Miscellaneous Items.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 1567, 27 November 1885, Page 4

Miscellaneous Items.

People often forget' to pay their little bills due to -newspapers, evidently under the impression that their " small amount ■won't matter much, and there is no nurry." Here is a copy of poition of a note sent to us by a subscriber, who, by the way is very wealthy, I)ut,. nevertheless, .ibrgot to pay his bill, and was only reminded of it 'when by some mistake his paper did not coma to hand:— "l thought I would take no notice ot it (the bill) till the next quarter came round, when I could send you P. 0.0., if no other chance turned up. Kindly send the bill m full, and I promise you I shall remit on receipt. Send on the last week's News, and if I don't pay you for it the Lord, will, and if he don't the devil will ; so.it non't matter so long as you get it from some of us." — Exchange. Of the late Stanley Huntley, the humourist, author of the famous Spoopendyke papers, the San Francisco Argonaut writes :— " He was one of the most ver- ; satile men upon the American Press. He began his professional life as a lawyer. He became a reporter at the age 'ot twenty-three, and m that capacity worked for the leading papers of New York, St. Louis, and Chicago. In 1879, while our soldiers were 'searching for Sitting Bull, he went into the Northwest territory, and found the redoubtable warrior, and obtained an interview, with him for the Chicago Tribune. Shortly after this Mr Huntley returned to New York, and took employment oh the editorial staff of the Brooklyn Eagle. It was' several months'later he began the humorous work that made him known from one end of the country to the other. The • Spoopendyke '_ stories achieved an instant success. -They were afterwards collected m book form, and their gale realised nearly 500,000 copies." As showing the liberality with which members of the Ancient* Order of Fores tere are treated, the following extract from the West Goaat Times is well worth perusal :— " Some years ago the branch Lodge of the Ancient Order of Foresters, at Ross, was abandoned. All those voting against such disbandment were taken over by the High Court, England, and amongst them was Francis TJpham, an old resident of Ross, an.l now an inmate ' ot the Otago Benevolent Institution. The secretary. (Mr W. Allen) for the Ancient Order, of Foresters, United .Westland District, has just received from the High Court, England, the sum of £26, being the sick allowance, on behalf of Mr TJpham. Of this sum the institution at Duriedin receives J?23 17s. This payment makes a sum, of £199 13s 4d received by TJpham from the High Court as sick allowance." ... | Under Admiralty direction, an extraordinary, experiment is to be made at Portsmouth, and the results are anticipated with remarkable interest. Targets coated with india-rubber sheets are to be fixed on sides of armour-clad resistance, and they will be subjected to progressive gunnery tests, commencing with a 6pounder quick-firing gun and increasing, if possible, up tp a 6-inch 9 -ton breachloader. Should' the trials be attended with success, as is expected hy some experts, the awning of men-of-war will be aim* t ravolutionised, india-rubber sheets specially prepared being largely substituted for armour-plates.