MISCELLANEOUS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 816, 23 October 1872, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

Dunedin, Monday Evening. The meeting which was called by the Deputy-Superintendent to arrange for the province to be represented at the Vienna Exhibition is postponed to Friday. Sailed — Maori, Phosbe, aud Alhambra, for Lyttelton ; Tararua, for Melbourne. 5 A firo has taken place at Queenstown, destroying property to the amount of £1000, and not insured. Station properties are m demand, and meet with a ready sale. Captain Boyd's run, 32,000 acres, realised a satisfactory price. Mr Tolmie is the purchaser. Reports still come from Martin's Bay complaing of shortness of provisions. Tuesday Evening. Arrived — At 5 o'clock, the Nevada. Of the 14, 112' bags of sugar per Ocean Monarch, all except 2,500 were sold. The finest white crystals from £40 to £40 10s per ton ; fine £39 to £39 7s 6d per ton ; finest yellows £36 7s 6d to £36 17s 6d per ton ; fine £36 5s to £36 10s per ton ; browns £35 s=t to £35 17s fid. The first church congregation have agveed to throw open the pulpit to ministers from any part of the colonies. Mr Frederick Fulton has had his left arm severely injured by a flax machine ; amputation is feared. He was one of the inter-colonial cricketers for two seasons. Arrived — The E. P. Bouverie, from Glasgow. Picton, Tuesday Evening. Magnificent specimens of auriferous quartz has been brought m from a newly discovered spot. The prospectors brought m ten pounds weight of gold. A rush has set m. Inveroargill, Monday Evening. A poor woman named Mrs Whiting drowned three of her children, between one and eight yeara old, m the Waikava river on Saturday night, and hid herself m the bush. She attempted to drown' her girl of nine, but she escaped and gave the alarm. Tuesday Evening. A verdict of wilful murder against the woman Whiting has been brought m ; medical evidence states she is not sane. Auckland, Monday Evening. The charge against Frank Sheehy, for 1 specimen stealing at the Green Harp mine, occupied the Supreme ' Court all day. The case is being tried by Special Jury, and is expected to last all week. Tuesday Evening. The Provincial Council meets on No-'. vember 19. The proposal of the Harbor Board to 1 grant LSOO towards the exhibition at Vienna, has been rejected. Brogden's navvies on the Waikato railway have struck for 7s for eight hours; work.

South Canterbury Athletic Club. — A; general meeting of the members of 'this' Club takes placs at the linyal hotel, to-mor-row morning, afc 1 1 o'clock. The Volunteer Bazaar. — The fancj'; bnz.nar m aid of the Volunteer drillsh"d. fundi opens to-day, . afc the Oddfeilowt' hall, afc 2 p in. The bazilar. will also be continued 1 to-morrow. Election of School Committkk.— On Monday lasfc, a poll wa3 taken for nine gentlemen to serve on the Timaru Schon! Committee for fclie ensuing yrvur. Mr fc. H Tate, the presiding officer appointed hy the Deputy. Superintendent, took the poll, and aliout 6 p.m., declared the result as . follows : — Bel Held, 99; Healey, 91; Hihl.ar.l. 87 ; Sutter, Sl ; Clifif. 80; Jackson, G8; Wilde, 61 ; Turhlmll. 57 ; Paduet. 41 ; lt-vr.ee. 4) -,: Hiitton, 33; Kent. 29; M.-lton, 25; tilder. 23; iteilly. 13. Tha' presiding officer then declared Messrs Beltield, Healey, Hilihard, Sutter, Clifif, Jackson, Wildie, Ttirnbtill nnsl Padnefc duly elected as a Committee for the ensuing year. 'To-day's Show. — Everything p-nruisW well for the Show to-day. All yesterday" the town was pretty well alive with arrival* of stock and arrivals of visitors. . Sheep. cattle, horses, ami implements c.ime in' thickly, the livestock being located f-Ttlie night m paddocks m the neigh horhntul of the town, and the .implenie"tß takeii direct into the Show. ground. Tiie preparations on tli.-. groundfor penning the slieep and cattle havi ; been carried forward incessantly duiing the past week, and lasfc iii- lit, everything, to the smallest di tail, seemed, as is usual with the luaragement pt the Timaru Association; completo m every particular. The ploughs were judged yesterday afternoon, but the prize takers will not he notilied till to-day— ' when the. prize tickets will. .he affixed to the S piize ploughs, as well as to.the other class.-* iof implements exhibited. The following are j the gentlemen who have promised to act as 'judges m the variou j departments of the

