MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1336, 14 December 1883, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

Referring to the wreck of the, steamer Triumph the Auckland Star of Friday last remarks :—" The disaster to the steamer Triumph to-day is certainly the most extraordinary casualty we have ever read of. By what conceivable error the vessel's head could have been pointed on a fine night straight for a large island with a lighthouse on it, we cannot conjecture, and until the official inquiry has thrown some light on the subject it would be improper to make any comment. The fact, however, remains that the ordinary course of steamers bound south should have taken it at least six miles away from Tiritiri in a perfectly open passage with no danger anywhere. Why the vessel was driven headlong on Tintiri within an hour after the pilot left her is a mystery which the officers of the vessel have as yet declined to explain to anyone who has visited the ship in her present dangerous position. The captain informed the HarborMaster that he was on deck when the steamer struck, but he could give no explanation regarding the casuality." By a . telegram to-day, we learn that Tfye Melbourne Age has a leading article about the police, iv which it says : — " We have no hesitation in asserting that the Police Department of this Colony is utterly undeserving of public confidence. Whether we regard the character of its administration, the frequent miscarriages of justice, or the impunity with which a certain class of offences are committed, we are forced to the conclusion that the new appointments have proved deplorable failures, and that the reforms introduced for the better management and organisation of the force have entirely failed in effecting their object." It also expresses the opinion that the selection of Mr Hussey Melone Chemley for the position oi Chief Commissioner ' of Police was a serious blunder. A firm of booksellers in Dunedin recently, received a circular from a "German correspondent, of which the following is a copy verbatim et literatim. Tt is a good specimen of what can be effected by a careful translation, and a volume by such a translater would be amusing if not instructive : — " Sire ! — I permet me to demander by you, li you like, to echange white me, of postal stamps envelopes and Postal Cards used and unused. I beg you to saj me, whate you coults want of this stamps and send me your Manco-Liste. White this letter i send you my Manco Liste, attend yours replay and signe whis much salutions, — Yours truly." A curious cricket match was played at Denton Park (England) recently all the players being ladies. The^ were twenty-six in number, two beinj married and the rest single. Tin divided skirt would have been of greai service on this occasion, for tea of th< players were run out, showing tha' their dressing must have impedec their running powers. Nine of th( ladies were " ducks," and only on< was caught, and we hope she was noi one of the married ones. One of th« married ladies caiTied her bat righi through the innings for two For tunately the ball did not make toe close an acquaintance with the faces oi any of the lady cricketeis. Some figures are given in a Home paper which show the large scale upor which the business of Barn urn's mammoth show is conducted. The receipts for example, of a six days, stay in Boston in 1882, were nearly £15,000, those in a single day amounting to £3148. In 10 days the total sum taken was £21,600. The receipts, for the first week of his Manison-square establishment where 55,220d01, of the second 51, 700d0l — making in 12 days 107,000d01. The daily expenses oi the travelling show, rain or shine, during the season of 1882 are estimated at 4800dol, or "28,800d0l per week, The receipts for the same period averaged 9169d0l each day, or 55,000d0l per week. From these estimates we cannot doubt Mr Barnum's calculations that he has had the patronage of over ninety millions of people during his long career. One of the most singular features in the scenery of the Territory of Idahc is the occurrence of dark,, rocky chasms, into which large streams and creeks suddenly disappear and are never more seen. The fissures are old lava channels, produced by the outside oi the molten mass cooling and forming s tube, which, on a fiery stream becoming exhausted, has been left empty, while the roof of the lava duct, having al some point fallen in, presents there the opening into which the river plunges and is lost. At one place along the banks of the Snake, one of these rivers reappers gushing from a cleft high uj in the basaltic walls, where it leaps 8 cataract into the torrent below. Where this stream has its origin, or at whal point it is swallowed up, is utterly unknown though it is believed that its sources are a long way up in the north country. Besides becoming the channels of living streams, these lava conduits are frequently found impacted with ice masses, which never entirely melt. One sweep promoter in Melbourne succeeded in filling no less than 16 sweeps between May 1 and November 5 of the present year, and as each sweep has 2000 subscribers at £1 each, no less than £32,000 was invested, out of which the promoter retained 10 per cent., or £3200, which may be regarded as fair remuneration for his trouble. The Age states that tickets are applied for from all portions of Australia, and a great many places outside as well; China, Colombo, Fiji, Singapore, and the Straits Settlements all contribute largely to swell the

