PINANG GAZETTE AND STRAITS CHRONICLE. 
24TII SEPTEMBER. 
account of there being now a market for 
rs often 
the paddy straw, the 
neglect to burn it off on their fields, as 
used to be customary, and the heaps loft 
rotting there may also breed beetles. 
Paddy husk is another favorite breed¬ 
ing place, and should be burnt as pro¬ 
duced. unless it is required for any pur¬ 
pose, when it should be stored in raised 
magazines. Near rice pond ding establish¬ 
ments in Province Wellesley the coco¬ 
nut trees die in large numbers from the 
attacks of beetles It is sometimes used 
at potteries. Coir refuse, rubbish from 
dustbins, tan, bark, &c., are mostly diffi¬ 
cult, if not impossible, to burn, and 
should either be thinly spread over 
ad jacent land, or, as I would suggest, 
emulsions of Jeyes ; purifier, carbolic- 
acid, kerosine, Paris green, or some 
other insecticide might be sprinkled 
over the heaps with the idea of prevent¬ 
ing the grubs from breeding in them. 
Cattle manure has to be heaped for 
some time in order to render it suitable 
for manure, and is too valuable to des¬ 
troy by burning in agricultural districts. 
'The grubs are usually found a few.inches 
from the surface of the heaps, so the} 7 
are easily discovered and destroyed; 
but 1 think it might also be treated in 
the way suggested for dealing with coir 
refuse, die. Large numbers of beetles 
are bred in the stable lifter at the homes 
of Europeans and natives in Penang, 
which must greatly increase their num¬ 
bers. The beetles have no particular 
breeding season, but breed all the year 
round. 
Keel Beetle (?) named Bhynebophorus 
Fenughiemts in the draft ordinance, is, 
I think, probably a variety of Cctlandra 
Pat mar urn. I have never found any of 
these beetles of a uniform red or orange 
colour as mentioned in Dr. Simon’s report 
on coconut beetles. This beetle itself 
does no harm to cocoanut trees. It is 
the larva or grub that damages them. 
It has been generally stated that the 
beetle searches for wounds in the coco 
nut tree, made by the coconut climbers 
with their knives, and deposits its eggs 
in them, but I think it more probable 
that it acts in a similar manner to other 
beetles of the same family, as, for in¬ 
stance. the corn and rice weevils, and 
itself punctures the holes where it 
deposits its eggs. It has been said that 
their rostrum is not sufficiently strong 
for it to do this, but in my opinion it is 
quite strong enough to punch a hole 
in the soft parts off the crown of 
the tree, which is probably mucTi softer, 
than a grain of com or rice. The grubs j 
arc hatched in the pithy material, usually 
called the cabbage, through which the 
leaves sprout. They bore ihrougli this, 
and the soft part of the tree, in all 
directions,without, however, making any 
external wound. If not discovered they 
eventually kill the tree by eating through 
the base of the leaf spike, probably 
through their favorite food, the cabbage, 
having become entirely consumed. When 
a grub living in a coconut tree arrives 
at the time it has to change into the 
pupa or chrysalis state, it bores through 
the wood of the stem to the outside, 
near the top of the tree, and on the 
thickness of the wood manufactures a 
most wonderful Iv constructed cocoon 
V 
from the fibres of the wood. In this 
it lies torpid until the time for it to 
emerge as a perfect beetle. This beetle, 
unlike the Rhinoceros beetle, flies freely 
by daylight. They are not very nume¬ 
rous here, and I have never known much 
damage to bo done by them. On 
account of their habits little can be done 
to decrease their number, but for the 
same reason they are not likely to 
increase to any great extent. 
It is not easy to know when a tree is 
attacked by these insects, as it shows no 
very clear sign of their ravages until the 
leaf spike falls, when the tree invariably 
dies. If the heads of the trees arc fre¬ 
quently inspected by skilful beetle-search¬ 
ers, many trees may be saved by cut¬ 
ting out the grubs, their presence being 
known by the searcher either finding a 
cocoon in the tree, or, more generally, by 
noticing slight wounds on the smooth 
skin (if r may call it so) of the leaf spike, 
which are unintentionally made by the 
grubs - in eating the soft pithy mass 
through which it pushes its way. Several 
grubs and beetles are sometimes cut out 
of one tree. 
i may mention that, some years ago, 
the coconut plantation belonging to 
this estate, was being rapidly destroyed 
by the ravages of the Rhinoceros beetle. 
