OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 1901, 10 July 1890, Page 31

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

NEWS, GOSSIP, AND ADS.

Five vessels were recently discharging Newcastle coal at Auckland, while the local mines at Huntly were doing but little. One of the liveliest and most beautiful of Buglish duchesses has been in near peril of making an appearance in the Divorce Court; but her husband has been persuaded to take a reasonable and charitable view of her actions, and the most brilliant scandal of the century is withheld from publicity. There are 13 boards of eduoation in tbe colony electing 117 members, 1012 school districts that elect 7084 householders as committeemen, thus showing that 7201 of New Zealand's population gratuitously give their services to the advancement of education. Otago heads the list with 208 school districts. Taking population as a basis, New Zealand stands as the best educated country in the world. "It," a remarkable cat, died at Putnam, Connecticut, the other day. The animal had seven legs and two tails, being in reality one cat in front and two cats behind. Her strange deformity enabled her to do many tricks. She waß able to walk at any angle without turning, aad whenever perpendicular walls were near enough together she could go up them as easily as she could walk on the floor. Both in Vienna and in Paris the graceful minuet is superseding the dance which, according to Lord Byron, " wakes to wantonness the willing limbs." Curious enongb, the change has been brought about in the former city by Strauss, the composer of some of the best waltzes ever written. . In the French capital, the combined elegance and dignity of the minuet are making it popular in the best society. The German Medical Gazette states that a student at Helsmgborg recently sued a phy6ioian there for haviug hypnotised him against his will. At the bearing of the case the other day the various witnesses for the plaintiff behaved in a. most extraordinary manner— their testimony, in

faot, being utterly nonsensical. The court became quite bewildered, and great confusion prevailed until it became apparent that the witnesses were being hypnotised by one of the counsel engaged in the case, who made them say whatever he liked.

A well executed caricature of the picture " The Brigands," which was hung in the exhibition art gallery, is now to be seen at the Bonanza Tailoring establishment. The sketch — for it is merely a sketch—is called M The last act of all," and in it the artist has succeeded in catching the facial characteristics of several of those gentlemen who took a leading parb in the exhibition. The difference of opinion to which the balance sheet of the Exhibition Company gave rise furnishes tha motif for the sketch. Some highly successful experiments have been made with the "fiah boat" Goubet at Cherbourg. In one of these trials it was submerged for two hours, and cut the cables of five buoys, dogged the sorew ef the s.s. Kerigan with a bar of iron, and placed a false torpedo, weighing 2owt, under a raft. It passed under five torpedoes ranged side by side, and deposited false torpedoes under the keel of an English ship called the St. Margaret. The newspaper correspondents inside the Goubet witnessed the experiments. The promoters of the Watkin Tower (writes the London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian) have under consideration a proposal which, though it is somewhat suggestive of Jules Verne, is submitted by a well-known engineer, and is said to be quite practicable. The tower is to be not less than 1200 ft high, considerably loftier than its prototype at Paris. At this atmospheric level the air, even over London, is absolutely pure, and it is proposed that by means of machinery speoially devised for the purpose a supply of fresh air shall be drawn to the street level and then distributed to houses and public buildings, as water and gas are now. A lon vivant returning borne along Princeß street on Saturday night sees something moving in the gutter, He approaches it, and discovers it to be an old chum, in a glorious state of inebriation, sitting on the kerbstone taking off his boots to turn in. " Hello ! old man, what's up?" " Hie— beenßh— sampling a new — hie— whisky. Hio— that's— Bhaw'all." — First speaker : " Why don't you stiok to ' Lochiel,' old man ? That's the only whisky you can depend on. Look at me : I've had 15 nobblers to-night, and am as sober as a judge now." A regulation has been framed fixing 6d as the charge to bo paid by the public for tbe use of telephones between stations not more than six miles distant from each other — where (the line is over that length, 1b for the use of same for three minutes.

The Melbourne Gun Club Challenge Cup, for the second year in succession, haß been won by Mr Purvea, the well-known barrister, shooting under the name of Gundagai. He killed 26 birds out of 27.

Tasmania will probably require about 600,000 apple cases next season, which at present prices will mean about £20,000 worth. This shows what the fruitgrowing iudustry is capable of being developed into. Henry Rutland, a clerk in the Brisbane branch of the Colonial Mutual Insurance Company, and son of a squatter in New England, while playing in a football match had a heavy fall on the back of his head, causing concussion of the brain. He was taken to the Brisbane Hospital, where he died.

