MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 28 May 1880, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

» Talking of clubs reminds me (Anglo iostralian) that a club on the lines of th< amous Loftus Olub of New York h tnnounced. Already many of the lead' ne actors and actresses have pot dowr heir names, Charming Miss Bafton oretty Miss Florence St. John, sane] Miss Violet Cameron, petite Miss Lep (oi poor ' Jo' notoriety), laughing Rose Her gee, and the invincible Miss Nellie Far« ren are down as member? ; while amons the gentlemen are the names of Mi Henry Neville, Mr Harry Paolton, Mi E. T. Sotbern, Mr Arthur Swanbofoogh, Mr Edward Terry, Mr Herman Vrzin, Mr Charles Wyndham, Mr Shiel Barry, and Mr A. Henderson. The club, which will certainly supply a want, is intended for ladies and gsnflemen connected either professionally with, or interested in, the the drama, music, and the fine arts generally. Dr. Holden, the Court Magician and * Wizard of the Wicked World,' obtained permission from Sir Bartle Prere, the Governor, to give the captive king an entertainment in his prison at the old Dutch Castle. Accordingly, the doctor drive op in a cab and made bis necssary arrangements at !he far end of a lona, liarn-Uke room, divided into two or three apartments, in one of which were the exking's three wives, attended by a young Zulu girl, enjoying their tiffen or dinner. If * beauty unadorned is adorned the the most,' no one need cavil at the way these ladies were dressed. They seemed to object to the pomps and vanities ol this wicked world, and wear a few beads — and a smile. However, this being a redolel ter day, they soon afterwards spa peared with a covering of some light material over their shoulders, and took their seats on a wooden stool well to the back of His Majesty, as if they were afraid of the wizard, who bad previously created an impression on them by finding eggs in their ornaments. The half-" dozen, more or less, attendants squatted on the ground, the once-dreaded fx-kins sat on a Windsor chair, and the seance began. Oetewayo must be complimented on his good taste in selecting the few wives he has dragged into his captivity with him, for finer deyeloped black women it would be diffleult to find on a day's march anywhere. He seemed to have a penchant for tail women, for each of his wives must be close on sft. llm h r gh. Outside the castle walls, along the ramparts of whioh the ex-king is allowed to walk, guarded by two sentries, is the Boyal Engineer stores, so that escape would seem out of the question, unless very artfully planned ; bat from the rex signed and comfortable appearance of thf prisoner we should say that he k qui'e content to remain as he is until, in the words of the immortal Mieawber, ' some* thing turns up.' It may interest some to know that his weakness is "a little drop of summat ' in the shape of half a pint or more of gin a day, and that on this particular day he was not quite himself havins been indisposed during the morn« ing. Imagine a jovial looking, perfectly black member of the masculine gender, in a Moses and Son's reduced price blue serge sui», with a biilvrock h«t (like those worn by agricultural labourers in England), welMormed, intelligent, and all that, and you have a correct idea of the noted despot. He gave one the opin. ion that he was th^re to find out every trick on the programme, aud he did his level best to do so. It would not do to perform an illusion on the table; no.it must be brought close to him. That would not always do either; he must hold the conjuror's band whilst be did -

his trick, and place the article on the floor before him. Card tricks and the dictionary trick were above his comprehension. On Tuesday evening, the Bey. Father Binsfield, Roman Catholic priest at Ban 4 giora. had a narrow escape from drown* ing. He was crossing the river with . s horse and baggy at the ford, and had chosen ■ a narrow part coming oat on a steep bank about three feet high. The horse had ascended the rise with til forelegs, bat was not able to pull ap the baggy, and the collar choking it, caused the animall to roll back, its head drop* ing into the river, and the shaft* break* 'ng of short. Mr Binsßeld endeavored to save the horse by raising its head, but slipping into a quicksaad was conn pelled^ to make for the bank, in doing which his feet became entangled in the reins and he was nearly drowned. The horso, valued at £20, was then dead. Making his way oat, Mr Binsfield pr - ceeded to Eangiora, and was met by Mr A. Peach, who picked him up, almost perished, with cold. No damage was done to the baggy, beyond that to the shafts, and the harness was alt eared in. tact.— Press. It will be remembered (sots the New Zealand Herald) that a year or two ago there was a little difficulty among the parishioners of St. Matthew's over a window of painted glass. Something of the same kind has recently occurred at Home. A London correspondent writes »s follows .— « High Church people here are making a grand joke of a recent judgment of Dr Tristram. The Be?. Mathew Woodward, of Folkestone, Kent, applied for a faculty to insert a window of painted glass representing a fourteen!! century priest saying mass. The oroa* ment was objected to by some pious parishioners, and the learned Dr Tristram refused the faculty, unless Mr Woodward would put his priest in a surplice instead of a chasuble ! If the case had not been duly chronicled among the law reports, no one could have believed such a judgment possible. Tou might as well insist on clothing the picture of St. Paul in a long coat and chimney-pot hat, as resting a medieval priest in a surplice, and at mass, too! How Evangelical scruples conld be satisfied bj such a travesty is not explained.' The Boston Sunday Herald thus forcibly expresses the principle whioh ought to settle the school question fop ever ;— ' What the State needs is good citizens, and not good Congregationalists, Methodists, Catholics, Unitarian?, Baptists, Presbyterians, Spiritualists, Jew?, Mahommedaas. Bat there is one error which many worthy people fall into} namely, that this is a Protestant Govern* ment. It is nothing of the sort. It is purely secular and one religion is as free as the other. Tn this respect, we would have the public schools like the Govern* ment.