Binding that increasing the number of 
beetle-searchers had no appreciable 
effect, I commenced searching for the 
grubs, and, at the beginning, with one 
coolie, used to destroy from o()0 to 1000 
in a day. Bv destroying them and pre¬ 
venting them from breeding in the 
paddy straw, they decreased rapidly in 
number, the plantation became healthy 
again, and I found one beetle-searcher 
sufficient to keep Hie trees free of them. 
In mv case I found it necessary only 
«/ */ *•' 
to search the refuse heaps to the east- 
Their explanation of this is that the system 
fell into disuse after the time of Mencius, 
when they discovered its fallacy. But they 
have no mention of any Chinese prototype 
of (Gllipus who.se invention (named after 
ward of the plantation, that being the himself) to correct the error of the Metonic 
general direction of the night breeze. j system of chronology was based upon an 
v r • -i r hi t erroneous theory of calculation. IheMetomc 
i OUiS jaiLluully^ . j system of nineteen years, or 6,940 days, which 
( .. r. IJeMORNAYj | i£ takes for the lunations of the moon to 
Malakoff Estate, Province Wellesley, ! return to the same day of the month, no 
September 18th, 1889. donlit serves its purpose well enough, where 
_____„___— 1 the reformed calendar has not been adopted, 
ruts Tvi’i’Kisssiox of uxvno. ■ , , m . t . "U ‘ ll %g, OTVi g, in . , f ,ort “ ,,c « 0) th « 
THOBf 4 foreign trade ol China, the inconvenience and 
A correspondent in Jchore writes to 
tlie Straits Times :— 
I understand that Mr. Bentley has 
been stirring up the Council here to 
absurdity of her present chronological style, 
with 1 its perplexing intercalary months, arc 
often felt, and occasionally give rise to serious 
mistakes, while the difficulties of calculation 
in matters between Chinese and foreigners are 
thereby greatly increased. It would un¬ 
doubtedly be a step in the right direction, now 
that China has adopted telegraphs, steamboats 
not far distant when her enemies will be 
busy despoiling her of her territory,” If a 
sufficient degree of fright can only be got 
up in the minds of the Celestial rulers, the 
introduction of the iron way into China will 
not be long delayed, and the intolerable 
amount of talk with which for the last two 
years wo have been regaled may resolve 
itself into action. Certain it is that, save 
under pressure of self-defence - or what the 
wiseacres of Peking believe to be such 
necessity---the railway would not have been 
tolerated on the sacred soil of the Central 
Kingdom for decades to come. The Mus¬ 
covite bugbear will serve a good purpose if 
it compels the conservative rulers of China 
to adopt the great pioneer of material pro¬ 
gress in defiance alike of tradition, pre¬ 
judice, and self-interest. 
make defensive preparations against the 
inroad of dogs that may be expected with mining machinery mid railways to some 
when the legislation recommended in the extent, which in the near future promise to he 
Straits Times takes effect, and I expect | ° ? 1 i* much larger scale that she should also 
i , mi t , adopt the Gregorian calendar which is now m 
tlmt in a tew days a law will be promul-; „ lm ^ t u , livcr J al „ sc . It , ot ,„ nilttOT wllich 
is attended with the difficulties of such a 
gated. 
GLEANINGS. 
:o: 
It is intended to be enacted that all scheme a-s romanising her language, and could 
pariah or ownerless dogs in Johoro shall j he easily managed by the Imperial Asfcronom- 
be killed, and that all "dogs, without ex- ! ers *• pfchig who are trusted will, the 
cepiion, oil J nlau. Ljang shall be so | new-systems could be easily arranged side by- 
treated— that, I may explain, is the is- side for some years, till the people would be¬ 
laud where poor Parrinton died of j eonje accustomed to the reformed style. At 
No one need be surprised to hear in the 
course of a few weeks, says a homo paper, 
that Prince Albert Victor has been created 
Duke of Clarence. 
back. After the law passes, dogs im¬ 
ported may be killed and the owners 
may be fined. 
