MISCELLANEOUS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 305, 16 April 1877, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

ffit WAS A GOOD EOT. He was standing at the corner of Chapman and Jefferson aventt s when a polic.man came along, and pointing t«> a box at hts feet this good boy said : '* The farmer who lost that box off his sleigh will feel awful bad. I s'pose you'll take it to the station, won't yon i" " You are an hone3t boy," rwptied the officer. " Sonic boys would have Inu'ged that lw>x off home. Yes, I'll take it to the station." It was a stoat box, weighing ov«.r eighty posinds, and when the officer set it down in the etut ton-house all his bones ached. Some said it was butter, and some said cheese, and s«» it was opened. The contents were cobble-stones. Ttie ollicur ran all the way back, and h<s spent hours looking for the good boy, bnt without any luck. The g. b. knew his business. ANOTHER DtSTCTK. A remarkable disputed will case has j«at been decided here (writes the Sydney correspondent of the lirhhama ' werter), after occupying the attention of the Primary Judge in Equity and a special jury of twelve for nearly a week. A few weeks ago there died, leaving money and property to the amount of L 120,000, an old man, Robert Hancock, who carried on business in Sydney for several years as a wheelwright, and had lived here for upwards of half a century. At the time of his dsath he kept a small pnbHc-home at the Otebe, living very economically, if not miserly, notwithstanding his immense wealth. He had formed an intimacy with a Mrs. Hannah Htneksmaii, by whom he had a son. and also with a voting woman named Mary Payne. He left a will be((tteathing half his property to Mrs. tlincksman. and the remainder to Mary Payne. Probate of this will was granted to the executors, bnt subsequently a document, purporting to be the last will and testament of Robert Hancocks, was found, and the legatees under tins will sought to stay probate. The legatees under tlic t'vrst will declared this document to be a forgery. Under the second will Hannah tlincksman receives only LSOOO ; M try Payn-,% LCOOt); and George liincksfrian, L2tMX>; the balance being distributed amongst nine or ten ditterent people—amongst others, Mr. the gov, nior of Dartinghttrst CSaol and to a Sydney charity. Tue jftry b< f>re whom the cause was tried, declared this second will U» bbad, ami allowed probate of the ft rat will to go. FALt.tKtC.tTY OF TUE LV.V

The p-irn fr >ni the Glasgow Jimt'tl of February H, f.irnisht s a .«t.iking exatuple »>f tie fallibility of tin? taw ; * 4 A cnriotts vaan «>l* uiistakt n identity «ccttrred inKfrmra-r. A wtwum «:»s tried at tlte iJtirgh C»»«rt for tlic tltvfc of a cuefc, wUic't was {H'M.Uu d dyad in Court. Tin? evidence a.Ljtiin.it the wdiswii seemed clear, and sts.tr was avntencvd t»» s„*veii days' SEie strongly protested Iter innoe.iie**. and criud bitterly. Shortly after the C««»rt whs »>vvr tae cocfe, Sttpposvd to h;tVv» b'.-en stolvtt a!»d k'.Hud, wajf found «Uv.,*. The poor woman cannot be literate t t'v<»ci» prison unless by a warrant front tin- lipase JijcreEary, signed by the Queen." it.U:t> w.vrtn: ot: sorr. A rjtte»fci»>F* now being discussed in England is whether it is better to rlrink hard water or soft water. The discussion is particularly timely, on account of the great popularity in fashionable society of Tavn us water from Germany, which is very hard. In one gallon t ere are 100 grows of carbonate of lime and 200 grains of common salt. Professor Wanklvn, the London analyst, thinks that hard wat.r is good for children, though he doubts whether it is good in later life. The water in Kent is remarkable for its purity, and the large percentage of lime which it contains. It is regarded as extremely wholesome for yonng persons, whose systems assimilate the time and thus matcc bone ; so that the children of Kent are described as being singularly straight-legged. A RCXLOftWIKtVESt; LOV.ti. Lord Henry Phipps, the third son of the Mar*(Uts of iS'ormanby, has returned to the Colony, after an absence of some months in England. We believe he went Home with the object of making arrangements for tEte pnrcEsase of extensive station property in Queensland or New Zealand. Lord Henry I'htpps is a fine specimen of the EnglisEi gentleman manly, frank, and endowed with a large share of enterprise and shrewdness. During liis stay in Queensland he was not above being thoroughly colonised. He became thoroughly learned in tEie mysteries of b«tl» ck-driving, acquired a knowledge of systematic fanning, cattle and shce|» raising, and generally '•roughed it'' tn tfte bush. On one occasion he voluntarily worked for several days on a public road, which ra much needed in order to open »tp a way for cattle.—Auckland Ewikiw) tittir.