MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 82, 17 October 1877, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

Darius one week the mon engaged inclearing the channel of the CluUia river removed 14 snags., the smallest of which was 40t't long, the others ranging from 50ft to 90ft in length. In couoection with the extraordinary size of these snags, it may bo mentioned, says a Dunediu paper, that one of them was 7't at tlie thickest part; at. 43' ft frnoi the but it was -l-ft, and at 9ifc 2fr in girth. Suuh a tree being embedded in the gravel will give some idea of the arduous nature of the

work of removal ; but both the men and the appliances have been found to be equal to the work, and it is expected that a lino clear channel will be made by the end of this week. Describing (he situation in Piirope,,as a flee ted by the recent Turkisfr-successesv the Vienna correspondent of the Loudbir^ Daily Telegraph writes :— " The-^sfc > Turkish victories have completely. d%« troyed all the military prestige of Russia; ■>. I and. have, singularly chilled the Etossiao.; | sympathies which wore so powerful at^this Court. In diplomatic circles there is * serious talk of mediation for the re^stab.. *, lishment of peace by. means of the cOa-y 1 struetion of golden .bridges .for- Russia.* Turkey desires it sincerely, and *w6iild | grant the administrative autonomy of Bulgaria and Bosnia ; but. it is doubtful whether Russia could accept such termsafter the reverses which she has experienced. In case her armies sliouid bo forced to recross the Danube it i-% feared .that the abdicatioq of the Czar, of wliicli .« there is some talk, would bocomo a reality ~M and tint the situation would become still more complicated, considering tiie wellknown J.'auslavit tendencies and German antipathies of tbe hereditary Grand Duke. Everything will finally depend on tiie sphinx of Berlin-, who has not yet saidhis last word ; but- it is beyond a doubt that Germaa diplomacy is bringing all its influenceis iuto play to induce Aust m to act favorably to Russia-. The interview of Salzburg may thus have a decided influence on the policy which wlil be ulteriorly adopted." A correspondent is responsible fo. the followiug : — " It is rather amusing to find' claiming, relationship to Sulieman Pasha — a Jew and a Gentile. While the claim, of the former may be- looked upon as doubtful, mat of the latter is highly credible, it being generally understood that tbe original name was Sullivau, tho cause oc his abandoning his patronymic i attributed to the fact that ke had two relatives who migrated- 10 the AustralianColonies, the one being the present clairu--ant and the other— his iiueud— the West Coast murderer. Tho Fiji Argus has the following:— 1 On Wednesday evening last some little slir was created on' the beach through a report that a uoat had becu capsized outside tbe reef. As it was a dead calm at the time tins appeared highly improbable. It seems that a resident ou the beach was lookiug out at the reef wj h a glass, and« a ! l at once descried, or thought lie did, a boat with persons in h tossing atnougsfc the breakers. He at ouee i ashed off aud told the Harbour Master an 1 others who,. with commendable alacrity,- manued a couple ot boats and pu-iicd olEto tho scene of the supposed disaster,, but after pulling about for a time they could-discover notu« in^,. It is now thought that tbe illusive boat was a fly that settled on. the lens of tho glass, and moving. i!s le-;s> about surges ed »o ihe abtoii'shed observer this pa'uiul accident. Hiou^u we nre glad mat, it was noiuin/ more, we trust that tne party re' erred to wi I see that no fliesare ac-ou-. wiieu lie next scans the reef with a telescope." X& is not generally kuown (says an English exc;ian;,e) tli.it (tie lute milliouairo Mr I'cabody, ruaue ihe basis ol his colossalfortu.ie as a iioa«tauier. Being of an aciue aud discerning m ud, and iilsoof ai frugal disposiiiou, he resutved on insuring his Hie out ot the proceeds of his earnings. He received a large salary for his dangeiMus employmout, and bud- no difficulty in paying' iiie necessary preauum. His uuuii.tieeni muscular development audsptciKiid paysique, easily passed the disceiui.ig e^es oi tue e.xauiiuiug. physicians, ami he was recommended as a tirst-elass nsif. In this way he elfectedt three distinct policies ot 10,000 dollars each, and. it was a comtort to luui every time he entered the den to know that if the lioosate bun up, his aged mother need uot lA-e m washing. One day, however, tln»ae was a gxand procession of which Mr Pcabody was the central figure in &- den ot' seveii perforunng. lions. The crowd was a very large one,. and the lions were very irritable- Among the spuctatofs were three insurance agents, each ot' whom turned pale as they beheld the lion • tamer, the young man- they bad so recently insured. Hornlied at the thought of the probable and prospective loss of- theiss companies three excited secretaries wew that evening at the show. Ou Llieir kueesthey implored Mr i'eabody to return the , policies, and accept douno lus premiums, bui theemb.yo in.llkmi.ire was muxo.uuieand told them trauldy that tuougu Ho expected to be eaten up iv a few weeks,, aud that his life was not wort » a iucifer match, it would be his pride to perish iuthe execution of bis duty, and with the a.-surance that his- uiotuer would never pawn her mangle. The rest of the story, is short. Mr feabody .finally compromised with the companies, and surrendered the policies- for 15>000- dollars- coin. H^j retired from the show business, bought acorner grocery, and flourished) as all theworld knows. A pretty little piece of seamanship-was-displayed on board the ship MillwaH, on her passage from London to Melbourne (.says the Age,), and by the expeditious way iv which it was executed,, it became the means of saving the life of one of tho crew who had accidentally fallen overboard. It occurred m the uorth east trades, when the ship was going seven knots through the water. Arthur M'Vie fell into the water from the jib guys. The chief officer, seeing the accident, threw a lite- buy close to the mm as lie passed away astern of the vessel- Orders were at the same time given to cut the gripes securing the gig to the gallowsjand-tlirow her overboard with a Hue attached. Tbiswas done, and tite ship hove aback so expeditiously that tiie chief oflL-er, with four men wuo had scrambled tv the boat directly she reached tue water* had, iv the short space ot twenty minutes, retiirnedto the ship with the rescued man. Mr W. H. Locke, who is acting agent iv Australia ti>f the persons who maintain tho Ticubo.'iie agitation ivEngland, is, says the Melbourne Argus, about to take to Great ilritain the nian William Creswell, alias diniia, alias Oi-ton, who is now confined in the I'aramatta Luoatic Asylum. Mr Locke,, accompauied Mrs Jury, Oi-toa's- sister to Sydney, and is saiistW with her recognition of tho man. He identifies him alsoby his correspondence with photographs of Orton which have been scut out to hua, and by evidence which it is not advisable to dNi-lost? Mr JxK-ke, it will be reinoin-ben-d, made n staiuitory declaration uiut |,o was present in Court » hen De Ustro ,ud Ortoo were charged w.th horse-