Show : — Merino sheep— two seta of judges, one for the ram and the other for the t;.we classes — Messrs Dowliu/, Gerard, Pitf^ Sutherland, Gardiner, and Lansrseign ; cattle, Messrs Wilkin, C. Meyer, and another ; draught horses, Messrs Boa £. Page, H. Ford ; other horses, Messrs Kimbell, Archer and Buchau «n ; figs, Messrs Gould, Dunn and Acton ; grain, Messis McKelJar, Wood, and H. Green; dairy producfi and beer, Messrs R. Green, Taylor, aud Woollcombe; wool, Messrs St'udholrue, Langseign, aud Meyer; implements, Messrs Stericker, Gosling, and Anderson ; flax, Messrs McKellar aud H. Green ; sheep docs, Messrs Studholme and Meyer. - We hay* been requested to state that the public will be admitted into the : yards at 11.30 a.m. From that hour till 12.30 the charge for admission will be 2s 6d, after that huur Is. Tiiiai of Ploughs — Yesterday afternooa the trial of the ploughs to be exhibited today took place, on an acre of cleared land opposite thu society's grounds. Tho entries were not. large — but seven altogether m the three plough classes. The first on the ground ready for work was a three furrowed plough belonging to Mr T. W. Hull— a fine implement, mid splendidly bundled by his driver, Mr -Wright, who m spite of a somewhat cantankerous ter.in of four to iiiiin.-igp, showed conclusively, lhat the three-fun-ow plough can not only do quantity but good qualily of work. With a powerful team', four acres a dny of new ground could, we were told, eas-ily bo turned over — and wo can well believe it. Though, as the lawyers say, the case of tlio first judgment— still subjiulke, ■ we must be allowed, however to depart, n ti-ille from ths usual rel ieence observable m such eases, nnd declare our opinion, fhat though tllero was no competition m Ilic three- fiirroW class, the only entry fully deserved first honors. In the double-furrow. ' class, there wero' five entries, four' of whom were ploughs by colonial make, viz: iMessrs Elder, Joseph Ogilvie, Reid and Gray, and K. F.'Gra'y, the filth entry by Mr ILitl, being a' plough of home manufacture. Each plough hud, of course, its own admirers — nnd liere,.wo mny take occasion' to remark that .there" was a .-'considerable sprinkling of speci ators on tho ground, and all ' evidently taking considerable interest m thu various trials, — and so, perhapa, strictly speaking, it would hardly befit us to comment bn that which at present is bid to all tut the judges, . but still we eaiiiiot help rtcordiug our opinion that whilst not dtje'rying the many solid excellencies possessed' by the several implements exhibited, our prelererice. would lie with a plough shown by Mr K. F. Gray, of Temuka. For lightness of draft, and for making riglit good work, it seems to iis' as deserving of honorable mention— whether. iv tirst rank we of course, cannot say — the judges' li.it will -soon decide that question. In the first class, for a single furrow plough, there was but one entry, by Messrs lteid and Gray, of Oamaru, a good useful sort of implement. Messrs Stericker, Gosling and Anderson wore the judges. A Shabby Thick — i he Borough Council of 'Timaru is famous for irregular proceedings, as witness its action not many months ago re the Building liegul itious, but till now it has not done many dirty tricks, or gone out of its way to endeavour to m jure a tradesman; now though, the Council uot "m Council assembled." but m underhand fashion by means of a certain paper brought round to the memhers has given permission to a shopkeeper to erect m the public thorougli fare, just immediately outside Ihe Show grounds, a_ refreshment booth. Tho Council must assuredly bo awaro. that ii heavy price bus recently beon givuu by a publican for the privilege of erecting refreshment booths m the Association's paddock; lhat, forthe Council to give permission to a mnn to set up au opposition shop close adjoining, is derogatory to -the' dignity of the Council, and is, to our mind, a very shabby trick. Kidnapping Aer.