PICKINGS AND GLEANINGS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 274, 9 March 1877, Page 3

PICKINGS AND GLEANINGS.

Tl l' G tON POJf t>V Tl>- E> w. I Wo clip fcho foltnwi.nL,' front a If 0 " 1 -'- pHyus, wl.ii.ch gives ample evidence in itseU' of thy i apt it progress London is stilt making: —tu the course of twenty-four hours no fewer than 942 trains pads thn'ULfli t'lapham •Inaction, "t» the southwest »f Li i ado a ; in the bust am part of tlm day they go through at the rate of B«venty4ivo trains an hour. There are thirtewu linos of rails, ami the S»outhWesfcum Railway alone has thirty-tive s»et» of poiuM and thirty signal'.*,, all controlled fi'om one box. MOT A GAD" NOTtOS. Must municipalities seek t*> punish the man who drinks—the Kottinghaui magistrates are jjumj; to see whether they cannot living home the enormity of his offence t<> tho man who sella drink. It is stated that owing to the rapid of drunkenness in that town and neighbourthe authorities have been unable to dual wii.lv fclio nuestion effectively without interfering with fcho liberty ef the sub feet. At toe somo deliberation,, they have thereto >ru adopted a suggustion to the ettect that every drunkard brought before the niagmfcrafcea should. state at what house he was last supplied with liipior. The process will bring home to tue publican the risk he runs,. and will doubtless enforce unusud vigilancu among the entire class. FtVR JTKS WITH TOK\ft\WKH ASP "ttOTIfKU. wmt A TEIKEE - HUS.J," &(.■. During the hearing of a ease in the Resident Magtrate's Court, Milton, recently, it transpired that Mr. George Cnpstick, Cleric to the Tokomairiro Koad t«<>aetl, had been instructed to remove a tenow that had been ptaued across a certain road in the Alcatore district. " Did you remove the obstruction t" asked the plain-

tiff. "No," replied 3lr. Geo. Capstick. «« What were your reasons I" asked the plaintiff. "Five men with tomahawks, and another man with a three-pronged thing used for thinning turnips," responded the witness. Mr. Capstick subsequently agreed to remove the leuce if any other gentleman would undertake to do- the tight in-, bitt Ids offer was not taken up. A HfT.RO. An act of great presence of mind and courage <>ti the part of an engine-driver, Thomas Been, who I«>at his ami through it coming in contact with the sweeprud connected with thy pumping gear of the New t'hum and Ik-tie Vue Railway Reserve Company, .Sandhurst, is described by the Ingb l womi correspondent of the HtntJitjo ASeittmr. The accident happened in the night, when n«» one was near, and the first thing Br en thought of when his arm was crushed to pieces were the men down beto-w, whose liv*s wotnd probably be endangered if he fainted or went away and teft the machine in motion, so, notwithstanding the great agony tie was in, and the stream of blond flowing from him, lie walked rutin*l the rooui, carrying his shattered arm in his other hand, and stepped the engine, and after seeing that aIL was safe he went out. and walked hottiy about 200 yards, arriving at the door of which, he called out to his wife to let him in as his ami was smashed. He then felt down from weakness caused by loss of blood, but still remained sensible. The poor woman on coming out found her husband lying down at the door, apparently bleeding to death, the wounded limb ty tng across the left sttotdder. She hastily bound it Up with a sheet, but that having no effect she screamed for assistance, and some neighbours coining they tied a ligature above the wounded part, and got ttie sutfjrer conveyed to the hospital as speedily as possible. On a.riving at his lodgings, after the amputation had been performed, a Megraui from Inglewood was priced in his hands summoning him to the death-bed of his mother. EX-t:OE,O2*RL BAKER. Mr. Baker. late Colonel 10th Hussars, ha* had considerable difficulty with the Turkish authorities, who desired that he should accept the post of second in com* mind of a cavalry regiment under a I'aslia, white Mr. Baker r.ofc unnaturally _ considered himself entitled to a full regimentat command. Mr. Baker has returned to London, but wilt shortly again procjed to tile East. J»g:w I'OlNAfiE SYSTEM. We It am from the Jjnmnmiat that a movement is afoot for between the Cntted Stat;B and the British Government, for adapting a untonn coinage by the two countries. The Bill, passed on the motion of Senator Sherman, provides ■' that the money of account in e. eli country shall be the dollar, which shall be represented by a coin formed of standard gold. ' '* All accounts for trans* actions in eoiti to be kept in dollars anil cunts, or in tractio#»«l parts of a cent. The pound sterling is to be taken as equivalent to five dollars, the shilling to 23 vents, the sixpeuee to [2f, cents, and the farthing to a half-cent. Coins which are multiple parts of a dollar may be made, and will be a legal tender in both countries. The condemns the proposal on the ground that it is r«trog»-.iU;ng it* civilisation to go from a large unit oi account to a small one, and advocates an international coinage such as has been alreadv proposed, namely, that called " the "farthing stan." Bv this arrangement a new pound sterling would contain MOO farthings or LI Os. 10d., and the new tlorin 2s. 2d., the new sovereign being of almost identical value with the American " half-eagle, and having as its exact fifth part the American dollar, and the English half-penny would be equal to the present Autevitun cent. This system would cause very little fresh coinage, and would ensure a common money of account, and give Great Britain and her Colonies the vast advantage of the introduction of the much-needed decimal system.