MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 13 August 1880, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

The annual Mormon Chorch Con* ferenee has just been held at Salt Lake City. One of the chief apostles, Erastns Snow, delivered an address, in the course of which he defended polygamy, and said Hint if the United States had its way Abraham, Joseph, and alt the other patriarchs would be arrested, were they living in the nineteenth century. The report of the Church officers stated that the total Mormon population of Utah is 111,820. In Colorado there are some 600, and in Arizona, 1895, while the British mission contains 5257. children in* eluded, the Scandinavian 5205, and the German missions 798. Some 1500 bap* tisms were reported during the year 1870, but against these were to set upwards of 600 excommunications and removals. The nnm''er of Mormon births last year was 1230 males and 1231 females. The total Church receipts for the past year of all kinds amounted to 1,097,034d015. It is only recently that the advocates of what they call spelling reform have received any encouragement in the United States ; but now they seem to be malting some way. One of the members of Congress announces a Bill favoring the appointment of a Commission to con* sider if national support to the movement is advisable. The Chicago Daily Tri« bune has for some months past partially adopted the new spelling • Improvements.' such as the substitution of/ph in words like phase and the omission of the silent final c from words like have and favourite. are examples of its innovations. The position taken br ibe Tribune gave courage to some of its contemporaries. Among these are the New York Indepen* dent and the Utica Herald, papers of recognised position in Transatlantic jour* nalism. ; An interesting account is given in the Mining Eecord (U.S.) of an excursion by M. Yandetmeer to Santa Fe, in the course of which he visited the Indian ! village of Tosoque, tbe inhabitants of which claim a lineal descent from tbe Aztecs. They are more industrious and civilized than the generality of the Bed* skins and live in bouses of two stories high, the communication between which and the res»de-cJiau9t9 is a rude ladder. There are no doors, Bnd in case of sud» den alarm the ladder is drawn up and the dwelling converted into a fortress. Each house hes three or four chambers, and the population of' the whole village is nearly 203. The mining district of Santa Fe is not only rery valuable, but full of inter*

est. as many of lie mines now being worked were oringin»lly opened by the Span : Bh,hat were abandoned after tl>e revolt of the Indians in 1682. The district of White Oaks, in particular, t.ss yielded ver y f'di specimens of gold. The first of the now street • fire alarms " wh9 erected iv London recently under the supervision of ihe Metropolitan Board of Works. The • fire alarm ' con. s.sts of an iron rolumn, about a foot in circumference, not quite as bi«h as 8 pi'lar lettersbor, end surmounted by 8 circular box which will contain an electricapparatus. The column 19 placed after the wanner of the pillar letter-boxes, in the pavement .of the footway, and is painted red. Convenient places, especially points most remote from a fire brigade station, will be selected for the erection of • fire alarms,' on which are displayed these words on the iron rim round the circular dial of the box. The key of the latter will be always in tlte possesion of the police constable on aVy, and on the breaking out of a fire ho can, I>y opening the diaLand handling the instrument within it in a certain w*y, com* muniftato instantaneously tvith the nearest fire station, indicating the street in which the outbreak of fire has occurred. There are now 577 peers or peeresses and 865 baronets, making altogether a little over 1,400 parsons who are posses* Bed of hereditary dignities out of a popu* lation of thirty odd million- J All the baronetcies have been create! since the reign of James 1., who established the order, and only about 300 of those which sac still unnvrged in peerages wrrt created before tie reign of George 111 The onmerged caeations of George 111. number 305, of Georgfl IV. 39. of William IV. 46, and of the Queen 172. Of the 577 peer, 478 have seats in the House of Lords, 434 by personal right, and 44 by election— l 6by the peers of Scotland and 28 by the peers of Ireland ; while the 143 peerages of which the holders are not legislators at present are distributed among the peeresses and the peers of Scotland and Ireland. 4nd very few of the whole number, comparatively speaking, can boast of any higher antiquity than the baronetcies. The United States Consul at Liverpool. in his annual commercial report in the Department of State, gnes many valuable statistics. The imports from the United States to Great Britain for the last year exceed those of the previous year by over 55,000 000 dollars. The mont remarkable increase is in provisions. Tn 1874 Great Britain paid the United States, for bacon and hams, beef, butter, and ehfIPSP, 37 millions of dollars ; in 1878, 66 millions. In breadstuff's, the increase, of the last year over the prerions was 32 millions of dollars ; over 1874 the increase was 85 million*. The imporati^n of horned cattle is yet in its infancy. Tn 1875. 300 were imported ; in 1878. 68 903. Sheer, in 1877, numbered 13.121; 1878, 45,567. The imporation of fresh beef is stwiiily increasing ; in 1874, 1095cwt ; in 1878, 483.012cwt. In naphtha there i« a marked decrease of imporation. Generally British trade with the United States shows an important increase and revival. Riley Bribers, drapers, of Sydney, have spent £37,000 in advertising in six year*. Commencing in a small way, they now employ 200 bin dp, and have many branches. The firm started 4 advertiYng Urgely in 1874. In May of that year their receipts were £40 a month. By Anril of the following year they had j risen to £1,017 a month. They increased their advertising with their business, and in May, 1875, the receipts bad risen to £2,000 a month. In 1879 the business was close upon £150,000. The bushranger Power, the once com-panion'in-arms of the notorious Ned Kelly, is still. s<iys the Melbourne Telegraph, is still, says the Melbourne Telehospital, suffering from an old disease contracted during his bushraneing career. The man who, at one period, was the terror of the northern districts, has now be» come as helpless as a child. Of late years Power has considerably changed in ap« pearance, having a long beard, which hi become white. Power says, in speaking of hiß old associate, that he always prevented him from shedding blood, as be would otherwise hire done on one or two occasions. Power admits that Kelly pos« sesses considerable persona] courage, but '>c was blwav* of opinion that in extreme danger Kellj would be wanting in judg ment and discretion sufficient to carry him out of difficulties. On one occasion, when they were surrounded by the police close to the late Dr Row's station, Mount Battery, near Mansfield, and there ap peared but little hope of escaping, Kelly proposed to surrender, when Power told j him if he did be would shoot him on the i spot. In attempting to escape, Power's horse was bit in the flank by a spent ball from the police, but he and Kelly sue* ceeded in escaping to the ranges.