BRIEF MENTION.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXI, Issue 105, 8 May 1896, Page 3

BRIEF MENTION.

♦ A OBisr, ohearful morning. Weather which produces smiles all round. After the toasi to " The Ladies" at the flooial, one of them sang "The Mocking Bird 1" Rough on the proposer. A mother and her three daughters were divorced, each from her respective husband, m one day recently m Salem, Illinois. At the social Mr Buiok eaid the Empire was a little mixed at the preeent time, and it Seemed a while ago as if it would be ODly safe for everyone to carry a Maxim gun about with him. At the same gathering, Mr E. H. Penny said the Empire was the grandest ever created, and he hoped that the rising generation would tiae to their responsibilities ? i —Them's our sentiments. A woman shot a Chinaman lha other day m some civilised portion of San Francisco. Excuse : Only shot at him m fun ! j Verdict: Not guilty. Prisoner promptly discharged. Sober truth. A man who maliciously rang a fire alarm m Glasgow while the firemen were having their annual dance was fined £10, with the alternative o( 60 days imprisonment. Much satisfaction prevails among the natives npon the West Coaßt of Africa at the downfall of King Prempeh. According to a speaker at the Fruitgrowers' Conference, the banana of to-day is praotioally the same as it was m the time of Alexander the Great. Blotting pads are now made from porous etone. , Vienna dentists fill teeth with melted glass. Tbe only dumb animal is the giraffe. It ia unable to express itself by any sound. Exclusive of aborigines and Maoris, Australasia is estimated to have a population of 4,238,369, of whom 2,259,533 are males. A Tenterfield, New South Wales, cabman baß been fined £4 for being m possession of £2, for which he could not satisfactorily acoount. On behalf of residents, Mr Langridge, of Takaka, has offered to make each bereaved family m Brunner a present of a side of baoon and a sack of potatoes. On one of his visits to England tbe Shah of Persia "shouted" for 32,000 Britieb troops which had been reviewed by him, There was no prohibition about the Shah. During a visit to the North, the Premier of New South Wales bad three banquets m nine hours, and ten m three days and a bait. Mr Seddon must look to his laurels Some farmers' wives at Port Macquarrie make from 253 to 40* a week out of their fowls alone. The Chinese are m possession of all the fruit chops m Greymoutb, with one exception. The raisin orop at Mildura is estimated to return £15,000. Queensland sugar experts anticipate a good season this year. A penny-in-tbe-slot restaurant, invented by an Italian, and now m use m Berlin, one Sunday not very long back sold 2700 sandwiches, 9000 glasses of wine, and 12,000 oups of coffee. An innkeeper is not liable to make good to any lodger or guest goods left m a hotel unless the same have been deposited expresaely for safe custody with the lioensee. In some portions of Upper Egypt rain is absolutely unknown, and m Lower Egypt there is occasionally no rain for years. The Earl of Lonsdale spent nearly £125,000 to entertain tbe German Emperor for a week at Lowther Castle. That's the way to circulate the cash. Mr Herbert Spencer, the philosopher, was trained as a boy to become a civil engineer, Later m life be was conneoted with a provincial paper as a reporter. Tbe French have been persevering ia Madagascar because they expsot to find gold, The Germans aro eager for the independence of the Transvaal because it is a vast gold region, which may ultimately, they fancy, fall to them. Even the Japanese have been lured to Formosa by hopes, probablj well founded, that the island may be found to be one of the " metalliferous patobea" ol the world,— Spectator. At a political meeting held recently, a Sootoh Bhoemaker with a local reputation AEOMATIOS Are now used to render medicines and cordials more salutary and palatable. Wolfe's Aromatic Bchn&pps is one ol the finest cordials.

for humour, asked one of the candidates for Parliamentary honours the following poeer : — " Is Maister Wulaon m favour of spending thairty-Bis millions on the army and navy, an' only twelve millions on education ; that is to say, twelve millions for pitfcin' brains m, and thairty-six millions for blawin' brains oot." Little Janet, aged four, notioed the other day at dinner the rest of the family helping themselves liberally to the mustard. Nobody offering her any, she waited until something drew away the attention of the i others, when the lifted the mustardspoon, liberally daubed a piece of bread which she was eating with the fiery condiment, and took a substantial bite. Her hand immediately went up to her burnt mouth; but bravely suppreesing an outcry, she put the bread away, remarking, " I think I'll wait till that jelly getß cold."