MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1204, 6 December 1882, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

♦ The London * Times ' of September 20th states: — 'This morning, about 7 o'clock, a burglar was heard in the house of Mr Hitchcock Stapleton, 87, Ramsden road, Balham, by Dr Bently, next door neighbor. The house was unoccupied, Mr Stapleton and family being at Hastings. Dr Bently proceeded to watch the front The burglar was then leaving the house by the kitchen door. He presented a revolver at Dr Bentley's head threatened to blow his brains out and got over the wall into the road. Dr Bently threw a brick at him, striking him on the head. He ran up the adjoining road, but was closed with and captured. Tn the struggle Mr Harris, of Temperleyroad, was shot through the hand by the burglar. On an examination of the house being made, it was found that the burglar had plate and other articles packed readly for removal The revolver was the property of Mr Stapleton, stolen by the burglar. The Auckland ' Star.' in an article about the doings of the Maori mission in London, says : — * With London they were all three astonished. Its extent and grandeur opened their eyes. The old chief was so satisfied with his quarters and the treatment that he had received, that he did not want to come away. On the females they made marked impression. Taiwhanaga asserts that, had he not been married, he could have had for a wife a very nice lady with large means. With a sigh he was compelled to turn away,the partner of his joys and sorrows anxiously awated his return to his nacive land. He assures us that he left the latter provided for, and says that she had no right to leave the house in the Bay of Islands and desert his children. Mrs S. T., it may be remarked, was looking about for her illustrious spouse this morning, not in the calmest of moods. Her welcome of the rover seemed likely to be boisterous and energetic, but not particularly loving." Italian papers announce the discovery a short time since at Dorgali, in the island of Sardinia, of a great stalactite cave. Fifteen galleries have been already traced. In one of them there is a row of pillars like white smooth, resembling the finest basalt When lit up with torches the combinations and varieties of coloring are wonderfully beautiful. A body of capitalists of New York is promoting a scheme for establishing a shorter route to Kurope by way of Newfoundland. The work has already begun in Nova Scotia. Steamboats will cross the Narrows with the railway carriages, and the existing lines. They expect to convey passengers without change of carriages to the point of departure for the ocean journey, and to save from two to four days in the journey between New York and London. A daily service is talked of. The promoters hope to get the carrying of the mails. From Chicago this route is almost a straight line. Ihe completion of the entire work is expected to occupy five years. An agitation has been started in England against perpetual pensions, and an inquiry by Parliament into such pensions has been demanded by resolutions passed at public meetings. The new paper wheels which are coming into use so largely in the United States are about to be introduced into Germany. Mr Putmann, director of New York Jersey railroad, has, after many years' experience of paper wheels reported that their durability is tenfold greater than that of the ordinary weels made of iron. They are admitted, however, to involve in the outset a greater experse. The s.s Sorrento takes from Port Chalmers the carcasces of 5,838 sheep, the weight of whioji nmnmit to 937 tons, or an average of 731bs per sLecp. They came from seven sheep runs. There were shut out of the Scr ento 1428 carcasses which will he sent Home by the ship Dunedin.