MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 360, 29 October 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

Mr Cokbett, formerly a member of the House of Common*, lias donated £.10,000 for the foundation of a National School of Agriculture.

Klondike, is said to be proving not anything like the phenomenal yoldfield which was supposed,'and thousands of miners are blocked for want of means to leave the field.

Payment of capitation allowance to Education Boards for the quarter ending December 31st, IS9S, will be according to the working average attendance of the quarter ended September 30th.

The Spanish-United States war lasted 111 days, and the expense to the States during that time has been estimated to equal £30.000,000. The cost was greater because of the country's unpteparedmss of war.

The ex-Governor of French possessions in the Kast has said that if war were to bre,ak out between Britain and Russia, the Russian il-i't in the East would be destroyed quicker than r.he Spanish was, and that Russia would her new ports cf Port Arthur and Talienwan.

The Oamaru Borough Council has .°ays an exchange, by resolution, apologised to a ratepayer for libelling him, and also resolved to refund him £2 2«, solicitors' cost incurred for consultation as to his of right retion for dam iges. The council used strong language about the ratepayer for supplying water to a neighbour who had no supply ; and it turned out that he had been paying full water rales for both premises. The issue at of a loan amounting to £2,500,000 by the London County Council, who fixed the minimum teuder at par. emphasizes the rapid accumulation of floating cipit.il in England. The Daily Graphic finds an explanation for the cheapness o' money in the long period of peeaoc. enabling both Europe aud America to create wealth with tremendous rapidity and to the great practice of saving, through the agency of savings bauks and building societies.

The extreme prayers of Presbyterian divines are apt oo be cccentr.c to the verge of extri'-vageuce. A certain minister of high repute was opening an outdoor function with prayer on an occasion 'when the great personage had failed to keep an eugigemant to be present; and he thus commenced his supplications: " In consequence of the rain, O Lord ! and by reason of the regretted absence of the Princess of Lochnagar, caused, doubtful by the stormy weather, I do not purpose to address Thee at any length .'"

Civilisation is spreading at At'uara with lightning rapidity. A thriving bazaar has .sprung up on the banks of the Nile and is increasing daily. Within the confines of the large camp may ba found Greek sutlers with makeshift cafes, patronised by railhead fitters and listless Arabs. Sherbet bars for the delectation of the Egyptian soldiery are opener! before the mud walls are roofed in. With British bands playing at one end of the camp and Greek cafes at the other, it is impossible ts realise that a few months ego this busy scene was a sand-driven waste.

The Committee of the Wellington Society for the Protection of Women and Children recommsnds that some reform is urgently required in the law, making it possible to enforce maintenance orders. At present a men can drink all his earnings and then be sent to goal if he does not obey the order. "If a lien could be put upon .the man's wages, and the money handed over by the master to the Court to meet the orders, some improvement might take place in the homes of those who are now living in destitution aud becoming a burden upon the charitable aid of the colony." AVe are asked to answer a curious question—viz., " Whan an express train is in motion do all parts of the wheels travel forward at the same rate ?" No. If the speed of the train is 60 miles an hour, that is the forward speed of the axle. The point of the rim, which is at any moment at the top, is moving forward much faster, and the point at the bottom in contact with the rail is not moving forward at all. If it were, it would be slipping on the rail. Mark one poiut on tin edge of a plate, and watch it as you roll it along the table. The marked point is stationary when it touches the cloth.

Trains only stop at Flaxton on the Culverdcn line when signalled to do so. The other day as the " Kangiora express " was nearing Flaxton the driver spied a young lady on the platform waving her handkerchief, evidently for him to stop, which he accordingly did; whereupon the young lady rushed to the carriage from a window of which a similar signal might have been observed, and engaged in an animated conversation with a young man. On the guard calling out, " All aboard, please," the young lady demurely replied, '' Oh, I'm not going on, I only wanted to speak to this gentleman." An American paper gives some particulars of current naval phraseology : "When we speak of a ileet, the exp?rts understand us to mean a company of cwelve or more battleships. A mosquito fleet is composed of twelve or more small boats. A squadron is composed of less than twelve battleships, and is often part of a ff'et, such as the van, centre, or rear squadron. A flotilla is composed of twelve or more men-of-war, some of which miy be battleships. According to these definitions the United States has no ileet ; neither has Spain. Admiral Dewey commands a squadron ; the ships destroyed and captured from Moutejo in Manila Bay composed a squadron. Admiral Co-vera aud Admiral Camira each commands a squadron." Air John Burns. ALP., is humorously conscious of the kindly strength of tho methods used against Socialism in England Talking lately with several friends, including the writer of this paragraph, ho said ; "If you find a Socialist on the Continent you find people crying " Shoot him down." In this country tbe\ r say, " You want to manage the world, do you ? Well, hero's a bit of it; try your hand at that." if he suecoeds they give him a bigger bit, and co on till bo is up to his ears in work, and has no timo to think about revolutions. Oh, the British people arc a crafty lot." "The difference between Keir liardie and me," -Mr burns added, " is that he wants to turn the world inside out at one pull, and he goes on strike if he's not allowed to do it ; whereas if I can get what I want a bit at a time I go on working."