— ln the Neva Zealand Gazelle of the 3rd instant,' is printed the "Act for the IVoveution and Punishment of criminal outrages upon natives of the Islands m the Paoifio Ocean," passed m the last session of" the British Parliament. The Act is wry stringent. 'Thi? conveyance by sen of natives of the Pacific Islands, otherwise than as part of a crew, is made lelony,- except on bourd vessels specially licensed lor the purpose. 'J'he licenses for lhe purpose to be issued by the Governors of tlm Australasian- colonies, require Ihe master nuil one approved security fo oilier into a bond of ,£SOO not to contravene the provisions of the. Act. . To tiii-: L'NiiAPry Ones.— lt may interest smnc renders to know that the next sittinj; of the Supreme Court of Nkw Zealand to hear and determine petitions forthe dissolution of maning", will be held ut Wellington on tho i 18'h November next. Qcick as Thought.— The communication between Adelaide and Port Darwin has been proved by numberless experiments to bo iuslantimouus. Tho current passes over tbe 2200 miles of new wire lying betweeu those points with greater facility than over the twenty-ono miles of old wire whicli separates Mount Barker from thc metropolis. Ou' Friday weok the message " What o'clock is it?", was sent from the operating. room m Adelaide, and within twelve seconds the answer came, " 21 minutes past 3." .Tun Abolishment op ihi-; Native Depaiit.m kst. -The Otaijo Dail;/ 'Times says': — "Te Hira has deliberately turned off the surveyors employed to get plan's for a case in'tho Native La-ids Court', and has sunt their instruments buck to lho oiliyo at Gnihamslonn. Of course, wo shail not attempt to resent this, but lhe quest ion arises, if wo. an; to take such proceedings from Maoris as ainattei' .of course, why be burdened .with sueb . nn i normous annual, outlay for armed forces? If tho. pen is really ' more powerful thjiu the swor.i,' let it. be a fact, and not v mere figure of speech lo round a sentence for effect. Northern settlers are fond ol -the; assertion, that if all distinction between nativo and , colonist -were abolished, ami individuals of both races were allowed to deal freely with each other, it would be bettor for sbuth.. The constant failure oi' Government and its ngents, and lho eqn.diy unvarying success, of private negotiations — the Tauranga telegraph for example — certainly lend colour to Ihu belief that the Native Department might be abolished with advantage. ....... .liuusiit's Circus.— This company made its first nppeiipiiice lor the present season iv Timaru, to n much smaller audience than Ihe excellent performance that win given, merited. Since their last visit to -this town, the company hnvo been j.jiued by the Jiillien, troupe, coiiiprwiug I hi-ec very clever acrobats, whose triple-act performances mi the trapeze, were better than anything of the kind we Imve previously witnessed, iuul if, for nothing elso than their performances, Mr Murray's entertainment is well worth a visit ; they nre also very clever performers on the horizontal bar. lii-ndililion fj the Jollien Troupe, there nro yet. s. Uno Turllier nm-.-llie.^, Mr Mui-nv's lilt to hmjhler, Miss Mny Murray, ippeaing m nn equestrian net, and, for a'lii^i>iu>-r, iif-qiiilliii£ herself most creditably, her effort! bring ie- ' warded with loud. applause. Master Murray was also very successful j,s a pymnast, and m his equestrian performances. Mr Murray was ii capitul jester, and materially enlivened the eiiterlaiiiinenf by his wilieisms and praoticnl joking., and Mr lji-uhoie aid the other members of the company, wh.i are old. iicqutiiit--I'iees, were us successful :is erer m I heir . effort's to ple.-ise. ■ AM-? '<v!n-r ■.•!■■• eiii.f» tuiument was a deiiJedly good = pne, and the audience. wor«> thorough! v saiis- .

