MISCELLANEA.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 219, 20 January 1874, Page 7

MISCELLANEA.

A funny little misunderstanding, which elicited an expression of extreme honhmnnie on the part of his Excellency the Governor, occurred on board tlie steamer Golden Ago on Saturday. The steamer (says the Daily Times) had been engaged to convey the Governor and those who were with him, including the bon. the Premier and Mrs Vogel, and his Honor the Superintendent, on board the Mikado,/and the Oustom House jbqatgwas ordered to attend the steamer to : take the party from one vessel to the other. Now the name of one of the crew of the Golden Ago happened to be James Fergusson, and when the Custom House boat ranged alongside, the coxswain sung put, “Hi, Jimmy Fergnsson, catch hold of this painter.” Much to the confusion of the coxswain, the response to his call came from an. unexpected quarter; the Governor heard the cry coupled with his own familiar cognomen, and casting ceremony to the winds j’ushed.£othe steamer and seized the proffered rope, and then recovering Imu--1 self without an effort, hp quietly handed it to | Lis abashed namesake, who stood at his elbow, i Reliable authority states that a baud of ; the Jeremy-Uiddler persuasion are making a | tour through NeW:/fcalami, and that many ! persons residing in those provinces already 1 visited by these not rare specimens of humanity, have not only been much deceived by their fashionable appearance, Tint have also 'sustained great pecuniary loss. The i fashionable few have not yet been run to earth, but the'prayers 'of their victims are that they will soon, be doing penance in the Dunedin Gaol. A favourite, because frequently successful, practice of 'these muchwanted individuals is to present themselves at an hotel bar ; drinks are called for ; one of the party-holds rolled up in one hand a. £5 note, and in the other one of only one-fifth :! the amount. The £is note is usually thrown down in payment.- -Of y course, the person j serving the drinks examines the note, and ! directly he has ascertained that it is genuine, a'Co'iifederate of the-man vfhb “ slimftfe” suggests that t<) save- the.trouble of .changing he should be allowed to make payment in silver. Th‘“-treater” assents, and picks' irphis fiobn ; Simultaneously, however, bis conqianiou discovers that he has gob no silver. The other then throws on the counter what purports to ; be the same note rolled up, bnt-hvhat is in !! reality a £1 note only ; and in many instances ! this trick has been practised successfully, the i dupers obtaining change to the amount of [ £4 -193." Should, however, the.; retailer of r liquors attempt to examine the £1 note, the , individual who has presented it blandly re- . marks that he has made a slight mistake, and t! apologises politely. : rj On Tuesday .morning last (says the TVnka- , 1 tip Mail j, a man named Ton-, employed at t . | the Nugget Reef, was drowned in the Shot- , i over River, underthe fdllowingcircnmstahces: 3 j —On the Saturday previous be left the reef j j for Queenstown, and returned on the day of L . i the accident at about 12 o’clock, when he was s ! observed by one of the men working at. the 3 reef attempting to cross The river on the iron t pipes which convoy the water to the crushing | machinery, and which arc about 30ft. above ■\ the ordinary river level. When ■about halft way across, .the unfortunate man was seen to s lose his balance and fail into the river, which e i was high at the..time. This is the third fatal i accident which has occurred on the Shotqver ;• | within as many weeks, all of which haveoce ; curred through carelessness. In the case e i under notice, the man Ton-was crossing the j pipes, in disobedience of a written notice d j posted + hat the pipe's were not to be crossed, i. | and inflicting a penalty for so doing. The d recklessness of snob conduct as led to the n death of deceased is aggravated by the fact that only a few yards above the pipes is a d “ chair” erected for the purpose of crossing >. the river.

I There is a story of a gentleman, over seven 1 feet high, a talented member of the bar,,.••.ml a modest, good natured citizen, who we 1 think | is almost unexcelled for his iptietp delicious i humour. He was one night sitting in the j stall of a theatio. When the cm t tin rose, Laud the actors advanced to their position, a ! cry of “Down in the front!” became general I throughout the 'audience'. Their attention | was directed towards the tall B , who, ; feeling himself the object of remark, thought ! ho was required to settle a li't.o. Looking "as if-he \\ahulddikajtidiettd.et r mghhho floor, jhe proceeded dm raise himself .to n standing position, in such a maimer, however, as to I convey an impression that there was no end ; 1 to him. At last he did get straight out io j his full length, when, slowly glancing round ij at the astonished audience, he very delibeI I ra’ely remarked, “ Gentlemen, to satisfy you i i I was sitting down, I will now stand up!” i j A burst of laughter and applause succeeded, j the audience and actors became convulsed, LI the curtain descended rapidly, the manager, i i with beaming face, came forward, and, amidst L j the wildest applause, conducted the geutlcmmi ;ito a private box. “ How. Ie that for high I