MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 929, 18 September 1869, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

', 'T1&^ T te)egn*pluo',cable.\from J Peterhead to Norway has been successfully laid.- ; ' Two thousand five hundred ladies, in Londonhave pledged themselVes not, to flhbp'after'ifcwo o'clook on Saturdays. ' < . The, recent breakfast, party, given, at Buckingham palace, in honour of the Viceroy of -Egypt, -is considered to have established the new style of full morning dress, the main feature of 'which is a blue dress coat with gilt buttons. I The Directors of the London and North Western Railway Company are in treaty with the Government for the purchase of the site now abandoned for, the Law Courts, to erect a , railway .station in the heart of the, city. The price to be paid for it is LBOO,OOO. < At the Manchester demonstration against the Irish Church Bill, there were consumed 200 barrels of mild ale, 30 hogsheadßof Guiness's porter, 20 hogsheads of BsssVbitter ale,, 1000 bottles of soda-water, 1800 bottles of lemonade, 4dOO'half-pints of cider, and 20,000 bottlea of ginger-beer. < A lady has been unanimously elected a member of a yachting club. She is the owner of a fine vessel of over 240 tons, and intends to enter for most of the prizes this year. We (Court Journal) nope no gentleman will be ungallant enough to try and beat her, and will turn out of the course altogether when they see her in her stays or hanging out her sheets. According to the Registrar-General's annual report, one person died in England last year through terror producod by a thunderstorm, another from the sting of a wasp, and a third from the sting of a bee. There is a case of the bite of a donkey proving fatal. A man was choked by swallowing a set of artificial teeth. A little girl and an old man were killed by game cocks. Several suffered through swallowing fish-boneß and plumstones. The Investors' Guardian states that two of the leading joint-stock banks havo offered to do the whole of the financial business of the Government now performed by the Bank of England for onehalf the sum now paid. It will be remembered that some time ago an important reduction was made in the charge to the Government by the Bank of England, when a pressure was put upon that establishment by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer. The proprietors felt somewhat grieved, at the time, that their profits should be so much curtailed, considering the important assistance rendered by the Bank to the administration in times of difficulty; but they were compelled to accept the terms, or lose the business altogether. The numerous friends of Miss Julia Matthews will be gratified to hear that her second tour through the country as "the Duchess" has been a successful one. She has played in the leading cities of Ireland and Scotland, as well as the principal townß of England, and in nearly every instance the theatres have been well attended, and the local press generally, too, have been warm in their praises. The exoessive work and constant travelling have somewhat injured hor health, but not to any serious extent. Negotiations are in progress betweon Mr Rußsell and the proprietors of the Lyceum ; and should those end satisfactorily, Miss Matthews will probably appear at this theatre before long. The Duke of Newcastle's town mansion, situated in Carlton-house-terrace, is at last entirely denuded of its valuable moveable contents, save and except the family heirlooms, which, together with the building itself, still remain in tho possession of the Sheriff of Middlesex. The- mansion is of truly noble dimensions, but the grand marble staircase seems to have suffered somewhat through the heavy traffic the steps had to sustain by ike brokers and their assistants in the removal of tho furniture, &c The total amount realised by the sale is still reserved, but we believe Moasrs E. and H. Lumley, tho auctioneers who sold the property, have every reason to bo satisfied with the bulk sum it producod. Mr Thomas Lenton, who left tho colonies by the March mail for the Colestial Empire and Japan, in soarch of native talent for their amusomont, has returned to England, on account of the delioato state of his health. Very fow of those oonnectod with the profomion who have visited the colonies, have beoomo so universally oatoomed and respected by all classes v the enterprising manager and proprietor of tho Lonton and Japanese Dragon Troupe, and few have b«en so successful. Mr Lonton is staying with his family in Nottingham, and bis rooovory and return to tho scene of his colonial triumphs, and triumphs they certainly were in overy sonso of tho word, will bo anxiously looked forward to by all colonist*. His two Australian pupils will shortly appear beforo a metropolitan audience,

f human.hairforjthe purpose ,of making; chigpom , has , given 1 some 1 teouMe 'to- the. sanitary .officers of St. PancrasV The parish" authorities' received complaints from a Resident of Park street, Regent's' iPark-4b lady—that' the baking and boiling of Human hair at the next house to , hers givea' rise to the moat shocking smells, which come in at every window of her house, and affect her head and stomach, and give her. a sore throat. An inspection of the premises and pro* cess of manufacture was ordered at once, and it was found that the hair is subjected to Bteam and then placed in a hot-, air chamber, whence the, smells arise ; but ;there; appeared,, to, the inspecting officer to be nothing in ( the; process which would warrant legal interference, so that the neighbours must put up with the an-n noyance as they best may. Some of the emigrants who recently went out to Oanada appear to be very discontented, and they have held a meeting at Toronto to give expression to their grievances. One of the speakers said that' had he known what it was to live in Canada, he would "rather have stayed at. home and rotted in the streets" than, have gone thithor. The Toronto Globe says it made enquiry and found that this man had been engaged by a farmer at nine and a quarter dollars a month with board, but that he was so extremely *' finical" in the class of work he would do that the farmer was obliged to discharge him. All the speakers at the meeting complained of the terrible disappointment they had met with, and one who had been earning a dollar and a half a day since his arrival expressed a desire to see the agent hanged who had sent him out. The Toronto Globe asks these men | what they expected to find in Oanada ; and it remarks that if they could earn 6s 3d a day in England it is marvellous why they left.