Miscellaneous Extracts.

Hastings Standard, Issue 209, 31 December 1896, Page 4

Miscellaneous Extracts.

- . KAY.U.i'S OJ Iti i: FOX

from sou i hem portions of New South - .-.fiow that the fox is slowly but ;-Si:v making bis way north in ; hat colony. This pest is now t.o in/ U'i:.ii'i oout (louiburn. It is >oji;c tinh- jiii"t* they reached Denili(juin .-urrounding districts, and it is believed th.it it M ill only be ;i matter of a year or tuo before they reach the neighborhood of Sydney. Hitherto not u 1/resit deal has been heard of them in 2si w South Wales, because so far they have oniy existed in the sparsely populated districts, but it is feared that when they reach the more populous centres they will prove as givat a nuisance as they are in Victoria. Complaints are made that they are destroying many lambs, and hen-roosts are beginning to suffer in the south.

THE CYANIDE riIOCESS

As instancing the value of the cyanide process of gold extraction to the South African mines, mention may be made of the Robinson gold mine, the premier mine of South Africa, and it may be said of the world. The plant is capable of treating (>">00 tons per month, and the extraction is 70 per cent. The re-idiies (slimes) assay 2d\vt, again showing the importance of discovering a process .for the;r treatment. Only O'.'ilb of cyanide is used per ion treated. In some instances even weaker solutions have been successfully used, and the weaker the solution the greater seems to be the extracting power, but this, of course, depends greatly upon the liaturejjof the tailings. Including an expenditure of Is per ton for c\ an Me,!' ■ total cost of recovery at the l! 'hii. :in mine is :3s per ton, but this does u;>t include any royalty that may b>-exaet'-d by hoidcrs of patents. The : extraction of cyanide gold on tiio Hand is 8-Oodwt. per ton, of a value of ah-" 1 ' UsUd per ton, and allowiuM i'V!-ii I 1 •" r cent., (an absolutely c\ct---iv< .ok.-ii.') for possible royalti. a pri'fi" oulil ">i-ue on the Robin -< il • of '.»> pel' ton of tailings tivated or Mil addition of this amount • . the prom ■ .!;• r-.s i-• • gained.

M.\i!l:iA<;!' WITH I>l.< i:ASKI)

\\ ; rE'S MS'i'EK. Owing I 1 ilit' publicity given to the lull >*:'■;.* passed jiv the .States of Jitsvy 1< gal: -iug marriage with a ele-Cea.-eil wife's sister in the ea»« of j, r-•:!- domiciled in the island, a not hic<>a-id<-rable number of persons living in the t •.i Kingdom— according to a statement made by the Peaii of .!rr-i v -are constantly going or are purpu-.ing to go to Jersey with the inti iition of heing married to their siater--in-!a w.the impression being that their marriage would be legal it) hngland i" can-.' it hud been Celebrated in a pbrc where Mich marriages are now rtrogni.-ed bylaw. The Dean -<>•■< <>n U> Mtv that -inee tiie pacing of the law he hiVi rep.-a;. <ily Im-n applied to, both in p.-r on and by letter, to grant licc iiee- far the celebration of these i,:.ii v\- ■■ ::d a>iii..hm< iU and disat•!j >i:llisiei:i have been oxprt ssed at hid refusal. To prevent Mich disappointment. lie considers it is well Lhat it -!naild be known that', jso far as the Church of England is concerned, and until the Church as a whole shall ha\e pronomiercJ authoritatively on thequestion, measures arc being taken which will make tig 1 celebration of marriages between prisons within the p rob i b i t ed d eg re e #o f i i !l i n i t y practically iiiipussible in cy by any of the clergy of tlif: when a false <lec iparties applying to V\. 11. Vi-uublfa ienera.l for J it as his opinion that the Act in ijuostion only operates in favor of persons possessing a Jersey domicile, either of ofigin or of choice, and it is his intention to instruct the superintendent registrar accordingly.

OUTRAGES IN THE NEW HEBRIDES.

Something appeared in the Sydney papers lately as to outrages in the New Hebrides group, and the generally imsa tisfactorv joint control system with ii - attendant loopholes of punishment. It was also statelx that under the labor systv.n in vogue the Polynesian has cat' -• for rebelling# against his masters on some of the stations. The Amur has brought to' Sydney .details of white men killed. Amnrym, notorious in past history, was the scene of one of the murders, and Ta±ma, 011 the south coast of •..'lich lies the steamer Fijian, the si--'i.- of the other. It does not appear that cases any provocation was the natives. The Am in- early part of IVctinber again saw another coldblooded murder at the islau® fc, -of Ambryni. It appears that Mr Wamage, the • of the cutter Espiegle, was Lvii:„ a -hore in the boat to trade, and when about 20 yards from the ln-acli the natives opened fire, several bulk is striking the boat, and one going through the head of the mate of the cnti<®fc The place where he was shot has been noted during the last decade cral similar murdfv>. In part of November news conveyed to Waisisi .1. i lark find been found shot in tffff bush. Natives are blamed for tlfl deed, but suspicion points in another direction. The body was buried, and they are now awaiting the arrival of a man-of-war to investigate. THE TASMANIAN FIRE. News from Ilobart about the Penghana lire reveal a widespread destruction. Tl»i' outbreak originated in the bush at the back *>£. the Mount Lyell Company's buildings. The flames, fanned fay the" gale then blowing, spread with terrifying rapidity into the township, quickly reducing one

