The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1885.

Kumara Times, Issue 2865, 8 December 1885, Page 2

The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1885.

In regard to recent French proposals for tampering with British interests in Upper Burmah, the London Standard says that Lord Salisbury addressed a despatch to the French Government, couched .in very firm terms. He informed M. de Froycinct that British interests must remain paramount in that country, and that England could no more tolerate the intervention of a French company, with concessions based upon exclusive treaties, than France would allow such a company of another nationality to establish itself in Tunis. M. de Freycinet, in reply, admitted the claim of England to special interests iu Burmah. He denied that the concessions referred to had been given to any company, and he blamed the conduct of M. Haas, the French consul at Mandalay, in laying such proposals before the Burmese Ministers. Latest advices from Mandalay report the Burmese are preserving a peaceable attitude towards the British forces. General Prendergast has invited the Burmese Ministers and officials to assist the British officers in governing the country. In reference to the revolution in Roumelia, the counsels of the British Minister and Prince Alexander have prevailed with the Porte, and the Turkish delegates who were despatched to Philippopolis, the capital, have been recalled. It has also been decided that Djevdet Pasha, who was appointed Governor of Roumelia, shall return to Constantinople for the present. For the purchase of a full share in the Tichborne extended claim, Ross Terrace, tenders will be received till 8 p.m. on Saturday, 21st inst., addressed to Mr D. Hannan, Mining Agent.

The adjourned meeting of the Christmas Sports Committee will be held in the Town Hall this evening, at half-past eight o'clock, when tenders will be opened for the right to erect booths, &c, on the Recreation Ground during the holidays, and other general arrangements proceeded with. Some gentlemen, the West Coast Times reports, arrived from Dunedin on Saturday afternoon for the purpose of arranging an expedition to some locality south. The Waipara has been chartered for the trip, and will leave next Thursday. Great reticence is observed both as to the exact locality and also the nature 1 of the mineral they are in search of, though it is conjectured that a discovery of gold in some new form has been made. Captain Malcolm, formerly known for many years on the Coast as captain of the Maori and other vessels, is a member of the party. They have made arrangements for six months' stay. Here is a piece of luck. The owner of a stall at the London Inventories, a Mr Downie, an American, discovered, by the purest accident, that the juice of the eucalyptus leaves removed the hardest boiler scale, without in any way injuring the metal. It was an accidental discovery and nothing more. He was able, nevertheless, to patent it as an "invention," and now he is in a fair way of making an immense fortune out of it. As boiler scale causes the loss of millions annually to employers of steam-power, the money value of the happy little accident may be imagined. " Mercutio," in the New Zealand Herald, of the 28th ult., writes : "Reuter has not yet vouchsafed any explanation of how it was that he came to report to Australia that Mr Stead had received sentence of three months' imprisonment, and to New Zealand that he had received sentence of three years; or how Bishop Abrahams was reported dead all over Australasia, and then was brought to life again. For every wrong there is a remedy, and I would like to know whether a man might not have an action against people who blazoned a statement through the world that he was dead. Suppose a man had a number of relatives in the colonies, and was reported dead, and the relatives went to great expense for mournings, could they send the bills in to Reuter or the newspaper offices 1" In reference to the opening of the large bath at Rotorua, the same humorous writer remarks : —"Rotorua has secured a magnificent advertisement by getting Mr Sata to open the Blue Bath, and I am convinced that nothing that has yet been done will tend so much to augment the stream of tourists. Cannot Mr Boucicault be utilised after the same fashion 1 There is every variety of colour in the healing waters of Rotorua, and I have no doubt that a ' Green' Bath might be found for him to operate upon." An interesting story involving a romance of the turf and the highest aristocracy has just been brought to light. A well-known sporting Duchess became infatuated with the most successful jockey in the world and proposed to marry him. He was a widower, and she had long been a widow, Her preference was never emphasized until the last race meeting at Newmarket. Fred Archer rode Gray Hermit, and ran a dead heat with Modena. When he failed to win, Archer found his fee was JSOO instead of the customary £lO. Just after this her ladyship broached the delicate question of a matrimonial partnership. Then Archer reflected. Her ladyship is over sixty years old, and Archer is only thirty. He wrote a respectful answer to her ladyship's offer of an alliance, but the letter was characteristically horsey. Snakes and Tarnation.—Haul clown your Flags ! —He is coming ! Babylon is fallen ! Tell it not in Kumara ! Go ye, fathers, to your daughters of Kumai-a, and say unto them—Behold the Flying Dutchman ! He who cometh across the seas in a frying-pan hath got fine linen and glorious apparel; needlework fit for the all-glorious within of the king's daughter of the ancient of days. Clothe yourselves, ye naked ! Feed yourselves, ye hungry ! Shoe yourselves, ye bare-footed, at the Great Feast of Vance Klaus Hasselaer ! Come, all ye, to the Dutchman's Great Gift Auction for your Christmas wants ! And there you will be able to select from a largo and well-assorted stock of all descriptions of merchandise. The sale in Kumara will commence on or about Saturday, December 12th. Due notice will be given by Mons. Japardo Francisco pourles veto Polo. God Save the Queen ! —[Apvi.] Never Return.—lt is said that one out of every four real invalids who go to foreign countries to recover health never return, except as a corpse. The undertakers, next to the hotel-keepers, have the most profitable business. This excessive mortality may bo prevented and patients saved and cured under the care of friends and loved ones at home, if they will but use American Co. ; s Hop Bitters in time. Read