MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 6 August 1880, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

Sweepstakes are particularly aimed at in the Gaming and Lotteries Bill introduced by Mr Whitaker, and passed through the Legislative Goancirr in~

clause 16 it is enacted that, " No person under any pretence, denomination, or dess cription whatsoever, or by means of any device or contrivance whatsoever, shal' sell or dispose of, or agree or promise, whether with or without consideration, to sell or dispose of any real or personal property whatsoever, to or among any person or persons, whatsoever, by means of any game of chance, or of any other contrivance or device whatsoever, whereby any such real or personal property shall be sold or disposed of, or divided or allotted to or among any person by lottery or chance, whether by the throwing or casting of the dice, or the drawing of any tickets, cards, lots, cumbers or figures, or by means of any wheel or otherwise i howsoever." For any breach of these provisions a penalty of £1(J0 is imposed, and sweepstakes are emphatically deolared lotteries for the purpose of this Act. Gaming houses aud betting houses are rigorously dealt with. ' Major O'Gorman, in his farewell address to tbe electors of Waterford, attributes his defeat at the late election to the vintners of Waterford, and says :— " I told them to their beards that if they wanted dirty work to be done they should seek the services of someone else for its performance. They turned against me, and successfully. They cast into oblivion the unslumbering services of six long years. They flung to the winds the records of 801 divisions I have attended, and which have not been cqalled by any , Home Rule member except Major Nolon and Mr. Biggar. They are welcome lo their unhandsome victory. "I retire," be concludes, «- to my house and gui t the one 'where for six years I have done faithful duty. I freely forgive those whose avarice has blinded their patriotism, and I bid the constituency a kindly farewell." The following delineation of the charac** ter of Ned Kelly was given by a phrenologist named Nimshi, who visited Wangaratta six years ago : — " The head of this man is non-intellectual. The base of the skull, with the whole bassiller section of the brain, is a massive develops ment of the lower animal proclivities, and i which, being vastly in excess of the moral i sectional measurement, inclines him to the i perpetration of sensual animal vices, and , which with an adverse facial angle prompts him to the commission of vicious, brutal acts of outrage and aggressiveness. He has large organs of self-esteem and lore of approbation, which giye »elf-con-ceit of vanity. If the one be wounded or the other mortified, his animal nature would know no bounds. He would be likely, under sudden surprise, to commit the grossest outrages ; and, being uncontrolled by any moral sentiment his character is necessarily wolfish and ravenous, his notions of moral right giving him a dangerous range of action.' 1 --*' . Barznsky, a gunmaker, has heen ar** rested on a charge of selling ammunition without a license. A man named Anderson bought a very large quantity for the Natives. A constable saw him hand it to the Natives, and when the policeman tried to seize it, he and theNa-ives galloped off. He was subsequently arrested, as well as one Maori, who had part of the spoil in his possession. Last week three Natives were arrested at , Woodville en route for the West Coast, with twoshundred weight of shot and a !• large bag of powder, but were released on a telegram from the Native Minister. The ft atives are known to be followers of | TeWhiti. The tragic termination to the exploits of the Kelly gang has nol beeu lost upon the aspiring dramatist in search ot a sensational subject. Thus pieces bearing the title of " The Kellys " have been recently announced for early production in several places. The performance' of a drama entitled " The Capture of the Kelly Gang " was prohibited by the Government the other day at the Queen's Theatre, Sydney. A piece bearing a similar title is to bo produced at Sloan's Theatre, Invercargill, on July 28th. The play has been strongly condemned by the local journal. At Wellington on Saturday evening last the same drama was produced, a large audience being present. Those who took part in the drama were dreadfully deficient in their parts and were frequently hissed. The drama was an entire failure. The Melbourne correspondent of the Sydney Evening News relates the following *— " While I am talking about Ser» vice I must tell yoa a little anecdote which I can safely say is quite new, as well as being quiet true. Well he walked into the Melbourne Telegraph Office the other night, and it seems that of late, after 7 o'clock at night, the operators have been allowed the privilege of smoking in the office. 'Is the manager in ?' demanded the stranger. ' No,' carelessly replied the official from behind a dense cloud of smoke ; * ; .s there anything I can do for you ?' * Yes I want to speak to Mr M'Gowan the superintendent— there is a wire to his house.' A little amazed at the stranger's knowledge, the official led they way, and taking hold of the ' key ' prepared to send the message to Mr M'Gowan as desired. It was this— — ' Just stepped into the office. Found all operators smoking. The one who is transmitting tbis has a dirty clay pipe in his mouth. Issue instructions forthwith lorm&dr^-^xaQ^ -What name sir P'

said the trembling smoker, * Oh, I forg >t, .ames Service'; and then be walked out. Dr. Calderwood, Professor of Moral Philosophy ia the University of Edina burgh, has, in his work recently published, entitled ' The Relations of Mind and Brain,' the following story of a dog i — * A dog belonging to a United Presby*** terian minister killed the fowls while the family were at church, and buried them in the garden. The bodies were found j The dog was taken to tbe garden, and immediately confessed his guilt. His master took him to the library, and, having shut the door, began a reprimand after this fashion : — * What a wicked thing you have done in murdering the hens ! You are a minister's dog, and fihonld hnve been au example to other dogs, instead of doing such a thing a*J I his. Then, this is the Sabbath day, and the deed is all the worse on account of the day on which it had been done.' Thus admonished, the dog was put out of the door, and the door shut; Next morning be was fonnd dead. A veterinary sur** geon was consnlted, and declared that the dog had died of a broken heart/ On tbe 2nd inst., according to letter! from Darmstadt, a princess of the Grand Ducal family of Hesse had a narrow and marvellous escape from a terrible death. Shortly before midday, the Countess Erbach Shcnberg was returning with ber father, Prince Alexander, her husband, Count Erbach, and her brother Prince Louis of Batfenbcrg, from a visit to the Landgrave of Hesse, when on crossing the railway the countess stumbled. An engine which was rapidly approaching would inevitably have caused the death of the Countess, had not ber husband and a railway official wbo was near and saw the threatening danger rushed forward and snatched her almost from under tha very wheels of the locomotive.