NEWS AND NOTES.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 34, 26 January 1884, Page 7

NEWS AND NOTES.

The result of tho experimental lighting o£ Elizabeth-street, Melbourne, electric light shows the cost to amount to €456 us against £182 for gas, and Council therefore liavo decided to discontinue the use oi the elect! io li.ulit. The Canadian ofiicial.s announce that any attempt to swim the Niagara Kails will he treated as an act or" insanity and lead to the iure.stof the man who con templates it. One oi the New York aldonnon recently had an idea. Moved hy its rarity, he hastened to say it before his brother solons. ' Gentlemen, 1 said he, ' I think it would .aid to the attractiveness of: Central Park il! we to impoit some gondolas — say a dozen— and place them in (he lake.' The idea was favorably received hy all l>nc on<\ He was economist of the board, and in his veins ran some ol" the blood of Irish King-*. Ho rose. Gintloincn,' he rcm.irkjd, ' the idea is a good win, but I wild in. ike an amindmont : Why should we huy twelve ay tln'm. It wud he useless evpiusj. I make .1 motion that we buy two cv them — a male wan and a Connie wan. Thin, gentleman, Let nature lake h'»r eoors '.' Major A tkinsoii has sh.igujy eyebrows, a '' • I lizard, and aJursh unmusical voice. P. rordou, ol! KihiUihi, has grown a li.i . .1 ton oL" goo.sehcnies this season. Tarmaki peoplo arj intending bucolic, tt used to bj sang of then — *' In the I'aran.iki u ,ir The wnlcr used to bv>, i Not L'oru aid but — • (.Joe irp ? JStrawbt iry." A 20D cuuee nugget is reported to have been lound at Ualhir.it. An ambitions projei t is conceived of ,'onscnietiug ,i pneumatic tube- fiom Chicago to New York for (lie conveyance of letters and small parcels. On dit that Onnoiid is the coming leader of the Opposition. During 12 yearf, the Roman Catholic's of Otago, have expended <£.'30,500 for l.md and buildings, for school put poses, and it is asserted that tho cost of maintenance has averaged £2500 Jess than it wuu.d co&t the Government. Chailcs Mackaj-, the author of "Choc, boys, cheer,'' " There's a Good Time Coming," &c, is very ill, and in sad pecuniaily need. With reference to the rate of Avagcs piiid to railway labourers, Hm foljowiiig information Jias been wollcuted by the Sydney Morning Herald : -In South Australia the greater number of lubomvrs are paid v's per day ; in Victoria platelayers are paid (is M per day ; in Queensland labourers are paid 6s Gd ; in New Zealand the traffic labourers arc paid 6s, and on penminent way 6s Gd per day. In New South Wuies permanent wsiy labourers are paid no less than 7s (hi per day, the higher wages paid here representing an additional cost for in lintenaneo from £25 to £.'}s per mile of line. The day's work in each colony is eight hours. Tasmania, with a population of 12.'3,000, has onjy half-a-dozen newspapers, of which only one is a weekly. New Zealand has about a hundred, out of which we could spare a good score Jor any other colony in need. For the number* of our newspapers we can beat the world. It is a good thing there is something we can excel in. A Southern duel was lately interrupted by lain after only nineteen rounds had been exchanged. Gmmis a most unhappy name. Anxious inquirers are always wanting to know if 3 on are a son of a Gunn.