MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume XI, Issue 1752, 3 September 1886, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

OnCH (says Laurence Oliphant) I waa iv a Cornish mint*, some, hundreds of feet duwii in the 'Kiwels of th« earth, crawling down a ladder, and, feeling i that tlie temi>eia(ure UMts««»ei-y iiioih-- . ent wanner, I shhl to a miMer w:n> was aucotup-inyiou me: 'It is ; ijeiting v«-ry iio». down here. How '; fu> do >«>n think il is to the infernal \ | ru»ions?" " I don't ki.ow exactly," he replied, " but if you let go you'll be thei'H in two minutes." Fearfu I weather has been experienced in all parts of France, at a time when warmth and pleasantness are generally , looked for The eastern departments ! have b<en ravaged l»y storms, and j Some lit the h 'itlstotieg wliicti fell were

Fearfu I weather has been experienced in all parts of France at a time when warmth and pleasantness are generally looked for The eastern departments have been ravaged l»y storms, and Some of the hilistotieg which fell were as lur.e as walnuts. At N.uiay the streets were transformed into rivers, the shops were inundated l>y the rain, and much perishable merchandise was destroyed. The western provinces did uot escape these devastating tern pests, and the injuries sustained by the crops of all kinds are descri'ied as very serious indeed.

Alas! i')r the •li.sarpoiutuicut in uoldiniuin^ (stays a correspondent of the Waikata Times). The rich returns chronicled a few days ago as having been obtained irmn a minting oy lue Waioron^oiuai Ci>ui}»any proved all to be wort 11 less. 149 >Z o! Imllion, fro in which a large percentage of gold and silver was expected, yielding only 9dwtsof gold, the rest b"ing lead. It is not pleasant to shareholders to have their hopes thus rudely dispelled.

The people of Auckland are still greatly exercised over the. Stark pro perty purcbnse scandal — as it is termed—in couneelion with harbour defence, and nothing lias puzzled them morn than hat the Parliamentary Committee, with the evidence srtbinitted to it, should have <>em of two opinions on the subject Mt* Stark, wise in his generation, took a change of' »ir as fffcm ft* thb pordwse was completed, so that he was spared the unpleasantness of a trip to Wellington and the opportunity of airing his opinions as to the lvmirkaWlw and sudden increase of value in North Shore property. As to the Government officers concerned iv tbe affair, one scarcely knows whether to f«el pity or contempt for the amount of incapacity displayed, and the bungling Which has sacrificed something like £10.000 of the public money i.y th ow ing it at the iieui of a land speculator not overburdened with scruples. It is episodes like these which ein Witter the unemployed against the Government, as they consider that the money might have been far more usefully expended on public woiks in the present emergency, and in relieving distress. The friends of the present Administration in Auckland admit that this indictment is true, and regret that the Government should have laid themselves thus open to sssanlt, and given incendiary deim ognes a peg on which to Imng their orations against all constituted authority.

A t Rotorua there are signs of a faint revival of confidence. One tourist has taken up his quarters at Whakare warowa, from which the Natives made a stampede shortly atter the eruption, win n on« of the geysers began throw ing up burnt stonep and mud. The levels of tin* railway line into the. proposed site for a station in Rotorua township hay« been retaken in order to ascertain whether there has been any general subsidence on the Ohine mntn shore of the lake. Mr Stewart, C.E., reports tint he ha« foil >d mo change in that respect, and the subsi deuce, if any, must be at Sulphur point, where the waters of the lake find their way into one of the liaths at the Government Sanatorium. The Government are taking steps to open up the hitherto un-explored wonderland in the Waiotapu Valley, with its hot spring*, fnmarolis, green and bine laki-R, and miniature terraces, and the natural attractions of Orakei Kornko and the Paeroa districts. I*- is believed these remarkable sights will form an excellent But<8 r itnre for the departed glories of the Pink ami Whi'e terraces, and serve to dm* to the Lake country a fair proportion of tourist. As to the volcanoes, though they have lost the grandeur of the first eruptions, they promise to b<- a sonrce of interest to the traveller and the scientist for many a long year to come

The other day the Buy of Islands Coal Company, on* of our oldest institutions of the kind, held its halfyearly meeting. It had been hoped that »b last hall ye«r nhowt-d a balance to credit of profit and loss of £670, a dividend would be forthcoming to the patient and expectant shareholders; hut tfhrse hopes have not been realised. Not only has that turn, been swept

away, bat as roach more, in freeing the flooded mine of wafer, and the debit l«lance stands at £679. Re> membering the checkered career of Urn i company, it says much for th* oouragt and persistence of the management ' that operations an> still steadily going on for the development of the min# ami for working the outcrops of 00*1 recently discovered. Her Majesty the Queen it it rapocw ted. amongst her many other accom* plialiiueiis, is acquainted with tbv manual deaf and dun»t> alpbatot, and the knuwledgw ntood her in {(OodsMid laHv, when tlm Q<i<>en reo-ived, pr»* bably for th«* first time, a deaf mat*, id th« pervm of Rev. R. \. Pearosv who was *> honored in recognition of Ins snetvssfal work amon* the deaf loutos in the dioce*e of Winchester, in which Os'»orne is included. In the Sup»vme Court in GolamWw Ohio, a lawyer, who is totally dw£ made au 4i*^iim*'!it in reply to bi» ml v Pisaries. He acomplbhed this re* ionki!>ie feif by watching the rapid lips of his wife. She reapeated evwj wor I sud l»y a nvHioti of her lips, Ju 1 ->> W< st , a 1 >liud orator was al«) iss >cii td io tliH case. Darin*; the cold snap in Florida millions of fish vverefro»»n. Dwe!l«r» ajjjng the rivers torped to at onceand began ciearT«R Ihe tishaway. Thef carted loads into their orange groves, and liv« ied them at the foot of tree» until they were afraid to disoose of airy more in that way lest the trees should lie killed.

