Odds and ends.

Otago Witness, Issue 1355, 17 November 1877, Page 3

Odds and ends.

Our pastoral, agricultural, and other friends interested will bear in mind the fact that- the Annual Show of the Balclutha Agricultural Society will take place on the 20th instant ; also that the Taieri Show will be held on the 22nd.

Mr Herbert Roberts, the champion billiairdist, who has met with great success in Australia and in some parts of New Zealand, intends to visit Dunedin shortly.

The, one endeavour of la mode, at present, is to render the figure apparently as slight as possible, the bust being kept full and well developed.

The response which the appeal from the Mother Country, on behalf of the starving people of India, has met with in the Colonies, is something remarkable. Australasia will contribute not far from '£40,000.

The .Melbourne Argus notices the debut of a singer who has a range of eighteen notes, finishing on D flat in a tone as pure as that of De Murska. Her name is. Alice Bees— a Ballarat girl, nofc yet fifteen years of age.

< The Tapanui Courier says that a large number of parents are dissatisfied with the teacher, of the Tapanui Main School, and have withdrawn their children from it. Mile. Titiens, the Hungarian songstress and actress, was only 43 at the time of her death. For several seasons she was the chief attraction at her Majesty's Theatre.

Mr Angus Mackay has got a quantity of the Kentucky blue grass from America, which has been distributed to the farmers of Queensland.

Mr Pierrepoint said, in a speech lately, that science, aided by the arfc of printing, has not only greatly lengthened the days of our years, but multiplied the hours of our days.

In the cemetery of Pere la Chaise, in Paris, there are two graves adjoining. From one rises a woman's arm beautifully chiselled in marble, which is clasped by a man's arm coming from the other. Mr Mollwo, who is, we believe, a Russian, lias delivered two very interesting lectures, at Queenstown, on "The Eastern Question." . For .some months past Fiji has been lifting, her head, and the merchants all say that their businesses are sound/ although the profits are small. A free exposure to the light, and to the sun's influence, has a great effect in diminishing the tendency, to disease. The sunny side of the street should be chosen a» a-residence. - - " j • ■■*.'■- Cfi.pt. Tyson )J( the commander of the abip sent to estabJishJaVcolony for Arctic exploration, is an old whaler, and was one of the officers of the ill-fated Polaris expedition. The' Catholics of the Eastern Stateß are sending colonies of the poor and unempldyeH of tFe~greaJ cifcies to tne Waste Lands of the West and- South. The necessity that technical education should form an important element in any free-school system adopted by the State is: attracting considerable notice at the present moment in England. London, has 117,000 habitual criminals on its police register, increasing at an average of 30,000 per annum. : The Russiaus lost 170,000 soldiers in the Crimean war; the English, French, and Turks, 150,000 ; and there were 15,000 Tartar victims. Of this total, 324,800 we're interred in the Crimea. ! A letter has been received in Sydney from-Mr .Andrew. Goldie,, the. naturalist, who is exploring Kew Guinea for the second time. He has discovered several new species of birds. ' Erasmus Wilson, the eminent London surgeon says that in travelling one should eat frequently bat-not much at a time, rid should drink no alcohol, as travelling duces feverishness. The Whiting Mills at Holyoke, Mass, are supplied with the new style of doublebarrelled telephones. By their use a person standing in one mill can hear sounds ten feet from the instrument in the other. A correspondent points out that the Prince of Wales is the 33rd great-grand-son of King Alfred; and he adds — " Thus the English Throne has remained in the possession of .the same family for over 1000 years. ' OOlive§ c Logan says that Mine. Christine, Neilsson is getting, unromantically stout in thejegion.of.tiie..wakt.belt, thefirst .point of attack of pale ale and porter always, both with men and women. In ' British India, statistics recently collected go to show that the number of suicides in tbe hot season is immensely more than at otheritimes. The; Librarian of the National Library, at. Paris reports a tendency during the past year to read instructive works rather than works of fancy. ' Dresß'coata of various colours have been introduced, in London. They are formed of marine, blue, plum colour, claret and green, with pantaloons of a corresponding colour, and white waigcoats. Alfred Tennyson, Poet Laureate, is third son of the late Rev. G. 0. Tennyson, and was born in 1809, at Soraerby, Lincolnshire ; his mother, who died in 1865, being a daughter of the Rev Stephen Fytche. The census gaveParis,in 1876, 1,988,806 inhabitants. The number by December, 1877, will reach two millions. The next census will be in 1880.

