MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 338, 14 July 1874, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

Some interesting details are told of a certain emigrant ship, bound for New Zealand, which was detained the otbef day by bad weather at the Tail of the Bank. There were over 500 on board, and notwithstanding the regnlations which csist with regard to the division of the sexes, it appears that though. Love may be blind, he found a way to elude the vigilance of the constituted authorities on board, and shot his shafts wholesale. Cupid is by no means a bad marksman, ond I have it on the best authority that such good use did ho make of his time that the Sheriff in Greenock was called upon to marry several couples who were permitted to come ashore for that purpose. Nor is this all : for the services of some professional people v?ere required, from the shore during the detent/on of the vessel, and when, they returned it was found that the complement of pa3senI gers had been increased by tho addition of several souls that were not enumerated in the passenger list. All this wasvory pleasant, and helped to wile away the time, but congratulations and merriment wore changed when son>o dozen or so of deserted wives and forsaken maidens, with dislevellod bair streaming in tho wind, came rushing for'ard in search of cruel husbands and faithless swains. They had hoped to have escaped " scot free ( " but the war of elements was against them, and in several instances arrangements had to be come to beforo the faithless ones were allowed to proceed. Everything being settled to the satisfaction of all concerned, good humour again reigned triumphant, and tho weather moderating, the ship — a splendid model of naval architecture — proceeded on her voyage with every prospect of making a rapid and satisfactory run. The shorthorn world is alive again, after the winter's recess, and business is active. In England, Scotland, and Ireland tho spring auctions have commenced, and from i America we have intimation of several events of importance. Private transactions are numerous, and, so far, satisfactory, and there have been fair sales at the markets where it is the fashion to pitch young bulls. So far, indicationo of a satisfactory shorthorn season are clear. Land and Water thinks prices may not reach quite as large an averago as last year, owing to the comparatively less number of sensational sales during the present season, but animals of pure lineage will, nevertheless, fetch high prices. Despite all the tall talk of breeders who do not happen to have any pure breds, pedigree is tho best guide to the buyer. Pure blood is a guarantee of quality, and without [this quality a herd of shorthorns isworth no more than a herd of half-breds. If an animal, then, is of the true type of his Louse, he it Bates, or be it Booth, he will always be of value to the breeder, as the medium through which ho can obtain an infusion of the puro blood into his herd. This cannot be got from a shorthorn bull of the conglomerale character. Form, size, and substonco aro desirable qualities, and many animals of a mixed descent possess them in a high degree, but they are short of th& quality which distinguishes the animal representing a pure strain of blood. A bull of tho Bates or Booth family impresses the character of his house on tho herd with which ho is associated, though ho may not bo perfoct in form, and istherefore worth a good figuie, and thus it is that pedigree, if it be of the right kind — as there are pedigrees and pedigrees amongst shorthorns — fetches high figures at our sales, and will continue to do so. If, however, blood without pnrticulnrgood foim is mhmble and sell?, blood with fovm and substance sells better, and is not difficult to find amonpsb Bate's and Booth's herds". Rnfo's Dukeof'Koilhumberhmd, and Booth's Windsor, the Warlaby and Killcrby cows, and tho Wetherby Duchess heifers, will lemain for ever as typea of shorthorn form and beauty. Tv'or are their descendants unworthy representatives of their ancestors in this respect as the show yai da and snips have shown during Eeveial post seasons. — European Mail, Mny 15. Men and women make their own bennty, or their own ugliness. Lord Ly tton speaks in one of his novels of a man 1 who was uglier than he had nny business to be ; ' and if lio could but read it, every human being carries his life in Ins face, and is good-looking or tho reverse as that life has been good or evil.

Tvxahon in England. — Acandidato for the .English Parliament said :— 'Taking the estimato of Mr Dudley Baxter, which is the most favorable to the existing state of things, the poor pay £30,000,000 of taxation, local and imperial, on iv very sniill margin of surplus income above that needed for snpplvimr the bare necessities of life ; whereas the rich pay £50,900,000 of taxi.fu n, locil and imperial, on a surplus income of £100,000,000.' A young fellow at college w rote to his uncle, on whom he entirely depended, • My dear uncle — ready for the needful. Your affectionate nephew.' Tho uncle replied. ' Dear nephew — the needful is not ready. Your affectionate uncle.' We take the following from the Otago Daily Times : — Mr Small has brought over in the barque Hadda, from Hong Kong, a veritable sea snake. It measures four feet in length and is in a good state of pretervation. Tho way it was caught wrs somen lint singular. It appeors that Mr Small liad a lino hanging ont at the stem of tue ship, when, by some means or other, the snake got entangled in the line and literally tied itself up in the cord, and was eventually landed on board. The captuto was effected in lat. 9.46 S, and long. 136.46 E, on Satusday, January ]7th, of the present Year. Mr Small was offered 25 dollars in Hong Kong ior this marine curisity, but declined to part with it, in order to present it to the Museum in this city. Aa a New York judge was delivering his decison in a case lately, he was interrupted by the vociferous braying of a donkey under one of tho windows of the court-room. ' What is that ? ' testily asked the judge ; whereupon the lawyer against whom he was deciding the case arose and remarked, It u merely the echo of the court, your honor.'