News and Notes

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 22, 26 August 1893, Page 10

News and Notes

Mr o’Conor would like hotel license fees converted into colonial instead of local revenue. Haydn’s nohle oratorio, “ The Creation,” will he given by the Invercargill Choral Union on sth Septem her An old man named Samuel Green died suddenly at Preservation Inlet (whither he had gone prospecting) on the 13th inst. Sir George Grey was sufficiently recovered to get out of doors the other day, but he is still unequal to Parliamentary work. Ernest Osmond, a well-known cyclist of London, rode two miles in 4mins. 24 2-ssecs., breaking* the record. The total sale of Zola’s 20 novels touches the really astonishing figure of one million and a half, which means an expenditure by the public of close upon £200,000. At the Royal Italian Opera “ command night ” in London the staircases were lined by the Yeomen of the Guard in their curious beefeater uniforms. All the roses in the market (15,000) were used on the occasion. The members of the Invercargill postal and telegraph staffs had a very pleasant gathering in Heywood’s Crescent Hotel on the 19th inst. to celebrate their entry into the new post office building. Miss Myra Kemble has engaged Mr Edward Sass as leading man throughout her forthcoming Hew Zealand tour, and Miss Emma Gwynne has also been added to the company. In Core seven hotels minister to the spirituous wants of 1618 persons, or 231 individuals to each house; while Green Island has but one hotel for its community of 807 persons. Invercaigill contrasts unfavourably with Green Island, for it pro. vides for every 190 persons a public house, and there are 26 of them. In the County of Southland there are 42 hotels for 19,317 persons. People who travel along the North and Park Roads are struck by the rapidity and skill with which the Chinese market gardeners have cultivated their leasehold outside the town boundary. They are also struck very disagreeably at times by the stench that comes from the richlymanured plots of the Celestials. Mr Seddon means to he master in his own house. Speaking on the liquor question, he declared with emphasis —“ We mean to lead in this House in this as in other questions, and wall not allow ourselves to be driven by any private member, no matter who he may he.” Mr Campbell-Bannerman, Secretary of War, replying to a question in the House of Commons, admitted that Sir Frederick Abel and Professor Dewar, members of the Explosives Committee, had sold the secret of the patent cordite powder to a foreign factory. Mr Gladstone has announced that the closure ■will be applied to the Home Pule Bill on August 25, when the third reading will be moved.—Mr Chamberlain has given notice of an amendment protesting against the conversion of the House of Commons into a mere voting machine. Fears are entertained (writes the Melbourne Age) that the lyre bird, which is met with in no other country hut Australia, is doomed to extinction. Although it is against the law to kill a lyre bird, there are hundreds of tails in He Melbourne shops, and hundreds go to Europe by every mail steamer. Replying to a question by Mr Richardson in the House the other clay, Mr J. G. Ward said he would send a written answer. Mr Richardson wished to know if he understood that the Minister was unwilling or unable to give the information now. The Treasurer replied—“l am not responsible for your understanding ; that’s your business—not mine.” Evidently no love lost between Awarna and Mat aura.

Even John Chinaman is inconvenienced by the “re-construction” policy of many of the Australian banks. Of three natives of the Flowery Land recently up at Corowa (N.S.W.), for a breach of the Chinese Restriction Act, it was stated that one would have left the colony altogether some time back, but for the faet that the whole of his small savings for eight years had been impounded in a re-constructing bank. Considerable excitement was recently occasioned at Williamstown (Melbourne) by an extraordinary catch of mullet in the Alfred Graving Dock. The dock had just been pumped out preparatory to removing the blocks to their proper positions for an incoming vessel. When the water was sufficiently low a tremendous shoal of mullet was disclosed. The information spread rapidly, and in a few minutes nearly 200 persons ■were at work catching the fish. The take was estimated at over a ton. At Sydney the other day a solicitor named Aloysius O’Donnell, charged with misappropriating between £4OO and £SOO, was suspended for 18 months, and for a further period, if necessary, until he pays costs of proceedings. It appeared that £l5O of the amount had been refunded. In the case of another lawyer named Sidney Stewart, similarly charged, it was stated that the money alleged to have been misapplied was refunded. He was suspended for a year. Mr Vecht, of Chicago, who is on a visit to New Zealand with the object of ascertaining the capabilities of the colony for the production of pork, informed the Taranaki farmers that the process of his firm, roughly outlined, was to g*et a large oven heated to a white heat, the carcase was then put in for a very brief space of time—just sufficient to melt ihe fat under the skin and break the pores. The carcase was then taken out, and by the application of a sudden cold process it became hermetically sealed. It would, therefore, be seen that they require, a pig that had a coating of solid fat, which would seal better than the bacon fat pig. The raising of the warship Victoria is declared by an expert to be an impossibility. He says —“ She lies too deep. A Frenchman or an Italian proposes to build a craft which will go under wrnter to raise her, but we would sooner see it than hear of it. The depth is too great for anything with life to withstand the pressure. The greatest depth which has yet been reached was 25 fathoms, and that cost the diver his life.” “When was that ?” “It was a vessel which was lost in the Canaries and had £160,000 in specie on boai’d. We saved £90,000 of it, hut one case was lost, and we could not recover it. They offered one of the principal divers a heavy commission to recover it, and he went down about 25 fathoms and died as a result. At Cobar (N.S.W.), it is said that the tax of feeding travellers has become so heavy on the stations that several managers advertise in the local papers that no more rations will be given after a certain date. The number of travellers who now visit some stations is quite 50 per week, and the quantity of rations given away in that time consists of six sheep, a bag of flour, and tea and sugar in proportion. Another telegram from Goodooga, in the Queensland border country, states that the shearing hands find that “ the tax of feeding the army of men travelling about, who either cannot get or will not take work,” is unendurable. They therefore prefer to be engaged by the squatter at a fixed wage and “ found,” rather than take the standard day’s pay and provide for their own mess, with the added liability of feeding the tramps and hangers-on of the shearing. Ink stains on a white cloth may be removed by wetting the spots with milk, and then rubbing with common salt. Should this fail, moisten the spots with boiling water, and rub lightly with salts of lemon. Rinse well in cold water afterw'ards.