MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 19, 23 May 1877, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

Tbe- mere list of centermi*P awards oc« cupies twent-eir:l>t closely printed columns of the Nevr York Times. At the end of 1876 there were 836 newspapers in Paris against 754 at the end of 1805. The fifty newspapers published in Turkey, in the Turkish language, are managed either by Greeks or by Armenians. Many hundred papers in France hare been fined in various sums for slanderous articles against the mother of the Empress Eugenic. It is said that owing to some unsatisfactory betting arrangement two Nelson girls have announced their intention to publicly horsewhip two young men. Some fun is expected. The extraordinary feat (says the Otago Daily Times) of eatiug twelve dozen oysters wifhin ac hour was accomplished by a young man of slim proportions at one of the Dunedin oyster saloons recently; He easily won tbo wager that was laid against him. 'A backwoods chap sent an lowa editor a poem. The next day the paper poured out half a column of scarcasm against the young man, »:id said that the poetry was not worrby of an eight-year-sold school boy. Then the rural hd sent the editor a copy of Horace's Odes, with the leaf turned down whence he bad copied the " trashy poem."—' Ihmbury News.' Sir Julias Yogel, writing to Dr Hector, sa y S : — " A most wonderful discovery has been made for turning vegetable fibres into eilk. Cotton yarn for example can be converted into silk, not » appearance only, but in reality, and m the operation it gains weight and immensely increases in strength. The samples I enclose here* with are cotton converted* The investor, a Frenchman, claims to be able to produce the silk at one-fifth of the price of woven silk." The Central Pacific Railroad Company (according to the Auckland Herald) are planting the sides of their roads with 40,000 blue-gum trees. The company have 509 miles of road under their control. Blue»gum sleepers are very durable, and the New Zealand Government might do less profitable acts than to plant tbe vacant ground on each side of tne railway lines in the Colony with timber which will be useful for sleepers* &0., in the course of a few years. The " Intelligent Vagrant," writing in I the »ew Zealand Mail, says :— " A Wellington jeweller was heard telling of an inexpensive manner for appearing at a ball in very costly ornaments, You have only to occupy a certain station in life, then on the day of the ball to direct the jeweller to send you several * sets' on appoval, wear the nicest, lend the others to your friends for the night, and return the whole to the jeweller 'the next day, I with a polite note saying that none of them will suit," The Premier, in speaking at a banquet i at New Plymouth a few days ago, summed up tbe policy of the Governmeut as i follows r— To complete tbe estabiismont of local self-government throughout tbe Colony ; to complete the establishment of a system of primary education ; to promote the settlement of our waste lands by a yeoman population, and to cultivate and maintain a good understanding with the native race : to reduce considerably the annual expenditure on public work, and

