MISCELLANEOUS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1898, 30 May 1889, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

At the meeting of Wellington Justices of Peace to consider tbe question of dealing with juvenile crime, a committee was appointed to bring up a report on the subject, to convene a further meeting, when the whole question will be discussed. 'I he Leaning Tower of Pisa has actually been proposed as the great prize of a lottery. The town has become bankrupt, and the creditors want to seize the Hotel de Ville. To avert this calamity a municipal councillor started the idea of a lottery. It is curious to think that the number of persons necessary to carry traditions down from the time of Adam to the present day might all he contained with ease in a large-sized room, calculating them at a rough guess to comprise about seventy persons. Babbiters in the Awatere and surrounding districts (says the Marlborough Press) are now, we are informed, earning at tho rate of £1 per day, but despite this fact —combined with the flax and other industries in full swing—tradespeople in Blenheim, especially the publicans, continue to grumble. Like others of our bone and sinew, the rabbiter has learned how unprofitable it is for him to “ work like a horse and spend his ea.rnings like an ass.” That wa?j a capital story which Mr Labouchw.'e told the other day in Truth. “ How will a member of Parliament quickest get a reputation for character P ” someone asked him. “ My dear sir,” he replied, “ nothing is easier. Always * hum ’ and ‘ haw ’ and ‘er ’; always take a long time ia choosing your words, and always choose the wrong ones. You will be put down immediately as the possessor of ‘ sterling moral worth ’ and ‘ rugged honesty-’ ” A prize fight at Beattie, America, between two well-known pugilists, ftcott and Britton, has had a sensational and disastrous termination. Britton claimed the fight on a foul, but the referee disallowed the claim. This incensed Britton’s supporters and backers, who broke into the ring and began a desperate contest with the friends of Scott. The fight was long and fierce, the combatants soon abandoning fists for firearms. One of the seconds was fatally wounded by a revolver shot, and several other persons were injured by bullets. Ihe police being informed of what was going on hastened to the place, and made many arrests.

The remains of Marsh Brown, Kawiti, the well-known Ngnpnhi chief, were interred near the Waimo* Caves, Kawa Kawa district, on Sunday ; about 400 Europeans and 600 Natives attended. The annual.report in connection with the Wesleyan Foreign Missions shows that last year New Zealand raised £613 18s for tin's fund. Of this amount £154 was contributed in the Auckland district, A married woman named Rose Hurtle took a dose of “rough on rats ” poison on Tuesday night at Auckland, in consequence, it is believed of some domestic quarrel. She has been taken to the hospital, but is not expected to survive. At a meeting of the Otago Acclimatisation Society Mr A. C. Begg said that the society had practically solved one of the great problems in connection with the acclimatisation of salmon. They had now procured ova from fish that they had reared from the ova sent to them from home, which they had in confinement, thus rendering the ultimate solution of the problem of stocking the rivers much more easy. He had no doubt that the scientific world would look on this as a great achievement, as he understood that it was a thing that had never been done in any part of the world before. A novel way of “ raising the wind ” was once adopted by Mr James Payne, the well-known novelist. It was in this wise-Payne was, up in London on leave of absence from the Military Academy, Woolwich, and had spent all his money. He was bound to be back at the Academy that night, and hardly felt disposed to tramp it to Woolwich. A happy idea struck him—he would preach a sermon, and make a collection afterwards. Improvising a pulpit out of an old chair lying perdu in Clare Market, he held forth, and was rewarded for his pains with ten times the amount of his fare to Woolwich. It is said that the success of that sermon first suggested to the young cadet that he had a turn for fiction.