Miscellaneous Items.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1581, 14 December 1885, Page 4

Miscellaneous Items.

The most remarkable thing about Lord Wolseley (says Tr&th) ( is the cleverness with, which he manages to wriggle out of every failure, or to cast the responsibility upon other shoulders. Of course, he i.s gfeatly aided m this game Isy the gang of parasites by whom he is always surrounded. Lord Wolseley is certainly not popular m the Army, and Jiis last campaign was an ignominious failure ; and yet he contrives 1 by judicious toadyism and dexterous manceuverings to secure just the same honors as were granted to Nelson after the Nile and Copenhagen, and a special remainder of his peerage to iiis daughter— a favor which has hitherto been extended to a new peer only under yery special circumstances. The - Adelaide correspondent of the Argus writes :— '' Quite a scare has been created by some recent disclosures m connection with two of our long-established building societies. The secretary -of one : lies under committal, charged with embezzling £1439, and the secretary of the other has absconded, leaving, it is said, a , deficiency of about £2000. Many cases of hardship are coming to light m con nection with both societies. It is the old ■tory. Everything was left to the secretary, and everything was alright till he got involved beyond his means, when things began to go wrong, eventuating m disclosure and heavy loss. Both men ■were well liked j and one of them, Mr Egremont, was a musical and dramatic . critic of considerable ability. It is to be hoped that as the result of fche'revektions : that have; come to light, a stricter investigation of the accounts, a closer inspection of the securities,* and a more thorough audit will be made m the future than has been made m the past, not only m connection with building societies, but m connection with other financial undertakings." * How few lawn tennis plajera know who originated the game, and where the firßt game was played ? This excellent pastime lias now, writes London Truth, been m existence for ten years, and \ it has probably been a greater source of i amoaeufcntthan anything of the kind ever invented. The originator and m ventor wm. Major Walter Wingfield, of Her Majesty's Bodyguard, who, m 1874. wrote a little book, compiled a set of rules, and coined the outlandish name "Sphairistike." The first game ever played was m 1874, at Colonel Naylor 1 Leyland's house m. Denbighshire. The first public game ever played m England was at Prince's Ground, m the summer of 1875, the players being Major Wingfidld, Mr Clement Scott, Captain Alfred Thompson, and Mr Albany Erskine. It was openly jeered . at liv a crowd of racket and cricket celebrities, who did tbeir utmo3tjto ridicule . the m every, way. But m less than one month two courts were taken at Prince's for every hour m the day, and the racket-players and crickets rs had to "sing small." Tasmania, small as she is, has been devoting herself so long and under such favorable circumstances to the jam industry, that she has now, after supply -ing her own wants, the enormous surplus for export of 4,500,0001b5, weight of jam every year.. New Sout i Wales has hitherto been taking about 2,500, SOOlbs of tiiat jain. 4 v .At the breaking up of the Timaru HiSh School on Friday, the Hon. W. Bolleston made a lengthy speech on edn ■ cation. He particularly dwelt on his belief that the religious and other difficulties m the way of national education would disappear. His theory of education was to give all the same chance m starting m the race of life. He hoped to see patriotism growing up m this colony, and added .that higher schools and universities were the most levelling of all democratic institutions.