OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2520, 2 July 1902, Page 4

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Europe has had 321 monarchs since the battle of Hastings.

The output from the Westport Coal Company's mines last week "was 10,572 tons coal.

The cost of firing a single shot from a 16iu gun would pay a private soldier for five years

A London firm is reported to have sold 100,000 of the '•. Seddon button" in the metropolis alone. The first time a cricket team left England to play abroad was in 1859, when an eleven sailed from Liverpool to Quebec.

A large number of Maoris from different pas in the South Island are (gays Friday's LytteUon Times) at Tuahiwi for the rangi over the lato G P. Miitut.

From Greymouth last week the Blackball Company exported 2193 tons eoaJ, and the Brunner Company 1975 tons coal and 25 tons coke.

During the fortnight ended last Saturday 111 vessels were funjjgated in Sydney Harbour, and on 58 ships 1185 dead rats were subsequently found. The Westport Times says that over a score of workmen are beiivg dispensed with at the Despatch Foundry, Greymouth, owing to fclackness of work

An interesting item at the Winter show was the exhibition of Mr Chapman's process for defro-ting frozen meat without the slightest sign of moisture.

While the Channel fleet was at Ferrol recently 3000 liberty men landed and spent £600 in the port, to the great delight of the. local shopkeepetP.

Word has heen received in Lawrence from the Postmaster-general stating that the Government canaot spe its way to establish a telephone exchange in that town.

Lord Kelvin hay 3 that the change from horse to motor vehicle will hol\e London's greatest problem of this generation — the crowded state of the <-rreet-'.

At a public meetinor held at Rirerteu on Mon'lay evening a resolution w.\» pa-=cd urging the Government to pu-h on the W:iiaii extension of the Oiepviki raiUvay

A Victorian settler has promircd to bequeath hi 3 household and landed property, to the \alue of £520. to a hospital a-, a memorial of the establishment of peace in South Africa.

Good progicss is being made with. tlie> surrey of the railway line on the Reefton- [ Nelson route, and another three miles will see the turvey completed from Reefton to the junction. A Wcstport <»ichauee writes: — Mr Young Hee and his fan:ily hnve arrived at Hongkong He has received the appointment of Inspector of Schools tbere at a salary of £500 a year. The Gre-ymouih Ei-ening Star states that it is currently rumoured that a case of plagae has occurred at Blackball. The matter was reported to the health officer at Wellington haa hf^n r^reived in Melbourne of \ t)g death of James W^llie^ t^e oe.*£*

brated diaughts player, who was perhaps bfttcr known as the Herd Laddie. He died in Glasgow in April. /oAft Mr M'Guire, * M.H.Ef,^ says he has no doubt Parliament will at once proceed to negotiate in the matter of the State acquiring the Manawatu line, or elsg legislate further in that direction.

It is stated (says the Manawatu Standard) that several of the flaxmills down the Manawatu line will be shut down during the next six weeks, owing to the quantity of water still in the flax swamps.

Absolute unanimity (says the St. HelensAdvertiser, Lancashire, of 9th May) marked the decision of tlie special council meeting to confer the freedom of the- borough on St. Helens' greatest eolonia! — Mr Seddon.

The resident's of Green Island have decided that the presentations to returned Troopers Harrow ay and Matheson shall take tho form of an English lever watch and a gold albert each. Over £30 has been collected for the purpose. A man named Jack Mullat vra« garotteri at Wagga, New South Wales, the other night, by two men, and was relieved of £4- in cash. The unfortunate victim had both his jaws broken and other, painful •injuries. Very rapid progress is being made (write* the Press) with the building of the Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christen urch. The contractors, by the help of the machinery at their command, are enabled to push forward the work with considerable expedition.

Mr Sterling Morton, the founder of " Arbor Day," died recently. Mr Morton was possessed of a passion for the planting of tree 5 . Kvery letter that hf* wrote from his estate in Nebraska (U.S.A.) had the words " Plant trees"" engraved on the top.

Owiug to the postponement of the children's social and concert, which was to have been held on Thursday last, the Green Island School Committee has decided to spend th« money collected for the purpose (£2O) on a special entertainment at a future date.