The reason of hurrying on the law is 
that Mr. Bentley urges that in anticipa- 
lion of Singapore legislation dogs will be 
sent across here. Of course, as you know, 
the Malays don’t like dogs in any case, 
so they are not averse to anticipate vonr 
proposed legislation. 
hydrophobia. Further, the importation 1 F ro ; eut . ia0 s vstem is to give seven 
o dogs into Johoie is to bo stiietly fot- years to make up for the difference 
bidden ; and even now Kran jie ferry- is ; between, the tropical solar year of 065 
being watched and dogs will be turned ,265-940 days, and the time of twelve revolu¬ 
tions of the moon which is 65 L 59.2-940 days, or 
a. difference-of 1.0 827-94 days in a year. In¬ 
deed the ordinary calendars in use amongst 
tbq Chinese at the present day are full of 
perplexities,. absurdities, and misleading cal¬ 
culations, leaving out of consideration alto¬ 
gether the more purely astrological portion, 
which deals solely with lucky and unlucky 
da is, ami unlucky hours of each particular 
day, and the names of unfavourable winds, etc. 
We noticed 'recently that some Chinese firms’ 
here who print almanacs, give the foreign 
calendar on •one: side and the Chinese on the 
other, and every day the natives ot the open 
ports, at least, are recognizing more clearly 
the disadvantage of their present system of 
chronology. All Chinese calendars are sup¬ 
posed to To compiled according to the Impe¬ 
rial Almanac, the She Ifecn Shoo, which in 
turn is largely dependent upon the " Book of 
Bites” for its miscellaneous information. A 
Mr. Edison has been interviewed in Paris, 
and has let fall two or three bits of infor¬ 
mation worth noting. He has actually in 
hand an invention which he believes will 
enable people talking over sboit distances 
by wire to see one another. Satisfactory 
results have already been obtained at dis¬ 
tances of -1000 feet. 
/ HE B J A K S A X l> Til E (Jill TTIES . 
(From the Straits Times.) 
At this moment nearly the whole of 
the Asiatic traders of Singapore are 
threatened with absolute stoppage of 
credit, and unless the situation be modi- i fey specimens of this may he read with lu¬ 
ffed within the next day or two, there lev -t as affording an example of the Chinese 
will bo a crash of the most serious kind, , knowledge of the seasons and them queer 
lt is generally known that nearlyull j li( ; u £ j. n thc fir : st mouth, it says, the East 
the Chinese traders, however well-esta- wind breaks up and. melts thefrott andauimnls 
Wished, habitually borrow large sums j begin t<> leave their torpid state, grasses, 
from the Chit-ties, and these, as we all j shrubs, and trees bud, and the-otter sacrifices 
i -t r , n T, i • - , to the great ancestor ot otters the first fish 
know, borrow from the Banks on joint n|li ,. h y * tcl , es . Tll lll0 sb( . on ,;, 
Uhitty security. Hitherto t.ns trade has j i.hwnct^r and lightning, the peach puts forth 
been found by the banks to be both pro j blossoms, the swallows arrive, and the 
fitable and safe, but within the last few f take.- the shape ol. the wood-pigeon. 
days advances to Chitties lave been en- M s ™ s I 1 " 5 ^I<mg tree in 
The Supreme Court of California has 
just decided that under the code of that 
state, a child horn out of lawful wedlock, if 
recognized by the father as his child, is to 
be deemed legitimate from birth for the 
purpose of inheritance, even when not re¬ 
ceived into liis family. This is a human 
view of the subject. 
According to the hiberte , a sea monster, 
such as no fisherman has ever seen before, 
has just been stranded on Ban cals rocks, 
situated to the west of the island of St. 
