MISCELLANEOUS. EXTRACTS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 521, 12 April 1872, Page 1 (Supplement)

MISCELLANEOUS. EXTRACTS.

- -o lii the Tichborne trial, two artists were called, who gave it as their professional opinion that there was a strong resemblance between tiro claimant and tiro Tichborne portraits which were produced in Court The anti-Tammany crussde is well kept up. Mr. Tweed has again been arrested and let out on bail, i'lie Senate lias voted that a rigid investigation should be made into all Government appointments, and lias, also appointed a Commission to impure into some alleged frauds in the New York Custom horse. The Marlborough people are continually being driven into a. state of excitement by reports of new gold discoveries in that province, most of which, however, we are sorry to say, end in disappointment. The Nelson Colonist reports: —“We have been shown s.me stone from reefs discovered at Jackson’s Head, by Greenlaw and others, on property belonging to Mr. Turner, a runholdor in that part of the province. The stone exhibits gold plainly in several parts, and gold is seen in a casual piece of quartz picked up by one party, and used by him as a sinker to his fishing line, on which afterwards the gold wrs discerned. Sir. 11. E, Curtis, who vi ’ted the reefs, and in whose possession the stone is, reports that he is favorably impressed with the probable payable character of the reef, but is of opinion that further efforts should he made to open the principal reef. He makes a new suggestion with respect ( o mining ventures of this kind, which past experience points to as aclv: ble,namely, that, for the security of persons taking shares in such reefs, an agreement should bo made, under which i ay from live to ten per cent, o; the crp'tal each person subscrib -t for should ho d - voted to making a working drive, which would also test thereof, at from two to three hundred fret lower level, thus giving to subscribers the option of retiring, if they choose, from the concern after such expenditure had been incurred. This, it is argued would gl ve confidence to person disposed to invest in such reefs, and a guarantee that only a csitain risk would be inclined ; that, in shoit, no nice than the fixed per centuge.would be lost should the venture turn out a failure.

The Star states the new atmospheric engine imported by Mr. Curtis to bo at work iu a printing office at Ballavat. It seems that “all onchas to do is to turn a gas-cock, light the gas, give the Sy-wheel a start off the centre, and away goes the concern. JS T o boi'er no firewood, no water, no steam ; just a match and a jet of gas, and away go piston, cogs, cranks, fly-wheel, bauds, shafts, presses, and all the apparatus attached. Of course, it is perpetual motion, with a difference. The gas must always flow, the jets* must bo kept lighted, the wheels and other things must not wear out. Nothing e’se is wanted ! And all, Mr. Curtis deliberately assures us, for two-pence an hour when in full work. There are two jets of gas used, one to go into the cylinder and one to he lighted, and gas and air rushing into the cyk'lder in such proportions as to form an explosive mixture, which explodes by the contact of the flame every time the piston descends to a cerUin point. The explosion discharges the piston as a ramrod is discharged from a gun, only that it never gets beyond a given length, and then begins to descend and do the realwoik of moving. There is an unpleasant concussive noise and shock at every discharge of the piston, and this is a disagreeable contrast to the “ sweet ” noisclessncss of the ponderous steam engines to be seen at our mining works. Rut then the thing is so cheaply and so easily ' worked that it seems a great boon.

Millie. Michel, once a schoolur.stress, and one of the most determined unsparing spirits of the Paris insurrection, and who intended to assassinate M. Thiers, has been sentenced to imprisonment for life.

