General items.

Otago Witness, Issue 2179, 28 November 1895, Page 53

General items.

A terrible sight was witnessed by thtf passengers on tho P. and O. R.M.S. Valetta on tha passage from London to Sydney. The vessel had just anchored in Adtn Harbour, and all the passenger* wero assembled on deck, when two Somali boys came alongside and cemmenced d ving for silver coins thrown overboard by the people on the mailboat. The diving fiats of the two lads were being watched with c. usiderjtble interest, when sud« denly two sharks appeared, and in a moment seized the terror-s"iicken nativos and literally tore them to pieces before tho eyes of th« passengers. Several attempts were made to rescue the lads and frighten away tha monsters, but without success. The sharks were about 18ft long, and ib i 3 rarely thab such large ones have been seen ia those waters. Tho occurrence did not seem to impress ether Somali boys who ware there, for scon afterwards they were clamorous for bhe passengers to throw money into the water, offering to dive for it. As a matter of conrsa there was no response to their entreaties after the shocking eight which had been witnessed. , A Sydney paper reports that recently then were to be seen at a considerable distauce from, the coastline three distinct 3 boa's of the well< known fish called the "salmon" (Arripisaalar). These li<-hes were evidently one huge shoal broken into three separata shoals by thai*, patural enemies, the porpoises. To givt- ; oma idea as to the magnitude of iho largest shoal thab was in sight, ib appeared, at a rough esti< mate as to length and b'eadlh, to be ono mil< or more in leugfch and quite a quarter of a mil< in breadth at its centre part. This immens< body of fish were luisurely, to all appaarauce, travelling southwards As an article of diet theße fish are fairly good food, but ib is neces« sary that they be pcftc ly fresh, as decooopobition sets in very rapidly afber they have been caught and killed by the nob tishermpn. Ab a meeting of the D"oceiau Board of Missions, held on Thursday l«sb, Bishop Nevill prenidiag, reso'uiioin were passed requesting the clergy of the diocese fco make such arrangements for the week of intercensioi)s and effort for misbions, begiut.iug with St. Andrew's Day, as Hhull seem most suitable for their respective parishes, and to give notics of such arrange* menb« on Sunday, November 24 II was also suggefrtsd that on the Fireb Sunday in Advent (Dfct'inber 1) sermono should have special reference to the subji ct of missions, pointing oub the churoh'u special duty to bhe Maoris. The bishop his sanctioned the substitution oa that Sunday and during that wos-k of the "Litany of Intercession for Missions " in place of tho ordinary Litany, or of the latter portion of tho Morning or Bveuing Prayer It ifl further requested thab, if possible and with tha consent of church offitero, the whole or a portion of the offeitoiiea on Advent Sunday be devoted to the support of missions. Mr Martin, S.M. at Wellington, imposed a sentence of three mouths' imprisonment on « man nsmed James Sullivan for failing undeii rather pe< uliar circumstances bo provide for tha maintenance of hs wife and child. Some timo ago Sullivnn was acresbed on a charge of being about to leave the colony withoub providing for the maintenance of hia uabora illegitimate child. To escape being sent to gaol he offered to marry Mjfi girl— tho mother of the child. This he did, and since then, ib is stated by bis wife, he had never gone near her, apokeu to her, or made the least effort bo assisb her in any way through her trouble. He had passed her on the wharl while she was carrying the child kb if she were a piece of dirb. The S.M. characterised the case as a very bad one and, besides sentencing Sullivan to three months, ordered him to pay 15s a week to the support of his wife and child. B'gnor Squarise's advanced pupilß will giv« a concert ou the 17th December in aid of tin Dunedin Free Kindergarten. The prooe«d» ol last year's concert, it will be remembered, wer^ devoted to the funds of the Dunedin Hospital, It is certainly commendable on the part ol Signor Squarise's pupils to come forward onc< a year and give an enjoyable concert in aid ol one or other of our charitable institutions, and they deserve to be well patronised. The programme to be presented on this occasion is an excellent one, including classical as well as popular music, aad the concert may ba expeoted to be a musical success, espeoially when it is considered that aid will be lent by Mr A. J. Barth, Mus B. Joel, Mr H. Smith, and Signor &qna r ise. Ab a meeting of the Irish Gaelic Society on Friday evening Mr J. F. Perrin, the late editoi of the New Zealand Tablet, who is proceeding by the Talune on Wednesday next to Sydney ba occupy the editorial chair of a new Catholi< newspaper established in that city, was pr& sented by a clasa which he has for some fcinw past been instructing in the Gaelic languag« with a handsome travelling rug. A programme of inus-ic was gone through and a very pleacant evening was spent. On Saturday afternoon Mr Porrin was presented with a valuable watch by the admirers of the ability md consistency with which he has advocated the Carbolic cause in New Zealand for the last 20 years. The presentation was made by the Very Rev. Father Lynch, and several of the gentleman present expressed their warm appreciation of Ms Perrin's services, and all heartily wished him " God speed " in his new sphere of duty, . expressing deep regret ab his departure. During the past four years the Union Steam Ship Company contributed in round numbera £2676 to the funds of its Mutual Benefit! Society, while members' contributions have amounted to £89iJ3. The expenditure in sick pay during the period amounted to £3136, ia medical attendance to £2273, in medicine ta £540, and on funeral claims to £518. A London weekly paper recently offered a prize for the best set of three Irish " bulls." The prize has been awarded to the following specimen :—(1): — (1) "An Irishman aboub to be hanged begged that the rope might be tied under his arm instead of his throat, ' for,' said. Pab, ' I am so remarkably tioklish in the throat thab, if tied there, I'll certainly kill myself with laughter I ' (2) An Irish member of a vestry, who waß noted for beiDg late, arrived one day promptly in time, and exclaimed, ' I am first at last I Was I always behind before ? (3) An Irishman was tosied over a fence by a bull. Recovering from his fall, he saw the ball pawing and tearing up the ground, whereupon Fat, smiling at him, said, ' If ifc was aot for you* bowing and scraping, and your humble apologies, you brute, fair, I should think you had taiovwft 1 me over the f enoe on purpose.' °

— A sure sign that the door-bell is going to ring: When you are the only one in the bouse, and are in the bath. — Auntie : " What is it you are embroidering on the tidy for grandma 2 " Little Nellie : " The good die young." — His Mother : " What are you moping about the house for, Tommy 1 Why don't yon go over and play with Charley Pinafore?" Tommy : '"Cause I played with Charley Pinafore yesterday, and I don't t'p'ose he'fl well enough yet."

— Due Credit. — He : •• When I was young, I decided to make one woman happy." Sbs : " Well, as you remained a bachelor, you have succeeded in doing so." — Helpless. — Householder : " Here, drop my coat and get out." Burglar : " Ton Bhut up, or 111 wake your wife and give her this letter you forgot to post." — " Papa," said a boy, - " I know what makes people laugh in their sleeve." " Well, Imy son, what makes them ? " " 'Cause that's 1 where their fanny- bone is."