NOTES ON CURRENT EVENTS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 46, 26 January 1885, Page 2

NOTES ON CURRENT EVENTS.

We have had two more scandals m connection with the Stock Exchange (writes fcho London correspondent of an oxcliauge). The confidential clerk of a well-known firm robbed his employers of about £27,000, chiefly iv securities ; and another person, a clerk m the Alliance Bank, has disappeared, aud is understood to have defrauded the bank to the extent of about i'3ooo. Both culprits have got clear off, and will probably not be heard of again. It seems as though it were nobody's business to capture those gentry. The recent frequent occurrences of those scandals does not speak well for our commercial morality, and it is singular that m not one of the rather numerous instances which have taken place during the past eighteen months has the offender been brought -to justice.

Schilizzi is a groat capitalist of Leghorn, whose father, a corn merchant, ; . left him eighty millions of lire a few years ago. He spends the whole of this m good works, and went, to Naples lately to see if he could not help to cleanse the place and drive away the cholera by purification. He gave himself out as only the maestro di cassa of Siguor Shilizzi but his generosity appeared so marvellous that the poor ignorant folks declared ho must be a sorcerer, and wanted to throw him into the sea. He returned beaten and crestfallen to Leghorn, where he now lies very ill.

" What's your religion ?" as given by Mr Thomas Bracken, m his humorous Irish readings here lately, caused hearty laughter, and a gentleman was vividly reminded of Pat's attempt to evade the question the other morning when he found himself face to face with two zealous " misaioners," one of whom put the question as above, to our friend's momentary discomfiture. Being also a Pat, he was equal to the occasion, and courteously replied hy quoting a passage from Disraeli's Endymion, where one person is made to say * s sansiblo men are all of the same religion ;" to which assertion another replied, " pray, what is that '?" and is told " sensible men never tell !" Neither did our informant, who lifted his hat to his clorical friends aud passed on with q goo,il-humorc[cl chuckle..

Uuseasqaable. weather is. apparently not confined to the South of New Zoalaml. ''Silver Pen" writes troni San Francisco to the Auckland Weekly News — When wo consider that we have not had one real summer day tho whole soason, how can man or beast thrive? Fancy a whole summer cold all through: nothing but wind, wind, wind; even Wellington has its bright weather amidst, its horriblo hui'ricanes, but here, especially this present summer, tho weather has been unredeemed. Usually the months of September and October are exquisite — warm as an Indian snmme.r, as they aro oallotl j hut although, tho. days are lovely after 12 o,' clock, up to the time cold and fog prevail, and evening brings again a dense haze which goes far to encompass you with asthma for the rest of you life.

The Timaru Herald says : — Despite the cry for work which is almost constantly ringing m our ears m Timaru, it is a strango but none the less significant fact that when the employment is offered by the Government few, if any, men can be induce;! to take advantage Qf ii. The last instance of th,Q itJiyl snrely. pvovfia, if anything was wanted to do so, that there is little real distress here. Acting under instructions, Mr B. H. Lough, Town Clerk, prepared free passagos to Little River early this week for men who were desirous of obtaining work there. He advised the fiftoon men to whom they were to be issued to be at the railway station m time for the first train on Friday morning, but not one of them turned up. Sevoral of thorn who were aftorwards met made various excuses, souio ot which, were wo to publish them, wonld rather startle those who are so rtftly to up'i^ld. a gar tain class o,fmon as( tto^Qi'viug of the. wannest sympathy.

In one weelc, writes a New York correspondent, New Zealand, which so recently was considered the ahoJe of savages, takes our {,'oocls to the amount of 78.980d01s m one week, and the exports include 11 organs, 10 cases qf shoe blacking, {) qf stu-tiQUoyv, UQ sewfnginaelvfte^, 2Q cases or" clacks, 537 of fu.rllttiive, H iitanos, 13 hnrrcjls, Q oasos of slates, anl a score of oarrkges. This certainly does not look like savage life.