MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 40, 11 July 1877, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

Tbe explanation of the slight nature of. the opposition shown by the Turks to the passage of the Danube by .Russian troops, ,the Press says :—" The retirement of the Tv rks does not appear, however, to amount to either retreat or de'eat, but to hare Wen t'aile for sanitary and o'hc'r reasons, since they will simply leave their enemy to encounter other' asssilants than them* ! selves in the unhealthy marshes of Dobrudscha, while they intead making their, stand along the line of Trajan's wall— the narrowest stretch of country between the Danube and the Black Sea. There it was that, during the Crimean war, some of the severest engagements were fought, and were in each case attended by failure on the part, of the enemy to force their way south, and here it will probably bo that the fiercest fighting of the war will probably take place, fortified as the situation is by nature and by ancient and modem 1 art. It seems that the sands of the desert are most troublesome at times to vessels passing through the Suez Canal. On her last run home the Poonah encountered 3 very fierce sandstorm. The air was dense with lime sand, and quite impossible to face. During the storm the Poonah lay right across the Canal, perfectly powerless. Tons of sand ~were thrown on her deck, and the sails and ship's gear was covered with a thick coating 1 . The Australian Colonies are at present asked to consider the project of laying down another ocean cable ; but, from the fallowing paragraph .10 the Melbourne Argus they- are likely to postpone any decision on the question :— For many months past experiments have been conducted by electricians in England which, if brought 'to a successful issue, will go far towards revolutionising ocean telegraphy. Cables, as at present laid, have to be constructed in- a very costly manner in order to secure perfect insulation, and to prevent that dissipation of tho electric current which would otherwise take place. The idea, however, is now entertained that this insulation may not be necessary, and that with instrumebts of a very delicate kind, tho current transmitted through tho uninsulated wire may, notwithstanding the dissipation in the transit, yet bo sufficient to record the message. Should ;bis theory be brought to any practical •esult, insulation might bo dispensed with, md cables, consisting of nothing but tbe sop'per wire could then be laid at a greatly ■educed 6os{. How far those experiments iave' proceeded, and with what prospect )f ultimate success, we are not in a posi-

fg^gs^f~~^^^^' ■"" ■'- ~ MososMsP'^y" communication has been the Government from South. ; J Au^ralia, suggesting the desirability of i-|gwithhoidin<r any _ definite action on the of duplicate cable communication , j jtiQt|j, the results of thpse.esperimontd have ■'■)ieep i ascertained". It is pointed out that ,-tuMi. si l b)es,; enn bo laid dovfrn in.tlio manner . fliiggested a great reduction could beimade in tfilograpliic chaFire^ and the rales' reduced from 10s 6d a word to ss. '