MISCELLANY.
r TIIE ATMOSriIETUfi RAILWAY. — 0110 Of tllO ( greatest triumphs of modern science has 5 been achieved — atmospheric railway travei- [ ling is no longer a theory — is is now a prac tical result of unerring principles and mechanical skill : and to Ireland belongs tho honor of having first risked tho experiment, and carried tho enterprise into an example for the rest of the world to profit by as well as herself. An experimental lino on this principle has been laid down from Dublin to Dalkey, and is now on tho point of beingopened. Although only a mib and. threequarters long, it presents somo rather formidable difficulties ; starting from Kingstown, it is a succession of sharp curves, three of which are littlo more than 500 feet radius, whilst the ascent to Dalkey in that short distance is 71 i feet perpendicular — the small portion of this distance, which is unaffected by stopping or starting, is uniformly passed over at a rate exceeding 40 miles per hour, the inclination being ono in 115 ; tho train of six carriages, crammed with passengers, lias been occasionally permitted to travel at between 50 and GO miles per hour ; and, on ono occasion, a single carriage was sent at a rate of upwards of 80 miles per hour ; and, on this occasion, tho resealing of the long valve wa? perfectly effected. Several times the train has been stopped by tho brakes within 20 yards, the full power of tho engino being still applied ; and, after remaining at rest for about half a minutu, a velocity of 35 miles per hour was obtained within half a mile up the same incline of ono in 115. A Veuy Gentle Hint. — Somo timo ago a knowing little fellow of this town was sent on a messago by his mother, to a lady in tho neighbourhood, having previously received strict orders not to ask anything in the shapo of recompense. Jack had some sturdy doubts as to the orthodoxy of these injunctions, being conscious that the service to be rendered was purely for the accommodation of her Ladyship, and that he had a right to expect a remuneration ; yet, from the impulses of filial affection, ho resolved to forego his right to demand it by relying implicitly on the lady's generosity. The message was duly delivered, but the reward was not forthcoming. Jack did not yet consider his business quite finished, and, contrary to her Ladyship's expectation, showed no symptoms of removing his corpus. Being asked if there was anything else that his mother had bidden him say, Jack readily whimpered out, " She said, I wasna to seek ony thing forcomin', butif ye giedme't licas to talc it.' 7 We need scarcely add, that the hint was taken, and Jack's services were amply rewarded. — Ayr Advertiser. j Elbow-hooii Scauce. — Elbow-room has been quite scarce in Nashville during tho I past week. Such scrouging, gouging, turning in and turning out, lias seldom before j beon witnessed. Instance the following :—: — | Traveller dismounts at a tavern. " Halloa, landlord, can I get lodgings here to-night?" Landlord, — "No, Sir; every room in tho |houso is engaged." Traveller. — "Can't you even givo me a blanket, and a bunch of ! shavings for a pillow, in your bar-room ?" t Landlord. — " No, Sir ; there's not a squaro 'foot of space unoccupied anywhero in tho j house," Traveller. — " Then I'll thank you, Sir, to shove a pole out of your second floor window, and I'll roost on that." All' in are Eye. — A Dr. Smith, of Liverpool, has been delivering lectures at tho Mechanics' Institute, in Lincoln, in elucidation of tho theory that the seat of the mind is not the brain, but the eye I and that thero are no such beings as idiots or imbeciles I The Lincoln Mercury, in noticing the lecture, significantly says, "If the seat of the mind is the eye, how is it that the author of ' Paradise Lost' had any mind at all ?" Ho that has been confined from his infancy to tho conversation of the lowest classes of mankind, must necessarily want those accomplishments which are the usual means of tracting k *~cur ; and though truth, fortitude, and probity, give an indisputable right to reverenco and kindness, they will not be distinguished by common eyes unless they aro brightened by elegance of manners, but are cast aside liko unpolished gems, of which none but the artist knows the intrinsic value, till their asperities are smoothed and their incrustations rubbed away. Fish in TnE Bath Waters. — A singular circumstance occurred some time since. Tho gold fishes 'in* the ornamental glass globes, in the Great Pump Room, from some unascertained cause, beepmo torpid, and to all appearance dead ; so that the official thinking them to be really lifeless, threw them from the window into the hot water lake. He had no sooner dono so than they began disporting themselves with great vivacity, as if a new existence had been imparted to them. The superintendent states, that though tho teinporaturo of these waters is usually 93°, not only gold fish, but eels and porch thrivo in them, — Bath Journal.
Name of a Prison.— Harte gives an amusing anecdote of the early life of Wallenstein, who played so distinguished a part in the Thirty Years' War in Germany : — When a student at Altdorf, a new- prison had been erected for offending scholars, and the Rector of the University had given orders that it should take its name from the person who should be first confined in it. Wallenstcin's impetuous disposition was perpetually leading him into scrapes, and it happened ho was tho first delinquent. When tho beadles had conducted him to the doors of the prison he paused, under some pretence, and kicking a littlo spaniel that belonged to him into the apartment, ho shut the door on the animal, and said, "Now, gentlemen, the prison must take the dog's name and not Wallenstein 's." There is an amusing anecdoto told of Captain Anstruther, when in confinement in China, which is said to have come in a private letter from himself. One day a Mandarin sent him a very savoury stew, garnished with sharks' fins and birds' nests, in compensation for a likeness which he had taken of the nodding gentleman. Captain Anstruther having tasted the delicious contents, gave an inquisitive look at the attendant, and, pointing to the stew, said, "Quack, quack, quack ?" The servant shook his head and replied, "Bow, wow, wow."— lnd. Paper.
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Bibliographic details
Daily Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 69, 10 August 1844, Page 3
Word Count
1,080MISCELLANY. Daily Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 69, 10 August 1844, Page 3
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