MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS

Bruce Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 1602, 16 January 1885, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS

On the Queensland border Beven weeks sufficed to enable corn to spring up from the dry seed to a height of 7 feet. There was a case in the London Bankruptcy Court a few weeks ago in which a banker's clerk, with a salary of £100 a year; had run up a bill of £51 or flowers for his buttonhole ! Mrs Dr Mary Weeks-Burnett states that she has made a study of the use of tobacco. She has found that many of the divorces of the present day were the results of the use of "the weed." Tobacco affected the sympathetic nerves which controlled the heart. The nerves became paralysed, and many a husband became thus estranged from his wife. Judge Wilkinson, in a case at Sydney, advised the parties to come to some amicable arrangement, "If you don't," he remarked, "it is one of those cases in which the lawyers will get every penny of the advantage. A. more ingenious way of spending your money could not be conceived than to proceed with the case." The parties agreed to let the case drop ; and, oh ! to see th* expression on the faces of those lawyers. Here is a funny though truthful story from a place on the Lincolnshire coast to the effect that one day lasb month a young lady and gentleman rode up to the parish church at the seaside place referred to on a tandem tricycle and in tricycle dres3, and having been duly married by the rector of the parish, remounted their tandem and rode off in. the most common-place fashion. The same couple are still frequently to be seen riding tandem in the district where they reside, and they still fondly imagine that no one knows of their having given a new era to the tricycle as a wedding carriage. A correspondent suggests that there is no reason vrhy bridesmaids and groomsmen should not attend in the same style. 'Twould certainly be more economical than the general system of carriages and pairs. Among the many anecdotes being told about that wonderful man Mr Fawcket (says * Vanity Fair, l) no mention is made of bis extraordinary keenness of hearing. After he lost his sight, his sense of hearing, as is generally the case, became wonderfully acute, so much so that he was able to recognise by their voices even comparative strangers, though they had not spoken lo him for a long time. He was never without company in the House of Commons, for beside him would seat themselves the short-sighted members of the House, to whom he would tell the names of those who were speaking. He knew all the members by their voices, even those who rarely took part in the debates. It was often difficult to believe that he had been deprived of the most precious of all the senseß, as. for instance, when in asking or answering a question he would quote from some official document as freely as though he were reading it. In one week, writes a New York correspondent, New Zealand, which so recently was considered the abode of savages, takes our goods to the amount of 78,980d01s in one week, and the exports include 11 organs, 10 cases of shoe blacking, 9 of stationery, 30 sewing machines, 26 cases of clocks, 557 of furniture, 3 pianos, 12 barrels of ink, 6 cases of slates, and a score of carriages. This certainly does not look like savage life. The " Gospel of noise " has (says the ' Dunfermline Press') been made the subject of a curious defence by its founder and leader, General Booth. Writing in a late issue of the ' limes,' with reference to the prosecution of some of the Salvation Army officers in Melbourne he justifies the existence of that uproarious body on biblical grounds. He says that the early preachers were commanded to go out into the highways and byeways, in order to compel every one to come in and listen. The New Testament, however, makes no mention of brass bands and tambourines, of drums and fiddles, as adjuncts of salvation. Neither do we read of any spiritual clowns perambulating the streets yelling at the pitch of their voices songs that render themselves open to question on various grounds. No, so far as we can learn, the early Christian religion was quiet and unassuming, yet useful and practical withal, which rather relied upon the truths it propagated for success than upon sensationalism in modes of procedure. In these days of improvement, however, General Booth

perhaps thinks he can improve upon the old condition of affairs. Those were perhaps much too slow for him. Notwithstanding his innovations, the Salvation Army has not gained a permanent place among the religious or« ganisations of the day. Like a great many other things that begin with much noise, it has evaporated a good deal since the start, and threatens to become almost extinct shortly. Not long ago we heard a clergyman relate this story. The deceased had been a young man and a wild one at that. He died as the result of a spree. Still he had many redeeming qualities. He was a noble-souled, big-hearted fellow, who would do anything for a friend, and who was generally popular despite his failings. The church was crowded to hear what the c?ergyman would have to say. Baa numerous friends even threatened an unpleasant demonstration if a lack of liberality led the minister into very pronouncedly "improving the occasion." There was an expectant hush. as "the minister announced his text : " Died Abner as the fool dieth." The sermon was a tribute, eloquent and evidently sincere, to the character of the deceased. His generous nature was expatiated upon at length — and then the clergyman simply repeated his text: "Died Abner as the fool dieth." His goodness as a brother, son and friend were done full justice to — and in conclusion of this the clergyman again said over the text : " Died Abner as the fool dieth." His public spirit, the gap his removal had made in the community were not omitted — only to close with the inevitable words of the text: "Died Abner as the fool dieth." The mourners filed out. One of the " boys " nudged another and inquired what he thought of the sermon. " The sermon," the other answered, " the sermon was first-rate j but what a text.!" A novel discussion has been started in the daily press of America. It relates to the incineration of paupers who may die and whose remains are not claimed. Recently this subject occupied the attention of the Key. John E. Benglessi a chaplain in the United States navy, and he has gone so far as to organise a cremation company in East Williainsburg, L.I. It has been found by actual experiment that in the spring of the year, when the ground is wet and in a season of calm, the atmosphere over a densely buried cemetery is so fatal that a small portion of it injected under the skin of a pigeon, for instance, will produce all the symptoms of typhus fever, and the bird will die of it in a few hours. The region lying about these cemeteries, and es- . pecially to the leeward of them, is always bo affected by these escaping ; products of the decomposition that the residents of the neighborhood are constantly suffering from diarrhoea, headaches, sore throat, and other symptoms* approaching the diphtheritic in their character, and often diphtheria is very virulent in those regions. A year ago last spring, for instance, there was a marked increase intyphoid fever in the neighborhood of Trinity Cemetery, in New York, while in no other part of the city was it particularly prevalent. Any one who has seen the horrible manner in which the. pauper dead are interred might not object to , cremation. -London is becoming alarmed at its own^phenomenal growth. Even now, though the pace has been a little checked, the metropolis adds a newBrighton to itself every year, building frpm 25J000 to 3p,6d0 houses. In a short period a fourth of England will be concentrated in a district a few miles square, .

The ' Sydney Morning Herald ' says : — " With regard to the paragraph copied from the ' New Zealand Herald ' into our issue of the SJJrd Dec, we are officially advised that on the determination of the San Francisco mail contract the Pacific Mail Company offered to continue the service at a reduction of £5000, to which the Postmaster-General agreed on condition that the company should obtain the consent of New Zealand. Sir Julius Yogel not only refused his consent, but declined to allow New South Wales to re-enter the contract (which she never asked to do), and complained that he had been treated very badly. He, however, offered to carry our mails for £7000, and the result of this offer is that instead of paying £18,750 as heretofore, we now pay only £7000 for the same service ; and this latter amount will in all probability be entirely covered by postages collected in this colony. The Postmaster-General does not desire to obtain any concession from the company, with which he openly expresses his sympathy under the circumstances in which it finds itself placed."