MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume IX, Issue 1399, 12 May 1884, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

A life of Chinese Gorden has just been published in England, to be sold at a penny for the benefit of the pootv He is at present, and deserves to remain so, tbe most popular hero since the ' Duke of Wellington. The pipe which the Shab of Persia smokes in public, on state occasions, called ** 11 Kilidin r " isentirelyenontsted with a "conglomerate" of diamonds, rubies, pearls, and emeralds.- Its estimated value is over £80,000 sterling. Thelndian Government haftpttbltahedl the reports of preliminary sorters 4t some new and important railway nnea. The first of these, intended to connect Assam with the sea will run from Chittagang through Cachar to Dibrooghur r with a branch to Gowkatty ► The total length, 736 miles, i» estimated to-eaafc 94,673,000r. A line is also project*** from Moagul Seria, near Benares, through Chota Nagpore and Omasa to> Pouree, with a branch to ftye, Tim length will be about 652 mdtei, and- the 1 cost about 68, 200,0001. The latter line will pass through extensive coalfields, and will oflbrd a short roate for pilgrim traffic between the NotihWest and Pouree. , : -; ; " The otlier day the March ion**! <Te Hantefeuille created a sensation in Brussels by entering the wild beasts' cage with the lion tamer. The lady is -said to have borne herself with the I utmost intrepidity, and was greeted i with tremendous applause, while the band played the national hymn, " La Brabanconne." ■ •• ' It is said that Sir George Macpherson Grant gets £8700 a year for the use of his Highland hunting grounds, which extend over 60,000 acres and abound in game. Paris had a sensation. Large sums of money havo been lost and won in one of the most fashionable gentlemen's clubs by means of marked cards. The order of St. John of Jerusalem has been awarded a girl named Juila Hatcher, of Marnhull, near Salisbury, for her great bravery is saving the life of James Lodder, a boy ■ who had; been several times gored and tossed by ahull. The Rev. Dt Haughton, F.R.8., read a paper recently befbre'the Royal Geological Society of Dublin on theremarkable sunrises and sunsets. So> far from accepting' the volcanic dust hypothesis, Dr Haughton contends that the phenomena were merely intensifications of the ordinary phenomena of twilight, and did not point toexceptional reflecting powers in the atmosphere. ! It is said the loss incurred by the British post-office through the parcels, post is very considerable, and that the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his budget will have to announce a deficit of considerably over £100,000. It is proposed to make certain changes in tlia tariff, and. one of these alterations will be a reduction of the charges for.. •' delivery within short distances. .. No less than ninety electric light . companies, it is stated, have been formed in England during the past few years with an aggregate nominal capital of £26,000,000. The total of the paid up capital of all the British gas companies, as quoted in the stock lists, does not greatly exceed the samefigures. Wah Sing Lee, a Chinaman who had saved over £3000 whilst engaged! in the laundry business, has applied for admission to the Cornell Univer- . sity. He says that he has been converted to Christianity, and that heintends to go out as a missionary toChina. Two thousand British troops are itt Scotland and 30,000 in Ireland. The Tongariro is taking a fine half- . bred sheep from the Bishop of Nelson as a present to the Lord Mayor of London. At the Wellington (N.S.W.) Police Court recently, the police charged a a Roman Catholic priest and some of his congregation with gambling at a bazaar. The defendants swore that it was for a charity— viz. , to obtain funds to repair the church. A majority of the Bench dismissed the case. The new v beauty** for the coming 1 season is a young Ta3y, a niece of the .. late Princess of Capu%, who in her day . was one of the 110 veriest of her- sex. The young Tady- attracted the Bpecial noticp of the" Queen at the last Drawing Room. "According to all accounts, she is "divinely handsome." An Irishman one morning went out very early in search of some game on an estate where the.gamev JUwrs wye, ;>V striotpy ejifqw^ed; Wrnjng a sharp".. •-• corapfr , whom did he most but the gentleman who owned, the estate. Paddy, seeing the game was qp, coolly advanced toward? the gentleman, and said :• '.The top of the morning to your honor, and what brought your honor out io earty this morning?' The gentleman replied by saying :.« Indeed, Paddy, I jtis.t' stroked but to. see if I coWd" find an appetite for my breakfast;' and then eyeing Paddy, snspiciously, said : ' And now, Paddy, what brought you out so early this morning ?' Paddy replied : ' Indade, your honor, I just strolled out to see if I could find a breakfast for my appetite.' If our detective force were to strive to emulate the following bit of .sharp ;•>• work, t&y'^rould go />n ajfong. way . . L ... towards Ve-esl,ablishio« themselves in publio opinion. Perhaps it would bo as well to state tbsit the following is a " Yankee yarn"":—" An American stage coach was robbed at 5 a.m of £600 ; a reward was offered at 7 a.m. ; robbers shot dead and all the money recovered at 2 p.m." The-chronicler's inqnest was held at 8 p.m, ; funeral of bhieves at 6 p.m.: testimonial and banquet to captors at 8 p.m. ; and ill chairman and three guests ' run

.Messrs-" Charles Pownall and Co., scriviners, Wellington, report under date of April 26, as follows :— •; The money market so far as it applies to. mqrtajjage invßstra«*i>t is in a state of collapse, as, with ti.p '-xcoption of a few minor sums placed, no -business has heon transacted dining the last month. Several applications offering 'irst class securities, amounting to 5 •igures, are withheld owing to the aiisence of sufficient supplies. .With money in the Home Country, quoted at less than 2 per cent in commercial circles, it is much to be regretted Umt the want of confidence' in this and the neighboring colonies should permit the very est securities that can be found to remain unnoticed. The pressure now existing iv -the Middle Island no doubt considerably affects our position, as the supplies of capital from that source have hitherto been considerable P/obably we. may find, that the stability of our investments may lead to a larger supply from that quarter."