fied with it. The company nppeared again last night to au improved attendance. They ' will present an entirely new programme this evening, when, no doubt, they will liavc » crowded house, and to-morrow, will give n farewell mid-day performance for families and schools. Tlioy perform iit. Temuka on Friday, and the Orari on Saturday evening. Analysis of Soil.s.— The Provincial Secretary has forwarded to the secretary of the Timaru Agricultural and Pastoral Association a copy of " instructions to be observed by persons contributing samples of soils to the Colonial Inhibition, for the purpose of being analyzed," together with a form to be lilled lip, and transmitted to the laboratory of the Colonial Museum, along with specimens forwarded, giving particulars as to place whence obtained, nature of land m its present and original state, nature of subsoil, etc., etc. 'These papers can be seen on application to the secretary of the Association. Cultivation of thk Sugar Beet.- -The Provincial Government buying received n parcel of beetroot, seed, three varieties, froni Wellington for tho purpose of experimental cultivation, hnve placod a quantity of it at the disposal of the Timnru Agricultural nnd Pastoral Association. A parcel containing a portion of each variety came lo band on Friiln} hist for distribution, nnd more can be had if required. Accompanying the letter notifying the forwarding ol the seed, were instructions ns to its cultivation, which mny be seen on application to the Secretary of the Association, to whom applications for tho seed must be made. A portion ofthe seed will be given to any farmer willing to fulfil the required conditions, members of the Agricultural Asso ciation of course being entitled to tho preference m the distribution. A nice state of Things. — The Auckland city rates are said to be over £10,000 m arrear. Soda and Brandy. — The Wairarapa Standard congratulates its readers upon tbiestablishcient, m the district, of a second sodawater manufactory, and says that it affords " a convincing proof of a great change having taken place m the habits of thi people." Does this mean that, having beei. accustomed to consume their Hennessy neat, tlioy now dilute ie with soda ? Fur Manufacture. — A manufactory for the preparation of all kinds of furs and skins has becu established m Melbourne within the last few months by Messrs Colin ami Scott, who have directed tlieir attention to this special branch of industry witll marked success. The articles they produco consist of rugs, mats, boas, muffs, collarets, and other varieties of fur goods, which are carefully prepared, and find a ready sale. Skins of every description are used m the manufacture of these articles, from the feathery covering of the Australian emu down to the furs of the opossum and native hear. Those natural enemies, the cats and rats, alike furnish contributions, .and ifc may be noticed that the skins of the latter, especially of water rats, are very handsome. A Kesult of the South Sea Labor Traffic— Ono of the results of importing Polynesian labor to Queensland is, that white girls occasionally marry natives of tho Pacific Isles, and accompany theni to their home.on the expiration of their engagements. A correspondent of the Brisbane Courier describes the coudition of three girls who had accompanied tlieir husbands to Lifu, as bcinj. wretched m the extreme: — "For some tinn pnst thc poor women havo been deprived ol the common necessaries of life — such ns ten. sugar, and flour — wbich they have had to beg from tho white settlers on the island. What little money Iheir husbauds saved m Queens lund was spent iv paying the passages of themselves and wives to Lifu. Since the arrival of these women at Lifu, according to their account, ancl their husbands' also, they have been living on yams and coeounuts ; which, however suitable to natives, are hardly sullicient. to support these white women. Their husbands' relations nre complaining that they should have to Bupport these white women, so thst m a sliort time, if they remain ou the island, they will havo to do the same drudgery as the black women — such us go and dig the Inml, and carry wood and water on their back.' like beasts of burden. These white women have been told by tho representative of tin French Government at Lifu, that they nre at liln'i-ly to leave the island and their so-called husbands whenever they choose ; nnd Ihey are only seeking an opportunity to do so." Government Immigration. — Private letters from England veceived iv Canterbury sny that Dr Featherston hns arranged for a larg<ship, with Germans and Scandinavians, tc follow tho Hydnspes for Otngo, ami for llu Bebbington, 900 tons, to leave for Wellingion on July 28, with 210 adults, including 