MISCELANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume IX, Issue 1356, 1 February 1884, Page 2

MISCELANEOUS.

» On Sunday, January 6, the heat at Bourke in New South. Waleß was from 120 degrees to 126 degrees in the shade. . The country around is in a wretched condition, and ptock are dying in all directions. A spark from the engine of the mail train ignited the grass north of Wagga, and the flames spread alarmingly, several 6e*e* of wheat Iwing consumed. The heat was so terrible at Ooonarabie that bird 3 dropped dead from the trees. The fastest train would now appear ■to ; >e the new Manchester London ' express, run by the Manchester* Sheffield, and Lincoln Company, vi» - heffield and Grantham. The dißtanc* is said to be 175 milws, and the time has bwm reduced, to 3 hours and 25-----minutes, probably to be still farther reduced to 8 hours 15 minute*, which will give an average of about 54$ miles an hour. In a certain *• beauty cotnpetitfoo " that has been going on for wipe time in the interests of advertisement, Miss Kate Vaughan, at the closing of the poll, headed the list with 1,268 votes, and after her came Miss Daisy Vero with 1,171. Mrs Langtry bad 1,012 ; Miss Cameron, 816 ; Mira Ellen Terry, !" 256 ; Miss Emily Duncan, 154 ; Mrs Maddick, 136 ; vim Phyllis Broughton, 117 ; and Mibs Addie rey, 214. Mr Porter Rhodes, th*«*raer pf the ' Wig diamond which bears hj« name, is finding that gem, according to a London paper somewhat in the naiore of 3 a white eleplant. As yet no crowned 1 head has ventured to invest £9Q,OW 1 in the diamond, although the Ctar of * Russia — not having sufficient jewel* fc presumably — is said to have thought 1 of buying this, Mrs Mackay, the ► wife of the \merican silver king, has * also inspected the- gem, but even with \ her unlimited wealth she draws back. * And truly one would supposo that * anyone, however rich, would think ? twice before becoming the possessor of * such a jewel, for it must bet the cause B of more anxiety than pleasure. AX ' though Mr Rhodes keeps bis diamond, £ it is understood, securely locked in the * vaults of the Bank of France, he has 7 to take precautions againit thieves 3 who may suppose him to carry the 1 treasure about wi h him, and anyone t having such a diamond in the bouse * must live in constant dread of the in* * genious burglar. Moat persons will 3 regard Mr Rhodes as a man to be 8 envied; but they may still ask, " What r will he do with it?" 7 The Rimpon Gazette chronicles a new departure in the way of Mayoral 1 banquets. It seems that Mr J. B. Lee, B 'the Mayor, is a staunch teetotaller, and on this account objected to the usual ? banquet, and instead of inviting the 1 " upper ten to a fat feast, he issued an I invitation to tea to all ptopfo in th« ' city of sixty years of age and upwards. ] Al>out 250 acoepted tbw invilt and th» ! spectacle is. said to have be«A very fine. 3 The next day be similarly entertained . f he Corporation employes and their ; wives, 120 being present. A few days later he entertained all the Sunday school teachers of all denominations, 1 of whom 230 attended. Teetotallers 8 generally are in high glee at this novel innovation. I Sir Edward Reed, M.P., owns no I less than 2,u00,000 acres of land in t America; th« Duke of Sutherland^ f 400,000; Lord Dunraore, 100,000; 7 and Lord Dunraven, 60,000 acres. I Phillips, Marshall, and Co. own a farm , of 1, 300,0. M) acres; the heirs of Colonel Murphy, l,(KX),000 aorea ; H. ' Diston, 12,000,000 acres; and the ', Standard Oil Co n 1,0i0,000. It 5 appears, that nine men own a territory \ equal to that of New Hampshire, I Massachusetts, and Rhode Island r combined. Then there are the great ' railroad corpoiutlons, whose free gifts p of laud from lavish Congresses amount f to upwards of 200,000,000 acres. , Eleveu of these corporations have received 120,000*000 acre* The Northj nrn Pacific railroad has grant* , amounting to 47,000,000- acres, and . otliw grants that have baen made range from 1,000,000 acres and up- [ wards. i The < World ' prints a list of seventy - New York widows and fifteen un- ■ married female legatees whose united ■ wealth is about £25,000,000. The E wealthiest are Mrs A. T. Stewart, ' €2 r 00u,000 ; Mrs Marshall O. Roberts, ► El, ooo, i 0; Mra Edwin "A. Btevens, r £1,400,000; Mrs- Paran Stevens, i Mrs Moses Taylor, 31,200, b 000 ; Mrs Corueliu» Vanderbilt, £1, 5 000,000 ; Mis Jaweß Biown, £600,000. , The richest unmarried lady is Cathi* erine Wolfe, £400,000, who also - leads the entire list in noble and 1 unostentatious charities. A fashion' b ab)« Broadway diamond dealer Bays f New York is foremost •among the 1 leading diamond cities of the world. i At least £200,000 worth glittered on c the persons of ladies at the Metropolitan Opera opening, one lady wearing ► J^,OQO worth. Probably 2i 0 hdi«a