in' for being drunk and incapable at midnight" Of a verity, this was sharp work. The Canterbury Times of 19th inst., has -the following paragraph :~" There is no real depression. Tiierefore Ministerial salaries remain at the high lovel. Ministers have none of them done anything for the country to compare with the services of Rppatai to whose exertions the localising and eventual suppression of Te Kooti's rebellion is largely due, who succeeded {notably at Ngatapa) where European officers failed, and who would have made short work long ago of his murderous enemy . had he not beon prevented by a somewhat mawkish seiitiiQeu't. R -uata uad a> pension of JJ3OO for bis services. It is now redqeed to £200, on a pica of urgent ■necessity. Anything more, mean and .shabyiitis difficult to -Conceive. Anything more worthy of Mr Bryce and his colleagues it is impossible to imagine. Ingratitude and breach of faith are not. nice, things, but they both •enter largely into this wretched action.'

Skinny Men.— "Wells' Health Renewer," restores health, and vigor enres Dyspesia, T/npotence, Debility. Mosea, Moss & Co., Sydney, General Tms ( invalid wife, mother, sister or child dan be made. the pictnre of htalth with Hop Bitters. Observe .

A ° telegram-- from Sydney in the Melbourne Herald says: "Edward Orton, brother of Arthur Or Urn, the Waopiujj liutcljw, who was . declared to be identical with th« claimant to the Tichborneejtate, has anivied. With Charles Oito^j^jther, who is already here, they will apply that the lunatic, Cresawell, be handed over, to their charge. They declare that the Clair mant is no relation of theirs, but •express themselves as confident that Oresswelli* their lost brother Arthurl The application will bs made to Mr Ju9tice Manirig next sessions."

Major Harris made a strong charge ■against the Government in his recent speech at Otahuuu, He said : " There were, as- they supposed, ..certain j n alienable reserves, but 21,000 acres of these were, sold during the last two years to fjriends of the, Ministry. Mr Buddie and others, on the application of Messrs and Russell, obtaiaed 2550 acres, and on similar application by the same tirm 1995 acres were obtained ; also another block ; 1595 acres. The members of the House— Mr F. A Whitaker and Mr Whyte— got land in the same way, "being allowed to purchase without any 'Gazette ' notice mat the restrictions were, withdrawn. The restiietious were taken off the land for the friends i of the, Government, and others could not avail themselves of it."

A rlfrnsrkabiy .well-designed political -cartoon tenow on vitw in Christchurch. The artist who worked out his ideas in •crayon, delineated a powerful screw press. The bed plate typifies " The foundation of Canterbury's trouble — the Abolition of the Provinces." The famework of this " Atkinson Crushing Machine" is built up with North Island railway, Immigration, Grain Tax, the discharge of the workmen from the Addington shops, Taranaki Harbour works, and Dunediti railway statidn. The •ponderous fever is balanced on *' Centralism," and its handles are "East Coast Railways" and " North Island Loan. ' Mounted oh the Press, are the Premier and the Miuister of Lands. The former ejaculates, •• Now theni ßoily, my hoy, down with it; you're all right !' ; Roily replies, " One more squeeze before we part." In the press, and subjected to its crushing power, are working men, farmers; &c: Some are yet straining -every nerve to bear up against the pressure, but the haggard farmer has given up hope, he can only sit on his corn sacks and •' D - — the Government." " Akaroa William" stands on one side at the press, prepared to cut through the supports, of the structure.*" v .'

Oscar Wilde recently lectured at the Crystal Palace on his impressions and experiences of America. Mr Wilde (who has discarded kneebreeches and resumed the prosaic trousers) said that the Americans are the noisest people in the world, whose national occupation is catching trains. Pennsylvania, with its rocky gorges and woodland scenery, reminded him of Switzerland; the prairie of a piece ■of brown blotting paper. . Everything is twice as large as it should be ; everywhere is twice as far as it should hi. He visited' Leadvill'e, the chief 'characteristic of whose inhabitants is the constant use of the revolver. He lectured to them upon "Benvenuto "Cellini, his Life and Works," and was reproved by his hearers for not having 'brought that artist with him. The •explanation that he had been dead for some tittle time elicited the inquiry, '•Who "tihot him 1" Among the; mor^i : elderly lnbabitantt bf the. South he'. 1 found a mfelanchSly/ ten dency"ito date events of impor T tan«e by'thf la^Ee war. : ■ 41 How; befcutifuT the moon is to night, he once remarked to a gentleman who i was standing next to him. " Yes," ' was the replyj •• but you should have, seen it before^the war.." 5.6 in£[iiitesir mai did' he find the Ituow ledge and appreciation of art west of the Ro,cky Mountains, that an art patron —one who in his day had been a miner— actnallyscied the railroad company for damages because thn plaster cast of Venus of Milo, which he had imported from Paris, hai been delivered minus the arms ! And, what was more surprising still, he gained his.case and the damages. . - The Print* :of Waleg G?oldmimt^ Company a* ' Boss (says the Hokitika morning ; paper of Wednesday) had a very satisfactory cleaning up y©g. terday, sixty ounoes of gold having been obtained from the boxes. The' pit has y«t to be cleaned up, from which several additional ounces may Ue oxpected. It is estimated for this yield about 2000 -yards of stuff has been put through, which has gkei; over two shillings per yard, a result which must be looked upon as highly sutifefactory.