150 of Messrs Brogcleti's people and 26 females. Tin Lady Jocelyu is laid on for Canterbury, owimto tho accident to the Zcalnudia, which sprung a leak alter leaving Valparaiso, am! had to return to port, inirrowly escaping wreel on some rocks on re-entering the hurbour Dr Featherston is devoting his attention te procuring and sending out. salmon ova li Otago afc the close of the present, year. Introduction of Grouse to Aucklano i —Tho Herald of the 30i h ult, says : -'• W. are glad to learn that the Acclimatisutioi Society aro expecting a shipment, of grouse b.v tho Queen Bee, and heartily trust the birdwill survivo the voyage. Two years ngo, Mi F. Larkworthy, of London, to whom we nr. indebted for the first introduction of Cnli fornian quail into the colony, collected subscriptions to the amount of nearly £50 epeoially to defray the henry expenses con nectod with the introduction of grouse into this province by the Acclimatisation Society After many failures ancl disappointments, In has procured a number m good condition fo: shipment, aud hns forwarded tho firat consignment of ten birds by tho Queen Bee, wbich may be shortly expected. Other ship monts will follow during the season. In th> present case, every atteution hus been paid t< the selection of food, aud every precaution taken to ensure the birds receiving proper attention ou tho voyage. A Btock of heather, planted m boxes filled with silver sand, hasbeen put on board, so as to afford them an occasional taste of their favourite food ; and printed directions for their feeding and treatment havo been distributed about tho ship, m tho endeavour to enlist the interest of the passengers and crew m the undertaking. If thu fine bird can bo landed m good condition, it is pvobablothero willjbe littlo difficulty attend ing its acclimatisation m the southern part.of the province, where there are several native heath worts' woll calculated to afford good substitutes for the heather, to which it is extremely partial." Cheap Railways. — The Scientific American says : — " Tho advocates of narrow guagi railways m this country, who seek to adop: the three feet guage as tho the stuudard, wil do well to examine the plans of Mr Fell, who has lately constructed and put m successful oporatiou, at Aldershot, England, a ruilway ol eighteen inch gunge, on which siege guns ol seven tous weight nro easily transported This railway, ono milo m length, was constructed m forty-five days. It is built on posts, m order to obtain the necessary levels, and cost 10,000 dollars per milo. From the accounts given, it seems practicable to do nearly as much business on an eighteen inch railway of this description as on tho three fret road. The concurrent opinion ofthe narrow guage people, at the recent St. Louis convention, was that a throe feet railway could be -built for about half the cost of n four feel eight aud a-half inch gnago, which is tin ordinary measure, aud that therefore the threefeet guage ought to haye the preferenos. The

- Wotton railway m England, seven miles m length, having the usual four feet eight anda hull' inch guage, cost only 7200 dollars per mile. It wus built for light trullic nnd proves to bo very serviceable. Thc narrow gunge estimates are usuully higher than the cost of the Wotton railway. The Californian Harvest. — The crops m i California this year are exceptionally large, and throughout the United States are generally satisfactory. m Peru. — The Siren, from Cullao, has arrived afc Newcastle, New South Wales, with news to the 20th July. A revolution has taken place m Pern. General Gutierrez had deposed nnd imprisoned President Balta. The Congress was broken up by military power, and a reign of tenor lasted for a week. A counter revolution took place at Callno, and Colonel Gutierrez wus shot when leaving for Lima. His brother look revenge by murdering the ex-President when m bed. The American nnd British consuls narrowly escuped being murdered by the revolutionary troops. A number of seamen lauded from foreign wnr-vesscls m the harbor, and protected residents, on the night of the 26th, M. Gutierrez, brother of General Gutierrez, was shot. General Gutierrez, abandoned by his soldiers, left Port Cutnliuu, and hid m n drug store. When found he was inurdei-ed, his body being ripped open with a dagger. The bodies of both brothers were dragged on a curt through tho streets. A new Ministry has been formed, and Riberio appointed President. 