MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1048, 13 February 1882, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

«, A speculative German has lately applied for a pat ant for bomb-proof carriages and imblowupable palaces. He says that, in this shootif<*rous age, the gunnosity of disaffected citizens is full of perilousness to conorated oecipita. (This is a Dutch paraphrase on " Heavy wears the crown who lies a head." -ire. The common snail sets forth to ravage our gardens equipped with 150 rows of stout serrated teeth. Tlie whole palate contains about 21,000 teeth, while a full-grown slug has ever 26,000 of these silicious spikes. The whelk has a ribbon-like tongue, contained in a proboscis, with which it bores holes in the shells of mollusks which form its food. The tongue has strong, sow-like teeth on the edges, with rows of finer ones between. In some mollusks the tongue resembles a tessellated pavement, with a tooth in the centre of each lozenge-shaped compartment. But although the palatatal system of snails forms a powerful and most efficient apparatus for triturating their food, it more closely resembles the gizzard of birds than the teeth of quadrupeds, and it is in the class of fishes that we find the first examples of true teeth, set in a bony socket and ranged at the opening of the alimentary canal. At what time the fashion of wearing teeth came in we have no means of ascertaining. If, howeaer, the Darwinian theory be correct, at some enormously remote period of time some lucky animal developed the new weapon by a series of fortunate variations, and its posession gave to him and his posterity such a "pull" over their competitors that they were able to set the fashion, which has lasted to the present day. — All the Year Round. •You have heard, my love, that Amanda is about to marry Arthur.' I know it, but what I can't understand is that a woman as intelligent as she is can consent to marry a man stupid enough to marry. — Paris paper. Contempt of Court — Very many, perhaps most persons imagine that " contempt of Court " is ill-behaviour or contumacy of some kind, but a case of the manager of the Universities Co-operative Association will show that its sphere of operation is much larger. A debenture holder had brought an action to restrain the directors from doing their business in such a way as to affect the interests of the Association. The manager of one of the departments made an affidavit that he had, under the orders of the general manager, made a forced sale of some eau de Cologne by r ~se_ngitan9er cost price. He soon got a letter from the general manager suspending him for having sworn an affidavit prejudicial to his employers. No doubt the directors and general manager were much surprised when a motion was made to commit him for contempt of Court for interfering with persons in his employ who had already given evidence in the above case or might hereafter be required to do so. He, in consequence, undertook to withdraw the notice of dismissal, and to abstain from discharging, suspending, or injuringany officer or servant of the company, either because he had given or intended to give evidence in the action ; and Mr Justice Kay denounced as a very grave offence the attempt to prevent witnesses or possible witnesses from . giving evidence, or to induce them to pervert the evidence they might otherwise give. It might do good if Sir William Horcourt would draw the "special attention of the Public Prosecutor to the v epidemic " of this offence, which prevails to such a wide extent among the lower classes, and is such an obstruction to justice. The city valuation (Wellington )have been made up for the your 1882-3. The figures shew a decrease in the valuation amounting to nearly Ll 3,000 The general valuation is retuuned at L 210,123 as against L 216,880 for the preceding year, while the valuation for water rate is L 196,174, and L 196,350 respectively. The Directors of tht National Insurance Company of New Zealand have decided to strengthen the institution still further by issuing 100.000 more shares, which will be offered to the present shareholders at 255. each, under easy calls. Tliis will double the present capital, and the premium on the new shares will be carried to tlie reserve fund. A meeting of shareholders will be called at once to consider the proposal. — Cnristchurch Star. That the grand breakwater has not as yet caused the material prosperity of Timaru to advance by leaps and bounds, is evident, says a Christchurch contemporary, from the follow iug returns : The total valuation of tbe Borough of Timaru for 1882 is £51,692 10s, an increase of only £305 over last year's. There are 1256 rateable properties in the Borough, belonging to 578 ratepayers. Twenty new buildings wero added to the rateable properties during the past year, but a laruv reduction has been n*nd-- o:* ■- * "'

of erection, but are not yet sufficiently advanced to add much to the total valuation. One of the scandals of the day, says the Melbourne correspondent of a con. temporary, which so far has given much comfort to those who attend five o'clock teas, has been the elopement of Mr Berry's daughter. It would appear that the lady who is of matured charms, fell in love with the painter and upholsterer who was doing up her father's neat villa, and as there was little hope of the parents consenting, they fled together. Mr Berry, although he likes the "orny 'anded" as applauders at a meeting and voters at the ballot box, draws the line of intimacy at their becoming sons-in-law, so pursued the couple in a fury. To make matters worse the swain had the appellation of Dohefty, which I need not say is thoroughly Italian, ajad a nation whose vote threw Mr Berry out into, the cold. Whether Mr Berry has caught the fugitives is noi known, but as there has been no announcement of the wedding, I am inclined to think he has been able to avert the evil for a time.