CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXX, Issue 10112, 10 August 1893, Page 5

CURRENT TOPICS.

A London exchange says i —A bank clerk borrowed £2OOO from the teMWj wherewith to make bln fortune W turf, but did not communicate the fact the tuatifi&er or directors, afi iareooCl (they all do) shortly to replace the aooaMj He. of course, lost it all. To win it badß he embezzled another £2OOO, and lost tarn also. Thinking matters were now eenoofc he went and stated the esse to tbe famUjf solicitor, a respectable, fatherly old g®ot3»j man of unimpeachable integrity. After • proper amount of good advise, the Bolioite® asked the bank clerk if there woe Ml more money on which he could _ toy his hands. The clerk replied rajas hq could get another £6OOO, and not oq found out for ten days. “Got »% then, and bring it to me this altew»oo®jn said the solicitor. The clerk acoMCdwagW brought the money to the solicitor. Thq solicitor counted out £IOOO. that’s for yon,” handing It to the qtewty Then he counted out another £IOCKL| ** That’s for me,” he said. Then he wrowfj to the chairman cf the directors, stotiaifi that the clerk hod embezzled £IO,OO£V that his family desired to avoid ft tion, and that the heads of the family lifttt had a meeting, at which they bad managed! to subscribe £4OO0 —the utmost they could* raise. The lank might ether take the, amount and let t io matter drop, or they, might prosecute the clerk and get nothing. The directors decided to take the £4OOO.

A prayer-book that belonged to QneeQ. Elizabeth realised 1220ga at the sal*' of tho! Field collection at Christie's on June 18,' Other features of the three days’ cal©, which realised over £50,000, were tho high prices fetched by a landscape by Hobbema (4500g5), a head of a girl by Grewto (2900g5), and two landscapes by JftOOh liuyadasi (1700 aad 1200 gs).

Of the late Adam Black, the founder of the well-known publishing bonze, Pryde in hie ‘‘Pleasant Memories of aj Busy Life,” tells how one day, shortly after Mr Black commenced bounces oe q bookseller, a euapioions-lootio g man stealthily into the shop, and, leaning oveg tho counter, whispered into hia <ar, “ I’ve got some fiise i mnggied whiskey, which FU let you have a great bugiia.” “No, no,” said Mr BUcfc, indignantly, ‘‘l want nothing of the kind ; go away.” The man,' evidently m t believing in the sincerity of this righteous outburst, leant over the counter fig sin and whispered-— “FU tei£ Bibles for’c,”

One of the quaintest details of the opening of the World's Pair at Chicago that has reached England is the description of how, in the quagmire through which the. gathering crowd had paesed, hundreds of lost goloshes, hats and other articles wet©' visible, and wore afterwords collected by the bucketful. Ic must have bf en a very Slough of Despond, for the rubber or gam f-hos of the Amtr o >n is too practical icn its fastenings to come off easily, and is a v«cy{ useful ar iole in a country where all bat the very rich proceed even to evening parties in public conveyances. There ii a story, by the way, of an Englishman who whs horrified to hear an American lady! asking for a door mat on which to wijaq her gums.”

The Fiji > correspondent of the OtagQ Daily Times says:—A service of carrier! pigeons has been started between Sava and! Nausori, where the largest sugar mills ia| the country are situated!, and only distant about fourteen miles over fairly level country, which presents not the difflculiy to the construction of a railways to «ay nothing of each a simple thing as a| telephone wire; but as these matters do not affect the native population or aoy o£ the dark-skinned pets of the powers be, nothing will ever be done. The pigeon is a great advance upon the foot the bird being able to accomplish the die* tance in from ten to fifteen minutes, and Isj independent of the nubcidged and ewolksj creeks which the foot messenger haa toj cross; besides, under the moat favourable circumstances, the. heavy bosh track there is no road or anything worthy of name three miles oat jof Suva) requires a|j least three and a half to four hours to traverse. Monstrous as each a state of matters! is, it is nothing out of the way In at Crown Colony.

To destroy a oat while the question of, its ownersnip is under judicial investigation is, ccoording to the judge of the Leeds; County Court, to be guilty of contempt,! The animal which has given occasion for this important ruling was brought into! Court, where it seems to have behaved itself with the propriety that might expected of a cat “ of high degree," foft “ Bessie ” was described as a “ purebred Persian,” and it transpired. that hex; grandfather is at this time in the; possession of her Boyal Highness, the Princess Beatrice. Beeeio was; further described as a “ cat with; wings,” and it was alleged that it was fehifj remarkable peculiarity that had awakened! a desire i- the defendant to posseeo her j for a cat with wings is a curiosity which: folk will pay to see. The judge finally decided that the plaintiff was the rightful owner, and that the cat mast be given upj to him. Unfortunately Bessie left the! Court shorn of her most profitable attribute, for the evidence of experts wont to show that what had been supposed to be wings ” were, simply folds of matted hair, the result of the cat’s neglect to wash 1 herself.