MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume IX, Issue 1407, 30 May 1884, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

« . — Mr Ballance has given a most emphatic contradiction to thestatot.ient made by the l New Zealand Times' that he is about to relinquish journalism and politics in order to become a lecturer on Freethought. He declares that he never had such an intention. He will contest Wanganui at the general election against all comers. We take the following from the Westport Times : — A well-attended meeting of shareholders in the Great Eepublic Gold-mining Company was held on Saturday evening. Messrs Pain, M'Gill, A. Horvi , Leinpfert and Rodgerson were elected Directors, Mr Pain being subsequently chosen Chairman. The Balance-Sheet was received. Messsrs Mullan and Cu turning were appointed Auditors. The suspension of the Legal Manager was conimned, and Mr Home was temporary" appointed to the Managership. II;,l v1 ) licansrs provail iv Nebraska, lis i-iLi-s of 40,000 am! ov«r., .wlitoU..

Lincoln and Omaha are the only examples, the license is placed at 1000 <loL per year. In the country and smaller towns the fee issoodol. Since the adoption of high licenses Omaha has lost half its saloons, while the decrease in the country is still greater. The English Methodists " have built in London sixty-four sanctuaries, to accommodate no less than 1000 persons each, and ninety seven smaller places of worship, at an aggregate cost of -£600,000," says thePallMall Gazette. We observe from the New Zealand Gazette of May Ist that at the present time when p iblicans and accommodation house keepers aye making their annual apppiications to the various Licensing Commitens, they will be interested in the information that, by Order in Council, dated 15th April, the fees to be taken under tho Licensing Act have been materially ia creased. For instance: On tiling notice of intention to apply for a license, 10s, instead of 3s as before, •will be demanded ; on filing a notice of application for nenewal, transfer, oi removal, increased from 2s to ss ; on grant of new certificate, 10s, being an increase of ss; on grant- of certificate ■of renewal or transfer, 5s — 3s previously.; on applicatiou to open an additional bar, for each bar ss, where Is o^ly was charged before; on application for conditional license and on giant of •certificate therefore, 10s each — no fees have been hitherto charged. The -above are the fees win':;: particularly -affect those interest' v i'lsfc now, but «ll other ftes p;i>-.bi -rider the Xicensiug Act are also proportionately increased. These fees are *o be paid in staoaps, and the increase will, of •course assist to remedy the falling off in the "colonial revenue- nt the expense •of liqugr traders. Kroaa the report of the Mercantile .Library at New York, it appears that the popularity of Tluuki ray is outlasting ihat of Dickens, antl that the •demand for the works of Hawthrone •and Troll ope is increasing. In a paper read before the Penza^ce Natural History Society on " Wild Flowers at the end of the Year," by Mr Samuel Tait, the writer states that At Christmas 1882 there was uo fewer than 111 species in bloom at Madron, near Penzance. Mr Charles Stewart Parnell (according to the New York correspondent of The Times) has bought for 20,000d0l his mother's home, with the laud attached, situate ontheDelaware River at Bordentown, above. Philadelphia, in .all 225 acres. A telegram has been re- j ceived from the locality announcing i that Mr Paruell will make his new jporchase his American home. An interesting figure in Washington society, writes a correspondent, is the -deaf-mat© wife of Professor Alexander Graham Bell, the telephone inventor " Professor and Mrs Bell are frequently seen at large receptions. At such times he never loaves his wife's side, but holds her hand within his own> and she looks up in his face with a child-like confidence as he introduces ! strangers to her She, from the motion of his lips, understands the name and repeats it in low well modulated tones. Mrs Bell's articulation is not that of a natural voice, but she readily understands all the remarks addressed to her, and makes suitable replies. She lias a shy manner, aud doubtless feels diffident about using her newly acquired faculty, but gains confidence through the protecting watchfulness of her husband. 1 A novel and interesting entertainment took place in London the other night. A number of deaf mutes belonging to the Hackney Mission to the Deaf and Dumb gave a dramatic performance. The pieces selected were "The choo 1 . for Scandal" and 44 The Sorrows of Mr Snooks."' The •characters in both these, plays were ' represented exclusively by d'-af routes, ■ and the audience was largely composed ' of the same class of people. The performance, which was in sigt' language, gave great delight to tlu audience of deaf mutes. A death from the bite uf a. cat is reported from Rondo lstou in Ulster. Some time ago a farmer's sou named "Warwick, went into a barn and found a strange cat, which he tried to drive out. Failing in this, he attempted "to catch her, when she sprang at his hand and bjt the thumb to the bone. The cat held on till the boy forcibly separated her jaws. It was killed, and the wound healed, l»nt five weeks afterwards the boy was seized with hy■drophpbia, and died in terrible agony. Lord Randolph Churchill hasinven-. ted a new name for the Prime Minister of England. Mr Gladstone has heen known as " the people's William," and •' the grand old man," now he is known as " The Moloch of Midlothian." Lord Randolph Churchill, in one of the orations, spoke of Mr Gladstone and his colleges aa follows : — " Shall labors S'leh as -these, interests so tremendous ami vital, he committed to the hands of Mr Gladstone and his collegues? — men who have on their souls the blood of the massacre of Maiwand, the blood of the massacre of Laing's Neck, the blood of Sir George Colley, the blond of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr Burke, and many other true and loyal subjects of the Crown in Ireland, the blood of Hicks Pasha and his 10,000 fcoldiers, the blood of the Army of General Baker, the blood of Twefix Bey and 500 heros — (Loud cheers). For four years this, Ministry has literally waded in blood; their hands are chipping and reckless with blood. From massacre to massacre they march, and their course is ineftaceably stamped upon the history ef the world by an overflowing stream of blood. How many more English heros — how many more of the best and bravest are to beaaeriiiedto the Moloch OfJUidloihi-ui."