Honors t. near Cannes. A man was fishing 
on the rocks when he saw' at a distance of 
about 50 metres an enormous fish of an 
extraordinary form floundering in the shal¬ 
low water. This creature measures five and 
a half metres long, and is five metres round 
the thicker part of its body. It had a beak 
resembling that of a parrot, aipl two horns 
on its head ; its eyes were at a distance of 
one metre from thc extremity of the beak. 
l - r a 
-nit M. r,jk 
i'ily have been pressing the Chinese, 
who in many cases are obliged to retort, 
in effect, “There are our assets; we be¬ 
lieve we can pay everybody, but we can’t 
do so at once, and we can’t go on at all 
if our customary financing facilities are 
stopped.” And there the matter stands. 
The Chitties allege that it is not a ^ 
case of stopping the credit of doubtful 
persons, but that advances to any com¬ 
bination arc refused, and that proposi¬ 
tions to lodge ample securities (as title- 
deeds and tie like) are refused. It is tl , msfo ,,„ c j iuto ovs ter S (!) insects become 
only from that point ot view that the 1 torpid, the mosquito does not bite, and chry- 
micc arc transformed into pigeons, 
b' - ' U .nliuhts on the tguTborry trees, 
w ;id doves shake then' .-.a ! -l<- v-iinbow 
is first seen. In the fourth, the wheat ripens, 
and the mole cricket cheers us with his merm 
chirps; while in the fifth month, the mantis 
begins to fly. and the butcher bird calls. This 
is the time w hen the stag" sheds his horns. In 
sixth month fire-flies are evolved from the 
.’composing grasses, and the winds are warm 
1 day. With the seventh month come cool 
s, and the grain ripens under tire Evening 
s. In the eighth month, swallows seek the 
south again, and wild geese fly overhead at 
night, the worms close up their earth, holes 
iwith clay, and thunderstorms visit us no 
more. In the ninth month, sparrows are 
New York lias received a severe shock by 
the tragic and unaccountable suicide of Miss 
Lilian I lament, the young and beautiful 
daughter of Mr. Damonf, one of the leading 
stockbrokers in that city. Miss I lament 
has been passing-the summer at Glen haven, 
a quiet seaside resort, and up to the mo¬ 
ment of her death was apparently in good 
health, and thoroughly enjoying the plea¬ 
sant life of a young, rich, and beautiful 
An Wednesday week she w’enfc to 
a ball, and returned ho 
in 
i i .. 
matter can be said to possess a public 
interest, for, clearly, bankers must make 
themselves secure against loss, while 
equally clearly the stoppage of cus¬ 
tomary facilities, if such stoppage can be 
avoided without loss, is a public injury, 
and is against the understanding on 
which banking business is done. 
It is understood that the bank mana¬ 
gers are again to meet to consider the 
matter, and it is to he hoped that they 
may see their way to ease a situtaidn 
which seems likely to inflict a severe 
blow on local trade. 
The 
very much in the hands of the Morcnii- 
santhenuims blossom. In the tenth month, 
pheasants fly to lhe sea, where they take the 
form of oysters, the rainbow is seen no more, 
and the frosts begin. Worms make holes and 
fountains move over the land in the eleventh 
month, while in the twelfth w r e find that 
“pheasants caff” (after being transformed iuto 
oysters), and the falcon goes northward. Surely 
the Chinese calendar wants a Gregory or a 
Julian to take it in hand. Mercury. 
THE IWSSTAX BOGEY AM) 
CIIJ A ES E It A I. L WA YS. 
tile and of the New Oriental banks. The 
Thc alarm felt in China at the construc¬ 
tion of the great Siberian railway by 
11 Russia, to which Chang Chill-lung and 
other officials have given voice, is also 
echoed by the Tientsin native paper. The 
Shih-paa thus refers to General A mi enfeoffs 
great enterprise :—“ The Russians are now 
constructing two railways reaching to the 
very borders of China, one from the shores 
of "the Caspian Sea to Kansuh, and the 
other from the Urals to Hei-luUg-chiang. 
