Miscellaneous.

Clutha Leader, Volume XX, Issue 1040, 29 June 1894, Page 7

Miscellaneous.

— _ «. — _ A flogging- machine is the latest ' up to date' invention. A special cable message from London, under date May 15, says : — Apparently not satisfied with the efficiency. of the ordinary barracks or prison scounjer the German authorities have, consented to make trials with a flogging machine, which has just been invented. The first of the series of tests decided upon look place in one of the prisons of Berlin. A man who lmd been sentenced to receive a scourging was stripped, triced up and submitted to the operation of the machine, in the presence of the inventor and of a large number of officials and others. The machine did its work with a vigour, precision and regularity which quite eclipsed any known efforts at hand flogging. But it appears to have been rather too severe. So horrible a spectacle as seeing a man flayed alive by machinery was more than even the mosc stern officials could stand, and several of the onlookers, completely overcome by the loathsome sight, fainted away. The 'subject 'of the experiment suffered terribly, and his cries and groans were heart-breaking to hear. It is not likely that machine flogging will find favour in Germany after these experiences, although the machine is understood to have justified every claim made for it by its inventor. Party feeling in Madagascar runs rather lii^h, to judge from a recent announcement in the Courier newspaper of Antananarivo. ' M. Rainizanabolona,' so the announcement runs, ' the son-in-law of M. R-isanjy, Secretary to his Excellency the Prime Minister, was sentenced on Saturday to penal servitude for life at the- hulks of Mahasoa, in conseqaence of a political discussion lie had with Prince Rukotomena. The Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, in a letter to the, Times, givr-.s some facts which show that the Jews are pouring into Palestine. About 100,000 Jews have entered the. Hoh Land during the last few years, and ' the arrival of a vaster host is imminent.' 'No one,' lie goes on, ' can possibly forecast tho next seven years of 'Jewish immigration.' If the bishop's view of what is going on is correct, we are face to face with a fact that may revolutionise the politics of Mediterranean Asia. Already the railways are opening up the country between the coast and Jerusalem and Damascus, and if a Jewish immigration on a large scale is addetrto this, Syria inny become once more one of tho most important places in the East. Commentino on this, the Spectator remarks that the idea of the Jews again possessing a country is a very curious one. The new 'silver wedding' stamps issued by the Japanese Post Office coinmemoratingthe twenty-fifth anniversary of the. marriage of the Emperor Mutsu Hinto with Harnko, daughter of Ichigo Tadaka, a noble of the first rank, appear to have caused much excitement among local philatelists. Boys, commisioned to purchase samples, thronged on the day of issue at the Post Office windows, and more than two thousand light blue flve-sen (a { sen ' ig s trifle under a halfpenny) and rose-pink two-sen stamps — the only varieties issued — were sold at the Kobe Post Office in less than two hours. In France and Germany, girls are always dowered. In Germany the thing is largely done by matrimonial associations. During the girl's childhood her parents pay a small sum monthly to the associations. When the girl is able to earn money she keeps up the payment ; and when she marries she is entitled to draw from the Association a stipulated sum by way of dowry. The sum is small, but; Germany is a poor countrj*, and a girl who has LIOO of her own is eligible among bachelors of her own walk of life. In Franco the dot is more universal. A man who marries a girl without a dot is held to be doing something exceptionally noble. During the first week of April the pretty Continental fashion of a battle of flowers was introduced into England in connection with the Ventnor carnival week. The procession of florallydecked carriages was extremely pretty, and the battle, six times, fought, took place in the presence of 15,000 spectators. Ihe fusilades over, bannerets were presented for the three best decorated carriages. A gold- headed axe was awarded to the Fire Brigade, a, floral oar to the Rowing Club, and a doll to a little girl in a Sedan chair. Men may be absolutely without one idea of order or neatness in their composition, yet you may rest assured that nothing so clv.xfes and irritates them as this same failing in a wife. Run. down shoes, soiled linen, and a three-days' growth of beard may be all right for them according to their \iews ; but when the feminine head of the household appears in shabby slippers, a a. shabby skirt, and hair in curl papers they express their feelings upon the subject in unmistakably forcible language. As in attire, so in matters of the home. Though the masculine mind may see nothing wrong in tossing^

articles of clothing into just those places where they should i*ot go, provided the clothing consists of mal** articles of attire, there will be a domestic thunderstorm at once if by chance my lady's shoes are not put away in the cupboard or her jacket is allowed to rest for a few moments on a chair or sofa. All this argues that, whatever failings a man may see fit to indulge in, he does not want his wife to follow suit in the very slightest degree. Therefore, women of tact should humour these little idiosyncrasies, and though they may not bo able to- reform the husband, at least show by example what is the correct thing for him to do, thus keeping up his and their own respect at the same time. The causes of a disastrous breaking j down, on two occasions, on the banks of the Grand Canal at Hungmtao, about fourteen miles from Tientsin, have been involved in mystery ; but light has at last been shed on the. subject by a memorial forwarded to the Emperor by Li Hung Chang, the well-known Governor of the province; of Chihli. According to this document, the mischief was due to ' the devilery of a river god.' His presence, as the memorial explains, was reported by the rustics, and eventually corroborated by the testimony of the officers and troops occupied with the task ot filling in the breaches. The river god is reported to have appeared in various guises to the soldiers and thoir officers while at work, and this being told to the Com mandar-in-Chief and Taotais in charge, a sacrifical stage was erected in honour of the deity, and offerings made to him, beseeching his kind interposition on behalf of the enbankments, coupled with the prayer to remain passive and not to spoil the work completed with such labour and expense. It was noted ihat the workers were thereupon blessed with beautiful serene weather, though till then their work had been impeded by pouring rain and sleet, while the* canal itself was ' one mass of raging waters ' His Majesty is requested to bestow a title on this river god of the northern terminus of the Grand Canal, and allow a temple to be. built for him there, and entered into the official list of spring and autumn sacrifips by the mandarins of the locality, The Imperial ' rescript , or endorsement on the memorial is : ' Let the Board of Rites report thereon.' A pretty story is going the rounds about Rosa Bonheur. Some time ago a Russian Grand Duke, was visiting, Paris, and chanced to dine in her company. They got on very well, and at dessert they ate philopena together — that is to say, they shared a double almond. But the Duko, when next day they met, forgot to say ' Philopena,' and lost the bet. He asked the artist what present he should give her, and she added laughingly: 'Any animal that would do to paint ; something pretty, you know.' The Duke smiled, and departed. Nothing more was heard of him, and the lady had quite forgotten the affair, when, some months afterward, the, royal forfeit arrived — to wit, three enormous polar bears. A correspondent of the Melbourne Evening Standard, writing from San Francisco, on May 3, says : — ' The' failure is announced from New York of the publishing firm of Samuel L. Clemens and Co., which was formed a few years ago to sell the works of the great humourist 'Mark Twain.' The firm has not met with the prosperity it deserved from its inception, and a couple of years ago it was decided to extend the area of its operations and to carry on the business of publishers generally. Owing to the depression in trade of the past twelve months, the firm has unfortunately been compelled to succumb. Mark Twain is now in the forty-ninth year of his age, and had made a large fortune through the sale of his popular works in times gone by. There have been few more prolific authors in the United States, and only one other — Bret Harte — vies with him for popular estimation. The check to his prosperity will be only of a temporary character.'