The.number of policies issued since the establishment of the New Zealand Government Insurance Department is 8,822, assuring £3,166,213, of which 1,479 have been discontinued, *

The Rev. Lorenzo Moore says, in the K. Z. Churchman, that the Plymouth Brethren (" Bruntonites") are making headway amongst the sailors at Port Chalmers.

At a meeting lately of the Eastern District Farmers' Club, Longbush, Southland, several interesting papers were read.

A player of whist may hold over six hundred and thirfcy-five thousand millions of various hands, so that he might ba forty millions of years before he would have the same hand again. A Texas paper claims that its State has 1,750,000 inhabitants, and predicts that by 1880 it will have more than 2,000,000, and be entitled to 20 representatives in Congress.

A postal card tourney, between the chess players of England and Scotland, against- those of the United States and Canada, has recently been initiated. , There is much excitement at Caris.brook, Victoria, over the decision of the committee of management of the local Free Library to open the reading-room for several hours on Sundays. : The Pope has now handed over his autobiographical notes and accessory documents to Father Dresciani, who is to put them in order for the press. Mrs Scott-Siddons, having fulfilled a successful engagement at Ballarat, ia now playing in Melbourne. She was to return to Ballarat in a month with a larger company.

• A novel by Mr Swinburne, entitled "A Year's Letters," will appear in the current number of the Tatler. This is his first attempt at novel-writing. A match for the walking championship of New Zealand and £50 a side, between Mr Edwards and Mr Bowley, has been arranged for in Wellington. The Indian Church Gazette says it would be a good thing if every new church were provided with a layer, as well as the ordinary font, for the baptism by immersion of adult converts.

Several Melbourne gentlemen have decided upon instituting a pleasure excursion to Tasmania during the ensuing summer, the number being limited to ■fifty persons. 1 It is argued that the flatnesss of the •nose indicates flatness of mind, and that no nation of flat noses have ever made jtheir way upon, the earth. I On the 21st October the annual collecjtions on behalf of the Benevolent Institutions were made in all the churches and [chapels of Melbourne. The total sum jraised amounted to nearly £3500. ! The Emperor of China has ordered a icollection-to be, made of Chinese .poetry, jfrom the earliest time downwards. The jcollection will be published in2oo volumes. ; The United States 'possess more than •five thousand newspapers, with libraries icontaining more than fifty millions of jprinted_yolumes, and there .is no restriction on the freedom of unlicensed printjing. . They have in America a band of negroe3, {who whiten their faces and imitate their jpale brethren in drama, tragedy, comedy, :and a variety of other performances. , The Adelaide Government has decided ito purchase £5000 worth of gold from the 'Northern Territory, for exhibition at Pari3, and sell it afterwards. 1 The Pope, ifc is said, has definitely re 'solved to restore the Roman hierarchy in Cardinal Manning will shortly |go to Rome on a mission in that connexion.

Another Chinese giant, by cognomen " Choukichee," is on his way to Sydney from America. He is said to be 7 feet 9 inches high. j The Protestant Episcopal Church of is taking , steps to adopt the ,name of " The American Branch of the IChurch Catholic."

The New South Wales Working Men's Association pledges itsslf not to support any candidate who is not in favour of free, secular, and compulsory education, ;anti-immigration, encouragement to coilonial industry, and payment of members. | It is not generally known that the poem "The Curfew shall not Ring Tonight," was written as a school essay by Miss Rose Hartwick, of Litchfield, Connecticut. i Dr Silvester, the Fakir of Oolu, has Returned to Melbourne, after a most successful tour through the colonies, and is mow going to Sandhurst and Ballarat. ; Mr Joseph. Cowen is engaged upon the ipreparation of materials for a work designed to be a history of Radicalism •during the past thirty years. At a swimming match at Long Island, New York, Geo. H. Wade, of Brooklyn, ia young man of 20, swam two miles and 'a half in 40 minutes and 30 seconds. ■ Mr J. W. Ferrier, 'the writer cf a new novel, called " Mottiscliffe, 1 ' is a son of the late Professor Ferrier, and the grandson of " Christopher North." It is a matter of frequent complaint in Europe that the common blue or gray seed of the Eucalyptus are forwarded to cultivators instead of that of the Eucalyptus globulus.

The total number of State schools in Victoria with an average attendance of 30 and less, is 499, and their average cost is £116.

We learn from the Victoria Year Boole that the number of persons engaged in Sfold-nuning in Victoria, has fallen from 70,794 in 1866 to 41,010 in 1876.

A_ new invention, " The Wire BookSewing Machine," promises to make a great revolution in the present method of sewing books. Tinned copper wire is used, and the work is done with great rapidity.