CLIPPINGS.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 8350, 8 December 1892, Page 4

CLIPPINGS.

Apropos of fcne publication o£ Lβ Caron ,9 reminiscences, it is interesting to note that Jamos Stephens, the foiiner Peniaa B>ad Centre, is at present living -with, hie wife in a cottage afc a seaside resort near Dublin, which, with, a email inoome, wa* presented to him about a year ago by hie friends and admirers. Ha is now sixtyeight years of age. Br. Boyd (•' A.KH.B£) in his recently published " Reminiscences" tells an amusing story of a prayer that was not answered. Magistrates and Town CauaeUs in Scotland, oa entering on a new year of duty, iwually attend Churcfr together :— Dr. Muir, whp was once kirkin* the corporation, said in hia prayer, "Lord, have mercy upon the magistrates of Glasgow, such as they are. Make them wiser and better/* When the Town Clerk called to say that the magistrates were muzh. aggrieved ab being prayed for in fiuoh a fashion, the answer waa instant; " Dr. Muir's compliments to the Lori Provost, and he is very sorry to find that his prayer has not been answered." A trial shipment of thirteen casee of pineapples ie to be despatched to America from Brisbane to test the market there. A large number of iruit-growers have contributed to the consignment. The f ruifc was collected and packed by a Committee, under the supervision of Professor Shelton, the expenses of the shipment being borne by the Department of Agriculture, which will recoup itself from the sale of the fruifc, if the venture be succeEsfal. The manager of the Co3tley Home, Auckland, has cent a letter t© the Charitable Aid Board stating that his life ia unendurable through the insabordinatiou of the inmates; that he has no power of isolating them or to call in the police ; and that they simply defy him. Oae drunken, violent woman had beaten an old woman, and later on severely handled another old woman, nearly blind. Two or three oE the old men were brutal and proUane almost beyond credit, and ifc was useless to try and enforce discipline unless he was supported. The chairman discharged the woman, and the Board supported his action. The press urge that the Board should enlarge the powers of the manager of the Home to enable him to deal with insubordination. — Correspondent of Otago Daily Times. "Observer" writes to the Post .—"There will be an occultation of the planet Saturn by the moon on 13th Deoember, at 9hr 18min 33sec a.m. The time is taken from the ' JSftutieal Almanac/ and is there giveu Sot the centre of the earth, so good watch should be kept earlier. If the morning be clear and quiet, this occult&fcion will ba very beautiful. Saturn, at the emersion of the dark edge of the moon, will appear to start out from nothing, as the dark edge will not be visible in full daylight. Saturn is not a bright planet:, and it is doubtful whether a binocular will 'show the planet at all. In a large telescope Saturn's large satellite may ba seen." Dr. L. L. Smith, M.L.A., wTto is Chairman of the Trustees of the Melbourne Exhibition Building, ha3defeated himself from the adverse criticism in regard to the women's tug-of-war which wae permitted in the building. Hβ defended the affair in tho firet place on the score' of decency, which he asserted was in no way au&ageik-jfl4!fL#B-fe« the physical strairU 'that was ail humbug. The hbu. member wa3 in the secret, and declared that. " the eirls in the' first heat were only dodging. They did not pull hard for thirty-five minutea, bub only when the man in charge winked at them." Still, in deference to public comment, th 3 Trustees endeavoured to have the affair stopped, and the manager asked permission to proceed, promising to "fake the show," so that there would be no pulling, but only the pretence of pulling. "L. L." admitted that he had agreed, as Chairman of the Trustees, to this pretby device for hoodwinking the public. • The day when- it wiU he possible to travel from Melbourne to London in less than a fortnight is apparently not so remote ag some people imagine. It is pointed out that to connect Melbourne witb London vifc. Malacca by rail would not involve the construction of more than 3700 miles of rails. The Indian railways would co-onerate in the working of this wrand Imperial routs, and sc would the Porte, through whose territory for 1000 miles the line would run. The advantages of such a quick route in maintaining and strengthening • the conrneicial relations between Great Britain and the colonie3 are held to be a strong justification for the early execution of the work. ■ A representative o£ tho Chronicle has taken four judgments oa the question of the respective popularity of living poets — one by a retail bookseller connected with the country and London, three by metropolitan booksellers. Upon the question of first place Swinburne iwa three votes to one for Lewis Morris, and the other poets are ranked variously behind. Some people may be surprised at tho popularity which Mr* Austin Dobson seems to have as a poet. The likelihood is that his popularity will so even still farther. There is little request for Sir Thsodore Martin's verse. Tennyson's sale for ever so many years back has been far ahead of anything which any of our living poets can reach. Indeed, itwould not be far out to say that Tennyson's sale—JO3C now, at all events— is*lraoat as greac as the sale of all our living poets put together.