MISCELLANEOUS.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 100, 2 May 1885, Page 6

MISCELLANEOUS.

Mary Anderson is insured for £20,000. The watchmaker believes that time is money. Waikato cheese sells in Queensland at la 6d per lb. A diet of dog- flesh is said to be a cure for Bright s disease The operation of the Arms Act has been suspended in the South Island. It is proposed to borrow £50,000 for harbour woiks at Invercurgill. When the cat sees a flying bootbjack he looks upon it aa an off fencive hint. There are 347 female working blacksmiths in England. Navvies in Queensland are on strike for 9s a day. British banks transact one third of the banking business of the world. New South Wales Parliament is further prorogued until 16th June. Mosgiel Woollen Factory is to be lighted with 300 Swan incandescent lamps. There has been heavy rainfall in some parts of Otago Borough of Weetport borrows £8,000 to erect gas -works Wellington Public Hall Company declares a dividend of 7 per cent. At Wellington the Coptic is called " The Auckland Defence Cruiser." How to "do without glasses" — Drink out of a tin mug. There are in Auckland 1,000 stand of arms ready for me. "Spring" costume— That of the circus clown. Mr Thos. "Rossiter, of Norfolk Tsland, is a passenger for Auckland by the schooner Orpheus. At Chriatchurcb, decrees oi divorce have just been granted in the cases Tole v. Tole and others, and Smith v. Smith and others. Twenty years ago tho Danes imported nearly all their sugar. Now they raise it from beet. At Dunedin, on Saturday, the fifty mile bicycle race was won by J6\ A. Cutten, 3hrs I3rnins llsecs. Eighty tons of superphosphate, of local manufacture, have been sold in Tauranga during the last six months. Slow breeding mammals, such as horses, can increase from a single pair to 10,000,100 in forty years. The Britiph Empire contains eight and a-half millions of square miles, and its coast line is 28,500 miles long. No decision haa yet been come to by Ministers with regard to the reprieve of the Pokeno murderer. Warranted to keep time, to strike surely, and go well in any climate — the " Black Watch." In a Wellington hotel on a recent Sunday, 380 drinks were sold, seventeen of them to policemen, and two to Justices of the Peace. Can Auckland beat that? Kewi suggests that the Auckland torpedo boat should be called the Taniwha, as the water monster known by that name was a destroyer of the enemies of its people. A local poet advertised that he would supply " lines for any occasion " A fisherman sought him soon after, and wanted "a line strong onough to catch a porpoise." Within the past year Kaitangata Coal Company, Otago, have spent £9,000 in opening up new workings, and erecting n'rsfc-claps machinery. " Youth is the time to serve the Lord," says the old hymn. A large majority of those who have passed their youth appear to believe this thoroughly. The area of the British Empire exceeds that of the Russian Empiie by about 200,000 square miles, and it covers nearly one-sixth of the whole land area of the globe. A ochemehas been put forward in England to reclaim the Goodwin qaick^ands and fertilise them by conveying thither the sewage of Kamsgate through a tunnel. On Saturday morning a cheap lodging house in Market Square, Chritschurch, was partly destroyed by fire. The building belonged to the City Council, and waa insured for £000 in the New Zealand Office. A suggestion emanates from New South Wales that the colonies should combine to olfer £70,000 reward for an effective mean? of rabbit extermination. The Minister of Justice, it is said, proposes to amend the J.P. Act so as to compel the great unpaid to do duty or lesign. It must be a pleasant thing to li~e at Kot.rua A resident was aroused f»-om sleep the other morning by a mud volcano breaking out alongside ot his house, plastering all the external walls with mud, In Japan they say, " When the hen crows, the houso goes to ruin/ and in Ch na, "A whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither nt lor gods nor men." Thought-reading entertainments seem all the rage. There are three professors of the art now in New Zealand — Baldwin in the South Island, Driver at Wellington, and Rice in the W aikato. Clergymen and physicians are exetnpi from service in the militia. That's unfortunate, for the latter could do great execution against tho .Russians, while the former could be utilised as morphia in the hospitals. The framewoik of the new Congo State Constitution is to be based upon the prin ciples of English colonial administration. There are 5,0 0,000 widows in England who long to do any kind of work that will tend to make a like number of men unhappy.—" >'ew York Graphic."