'The bodies of both brothers Guticrrex were burned m lhe plnzsi of Lima. J ron Ore m South Australia. — Tbe Melbourne A rgus of a recent, date suys . — " Some very fine specimens of iron ore have been received by Mr A. L. Macdonald, of Geelong, from South Australia, and it. is his intention to form a company to work the same, there being abundance of it on an SO-ucre section, near which, there is a good supply of wood stnd limestome with which to work it. Some years ago samples were scut homo, and alter being tested by a person eonueete I with the Lowmoor Ironworks, Yorkshire, ho pronounced that, the poorest specimens wero richer than their best. The distance of the section from the placo of shipment is only two miles along a good metalled road. The exact locality, for obvious reasons, is at 1 present not divulged. The Press and the Telegraph. — On this subject, the Southern Gross makes the following remarks : — lt. will be seen from our Parliamentary telegrams, that Mr Yogel hus suggested v reduction of tho rates charged for Press telegrams. How necessary such a reduction is may be understood from a comparison between the Press rales of Now Zealand and those of Great Britain. In England, Press telegrams are charged at the rate of 6d per 100 words .when sent to one paper only, but 2d per 100 for every additional paper after the first. In New Zealand, where | the Press Association supplies nearly all the papers m the Colony, the same message is frequently sent to fifteen papers, and yet it is charged at the rate of 3s 6d per 100 words, tha same us if transmitted specially to one journal. During the sitting of Parliament, r.elpgrnph charges become really heavy expenses to newspapers, ns mny be judged from the fact that a column of matter contains somo 1600 words, and the heavy cost, prevents journals from supplying the news so full ns ihey would do at lower rates of telegraph charges. This is a mutter of considerable importance to the public, us m order to muiniiiinlain a healthy public opinion iv colonial affairs, it is necessary that events ns they occur should bo made known iv detail throughout the Colon}'. Pearls to Swine, — The Nelson Examiner says : — Mr Moorbouse has deserved better ol the electors of Egmont. He unbosomed lo them somo of thc choicest experiences of his political life ; he gave lively illustrations of the arts of log-rolling and of squeezing n Ministry, he cynically promised to put his own delicate feelings entirely aside — and those of some of his friends too — and to practice the noble arts he wus describing for the benefit of Taranaki ; he emptied his whole bucket to tbem — and then to turn again and rend him, it was too bad ! Hero is a choice specimen of the sort, of food which politicians like Mr Moorhonse do not thiuk too gross to offer to New Zealand voters : — " I shall not represent local influence, it is true, but. listen how local iiilliience gets on m the Houso. It i? not how muny votes ho can command ou n livision. 'The member with local influence ii my be referred to for informal ion, but how would it be when there was a b.-ilnnce of parlies? What would be the talk m the lobby diould the Tarunaki members want to force n '.picstion of importance ali'ecting this district through thc house, nnd the Ministry of the Iny. was opposed to it? Why, the converssirion would be something like this : — 'There'? Srown — great swell from Taranaki — only one i'ote. There's Atkinson — n free lance, all lo limself— Oh, nevermind him ! Well, there's .Vloorbouse — Moorhonse will hnve some weight with Barney Rhodes and Oh ! .•here will be the deuce'sown mischief: — Don'i -light him. We shall want his vote when .ye move to havo a network of roads to runeverywhere We must vote for bim on this ■natter.' You will ackuowedge this fact, thai ho Egmont. district is a large part of the .:olony, and several millions could bo very n-olitably spent upon it m public works VVhen the public have an opportunity of borrowing, they will borrow — and will spend it no. You have tb pay for it whether it is expended here — where it would be of most oenefit to the whole colony— or is muddled uselessly away m war with the natives — or ii may be, spent at tho other end of the colony. STou will have to pay your share of ifc, and it is but right that the expenditure here should ne m proportion to the commercial prosperity bat was likely to result from it ; aud uftei liaving travelled over tho Egmont district, md known ifc for twenty years, I say thai •tipilul could not bo more profitably employed than m developing its resources by settlement." Well! to tho credit of Egmont voters they declined to muzzle m this tub ; md Mr Moorhouse's speculation turned out a failure. Ifc would bo instructive to the people >f Canterbury, some of whom doubtless still liave faitb iv him, that this choico speech should be reprinted aud circulated among -hem. It would at least afford satisfaction to rhe gentlemen familiarly described as ' Barney Rhodes aud Studholme,' to find themselves introduced to the Egmont electors as part ol •ho plant, stock-in-trade, or ' properties ' which that benighted district threw away when they rejected the offer of Mr Moorbouse. A suit of New Zealand Fjlax.