MISCELLANEOUS.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 11688, 22 February 1902, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

It has hitS.cuo been supposed that Nevada, one of il'.e United riunes oi Ameiica, possesses the best and most expeditious machinery for bieakirig asunder matrimonial bonds. But it would seem that Australia really er.juys this distinction. Mr Justice Simpson has just described Sydney as. the ''Mecca of the pilgrims of divorce." lumber commenting on the proceedings that evoked this observation, he remarked : —'"Heie is a case in which a lady comes from America to Sydney to seek restitution of conjugal rights. She obtains an order, and of course it is disobeyed. She then <rets back by the same steamer to Ameiica a divorced won:.-...

On ail sides of the United Kingdom elaborate precautions are on foot to deal with the smallpox outb..' :.. The total of smallpox cases now in London is over 1000, but the cases are scattered, and they create the greatest anxiety. Almost all the large firms have ordered their employees to be vaccinated, and corporations are" appropriating sums for the c-e'-firvr of smallpox additions to the hospitals, while several steamers have been puichased in London for the accommodation of present and expected patients. Expo;' opinion prophesies that the epidemic will not reach its height until May. The effect of such a condition of things on 'the Coronation. international business, and English trade is almost incalculable. It is to be hoped (says a Natal paper) that the experiment of importing Queensland stock, which Mr Joseph Baynes and the Government are tiying, will prove a Miceess. The stock in question all come from the "tick" or redjvater districts of Queensland, and are • said to be absolutely proof against this deadly disease. Li Queensland the redwater difficulty lias been entirely overcome, as the result of investigations into the disease instigated by the Government, and it is hoped that by the importation of these immune cattle for the restocking of the country, the difficulty may also be overcome in South Africa. The subject is ore of immense importance, as, after the war, restocking on a very extensive scale will have to be carried out if farming is to make any

headtray in the new colonies, and therefore it is a great matter to know the class of cattle most likely to live and thrive in the countiy.