MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1286, 18 June 1883, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

This is how the Sydney TCcho commences a leading article :-- The nobility of Europe have a motto- -it is " noblesse oblige." The plutocracy of America have recently originated one — itis "the public be d d."

An American journalist has been carefully collecting curiosities of divorje, some of which are highly amusing. At Los Angelos a divorced couple re-marred again within twentyfour hours. At a town called Berlin a wife applied for divorce because her husband had become blind ; her application was refused. At Cleveland a male and female doctor resolved to enter into a medical and matrimonial partnership ; the husband to attend the male patients and the wife the female. The lady was indiscreet enough to write to one of the patients whom she was about to hand over to her intended husband ihat, although she could no longer doctor him, she should never cease to love him, whereupon the intended bridegroom cried of promise and breach of contract by the lady. The Philadelphia correspondent of the 'New York Herald' reports: — "Besides the agent employed by Prince Bismarck in London to negotiate for the purchase of 10,000, 000 acres of land in Mexico, it has been learned that the Prime Minister has also a very active representative in this city engaged in thesaine business. So many Germans are annually emigrating to the New World that the German Government desire to purchase land the for purpose of settling a colony, in order to keep emigrants as much as possible under the supervision of the Government and control of the (jernian laws. Dr Bidlack, of No. 1335 Arch street, has been authorised on behalf of Piince Bismarck to enter into communication with Mexico for the purpose of effecting a purchase of land. One million acres have been secured by him, comprising the estate of Oeneral Juan Castimenti. There are gold, silver, copper, iron, aud coal mines located there, and a peculiar fibrous plant, out of which bags — and netting are made, is indigenous to the soil. Negotiations are pending for the other 9,000,000 acres, some of which is located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Dr Bidlack will shortly sail for Europe in the Arizona, in order to further consumate his plans. A syndicate of English capitalists are inI terested in the scheme."

As showing the magnitude of the

rabbit pest, and the mode of coping with it, we may take the following figures as some criterion : — On Starborough, for the past twelve months, 1 GO,OOO skins were brought in; on Flaxboume, over 80,000 skins were got in off one block of hills in less than one month; phosphorized oats being the deadly agent. It is estimated that only one in ten skins is recovered, the other 9 rabbits dying in the burrows. We may state that all the other runs are killing in the same proportion. — " Marlborough Times."

" New Zealand," observes the London Echo," is earning notoriety as the country ■ where scientific hoaxes are concocted ; but it is not a little remarkable that they should be accepted and reproduced without comment by the Press of this country. Not long ago we had a detailed account of a method of putting sheep into a trance, during which they could be transported to any conceivable distance and brought back to '. life' as required — the obvious idea being that the system would be of great advantage in importing mutton to this country. Latterly, the New Zealand genius has got hold of M. Senlecq's notion of a telectroscope, and has improved upon it for the benefit of all who liked to accept it. The account was copied from the Otago 'Times' into the American papers, whence it found its way into the columns of the leading papers of this country, and people are astonished at the remarkable discovery of Dr Gnidrah (Harding backwards). The ' new discovery ' is nothing more than a means of transmitting by electricity a picture of any scene desired, and it is gravely stated that in the presence of some forty scientific men, assembled in a dark room in Melbourne, a picture of the racocoixrse at Flemington was rendered visible witli perfect fidelty. The joke is a stale ono, but is based on a scientific discovery, and the author has merely allowed the reins to his fancy. The result is that the paragraph goes the rounds under the heading ' important electrical discovery. Mr Julian H. Thomas (better known as " The Vagabond ") drew a crowded downstairs house at the Lyceum Hall, yesterday evening, to listen to his lecture. The dress circle was also well attended. Mr Thomas does not exhibit upon the platform all the power and originality, or perhaps all the refinement which characterises his writings:

