TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9023, 8 February 1895, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The precise nature of the The Duties duties of an Archdeacon of a are understood to have so Deacon. far puzzled ecclesiastical historians to define with accuracy and satisfaction. It is on record, wo believe, that a famous judfije once denned an Archdeacon as one who performs archidiaconal functions, but the explanation lacks completeness. It is, therefore, satisfactory to gad that, according to a London contemporary, a Highgate curate has made some progress towards the solution of the question. He was giving some boye a scripture lesson, and happened to'ask what were the three orders of priesthood. * The answer came correctly, "Bishops, - priests, and deacons," but a query as to the duties of a deacon produced no xeply. "None of you know?" said the curate; "perhaps I can help you by relating-my own experiences. When I was ordained deacon one of my first duties w«ta to vieit an old lady who was ill. I went to see her, and no sooner had I taken a chair than she said, *Say a prayer.' I said a prayer. * Give mc a shilling,' was her next request, and I gave her one. ' Now you may go, , she said, and I left. That was my first experience as a deacon." It is suggested that if the young man had been au Archdeacon instead of a deacon tne old lady would have asked tor at least balf-a-crown, and under the circumstances it would have been an archidiacbnal duty to have handed it over.

A BEiiAREAELE encounter A between the police and a Colonial man who was " wanted " Dick iorpin. took place a few days ago r'.-> neat Forbes, in New South Wales. The man passed off a forged cheque. to a local jewejUer, and when the nature of the transaction was * discovered two constables, Greenwood, and Garsang, went off in pursuit of him, having identified liim from the victimised jeweller's description as a well-known criminal named Sheedy, against whom a number of charges were ■ standing. The constables having reached an hotel a little distance out of Forbes, Greenwood dismounted for the purpose of making enquiries, leaving his companion on horseback at the yard gate to hold his horse. The next; .minute he met the man he was after, walking but of the stable and leading two fine horses* **I suppose,"' said Sheedy, " you want mc," and being informed that his supposition was correct, ho remarked, " Well, I'll give you a fiutter for it." With these words he let one horse go," vaulted on to the other, and rode at a spiked gate fully sfb high, out. side of. which Garaang was sitting .on his, horse. He cleared the gate, Greenwood's horse, and the hindqu&rters of Garsang's hone in the jump, which was a tremendous one, and beautifully taken. Then he dashed away, followed by the troopers. Greenwood came up to him ia about three miles, and as Sheedy laughed at? his call to stop he fired at his shoulder." Ho did not succeed, however, in on him to stop, , ' and the chase continued until the trooper drew up to his man, and, as they galloped alongside each other, put hie revolver to his head and begged him to stop, "otherwise he would have to shoot him." It' turned out, however, that Sheedy was quite unable to comply with this polite invitation, as he had been hit and could not pall his horse up. The trooper, on' learning this, stopped the animal and took his prisoner back to the town, where it was tound that his bullet had struck Sheedy on the arm. The same-man has, it is stated, been previously shot by the police in trying to escape. We were under the impression, we must admit, that when the New South Wales.- police drew their revolvers on escaping criminals it was time for unoffending citizens in the immediate vicinity to take to cover, but'the mounted constables' eeem to have practised re. volver shooting to same* purpose.

Thb use of cold water baths . The as a means of. reducing the Cold Water temperature of patients Care. suffering from fever in its various forme is, we believe, of German origin \nd is. extensively practised by German doctors. The custom is gaining ground in England* .bat i< only, adopted there when.the dootor can be sure of the skill and efficiency of the nursing. In Australia, and. especially in Queenslaud, the cold water cure is largely made use of, while it has been used with success by some doctors in New Zealand There arc many, however, who decry the practise as a dangerous one, and it may be of interest, therefore, to quote two instances reported in recent Australian papers, where cold bathe, taken, in one instance at least, quite involuntarily, effected a change for the- better in fever stricken persona. The first case was that of a man named Pempsey, a typhoid fever patient in Ballarat Hospital, who in a fit of deliriunv made his escape one evening from the institution clad only in a night shirt. Hβ was arrested by the police, early next morning on the banks of Lake Wendouree. He waathen quite rational, and said that earlier in the morning he had had a two-mile swim in the lake. He had some • how managed to obtain some clothes, and had evidently been swimming in them, at they were dripping. When he escaped from the hospital hie temperature registered 104, but on being conveyed back to the institution the register was 102, and later on in the day it had dropped to 101. His condition continued to improve, and from latest accounts bis escapade had not entailed the serious

consequences which were feared. The other instance was that of a saloon passenger on the steamer Clbncurry, on which, vessel smallpox broke out during her voyage from Calcutta to Melbourne. Among those attacked was the passenger, men* tioned, a Mr Thompson, who, when the steamer was approaching Melbourne, escaped from his cabin while delirious and plunged overboard. So strong »the instinct for selfpreservation that when a life-buoy was thrown to the unfortunate man he grasped it and kept himself afloat. His rescue was delayed by a sad accident to the boat which was lowered, resulting in the death of the third mate, but a second boat was successfully lowered, and ho was picked up in a very exhausted condition. He rallied, however, in a very short time, and appeared, so it is said, to have considerably benefited by bis immersion. It would be premature to say that in either of these cases cures were effected, as the complete recovery of the patients nas not yet been announced, but in neither did there appear to be any fear o bad consequences.