NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 112, 29 January 1881, Page 3

NEWS IN BRIEF.

London has been building an enormous dock, which is now nearly completed. The magnitude of the work done would make it almost as great a curiosity as the Pyramids or the Chines< wall, if it were not for the fact that modtrn enginering appliance have been extensively employed to simplify (operations. Melboune Cup day brought an increase to the returns of the railways of £1800 more than last year. The Cotopaxi, lately arrived m Melbourne, did the voyage trom Plymouth m 42 days, including all stoppages at St. Vincent, Table Bay, and Adelaide. A New South Wales paper says that Mr James Tyson has an income of £500,000 per annum. In tin mining m New south Wales 1992 men were engaged during the year, 4759. tons of tin were raised, value £169,470. A boy named william Saundres fell from the rigging of the ship Windsor Castle, off Sandridge, Melbourne, was killed. Fifty-seven tons of Greek marble were delivered m London, free of all cnarges by the Greek Government, for the pedestal of the Byron monument. The news of Trickett's defeat was wired from London to Sydney — over 12,000 miles of wire— in 80niin. From Singapore to be Sydney it only took 35sec, although it had to be repeated three times on the way. i AtNerandera, Australia, a man named Jobson had a shovelful of ashes thrown on him by a woman, whose husband then took the shovel and smashed m Jobson's skull, who is now dead. They are committed for the murder, The Hon W. J. Clarke, of Melbeurne, offered the Austrian Band £200 to play some good music at his ball, but they would not close under £250 for four hours' play. j Martin Tenas, a Belian, at Colac, Victoria, stabbed hi< wife m four places with a butcher's knife, and then cut his own throat. The woman has died, but the man is recovering. Besides the bituminous coal mined m the counties north of Dublin and the anthracite or "glance" coal of thcsoutherji counties on Ireland, lignite — b species of fuel between coal and wood -r-is found m considerable quantities m the county of Antrim, and has been worked m years such as the present, when turf has failed aud coal has been selling at a very high price. The saying " To have everything m m apple-pie order" is supposed to have its origin from the following circumstances. It was the oustom many years ago to take off the top crust of an applepie and mashed up m the fruit with sugar and cream, then cut the crust into triangular pieces and stick them end. downwards into the fruit m various patterns, as circles, crowns, stars, #c. A feature peculiar to Roman glassware was the production of "double" glass- ware, Tjfcs was composed of several layers of glass of different colours, I?he innermost layer, was either Quite dark or very light, and was •«**#*•£ ty a layer |Q«u.e4 tf -ftri<mi

