NEWS ITEMS.

Colonist, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8278, 19 June 1895, Page 3

NEWS ITEMS.

(From oub Latest Exchanges.) Two little maids were conversing recently, when one remarked, " Our minorca hen laid two eggs yesterday. " That's nothing," said her compaiHoa witii an air of superior knowledge, "My papa laid a corner atone." A small boy between eeven apd eight years of age was called as a witness in the Supreme Court at Wellington, and the question arose as to whether or not he ought to be sworn. Mr Wilford suggested he should be asked if he knew where he would go to when ha died if he told a lie. Uy Justice Richmond said he was ne t going to do that. The Lf gislatnre, he was glad to say, had dove away with the necessity of swearing very young children, bb he did did not think it necessary to the oath in this case. Partioulabs received respecting the voyage of the ship Aberfoyle, whioh arrived in Hobson's Bay on the 81st of May, show that the voyage was an eventful one. The loss of the chief officer (Mr Nontoti), who was washed overboard during an exceptionally heavy gale in the North Sea on the 28fch January, threw upon Captain Koberison the entire responsibility of the navigation of the ship, lor he had neither a second nor a third mate aboard. The crew allege that the captain's conduct towards the crew was so violent and threatening that they adopted the extreme measure of putting him in irons. Chafing under the restraint the captain grew sullen and obstinate. He continually refused to take food uniil the morning of his death, when he ate something; but juet as his mental restoration was anticipated he managed to seoure and swallow a quantity of carbolic acid. Thia event occurred on the sth of May. None of the crew knew how to navigate the ship, but they managed to shape a course in the direotion of the Australian Coast, and on the 16th May her signals of distress were seen by Captain Storm, of the steamer Tagiiaterro, while proceeding to the northern ports of Western Australia. Upon ascertaining the Aberfoyle'a predicament Captain Storm sent his seoood officer, Joseph R. Amory, aboard her, witb instructions to navigate the vessel to Melbourne. This task waß successfully accomplished. Upon Captain Robertson's death his b.dy was enclosed in a shell and kept aboard. Captain Amory had the shell opened, and the body being in an advanced stage of decomposition, he gave instructions for its immediate burial. i The winter distress, we are all glad to note, is not severe this year, (cays a contributor to Melbourne. 'Argus '). to I judge from the following faols. A friend of mine was waited upon lately by a carpenter out of work, who explained that he was hard up, and would be glad of anything he could get. The householder explained that there was nothing in particular needed attention just thea— nothing at any rate that he could spend much money upon. '• But," he said, •• we can do with a fowl-house and one or two other things, and if you care to work for a reasonable ptioe, J'il try and find you a few waeke' work — ml 6s a day do ? " Can't work for less than the minimum wage," said the carpenter, decisively. " The 'all won't allow it— but I'll tell you what I'll do, Boss ; I'll knock off each day when I've go I six shillings' worth of work done." " Oh, never mind," said the householder, " I find I've been laboring under a misapprehension, I understood that von wanted work." Electricity has now it seems, beaten the record ol the goldbeater, and can pioduoe a foil of metal from five to ten times thinner than ordinary gold-leaf. Mbs Maitland, at a meeting of the London School Board, obtained precedence for the following resolution : — " That the Board inetruofc the School Management Committee, when the question of appointing either (a) two additional inspectors or (b) six assistant inspectors is considered, to endeavour to fnd duly qualified women to fill such posts." rihe thought it was hardly right that the fc'ohool Board for London should lag behind other bodies in this respect. The Rev. J. Wilsou seconded the motionMr Barnes said that if they adopted the resolution it would go down as an instruction to find women inspectors. Ho thought the matter should be referred to th» committee as an open question, and moved an amendment accordingly. General Sim seconded the amendment, which was accepted bj Mrs M&itland and agreed to.

