MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1272, 18 July 1883, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

* Daniel Curlcy, the second man convicted of the Phoenix murders, met \m fate in Kilmainham Gaol on the 18th. The same military guard was present as at the execution of Brady. After the priest had prayed with the condemned man in his cell, mass was performed in the prison chapel, in tho presence of the Governor and Warder, and Cuiiey received the Sacrament.. Meanwhile a group of women who had gathered outside the prison were on their knees saying the Litany for the. dying. When the black flag, announ cinq the execution had taken place, was hoisted over the prison, every man in the crowd outside, which numbered nearly 1000, uncovered his head and murmured words of sympathy with Curley. A rush was then made by , the crowd for a garden; near b /, where Curley 's relations had assembled , 1 and where his father was kneeling, praying for the repose of his son's soul. The people soon dispersed. Curley walked to the scaffold with little assistance. He seemed to be resigned to his fate, but was hardly firm. He declined to make any statement concerning the crime for which he was executed. His death was instantaneous. In a letter written to his wife he said — " I will take my secrets to the grave with me, and leave those who are at freedom to enjoy it 1 1 will die in peace, forgiving all my '' enemies." . Thos. Caffrey, the fourth Phoenix , Park murderer, was hanged in Kilmainham Gaol on the morning of Juno 2nd. He was composed on the scaftpld, and death was iustantaneoua The condemned wrote a letter to his brother on the preceding evening, in which he said — "I hope you will never have cause to blush for my name, as lam paying for the penalty of my crime in this world, and I hope I won't have to suffer for it in the next" The following is the text of the Government agreement with the Canterbury members. Formerly a transaction of this kind was done in writing, but on this occasion it was circulated in print : — " Government Buildings, Wellington, 6th July, 1888. Sir,— l have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the sth inst. forwarding a resolution passed at a meeting of the Canterbury and Westland members, and requesting that the Government will at its earlest convenience communicate its decision in writing. I have now to inform you in reply — 1. That the Government are . prepared without delay to cause such a survey to be made of the Arthur Pass route as will enable them to place before Parliament at the next session a plan shewing the route named to be the best, with an estimate of the cost of its construction, and also a report on the land on each side of the line. 2. The Government will also cause a like survey with a like object to be made for a line along a route to be determined on to connect Northern Canterbury with the West Coast 3. In the meantime the land for fifteen miles on each side of both will be reserved, so as to be dealt with by Parliament in a future session, but goldmining in the meantime will not be interfered with. 4. The Government have no intention of asking during the present session for any further appropriation than already appears on the Estimates out of £180,000, that being sufficient to carry the Main Trunk line to the Eed Post, so that the remaining portion of the £180,000 shall be intact until dealt with by Parliament next session. 5. The Government are not at present prepared to express any opinion on the subject of the last resolution in reference to the Canterbury and Marljorough line. I have, etc., Fred. Whitaker. To J. E. Brown* Esq., M.H.R." There was a meeting of Canterbury members this, morning to consider this communication. A resolution was moved to- the effect that it was unsatisfactory, hut it was negatived, only three voting in its favor. Ido not at present know > but think it likely that the whole transaction will be brought under the notice of the House. Very substantial bequests .have been made to the Melbourne charities by one John Linay, who recently d^ed at Hobart, whilst visiting Tasmania for the benefit of his health. The extent of his wtalih liiis iv-ove»l a i'l'^nt. ?•)■•

*Mt

value of his property has been sworn at £35,499. By his will he directs that £100 be given to the Rev. Charles Strong, his sole executor, and £50 to a charitable institution at Hobart. He also leaves £100 each to six , cousins in Scotland, and £200 to a cousin in Fitzroy, with whom he lived for the past 23 years. The remainder of his money, £34,499, he has divided equally between the Melbourne Hospital, the Alfred Hospital, and the Benevolent Asylum. Linay, who was a man of very abstemious habits, arrived in Melbourne in 1854, and from that time until 1879 was employed as a clerk in the Victoria Insurance Company's office. In the course of a comparison of the size of the planets, an imaginative astronomer remarks : " Apply the principle that attraction is in proportion to the mass, and a man who weighs 150 pounds on the earth weighs 396 on Jupiter and only 58 on Mars, while on the asteroids he could play with •boulders for marbles, hurl hills like . Milton's angels, leap into the fifthstory -window with ease, tumble over precipices without harm, and gc around the little worlds at seven jumps." " Bough on bats.? — Clears out rats, beetles, insects, skunks, jack-rabbits, gophers. 7£d. . Druggists. Moses, Moss and Co.. Sydney, General Agents. Balmy sleep, good digestion, rich blood, elastic step and cheerfulness in Hop Bitters. Read and believe.