General News.

Thames Star, Volume XVII, Issue 5176, 19 August 1885, Page 3

General News.

A writer in the Sydney Herald discus^ sing the difference between K.C.M.G. and G.C.M.Gr. says:—"Two letters only differidg— what means the difference, and what have we gained when we know the meaning? Very litlle, probably, most of us; yet in courtly knowledge something, and as the question is often asked, it may as well be answered. Of knighthood generally we need say nothing, and the Orders of the Garter, St. Patrick, and the Thistle are .beyond colonial aspirations. But of the Bath, both Civil and Military, we have examples among us; and of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, as Companion or Knight Commander, there are many. The different classes in these are, in such order, indicated by their initial letters; K.C. denoting tie ordinary X and G.C. the highest grade. Thus, we have in Australia Sir Edward Strickland and His Excellency Sir Henry Loch, X.C.8., and Lord Augustus Loftus, G.C.B;, Knights of the Bath. Of ihe KG. degree of St, Michael and St. George in these colonies. the three oldest creations were Sir George Verdon, of Victoria, Sir Henry Ayers, of South Australia, and Sir Alfred Stephen, of this colony. Of tho G.C. degree in any colony, held by a colonist, there are at present only three members, each of whom entered the public service above 40 years ago:—Sir Alexander Gait and Sir John Macdonald, of Canada, and Sir Alfred Stephen, of Kew Sduth Wales, Sir John Macdonald.indeed,is G.C. of the Order of the Bath. The grade is usually conferred on Governors on appointment to a second colony; for example, Sir William Jervois, Sir JBercules Bobinson, at the Cape, and Sir George Bowen, recently of the Mauritius. The initials C.B. or C.M.G. indicate a Companion of the Bath, or St. Michael and St. George, respectively. The debt of the United Stales has now gone below £300,000,000 for the first time since the war. Twenty years ago it was £540,000,000.

A deep bore with the diamond drill, on the Hepburn (Victoria) Wo. 1 Company's ground, has revealed the existence of deep alluvial ground which might have escaped detection long enough. The bore was put down on the eastern slope of the Moorookyle—an—extinct volcano—and three aeparat&^ftiyers of basalt were passed through before the alluvial wash was reached, at a depth of 698 feet. The ground was subsequently driven into, and the indications given by the boring rod were found to be thoroughly trust*, worthy. The difference in expense between using the boring rod and shaftsinking is so great that the immense advantage of using the former is apparent. We should like to see the boring rod used in this district.