GENERAL NEWS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1123, 28 February 1885, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS.

Sir George Makleay, K.O. M.0., has. given a donation of £500 to the Sydney patriotic fund. A siory is told of the lato General Bunbury when ! he commanded a crack riile corps. Inspection passed off aatis- ; f?ictbrily., There we<?e tio complaints, and the regiment was evidently iv goofl order. "But,", said the inspecting general, "I am bound to tell you', Colonel Bnnbnry, that rumors havo reached me of gambling being carried oa extensively among your officers.''. "That may have beeir the case, sir," said thee ilonel, "some months ago ; but I can rssure you there is nothing of the kind in vogu'o no<v because f have won nil the ready money in the regiment, and I would not allow a'«y gambling on credit." They 1 were young and romantic, and although !he minute hand was pointing to 12 o'clock they stood upon the porch gazing at the s'ars. "That's Jupiter, dear, isn't it'?' 1 she murmured. "Yes, pet, and that is Sirius," he replied, pointing to another star. "Are you Sirius?"' she cooed. He kissed her several times. I Then he pointed upward and said : " That's Mars, dove." " And that's Pa," she whispered, as a footstep sounded inside, and if the young man hadn't Scooted he would have seen more stars than ha ever dreamed of. Hor pa wears a twelve and a-half, with a brass t'«e. — "Tho Hatchet." The " Pall Mall Gazette " writes :— " If there is anyone who still wants to know what Scotch crofters and cotters have to complain of, and why there should bo a Scotch land question at all, he caunot do' better than study the extraordinary evidence of the lessee of the deer forest of Kintail, as .reported in the "D ily ■Chronicle." Thi-i gentleman had brought an action against a shoeninker and crofter for keeping a pet lamb iv the forest. The proceeding naturally rt quired explanation, which we cannot do better than give in the distinguished' spiartman's own language :— -'lf you will allow me I will state the damage the pet lamb has done. I took Kintail with the right either to use it as a deer forest or to keep sheep upon it. I intended, to use it as a deer forest. This is the first case that has arisen upon the matter, and I want to settle the - question and to nip it in the bud. If I get one pet lamb I may have a hundred ; but without tho pet lambs the cotters' would do a certain amount of harm. What I desire is to get rid of the cottages and their inhabitants. I sha'n't leave a stone unturned until I. get rid of. them.' This gentleman 13 au American, Mr Winans, but 'he has picked up the worst, traditions of Scotch sportsmen with wonderful aptitude." Perhaps there is no more touching feature of our time, says a London paper, than the z-.'al and enthusiasm displayed in the East end of London by the b&tid of young Oxford men who are coming to dwell in the large house standing within easy reach of Mr Barnett's vicarage in the dreary labyrinth of Whitechapel. Binding themselves to restrict their expenses to 30s per week, they live the laborious and self-sacrificing lives of young monks. " To learn to .know the ppor " in the lesson they have' set themselves to acquire, and to this end they live in the midst of the slums and back streets that are the haunts of the degraded and the neglected. Many of these young men have no intention of joining the church ; they are simply actuated by a feeling of dedication to the needs of their fellow-beings. They are under a vow to do something towards lifting the burden of misery that weighs on the national conscience like a sin. Each laborer is allowed to do that which he feels himself best fitted to do towards ministering to the human needs that he meets — teaching, lecturing, organising, recreation, starting clubs ; in one word, making friends with the ignorant, the depressed, the thriftless, guiding them to reach sunnier spots in life's circle by the hand of enlightened sympathy.