MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 20 May 1881, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Lyttelton Times in two days published nearly fifteen columns of telegrams regarding the Tararua dias-r ter. Tbe sale of its papers and extras reached twenty-one thousand. The Paris Temps newspaper has lately cal)ei atteDtion lo a remarkable fraud which is being practiced by dealers in fruit jellies. The common seaweeed which comes from China and Japan rs packing materal surrounding procelian and similar goods yields, when properly treated with water, a transparent jelly, which may readily be sweetened with glucose and colored to imitate any color which would be derived from fruit. This substance, so prepared, is sold as genuine fruit jelly, to the detriment of the health of the consumers. The seaweed costs little more than tbe expense of transportation from the East, The New regulations for primary

education in France forbid corporal punishment and provide that the wish of the farther shall always be consulted as to participation in religious instruction ; that children shall not be sent to church for catechism or service except out of class hours ; that the teacher shall not be bound to take them or watch over them there ; that Sundays and Thursdays shall be holidays ; and that punishment shall consist of bad marks reprimand, partial privation of recreation, detention after school hours and temporary exclusion, no* exceeding two days. The tobacco plant grows profusely and nine feet high at Glenrairk, Canterbury. Good smoking tobacco and cigars are made from the leaves. A residents in Afbburton recently leased a section of land from the Borough Council, the rent of which was only £8 per annum. The bill of the borough solicitor for drafting tbe lease amounted to tbe modest sum of £6 Us 10cL If rumour speaks truly, says an exchange, the United States haye suffered more than England from the pensions abuse. It is said that there are 250 000 pensioners, drawing 25, 000,000dol a year from the public Trea» sury, and that the country loies about 1,000,000J0l a year by payment of fraudulent pensions. If this is correct barnacles would seem quite as ready to gather on the bull of the good ship Republic as on that of the old Great Britian. Messrs Au tin and Kirk, of Christchurch, have notified Government of tbeir i ntention to claim the bonus of £250 offered for the first £1,500 worth of household pottery and sold in the colony between given dates. This is how a new Melbourne paper of would-be comic order, puts a recent accident :— ' That was a rapid rise in the Victorian Government services for the five men engaged in tbe tor* pedo exploit at Queenscliff. No jealousy strange to say on the part of other civil servant?,' Between 17,000 and 20,000 alligator skins are tanned yearly, which are consumed by boot and shoe manufactories in the United States. The London correspondent of the Melbourne Argus writes :— * I warned you some months ago that our French importation " vitriol throwing " would take the place of Aunt Sally among popular amusements, and it is already established amongst us. When a member of the lower classes says to anyone he dczen't like him, ' I have got something for you,' the latter, if he is wise at once turns his back and covers his fa«e with is hands. 'In Paris/ writes the French correspondent of the papers, it is bardly Bafe for anyone who has excited any feeling of rancour to go about, unless with a solution of lime water and ammonia, which checks the ectoa of vitriol. 1 The first Australian Eleven made about £650 per man, and the second Australian team will deriv about £500 nett per man for the English tour. A writer in the Journal of Horticulture says — I have never found any material that produces roots so quickly, surely, numerously, in all plants that I have tried in it, as has dust fresh from the forester's sawmills and it does its work perfectly for twelve months without being renewed. Tbe St James's Gasette' says : This planet, it seems, is threatened with serious changes by the extension of the telegraphic system. A timely note of warning to this effect is given by one of the American papers, Polarity, it observes, depends upon currents cf electricity passing at right angles to the direction of the polea. The polarity of tbe earth depends upon the electrio or beat currents of the sun, and it is highly probably that the earth's inclination to the ecliptic is governed by its polar* ity. If, therefore, there were in« dtantly established sufficient electrical connexion by wires around the earth vrith the earth itself to instantly equalise the currents an produce complete reduction of all electrial excitement, what would be the effect on the polarity, and secondly on the j i iclination to the ecliptic ? May there not be a sudden change ofj polarities — the Arctic region becoming equatorial and the tropics suddenly changed to polar temperature? The sudden melting of the vast ice fields would produce another glacial flood j the present race would disappear, and the man of the quaternary would begin life over again at the antipodes. All this is to be accomplished by the continuation of complet circuits for telegraphing around the globe. Of course tremendous earthquakes wculd follow, as the polar diameter is twenty six miles too short and the equatorial twenty-six miles too long. Whether this theory prove correct or not there cannot be a doubt that something has of late gone wrong with atmospherical arrangements, and perhaps the telegraph wiivs are not wholly blameless in the matter. A pleasant story is being told of Thomas Carlyie's interview with the Queen. She had commanded him to visit her, and he came into her presence not ashamed of sharing some of that reverence which Dr Jobnson bad in the presence of his Sovereign. But the Majesty of England was so pleasant, and kindly and modests, that the philosopher forgot her rank before he bad been long in her presence ; and be had soon pulled his chair over to her side

that lie might the rooro wily anl affably converse with her. With no want of respect— with for him an amazi ing amount of respect— he questioned her about her opinions, and made her stand and deli7er her ideas as thouihhe were an examining; cliapltin. The Qieen is said to have been delighted with the interview, and to hare conceived the highest respect for the grand old mm. • Tar n' might hare been a courtier had he pleased. Bnt thit wa3 not • Tarn's ' bent. He was nut intended to leaven courts ; and be went back agiin to the little bouse at Chelsea nippier than though be bad been made Knight of (ho Garter. The only thing yet recovered in the Rhape of wreckage from the Tararui, is thirty barrels of lirmjuice. There are twelve policemen stiil on tbe scene, an. l watch is being kept for some distance along the bea n h from 5 a.m. daily. Amongst the police are inspector Buckley and detective Toohy, who deserve great praise for their exertions to recover the bodies, and for the readiness with whioh they render all tbe aid in their power to persons seeking for the bodies of friends. Sir Wiliiam Harcourt, on March 23rd, was the object of an offensive, if not alarming practical joke. A package, which afterwards turned out to be a card« board haberdasher's box, about a foof square and a couple of inches deep, tied up securely in brown paper, and addressed to " the Bight Hon. Sir William Harcourt. M.P., House of Commons,' had been delivered at tbe Parliamentary Post Offloe, and was forwarded to the Home Secretary 'B residence, when Sir William Harcourt, noticing that the par* eel was heavy, resolved to have it opened by the police. When the string was cat, and the box opened, it was found to contain a rusty percussion pistol, apparently loaded, .but uncapped, with a broken lock, and accompanying it a sheet of paper bearing tbe words, 4 The 6rst ins sta'tnent of the Arms Act.— From an admirer of your policy.'