MISCELLANEOUS READING.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1633, 29 October 1873, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS READING.

V : disposing of. a- ramrod A gold fields contemporary tells the following curious 'story 1 :— "A meeting was held at a Blue- Spur a^felTdays ago to consider the Best 'means of keeping that portion of the commonage used by the residents for their cattle clear of the sheep belonging to some of • the small squatters; Lor * 'sheepists,' as they are called. The meeting resolved to get a petition drawn up and' signed for the purpose of forwarding to the Government. One of the residents who, takes more than ordinary interest in' public matters appertaining to the ~ Blue ' Spur 1 was appointed" to obtain signatures' to the ;petitiou >: r iand -while .performih'g this duty, one of the . sheepistSjfinet him, and, ascertaining that the petition was in general favor and ;being nmfierously signed, proposed to purchaseCit. The following: colloquy is fsaid^to have taken place :— Canvasser!: ' How much will you give, me for it?' Sheepist : { f A. t note.' Canvasser I 'No, I won't let it' 'go fo» that.' Sheepist (after a pause) : ' Well, D don't mind giving -you,;3os if you'll give me the petition.', .While ( the canvasser was hesitating, ' another sheepist joined them, and, , hearing, the, proposal, offered to shout 10s in drinks, if ih§:w;ould|aoQept the offer. 'Done,' said the jsanvasser. The bargain. w£w'stfficE,""iEhe "petition changed hands, and the drinks were had. It is a common sayings and-not-without a good mixture of- truth^jihat * every man has his price ;' •■ jfcijit we "have never before seen it illustrated4n such a busines3-like manner as it was in^the above transaction. Although the petition was sold,\she people of the Blue Spur ; w;ere; npt^tol (be! s*6ld, for they at once seta, similar petition on foot, and we triist' they will "obtain the object they desire without another miscarriage." A WORD POR THB :NOftSBMJBi?. A "Scandinavian" s writes to the New Zealmid Herald as. follows "jf-^MV y O gel knows what he is about ;w'h|en l nefuQported Scandinavians j- from thejirranklh^ dreads no office-seekers, while about one out of every five Englishmen: are always on the look-out for some , Government billet. What an annoyance it must be, .to Julius ! You also say ' that • they icontKbiilie little or nothing to the reveriiiK' 1 IS J is true they do not consume as -large' r a" 'quantity of spirits as their British fellow-colonists, if that is anything against themifa* curse upotusuch? reyenjie;>ayl!l)|Bußhen they will be consumers of other dutiable goods, They will be producer^ and eSjbrters, and the soberer they are the richer they willvbe, : and so I take it-j :t thef* T r*icher also the nation will be. .Pnly let them, take proper root in the 'soil, and you will see them occupy no: mean positibrii ik this nation. Now, you may suppose that we, the>ides"cendants-of o"the jold^ r Sea Kings (call them pirates if you will), members of -a well-e'ducated^sbbbr^and industrious nation, with _a y freer constitution than .EnglisHmeriJcan boastTofpwn'Sliave stood up single-handed for their independence against the same power that humbled Francep.l say, do you suppose we are goingtbsub'mit to'your sneers and insults, ia.nd[jdo,you not also consider it more in consonance with your duty as a journalist, instead of setting colonist against colo-

niat, on account of nationality, to show justice and impartiality to all, ' and love your neighbour as yourself, the world we travel through, and neyer Bit down to •write a I— , but paddle your own canoe.'" tOG-KOLLING. Despite what may be said to the con* traij, we hold thai there are only two Provincial in j^ew Zealand ' which discharge the various functions for which the Provinces were created by the Constitution Act. These are Otago and Canterbury : all the rest are political shams, haying long since forfeited the respect and confidence of the people which they are presumed to represent. And yet we find that the Superintendency elections of these bankrupt Provinces excite stronger feeling, and provoke a much more active canvass, than was the case in the recent election contest for the , Superintendency of Otago. How is this 1 There certainly must be some reason why people take so much interest in what appears, to those at a distance, to be a grotesque farce. If we could only dive deep enough into the secrets' of Provincial log-rolling, we might arrive at the truth ; but we are not able to Bound the depths of that political abyss, and therefore must be content with what appears, on the i surface.. The Taranaki members are probably the most astute log-rollers in the Assembly. Two of the representatives of that Province are aspirants for the Superintendency, and consequently every move they make in the House is with a view of commending themselves to the electors. Out of the House it is worse. There are three candidates, and two of these gentlemen have agreed to make a canvass and compare notes, and whichever has the fewest promises is to retire in favor of the other, when both will join forces to defeat Mr, Canipgton, who certainly deserves well of the Province. This is a remarkable feature in Provincial politics. It is *' log-rolling" with a vengeance; but as the Colony, and notably the Southern portion, must pay the piper, we strongly protest against it. — Otago Guardian. ACCLIMATISATION IN THE STATES. A remarkable car has just crossed the United States from east to west, under the superintendence of the Fish Commissioner. The car was prepared specially for the transportation of live fish across the continent, and is fitted up with tanks, so shaped as to retain the water and the fish in spite of any amount of shaking and splashing. In these tanks are distributed, according to cheir habits, the fish of the eastern waters to be colonised in California. The list includes full-grown black bass, breeding catfish, full-grown yellow perch, full-grown horn pouts, glass-eyed pike, breeding eels, tautogs, striped bass, yearling perch, large lobsters, one barrel young (selected) oysters, besides 100,000 Hudson River shad, and somewhat less than 100,000 small eels. There was a large' quantity of sea water on board for the benefit of the lobsters, oysters, and tautogs^ This list includes eleven varieties of fish not native to California.