Tho following hava been appointed a Managing- Committee of the Waikaka Commonage: — Messrs Henry William Parsons, dredgomaster ; Walter Matkeson, miner ; John M'Lellan, miner; Hugh Rank-in, en-gine-driver; Thomas Maelin, dredgemaster ; George Kirby, b'afeer; John Blakie, dredgeowner.

A Victorian J P. was fined the other day for riotous conduct. From the evidence it appeared that he was abusing everybody ho met in the street, using very bad language, and on being remonstrated with spoke bo insultingly as to provoke a fight. A previous conviction for riotous behaviour was proved.

A few days ago a Cambridge (Waikato) boy found a purse containing £7. He sought out the owner, gave up the lost property, and was rewarded with a handful of lollies. Th» Waikato Argua says it would have been better had the boy found a dead rat — he could have sold it to the Borough Council for 3d.

One morning la-t week a fisherman named Cios3 found a tquare gin bottle on the dive beach containing a plip of papor with tlie following message written thereon in prmil: "June loth, 1902 Barquontiuo Alice; heavy sea: pump-, won't worl; ; sinking fast off Cape Tuniagam. -(Si^n^.l) J. Johnston, Liverpool."

A fctartliiiff accident happened tho other evening at the post office, C'astlpmaino, Vie tor Li. Tho wc'jjhts from the tower clock broke away, and era-shed through the first floor into the \eitibu'c, which, fortunately, was empty. Tho weights comprise about a dozen block-* of iron, weighing altogether about half a ton.

II ha 3 been rumoured persistently in Melbourne (says the Adelaide Advertiser) that tT:e mystery surrounding the Gatton. murders in Queensland lit* been cleared up. The Commissioner of Police in the northern State hag denied the- report, adding, " I only wish to goodness it was true, as it would solve a deep mystery." As illustrating the -powers and functions of the Maori Council, it is related by a contemporary that the chief of a settlement on the West Coast came home drunk. The lYJaori Council met, and promptly fined him 15s t and thrcatojied to fine him £10 if it occurred again. There is evidently no favour for high official.? in Maori justice.

porary: — The wealthiest negro in America, Who has just died, was buried according ~to the ritual of the Presbyterian Church, of which he was a member at the time of his death. After the funeral the will was read, and it was then found that he had left the whole of his w ealth (£4-00,000) to the Reman Catholics.

In order to minimise, the danger from, the use of chloroform, Dr Einbley, lion, anaesthetist to the Melbourne Hospital, says : " Use only weak vapour of chloroform (less than 1 per cent.) in the early stages xmtil the initial increased excitability of the vagus* mechanism has given place to diminished excitability. In other words, take time in. 1 utting the patient under." The manufacture of a valuable fuel out of sewage is the invention of a German chemist. He claims to have discovered a, process by which the sewage is turned into block fuel, and at the same time the effluent is afcerilked, producing a chemically "and! bacteriologically pure liquid. The fuel is said t-o bo almost smokeless, devoid of objectionable smell, and a. very quick steamraiser.

Mr R. M'Gillivray writes that in our eor--respondent's report x>i 'the Invercargill Winter show he omitted to make_ mention^ of his " Newmarket " oats,^ which gained a. first prize 1 . The oats gained many prizes last gar in England and - Ireland, and it is ntended they are the best milling oata in-* •eat.. Britain. Besides giving the best, yield per acre, it is claimed that they yield" 21br per bushel more oatmeal.

Some complaints have been made by cabmen and others in Christchurch concerning" the" disastrous effects of the debris from tho destructor which has been laid dawn in someof the streets of the city. " Clinkers, glare,* tin, galvanised iron, nails, and other sub.stances are reported to have been discovered from an analysis of the mixture. Horses have (says tin? Press) been lamed by the nails that prevail in th© new form of metal.

