MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 31 January 1881, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

a very remarßaote screw-steamer. about to be built on the Clyde for t flompagnie de Navigation EconoraiqLimited, of Glasgow and Paris. T : vessel will have no funnel of any kii burning her own smoke, an I her ft masts will be placed in on (ho »unw oa projecting brackets to keep th clear of the rails, boat.?, chvits,^ when folded down, this beir T do when the vessel is going head to m so as to lessen the resistance ofifei by the masts, $pars, sails. &\ { each mast will be placed «i lar^e bo< and gaff and between the mast* large pquaresail and top -si) ruuai on jackstay*. The total width of a set on each pair of masts when runni before the wind will be 117 feet width and 127 feet in height. T effective horse po.ver will be 1500 f< so as to give the vessel a bi^b rate speed, snd th|f4ael required will only one-balf that #f «v ordim compound marine enginp, a r^-n which is obtained by super-heatiug t water in the boiler by the hitroducti of a substance which nfvd not named, and whijh substance is va ably according to substance*. T space occupied by the boilers, eDgin nnd coal-buukera will only h? one-h that of an ordinary steamer of t pame power. The census returns show tliat fifte millions in America never enter church. The young Dnke of Newcastle, w has just reached the age ofsixte< has applied to the Courts for p< mission to marry. According to tbe calculations of t New York papers, Dr Tanner receiv altogether the sum of 137,640 .lols i his 40 days' fast, or upwards of £ 530. This is at the rate of 3441 dc or £680 a day. Sir Thos. Rouch, who was enffin* of theTay Bridge, died at Moflutt October 30. Ever since the fear disaster on Dec. 28, 1879, the htal of Sir Thomas has given way, and 1 death is ascribed to a broken he? caused by grief and anxie:y at t failure of his pet scheme for brkigi theTay. It is now rumored loudly throng out London society that there has be a serious rupture between the Qac and the Princess Louise. An atfeti was made during the recent visit the Princess to her mother to m; the quarrel up, but it failed. M reasons are given for t royal family j ir. ' London Truth says :— Mr A shine Bertlett, M. P., is going to introdv a bill next session to enable a man marry his grand motber. Mr Libo chere. M. P- (the editor of Trutf hits very hard ; but. poor Burtle aged 26, has received severe journ istic punishment, for daring to raar the Baroness Bourdett Coutts. A strange and shocking; case neglecting a wife occupied the a tention of Mr Shaw, U.M., a* We lington, the other day. The ' Post* report discloses a pitiable state affairs. The parties, who are Quaker, have been married twenty-seven yeai and the wife is seven iy'tf^> years age. Six years ago she came out tbe Colony to join him, but h?3 treat* her and her daughter with gre cruelty, He placed her in a siabl which was described as not being for a pig or a cow to live in much le a human being. There she met \vh an accident from which erysipel resulted. When her daughter tnarriec she went to live with her son-in-law but on the latter'a death she w left to her own resources, aud no she was assisted by the local Benevo ent Institution, and was so helple that 'she could neither peel a patai nor cut a slice of bread. ' Sever respectable neighbors corroborate the old woman's story, am! said tl husband had treated her like a brut He, in defence, stated that she ha left him of her own free will becaus he was unable to support her as si desired. He v/as willing to njcaiv her if she would share a laboring man lot. The Magistrate s.iid the evident convinced him that it ' would b injudicious to order tha p.-irtios to liv together again, as it would entail lif< long misery and wretclieduess on th wife ; but he ordered Hancock to cot tribute 7s pd per week towards hei support. A contemporary states that Mr Wi] liatn K. Grace the brother of th;> Hoc DrGrnco of Wellington, was d^si^mte as the democratic candidate f >r 'be Nei York Mayoralty in the lute P.-csiJenti election. Jacob Terry says :— " H nomination created the urcatest constei nation in New York aud tho Protestai pupils rang with notes of warning froi this covert assault upon \hcm by til emissaries ot Eoramistn. Party fool in ran intenseiy high daring tho election Mr Grace was dcfcit.ed.

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The Wei ingtoa Post says :— Dbose who are in tbe babifc ot visiting the Queen's wharf may. have from time to time noticed that Melbonpe-bound steamers have frequently conveyed from this port larg* qualities of green fl.ix, and it has been a .matter of conjecture among the curious aa to what use the flax is put to. It has been hinted— and the suggestion is Dot at an improbable onerr-that the flax is manufactured in Victoria into rope and sold here and elsewhere as Manilla'— a elms of rope which readily fetches £40 per ton. however thi3 may be it is certain that a large trade in the exportation offlixfrom Wellington is being quietly carried on. It is known that some owners of flax swamps in the vicirtity of Wellington receive from £2 to £2 10*. per ton for flix as itgrova, and tbe purchasers at tbis figure cut and deliver it at tbeir own cost.