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Daily Telegraph (Napier), 16 February 1883, Page 2

At a recent meeting of the " AntiNarcotic League," held in Manchester, resolutions were passed calling tho attention of Christians to what were put forwaid as the evils of smoking, earnestly appealing to the Blue Ribbon and other temperance organisations to afford their followers '' the additional safeguard of a pledge against tobacco," and expressing the opinion that £i the inventor who would devise an arrangement which would enable the worshipper of the weed to consume his own incense, and supply him with a motive strong enough to use it, would be a benefactor to his species, and deserving of a substantial pecuniary reward."

•Tames Syme, the eminent Scotch surgeon and professor in the University of Edinburgh, was entirely devoted to his profession A quaint incident in his practice w" -show this. A well-known public character at one time consulted lum about some affection of the lungs. Years afterwards he returned on the same errand. On being announced, he was nettled to observe that Mr Spue had neither any recollection of his face nor—which was still more galling—acquaintance with his name. He thereupon mentioned the fact of his former visit. Still Syme failed to remember him. But when the professor put his ear to the patient's chest, and heard the peculiar sound which the old ailment had made chronic, he at once exclaimed, " Ah, I remember you know ! I know you by your lung - ."

An unsuspected source of public poisoning has been brought to the notice of the police authorities of Paris, arising from the use by bakers and confectioners, for the purnose of heating their ovens, of old beams, eto., procured from the demolition of houses. This timber is generally painted over with preparations of lead, copper, and arsenic, and it has been found that the ashes left after combustion contain more or less of these poisonous substances, winch adhere to the sides of the ovens and to the bread and confectionery during and after baking. The timber employed for telegraph posts, railway sleepers, etc., presents the same dangers, as it is generally painted over, or impregnated with different sorts of mineral solutions, such as the sulphate of copper, corrosive sublimate, etc., for the purpose of preserving the wood. The prefect of police has, therefore, forbidden the use of the timber obtained from the above sources by bakers and confectioners.

In a lecture at University College, Bristol, on the present time as the age of electricity, Professor S. P. Thompson recently predicted that a century hence a supply of electricity will be just as essential as a regular supply of gas or water is now, and that in a hundred years a town without an electric supply will be deemed as badly off as nowadays a town is which has no railway or telegraph. He does not think, however, that the problem of the economical distribution of electricity for illuminating purposes on a large scale has yet been solved, and he is quite certain that if any one has fixed incandescent lamps in his own house, and has erected his own engine to feed his lamps, he will have effected no saving over his gas bill. The industries connected with electric lighting now give employment to no fewer than five thousand persons in England alone ; and Professor Thompson thinks that electricity is to be the great source of power iv the future, not only in this field, but in that of mechanical engineering. The locomotive steam-engine, he declares, is irrevocably doomed. He means that it will be replaced by the electric motor.

The following extract from the Catholic Presbyterian will be read with interest by people who wish to know something of the -views of the newly-appointed Archbishop of Canterbury:—"The Bishop of Truro said in a charge the other day, after referring to views contained in some papers read last year:—'l would enforce them byreminding you of the near approaches (formerly incredible) to each other of the Scottish Episcopal aud the Established Presbyterian Churches. "When we think of their 'history, so ennobled and so strained, S3 inveterate on both sides and so heroic, and mark their attitude to-day, tho hardest man may believe that it is no will of God that any devotion or faith should war for ever against faith and devotion; or that the folds of the flock should stand 'like cliffs that have been rent asunder,' and 'dreary seas' flow between them hopelessly and unalterably. Let me commend to any -who have not read them—as voices of promise for the whole Church—the closing address of Dr. Milligan, the Moderator of the Assembly of 18S2; the speech of Principal Tulloeh in the same Assembly, and the first part of Bishop Charles Wordsworth's charge in the Synod of his united diocese."

Hitherto there has been a dificulty in bringing to justice card-sharpers Avho ply their trade iu'Railway carriages, unless they have actually done enough to Avai-rant a charge of larceny by artifice. A recent decision of the Queen's Bench put matters on a more satisfactory basis, and it Avill hencebe tho duty of raihvay officials to see that card-sharpers are taken into custody as as soon as they have been seen attempting to entrap the unwary. One Archer had been charged at SoutnAvark Police Court as a rogue and a vagabond (under the Vagrant Acts of George IV. and Victoria) for playing the three-card trick in a railway carriage running from Waterloo to Kempton Park races. The magistrate declined to convict, holding that a railway carriage on its journey was "not an open and public place" to which the public have, or are permitted to have, access as defined by the statute. The Queen's Bench held however, that the fact of the accommodation hi the carriage being limited to a feAv seats, and these seats only to be used by such persons aa-lio had paid a certain specific fares, did not take it out of the Act, although it Avas an open place to Avhich the public, or certain members thereof, "had access." They alloAved the appeal, and stated that the magistrate ought to have eoimeted.

Science has investigated the absorbent and radiant poAver of different fibres and different colors, but mail, iv his Avisdom, disregards this aud prefers the Avorst instead of the best. Woman may expose her brain to the direct rays of the sun by wealing a small, useless bonnet, but fashion compels her to cartv a parasol to compensate for it. On the other hand, fashion—not so cruel as she is painted—is equally in favor of large hats, with useful brims. Not so Avith man. Broad brims are tabooed, and parasols are not permissible. With regard to the neck, man has no choice ; a collar he must Avcar, and one fitting close to the neck and reinforced by a cravat or tie. To woman alone is granted the comfort of loAv-necked, halflow, heart-shaped or loose-fitting collars. The body, or trunk, is no better off. Man must Avear a stiff white shirt, a vest, and a lined mid padded coat. Woman need Avear but one (visible) garment, Avhich may be made as light and thin as iiossible Avithout being transparent. It is even doubtful whether the tightly -drawn corset, that object of universal use which is so violently denounced by the opposite sex, causes more discomfort than the numerous articles with Avhich man surrounds himself ; for physiologists have learned that women can bre ithe with the upper part of the lungs (thoracic breathing), and therefore suffer less from tbdit-lacing than man. As regards the arm, matters are pretty cveidy balanced Avith the odds in favour of the Avoman, who may shorten her sleeA'cs as much as she pleases, and in no case Avears more than one longsleeved garment where a man Avears three. Cuffs she may dispense Avith, but he cannot. Her sleeves need not be lined ; his must, unless of very tluck material.

Are you troubled Avith any affection of the Liver f If so send at once to Professor Moore, of the Medical Hall, Waipawa, for a box of his Podophyllin Pills. Podophyllin is the most reliable liver stimulent and alterative knoAvn within the Avhole range of the vegetable kingdom. Controlled and modified in action by the addition of other vegetable active principles, Professor Moore's Podophyllin Pills are perfection.— [Advt.]

Life Insurance as a provision.—The importance of sccurement of means for those Aye might elseAvise leave in needy circumstances, is not more AA'ise than the procurement of an extended lease of life by the continuous use of Wolfe's Schnapps.— [Advt.]