NEWS IN BRIEF.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXV, Issue 4252, 26 June 1895, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

At Wellington the other day a respectable woman was fined one shilling and costs (nineteen shillings) for refusing to "move on " when asked to do so. She had been listening to a street preacher. Sir Walter Buller has secured for his collection a penguin with a jet black plumage and long sulphur-yellow crests. According to Chief Justice Prendergast, any policeman who went to a person against whom an information was laid for the purpose of extracting information to be used in evidence against such person deserved to be dismissed from the force. Brewer Buxton, the new South Australian Governor, will be between the devil and the deep sea when he gets to Adelaide. The sinners object to him because he is a saint ; the saints look askance at him because he made his riches out of beer. Money, however, covers a multitude of sins — with both sides. — 'Bulletin.' Book debts do not seem to be a paying asset in Pahiatua. Of the sum of £380 placed in the hands of a solicitor for collection only £25 have been paid, and the cost of obtaining that amount was £29. An exchange says a dentist at Christ- j church got a surprise the other day. A lady with a vinegar visage, who had seen fully seventy summers, before inhaling the gas, said to the tooth extractor : " You will promise faithfully not to kiss me while I'm unconscious, won't you ?" He promptly promised. It is stated that the Governor of Syria has refused to give a native of Damascus a license to establish a brewery in Jerusalem on the ground that the Jewish and Christian residents do not want it. The ' North Otago Times ' states that Mr G. Macpherson recently found it necessary, owing to adverse circumstances, to dispose of his stock, plant, etc. ; but his neighbors resolved that he should share in at least the better prospects for grain next year, and they intend to put in for him seventy acres of wheat and sixty acres of oats, providing horses, men, and seed for the purpose. A similar circumstance happened in the Clutha district recently. Some reminiscences of the early days of New Zealand, published in an Auckland newspaper, show that in the rude old times the duello was not uknown in this colony. Three "affairs of honor" are said to have occurred at the Bay of Islands in 1840. Mr H. Cretney, an auctioneer, was the challenger in one, having taken umbrage at some remarks made by Mr Crofts while they were tarrying over their wine. Mr Cretney got the loan of pistols for the fray, but in the morning Mr Crofts made a frank and manly apology for the language he had used, and the duel was " off." A second affair is held to have taken place at the Bay of Islands between Mr Polack and Mr Benjamin Turner, in which the former was shot in the elbow, and the latter received a token of remembrance in the cheek. The third instance was that between Mr John Kelly, surveyor, and Mr William Brewer, solicitor, which came off on Oneroa Beach, Kororareka. People had been chaffing Brewer about a young lady. He denied that he was paying his addresses to the fair damsel, and threatened to "call out" the first man who mentioned the matter again. Kelly, who was fond of a joke, forgot the threat, and commenced teasing Brewer about the young woman. Brewer challenged Kelly, and the duel took place. Part of Kelly's wig was shot away right along the top of the skull, so that he had a very narrow escape. Brewer left Auckland, and fell afterwards in another " affair of honor." The Costley Home at Auckland now gives shelter to 133 men and 41 women. The situation in miserable Melbourne in two sentences. Bench to vanman who has broken the by-laws : " Fined 10s or a week." Vanman : "I must go to gaol, having no money. Please give my wife and children an order for the Benevolent Asylum." , Governor Buxton, now on his way out to j Adelaide, must be an extraordinary man. j An English paper points out that he "is not an active brewer, but merely holds an interest. He is, in fact, a teetotaller. " A rather strange novel is being prepared in Paris just now. Five well-known humorists —G. Auriole, Tristan Bernard, J. Courteline, Jules Renard, and Pierre Vebers — will produce it. Such a combination is not unknown, but the novelty comes in in their method of work. The writers work by turn and by lot ; no plot may be forecast. Each must begin where the other leaves off, and the first is to choose title and hero. The latter may not be killed, or attacked by fever, or disgraced. The first lot has fallen on Vebers, and Auriole will conclude the tale, £which is in thirty -five chapters. Profits are to be fairly divided, and the authors will try to show the possibility of division of labor, socialistic principles, and esprit de corps is producing a novel. In connection with the " cash for brains advertisement," reference to which appeared