MISCELLANEOUS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 972, 3 December 1880, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

Tbc correapoiislenfc of the Melbourne Argils telegraphs Mint “ a payable goM fiuM hia been f«>un 1 15 nillcM up the Jini'eson River. There arc already some 50miners on the "round, most of whom arc satisfied with the prospects, which arc remirhably good. In charging a jury at Daiiiliqnin, Now Wales, in an action for libel against the Pastoral Times, Mr Justice 1 [argreaves saM : man all hia life, hut he never took any notice of what newspapers sail. There were men connected with the Press who would write one wav, and if you gave them a glass of whisky and Water would write another way. The Newman IT.all divorce case appears to have endol satisfactorily to all parties A few months ago the marriage was recorded of the reverend gentleman to the young lady who helped him so much with his work in connection with Christ Church, M estminster Bri Ige R iad, and now we learn that Mrs Naim in Hall has just been married at Great Vann mth to Richardson, the groom, whose name, it will he remembered, was prominently mentioned in the recent suit. A project is on foot, and will soon be made public hero, which, as far as 1 know (writes the Lon lon correspondent of the Otago Daily Times) is quite novel. It is to form a company in Scotland for the cultivation in North New Zealand of the tea plant and the silkworm. One Mr William Cochrane, of Perthshire, has it in hand. He has been, I believe, a tea grower in China, and is satisHo I, from his study of the subject, that North Now Zealand is well adapted for bath of those in lustries, and that they can be snccesifrtlly ‘ carried on together. I have reason to know that Mr Cochrane has been in cmmnnication with Dr Hector upon the subject, and that the scheme will be before the public ore long. A strange scene occurred a tew days -since at an auction in Waterford. A farm spiraled at Windgap, from which a farmer had been evicted at the suit of the Provincial Bank for a debt of L2OO, was put up for sale. After the conditions of sale had liven read the auctioneer aske 1 for a bid. None was male for nearly ten minutes, while the bystanders who filled .ho uo ;i indulged in ridicule at the fact. At length a friend of the former tenant bid Lo. Tue

j auctioneer exclaimed, “Nonsense 1 ; bo in i earnest.” The man replied that he was ! perfectly in earnest, and after the lapse of a quarter of an hour he raised the bid to L 7 amid the jeers of the company. After another interval he increased it to LS, adding that “the devil a penny morn would ho bid.” The auctioneer declare 1 j the talc at an end, but the bidder claimed a right to the farm, as he had given three bids and was the highest bidder. The auctioneer and solicitor for the bank became indignant at the man’s effrontery, but the crowd insisted that the farm was fairly his, and should be knocked clown to him. This scene was the result of an organisation to prevent the sale. A striking instance of the clangor of conveying nourishment to the mouth with the blade of a knife has occurred on the Continent. When the last mail loft, a decision was about to he pronounced by the Imperial Royal Tribunal at Marburg upon an action brought by an Italian commercial tiavcller against the Sulbahn Co., to obtain compensation for injuries sustained by bun through a railway acoi lent. The plaintiff, at the moment the collision took place, was in the act of putting a piece of food into his mouth on the point of a penknife, and the shock imparted to him caused him to widen that feature by an involuntary slit some two inches in length. For this he claims a large pecuniary indemnity The company’ however, refuse to admit any obligation to compensate a person for injuries incurred by his own indecoroiisness of conduct and evil manners, plead'ng that “no decent person eats with his or her knife, and that the plaintiff, having hurt himself in the very act of committing a social delict, must bear the consequence of his offence.” Two gentlemen of the long robe took to interchanging civilities at the Riverton I’.M. Court on Wednesday, an; the Star thus describes the scene Aftc some little sparring, where Mr Finn designated Mr Wade a “wooden head,” and ilia other replied by twitting him with putting leading questions to the witnesses, something in the shape of a scene took place in this wise. Mr Finn asked the deponent in the box to look at, him while he answered the questions put. “ Yes,” said the opposing counsel, “look at him, and you’ll see a beauty.” “If yon wish to see a heist, look at Mr Wade,” retaliated the other gentleman of the long robe. His Worship here interposed, and said he could not allow the business of the Court to he obstructed by an interchange of such language, and thought Mr Finn should be ashamed of himself for making use of such :an epithet as “ beast.” Mr Finn : Was I | not provoked to it ? His Worship admitted ; that the language of Mr Wade was rather provocative. Before the rising of the Court i Mr Finn protested against the manner in which the Bench had used him in conducting his cases. The Magistrate peremptorily lepbod Unit he declined to enter into any argument with him, that Ins language, had boon most insulting, and requested him tu eoase addressing his remarks to the Court.