but nevertheless managed to entertain his audience extremely well for upwards of two hours. He possesses evidently a keen sense of humour, decidedly American in tone, and displays no inconsiderable degree of mvoirfaire in the rapidity with which he skips from one subject to another, dwelling upon none sufficiently long to weary his listeners. Mr Thomas' reminiscences, of well-known men were generally interesting and those in which he spoke of his American acquaintance were certainly the most entertaining. Of Archibald Forbes, George Angustus Sal'a, and Horace Greeley he spoke in highly complimentary terms. He liad himself filled a position upon the latter's paper, and still cherished a letter received from him, although, it was written so badly that he dare not show it to anyone for fear they should think it his dismissal. Jas. Gordon Bennett was a journalist of another stamp. He doubtless said many things in his time which he should not have said, and left unsaid verymany things which he should havo was often) tie simply issued an extra, immediately with the startling announcement — " James Gordon Bennett I kicked again ! " People naturally read i the paragraph to see what he was kicked for this time, and it did the paper good. — (Laughter.) Futher comments on Press men, and his own. experiences' in America as a newspaper proprietor, led " The Vagabond " on to a few comments upon Colonial journals, which he considered could compare favourably with any in the world. His reminiscences of Mr Stanley, the African explorer, were also interesting. "The Vagabond" accounted for the finding of Livingstone by this prince among explorers by the fact that the former had become enamoured of his savage life, and thatStanley was the first who realised thisprobability. He guarded against the sudden decampment of .he celebrity he was in search of, and hence came thatnow famous scene the meeting of the pair — the doffing of hats, and the remark, " Dr Livingstone, I presume 1" Mr Thomas' complimentary allusionsto Mr Bradlaugh and Colonel Ingersoll were received with loud applause. A farm-yard, compulsory sale, obdurate landlord, virtuous but unfortunate tenant, sympathising and indignant peasantry, who burst into groans as the auctioneer mounts his rostrum, " When some hayforks and scythes were submitted, it was remarked by some one of the obstruc- • tionists,-' Buy these, boys, weaiay want them before night ; ' and when a stack of hay was subsequently put up, amidst yells and uproar, voices were heard exclaiming, 'It will never be taken away ; it will be ashes before morning,' Other expressions made respecting bidders were as follows : — ' They want serving like Lord Cavendish,' &c." And this occurred not at Donegal or Connemarra, but on the Campaspe, in Victoria. A great ice bridge which has been formed across the Niagra Paver has „ attracted much attention. Every day thousands of visitors crowded to see it and excursions were organised in all parts of America to view it. There are no huge buttresses of gleaming ice, no crystal piers with prismatic colors dancing about them. It is nothing but a great expanse of rough and seammarked ice. The architect of thia stupendousstructure is the south wind. A steady blow from this quarter causes the ice in Lake Erie, 25 miles away, to break up into gigantic fragments, which float down the river until they shoot the rapids and plunge over the cataract — a sight well worth a long journey to see. Below the falls some of these cakes lodge. The frost and the foam weld them together, and the process goes on until the river i& covered from shore to shore. The bridge is said to be the most extensive that has ever been formed, audstretchesfrom the foot of the Cataract for three miles being of a thickness often equal to the tallest of " city business blocks. 1 * It may be traversed at any point, and there is no fear of a sudden breaking up of the ice, at any rate until ■warm, weather sets in, and even then the process would take some time. It offersexcellent facilities for smugglers, who are not slow to take advantage of them. Mr. Blight's astounding statement at Glasgow, long ere this telegraphed to Australia, as to the wealth of certain typical squatters has dieted some very natural protests from Australians here. The great orator in one of his oratorical flights declared that a squatter owning 1,200,000 head of cattle and 250,000 of sheep would be worth £5,000,000 sterling. Probably Mr. Bright re versed the places of cattle and, sheep, as all Victoria docs not contain very much over, 1,200,000 head of cattle, and in putting the price of 40s. on each sheep an obvious blunder was made. But these loose statements get into enormi!!? circulation,, aud are dilated oniu

hundreds of publications by writer; •who know very little indeed about the A ustral world. As to the practicability and cost of the construction of the Panama Canal, we learn from the London papers that Lieutenant Rodgers has made a survey of the entire route, and presented an exhaustive report on the subject to the United States Naval Department. His conclusions are that the preliminiiry work is so far advanced that the work o£ excavation will begin with vigour as soon as the dry season sets in. The increase in the means of transport and the completion of the excavating machinery will soon enable the work to advance rapidly. There is no longer any doubt as to the intention of the Company to carry out the proposed plan by the date fixed by M. de Lesseps for its completion — namely, the year 1888. The superior agent at present in charge of the work is ! sanguine that this will be accomplished, and he also believes that the canal can be made for the estimated sum of eOO^OOjOfl^anc^^Li^utenant^ Bodgers believes the completion or the canal will be several years later than the date given, and that the estimate of the cost will be much exceeded. The orginal subscribers must make further advances or lose their ventures. Already 130,000,000 francs have been expended. The Wairarapa Star has a long article re the Dunedin Gaol and the Royal Commission, which it concludes thus : — Mr Caldwell, the ex-governor of Dunedin Gaol, did not leave the public service because of Mr Feldwick's paper, or the comments of a few newspapers misled by the ' Post ' and the "Wellington correspondent of the ' Otago Daily Times. He forfeited his position to escape the persecution of an individual who had been placed in a position over him, and whose designs the Government felt bound to carry out, even at the sacrifice of an officer whose long and valuable services in troublesome times entitled him to the grateful recognition of the Colony and its admiration. The Hume-Caldwell episode, in which we regret to say the * Post ' has played an important part, is a blot on the escutcheon of this Colony as black as sin — a blot which we do not think the present administration is capable of wiping out.