Miscellaneous Items.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1574, 5 December 1885, Page 4

Miscellaneous Items.

The Texas wool-growers have learned to induce 8 x million sheep to furnish 40 million pounds of wool, a gainst 24 million pounds three years ago. The sum of £5000 per month is paid to members of the Civil Service resident m Wellington. A gentleman who has recently retnrner! from a visit to New Caledonia informs an exchange that business m that colony is at a complete standstill. The French Government arc. evincing a desire to make New Caledonia absolutely a ppnal settlement, and this, doubtless.haß - had something to do m hringing about this unpromising state of affairrs. The Colonial Government are discharging their clerks, as th: i y have overrun their Budget, and the mines — the chief resources of the colony — have ceased working. Profesaoi* Strong, m an artfcle m Good Words, makes the following references to the natural beauties of of ibis colony : — " New Zealand has the very extraordinaiy property of causing all who have sot foot on her shores to pass beneath the Indiscribable spell of her witchery. I never met any who having tasted life m this new island home would consent to'/ change his abode. Switzerland has loftier peaks* and fairer towns ; Tyrol may boast of prettier outlines ; j Scotland has her classic heather and brown hillsides; Norway, historic memories which linger m her winding fiords ; but, having gazed at and fancied myself m love with each of the syrens m turn, I am ever drawn back, to my ideal beauty, New Zealand: Nature does not often play the prodigal. To New Zealand she has given all her charms, and keeps them fresh and imperiously beautiful as Cleopatra's, tn no other country has she sent flown towering mountains besides profonnd fiords, and backed the scene by dense forests sloping down on the other side of the range into fertile pastures. In no other spot does she find so deft a tiring woman as m the climate of New Zealand, who loves to exkibit her mistresH m an atmosphere of blue relieved by a carpet of brown and green. I am quite awave that this collocation of colour ought to sound hideous and repulsive m the last degree, but I'm certain those who like the author ' Erewhon ' have lived m New Zealand till they learnt to catch the spirit of her scenery will bear me out that the effect is passing beautiful. Then was there ever a land of streams so crystal clear -which challenge j'ou to count every pebble that HeR beneath their arrowy current ? And is thpi-e not an unspeakable charm m finding oneself among a sea i of snow or cloud capped peaks, many unnamed and most untrodden by anyone?"

The result of Mr T. Nelson's test m Wanganui by Mr Forbes of stone fVoin Pohangina if any thins is even more satisfactory tluin previous tests. The little nugget of re tort oil gold is deposited quito visibly to the eye. The. results would average at rate of about 8 or lOozs to the ton. Day by day evidence accumulates that the precious metal is there, all official assertions to the con trary notwithstanding. The dubious ones should ask Mr Nelson to show them the broken cruiable, with the smelted quartz, and the pretty little nugget so temptingly embedded m a cavity therein. Mr Phillip Moeller, of the Occidental Hotel, Wellington, died this morning. We are glad to hear that quite a number of ladies and gentlemen intend be coming members of the Choral Society, the inaugural meeting m connection with which is to be held m Bank Chambers next Tuesday evening, We have been requested to intimate m our local columns that a meeting of the Standing Committee of Manawatii Kilwinning Lodge will be held m the Commercial. Hotel at 7.450 o'clock this evening. We have received two other letters m reply to a statement m last night's Tinics charging us with publishing distorted and garbled reports. They will appear m Monday's issue. We really think it would have been wiser had Cr West and his foster-father let matters alone. Cr West has our sympathy m the manifest indiscretion of his editorial friend, who will insist on ventilating matters much better left undisturbed. Mr George Fisher was expected to re turn to Wellington from his Australian trip yesterday. There are a number of extra clerks at present engaged m the Property Tax office, necessitating an expenditure of over £500 per month. It is expected that extra clerical assistance will be re quired for a year, so we may infer that about i-GOOO will be expended m this direction. — Press. The Mararoa left Sydney yesterday with the Homeward San Frrncisco mails. The certificates of the captain and mate of the barque Hudson, which went ashore, near Tixnaru, have b«en suspended for 8 months. The Wellington Evening Pre libel case iv likely to be tried m Dunedin. The unemployed difficulty m Auckland is the topic of the moment m the northern capital. A circus man was fined £5 at Timarn for forcibly ejecting one of the audience who he alleged had crawled under tin c&nvass and not paid his way. Thai should be a lesson to him. The Rev H. B. Uopmger hns jnßt P'P 1 lished a short plain manual, of the Hoi) Communion, which will be found von useful to members of the Church ol England— a number^of whom, we an assured, would gratefully hail a manual of family prayers from the same author. A simple series of family prayersshorn of. the redundancy of word? generally contained m such manuals, and suited to the exigencies of daily life — is a want much felt m households professing the Anglican faith m these districts. Mr E. Chrse, Crofton, is m want of a good wheelwright. Mora about the Pohangina. Some stone forwarded by Mr McDonald was brought into town yesterday by Mi Nelson, of Ashurst, and tested by Mi Forbes's establishment. Mr Nelson expressed himself bo well satisfied will the result that he intends to send semw stone to Dr Skuy for analysis. While on the subject we may mention that ;.

Foilding resident who was m town yesterday stated thatjMr Macarthur had discovered, just before he left, a piece ol stone thickly impregnated with gold.— 'Chronicle.