MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1191, 6 November 1882, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

The " pretty barmaid " controversy has been occupying considerable space in the Melbourne papers lately. The ' Australasian ' says : — '• Justification would be wanted very much stronger than is given by the miserably weak pretext that men will drink for the sake of enjoying the company of barmaids. Men who will do this are bound to drift to ruin in some way ; they may as well do it this way as any other." At a meeting held at Blenheim last week we notice that Mr Connolly said that from information obtained in Wellington he understood that the Commissioners would not only take evidence, but would go over the various routes themselves. In the case of Dr Polleh this is unlikely, as he he is now an elderly man who can hardly be expected to cross the country to be examined and that part of the work will probably be left to his younger and more active colleagues. We presume that it will not be long before the Commission commences its investigations. Houston, late French Resident at Tunis, says it is a great error to suppose the women in Tunis are very

1 beautiful. They are, he says, awfully fat— that is all. Before a girl marries they confine her in a room and fatten her up, as they do ducks and geese in other countries. To he a matrimonal \ "catch" a girl of 16 must weigh at i least 100 kilos (2401b5.) I have seen many young brides of 15 who have weighed even more than that ; but they are not pretty at all, In Smith County, Virginia, a well dug 360 feet into the earth without striking water, and then went through with a plunge into a subterranean lake. Being hauled to terra firma, the man and his assistant let down a small boat, and, as the distance between the top of the water and the earth was several feet, rowed over five miles before finding the outlet of the earth — a spring, in the side of a hill. Take lake is a great wonder. Twenty-two years ago two racemeeting were held in Melbourne in the months of October and November — ■ one of the principal events being the Victoria Stakes, of 10 sovs, 5 sovs forfeit, with 100 sovs added, for three-year-olds. ' his race was won by Mr Jeffrey's chestnut colt, ridden by poor old Sara Waldock ; Mr George Watson, who has been starter for a quarter of ! a century, gaining third honours with Flying Colours j, but George had the '■ satisfaction in the following mouth of i winning our Derby in 3 min. 2 sec, ; Treacey having the mount. This race was nothing until 1564, when Mr Lang's • Oriflamrne ran first, Banker and Glen- * yuille second and third. Since then times have altered considerably. The Melbourne Age of the 21st November,

1863, speak of the Spring meeting in the following terms: — "Cup day is always a great event in Colonial turf circles, and in many respects the best hippie reunion which has been held upon the course for some years. The attendance of the public was large, between three thousand and four thousand, the majority of whom were conveyed to the course by the Essendon railway." This was 20 years ago. I would ask my readers what will be the attendance on the 28th and 3lst of this month. Instead of 3, 000 or 4000, it will be between 100,000 and 110,000, half of whom will be conveyed by railway. In those days we had a grand stand worth about £500 ; now we have one with it surroundings — that is to say, the hill, lawn, and sad-dling-paddock—worth £25,000. Notwithstanding all this large outlay, and the Victoria Racing Club's rich prizes, we have in the Victoria Amateur Turf Club almost a rival to our old fdend. Last Saturday will go to ' prove this, when the second Caultield Cup was witnessed by fully 20,000 spectators. The people of New Zealand can scarcely realise the hold that ' racing has upon the Australian community. For their information, and to bear out my statement. I will state a few facts. On the last V.A.T.C. meeting (two Saturdays) there was upwards of £30,000 invested in totalisators and sweeps. One of these endors, trading under the name of " Spero," managed to get off eight sections, at 10s, on the Caultield Cup alone, and the dividend declared, less 10 per cent., was £2308 9s. This ".Spero " keeps a small grocer's shop in Hotham (one of our suburbs), and is a poor man. What must have been the dividends of the Sportsman Club (registered), and the Archimedian Boland Champion Club, where you have to put down your golden sovereign! The bookmakers also did a lively business Little Jack was scarcely touched. At the persent moment, with Millers '" Boy," Boland's, Goyder's, Jones's, S. A. Pereira's, and some 40 other sweep-proprietors, we have fully £100,000 or £120,000 invested on the Melbourne Cup. A prominent financier estimates that Egypt will lose nearly £70,000,000 by thewar. The cotton crop, which is entirely lost, would have been worth nearly £40,000,000. There is little hope of saving any of the sugar crop. Commenting on the new Minister the Lyttelton iraes says : — Mr Conolly, who has become Minister of Justice, being a sound lawyer, is better fitted for the post than his predecessor. He was throughout the session a supporter of the Government, occasionally inclined to play the part of candid friend, a kind of friend this Ministry is rather in the habit of making. He is not, except in legal circles, where he occupies a high position, much known outside his own district of Marlborough (he is member for Picton) and the neighboring district of Nelson. That drawback he has taken the best means to remove. As an administrator he has his spurs to win. His speeches in Parliament show him to possess good sense and a fair knowledge of public affairs. His appointment to the vacant place in the Ministry will be very pleasing to a district not hitherto accustomed to be represented in the Ministry, without bringing any immediate accession of, strength to the Cabinet. Not only has the intellect of the worm been sadly unappreciated for centries till Mr Darwin rehabiliated that s-ig-acious reptile, but it appears now that his value as a viand has also been grossly misunderstand and underrated. A group of French gourmets, whose object it is to do for the cookery of the future what Wagner is doing for its music, are happily following up the labors of Darwin in this direction and having recently tried this tempting morsel, have communicated to a grateful public the result of their first '< researches. Fifty guests were present at the experiment. The worms, apparently lobworms, were first put , into vinegar, by which proocss they were made to disgorge the famous vegetable mould, about which we have ' recently heard so much, They were then rolled in batter, and put into

an oven, where they acquired a de Jightful golden tint, and, we are as--1 sured, a most appetising smell. A fter the first plateful the fifty guests rose i like one man and asked for more. Could anything be more convincing I 'hose who love snails, they add, will abandon them for ever in favor of worms. In the South Australian House of Assembly Mr Kingston moved the insertion in the Newspaper Bill of a clause providing that articles commet ing upon persons or bodies of persons should he signed by the writers. The lion, member contended that the public should know tha name of the writer, in order that they might judge whether he was impartial, and whether he had the necessary information to set himself up as a guide. Mr Kingston was answered by Mr Bees, who contended that there was no public demand for the change, which would have the effect of keeping out of the ranks of the Press men such as those who in the past had found the newspapers an avenue to greatness. The Attorney General opposed the clause, and argued that its effect would often be to cause articles to be judged by a fallacious test, as they would be judged by the names attached, instead of by their intrinsic merit. The clause was negatived without a division. The Attor-ney-General then proposed a now section, providing that a person who considers himself aggrieved by any letter, article, or advertisement, may make an application to a judge or special magistrate, who iqay, if he considers it injurious to the character of the person applying, and if he thinks it expedient, make an order for the giving up of the name of the writer. The penalty for not complying with this order will be £500. This clause was agreed to by a large majority.