proceeds, and it was only recently an application came from Canada from a « levanting New Zealand sweep promoter : for five tickets, which were duly forward, but a small measure of retributive justice was meted out to him, inasmuch as' lie did not draw a horse. A Victorian exchange gives particulars of a fatal case of snakebite -which happened to a Mrs Wilkiu mgaWl&ba^ Mrs Wilkin strolled out from the houss and passing through a graß& paddock sat down on the sward. A brown snake, disturbed by her sitting down, or perhaps pressed by the lady's hand as she reclined on the grass, fastened its deadly fangs in her wrist, inflicting two distinct wounds. From, fright she fainted, and Mr Wilkiu, following her within ten minutes, found her lying senseless. Recovering, a little, she begged to be carried to the house, and it was not tilL a quarter of an hour or so after her removal that she made known the true facts. Everything was immediately done, the wounds were scarified and sucked to extract the poison, and a messenger was sent to Braidwood, sixteen miles distant, for medical aid: When the doctor arrived he at once pronounced Mrs Wilkm died while unconscious. A correspondent sends the Melbourne ' Telegraph ' an account of aa extra- 5 ordinary occurrence which took place at Sandridge recently. A shark, about s|ft in length, was seen close to the pier, in shallow water. Two men, under the influence of drink, went out in a small boot to try to capture it. The shark got under the boat, and the men, in trying to strike it with an iron bar, capsized themselves and the boat on top of the shark. One of the men struck out for the shore as fast as In? could. The other, named Samuel Jackson, made for the shark, and seized it in his arms. Immediately the shark knocked him down with a blow of its tail. Jackson pursued him in the watery and caught him again by the body. The shark threw him down four times in the water. On the fourth fall a man went to his assistance, and between them they succeeded in carrying the live shark to the shore in their arms. ' ' How Promoters Prey on the People, is the title of a book recently published in London. Its- figures are amazing, far exceeding the boundless wealth of Monte Christo. During the last twenty -one years 19,883 joint stock companies were registered in England with a total nominal capital of £26, 865,300,000. Among the instance M foolish speculation it is mentioned that while the paid-up capital of all the British gas companies listed on the Stock Exchange does not exceed £30, 000,000, there ha\e been nir»ety-one companies registered during the last few years, with nominal capitals of £26,000,000, to deal with the electric light A story is told of a Rotharhan* iron-founder, who, "after amassing a fortune of over £30.000, lost it all in limited companies and was left to fight his way through the Bankruptcy Court, with a liability for £54,000 more in calls hanging around his neck. The alarm at the increasing density of the network of telephone wires in London does not subside. Almost every day the dragging of a new wireacross the old ones brings home the fact that the leading streets of the metropolis are being systematically roofed in. No less than 1400 telegraph and telephone wires, it is said, stretch across Leade^hall street. Over Queen Victoria street they intersect each other

K.t almost every foot. Already nervous person^ avoid riding outside oinnibusttr. ' ■}.leanwhilo the authorities one after *'ie other repudiate all power to control tie opposite interlacing of chimneys "■s,: id stacks. Thero is no one even lo lomove i»r look after the number of disowned, unused, and decaying wires.

