MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1208, 15 December 1882, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

♦ One of the best known newspaper proprietors in Melbourne ia reported to have won a large stun of money on the Cup. He backed Assyrian at Caulfield and remained true to his love, hence bis success. His handsom cab will now roll its course more smoothly than ever. The West Coast Times learns that the water has been pumped out of the shaft of the Ross Gold Mining Company, and that the men are now working below. The pumps going very easy, at less than half-speed, have cleared the shaft, which is 12ft by Bft of 44ft of water in two hoars. The miners of Kumara have presented Mr, Richard Seddon with a gold watch "as a mark of esteem and appreciation of his services in Parliament," Oh I the delicious irony of the gift. It is to be hoped that Dick will take the hint so delicately tendered to him by his constituents, and not squander the country's time so recklessly as he has been in the habit of doing ; that as he gazes on the face of his dial he will remember that "time is money," that "silence is golden," and become as silent as the "h" in hour, Oh I the sarkastic kusses of Kumara. The Lake Wakatip Mail says, that the latest news from Martin's Bay is of a favorable character. The weather has been remarkably fine, and the settlement is progressing quietly, but satisfactorily. The Stella steamer on her last trip landed a few miners, who are either mining on known auriferous land or prospecting. We quite lately saw some samples of magnificent marble — pure white and very close* grained — obtained from somewhere, it is stated, not for from the Bay. The discoverer has not yet tested the , country, and is therefore unable to state at present the thickness of the seam or seams or their extent. Curious stories, based on the alleged fear of the Czar to show himself in public among his faithful subjects, are by no means rare, but the following account of one of his Majesty's subterfuges for eluding the danger of a Nihilist attack is, perhaps, the most amusing of any that have been published. It emanates from a correspondent of the Intransigeant, and is dated " St. Petersburg, 17th September: — The inhabitan-s of this city were lately excited as the news of a very unexpected event. It was stated J that the Emperor had at last made up his mind to como to St. Petersburg. He had been seen with only a small escort in an open caleche on the Newski Perspective. People have become so unaccustomed to regard St. Petersburg as an Imperial residence that, in spite of the assertions of the newspapers, no one at first placed any credit in the report. The next day, however, the Czar's promenade was repeated, and even incredulous people were couvinced. His Majesty's partisans went into ecstasies, and exclaimed, "You see that Alexander 111. is no coward, as his enemies pretend." Alas ! the illusions of tlu faithful and the wonder of the populace were of short duration. It soon transpired that it was not the Emperor who was seated on tho cushions of the caleche, but a wax iigure clad in the Imperial t unifoTin ; its firje boaring a wonderful resemblance t) the features of the sovereign. The Czar's consent to this mockery had beon obtained by ingenious oili ials, who pointed out that his

cowardice was daily becoming more evident to the people, and that it was absolutely necessary to redeem his fallen prestige. Alexander gave in to these arguments, and the figure was made in secret. It is a perfect likeness, and the movement of the head to the right and to the left complete too illusion. At the sight of the masterpiece the Czar is said to have embraced Tdstol, exclaiming. "At last I can show myself to the nation without fear of the Terrorists; let them blow up my carriage if they dare," A similar story to the above was told of the late Emperor, except that in his case the wax figure was sent on in a so-called Imperial train to test the safety of the railway line while the real Czar travelled in a train composed of baggage fourgons." The following paragraph appeared in a number of All the Year Bound for 1868 : — We are a meat-consuming people ; but our laborers and unskilled workmen taste little meat except bacon. Every year butchers' meat is becoming more costly, and further out of the reach of the poor. Traders must bring from South America the super* abundant baef, and from the Antipodes the superabundant mutton, that in both of these -wealthy and teeming regions find no purchasers. Ice supplies the means for effecting the much-desired result, and there is reason for the hope, as well as for the belief, that, ere many years have passed, enterprising merchants will be encouraged to convey to our shores fleet loads of beef and mutton, packed in ice or chemically : frozen, that our population would so gladly purchase at half or third of the price of British cattle, but that, for want of Buch a trade, is boiled down into tallow in Australia or suffered to rot in Brazil until it is fit for nothing but manure. If, as has been said, the man who makes two blades of grass to grow where grass never grew before, is a public benefactor, who shall measure the benefaction of him who shall first successfully organise a plan for bringing the beef and mutton of the world to the mouths of the English multitude.