MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 4 February 1881, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

_ + Victoria has spent £119,476 in defence works, and she possesses war stores and material valued at £245, 308,

The rateable value of Invercaraigill for the present year is £59,004, as agiansfe £54,118 last year. Two boys living .'near Adelaide obtained 2000 eparroW eggs iti one day. What a happy city Nelson— more Commonly known as Sleepy ilollow— is to be sure. According to a local paper several Mormon apostles are holding forth to the, good-looking hut *big«footed' Nelson maidena. *V there are Iwentyfive i sweet seventeen* to one Adonis, doubtless, Mormoniam will prevail on •some of these willing captives Auckland folk will feel keenly Ihe double defeat of their representative yntht, the Taniwhn, at Melbourne. Tbe following paragraph from the Auckland Observer of December 25th trill show how certain they were of victory ' John Marshall and "VVeve ' Coupland leave here for Melbourne by JRotoranhana in order to be over in time to see the Taniwha beat the' crack yachts of that placV Saturday's rne'e in which fh<rNe# Ze^atrd <*r«ft finished third, was, over a forty*6ve miles' course. The Tforth Otago Times says.— Messrs Bailie and Humphrey have shipped sixty-two kegs of butter to London by the barque Ardentinnv, and as this is the first exportation of ♦his kind from, we believe, arid New Zealand port, it beats significance as a test of no small value. The shipping of buiter on long sea vayages has hardly pot beyond the pale of experiment, Bnd its success means the opening of a rieverfailing rairket for colonial dairies. Considerable excitement prevailed in Wellington on Jan. 14 through a rumor that tbe City of Sydney had met with a disaster, and had been towes back into Auckland, with, Mr George North and ftll his forttmeroti board. The rumor spread like wild fire, and was of course, soon embellished with circumstantial accounts of Mr North's landing* and his reception by a party of irate ticket— holders in his £4000 sweep. 16 is needless to say that the whole story was a fabrication, and arose probably from a Jbogus or erroneous telegram, or from a confusion between tb«* City of Sydney and the 1 City of New York, which really did arrive in Auckland after a serious misbap. ■ ' Th<* agitation of the land in ef the Farmers' Alliance in the fifst week of December, a Sussex farmer demanded for members of his class the right to acquire the land they held after a certain penod of tenancy. The English landlords are at last beginning to take alarm afc the' numbers and activity of the orgnn'sations being formed among the small farmers and agricultural laborers for carrying out what is popularly called the ' free land policy' in England, which will recall the famous reform and corn law movements. The Tajanaki Herald says .—We qoute the following from a private letter just received from a gentleman in Honolulu. ' The country composed of nine islands, contains about 60 000 people— mostly Chinamen and Kanakas—the English aDd American element being about 6000. Over 1500 Chinese came here last week, and 2000 more are expected from Hong Kong. Honolulu contains over 18,000 people, and is larger than Christcburch. Good carpenters and general shoeing smiths get 4dols to sdols fl6s. .to 18s, per day, and plenty of work. Book-keepers; from lOOdols to 200dols per month on sugar plantations, 75do!a to ldOdols and found. Clothing, about 50 to 100 per cent over New Zealand rates living from 355, per week. MrMaskay the San Francissco Bonanza millionare i» said to have become morose and suspicions so many adventurers and impostors having practised on him that he has lost faith in human nature. . ■ ' ■ As an instance of how tbe value of house property in Wellington has de» predated daring the past two year», we may mention that the general rates were estimated to yield £12,000 for the year 1880-81. Bat ( for the ensuing year, the New Zealand Times and tbe Mayor do not anticipate that more than £10,000 will be forthcoming. This estimate is considered extravagant by the Post, which says that * town property has depreciated in value from 30to 50 per cent, Its Belling value is less than balf , the rate ruling in 1878* Taking, how ever the ordinary estimate of depreciation in the value of property, a revenue of more than £6,000 cannot be counted on from tbe general rate, even allowing for tbe recovery of arrears.' Among curious bequests to wives, that of a John George, of Laberth who died in 1791 is conspicious for its bitterness. After declaring that „ the

strength of Samson the genius of Htmer, tbe prudence of Agustus, the patience of Job, the philosophy of Socrates, thesublety of Hanibal, the vigilance of Hermogenes would not suffice to subdue the preversity of her character, he bequeathed to his wife Elizabeth the snin of one shilling.' With a view to a more humane procedure, the committee ot the Sydenhatn District School. Chrietcburch have instructed the teachers to cease flogging in cases of incorrigible children, md in lieu thereof to have recourse to expulsion, the object being to bring Ihe incorrigible child under the parent* notice. It will then be necessary f'»r tt.e p.irenfc to make i speciil application forihe re-admission of l.he child V name on the ech:ol re2»s*er.