When the German Emperor gets to Palestine he will find, not "Jerusalem the Golden," but Jerusalem the whitewashed. The streets, I learn, arc being

cleaned and whitewashed, and the roads throughout the country repaired. Indeed a brand-new carriage road is being made up tiie Mount of Olives " for the convenience of the Empress." The visitors will go about in carriages sent from Constantinople by the Sultan, and they will be escorted by GOO men of the Padishah's bodyguard, The Empress will not be able to see cjuite all that she would like, since the Greek, like the Roman, Church is rather suspicious of women in certain circumstances. Thus she will he unable to accompany the Emperor to the Moiustery of St. Saba, as ladies are not allowed to enter its portals. She will therefore take i trip to the Pools of Siloam, while the misogynist monks are making themselves agreeable to the War-Lord. Altogether the Emperor ought to do things very comfortably in the Holy Land. He will be boarded and lodged by Messrs Cook and Son. will have new roads to travel upon, and plenty of soldiers to salute him. And there is certain to be a chance of a speech or two in which the relations of Jerusalem to the House of Hohenzollem will be clearly defined in sonorous language.

Wo can (says a London paper) get some perception of the cost of our sea defence when we are told that our navy costs us within a few pence of a guinea a second, day and night throughout the year. The annual income of a Cabinet Minister would be absorbed in less than an hour and 20 minutes, and there are not a dozen men in the kingdom whose yearly income would pay two days' iost of the navy. Every day during the current year we am paying £25,290 for the building of new ships to add to our flei-t; it costs £12.566 a day to pay our officers, seamen «nd marines; £3,793 a day to feed and clothe them ; and nearly £6,000 a day goes in pensions and half pay to men who have ceased to be on the active list ; while to equip our vessels with their armaments we are spending £5,835 a day. We spcud on the maintenance on a single battleship £9,000 a year more thau the combined salaries of our nineteen Cabinet Ministers. One thousand two hundred and sixty pounds a week goes in paying its officers, crews and marines ; nearly £2OO in feeding and clothing them, £175 a week ou the engines and their satellites, £9l on ordnance, £63 on repairs, and £6O on equipment and mvig-itidh. These amounts represent the expenditure on a battleship iu times of peace, and would naturally be largely increased in time of war.

A good story about Lieutenant Aupen, one-time Torpedo Lieutenant on H.SI.S. Orlando, is told by one of our Australian contemporaries. Years ago when he was a middy, his ship was stationed at Vancouver, and Aupou boins seized with a sudden illness was invalided just prior to the departure of his vensel on a cruise. The oulj' other offcer then lofj in port was the chief carpenter, also invalided. The youngster having deeply studied the Queen's Naval regulations, and the time for his examination coming round, he applied—seizing the golden hour—to the only senior officer in the port, the chief carpenter, to be examined for lieutenant. This he or any other ii entitled to do whenever or wherever he may be if the requisite terra of his servica be fulfilled. The chief carpenter accordingly examined the lad, and passed him with flying" colours. Aupen, immediately thereby became the senior officer on the station, and his first act of authority was tp order himself to England with despatches, an order he obeyed with consummate address and with all haste possible, seeing his ship might return any minute, and Xroas was approaching. Ho arrived one evening at f ortsmouth, and found he would luve to wait eight hours for a train to London. Ajrain the regu» latious came to his aid. Reg. No. So-aud-so directs all oificers carrying despatches to take every available means to expedite the arrival of same at headquarters. Aupen decided that the Admiralty ought to have his despatches forthwith. He ordered a special traiu to London, and presented himself before the First Lord. The <rreat man who had heard nothing of Aupen or his despatches before, requested an explanation, which ho respectfully gave. He escaped without even a reprimand : ho had complied with the letter of the Queen's regulations and the whole affair quickly became the lauifh of London The cream of the joke was that Aupen's despatches contained nothing but a narrative of his owa illness and a glowing account of the brilliant manner in which he had passed his exam. written by himself. His next ship received him as lieutenant.