figures and decorations m different colours, and covered by a third transparent layer. In this way very beautiful effects were obtained. The precise way m which these goods were produced is not known. The latest advertisement ruse is to send a telegram to the victim. Advertisers plead m justification that circulars are systematically discarded and postcard refused at many houses. But it is incredible to believe that the lady or gentleman who, with trembling fingers, opens a telegram to read, let us say, " The mountain rose sherry, at 38s, is decidedly the best, sole agents, Pest and Bother," would write a polite order to the ingenious firm. The latest American novelty is a phonographic piano. The instrument will piay and tune m a purely mechanical manner, somewhat on the principle of the wonderful phonograph, and a child can play it as well as an adult. It does not get out of tune, and it will furnish music for dancing or an accompainment for lingiug. Paper strips ma/ be preforated for any new music and readly applied to the instrument. The manufactures of the piano are the Massachusetts Organ Co., Boston, Mass. The leading English journal m Mauritius has of late been strongly advocating emigration to the Northern Territory of Australia by the mechamo classes, as they w-uld improve their position vastly by the change. A company has been organised at Chicago Illinois, with a capitalof 600,000 dols., to build a factory for making sugar from corn. It is to use 15,000 bushels per day, and make 45,000 gallons of syrup, or 450,C301b. of sugar. Captain Eads will soou tail from New Orleans to Mexico with a party of engineers to examine the Isthmus of Tehnuntepec m order to verify his idea that it is suitable for a ship railway. The free trade candidates carried threeifourths of the seat at the general election just concluded m New South Wales. The G-undagai electorate returned the Hon. W. Forster, ex-Agent-General, who is at present m London. The Ex-Secretary of the Bonapartist party, a partisan of high rank, and who is a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, has disappeared, taking with hira about 100,000 francs (about £4166), belonging to a banking house at Quartier Droust. Mr Edison says that the flying machine is the next th'ng on which the thought of the scienti6c world will concentrate, and that he himself has been thinking the matter over a little, and proposes at some time to make a few preparatory tests with a captive machine worked by electricity. The San Domingo Government has presented to the town af Pavia a handful of the remains of Columbus, consisting of small fragments of bone and dust, enclosed m a glass ball, and sealed by the Archbishop, whose secertary was the bearer of the relic. It has been deposited m tbe University Library. The General Government had better look for squalls. Captain Jack Barry, said at Dunedin lately, that unless justice was done him he intended to to stand for the House of Representatives, for which any goldfields constituency would return him "as high as a kite." . Dr. Tanner is making arrangements to fast 40 days m London. He says the advocates of alcohol may select six men as near his age and physical condition as possible, who can take wine, beer or any spirituous liquor, during the fast, and he will take water only. The Tanner and Anii-Tammany-Democrats m New York agreed, m the event of carrying the Stste, to divide the New York city offices by lot, these heretofore having been the chief cause of quarrel, the division to be made as equally between the factions as possible. The Holyke (Massaehuiets) manufactory now turns out about 1,C?3,0C3 post cards per day for the United States Government. Last yeai there were used m the United States 246,063,060 cards. The American Government keeps m hand 25,000,000 of postal cards. An old man who lived 1 m the Rue Vereineetorix Paris, and who was apparently very poor, died recn>tly. and some time clasped before an heir presented himself to claim the fortane of the deceased, which was estimated at between 50 and 60 francs. Last week the legatee proceeded to take possession of the old man's apartment, and to his surprise a sum of no less than 82,C'3 francs was discovered m* a cupboard. The liabilities of the cdlapsed Ladies, Deposit Company of Boston, are 600,0C0 dol to lA^OOOdol. M-s Howe, tbe presMent, has been arrested. She states that she is wholly innocent of any wronsr-doing ; that she wis iv the employ of a number of wealthy men, and that the whole truth would soon come out. The German 'Emperor has approved of a plan for extending tne famous Unter Den Linden at Berlin by a splendid bridge across the Spree, leading to ground which has been given up for the purpose of the municipality. The new part will extend to the north-eastern suburb of Berlin, and will be called Emperor William street. At Low Walkerstown, Newcastle-on Tyne, there were found recently m a limekiln an iron clog, a tooth, and some small bones, the remains of a young may named Ridsro, who a few days previously accidently fell into tho furnace and was burned to death. A Yankee named John Baker has been fined £1 and costs m Brisbane for selling sensation packets of lollies, a certain proportion of which were supposed to contain hnlf-sover*ia;ns. In protectionist Victoria duties levied on tools, implements, and machines for the farm, outweigh all the advantages which tbe imposts on imported produce yield, and there still remain the heavy sums each farmer has to pay for articles which must be considered necessary through the fact that he is a dweller m a land m which a protective policy is m force. The London police consist of 8,117 constables, admirably drilled and organised. Of eight daily papers utarted m Paris last year four had disappeared before the year was out. The Earl of Eldon, grandson of the penurious Chancellor, has just built a church, at a cost of £30,000 to £40,C'>0. Siaoe, {.he, -^ar- witb, France nearly ©Ttry German town has raised a statue or WPWmept: qf IQm.t kind m itaprinei-

pal square to tho memory of those of its citizens, who fell m the Franco-Prus-sian conflicts m 1870. The Indian Herald hears from Fysabad that two officers at that station recently killed au alligator of the extraordinary length of Bl.ft. An Athlone shopkeeper has obtained a hundredweght of honey out of a tall chimney of his house m which a swarm of bees bad built a hire. Tbe trouble given by the bees led to the discovery of their storehouse. A Russian publishing firm has entered into negotiations with Mr. Darwin for the exclusive right of translating his new work on natural history into Russian. Dr. Lewis Swift, the astronomer, has just received his third gold medal m recognition of his plauetary discoveries. The last one came from the Imperial Academy at Berlin. In Hungary one's official age dates from his baptism. A woman of forty, only recently baptised into the Church, was arrested for stealing, and pleaded that she was an infant, being legally onij six montns old. The Court considered! the defence good and acquitted her. The Daily News states that one of the itreet scavew^ers of London is the possessor of a Victoria Cross. They manage these things better m France. Iv the case of the military, a chevalier of th* Legion of Honor receives 250fr a year and a grand cross, 5,000fr. It is not often that one reads of meh a case of genuine Christianity asir tht»« narrated by the contributor of " London Talk " to the ' Argus ' :— •« At Chatburn, m Lancashire, the vicar, instead of going to the Church Congress to oppose the Burials Bill, has been so far forgetting his position as to attend to the sick wife of the local Methodist minister; whereupon tbe la,tter, when she died, declined to avail himself of the new Act, but requested the vicar to perform the funeral ceremony. The vicar, however, called on the Methodist Free Church minister, and invited him to come to church and assist at the funeral of his assistant's wife, which he did, wearing a surplice, and reading a portion of the Church Service." The Marquis of Bute ittends to erect a Roman Catholic monastery for English monks on his property at Jerusalem, and plans for an oratory have been prepared, the building to cost L4.C00. Captain Gerard de Nisme, of the Royal Irish Hussars, was killed m India by stone, dislodged by a goat on a hillside, striking him on the head while he was taking his afternoon ride on horseback.