While China is dilly-dallying about the 
the Russian lines 
Chartered Bank ceased some consider¬ 
able time ago to have any material share 
in it, aiid tho Hongkong Bank never 
was heavily engaged in that class ! of 
business. All the banks, of course, 
are interested in preventing any general 
collapse which would indraen tally in jure , .... 
nearly all tleir castrrmere, and it ypuld TnJ'beknjdTdTnd Russia will be able, 
be ni aecoid with European custom if to transport her armies and military sup- 
they were all to take a share iu iiiitigat- p]j os with increased facilities, and will be 
mg the present pressure. | n p 0ll the borders ui China ere she is aware. 
Cv-. — -- - It behoves China to awake to an adequate 
THE CHINESE CALENDAR. sense of her peril and prepare herself for 
11 ie defence of her most important terri¬ 
tories. When railways are built connecting 
important strategic points, China will be 
able to preserve her territory from internal 
and external perils. With railways pro¬ 
perly located, the outlying territories 
will be brought iuto immediate connec¬ 
tion with the interior provinces, and effec¬ 
tual defence will become possible. Be¬ 
sides, it is only by constructing railways 
that the peace of Asia can be pre¬ 
served, and the encroaching tendencies of 
China’s enemies can be checked. Should 
China continue to manifest to the world her 
Amongst the many things which the; early 
Arab traders probably introduced into China 
was the knowledge of the Metonic cycle of 
nineteen years, which the Greeks adopted in 
their admiration of its use in rectifying the 
calendar called the “Golden Number." Tho 
Greeks adapted their calendar to Netou's 
system, and bad their intercalary months like 
the Chinese ; though the people of this country 
lay claim to have discovered the secret' of the 
“Golden Number" long before. Their accounts 
of its antiquity, however, are not by any 
means convincing, and though they assert 
that it was in use before the age of 
Confucius and Mencius, we do not find it 
siv.fv 
hours of 1 hursday morning. Her m.aid 
left her in Iter bed-room alive and well. 
Next morning her corpse was found lying 
on the floor of the room. She had been 
dead for some hours, and had taken her 
life in a most unusual and determined man¬ 
ner, by' strangling herself with the lace 
string of her corset. Her relatives and 
friends are at a loss to account for the 
suicide. 
generally adopted till mnny centuries after inherent weakness, and will take no steps 
the commencement of the Christian era. for the strengthening of herself, the time is 
Much uneasiness is being caused to 
persons whom the Sliah recently honoured 
with Persian dignities by ugly rumours 
that these decorations have been bestowed 
with a lavislmess which destroys all their 
value. It is even reported that minor 
tradesmen are among the fortunate reci¬ 
pients of these orders, and some sensation 
was caused the other evening at a well- 
known place of amusement by the appear¬ 
ance of the green ribbon on the bodice of 
a premiere danseuse. A great deai of scandal 
arose in Vienna a few years ago by the 
discovery that a Persian kept an agency 
there for the sale of orders of the Lion and 
Sun, and a price-list, issued by an English 
house, gives thc names and. market value 
of some five hundred orders of knighthood, 
academical honours, memberships of vari¬ 
ous learned societies, Ac., among*the orders 
being that of the I don and Sun, which was 
to be had for =£500. 
In an article on “Blindness and the 
Blind,” in the current number of the 
Journal of the Franklin Institute, Dr. 
Webster Fox refers, among other things, 
to the need for care being exercised with 
regard to the eyes of young children. The 
eyes are more sensitive to light in child¬ 
hood than in adult life, yet a mother or 
nurse will often expose the eyes of an in¬ 
fant to the glare of the sun for hours at a 
time. Dr. Webster Fox holds that a serious 
evil may spring from this, and he even 
contends that “greater number of the 
blind lose their sight from Carelessness 
during infancy.” From the point of an 
oculist, he protests against the notion that 
children should begin to study at a very 
early age. He thinks that until they are 
between seven and nine years old the eye 
is not strong enough for school work. When 
they do begin to learn lessons, they “ should 
have good light during their study hours, 
and should not he allowed to study much 
%> 
by artificial light before the age of ten. 
Books printed in small type should never 
be allowed in schoolrooms, much less be 
read by insufficient light.” 