liive fißi )00 worth of personal jewellery. We can name ten like Mw Yandarbilt and Mr^ Gould whose indivi.lul p>.*operty in diftmondSf rabies, and emaraHs eK3B«d* £ 8 1,000. ' More thau forty 8* ? ?™* ladies can lav sViim to G10.00.) woi'tb ol jew^Uery^ 'i. Uto»wtj!!lcaowi %t 3rot>#unß,*.r«cendy I*if^L wi h sneecs? n a Brooklyn banK •depositor, 4«veta? '^ a-» ai" 'dote t!t«t is told ol JiiJjje D>H T)fVe . Tfo Jttdf^ was iiiakin ? a d«po9tt at the Washington fhnk, and stood coonting * large pile of money at a desk. A well*drMsed yonnj; man stpppW! np, with a blow and a smile, skid : , Jndge, -yon have droped a bill So-e enoqgh, there lay. a chean, crisp sjenuine 2dol bill at the depositor s feet • Thank yon,' blandly answ^re/i the Jnrl?e, and placing his ponderoof? ri?ht foot over the bill ohthaflhor, he calmly resumed Bis eounti lg. The sharper, taken aback by the coolness of the proceeding, disappwnrw!, and the Jnd«e.wtttr2'Ms f *hmd »y the tran3action.-i*New York Star. A corregpdAdanfc hvnt* a T)im«dH tnorntn» paper with thfl feUowin?pstr«Jt :-*A Dr R. f . Trail *rote to tho "** Phitadetnhift Staf" in 1876 as follows : — •• Wa shall not hay« to wait long for the expected nsstilftnees. fo« we are apprfl^Cniag a very pestilential pertod. Japiferi one thongand tim^s ftt large ar th« ieart^i, rpvolves round I the son every. 12 v«a-s ; Sitn^n. on 6e } in ahont 30 years; r J-avw. one« in ab6at 164. years. Tlie p«rih«lton of all these pfetiftft does not ocau^- at the nfUfle time fer thousands of years. In the' sixth century, and mam in the sixteenth century, the firttthrpe were coincidently in periheliba ; and these weie the most psstilflritial periods of Jupiter and SatOrn coincide with the extensive prevalence of plague, cholera, «nd other eplfamic*. But in fature, front even, now to 1885, we are to have what has not ocou red for eighteen handrad years, viz., the nearest appr^ch to the suri of all foqr planets coini&ientally. T^he dKvl;dtt,B deduction frofcOL this fact and theo-y is that %ha earth's tethperatnre. and tH« changed condition ol its atmosphere consequent oa the interference with or obstruction I .', of usual amount of light and: heat, will bo incr»«winsrly unfcvourable to life &xn<\ Iwalth qn o«r i globe from mik present time to 1880, and from 18&T W 1835 the adverse iniflneW* -will be the^reatftsW «fter that th«y "«6ft gradually diminish. Dr |[napp tn^.^hown in a historical ttftper to the New iTork '' Mwlical JoTtrnal " , that ail widn-ftppead pestilences for 300 ■ years nast tla^e occurred with' the perihelia, or nearin* of the lar,»e planetHi At former periods it has be«n noticed that the ns*r approach of on« or more vof the larger: Dlaneta nf tb^> solar syste>n oceasinn«»a flistnrbaru'es in the atmosphere, canning; s^a*; beat .and cold, droo^bt* and rai'i, -blUfhts on the crop* ali fruits, and epid«m^R among human beings, and epizotics «mong animals/ , , j Flees' a&d Bugs.— Beetles, insects, roaches, ants, bedbugs, rats, mice, jjopherft, jack-ra-bita, cleared oat y " Ron«h on Rats." Moses, MossACo. ; Sydney, General Agents. I