MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 27 May 1881, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

» More than 200 years ago, Holland offered a reward of £2000 to the dig* coverer of the passage found by Pro* fessor Ncrdenskjold, and it is expected it will now be paid to him, although be knew nothing of th'e offer when he raade his voynge. Lord Lansdowne, in a long &t;er to the London Times on the Bessbora*

Commissioners' report, condensing the unmitigated adoption of the three Fb, says .—An Act of Parliament founded upon the recommendations of ibis report would, unless accompanied by large compensatory provisions, tffect a confiscation of property tbe like of which has not been attemptel within the memory of living men. It would drive out of the country; or convert into middle'annuitants the only persona who have made intelligent or effectual efforts Jo raise the standard of Irish agriculture, the lowness of which has done more thau aught else to occasion Irish distress and disaffection. On this point the Commissioners themselves are apparently not without misgivings'. W, P. Merril, of Tlorio, Sacramento country, is the inventor of a novel device to prevent horses from running away/ In consis's of a metal squareheaded or prolong9d loop, which is attached to the hind axle of the wagon or buggy near tbe hub, "and pointing forward. When the driver d sires to leave his team, he drops the "lines over the loop, from which they cannot escape except by manual removal. Extending from the hub-band \a a single prong half-arched, the end or point of whichjdescends through tbe loop as the wheel revolves. If the horses start up, the prong-point passes down into the loop as the wheel revolt ves, catcbps the reins on it— which are drawn back to its heel by the pressure — and as the wheel turns the reins wind up on the hub, stopping the horses or pulling their jaws offone or the other. The instaut the animals stop and yielding to tbe pull, back up, the reverse motion unwinds the reins, the arch of the prong passes up through the loop, and fie reins drop back into their origiial location. If the team backs up still more, the prong passes, with each revolution, through the loop without freeing the reins, as the arehed part and not the point, strike them. The invention was tested in' streets and attracted much attention. The spectacle of a paralysed man crawling on his knees into the District Court to answer a summons charging him with allowing his donkey to wander at large, was says the Mel* bonrne Daily Telegraph, witnessed recently. A somewhat singular occurrence is reported from Sebastopol in Victoria. It seems (according to the Ballarat Star) that the head teacher of the local school, Mr W. L Clarke, bad ft tussel with a pupli be was correcting or at least was in a state of excitement over the matter, which occasioned the bursting of a blood vessel in the stomach, from the effects of which Mr Clarke dird. The Westport Times says :— ' Readers remember, fn perusing the account of the" Tararua catastrophe, mention being made of the brave conduct of a fireman named James Maher who swam from the vessel to the reef, several times, for the purpose of searching for a safe landing place for the passengers. We now learn this plucky fellow is a brother of Mr John Maher, of Addison's Flat, and that be _ resided at latter place and in West* port for some years.' A Canterborary savs there are only about thirty thousand people in New Zealand who have insured their lives. With the facilities and liberal provisions offered by the various offices, at least the head of each household should, if at pll possible, be insuredIt is a debt they owe to those who are dependent upon them, and it is a duly which should not be neglected, not even by those in tbe humblest of circumstances, A little se)f«denia) may ere long (perhaps sooner than the healthiest of bread winners may anticipate) remove the widow and fatherless beyond the reach of cruel poverty.