to continue the construction of main lines - of railway throughout the colony until they were completed ; to r%duce ecdjauy expenditure to within th« nuMmm limits consistent with efficiency; to simplify our finances and place them oa ft sound basis for the future. A Noumera correspondent of the Auckland Herald writes:—" While we cannot boast of the precious metal, ye| the Wand »s nch in various minerals, and the large amount of nickel and cobalt ores awaiting shipment to France testifies toow w«*lttt. A share » one of our best cobalt mines was recently sold by a Mr Henoehsber* -rLI. f nia of £l(m • *»«• «»t B«J instances it has been topped by sales of interests m the nickel mines. convicts and communiats hare lately given very little trouble to the authorities? atKl the generality of them are accepting their lot with better peace than formerly? The convicts are performing good service in various parts of the island, and here are carrying out extensive harbor works, and reclaiming large portions of the foreshore from the sea. In another twelve months" time, absentees returning to Noumea will scarcely know the place." A country gentleman went to Paris to witness the carnival, and entered into conversation with a stranger near the Jena bridge i they became friends in a second, so much so that the stranger pointed to the gentleman's topcoat being soiled and aided to take it off, to be brushed. White in the attitude of waiting to put on the coat again, the stranger bolted with it, and the unfortunate gentleman, in e>av* mencing to run after, him, was tripped up by a ready pair The Timaru Herald, bemoans them's* fortunes of a "Tasnnnian Devil/ It observes s— "' A. Tasaiaoian Devil, a poor creature something like a dog, has been here for seme days, and has not had by any means his due. He has, on the contrary, been mide the victim of $ great deal of cruelty. The poor beast was bronght over, we believe by the captain of some ship, and has since been bought by the Government for the Wellington Museum* In the meantime, it remain* in the hands of a fishmonger in Timaru,. who has done, perhaps, the best he can for it, by putting it in a tiny box with iron bars. In th's sari cage the poor animal was exposed all yesterday, while 'the public' tormented* l»m with sticks and* 1 every o*J»er available instrument of misery. If the Devil is the property of the Government, why the Devil do they not see that it is taken proper care of? If the Devil is the property of a private person, what the Dovil does he mean by allowing it to be tortured in a public street?" Now, here is just another instance of the shortcomings and. injustice of Ministers. They cannot even "give the Devil his due." Arctic exploration is the subject of following lend' esprit in she New York Times .*— " There is only one really feasibleplan of reaching the North Pole. A succession of camps should be made from 1 Smith's Sound northwards at intervals of half ft mile from one another, in each of these camps two or three men, should be placed, with instructions to keep a lamp constantly burning iv the kitchen window, as a beacon for belated explorers, and to keep the Eidewalk swept as far as the next camp. The explorer who desired to reach the Pole would then have at* uninterrupted series of half«mile stations all the way to his place of destination, He could warm his feet at one station, lunch at auother, sleep at a third. Thus, by easy and ssf? stages* be could reaehr and discover, the Pole, and return to* Smiths Sound without difficulty. The* Arctic explorer cau always travel half a mile in a given direction. Divide the distance from Smith's S utd to the Pole into half-mile walks, and all the difficulties which are now insuperable would vanish. This is undoubtly the true way in which Arctic exploration should be conducted, and it is a wonder that no onehas hitherto thought, of it.'' The following Sdvice to correspondents' by the editor of the ' Paper and Printing Trades Journal' will be endorsed by the tnde generally :— " Don't try to writetoo plainly. It is a sign of plebeian origin and public; school breeding. Poor writing is an indication of genius. It's about the only indication of genius that * great many mci possess. Scrawl your article with- your eyes shut, and mak» every word as illegible as you can. We get the same price for it from the rag^mas as though it were covered with copper* plate sentences. Always write on both sides of the paper, and when you have filled both sides of every page trail a line up and down every margin) and back tothe top of the first page, closing your article by writing the signature just above the date. How we do love to get hold of articles written in this style. And how we would like to get hold of the man whosends them. Just for ten minutes. Alone, In the woods, with a cannon in our hip pocket. Revenge is sweet} yum, yarn* yum." An extraordinary will, executed by an. old joiner who resided until his recent death* in the Calton, Glasgow, has been published. The old man belonged to* peculiar sect called the Bankinites, wba ciaim to be lineal descendants of the fast tribes of Israel, and who keep very much} by themselves and meet in a club-room; inGreenvale street. After disposing of hi* tools, &c, is language which, though amusing enough, is too long to quote, the testator proceeds to give the following, directions regarding the disposal of hi* body :— •* Now, with regard to the body,, some prefer cremation* and their bodies put into an urn ; otbars again their bodie* to be put down to mother earth* It is my will that my body shall be disposed of neither the one way nor the ether; but I do hereby appoint the Bankinites tode* liver my body after death to Sir Samuel Brown, naturalist, Glasgow, who will take the skin from off my body, and have it properly stuffed, so that I may look lifelike, and hare »c placed m a chair m » comer of our club room* with my felt&at on, and a tumbler of sherry ia my hand, hoping that I may be sitting there foe many years to come amongst the descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel. I also hope that the remains of my body may be respectfully consigned to mother earth by my brethren the Rankinites." The Emperor of Germany is reported to be a practical printer. All the mem* bers of the Koyal family of Prussia are required to- learn some trade, and Williamchose typography m the most desirable craft, and spent three years at the case. A Miss Smith, described by the Register as " a conductor of a women's printing

ostablisbment " at Wandsworth Common, liai been fined 40s and 28s costs for em* , ploying women after six o'clock m the ; evening. Mist Smith will have few sympathisers. . A rtatistioat table appear* in the Pnm tew' Miscellany, which gives the follow ing figure! relative to the Province of Ontario;— •Kamber of printers, 1571; number ef offices, 191 ; number of hands employed, 1662 males, 122 females ; yearly waffos, 666,807 dollars. Miss Amelia Berrian, a phonographic writer of New York, is said to have written the extraordinary number of 1050 word* in four minutes, an average of 263$ words a minute. She wrote 307 word* in one minute of the four. The S»t feature appears to be that this ented lady writer can transcribe her " takes." Tbe Scotsman says of the second edition of Mr John Bellows' Prencli-Englisb dictionary for the pocket that—" In order to locate perfect accuracy throughout the edition, the outhor b?s bad the sheets read again/ after 3-500 copies were printed. A few accents which had been broken off in the machine were replaced, and in the copies previously printed they have been insterted with a fine-pointed pen." Buch pains must have produced an infinity of trouble, and the work is an unqualified ■access.