I stealing at Castlemaino, and he has tlmv ' l becr^m[xed^up'-'WJth**tlTo.' s castf'"fromrth"e' ' commencement -tMr. Locka ? take3_ the man.home at'hls bwri risk, end thus gives tangible ""evidence of tho very great firinnessof his belief in. the indpntity of his jS < fbtet?e' i wtfh v {hY : Wappmg' butdhcr. - Tho incident will be a new and unexpected cbap^eV in the Tichbornft'rdlnarico'.' The nuisanco of people applauding at inopp'or;£un^ titties, whether at a musical ov dramatic, entortainnfifnt, is one fj-om. ■which nearly all persons hare suffered who patronise such amusements. A coiv respondent writes to tho Musical World on the subject, suggesting ari'medy at t.'io ' closo of'liis letter. He s tys : '* To those lovers of music with scanty moans who ascend to the tropical rosjions of Covent Garden amphitheatre, it i^ a frequent source of annoyance to hour itifliyidnnls applauding wilh more eivhiHiism,, than discretion' at inopportune tinips, generally immediately nftop the list rote of anything sung that pleisrs tl>ein.iihiiH drowning the finishin-j liars to bo p'ayo<l l>y the orchestra, and completely marring the symmetry of the piece. Last night. n» the finale of the first, act of • Tannlmu<er,' the 'gods,' as u.iiml, beyai) to nppl'inrl before the singing hid ceased, and ;t litile sensation w,is created by a gentleman resenting their bad t'istfl (hoimh in n somewhat noisy manner) by shouiiim Order 1 ! !! in stentorinn ton^s. and afterwards (when thn band had finished) calling out Now ! ! seftinfi; the i-x'implo by then clapping visjorously. Cdnuofc Mr Gye set up a signal post of some kind to teach people whim to bo quiet nnd when to give vent to their enthusiasm ?"