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The ' Express * states : —The somnambulism of a young lady of Blen- & heim, whose name must not be di- a< jvulged, recently took a strange and g> rather comical form. During the night the good people of the house & heard a noise proceeding from her o! room, which it was necessary to stop b at all costs, if their sleep was to be tl continued. They found her, fast t< asleep, sitting a chair in proper equi- o: nal style, and riding it with enough ci energy for a Derby finish. The explanation was she had been on the E steam merry-go-round the foregoing 8 evening. That merry-go-round has a I lot to answer for, " 4 The Emperor "William's latest hobby * is telegraphy. He ia spending several y hours a week learning to send messages by dots and dashes. He has al- 8 ready made considerable progress as ll an operator of the keys. The Ashburton • Guardian' says : — ll Many years ago, when several young E fellows were fellow students as pupil I teachers in South Canterbury, they c formed a resolve that when any one 8 of them entered the married state, the i others were to make that fortunate 8 one a presentation. Quite recently y one of their number, Mr Harry Smith * of Kumara, was married, and a presen- \ tation and an address have been for- ' l warded to him by his old chums. The £ presentation has taken the form of a ' choice silver egg-stand, and a neat ' breakfast cruet. 1 A child named Marco Marcellus was killed lately at Lyonville, Victoria, in a peculiar manner. It seems that the father, having killed a pig, had left some tackling by means of which he had hoisted the carcase. The child was playing about the tackling, when the pole, acting as a lever, swung round and hit him on the side of the head. The blow was a severe one, and caused death within five min- \ utes. 3 All the money won by Baron de i Hirsch's horses is given to the London hospitals, which so far have benefited *to the extent of £58,850. Last year i f the Baron —for Vn'm —hada poor year, 3 hig horses only winning five thousand pounds. £ A cyclist in England had a novel a experience during the winter. While riding his machine one day it comi- menced to run very stiff, and on exj" amining the chain it wa3 found that g the oil in the gear case had frozen hard. The machine had been used '; several times each day during the " most severe weather without any inlt dication of frost-bound bearings or »f chain. d Another American wonder! A l" blind man named Floyd Steeley, of a Ohio, is said to be able to ride a single I. bicycle through the streets in perfect * safety. He formerly rode a 56 inch ordinary, Jbut has now adopted the q safety. He is a piano-tuner by prol. fession, and frequently rides over a d dozen miles into the country on busid ness trips. Ir A sergeant in the volunteers in d Wallsall (England), after serving 28 years for the honor of Queen Victoria '• and Great Britain, kept his uniform q as a memento of his service. He was b, charged with appropriating it, and ie fined. This is how England acknowledges service. j* Is Friday" an unlucky day ? Let 1- this answer: —Washington born on bf Friday, Queen Victoria married on BB Friday, Napoleon Bonaparte born on )0 Friday, Battle of Bunker Hill fought es on Friday, America discovered on Frie- day, Mayflower landed on Friday, re Joan of Arc burned at the stake on 88 Friday, Battle of Waterloo fought on er Friday, Battle of Marengo fought on id Friday, Julius Cassar assassinated on Friday, Moscow burned on Friday, , Shakespeare born on Friday, King Ol Charles I. beheaded on Friday, Battle al of New Orleans fought on Friday, ly Lincoln assassinated on Friday, Basof tile destroyed on Friday. An amusing typographical error ocas curs in a pure food Bill recently in>Bi troduced into the United States ld. Senate. One section of the bill pro--3 vides that skimmed milk shall be ig branded on the top and sides of cans s containing that article; at least that ld is the intention, but in ths Bill it is lg printed that" all cows shall be branded ," on the top and sides with the words, id ' skimmed milk.'" . It is a curious thing that while England has to import so much flesh to food, she also exports a good deal. A Yorkshire paper states that last year 3» Belgium took 4585 head of beef cattle, )g averaging £18 4s per head. France is took 601, and Germany 880, the latter n averaging £2117s per head. At the 18 same time Belgium, France, and Gert many were supplying British Btock >' c with hay to the extent of 12,022 tons in the year. Their demand for Eng- »• lish beef is attributed to the effects J of the drought of 1893, and to dis•e Jubhua has found an imitator in 0 the officers of ths'navy on the Anatra- . Han station. At a recent Conrfcmarh tial on the Wallaroo in Sydney Harbour, it was found thai the businesß would not be finished by sunset, at which time the Court must be ad- ) jonrned by the regulations. Orders were accordingly given to the squadron to take eunset time from the Wallaroo, and six minutes after the proper time - the gun was fired for sunset. A well-known mallee land-holder engaged a couple of new chums lately (aaya Melbourne ' Argus') to do shootcutting for him at Is. 6d. an acre. As there are not many shoots to the acre and the prioe wsb a lair one he got his shoots cut all right, and on inspection was quite satisfied with the f manner in which the work had been ' done. He paid the men for their toil and theu said, " Now, look here, I'll give you two shillings an acre to clear away those empty bottles you've left behind you." A London correspondent writes: — Mri Wilde is a good deal to be pitied, although Bhe can hardly have besn entirely blind to what was going on. She ii a oharming woman—a bit affected, perhaps, and not very bright. Bt Whatever happens she will have her 1 own income, £600 a year, iefs to her I by her fatter, Horace Lloyd, a Gouoty Court judge. The West Indian migratory crab is the only ere itare that is born in the sea, attains maturity in fresh water, B and pasesß its adult life on land.