building afk-ranother to ashes. Shops, houses. cottages, huts and tents all wont down, the inmates narrowly escaping with a mere handful of their possessions. Then the flames went careering down the tram line, only five buildings between Penghana and Queenstown escaping destruction. Along the Queenstown road similar ruin and chaos prevailed, and here a dreadful fatality occurred. A man named Thomas Brent was with his mates wood-chopping, and as the lire burnt them out Brent rushed up a timber-covered hill, despite his mates' advice to stick to the road. The smoke overcame him, and the flames quickly following he was roasted alive. His mates escaped with severe burns to the hands and heads, they having kept on the road. Hundreds of people have been rendered homeless by the fire. Tee loss all round is severe, as little or no insurance was effected, the companies declining the risks. Eventually good will follow, as a regular town will now be built in a safe locality and amongst healthier surroundings.

CELEBRATING AN ELECTION. A startling incident occurred at New Bedford, United States, on the night of the Presidential election. Mr Patrick Cunningham, one of the richest men in the town, who recently invented an auto-mobile torpedo, which has been adopted by the Government, got very drunk on election night, and declared he would celebrate the event. He "accordingly went to his foundry, selected a section of his torpedo, consisting of an inner and an outer steel shell, conical in shape, loaded with 1251b of slowburning powder tightly packed, the whole weighing some 50011), and conveyed in upon a wagon to the corner of two main streets. Placing the torpedo in the middle of the street he lighted it, and the machine at once started down the street at a terrific pace, flying about a foot abovo the surface of the ground. In its progress the torpedo collided with a tree, and. glancing across the street, struck ;,<■ front of the market building .idi-.vays. The building at once collapsed. The torpedo then exploded, shattering several blocks of houses in the vicinity. The report was heard some miles-away. Fortunately no one was killed, but four persons who were in the market place at the time were thrown violently upon a heap of debris, while others wen- injured by flying pieces of stone and timber. A portion of the torpedo, weighing "(-'lb, was found in the adjoining street, having rebounded over the roofs of the intervening houses.

A LUNATIC BURNED TO DEATH

A shocking discovery was made at the Kew Lunatic A -ylutn the other day. As one of the female oflicials was going her rounds of. flic E division, she noticed smoke coming from a cell occupied hy a woman named Morrison, who had been received into the institution from Malvern. She wib confined on account of a suicidal tendency, and every precaution was taken to prevent her putting an end to herself. She slept hy herself on a mattress on the floor. and her clothing, in accordance with the regulation, was removed every night. When the attendant opened

the door of the cell Morrison was found lving dead on the mattress, which was still burning. The floor m places was also burnt, and the body of the woman was much charred. As no matches of any kind are kept m "£he asylum, it is mysterious how the fare occurred. A peculiar feature of the burning was that the bedclothes were not burnt and only the foot of the mattress. The asylum authorities are holding au inquiry into the affair. MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY. A new phase in connection with the mountain murders was brought to light last week, when the police authorities received information that Butler, or Harwood, had not sailed in the Swanhilda, as alleged, but was hiding in Sydney. Minute details were furnished as to his whereabouts, even the street and the house where he was stated to be concealed being enumerated. Several members of the detective force were told off to investigate the affair, and they subsequently proceeded to a house in Surrey Hills, w'hich was entered and searched without, however, finding any trace of the wanted murderer. Although inclined to be sceptical concerning this, the latest news of Harwood, the authorities could not afford to overlook the matter, and so a searching inquiry into the truth or otherwise of the statement made was ordered. The police at Forbes found recently, when making inquiries concerning Harwood, or Butler, that he was in the vicinity of Trundle about the first week in September. He gave several shirts away. One bore the name of Percy William Marchant. Mr A. Sheard, of Mary street, Waterloo, informed a News reporter that some time ago he met a young man named Marchant in Sydney owing to an advertisement he inserted for a partner. Marchant was then staying at the Barrack street Coffee Palace, and had but shortly before arrived from England. Negotiations were carried on for some time between him and Mr Sheard, but ultimately Marchant informed the latter that he had arranged with another man, now believed to be Butler, to go to the country, and he has not been seen since. Mr Sheard saw the paragraph in the Evening News in regard to the finding of the shirt bearing Marchant's name, and believes the man to be the one whom he knew. Marchant is described as being about 25 or 27 years of age, dark moustache, slightbuild, and about 6ft in height.