Faith in the “cat” as a deterrent to crime seems to he taken hold of public opinioiiyhroughout the colonies, In the Melbourne gaol, a few days ago, a representative of the great Smith family, for an indecent assault, at Beechworth, figuredat one of the cat, Bamford, the flagellator, at the other.. Dr M'Orae the medical oflicer, stood by while the twentyllve 'ashes, the first of a series of three, was -administered, “An order has been obtained,” reports the Ballarat Star, *’ for the compulsory sequestranou of the estate of Mr. John Houeyman, late of Ballarat, but now somewhere on the high seas. Mr Honeymau has left friends sadly lamenting his departure, and a heavy overdraft is currently reported as s A nding against his name at the bank with which he did business—some say it is 2,000k : some more. The departed was a rather large speculator, and operated with a clique who were connected with the rigging operations in the shares of the United Albion and Prince of Wales Company, and ho also dealt largely in other, stocks that were notorious for sudden and spasmodic fluctuations. It is generally supposed that he has money to a very handsome amount in England, and of course efforts will be made (o tronsfer some of it to this country to settle accounts. Mr. Honeymau, who wr : looked upon as one of the ‘ unco guid,’ was imagined to be well in, and was thought to be an honorable man. Of all iudoorgames, that of billiard > i perhaps, the most thoroughly fascinating, es ially when played in the family circle. Hitherto, the great objection to billiards has been the expen ■ . Householders of moderate means could neither afford to give up a room specially for the purpose, nor to spend fifty or sixty pounds in buying a slate '• ble. Consequently, the young men have been driven to seek their billiards in public establishment"' while the young ladies have, in most instances, been altogether depriv. lof the pleasure of playing. Yot why should anyone who possesses an ordinary dining table be unable to enjoy the advantage of billiards at home 1 Messrs. Jaques, of Hatton. Garden, Loudon, have answered this question most tisfactorily. In a small box, for the price of a guinea, they fu ish the materials for converting any ordinary dining-table iu live rainu'cs into a practic ble billiard-table. At the four corners of the table, on which an ordinary cloth has been laid smoothly, and in the middle of the two longest sides six brass clips are screwed containing puckels , llicac me joined .together by bands ofstout green linen, which possesses the elasticity of a cushion, and with cues and balls, which are supplied in the box, the aptus is complete. Any slight unevenness iu the table can be easily rectified by puttinga book or pamphlet} under the shorter legs, and an infinity of amusement may thus be obtained at very trifling expense. The mystery surrounding the Egevton Bank robber • seems, says the Ballarat Star, to be gradually clearing a way. Some time since two pistols wove f uud at the bottom of an old shaft at Egertou, and there is little room for doubt that they were the weapons spokenof in the evidence. The di oovery of these pistols has led .to .'urther inquiries being iustitut ’, and it has been ascertained that the man Andrew George Scott, whom the bank clerk accused of being the robber sold iu his own name, at the mint of Sydney a quantity of gold corresponding, minus a trifle, with the quantity of gold abstracted from th.e b nk at Egertou. It will be remembered that not the least mysterious part of the affair was the total disappearance of the gold and money, and though every shaft and hole and cranny about Egertonwes searched for months, no trace could be found. But circumstances detailed in the cGdencc point to an exp 1 ation. The clerk stated that whencoufiugpast a stable, while be’ ig conducted through the bushheheardthe brc.it’ i g as if of a horse. The landlord of the Harvest Home Hotel, near Buifinyong Station, deposed that outho night of die robbery, about half-past 11 o’clock ho sew 1 a drink to a man who came riding up at a tremendous rate, with pistol-bolters and a bundle on his saddle, and rode away in the* same hot haste. The Police stated at the Gordon Po’ico Court that they would no doubt find out who this rider was, but nothing more wars heard of him, and il docs not appear that any adequate trouble was taken to sift further into the matter. It is probable that Scott, having a Imrsc ready, rode after the robbery to some place new Buninyong Static , plant d the stolen prof erty, and returned to Egertou in time to boat homo for the visit by the pobco he no doubt expected, and also took place, on which occasion ho declared lie had been ?n the railway train a* the time of the robbery, which turned aut to be a lie. The hours stated in the evidence Would tally exactly with sueha theory and would also account for the impossibility of finding the gold about Egertou. We understand that mere information is to hand, to which due publicity will bo given when sufficient, has been collected in order to establish the truth beyond a doubt and, ■ place the matter iu a new light.