Mkssbs Wilkie Bros., former ießidenta of Waitotara and Westport, have accepted a £64,003 oontraot at Coo!---gardie. A SH4BP advertisar, who offered for aem ill sum to supply wom;n with cheap substitutes for hair pins, has been arrested in Boston for misusing tho mails. He sent two rnbbsr bauds to each i.qir-rar with the advicß, " Sew one end "o he hat and fasten the other end behind your c ra." The fastest competition mile ever ridden in Australia was run in the South Melbourne Cycling Club's Llile Handicap, the time being 2min 17 4-5 sees. The race was won by Ruble, who had a start of twenty yards. It is Baid thst 200 French cities are going to erect statues in honour of the late President Carnot Bowling in Calcutta; is gorgeous in its lazineßS. There is no shifting of mats, no throwing of jacks, and no picking up of bowls ! Long strips of canvas are laid across the ends of the green, and from this the players bowl. A ca'ive bry carries the jack back, and each player is provided with a boy who picks up the ball and places it iv his hand. While not engaged in de|livericg their bowte the players recline in luxurious seats and driok whiskey and coda. The only exertion dnriDg the whole game is the delivery of the ■ bowl and the walking down to the opposite end. , " Tasmanian apples," sates the 1 Journal i f Horticulture,' " are arriv- ■ ing in London in excellent condition [ this year, and a iiortion of the cargo t of the s.s. Ouzco, wbioh brought I 12,000 caeeß, was racettly said by t auoticn at Covent-garden Market, r realising prices wbioh are said to be \ remunerative to the colonial growers, whilst they are decidedly satisfactory ' to the London consumers. Ihe excellent quality of the Ta-imanian bib--3 ston, Cox's Orange, New York, and 1 Simmer Pippins, and of the Scarlet j Pearmain, Afrieton, and Prince Alfred are widely recognised. They fetched , from 9s. to 16?. per case, coming into a competition witb the last of the Nova Scotia, and Canadian apples, which ara ,1 selling at from 16s. to 20a, per case." c A fERTH telegram in a Sydney piper sta'e* that recently, while engaged .] in pearling in Barrow Passage a Jap--1 anese aiver belonging to the pearling ' schooner Cutty Bark remained down longer tban usual. The tubes were strained to the almost, and another diver waa sent down, He came up " alarmed, saying be had seen a school 1 of sharks ; bat no trace of the other a diver was found for 24 hours, when f his remains were discovered at the * bottom. His dress had been tor a open ? by the sharks and portion of the man v had been earec.