MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume V, Issue 50, 1 July 1878, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

A lady us well known for hor artistic abilitios asl for hor want of pvnotuality in tho pay.tnont of her debts, was a 1 bright pitlioular s»ar'nt Hor Majesty's Theatro London, during tho operatic season which has rccontly como to nn ond. Sho was wantod by M" P. a solicitor, who was anxious to sorve her with a • process/ Tho lady was coy and coul i noi bo inlorriowcd. Mr P. thereforo took a stoge box on tho pit tier, nnd when tho. lady had finished a woll executed air, ho gallantly throw to her a beautiful bouquot, which had figured in (ront of his box. The Indy took it up and smiled graciously upon hor ndmiror. Nestling in tho flowers wits a noto. Was) it a billet-doux r P Tho lady slowly drew it forth. Alas! it wna not a tender of heart nnd hand. It commenced Victoria. Sho started back, for her name was not Victoria. Tho missive was from hor Mnjosty to tho artist. It boro a seal, but not of hymen. ItwAS,indood, a writ. Tho Indy treated tho matter ns a theatrical joko. Tho Court of Queen's Bench did not. Judgment was obtained, and tho lady was nrrentcd ns hlio was leaving tho tlicitro with her weekly salary; and hor daughter by her sido. She was tnkon to a sponging house. Thiit evening sho was lo appear in ono of her best parts, A gallant nobleman knew wh-it had occurred, c:\mo to the rescue and providing himself with a purso of soTorigns* obtained hor rclcnso. No ono under tho circumstances could have dono more. A shepherd employed by Mr Waltor Miller upon his Mount Stunrt estate; Tokomniriro, named .Tnmes Houston about sovon wooks ng:) endeavored to secure tho hido of a bullock which had diod on tho r.inues oftnuand in skinning tho animal would. appear to have inhaled tho poisonous cas which *he body contained, as tho nniural result of eating the deadly plant. Houston was 'it nnco convoyod to tho Tu»peka hospital for troatmont. but ns his mind nppcarcd to havo suffered from the inhnlUion of tho poi* HOllOllß can, ho was from thence conveyed to tho Dunedin Lnnntin Asylum, whero ho breathed his last on the Ist inst. • Things in General ' is tho titlo of a quarterly magnxino just issued ' n London. The ndm^ers ol • Sartor Resartus ' will be plensed, to hear that is is edited by Herr Ten felsd rook b. Tho Post says that n careful computation allows the ndnlt males in the C 0| 0 ,,y — Exclusive of Chinese nnd Maoris —to ho /bout 13D.fKK).v Of tlieso only (50.0)0 niM now on tlio roll. It is estimated .F.iat tho proposed Manhood Suffrages I3ill of the Government will «ivo votes to between 30.000 «nd 40,000 morn, and the remainder will, wo suppose reprosent tho • loufniiz' element, of which oqna'tcr politicians have such a holy horror. The trousseau of tho Princess Cliav lotto, writes a lady from Herlin, was a diHgrnoo to nrtis'ie millinery, and tho nuthorities must have tolt it, for on tho cards of invitation wns written, ' You aro requested not to m»ko disnurecablo roiunrks.' In onler that tho people of Berlin miu'ht share in tho j>yoftho lin perial family, they hayo been privileged to pay an extra tax to jnoot tho expennos of tho wedding. A reiirod sea captain of New York has n young prow which bears tho nnnw of * Jack,' nnd lakes his grog like nn old salt. A South Brooklyn politician offered to test the crow. A glass was hall filled with old iyo whiskey ; tho orow made for it, drnnk it up «recdily, Rare a hoarso cry of maudlin delight, nnd foil over on one side. Its recovery was rapid, nnd it soon walked ofK , This dissoluto biid is in tho habit of getting drunk two or throo times a day ; and would bo a smmWing block to ornithological temperance sociefios, ns it seems to thrive on whisky. Tho particulars by mail of tho firoon March 1:1 in Messrs Dunvillo and Company's Royal Irish Distillery, Polfust, stale that it originated in tho still-house, whero there woro fko receivers containing largo quantities of spirit. This wasquiokly in ftimes, and tho conflagration oxtondod rapidly to tho tun-houses adjoining, opn' suming everything in tho shapo of buildings and machinery in its devastating course, the cntiro promises on the south wing of tho concern being completely gutted. Tho dam igo is estimated at from £70,000 to £80,000. Tbo promisoa were insured. I A letter from Lima oonvoys tho intellfgonco that tho earthquakes first felt in Tarannoa on Jan, 23, continued nt short intervals until tho end of February. At tho samo tirao tho volcano Is|uya, whioh had its last ornptiou in August in 18(56, is ngnin beginning to burn. Somo of tho shocks which hnve boon felt woro so severe that many people thought tho Day of Judgment had arrived. Another curious phenomenon rocordod in tho samo jottor is that tho Amazon llivor is losing its wutor to so romarkablo an> exotont that sovoral inland lakes led by it hnvo beoomo complotoly dried up, and vast quantities offish havo diod in oonsequenco. At tho aamo tirao tho rivers issuing from tho western slopes of tho Cordillera Mountains havo inoiraasod so much in volume as to do- considerable damage. Tho Otngo Daily Times makes tho following remarks — Wlmtover panio is it that has soix;d tho Opposition ! Ono after another they turn tail and flee, till shortly, if this stylo of thing continues, tho Government will hnvo no ono to fight. Mr Cox the honornblo member for Wnipa has followod Mr Lumsdon, who had followed Mr lloid, who had followod Mr Rutton, who had followod Mr Kennedy, who had followod Mr Harpor and tho rost. Stafford whoro is ho P nnd tho voice of Travors is no more. Whatever aro wo coming to, or whonevor shall we BtopP Suroly, HUioly houio shall remain if but to pjuiuive tho truditioua.of tho