Considerable sensation w reported to have been caos<«d in the little villaga ofSt Heleus.' Isle of Wight, Uy tbt retnrn of an old man named John Calloway, a native, who a long tiro* since was believed to be de«d. 'Over fort} years a«<o, Calloway left his wife and young family, who, it w stated, l>eyoiid receiving one reiuitteno" of L'so, heard nothing of him. His wife died, and his chilJren grew up, Wot bit eldest son and one of his daogbers died, while the other had left the plaos. When the old man, who is now 81 years of age, sought oat th« twid«ne» nf his daughter still living in th» village, she did not remember him; in fact she never knew him, being a baby when he left, and the meeting was a distressing one. Calloway had hope' l to find his wife alive, bat hardly any of those who bad known him are living now, and his retnrn was almost like that of any Rip Van Winkle.

John Neil Macartney, a Bendigo identity (says a contemporary), was at rested at Kynetonand taken to Melhonrne on a charge of insulting bshavionr preferred by hit son Him Kenneth Macartney. Tbe poor old man was rvtnanded, as be did not seem altogether right in his mind. This will be deeply felt by all old BendisjoiiiuiM. J. N. .YfacartnoT was once the leading bookseller io. Sandhurst and a man who was aUe to weild the pna with soa» figojr. {!• did for Briirtigo what Withers did for Ballarat in his •• History of Bendigo ;" a work thai met with considerabl* support. Mr Macartuiy was alone time, the ffondharst correspondent of . th« Arq** H« is 80 years of age. Baltarat looks after its reterans; Sand* hurst does not

M. Ttasundier suggests that hiafc should be hrovght from tbe depths of the earth and utilised. ** It there anything irapossiWle," he asks, M in the idea O e sending »nto the bowels of th* earth water which should come boiling back to the surface of the soil to supply us with all the steam necessary for our machinery ? All things may be accomplished >>y means of heat Human labor is replaced l»y that of a t«w ounce? of coal. By means of fire the inclemencies of tbe seasons and tbe inconviences of the climate may be warded off; food may be prepared, the growth (>f vegetables may be aided, new varieties may be raised, and bodies may be decomposed and reeom posed. What we have to do, therefore, is to obtain from the jealous grasp of the earth ? his precious element, which it possesses in snch great ahnndance, to remember that Prometheus, when he bestowed fire on man, gave h'm th<* emnire of the world. The earth is a vast mine of heat, which ooght not Iw left unemployed. We have only to pierce the depth of fonr leagues at the most and then we shall have obtained a temperatme of boiling water. A great number of geologists and oth«r men of science have already thrown out the idea which we are her* prodncing. but the day is perhaps stilt distant which will enable us to draw from the earth anin< xhanstiWe supply of lioiling water and motive foroe. h ' In the House of Commons rMentlj the Right Hon. W. H. Bmith, ex irsfc Lord of the Admiralty, stated what wbb the cost of the armament of a firstclass ship in 1854 and in 1855. The r>nke of Wellington earned 131 guns. The total cost of her gnns amounted to 47000. the gun carriages to £2500, the projectiles to £5200, and the stores* side-arms, powder cast- «, '»oaw, eqnip* ments &c , to £2300. All this showed a total cnst of £17000. Tlie Uenbow is one of the latest additions to our fleet. The total cost of her guns wa« £58,339. The mountings cost £82* 858 ; the powder, projectile, and cart.idg*s, 100 rounds per 110 ton guv and 85 rounds per 6-inch enn, £38, 500; cartridge cases, £7000 ; miscellaneous stores and equipments, £18, 800 ; Whitehead torpedoes and equip* ment«, €7200 ; the total amounting to £207.697. This is the cost of the armament and anomnnition of on* ship in the present day, us against £17,000. in 1854-5.

According to a wadoiw American exchange, the following law » under consideration hy the lefpajatnr* of the State of Oregon:— "Section! jJ^

Chinaman shall be allowed to die in Ibis State until he has paid ten dollars for a ite«r pair of boots with which to kiok the bucket. Section 2: Any Chinaman dying under this Act to be bnned six feet under the ground, flection 8: Any Chinaman who attempts to dig up another Cbinaineo'i bones shall first procure a license from the Secretary of State for Which be shall pay four dollars. Section 4: Any dead Chinaman who attempt to dig up his owu bones withont giving due notice to the Secretary of State, shall be fined one hundred dollars. Section 6: Any Chinaman who shall be born without Iwnea, for the purpose of wilfully and feloniously evading the provisions of this Act, shall be fined five hundred dollars. ___________«___^,