MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

Lyell Times and Central Buller Gazette, Volume VI, Issue 266, 27 March 1886, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

Irrotirii'arity of conduct is a term whirh has not been exartly defined, hut the Education Board are ofoi-inion (says a Taranaki paper) that it a tchnolinaster bnats the boys all round, Jocks tv\o ol the senior girls in a room and kis*es them, his behaviour may safely be c'asse.i as irregular 'J ho Mount Bisclj> ff Tin tn"nin<_' Company of Tasmania has just decla ed its one hundredth oivi.ieud. Since April ISBO it has paid in direct taxa tion to the Hate £10,125 in the form o! dividend tax. Thiee dividends of £1 and 97 o' 10s each have beeu pa:d, being equal to £sl 10s per share net, clear ot dniiletid »ax Although the grand total ot £G 18,000 has been pa d to the shareholders of this Company with a nominal capital of £OO.OOO, ot which only £7(JOO has ever been taken cut ot the pockets ot the shareholder?. This fact is almost unique in the history of speculative investment, and :t is doubtful if th» re are half*a«doz n companies iu the world where the capital really invested bears such an enoirnous disproportion to the aciu il returns. At one period of its hi«toiy its overdraft had attained to £30,000 The Tuupeka Times of a receut isxue records the troubles of a Chinaman as under; —Just as the south tram was leaving Milton the other evening, a Chinaman on the plattorm commenced bailooing, waving his hands iranticallv, arid evidencing in many other ways that he was in de«p distress about something Everybody was at a los to understand what was occasioning such uneasiness, when some worttiy itinaie on the platform suggested that the pi or fellow s better half had gone on iu the train wi hout him. Universal sympathy was at ouce aroused, but John, heedless of the public condolt nee, ran madly after thedepartiug train. Very shortly the occasion of his distrecs was revealed by the appearance of a large bundle, which wa> ptojected with considerable force from one of the carriage windows. <fc Th« unfortunate woman! they have thrown her out!" shrieked the female on the platform. A little further on another bundle came f orta from the same aperture with equal vehemence. " The poor baby !" cried the same shrill voice, on the verge of hysterics. But John still unsatisfied continued in pursuit, giving the impression that there was still more of his goods and chattels left Then came a shower of small things, representing John's household wares, on the roceipt of which he abandoned the chase. Very luckily the first impression that it was John's wife and fami y that had been pitched out of (he train was not correct The unhappy Celestial then proceeded to gather bis btlongings, which were scattered at intervals along the line. The bundle, which bad burst open, disclo?ed a female's dress and improver, a concertina, a bottle of " Johnny Wa ker," a baby's hood ar.d rattle, a tooth bru>h, a leg of mutton, a shirt, a pocket Siiakespfeare, a fine-tooth tomb, a ) amphlet on " How to cure baldness," some female undergarments, and a bottle of codliver oil. Having secured all his belongings, John smiled blandly, satirically thanked the onlookers for their assistance, aud quietly took his seat in the Lawerence train for Waitahuna.

The richest woman in the world, says the Globe, has lately been discovered Douna lsidora Cousino, of 1 bili, is the lucky individual. No one, not even she her. elf, knows the exact amount ot her wealth, which is derived from land, cattle, mines, house and ship property to any extent. In addition to th®se sources ot income, she owns the only coal mines in South America, from which she draws about £16,000 a mouth. It is stated that lJonna Cousino is a remarkable business woman, and in her dealings with the coal she must have borrowed some of the shrewdness of her Scotch overseers. It costs her about 5s 6d a ton to mine and deliver the coal, and she sells it at about 30s a ton thus making a profit of some 500 per cent. The 4< Countess of Monte Christo," as the Chilians call her is a widow, and about 45 y*ars of age, but says she wiil never marry again. Never, tbcless, she is not altogether averse to masculine society, for on one occasion, when the United Slat ex fleet was at Valparaiso, she invited all the officeis to spend a week with her. Probably the " Countess " would be relit ved at finding some way in which to expend her millions, for she is a great patroi.ess o( racing, aud always backs her own horses. But here again money breeds money, and she always wins in South America there are no fashionable jockeys to take the lion's >hare of tha prey, but let Donna Isido.a Cousino only come on the Englihh turf, and she will soon Bcu her mil Tons growing small by degrees and beautifully less.