BRIEF MENTION.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIV, Issue 292, 13 December 1899, Page 3

BRIEF MENTION.

Bial Bammer weather. Pea (palling is m fall Bwing |abaat Benwiok. West Ooaßt bara m a bad state. Interferes with the regular steamer timetable somewhat. Is ihe rain holding off until the Unristmas holidays? ia a query frequently pui jus now. Bankd m Joban^.burg are open daily from Dine to noon. The white man's ourfew is rigorously operated m Johannesburg at nine o'oloois eaoh night. A howling nor'-weat gale m Wellington on Sunday night interfered with people'e sleep. A tender has been accepted for the eteotion of the Nelson munioipal abattoirs, whioh are to oost £2695. There is a building boom m Southland, and oarpenters are at a premium. One builder iB reported to have offered £4 a week to good men. A Taranaki butter faotory has sold all ita output this season at ll|d p3r lb. f.o.b tiuoks. Hostess— "And I euppose you went up the Bhine?" Mrs Newwealth (who has been bothering them with her travelling experiences)—" Ob, indeed, yes, and many other mountains !" Mrs Welle, who has lived m Nelson for 42 years, died there last week. During the bearing of a case m the Sydney Divoroe Court a few days ago a letter was read from an inmate of Lyttelton gaol. The writer evidently appreoiates the paternal hospitality of the New Zealand Government. "Now don't think for a moment," be wrote, " that thia plaoe is anything like what ontside people think it is. The food is wholesome ; the work is not bard, and you have plenty of zest." Further particulars of the battle of Stormberg show that the JBritißh troops displayed the most conspicuous bravery. Surprised by an overwhelming foroe, they behaved as ooolly as if on parade, and fought desperately for three hours. Soldiers of the Queen m very deed 1 Mr Kroger aaema to have improved on Cromwell's old motto, " Trust m God, but keep your powder dry." His motto is, " Trußt m God, but grab all the gold you can lay your hands on," Trumpeter Sherlock, a boy of 14, whose regimental niokname is "Little Bedbreast," is the youngster whose fame has resounded through the world because at Elands Laagte he galloped ahead and shot three Boers with a revolver. The proprietors of To-day, an English paper, offered a prize of £25 to "the reader sending io the oorreot date upon whioh the British flag will be hoisted at Pretoria." In connection with the relief of Kimberley, it is stated that the British are olose up, and are using lyddite shells with great offeot. The Boers are strongly entrenched, however, and are making preparations for a determined resistance to the advance of Metbuen'a forces. There will be a hot battle presently. The horsee of the Boyal Soott's Greyß have been dyed kbarki oolor to minimise their ohanoes of being shot. What a surprise for the animals. They won't know eaoh other. Slimßon : " Willie, where did you get that black eye?" "It's all right, father. I've only been civilising the boy next door." When a mm tells you he never made a fool of himself m his life you may be sure that Nature spared him the trouble. The most expensive railway system m the world is m the inner circle of London, whioh coßt, including the purchase of land, from £800,000 to £1,000,000 per milt*. The grand total of sheep running at the end of last year m New South Wales was 41,241,004. An Englishman and a Scotchman on the Caledonian Bailway,— Englishman : " Very slow trains on this railway ; stop at every station." Scotchman : "An 1 fat wid be the eese (nee) o' the stations i( the trains didna atop at them ?" Among the Wellington eleotion equib3 is the following story :— The Jewish rabbi there was looking at the boards of a Wellington journal whioh displayed the results of the poll. He remarked ; "My only wonder is that they have not put the whole of it m mourning." Joy is the sunshine of the heart, and oheertulness and honest mirth bring forth the blossoms and unfold the leaves, and their f'agranoe sweetens all our lives and the Hvjb of others. For every good haarty laugh we indulge m there is a day taken off onr age. Why should we take life so seriously ? Cannot we labour as wall, or better, aooomplisb as much, and enjoy life as we go along, if we keep on the watoh for every possible oppor tunity for a good, hearty, blood-stirring, pulse-tingling laugb ? ,'.' I told 'im what you said, ma'am, that 'whisky wai 'is worst henemy." " And what did be say ?" '.' Saii 'c 'ad always been '"»qgbt to love 'is henemiee," UHe ' " Ne> i' e > J U9t look at man over thnra ' I * Qo>i "" nk l eVer flaw a man 8 ° plain!" She/ " Haah ' dear 5 y° a tor B et yourself !" When the news oofl f th , e Glenooe viotory resohed Oapatown peo^ lß wen * *"■ Wl ' h delight. Perfeot strangerg Shook hands, and " God Save the Queen," the* " Soldiers of the Queen," and " Now we shan't be :?o«i were popular aira. The " plugged" shells nsed by the Boers m the Gleno c fight were shells m whioh the fuse-holes were plugged with wood. As they didn't burst, they might as well have been firing only round shot.