MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1093, 12 August 1880, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

A nice swindle has been unearthed in connection with a Queensland- railway contract. A broker named Cooper, in London, acting it is said,;.-; Qn.^ behalf, of. the Queensland 'GovernmSrit. purchased 15,000 tons of steel rails from the . Barrow Iron Company for a trifle over £6 per ton. Tenders were afterwards called, and a firm called" the Haslam Foundry and Engineering Company actually re-sold the rails made by the Barrow Company /to the; Queensland Government for £9 8s 6d per ton. The discovery of the swindle .was made by the secretary of the Agent-General in London, who received., notices from different iron companies for the same shipment. Riflemen w,ill learn with regret that Parliament has discontinued the annual vote of £1,500 lb v :%e : 'New Zealand Rifle Association. There can, therefore, be no meeting at Nelson next year. Colonel Gordon has asked the Bombay correspondent of the London Standard to .publish/ .f9llowing'" ; statement^: — V'My fixed desire is- to pexauade the Chinese not to;.jgo. J;o: war with Russia/ both in their ownujriterests and for the sake of those of the: world,; especially, those of England. .>Jn the event of war; breaking out I 'cannot answer how 'I 'should act for the present, but. l should ardently desire a speedy peace.'' Colonel .Gordon was (the correspondent says) invited, to China by Li-Hung Chang. v r ' The London. Temperance . Hospital has now been in operation six , yearsi and nearly 8,000 patients have passed under treatment. AlcphpL has been excluded from all these' 8,000 cases, with one solitary exception, and in that case the result was- unfavorable. L

We hear on good authority; (says the Post) that a company is about to be started in Wellington to trade between this, port and the. Samoan Islands., After the failure ef Messrs. Godefroy and Son, who had the trade in their hands, an attempt was made to get a subsidy for a new German, company, but the Reichstag declined to grant it. . A short time ago it may be remembered Sir Julius Yogel wrote but urging that an attempt should be madeiby.Ne^ ; Zealand to get the trade into her hands) •There can be no doubt that 'it would be a fine thing for Wellington if d flourishing^business could be establisheh with the Islands, and we therefore wise the company every success. A glance at. the map will shpw-.that Wellington is very favorably situated for the pur-' pose. A private, meeting of gentlemen interested in cthe venture has ahready been held, and it is probable^ that in a few days a public meeting .will be held at which the scheme will be fuliy laid before the residents of the city.