MISCELLANEA.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 155, 29 October 1872, Page 7

MISCELLANEA.

♦ A Lincoln sheep in Canterbury lately gave birth to four live ewe lambs. The* same sheep, last year, hurt three, thus having produced seven at two births.

£28,000, according to return, is the sum which was drawn by Messrs Fox, Vogel, and Co., on account of travelling expenses during the year ending June JO, 1872. At Wethers tones, the other day, a mare gave birth to a curiously deformed foal. The creature hart no forelegs ; its eyes were completely covered with skin, and its mouth was hideously malformed. The misshapen brute had arrived at maturity, but was not born alive, its skin has been taken ell for the purpose of bring stalled. The approach of the “ tutu” season has reminded the Brncc Herald of a very heavy loss sustained last season by -Mr H. Hill, of Wantwood station, Mataura. A fourteen-bullock team was despatched from the home station ; they were turned out the first night in a fenced paddock, and next morning eight of their number were found dead. The following day, two additional bullocks died, leaving but four of the original team of fourteen in life on i'.e second day.

We can safely recommend a graduate in a newspaper office for almost any station iu life, —at laast for all which require a very good knowledge of the peculiarities and characteristics of the human family. A man who can preserve the serenity of his temper, the sweetness of a Christian disposition, and au unflagging perseverance amid all the obstacle's and difficulties which newspaper publication presents, deserves to be ranked with Job for patience, Baxter for goodness, and the Iron Duke for nerve, power, and obstinate determination. —The Christian ll'orhl.

The returns for 1871, (says the Melbourne Telegraph,) correct a prevalent but mistaken idea about the matrimonial alliance* effected by “John Chinaman.’ These unions are popularly supposed to be an amalgamation of the Celestial and Celtic races, but the Chinaman’s taste appears to have changed. There were thirtv-three of our yellow-visaged visitors married in 1871, and of these only three took Irish wives, eight became allied with Erg! sh famines, and the brides of twenty are of Australian birth. The chances are, of course, that these latter were mere girls, who ought to be blushing bride* indeed, for they should bush for shame.

1 The following interesting and instructive j paragraph appears in the Daylesford(Victoria) !Me retry: —“ To show what can be done in | quartz-mining with the aid of waterpower, we may mention that Mr James Bark lay is manager of a co-operative company at Blackwood, that is paying excellent weekly dividends from a yield of 1 Jdwt, to the ton. The j party have a battery of eight or ten heads, driven by a water-wheel; the stream being ! brought to the machine by a race four or live | miles long. It is said that so low are their j expenses that the party can make wages from j even |dv,t. stone. Tuev have a large but poor lode, which would be valueless but for , the water-power.” | It seems that there is a claim in the Tiki | (Thames) district, called the “ Wilhelmina,” which has a somewhat singular history. The local correspondent of the Southern Crons Wii.es regarding it as_ follows : —“ The mine is named after a lady residing in the district, who is reported to have had a s’milar dream on more than one occasion, to tnc effect that very rich gold was embowelled in tins portion of this district, although up to the time of selection the lady never visited the I -run in quo. She minutely described every portion of the ground, the blind gullies, creek, and even a stump of a tree standing close to the present workings ; and subsequently personal observation confirmed to a nicety everything reported as having been described. The repetition of the dream induced the undertaking to be commenced, and it is no exaggeration to state that great interest and anxiety surround the future of thi« cwnpanv ”