in Waiorongomai for three weeks or n month after lit left Laybourn Iros. Whilst lie was m Waiorongomai I repeatedly, pressed him for payment of the money. ' 1 lent the money on the promise that he was almost sure to pay it at the time stated, l»ut I would have lent the money without, that promise, on the condition the horse should be nmie if he failed to pay it back. I would have taken earlier action in tk»s matte . weie it not that 1 whs in hopes the accused woulij •litain other employment, mid so be ui»l<\ to repay me. I have known the hoise referred lo for eighteen month;?, and believed it belonged to the accused after he was taken on in the employ of Laybonrn Bros. lie t ild every body it was his horse. He both used it himself and lout it to others. Plaintiff, on bein^ further questioned, stated that he had asked the accused to give him a-» order on some money he believe the latter expected to receive from home, and that after a few days accused gave him such an order. (Order produced.) Plaintiff said this occurred after accused had left Laybourn Bios', employ. Plaintiff wrote the order out himself, *md the accused signed it in the post office. Leonard Forsman, telegraph boy at Waioroiigoniai, was sworn, and gave •evidence winch principally supported that of plaintiff. In one important point, liowevei, his evidence differed, viz. : Forsman swore that accused said to plaintiff, 4 I am aluost sure I can prepay you the money by the following Wednesday, and if I do not you can take my mare." Witness said he was fositive accused spoke of plaintiffs taking his mare instead of the money not repaid as promised ; after plaintiff had ab-eady promised to lend the money. Thos. Laybourn, sworn, stated as follows : Am a storekeeper residing at Waiorougomai. Am one of the firm •of Layb'arn Bros. Accused was in our employ at Waiorougonui as clerk from {September, 1884, to February. 1885. During that time he was possessed of no horse that I am aware of. Accused, whilst in our employ,, often had occasion to use one of our horses. We bought a horse from Applegate and •James, on the understanding that it was to become accused's property when he jaid for it. He never paid anything towards it. The horse was bought on -tfce 7th November. (Receipt produced.) Accused was permitted to ride the horse himself, and he also lent it to others without consulting us. Had he continued to lend it frequently, we should have put a stop to his doing so. I believe he was under the impression that $"c ho se wng his. No arrangement was made as to aow the horse was to be paid for by acensed. The horse was fed by the firm. A.t the time accused borrowed 4 if »> ->i\oy from Lovell he may still have be -it undei the impression that the horse wab ..is, ultiiough he knew perfectly well the lioise must first be paid for. Accuse.i a.-.s dismissed by us. In tieliv. linu judgment, His Worship said : He did not purpose calling upon accused Un- I.lb defence. The gist of the case vra* as to whether any intent to defr.iud had been proved. It appeared «uder some great pressure accused needed a .sum of money, and went to plaint ff .o try and borrow it. Plaintiff promi-ed to think the matter over. Accused wanted the money at once, and promised he would repay the amount on the following Wednesday. At the time when he first applied foi tfhe money he appeared to have made no mention of the horse. From the evidence it wa? •quite plain plaintiff entertained t ! ie idea | ■of lending the money when first applied to. On the second occasion the horse was mentioned, from the witness Forsjnan's evidence accused again mentioned the tollowing \Veduesd*y as the thruxiUefl. he would repay the money, and then added, " If 1 do not you can take my mare." Tne security of the hor*e w.»s apparently a secondary conside ation, in the event of accused failing to fulfil his promise. The money did not appear to have been lent on (he direct security of the horse. Even if it had been so lent, accused had rood grounds for supposing tue horse was his, although he certainly had no right lo .sell or dispose of it ; still he was allowed to exercise ownership over it to a certain extent, and it was generally spoken ot as beiiitf his Accused clearly obtained that money as a loan The charge against accused had, therefore, broken down. It appeared plaintiff had for two months been content to wait for a return of the loan, and with holding the written security given. Charge dismissed.