party. Did over such panic hi^^^^H on men P L'ko tho lenves of the^^^H wh'-n s mitnor is green, Unit lios^^^J th»ir bannors at sunset woro soon ;^^H i lie leaves of the forest when sumtnc^H down, that host on iho morrow lio^^H erod mid strewn. It is nmlly di(V)<^^| know what to m<»ko of if. Por^^H there w.ih a pleasant fooling at the full of mi Opposition momlmr,^^^ now it has come to this, that one i« eerr.od for tho position. Whatever Rons do. Cnn no ono stny this Hngir* T Tho following episode from Mr Roo»* novel will recall the storios of the ancient Berserkers of tho North, who*o mighty deeds figure ?»o often in the old sagof.. Hodgos, a servant of ono of the prinoiptl characters, has somohow boooroopossoMot of n gigantio nnd mvsterioiM weaponknown as the ' Sword ofUoostum — • Twenty years after cuttle in tho Aim* tralian bush hml made Hodgos «consnmnmto rider ; so wheeling- his norso hrt spnrred him across ibff cot»rso of llnfir, then as he drew near ho l*t fall hi» bridle, rose- in his stirrups, ju*t n» ho would have dono to bring down ft •took* whip upon tho loiterers at tho tail-ond of ft mob of cnntlo. whirled jrojujd his hoa.i nnd discharged * mighty^'blow upon thouplifted aliioM of tho Mohoinmodan. Tho shield was of tuugh bull's hido stu-N dod with bit? nails, nnd undttrnonih it thobutcher held tho iron handle of hi» grant nxe ns nn additional guard, for ho s>iw by tho vast chest nnd shmildVrs of hi* ro.v adversary that n stroke from the 'wo-handod sword would bo no child's piny, so ho guarded himself with shield" mid iron nnd waited lor tho blow.. Tlw sword fell clonu through tho buil-hidu shield nnd tho nrm that boro it, throughtho thtok iron bundle of tho giants axofair on tho Tory crest of the iron helmet, then through tho holm«t «nd heart both,, cracking tho head with its caso of iron as a child would orack n walnut with a hammer, and the terror of Borrghnnd thotuibulont Hnfrrofthc iron nxe, with bis wnr-erj still tromhling np>n hi« tongue, fell from his sad.He, his head 1 and shnuk dors oloft in twnin. 1 Tho- cavalry now cried ' It is the deril 1 and wo are not much surprised nt them. Tho Mayor of Sydonham near Christchurch has introduced quito an innova ionin municipal banquets. Recently hi* Worship K'tvo a di 1 nar, to which about fifty Indies nnd gentlemen fwt down. No--formal toasts were proposed, bur. <ortain< .subjects were relcrrod to by tho hoit, and thoso specially in crowed in tho mnttors mentioned responded in tho usual* wny. Tho principal .1 ovolty, however, was tho absoneo of all alcoholic drinks, Those \yUo were pr--s<Mit s»r thoy enj >v«* • themsolves very much* and woke up nrxix morning without the headache they used to I 0 favored with in days of yoh>, aftoc fostiro guthoriiur* of a dissimilar kind. I'lii" ladies of ttallarat aro going in for boiling, a d have formed a cpiw. V Wfit' % r in tho 0 uri-r thus criticise* tin? poi- '•>rmnno«M of Ins fair or*w— ' Thff* stroke (nl hough evidently only practiw— my. as thcro was no other opponent, inthe (bid), ken^ her crew «oing in finosty!', pulling 62 t-> tho niimne, but No. 3 'w dl require to not »n a little better rticint: foim, ns sh< % pulls too deep, »n«D not i-ominsj forward quick enough. fl«n t kee . time with stroke. No 2 tnking «d« vninnuo of tho wnter boinu low, I think wan trying Tory hard to oitch some fi«hon her own hook, nnd successfully caujjht a cnih or two, but for all that rows with* great judgment No 1, I would advise,, not to lac.> up «<o tightly ; us *he soon showed siirns of distress, evide" 'v. fco^ no other reason, or n »t being i» 00' \litwn,. but with pritieo, I think sho *dl row very well. List, but not lon* .i« thoeosswain, who deserves crent pniKO.for the competent and plucky wny^m wmch s'\e shouted—' Not so deep*, «.w v >/ an* 1 Quicker forwird, throo. * and •<> •"«. 1 Anulo«.\ustralini>/ writing abUt tha visit of tho Australian cricketers to Kng land says — As usual, thoro is « he old' confusion in uninlormod f thotuh by no means uninfluential circles, as to w'lother tho men aro bhwK or w'tite, »nl mtny h ive beon tho queries which ha<«« b»«#n. addressed to Ausrrahiw opon thiss.iU-j-ot, Itut nil fenrof a omnilwl <>»ttl»r»alc bas been dispelled by tho assurm.e that they arc m n •»»' like omuplexioii aihl dvgroo wiih oiirseivcs/