BY THE WAY.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 64, 26 November 1895, Page 2

BY THE WAY.

The railways of .America employ over 2.000,000 men. The estimated loss to the storekeepers by the la^e fire at at Coolgardie is stated to be LIOO.OOO. The sheep returns of the colony for the year ending 30th April last show a decrease of 404,225. The Tauranga natives have taken greatly to music lately, and a brars band is to be formed by the natives of Judea. A curiosity in the shape of a four-legged chicken is in the possession of a Balclutha resident. The four legs are fully developed. Things are coming to such a pass that pretty soon, when we see a young man ahead of us carefully lift one coat-tail as he crosses the street, we may feel morally certain that he is an advanced young woman, — ' Judge. 1 ' A new form of suicide ' is the startling manner in which the * Mount Ida Chronicle ' heads the announcement that three New Zealand girls are proceeding to China as missionaries. It is estimated that a cow is not profitable unless sho yields 400 gallons of milk per annum. Larrikinism breaks out in some peculiar forms oeeasisnally down TaraDaki way. At a dance in a public ball the other even in p. says a contemporary, a. live pig was introduced through a window, and figured prominently in a set of D" Alberts. It was hard to Bay which squealed most— the ladies or the pig. A petition is being got up in New Plymouth, praying for a reduction in the sentence of eight years' imprisonment passed some two years and a-nalf ago on Bobert Wallelh, known as the New Plymouth highwayman. This is the roundabout way in which a Taranaki plumber advertises his business : — ' And lo and behold it came to pass that a plumber went forth to plumb, and he dooth the job whereunto he was called •, and a period of time elanseth, and the job leaketh, yea. verily, it squirteth with an exceeding great squirt, and the householder waxeth wroth and swearoth thereat, and teareth it out, yea, verily, he yanketh it out, and lifting up his voice he sayeth, bring unto me H. Ramsay, plumber and tinsmith, Eltham and Kapongi. of whom I hear from my brethren that be doeth good, sound work, and that be may ba relied on to put all my pipes in order.'

She ro3e licfwhctl With nctivo zenl, Although there wore some rumors, That she was mad Bcnauae she bad No creaaes iv her bloomers'. A Giaborneite entered the ladiea' bathing shed and coolly removed all the" bathing costumes, bats, and boots to the beach, where he made a boDfire of them. - Lord Brassey is the richest man the Colonies has seen. He is worth the modest trifle of four or five millions. His sister who had 21 millions, married Bass, of ale and porter fame, who also had 2i millions. A curiou3 mistake was made by several journals in connection with the tragic end of Mr and Mrs Daore. They were said to have visito'l New Zealand with Geo. Leitch's dramatic company, whereas they were never outside Australia since coming to the Antipodes. When HMS. Dart was stationed at the Islands, ana r f her marines caught a shark, the stomach of which contained a sheepskin (thrown over from the Dart two days beforej, two fish each sft long, nine crabs, a lot of tortoiso-shell, " soup and bouili " tins, and two sheets of brown paper. The shark measured 14ft Jong and 16ft in girth. Although tho name of Oscar Wilde is tabooed in respectable society, his plays are still being presented to the public. The Broiieh and Boucicault Co., produced a comedy from his p.in at X)unedin last night, viz., " The Importance of being Earnest." Skippers residents are indignant at the manner in which an oM residsnt — Mr W. Fayle — who was recently drowned, was buried— in his blankets— by the the Police, and have reported the matter to headquarters. A bill of-fare at an up-country hotel :— ' fcshops, jibblit pie, makarooney, korned beef, stand heal, rhost pork, ghoosberry pi, and cheezs and sellary.' An Australian writer says that Mr Hugh Craig, the owner of Euroclydon. is the proprietor of a largo line of coaches at Lawrence, near Wellington. Says an exchange: The Rev. Father Power, formerly of Patea, and now of Waipawa, has set a truly rare oxample of Christianity, by returning to his people the money he had received over find aboye his living expenses. A remarkable instance of the depreasei} condition of agriculture in ' England "wag afforded at the sale of Langdon Abbey, neatDeal, recently, when 649 acres of land, with farmhouse, stabling, homestead, and seven modern cottaees, only realised L 5,700, or less than L 9 per acre. Fifteen years ago the property was valued at ISO 000 and four years ago it was mortgaged for L 14.000. To show that accomoriation was at a premium at Black's on the show day, the •Dunafan Times' mentions that five bicyclists occupied the gaol, and were well looked after by Constable Leeco. They were extremely gratified to find such a good rest ing place,