— The \nglo- Australian writes m the European Mail : — " I have not an opportunity of seeing your * account sales,' so that I can burdly tell you how the flax industry pays you. That, however, it is coming more into repute here is beyond question. I had an opportunity the othor day of inspecting somo exhibits ot towelling and sheeting which had been mann factured for Dr Featherston by Mr A. W. Forbes, of Arbroath. Tbis gentleman speaks highly ot the fibre, and candidly confesses that his machinery is hardly fitted to make such a close texture as could be wished From all I can hear, the Belfast machinery i> more adapted to the purpose. Still, the best thanks of all concerned are due to Mr Forbefor the efforts he has made to popularise thi.niaterial, and for the dilligent use of thr means nt his command. It was but the other day that I met a geulleman on board » stiamer, bound to a banquet at Greenwhich, m all the dignity of a ' true colonial rig.' He

shone out. quite conspicuously m the glare of the noon-day sun. There were the white hat. garnished with some two yards and u -half of white muslin, or some such material, the white vest, ditto ' unmentionables' and cont. This must bu a colonist, thought I. All honor to him for his pluck m 'coming out' m such a seasonable costume. Well, the : weather' is always a negotiable topic even amongst strangers, so I ventured up alongside of niy light and airy friend, nnd observed that it was a fine day. 'Yes,' he replied, with a smile which set me nt my ease, nnd induced mc to remark, ' Cool costui^e that?' 'Yes, sir, very cool'; and what is more, it is durable.' ' Oh, indeed! Ah! May I inquire the nature of material ?' ' Certainly.' It is the product ol New Zealand flax, and it was munufuelured by my friend Mr Forbes, of Arbroath. After that, I mentally resolved to havt; a suit for boating, cricketing, nnd garden wear. Dr Featherston, I hear, is having a suit made, und when once the fashion is set going their is no knowing where it will end. The celebrated sac eout cume into fashion entirely by uccident. Count d'Orsny wus overtaken hy a storm on his return from the hum ing-field. On his wuy to town he met a coal-wuggon, and, buying a suck of the man m charge, he cut a slit m the botloin I hrongh which to m serl, his head — a couple of slits on each side served as an outlet for the arms ; mid iv this, guise ho rode up the ' Row' to his splendid residence m Park Place. Next day tho sac wus the ' talk of the lown,' and the Countbeing interrogated by ' Poole,' the result wns the sac now, nud ever since, so much m vogue. Now, if I cuu only curry out a resolve hulftmide to ride through the 'Row' on some blazing hot duy iv my New Zealand costume, who knows but t may be us successful as the Count was with his sac ? or, at any rate, 1 might attend one of the Koyal Horticultural Society's /etcs so chid, aud with equally happy results, without incurring the danger of being mobbed or breaking my neck. Dr Feutherston, I hour, has implicit faith m the ultimate success of this industry, and is doing his utmost to interest, the lending manufacturers m v practical way. I believe a bale of the towelling bus already been forwarded .to the colony, and this will give the local producers the best assurance that their efforts are not being wasted." Colonial Advance. — A Victorian, lately from Queensland, tells "iEgles" that the growl h of Stanthorpo, tlie capital of Tinland, is something marvellous. Six months ngo, ho saw a single tent ; now thero are three theatres and a newspaper. Things nro still a little primitive. It is n cold country tliere, and the especial privilege of reserved seats m tho theatre is the right to place your feefc on the nail cans of hot charcoal whicli warms the building. It cost the proprietor £50 to build this theatre, and he hus had an audience mit worth £S0 cash. On the opening nights the footlights were represented by four candles, nnd the scenery consisted chiefly of sheets of corrugated iron of the Gospel Oak brand. Beiug a modest people, they essayed the opera of " L'Africnine," as a simple thing not. requiring nny extraordinary effort on the pnrt of the performers. A contractor who had just, completed the erection of a place of worship, said uppculiiigly, " Well sir, I have just finished the church, put. a lock on the door, and handed the key to the parson; total cost £17. I don't think, sir, that it wus dear for a church, but I can't get the money." The architecture of theso diggings is not of a florid character, and bark is much more popular than granite.