MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume V, Issue 534, 23 August 1897, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

It i a strict rule with the big Transatlantic st< urnship companies that the wife of the captain shall not travel in his ship. The coni- ) anie strongly prohibit their enplane from taking their wives aboard with them. Tbe opposition is that if an) thing should happen to the ship the captain, instead of attending to Ins public duly, would devote his attention mainly to the safety of his wife.

Nearh four-fifths of the suhmnriuo cables of the world are in tbe hands of British companies, who own a length of more that 150,000 miles of ruble, laid at the cost of over L 80,000,000. Of fourteen cables across the Atlantic to America France has one and Great Britain ten ; while so popular are the British cables, l! ,i! rune out of every tell telegrams ale

dispute-lied over British lines. A train conveying a detachment < f reservists from Westphalia to Metz met with a tcrriblo accident at a place between Hillesteiui and Gorolstein. It appears that near Gerol■tem the train was divided into two, and that in the darkness ol the night flic second portion ran into the fiist and wrecked several carriages. The number of killed was nine, but 85 of tho reservists, were injured, several of them seriously.

On the 10th June Mr Jackson’s Arctio ship Windward left England on her third voyage to the North Polar regions of Franz Josef Land. In doing this the Windward more than establishes a record, for no vessel has been to Franz Josef Land twice and returned. The “ mail ” for the explorers had arrived the day before in a large furniture van, and it included rifles, novels, cigars, skates, wine, photographs, Christmas cards (for next Christmas), Jubilee souvenirs, and of course, great packots of newspapers and letters. Of very special interest were the kayaks which have been made for Mr Jackson by Dr Nansen. They looked very stiff and strong in spite of the slight material of which they were made (canvas and light strips of wood, aud great care had evidently been bestowed oil then. A remarkable folding boat was to be seen—lighter than any of the known collapsing boats—and this was destined for tho use of the intrepid balloonist (Herr Andree) should he ultimately find his way to Elmwood.