One of the valuable appointmen b ■which the abolition of patronage bus placed within the gift of the present llinistry has been made. The important position of chairman of the new •^Railway Management Board has been '"conferred on Mr Spaight, assistantmanager of the Midland Railway, one *of the hest conducted and most prosperous lines in England. The Government appear to have been influenced in their choice by a determination to make the heß- selection within their power. Through the Agent-general in London they consulted the leading railtmy authorities in. England, and Mr Spaighc has received the very highest recommendations. He has t>een trained in a good school, and l.is e?periencp ranges trotn the lowest rung of the ladder to the highest. He is expected to arrive here \<y February next,, the.date-vwhen the new system ia to coro^' into operation. The selection hfsift colleagues has not yet "been There is a rumbur that the services of Mr Goodchop, the manager of the New South Wales Tailwoiys.may be secured. Thig would be an excellent appointment, but the statement does not rest on very good authority. The name of \lr Agg.oneof the Audit Commissioners at present on h-ave of absence, has also boen mentioned. On the strength or his having been employed some 30 or 40 years ft^O in a railway office in England he is supposed to be an expert in railway, management. So a late Treasurer, .from las extensive financial transactions with the chosen race, was held to bo specially qualified for ihe administration of the finances. Mr Spaight is xl escribed as a man of firmness and tact, ardhe will need these qualities to give satisfaction in his new position.

Son efc-iing of the fate that befell the share! oldersof the Glasgow Bank has nrortnkeri tli^' managers of the Union Ohiip rah' in France, which came down with wch a crash a -year or two ago. The Tribunal of Commerce has decided lhat the directors are responsible to the shareholders for- false issues of shares and for mismanagement,- and has oi'dered them to pay a sum of nearly a million sterling in compensation. It has, moreover, mnde the directors iointly and severally responsible ; so 'that if one of them cannot pay the suni required the others must liud the difference. There is still an appeal ; but if this diciaion. is upheld, Royalist families of the first standing, like. the De Bloglies, Harcourts, Oirecourts, and the like, will be partially or wholly ruined.

A remarkable little paragraph "appeara in the Indian news (writes the Pall Mall r JSaisette)i:4^-"-At a meeting of the Bombay University," it stated, "it was proposed by a Brahmin that in the regulation? the pronoun ♦ he ' and its d^riya:tipn| should be deemed to denote either sex. , An Englishman geconded'tbe rnbtidnj which was carried without a division." Applied to the statute-book of a kingdom, and not merely to that of a learned body, this ghort canon o£ interpretation would effect one of the greatest revolutions in the world. It had been said by one of the ablest advocates of women's rights that in this country in laws imposing duties and liabilities "he " already includes both sexes, while in laws conferring privileges it is> con-, gtrued in its strict sense. Be. that as it may, the action of the Bombay University foreshadows, .the ; sense in •which it will certainly come to be construed, and that at no: very distant date, in the laws of progressive communities.

The following passage in a lecture by Mr MoncureD. Conway in Sydney has occasioned a good deal of comment in Australia. The bishop referred to is understood to be Bishop Moorhouse. The lecture said:— " Even in Melbourne with Ha free, independent Press and its grand library of 100,000 splendid books, costing £100.000, and put into a building almost as fine as the British Museum — even in that city, with its magnificent institutions, a combination of churches has turned into a coalition against freedom of speech, which is like to prove crushing machinery of intelerance in the future.— (Cheers.) When the eloquent Charles Strong — (loud applause) — has been driven forth and when that good Bishop, one of ttie most brilliant in the Ch-urcn — (cheers) — has followed him, as he probably will before long, then we may expect the advent of the Donnybrook ptyle of controversy — wherever you see a head hit it.; And when every head that rises is laid low there will be less check upon persecutors in the Church."

The following "political speculations" are published by the A uckland r Herald' from a Wellington correspondent ;— "I hear that Mr Ballancehas decided to try forMr Johnston's seatshould he resign it at an early date, In political affairs there is very little gossip,' but rumor asserts that Mr Stout will probably yield to thepressureor his friends, and come forward at the next general election, Mr Wakefield is also tolerably certain to get in, either for Geraldine or Timaru, whilst Messrs Douald Reid find Ormond are likely to be candidates. In talking with a prominent man, who js opposed to the present Ministry, he expressed a strong hope that Mr {Swansea would come back again, and that Mr J. M. Clark and Mr Beader Wood would be among the Auckland contingent, as he thought our. men wanted more backbone. He believed that the seats for both Mr Rolleston find Major Atkinson are unsafe 'npw, and will be more so before the next flection."