MISCELLANEOUS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 34, 3 October 1868, Page 6

MISCELLANEOUS.

Tiie Wellington correspondent of the Nelson "Colcnest" writes as follows: — " I was walking along tho street with a member of tho House, when " General" Mete Kingi came out of a clothing shop, where he had been getting attired in a blue coat and vest with brass buttons*. He said he had seen mo in '"Wakatu, and shdok hands with my companion and myself, pointing in childish glee to his coat and waistcoat. After some palaver, he said to tho gentleman who accompaniod me, " Makcc the lend five heren." " Ka hore the money, I have not a shilling in my pocket," was the reply. What then d*d this General do? In tho open street ho proceeded to feel the pockets of the gentleman, outside and in ! In downright astonishment, I ejaculated, " And this is the material to which Mr Stafford is indebted for his majorities — this, and Graol Comissioners, and grateful friends ! " I saw this same Mete Kingi last night sneak up to the Government bench two or three times, and address tho Native Minister in exactly the same manner he employed when asking for ss. Whether or not he was trying to negotiate a lfcan I do not know, but at all events the Ministry know the value of these coloured members. I have heard that all four have been honoured guests at the table j of the Native Minister, whose ' pure love and affection for the race are proverbial.' " Such are the men whom our " enlightened Constitution" permits to make laws for the colony.

Tub following locals are attributed to the American press : — " the man that will take a newspaper fora length of time, and then send it back ' refused' unpaid for, would swallow a blind dog's dinner, and then sfcone the dog for being blmd. — Exchange. He would do worse than that — lie would marry a girl on trial, and send her back at the end of tho honeymoon with the words ' Don't suit' chalked on her back. — Iron City. "Worse than that : he would steal the chalk to write it with, and afterwards he would use it on his shirt to save the expense of washing, and then sue his wife's father for a month's board, Standard. 'Worse yet: he'd chase a sick rat ten miles over a corduroy road, and institute a post-mortem examination after he caught him, in order to recover a stolen grain of corn . — Morgantown Star. "We endorse every word of the above. He would steal all the rotten acorns from a blind pig, and steal all tho winter meat of an editor. — Somerset Herald. He would be as mean as the man who cursed his poor old blind mother for stopping at his yard door to beg for bread, and who gave bJ3 only child a penny for going to bed supporless, and the next morning charged Mm a penny for his breakfast. — Torchlight. Stronger yet: he would sponge a living from his poor .old father until the ' old gentleman became unable to work, and then let him die in the poorhouse, and afterwards sell his remains to medical students for ' anatomical purposes. — Blufton Banner.

A moustache spoon is reported by the " Charleston Mercury" to be one of the latest Yankee inventions, the object being to provide a spoon by means of which soup, medicine, &c, may be carried to the mouth without liability of being spilled or of soiling the moustache. • The invention consists in a mcveable cover so combined with the bowl of the spoon that it may cover the greater portion. It also consists in tho conibination of a lever and a spring with the spoon "and the cover, so that the latter may be readily closed or opened.

Boiling Down Horses. — A rather startling description of encouragement has lately been given to breeders of horses by the proprietor of a boilingdown establishment near Maitland. This gentleman has been boiling down horses, and he finds that by that treatment many of them yield a better return than they would if sold living. It appears that the prepared skins and the oil yielded by tho carcase, which is valued in Europe for lubricating machinery, are the vendible portions of iihe product. — s< Sydney Herald."

AlVoed's Elastic Hobse Collah. — This, which is an American invention, consists of. art elastic coupling at the top of the collar. 'The first advantage resulting from such coupling is that the collar can bo easily put over the horse's head when harnessing, and as easily taken off, as no unbuckling has* to be done. Second, tho coupling being elastic and fastened a short distance below the top of the collar, the bearing upon the neck is a spring which keeps the collar up to the lower part of the. neck, yet not so rigidly as to choke the horse when drawing.