GLEANINGS FROM THE PAPERS.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 96, 2 August 1879, Page 3

GLEANINGS FROM THE PAPERS.

A prosperous merchant has f«r his motto : " Early to bed and early to rise; never get tight and advertise." A Methodist minister in Massaohussots waa promised a salary of 400 dolla.ru. By digging dams and making shoes he ''in ned 200 dollars last year, and his flock withheld that amount from his stipend. Tho Pull Mall Gazette slates thai the Admlralitv have issned regnlationi that all aandldatc| for the naval service, whether ifflcew, men, boj -, or Murines, must pin lur.. a certUioata that they ore able to swim, or tlwy will bo ineligible.

Tho New Zealand of the 20th ult says:—Yesterday, in the Divorce C,,: Ir t, the matrimonial knots that had boim I DO less than eight couples were IHllpom] altogether, or the first stage ol release, in the -hap- ol role* uUi, arrived at There were some very peculiar experiences hud bare, even in these brief prooaeding of a few hours. The wife of a medical man, formerly redding on the West Coast of the Middle bland, who had hem treated moat atrociously by her husband, obtained a happy release from a thoroughly had man. A celebrated writer on a Christchureh contemporary was relieved of a wanton wife, and "an ill-used woman, residing in Wellington, was relieved of o brutal husband. The most extraordinary oaso, however that has been recently heard in this or any other Court of the kind, where frequently Strang things crop up, wis that of Hendarson. v. Jl.nd arson. It was shewn that there were people in the world base enough to entrap, or rather frighten, a lad of 14 into marriage ; and more singular still, there was foun 1 a minister of religion licenced to solemnise marriages, hase or blind enough to perform the ceremony, the blushing bride being many years older than the hoy, and about to become a mother. His Honor Judge Johnston may very well he surprised at tho disclosures made. The lad was merely used at a scapegoat, as the counsel for the petitioner said, to cover the woman's shame, and it is simply monstrous that a minister of any denomination should he an active agent in such proceedings. The facts that were brought to light in this ca.'o should lead to some alteration in tie Marriage Act, by which a recurrence of

such a scandal should he rendered 1 possible.

A quick-witted roguo has recently managed to rob the director of a Loudon banking establishment of a travelling bag, containing CIOOO in gold, while on his way from London to Paris. Having remarked that a man seemed to follow him with suspicious persistency when he arrived on board the Calais boat, the director took the precaution to placo the precious bag on one of the seats in the cabin, and to use it as a pillow. In this position lie fell asleep, but was suddenly awoke by a tug at the bag. lie jumped up, but as the man lie found near him simulated drunkenness, lie kept his suspicions to himself. On reaching Calais the traveller placed the bag, on the seat, of a first -class carnage, and as he was its only occupant, stood as sentinel at the door. Isut the ingenious thief was not to !„• outdone. Slipping round behind the train he entered by "the opposite door and possessed himself of the treasure, while the haul; director was looking for him among the crowd on the platform. The police were immediately int'.Tmed .if U< -ilia.r. but no -iracc of i- • thief could bo found.

The Jewish World says that, i-ccontlv at Hull the stipondary magistrate hail before him ti singular case. ' A Jew was summoned, under an Act passed in the time of Charles 11.. for working on Sueday. It appeared thai his next door neighbour had complained lo the police about the annoyance he suffered through the defendant, who is a tailor, using his sowing machine on Sundays, and as the defendant refused to discontinue working, he was now summoned. . Defendant maintained that, under the Workshops Act, he could work if lie choose, if he kept his own Sabbath. The magistrate decided that defendant had broken tielaw, as his work was " not necessary for a charitable purpose." Ho ordered the defendant tu pay the cost*. According to the latest calculation the United States arc said tn consume nearly 311b., Germany and Switzerland 121b., and England I lib. of paper per head of the population.

A Servian translation of six of Bret Ilarte's talcs has been printed at Temesvar under the title of " Ghost K ilifoivickikh Pricha Breta Kharta." The last descendent of John Bunyati died lately in England. She was an ancient dame of eighty-four, and her ua was Ann Webster. On Saturday, June 2, two young wat»" men—Henry Keane and [ssao Hunt were fined in tho sum of £SO and costs for evading the Customs regulations in attending to land a keg of rum at St. George's Bav, it was given in evidence by the Custom officers that the keg in question was shipped on hoard the schooner Madona, outward bond to the Friendly Islands, on May 81. and how it came to bo found mi Kangitoto Beach is a problem that has yel to be solved. We believe, however, that proceedings will be instituted against the muste- of the schooner when he arrives m port, and wo trust that Captain Lombard will be able to clear himself from the charge which will Ik) brought against him. Should the case turn out as many surmise, the transaction will be a V TV expensive one, as it has already P/OVeNI to Keane, who besides being fined tn«2s and his share of the costs, has lost Ins boat, which wassoized on Saturday last by the (Justoms.-Auckland Weekly News. • About 2+o perrons including soldiers and gallon are returning to 1- ranee, ami left Noumea at tho end of Juno.

A bov who was killed by lightning in South Australia, Wtt found after death to have a fe-lcnf and geranium, which he was holding In bll hwid, photographed on his bieast. A writ for £SOOO damage-, has been issue,! ncainat the Hon. Mr. Berry "slander, by thr Daily Telegraph, for saving that that jou nal was subside I 'by the Victo.ian Association

lho brijj Aloxamlr.i lias return •! to Melbourne, after .1 seven months' tni.l>ng voyage in the South IVitlo. When off the Solomon bUoda the ueoad officer (Qotdinjri and a boats' crew of four Kanakas w.re despatched to reconnoitre the island. A strong current carried the boot oat of sight of the brig, which also drifted away from the land, Fourteen days after losing sight of the vessel the boat was without provisions, and had only a breaker of fresh water ami a little tobacco. The water lasted ten .lavs, ami then they wore with >ut any. Land was then seen, ami a few coacoanuts weraob- | taiued by stealth at nightfall The boat j coasted for several days, foraging at night for eocoanuts. When the boat had been away twenty-live .lays II M. schooner Beagle picked it up, and after cruising seven days returned the boat ami crew safely to the brig. Mr. Arthur Sullivan states that although 150 companies nre plaving " H. MX l'innforo" in the ( T nit*l State*, only one manager has umilu any pecuniary ackdowlcdgment to the authors.