ITEMS FROM OUR EXCHANGES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1365, 8 October 1886, Page 3

ITEMS FROM OUR EXCHANGES.

"‘LTV ft STOCK OF THE COLONY

On March 31? l las', tbe numbers of the live stock ir tVe colony were as follow. : —Horses, 187,882 (including 29.857 brood mares); mul«s and asses, 297 , cattle, 853,358 ; sheep, 16,564,595 ; goats. 10,200; pigs, 577,901 ; poultry, 1,697,021. It is a onriotity worthy of mention 'bat one county of New Zealand only boasted of two do nestle quadrupeds the Fiord connty, which returned two goa'a and fifty head of pou tty as the sum total of the live stock it possessed

THE QUEEN AND MR GLAD&TO Queen Victoria’s dislike of Mr Gladstone is well known, bnt the cause of it i# not generally understood. It dates back to the time when she hesitated about signing the Irish Church Disestablishment Bill. “ But, madam, yen must sign,” said Mr Gladstone The Queen indignantly reit Iced : ‘ Sir, do you know who I am i •* Yes, madam,” responded Mr Gladstone, “ the Queen of England. But dre* your Majesty know who Ism ? lam the people of England ”

DAIRY PRODUCE OF NEW ZEAL AND.

According-to the last centus returns, the total quar.tiiy ‘i tut'er produced in this colory during the jeer ending March, 1886, w»» 12 170 9641 b, and cf cheese 4 594 7951 b. In b« t'er, Auckland beaded tbe litt with 2.775,6311 b, Otago came next wi»h 2.580,725, Canterbury third with 2 298 373, and Wellington ffuith with 18 3 002 b. In cheese Canterbury was a long wny ah sd with.1,960,8081b Otago next with 1,034 563, /• nckiat d uext with 781,1091 b, and Wo lington fourth with 411 384 b.“

TEA DRINKING IN THE COLONIES It is evident that Colonials esn t be induced to believe 'bat tea drinking has a deteriorating (fleet on the civilised world The Australian colonies and New Zealand, according to one of the Indian j inmate, drink far more tea per herd of population than the British Island?. The Australian colonies come first, with 7-66;b per head ; the New Zealanders next, wi h 7-o3lb per head ; while the people of G eat Britain, though appearing third in the list consume only 4-901 b, b ewfonndland and Canada time next; while in the United States the consumption is only l-301b per head, THE NI tfiAKA CRAZE.

The Ntw York Sun special of August 24th says Miss J anette Larke. a handsome yonng lady of Youngstou, swam the Niagara River below the r-pids, near her beme. this afternoon. St e was accompanied by WMiam Wilkinson, and the distance was about a mile and a half. Miss Larks reached the Canadian shore with very little exhaustion and seemed perfectly fresh, although her companion was very tired This is the first time a lady has accomplished the feat of swimming the river at this point. THE HANLAN FAMILY.

Tie writer of the London Gossip in the Sydney Mail says:— “Tne fate of the famous Banian family is a stance of the fate of most distinguished athletes Three cf the brothers died if consnmption. The eldtst htd his skull injured by a ftl : . Hj became insane, and whilst under restraint committed suicide In a way only possible to an acrobat. Repeatedly throning half somersaults, be struck bis head each lime on a heavy iron screw on the floor and at last dashed hia brains out The fifth is just dead There are two still living, will their brothers fate warn them to leave off the exercise of their profession ? ’

LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL Lord Randolph Churchill (remarks the St’ James' Budget ) is the youngest leader that the House of 0< rumens has had since the days cf Pitt, who first accepted the poet at the age cf 23. Peel was called to the same responsibility at 40, Russell at 42, Disraeli at 47, Palmerston st 70. Happily the nation ia unfettered by any hard-and fast rule of ago in respect rf each appointments. Bad Lord Randolph been a citizm of Republican * t me, be most have wailed am ther six yeata to be legally eligible for the Consulship. Under the French Oomt tuticc of 1875 he could not be chosen a senator for three years to come. On the ether hand, he baa added two years to the 35 which an American must have lived before be can hold the Presidency of the United States Ho doubt, a majority of the men who have made history havo shewn the measure of their capacity at 37- Bismarck was just 36 when he became Minister at Frankfort and hia aggressive personality began to assert i<- elf. Gambetta entered on hia 33rd year the acknowledge dictator of France outside • Paris. Gordon had jut completed the third decade of his life when he assumed the command of the “ Ever-Vlotorioua ” army.

EXTRAORDINARY DIVORCE SUIT. An extraordinary divorce suit, f-p'a't v Splatt has been before the Sydney courts The parties are Melbourne people, and they were married at Christ Church Sooth Tatra. in February, 1881 The hearing of the caae took place recently, and the other .day Mr Justice Windeyer gave judgment. In doing so he recapitulated the evidence, which disclosed extraordinary and continuous cruelty on the part of the respondent. On one occasion soon after the honeymoon he beat his wife’s head against the wall, and on another be kept her out of doors in rain for several hours, which brought on illness. He also kept her without food sometimes all day, and when a child was born he treated It with gross cruelty for the purpote of giving his wife pain. Mr Justice Wlcdeyer granted a decree nisi for divorce, remarking at the same time that the cruelty from which tfce petitioner had Buffered would not have etti led her to a release “from her misery, ard the brntal tyranny of the husband to whom she was legally married, oners the hac ; been fortunate encugh to succeed in detecting him in adultery.” This points to a defect in the divorce law, which will probably be taken notice of when the Divorce Extension Bill, which has been ■ent from the Conned to the Assembly, comes up for discussion. A WOMAN’S STRATAGEM A Westmeath ’anded proprietor was so attached to field sports that he turned a deaf ear to a daughter’s entreaties, and ponld not not be p.rsuaded to take a house in Dnb io where a pent'eman abode in whom she was more than interested. One fine morning the squire was astenubed by the coming cf a (hte tening letter, which he pit into the fir*?; the next post brought another j and aeon a third came, illmtrated with a sketch of a coffin. The recipient showed them to the stipendiary magistrate, and before long a number of detopives wtre -usy in the p Ighbouvhood ; but jfcey ' juld neither discover the ■endeca of the o* j ctionsb e missives, nor atop fresh < nesfrotn pouring in with every mail Every day they grew worse. Pictures of coffins, sketches cf crotshoncs, threats of vengeance, mysterious hints of danger, warnings to fly the neighbourhood, cmn« thick and fast. At last the threatened mau gave in, red took hims.lf and h's family to Dublin, and before long found himself turiu dinto a fatber-ln law. When the happy pair were aoont to leave after the wedding breakfast, the bride, throwing her arms around bis-neck, said; Go home, father ; no one wi'l hurt a hair of ymr I wrote the threatening letters that scared ycu away. 1 wanted to ceme to Dublin, and as you would rot agree, I thought I would try ihe Ribbon scheme, and yoo see how well it has succeeded,”