News has been received in Hobart that a leadng London firm are willing to put on a re* frigerating steamer next year to carry 50,000 or 60,000 cases of fruit at [3s per case to London. They will require a guarantee to be given to their Hobart agents that the quantity .named will be shipped. A Bruce auction in aid of the funds of the Stirling Athenaeum realised £24. A very interesting petition is about to be presented to the House of Commons in favour of female suffrage. It is signed by the survivors of those people who signed a famous petition in 1886 in favour of Mr John Stuart Mill's motion upon the subject. The county town of Essex, the newest corporation in England, has begun its reign as an incorporated borough by replacing gas with the eleotrio light, and has done this so well that it has got 218 electric lamps for £100 a year more than it paid for 188 gas lamps. The Tapanui Courier states that the crop of turnips on 65 acres of Mr Alexander M'Kay's farm on the landslip, Conical Hills, stands unequalled. Forty acres will average turnips weighing from 191b to 501b each. He has started to have them eaten off with sheep. On four acres fenced he has had 300 sheep for the last two weeks, and the turnips will, in all likelihood, last for four weeks more.

Mr J. S. Sandars, private secretary to Mr Henry Matthews, the Conservative candidate for Mid-Derbyshire, addressing a meeting in that constituency recently, referred to the impartiality of the Parnell Commission, and said, though it was not generally known, he could tell them that at the present moment Mr Justice Hannen was a Home Ruler.

Professor Henry Drummond, well-known as the author of "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," is making a short stay in Sydney. After spending a few days in Sydney, the professor will p&y a visit to the New Hebrides, and on his return will spend a week in Sydney, when he hopes to be able to deliver several addresses. He will then return to Melbourne, and proceed from thence to Japan, afterwards returning to England, via San Francisco. Indignant mother to grocer: "What do you mean, sir, by sending me sugar in that coarse, heavy bag ? I wanted sugar and not paper. When tbe child got home the bag had burst and the sugar had all leaked out." Grocer, crestfallen : " I'm really very sorry, Mrß Jones, but the fact is the demand for • Union Square Bags ' has been so great lately that our stock has become quite exhausted and we had to use these" — holding up a heavy, ugly bag. I. M. : " Well, if you use these heavy things, you ought to weigh the sugar before putting it in the bag." Grocer : "We hope to have the ' Union Sqaare Bags ' on the arrival of next boat." I. M. : " Well, if you don't, you'll lose my custom-— that's all."

A curious fact has transpired in connection with the scaffold on which the wife murderer Barry paid the penalty of his crime at Rockhampton. It is stated on good authority th*t the scaffold was brought to Rookbampton at the time Queensland separated from New South Wale 8, over 30 years ago. Previous to that it had been in use for a long time on the Hunter river, having been very frequently set up in old couvict days.

The freezing works at Waitara are said to have been purchased by three private gentleman for £5000.

Invercargill people are desirous of having the Forest Hill tramway converted into a railway, and contend that it would give an impetus to settlement and the coal mining industry.

Mr John Hay, Government surveyor, bas completed the trigouometrioal survey of some 55,000 acres on the south-east portion of Stewart's Island.

The Southland News says :— " Mr R. Macleod has resigned his appointment as deputy assignee in bankruptcy for t iis district. His successor is Mr Charles Rout.'-'

A meeting of tie South Pacific Petroleum Company will be held in Sydney to consider

whether work is to be continued or the company go into liquidation. The Union Steam Ship Company have decided to give the name of Poerua— the name of one of the lakes of Westland — to the most recent addition that has been made at Home to their fleet.

The returns of the Dunedin Hospital for last week are as follows : — Remaining at beginning of week, 95; admitted during week, 14; discharged, 14; deaths, 2— viz., Ann Qeddes and Isabella Harcess ; leaving the number remaining at end of week 93.

The Wellington Press considers that the time is opportune for the formation of a new Liberal party in this colony if Sir Robert Stout will consent to come forward and assume tbe leadership. It considers a party formed and led by Sir Robert would at the present juncture be the foundation of a National Liberal and Patriotic Party in New Zealand.

Amongst those who welcomed Bishop Julius in a country district, at a recent meeting, was a Wesleyan minister, who reminded the bishop that the Wesleyaa body is a daughter of the mother church — the Church of England. The bishop in his reply said he was quite aware of what Mr had said. Tbe fact was, she was a daughter who had run away from her mother, but the doors were being kept open for her return ; whenever she came back she would receive a very affeotionate welcome.

The tender of Mr James Darrow, of the Thames, has been accepted for cutting and delivering about 12,000,000 ft of kauri timber in Tairua Bush, to the order of the Kauri Timber Company. The work will occupy three years. The white Star steamer Britannic, which arrived on May 15 at Queenstowo, brought intelligence of a terrible death of one of the crew of the British vessel Sea Queen, who was torn to pieces and eaten by sharks. It appears that the Sea Queen was proceeding to sea on the 3rd instant from Beaufort, South Carolina, bound for Liverpool, when one of the sailors named Jordan tried to desert. He jumped overboard while the ship was making its way through Coosam river, and attempted to swim to the shore, which was not more than 100 yards distant. A boat was lowered and sent after him, but there was no capturing him. A couple of man-eating sharks got ahead of the boat, and the man was torn in pieces and eaten before the boat could reach him.