MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 22 April 1881, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

♦ w - — - * | Tbe National Gallery has secured ! Lord Suffolk's farmous* La Vierge aux Kochers/ by Leonardo, at a cost of j £9000. There is reason to believe lhat Mr JJ. A. Proctor will be appointed to organise the various Government expeditions for tfae observation of tbe Iranist of Venus in 1882. Mr Proctor is also mentioned as successor to the Astronomer Royal, whose early re* <tirement is predicted in scientific circles. More than a total of 200,000 copies •of H, M.S. Pinafore had been sold up February last, and 32,000 copies of The Pirates of Penzance Were sold within the first seven weka after pub* 1 icatiou. Joubert. who bas been appointed commandant by the revolted Boers in the Transvaal, was formerly a clerk in Melbourne. He arrived tbere •from the Cape, and finding Australia too slow for his ambition soon returned to Ihe place from whence he came. The German Parliament was opened on February 15 by Count Stolberg Wernigerode, the Vice-Chancellor. Tbe speech from tbe Throne said (hat among tbe European Powers there was not only complete concurrence . in the wish to maintain peace, but no difference of views existed in principle concerning the essential objects of the negotiations pending between them. The Emperor bopes ' that the unity of ibe Powers will succeed in preventing even parfciul breaches of the peace in Europe, or at any rate so limit them as that they neither affect Germany nor its neighbors. A somewhat extraordinary • meeting* of creditors (says the ' Post ' of March 25tb) was held to-day at the Supreme Court Hoii3e, Richard Leman was Ihe debtor, and his statement of lia* bil ities and assets showed that he only had two creditors in tbe world, to whom he owed collectively £12 lOj B|J, while his assets were valued at £15. Tbe large creditor resides at Dunedin and had a claim of £9 against tbe • debtor ; the otber creditor is a Wel]ifl<7tcm resiVlent, who was admitted to

be entitled to the receipt of £3 10s B£d, At tbe hour fixed for the meeting the debtor and this solitary creditor were the only* persons present, and at once sat down, one at each end of ihe table, and silently eyed eacb other while they awaited tbe arrival of the principal creditor from Dunedin pro* bably by telegraph. In thiß position the Deputy- keg i« trar still found tb?m sitting nearly one hour later, tbe Dunedin man not yet having been • wired • up works were few, but the eyes of both parties were eloquent to tbe last degree. At length the creditor gave up in despair, and left the debtor for the time being the victor. The latter then triumphantly remarked that be b d ' sat that creditor uui,' aud went away rejoeing The Nelson Jam Jand.b'ruit Preserving Company, in tbeir annual report laid before the shareholders, makes this statement :— ' As ehowing] the'tiecessity for such an industry, the following figures are quotedgfrom J tbe returns published by theft New .Zealand Government ot tbe imports and exports: of tbe colony iot the year 1879 :— for bottled aod preset ved fruit*, £3605 ; jams and jell ien, £49,490 ; dried fruits, £8537 ; £59,445 : marking a total cf £129,297. Of coawe^somethingjiike £10,000, may be deducted from this iraoouut fur tropicfel fruits, leaving the enormous sum ofj £119,297 for fruits and jams, whicb|could be eas ly produced in tbe colouy* if tbe people were determined to take qp tfik very i«r portant^brtneh^ot trade withienergy and a will to overcome all obstacles. Of this snm of; £119,297 tbe following amounts werejsent to the neighbouring colonies:— To New South Wales, £27,118 ; to Victoria,. £l6,33B/ to Tasmania £63,535. The balance to England, America, South Sea Islands &c. Thus our.sister colonies are enriched annually by tbe sum of LlO6, 661 (takingjthe imports Of *1 879 as an average), of which £100,000 at least could be saved to New Zealand. 1 It was . in aj Detroit temple of justice. The counsel had become quite earnest in the trial of course, when one of them told the other that he had no brains. To this the latter retorted^ thai; the other counsel had no brains and both counsel appealed to his Honour to say which was right. To this appeal bis Honour, with ajacetious twist injtbe oorner of his mou'h, replied that he did not wish to eon* tradict either of the counsel, as both might be right/ and be requested them both to proceed with the trial*