General News.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4714, 15 February 1884, Page 2

General News.

The Mudgee papers report a magisterial inquiry concerning the death, from over-exertion at sports, of a youth named - Charles Hassall. The deceased,died sud» . denly after his return home from school at Bowenfells. He had complained of a pain in his leg after running in the school sports, and had to be assisted up to take his prize, which he wonrwhen it was presented to him. The master gave him some Highland oil to rub on his leg, and in his evidence, said that deceased made light of it, and would not let him send for a doctor, but when he got home Dr New-* ton found him in an alarmingly dangerous condition. The doctor was of opinion that the symptoms were due to a morbid condition of the blood, brought about by injury to the grcin, and subsequent inflammation, which might hare been averted by proper treatment and his life saved. A spring of water has been discovered at Avonmouth docks by means of a divin- - ing rod. AMr Lawrence made the search, the dock company having "been given to understand that, if a good supply of water could be found, an American company for the manufacture of sugar from maize would establish a factory near the docks. The searcher held the ends of a piece of spring steel, which was bent in the shape of a horse shoe, and placing bi» elbows close to his sides, began to walk slowly about the field. After walking some dia<*

tance the steel became violently agitated, and twißted itself with such violence that one of the holder's fingers was cut. He then said that if those who were searching for water bored at that spot they would find a good spring. A hole has since been bored to a depth of 107 ft., with the result

that a spring has been discovered whioh flows at the rate of 1000 gallons an hour. There is now a mammoth locomotive in process of construction at the Central

Pacific Eailroad shops at Sacramento. Its name is "El Gobernador." The total length of the engine and tender is 65ft, sin.; driving wheel base, 19ft. 7i0.; fire pairs of 'drivers, 3ft. 2in. in diameter, with a fonr wheel track in front. There are two six-wheel tracks nnder the ten* der, making a total of 26 wheels under engine and tender. The Take gearing is said to be tome thing entirely new, there being nothing like it in the United States. The engine is for use on the .Sierra Ne-< vada Mountains, and, it is expected, -will do more work than two of the engines now used, with less consumption of fuel. A monster in the shape of an eagle hawk was shot recently, near Stawell, Victoria, by a man named John Best, who works for Mr Laxfcon, bootmaker. He and some friends were fishing whea the eagle sailed brer them, and Best, who had a gun with him, brought the bird to the ground. It was found to measure seven feet from tip to tip of the wings. Mr Charles Rogers an old Ballarat resident, has of late being working on the Bernet-Falk diamond-fields, Bingara, New South Wales (says the Ballarat Star), and according to a statement made by him, he has succeeded in securing 4000 diamonds in return for 12 months' work. The diamonds raDge in size from half a grain to eight carats. He states so far his success in diamond-finding has only been the result of scratching the surface* of the ground, but with the view of further development, Mr Rogers says that he has sold the lease of the diamond-studded ground to a company of diamond merchants, Messrs Falk and Co., and that he has joined them in securing that portion of the district which is so rich in treasure. The value of the ground or Droperty is estimated at £1,0C3,C00. Mr Rogers has come to Ballarat for the purpose of purchasing suitable machinery for " rooting up "'in Bingara.

The city Council of Lisbon has passed an ordinance making cremation compulsory in times of epidemic. At ordinary times it is to bo optional, but the remains of interred bodies are to be burnt eyery fire years. Lisbon, like Paris, suffers from the lack of cemetery accommodation and the proximity of burial grounds to populous quarters.

A most ingenious invention (says'the Liverpool Journal of Commerce), called the Greenway Breakwater, has come before oar notice, and is one which, if we can judge from successful experiments made, will in a short time be brought prominently before the public. The object of this breakwater, which is simply a line of buoys, ia not to resist the force of the wares, but to turn them against one another. The buoys are triangular in shape, with a sharp point, which is directed towards the sea when the buoy is in position. They are held by two anchors to each, buoy, fore and aft, so as to keep them in position, with the space of a buoy between each. The draught of each buoy is ten feot. When a wave strikes the sharp prow of a buoy it is divided into two parts; the divided wave then rushes towards the * buoys on either side, and in the space between it meets that portion of another wave which has had similar treatment from the neighboring buoy, with the result that the diversion and collision re*ducc or entirely break the force of the wave, and the water is oarried inside of the breakwater. Such a breakwater could be constructed in a very short space of time, while the cost compared with that of a concrete or stone breakwater, would be trifling. "When you are in Bomoyou mast do as Romans do," as the American tramp said when he squatted on the steps of a cathedral in theEternai City and held out v hit hat. -