Miscellaheoas Items.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1631, 10 February 1886, Page 4

Miscellaheoas Items.

f .THe "Hundred vrefcfl't Nugget" «ras fpiihd injjuly bj an aboriginal servant 6|'|fir, K.eiT,, about eight miles from that ,gen < I etna n • head . station , fi ftythree miles from Bathursfc. The goM was. embedded m an isolated block o/y quaVtis, : ' which' was lying on the gtirface' of the grpund. The black f&llfrw, Vrhp hacj'heaid much ado,Hboiit gold, saw the, flittering treasure while he was rambling m l he bush, and at once went home to acquaint his master whereupon Dr. Kerr hurried b^cJt i»ith ;: the lucky discoverer. In excitement' -of separating thequ^vW block 'm- which tL was ehcasod; ' and, wi/iclr- weigh eij about three hundred weight m all, they unibrtuuately fyr^ke^tbc lump' into fragments. One' lump-, wa*,- about' , <72U"> gross, outr of whiishfißGlb. of pure gold was taken. Tlie total w«!ighted()f metal extracted was' 108Lb. Had it been, preserved ■wlio'ld; it wo'nd'hnye beon the largtM hijtip of gold tlien found jn theworld,. fellow wan rewarded by 'his » master with two ffocks of • lityrees;; — a*"q rfantity bT"vati6nß, an3T ahi'teaui orballbok^to plough- sbino, ground f >r m«ze ajnd E^ato^^A/ H^toWioTTasiTiania, by James Fen statements,, which fanners! ■wbui'd do'-vvell to study, havereee'itjy hejen published m. the daily newspapers' (observes WrutKtf In Wes/t-l nioyelivnd and, Oatnberland, for. in sttincef'.pricißs ; /or, stock haye been :^o abnormalJy low thsvt farmers have beert- conij)elled : to /accept four pence'J per ! p^buhd for .well-fed cattle. On the other hand several Durham fanners have taken to killing sheep themselves and 1 retailing legs of .muttpn.at ,7^il. per pound ; while m Kent a farmer, fading that ! he could get no 'more? tßan;3ls: a quarter for his wheat,' h^s'haiiic ground himself, and has retailed it at ninepence a gallon, a pticie- which- brings up the yaliM o&hU, wh'^a t a iiaarier/'; The' moral of which is that if ifarmera would have the common sense to cditthnKT'theraseTves into large retail firms, and thu>< d» away with the influmerfl We /middlemen v?irb r ipierrpoV^ J b*etwVeil "iheur l and J tlve ; ' p^bifc^ and extort immense profits from, hoth, they nti^ i»¥ Cl'.e * uniivei'sal deprep i »ion,'~fre7,able-io make^ aWpi^fit oiifof th'efr hol'difrgs. r The l Britishjfarmer, is, as a rule, a somewhat. , lethatgid lndividnaj, butif bad times have, the- effect , of .galvanizing him fnto' a course of action which will benefit both himself j and the public, tbeyf will prove a blessing m disguise. r Thetalented Frenchman who, under i the.; norn de 'plume of Max-O'Reilly •wrote those olesrer skits an Eriglis'h. manners and customs, "John Bull and his Island" and "John Bull' AY_pmenkind,". has-recently published another work called "Noschens voisins,', m wbicli he gires the follow« ing description, of the^ British schoolboy. Ho jwrltes "It is a stindy,, hardy, robust, well-knitted lad, with m ti&clfis, Btec,l a^d, mijle^lik^obsl inaqv; wm^aooner 'fh'ari jet go' th'e 'football which he fiercely. p.u'ddU]> }^U perform prodigies of vimv; yma, merely for the chance of making that ball pas? He— tMreeri'st^o; fgdals, will bite the dost, will let his flesh be torn, his jaw dislcated, his ribs stove m; and would' even' be carried off to die upoa a bed of anguish, with a smile upon his lips, if he could nly heav, as his young I eyes closed, that his side had secui-ed the game," Then he goes on 'Multiply such an Engi^h . y.tuth up to the stars of tie (iitimnpiu, and yo i vv il get an idea of fie murr.ial if n v the military stt'ength of England.'