in a recent issue, it maybe explained that to everyone who patronised Webber and Pullman (who have fled from justice) they sent an answer saying that he had been successful, ancl would receive £4 on sending 10s 6d to cover the cost of a tin of oxyzone, which would be forwarded with the prize money. Thousands of half-guineas were sent, but no prize money was ever paid so far as is known. It has been calculated that these clever rogues took away altogether £32,000 in this way. They planned their campaign so cleverly that it was impossible to detect any fraud in the original advertisements. S. R. Wilson, at one time a very prominent figure at Broken Hill, and brother of the famous W.R., is managing the leases held at Menzies by his brother's syndicate. The syndicate employs many hands, amongst them being a son of Richard Speight, exchairman of the Victorian Railway Commissioners, who is engaged on pick-ancl-shovel work ; a son of "Bob" Walsh, formerly one of the Victorian Crown Prosecutors, and now acting county court judge; and a nephew of a Melbourne newspaper proprietor, once possessor of a six-figured fortune. — ' Bulletin. ' The most dramatic incident related in connection with the Armenian outrages was that of a pretty girl, who was marched along the lines of soldiers and told to choose her lover. She chose the ugliest man, and, pretending to whisper something, snatched his bayonet out of his hand and killed herself. In a single year 14,000,000 rabbits were killed in New South Wales, and 8,000,000 acres of pastoral land were abandoned. A letter has been received from Mr H. G. Watson, late J.P., of Broken Hill, one of the New Australia pioneers in Paraguay. Mr Watson's letter concludes :— " Should you know anyone wishing to come let them know everything is rough, and that the work 'is hard and will continue so for some time to come. If they are prepared for this let them come along. There is plenty of room for thousands ; but persuade anyone who thinks it is like picnicking to stop where he is, for he would only be bitterly disappointed if he came." The most remarkable instance of rapid growth is said to be recorded by the French Academy in 1729. It was a boy six years of age, sft 6in in height. At the age of five his voice changed, at six his beard had grown, and he appeared a man of thirty. He possessed great physical strength, and could easily lift to his shoulders and carry bags of grain weighing 2001 b. His decline was as rapid as his growth. At eight his hair and beard were grey ; at ten he tottered in his walk, his teeth fell out, and his hand*

became palsied; at twelve he died with every outward sign of extreme old age. The little Bohemian town of Neumark, on the Bavarian frontier, is sinking. A Commission has been sent to the place, and the archives are being searched to find whether the popular belief that Neumark is built over an old mine is founded on fact. The ' Daily News ' correspondent says that the streets are sinking visibly, and a great many have been closed. Of course, the houses are no longer occupied. One has fallen in, and many are in a slanting position. The population is in a condition of distress. As an evidence of the number of hares in the Hakateramea Valley, we may mention that from one property alone it is estimated that close on 1,000 head have been killed by various shooting parties since the opening of the shooting season. — 'N.O. Times.' Colonel Yorke, in a report on a recent railway accident at Wood Green, England, practically declared the tapping test for railway carriages a fraud. "Inadequate" is the word he uses, but it means the same thing. According to Colonel Yorke, science has hitherto failed to discover any practical means of testing railway axles for flaws that are concealed from view. " What seems to be required," he argues, "is some test, possibly by means of electricity, magnetism, or sound, by which it can be ascertained whether an axle is structurally perfect throughout." In the case of the axle whose breakdown he investigated there had been a previous fracture extending over a quarter of the sectional area of the axle. The axle was 25i years old, and had travelled 578,020 miles. A sergeant in the volunteers in Wallsall | (England), after serving twenty-eight years for the honor of Queen Victoria and Great Britain, kept his uniform as a memento of his service. He was charged with appropriating it, ancl fined. This is how England acknowledges service. Another Crimean hero has passed away in the person of Colonel William Hamilton, late of the 55th Regiment, whose death occurred at Brighton at the age of sixty-one. He had the distinction of carrying the English flag at the Battle of Alma. The deceased officer entered the army as an ensign in the 55th Foot in 1852, received his lieutenant's commission in September, 1853, and served with his regiment throughout the Eastern campaign of that and the following year. From