermin in every way, and have been caught killing the stoats and ferrets. The bonus system has been found objectionable and expensive. Notwithstanding all that has been done, in some localities the rabbits have continually increased, and the damage has continued. It is hoped, however, that as the country becomes more populous, and the large tracts of land are occupied and cultivated, the numerous herds of rabbits which now roam over the land will disappear.