When the steamer Ohau was lost, with aIL on board, the widow of the chief officer (Mr\ Macpherson) was left in very needy circumstances, in bad health, and with a number of younc children. Some of the officers of the Union Company's steamers .and others connected with; maritime pursuits set to work to raise a 'subscription for her benefit, with such success that the sum of £222 16s. 7d was collected, principally among persons engaged in vessels trading to Lyttelton, Wellington, ar.d the West Coast.

On Tuesday afternoon a trial of the Westir.ghouse brake, with which the express trains — Christchurch-Inverciargill — are fitted, was made in the Invtrcargill station ya-rd»_ The train consisted of, engine (a large Yankee), six carriages, luggage van, and guard's van. When a speed considerably in excess of the present express rate- had (says the Southland Times) been attained, the driver applied the brakes, with the result that the train was brought to a standstill in> a less distance than its own length covered. Land in Natal (writes "M. 3VI. F." in the> Canterbury A. and P. Journal) varies in price in proportion to the distance from railways, of which there are a great many. On th% 5000 ft plateaux very good land, well suited for stock, dairying, and roots, may be purchased at £1 per acre ; 1000 ft lower it is double that, price; wJiilo in the mpr& settled districts it ranges from £5 to £30 per acre, pud in or near large towns sites, have been told— by the 1 foot, of course— at £100,000, and even £200,000 per acre.

A small boy in a school in the Ashburton district was lately told to write some lines on " the peace." He did so, and the teacher read it as follows : — " The Boers f oughfe against Euglaud, and then Mr Seddon sent an army to Africa and fought them. By-aud-byc everybody thought it was time to stop, but the Boers wouldn't stop. So Mr Seddon went to South Africa and told the Boera he would send another army if they would not make peace, and they did, providing he would be their Governor, which he promised he would be."

The big bonfire erected by the Balelutha Borough Council in honour of the Coronation celebrations became th© prey of a verydifferent element from that intended. Tho material had been piled up in a prominent position, but as there was some danger of the fire spreading, the combustibles were carted to the river bed in preparation for the fire, but in the meantime the celebrations wore postponed and the river had risen, consequently yesterday the pile was surrounded by the waters and seemed in fair way to be washed out to eea.

A. rather amusing incident took place at Riccarton ca Tuesday evening, at Mr GWitty's meeting. The candidate was handed a sheaf of questions, and amonfrst them was one which appeared to puzzle him. Ho cventual'y stated (says the Lyttelton Times! that he thought some gentleman had put his hand in the wrong pocket, as he had handed up an account for pigs, when, probably, he meant to send up a question. Immediately a person in the far corner of the room rushed up to the table and demanded the paper, amidst roars of laughter, and for it qubsritiited a written question.

Mr T. Shields and his w£e and family, who live in the old sehoolhouse at Pakowhai. Hawke's Bay, had (;ays the Wanganui Herald) an anxious time during the recent flood. At 12.30 on Friday, 20th, there was 4 ft of water inside t' 1 " house. A.n onening was made in the ceiling, and between the ceiling and roof Mr and Airs Shields and family (eight in all) had to stop um.il Monday The commissariat was of the tcaniiest kind. A Maori got a few loaves from Clive. and these, with rain water through the roof and a few hist nits, formed the whoie bill of faro till Monday. The furniture wa 3 buried 3ft in silt.

A few days ago an exciting chase took place at North Adelaide. A boy of 13 yeara of age. Norman Munro, saw two men in, his father's office and ran home to inform hi* parent In the meantime the men had made off, and the boy, equal to the occasion, borrowed a bicycle and gave chase, soon! overhauling thpm. Seeing that the youth was determined to follow them until assistance arrived, one offered him 8s if he would' go away. Tlie boy a,ked that the money, be put on the pavement. This was dons-,' and the silver promptly pocketed, but thai* boy continued in. pursuit. Further negotiations resulted in the transfer of 2s more. Eventually the attention of several othera was attracted, and the thieves, who had got away with £1 odd, were captured.

A CorcH rs Not a Disease, but a symptom. It indicates that the lungs and bronchial tubes are inflamed. This inflammation often leads to pneumonia. The surest- way to ward off pneumonia is to uae Chamberlain's Cough Remedy on the first appearance of th© cough or cold. Ifc always cures, and