December, 1855, to the following February he was aide-de-camp to the brigadier-general commanding his brigade, obtained mention in despatches, and received for his services the medal with three clasps, the fifth class of the Medjidie, and the Turkish medal. A case with an obvious moral in it was recently heard at the London assizes. Albert Coghlan, aged twenty-five, an actor, and Barry Coghlan, contractor, were indicted for obtaining a bottle of brandy, value 4s 3d, and the sum of £1 5s by false pretences from James Gray. The elder of the twain was further charged with obtaining 12s lid from Alfred Clark with inteut to defraud. The younger pleaded " Not guilty," and, as no evidence was offered against him, he was discharged. The goods and money were obtained by means of cheques drawn on the National and Provincial Bank, which were returned marked " no account." In the course of the evidence it came out that the prisoners inherited about £20,000 last year, all of which had since gone at Monte Carlo and elsewhere. They had been in such great poverty that they possessed only one suit between them, and were compelled to live a 'Box and Cox' sort of life, the one lying in b:d whenever the other went out. Barry Coghlan pleaded "Guilty," and was sentenced to three months' hard labor. In a law court in India, at the suggestion of the defendant, the plaintiff was made to swear by holding the tail of a cow in both hands. The Russians have a singular method of extorting disclosures from prisoners. In their food is mixed a drug which has the effect of rendering them delirious, and in this state they are watched and interrogated, when secrets are divulged. A scientist h\s calculated that the offspring of a single microbe in twenty-four hours will outnumber the population of London. During the hearing of a divorce suit in Sydney, a witness named Verontius Green was being examined as to his knowledge concerning the parties to the suit, when Mr Justice Windeyer interpolated : "Do you know the petitioner ? " " Yes," replied the witness. "How do you come to know her?" queried the judge. "Well, your Honor," replied the witness, " 1 am her son-in-law just at present." It only remained for the examining counsel to cap the witness's amusing answer with the consoling advice : " Ah, well, perhaps the Court will relieve you in time." There is a capital of many millions invested in sweetstuffs. One house alone turns out 300 tons a week, all consumed in the United Kingdom ; and another establishment finds employment for 1,400 hands regularly all the year round in the manufacture of confectionery. A quarter of a million tons of sugar are used yearly in the manufacture of sweets, apart from about 1,500 tons required for candying fruits, and independently also of the huge consumption for jammaking. Of such magnitude, too, according to the ' Pall Mall Gazette,' is this sweetstuff trade that over 100,000 people depend upon it directly for their living, the aggregate wages paid in the trade amounting to more than £3,000,000 annually. It ig estimated that there are no less than 80,000 retailers of confectionery in the kingdom, and that at least 120 different callings depend for their support upon the appetite of little Johnny JoDes and his sister Sue for lollipops and candy. The closing of the Alpha Tea Estate is regretted. It was the oldest tea estate in Fiji, and had a yearly output of 35,0001 b. The gift of fluent speech enjoyed by the German Emperor does not appear to have descended to the Crown Prince, who, in handing a basket of flowers to Prince Bismarck on behalf of his mother, the Empress, said simply "From mamma." And yet, if he had spoken for half an hour, he could not have expressed more than he did in those two words. A Nottingham giant, Brough by name, is on exhibition. He is twenty-three years old, stands Bft in his socks, and measures over 47in round the chest. At the age of twelve he stood over (ift, and, working as a miner, he received man's pay. His grandfather was over 7ft in height, but his parents and brothers and sisters are of average stature. A Wairarapa papers states that there are plenty of strong men knocking around the Wairarapa who would work tor a shilling a day and their tucker and be thankful for the chance. The Chicago ' Record ' is out with a big offer to budding and seasoned novelists. It offers a first priz-2 of £2,000 cash, a second of £600, a third of £300, a fourth of £200, a fifth of £150, two pnzts of £120 each, and five of £100 each for unpublished serial stories. It also offers an additional £2,500, to be paid at "s>pace rates," for stories of accepted value, but which may not be lucky enough to gain the judges' approval. The stories sent for competition are required to be " stories of mystery," in order that the ' Record's ' readers may be offered prizes for guessing the solution of the mysteries in advance of their publication. MSS. must reach Chicago by October 1.