The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1881-04-16
THE PACIFIC
Commercial A0bert1ser
APRIL 16, 1881,
News from the Colonies.

A son of Mr.. Spurgeon, the celebrated Baptist
minister has been making the tour of the colonies,
and seems to have established a reputation as an
| eloquent evangelist second only to his father.
Millionaires are not so plentiful in Australia
as in California, bnt such as they have there
seem TO be more inclined to be " useful in their
day and generation than the bonanza kings OF
the Pacific states. Instead Of using the vast
capital at their command to obtain railway ana
other monopolies by means of which they can
crush out further Yields" from their less lucky
fellow men, they seem to think that money has
its duties as well as its advantages. One of the
wealthiest of the Victorian millionaires during a
recent visit to the old country after hunting
Leicestershire for foxes, hunted the whole of
Britain for the most experienced agricultural
chemist he could find, and took back with him
to Victoria, Mr.. w. E. MaccIvor, (thus this
learned Gael spells his name) a senior demon
! strator from the Anderson University in Glasgow,
At Mr.. Clarke's expense this gentleman has been
lecturing and giving scientific advice gratis to
farmers in every district of the colony and the
reprint of his lectures is said to be one of the
best books on manureS and on the capabilities
of soils that is extant in the English language.
Another good service he did for the colony was
the exposure of the adulterations of artificial
manures which had previously prevailed there.
In Sydney on March Sth a terrific storm of
rain and hail occurred. The ice which fell was
very unlike what we are accustomed to call
hailstones, Jumps as big as a mans fist were not
uncommon. These large hailstones were not
| round Ike the common article, DuI irregular
masses with no approach to uniformity Of size
or shape, but generally distinguished by a
number of spikes, which may be assumed to
indicate that they gathered size as they passed
downward through the atmosphere. Many
narrow escapes from accident, through the fright
this storm caused to horses are recorded. Small
branches were broken from trees, plate-glass
skylights, gas lamps and unprotected glass in
all exposed situations were smashed to pieces at
the first outbreak, while even the very roads
were cut to a considerable roughness in many
places. The hail lasted about five minutes,
followed by twenty minutes rain and then the
sun came out with blazing heat. Less than two
hours afterwards the storm was repeated without
the hail, but with such a downpour of rain that
sewers were burst, and many enement flooded,
including the railway station, where the lines
were actually buried in gravel, washed over them
by the water, and one poor little child lost its
life by being washed away into a sewer.
A sad disaster closed a recent days drill at
torpedo work of the crew of the Victorian Gov
eminent ironclad Cerberus. Full particulars of
this disastrous affair are to be found in another
column.
The Australian cricketing team which lately
returned from England after a tour in which
they beat most of the Eleven's who played
against them, have been beaten by fifteen of
Victoria. The fifteen made only 81 in their first
innings, but pulled out 296 in the in the second,
and won the match by II runs.
The Marquis de Rays luckless attempt to
COLOMBO New Ireland, has at last collapsed ut
CITY AZ ldo udOCo I1C L4LllSIduIo IIdul SluSS
to land in New Caledonia and demanded their
return to Spain. They were dependent for even
the necessaries of life on the charity of the
French colonists at Noumea.
At the recent Australasian Intercolonial Con-
ference, some resolutions bearing on Sir Arthur
Gordon's administration of the office of High
Commissioner of the Pacific Islands, were car
ried and sent to the English Government. Sir
Arthur is reported to have replied in stinging
terms to the memorandum. Our Hawaiian
planters would be in insurrection, if they had
this British Colonial Governor to deal with in
stead of the laisse= faire government which
rules over us at present.
MORE SOUTH SEA ISLAND MASsACREs.
The Sydney papers of the 14th ult. state that
the schooner Leslie, reports another murder by
the natives. Captain Schwartz landed on the
Solomon Group to trade, and while speaking to
the natives and traders the village was surround
ed by natives, and he was suddenly tomahawked.
The savages then rushed for the boat, but the
crew regained it first, and pushed off. They
followed a short distance, and then made off with
the captains body in an opposite direction.
Reports had also been received that the captain
of the Black Hawk, of Melbourne, has also been
murdered by the natives, but the report is un-
confirmed. Captain Schwartz not being a
naturalized British subject, and there being four
German men-of-war in Hobson's Bay, they will,
probably not being troubled by any fears of Sir
Arthur Gordon, lose no time in proceeding to
the Solomon Group, and giving the murderers