MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1338, 19 December 1883, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

• — — , On the Ist of October, at the annual audit of the books of the London and River Plate Bank (Limited), it was necessary to verify the entries of certain securities deposited in the Bank's | safes. The secretary (Mr George | Warden) volunteered to go down stairs and fetch them. He did not return, and on examining the Bank's treasury it was found that securities were missing to the value of £1 10,000. Of

this sum £70,000 represented stock placed in the Bank for safe custody. The directors published a circular stating that Warden had been speculating on the Stock Exchange for some months past, and having lost at the beginning he increased his speculations in the hope of retrieving his position. Continuing to lose, he paid his debts by securities taken from the Bank. Almost since its foundation, he enjoyed the entire confidence of his employers. The directors express surprise that such a robbery could have been effected, considering the precautions that are taken to prevent anything of the kind occurring. It appears that the Bank's treasury cannot be opened without two keys, one of which is kept by the secretary and the other key is still a mystery. His operations on the Stock Exchange were so extensive as to seriously affect the market, and one broker who was concerned in the transactions has become bankrupt . A Hobart telegram to Melbourne says that writs, clai.iiing £500, each, have been issued by Mr Charles Dillon against five Hobart -gentlemen, well known in sporting circles. The parties were all in Melbourne during. Cup week, and some curious practical jokes were, p.r^pekated,i)n eaoh^Qther. At pastfamTO ing Mr Dillon to communicate with his wife and family in Hobart. Mr Dillon blames his friends for this, and claims the above, damages. - The defendants have secured the v services of three leading Melbourne lawyers. Truth hears that the Queen has issued, or is about to issue, a private ••memorandum" enjoining the privileged occupants of certain palaces to " the correction and reformation of their manners and excesses." Recent events have brought to her Majesty's knowledge the astounding fact that in one of her palaces gambling has been regularly going on to an almost incredible extent. Not only has something more than inconvenience been caused by the enormous sums which have been lost and won, but an additional scandal has been brought about by the %ct that the ardent players were wont to continue their amusement well into the mornings of Sundays, Good Fridays, and other days, directed to be kept holy. The Age expedition to New Guinea has failed not less disastrously than the Argus,' aud its leader, Mr G. E. Morrison, has returned to Queensland with two or three spear wounds on his body, and a conviction tha,t travel, ling in a new country, among savage tribes, is , an undertaking presenting more difficulties than that of a walk across Australia, from the <iulf of Carpentaria to Melbourne. The full particulars of his experiences ha\ c not yet been made public, but the brief account which he has furnished suffices to show that failure was inevitable. Mr Morrison appears to have thought it possible, to make a dash across the Continent, conciliating the -chiefs by a liberal distribution of presents,' but he found his difficulties increase at. every step in advance, whilst his stores were diminishing at a rate which would soon have left him bankrupt, even had the final collisiun not come which rendered a - hasty retreat imperative. Lyons, who took charge .of the party after Morrison was wounded, and brought them back to the coast; undoubtedly exhibited great courage and endurance. Morrison is severely blamed by some journals, especially tbe Sydney Morning Herald and Evening News, for want of those qualities of tact and discretion which are so essential in conducting expeditions in an unknown country and amongst uncivilised tribes. Captain Armit was more successful from a journalistic point of view, and he . contributed racy and interesting letters to the Argus ; but as he confined his excursions almost entirely to the missionary districts in the vicinity of the coast, he cannot be said to have added much to our knowledge of the terra incognita. The "Vagabond" (Mr Julian Thomas) has now taken up the command resigned by Captain Armit, and has left at the bead of the reorganised expedition. He is credited with a determination to do or die. Punch represents him as making a final dive into the interior of a New Guinea native. If Mr Thomas can avoid this fate, we may expect at any rate some entertaining narratives in the Munchausen style. Another admirable scientific triumph now apparently almost completed, is the realisation of that great photographic desideratum the fixing of colours by the solar ray. It is declared in Paris upon apparently good authority that the fact of this fixing of colours is about to be publicly claimed by the perfectors of the process, who have succeeded' in permanently fixing several colours of the spectrum, and are on the eve of affecting the fixing of them all. Mr John Te'ibut, of the Windsor Observatory, writes to the Sydney Press with reference to the interesting comet of 1812, which he says is now on its return from a voyage of 71 years through space. It is still under close observation in the Northern Hemisphere, and is moving slowly south. It sets too early to be seen in Australia. Its distance from our planet on November 28 was 105,000,000 miles, and the intensity of its light 15 times greater than on September 3, the date of is discovery with a telescope. Its brightness will go ou gradually increasing, and it will probably show itself in th evening twilight soon after the close of the year. It will then move east and south towards the close i of January, and will be well situated ' for observation at the southern stations, After crossing the plane of the earth's orbit it will, according to the lestcal cula tions, arrive in perihelion o: January 25.