OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11505, 18 August 1899, Page 8

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

■ The total number of telephone lines in New. South Wales on July 31 whs 9143.

Great havoc is being worked among the flocks of settlers around Hillgrove Falls (New South Wales) by dingoes.

The colonial mails by the s.s. Oruba, from Melbourne, of the 12tli July., arrived in London on the 13th inst.—two days early. An endeavour is to be made to hatch by incubators the 24- ostrich eggs which have been laid by the birds at the Sydney Zoological Gardens during the season.

The botfly appears to be very bad in the Gisborne district at the present time. Several horses have succumbed to its ravages. A bill has been introduced into the South Australian Parliament providing for the

issue of dredging licenses in the Northern Territory.

Mr F. M. Spurdle has (says a contemporary) been selected as the Government candidate for Wanganui at the ensuing general elec-

" A liltlo knowledge is a, dangerous thing." Do you want to know all about it? Then go to headquarters before buying a biks. W. A. Scott, Speedwell Cycle Factory, 155 George street.... The Wa''l:u) correspondent of the Oamaru Mail writes:—"Mr Davis, a very old mau, patriarch of the Maoris in this part of the country, after being laid up for a considerable time through natural decay, passedquietly away to his rest on Wednesday. There will doubtless be a great gathering of natives, a big tangi, and'an imposing funeral." An American has invented a process for condensing oysters and shrimps. By this method a gallon of oysters can be condensed to 14-07. in weight. While in this state water is poured on them when ready for use, and they again assume their normal proportions. A member of the Irish parliamentary party has received a letter from an American offering to organise the raising of a fund for the ■purchase of Ireland from Great Britain. Tlio financier naively remarks that " the whole question must hinge upon the desire of Great' ■Britain to dispose of the property." .No names are given. Joe Mullet, the "Invincible," who has lieen released after 16 years' imprisonment, has confided to an interviewer that "What 'surprises me most is the appearance of the electric trams and the lady cyclists. When I went into prison the only cyclists who veu-. hired ■ abroad were those who risked their lives on the ordinaries.' Mullet is over 70 years old, and, unlike the majority of the Irish prisoners, he doe? not complain of his treatment in gaol. A curious thing has happened on the western shores of Mull and lona. Thousands, of apple seeds have taken root along the high water-mark of the spring tides, where ■the apples from the wrecked Dominion liner Labrador were strewn in much profusion. The steams are already from 2in to sin high, and the plants are healthy and vigorous. The crofters are transplanting the strongest roots to their gardens. : According ro a report from Peshawur, a general named Abdul Hakim Khan and two or three clerks of the Army Pay department office at Cabul were recently blown from guns on the maidan facing the infantry barracks at Calud, in the presence of a large concourse of army officers and soldiers. The charge against the executed men was that they had for some years past been in the habit of cheating both officers and men of portion? of their salaries. This particular form of punishment has very rarely been resorted in of late years at Cabul, and the execution of these men created something of a sensation.—Indian Times.