MISCELLANEA.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 229, 31 March 1874, Page 3

MISCELLANEA.

*—, — ; A rather amusing incident occurred the other day not one hundred miles fr£pi the quiet and rural township of Donald, -near St., Arnaud (relates the Clnnes Guardian). A happy couple, [jusl married/, both'of bashful temperament, the lady being noted for her absence of mind, arrived at a certain hotel the;firßt day,of: her bridal ; tour. In the middle of, the night the lady aroused every inmate in the hotel by screaming out that there was a man in her room. She had; quite forgotten her marrjage that morning, and it was only after the poor unfortunate husband had been kicked out that she happened to recollect it. •■" : '' • : ■ • : " ■■' ■> . ■ A contemporary says, a new discovery of quicksilver is attracting attention in California" which it is thought will add materially, to the world's supply of this article. The locality is about 'one hundred and fifty miles south of the new Almaden mine, and is midway between the sea and the mountains. A company from; Nevada have "located" the mine .under the law of Congress, and have already set men to work to develope it. All the cinnabar mines in California have heretofore aggregated a yield of 2,000,0001bs a yeai*, but hereafter, when the new claim is effectually worked, this will bo materially increased.

The following are a few particulars as to the Tichborne trial: —To the Jury has been paid £2600 ; to the printers, nearly £4OOO. The prosecuting counsel—five in all—have swallowed over £14,000. The defendant's counsel are paid miserably compared with the prosecution. The exact amount is not known. Some of the witnesses for the prosecution received very large fees—one, £10()0 ; another, £7OO ; and a third, £SOO. They came from Australia and Chili, and their evidence was deemed necessary. Altogether,the "little bill" on one side alone, when it comes to be added up, must reach close on £150,000. It the banquet recently given to Mr Vogel at the Thames, one of the speakers, Mr Rowe, said he had been identified with mining for 45 years, at all sorts of mining. Sometimes his efforts were very unsuccessful ; sometimes the opposite. He was one of the first on the Thames field. He had been connected with it from the commencement. Mr Whitaker and himself had made the first investment—£22oo for half the Kuranui claim. The highest geological authority had said they must be mad ! But the investment had been a groat success. Tliere were men in Auckland who were yet willing to invest their money whenever they saw a probability of a return. Auckland was not deficient in enterprise. He had made £IO,OOO in six months, and had lost £20,000 in three, and had possibly made half of it in another six. That was the experience of many. The Thames had at one time got a bad name, but it was through the indiscretion of investors. There never was a field offering better means of investment than the Thames.

Mr 3. T. Thomson (Commissioner of Crown Lands), Mr M'Kerrow (Chief Surveyor), and Mr Skey (Meteorological Observer), the committee appointed by the Otago Institute to report upon the best spot in Otago from which the temsit of Venus could be observed, have intimated that " after carefully considering the subject they are of opinion that no locality is so favourable for astronomical observations as the valley of the Mannherikia, situated in the interior of the Province of Otago ; that the township of Alexandra is considered the best locality, because it is protected from the prevailing moist-bearing westerly winds by the snowy mountains, the general height of which is from 6000 ft, to 8000 ft., on which the rain clouds are condensed, and thus that portion under the lee is comparatively rainless. An objection to the position might be made that it is 100 miles from the coast ; otherwise the sky being generally cloudless, its climate is peculiarly favourable." A gentleman recently arrived from London at the New Zealand Government's expense, was very anxiously enquiring, yesterday afternoon, in Princes-street, for " the—hie —best comdashon —hie—town." Seyeral gentlemen refused to give this worshipper at the shrine of Bacchus the required information, hut one wag advised him to try Weldons' Hotel, in Maclaggan street. He also informed the sentimentally mobbish gentleman that he would find there everything provided in the most regular manner ; and that it was probable, if they had not room, that Mr Weldon would refer him to Mr Bathgate, who would gladly see that he would he located where the landlord would actually take the trouble of seeing that all his linen was marked. " Thanks, ole boy—hie—exashly place I want." Thus primed with information, the hero of this paragraph consulted a bad-tempered policeman, and enquired for Welclon's Hotel. If the constable did'nt see the joke he knew where the hotel was, for the noisy reveller was very soon placed in lodgings where he would have time to reflect calmly before • interviewing Mr Bathgate to-day.— Daily Times.