NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 59, 4 May 1878, Page 2

NEWS IN BRIEF.

A French, arithmetician has made the following calculation with respect to the performances of Blondin. Since the commencement, of his tight-rope walking ih'lßsß, ho has. appearedinfpublic 3,000 times, and on each occasion has traversed his rope eight 1 times, the. length Tjeing 100 metres. He has therefore walked 2,400,000 metres,— the distance 'between t Paris and New York — without injury. The Pacific Mammoth Cave, lecentiy discovered in. Josephine county," has been .found to be over. five miles in. extent, and the exploration is hot yet-, completed*. It is prpbable.that the telephone willi be introduced iaia the* London Police,, in lieu of the more; complicated and! slow; telegraphic system at present in use-* . . ' . (r Jamaica- began quinine 1 planting in* 1860, and now -has eighty, thousand trees, of which ' experienced chemists: report most, favorably. ' A, peculiar way of discharging^ "printers, exists in Dayton, Ohio, offices. Each compositor has » mil to- hang; his coat on, and .when the foreman concludes.' to dispense with the services of one of the hands', hetakes.a hammer «wi> drives the nail into the head.. At a recent fashionable wedding in. New York, the bride- was presented with a bomiet ' of 30Q towers*, each, flower of a different variety. A* general inventory has Iweatakeik by the French Ministry of all the: poblio libraries in France. *' J&orethaaaOO towns have been found to possess a. library numbering from 10,000 to> 20,000 volumes. A chief inspector of a French railway/ has found the means of pottingrtrains^ while in motion, in constant communication by means of the electric current,, with the stations, oa the line,, and also, with each other. Last year, it seems, $M#& couple* were united is holy wedlock in London,, no fewer than 29,661 of. these being, solemnised in the Established 1 Church. -'Mrs A. T. Stewart,, the widow of. the, late millionaire of New York, is. about to erect a Cathedral at Garden City,. Long Island, in memory of her husband. , Sir Bryan O'Loghlen goes home as. ambassador from Victoria, with a. petition to the House of Commons for anew Constitution. Osman Pasha... jlow a prisoner ia Russia, who has seven wives at home* is said to enjoy foreign captivity hugely* In fact, Osman, is hawing: a regular 11*1 • *-*^ ** holiday. , _ . , Gerald Supple, who, it may be remembered made an attempt upon' the* life of the late Hon. G. P. Smith, in Victoria, some years ago, .during, which, ex-Detective Walsh lost his ljie L has. obtained his liberty. There is an old saying that "it i& better to be born lucky than rich," and> Dr. Smith, of Balclutha, Ofcago, is, an example of the first portion of the adage, at all events. It was hewho was the lucky man who drew First King in Cameron's £2000' sweep on. the V.E.C. Champagne race, and he it ' is who is the fortunate holder of Longlands in Cameron's £2000 sweep, on th& Great Autumn Handicap.