Miscellanea.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 4, Issue 190, 11 May 1861, Page 1

Miscellanea.

On the fbopee, Seat' and Handling- for 4. -Gtalxop down Hekl. — " If a horse be but properly dealt with, he can gallop down a turf. hill with nearly as much rapidity a3 along a racecourse. A tea table would stand ill at ease on the declivity, because it limbs are immoveable ; but a quadruped, by throwing its legs forward and his body backwards, has the power to adjust himself, with mathematical precision, to almost any descent. To insure his safety, however, it is essential tha' he should be encouraged by a loose rein, to carry his head as low as possible, to enable him to take care of his feet, and in case of treading on a rolling stone to recover his balance by throwing it up. Now, when in this position, if the rider, following the instinct and example of the hoi'se, throws his weight backwards — in fact, if from the saddle the backs of the two animals are separated from each other by only a very small angle, both can descend the hill together at considerable speed without the smallest danger. The only embarrassment the rider has to contend against is an over-caution on the part of the horse, amounting to fear,, which induces him to take the slope diagonally, very likely to result in the poor animal slipping up on his side. In keeping up his head straight, how-" ever, care must be taken to induce him to raise it up; and -when this little difficulty is overcome, no other of any Bort or kind remains to impede a safe and rapid descent. Seated on his saddle, in the attitude we have described, that admirable rider Jack Shirley; whipper-in to the Tedworth hunt, with a large open clasp-knife in his mouth, was one day observed fixing a piece of whipcord to his lash, while following his hounds at a slapping pace, down hill, his reins lying nearly loose on old * Gads by' s ' neck. On the other hand, when a gentleman, however fearless he may be, sitting at an angle of 45 ° , like a 13 -inch mortar on its bed, attempts to ride down the steep declivity described, the afflictions that befall him are really piteous, for the instant his horse's fore legs sink considerably lower than the hind ones, he feels that unless he holds on very tightly, he must inevitably pitch over the bows of the vessel that is carrying him. To maintain his equilibrium, he therefore pulls a little at his curb bit, which not only raises his horse's ' head till it nearly touches his nose, but throws the animal and the weight he carries into such a false position, .that it becomes difficult and dangerous to advance. -The restrained quadruped, impatient to follow the horses before him, yet alogether out of gear, on every little twitch of his bridle, keeps chucking up his head, until the rider, who a moment ago expected to fall over his ears, now feels that he is going to glide backwards over his tail, which is nearly touching the hill. In short, the poor horse is resting on"his hock's! instead of on his hoofs, with bis fore feet nearly touching the , ground. When a lot of. riders find themselves in this hopeless attitude, they generally according to their amount of activity, crawl, jump, or vault from their saddles to descend on foot, which they soon find very little improves their case, for the- heels of their boots, not being, like -horse-shoes, concave, take insufficient hold of the turf ; and thus they are slipping, sliding, and tottering in the- descent, each linked to a quadruped that is bothering him to death.— Sir F. B. Head. Photoghbapht seems to have reached its climax on Ballarat when such an ingenious artist as Mr. Flintoff can produce views underground. 1 He has an exhibition one of the most perfect pictures of the Great Termination Claim which could be produced, and which does great credit to the artist. Of course it would be impossible for - any photographer to -re-produce . accurately a scene three Jrandre&feet below the; daylight but the artistic ingenuity, of. Mr.-Ffintoff has surmounted the difiiQvlty.-^rJßallprat Tms&

The Common Enemy. — To rely upon popular improvement alone, and take no measures for removing the great cause of crime, would be to lull ourselves into as perilous a security as theirs who should trust to the effect of diet and regimen vrhen the plague was raging ; or in that confidence, /iefore it broke out, that should take no precaution t^gfti;;^ i<-« introduction.. So training the people to 'anns is a wise policy in any country; and our insular position doea not exempt us from this duty. But he ' would be an unsafe counsellor who should bid us rely on the martial habits of the people, and not repel invasion by our fleets, or meet it with regular disciplined troops. Intemperance is the common enemy ;it attacks even persons of cultivated. minds, spreads havoc widely among the multitudes of our inferior orders, and fills our work-houses and our gaols ! To lessen its force and contract its sphere, no means must be spared, if we really mean to stay the progress of destitution and of crime. The philanthropist has no more sacred duty than" to mitigate, if he cannot remo-e, this. enormous evil. The law-giver is imperatively bound to lend his aid, when it appears manifest that no palliatives can avail. Certainly we have the example of the United States to prove that repression is practicable, and their experience to guide us toward it. That no legislative interference can be contemplated until the public mind is prepared, we must admit. Such was the course in America, and our palliative measures tend to afford the required preparation. — Lord Brougham, at the Social Science Gathering, Bradford. Cabd Table Signals.— Theodore Hook's code of card table signals, in his clever novel of " Gilbert Gurney," might be very effectually reduced to practice. " Never," says he, " let man and wife play together at whist." There are always family telegraphs; and, if they fancy their looks are watched, they can always communicate by words. I fouud out that I could never win of Smigsmag and his wife. I mentioned this one day, and was answered, * No, you can never win of them.' ' Why ?' said I. ' Because,' said my friend, ' they have established a code.' ' Dear me,' said I ; c signals by looks ?' ' No,' said he, 'by words.' If Mrs. Smigsmag is to lead, Smigsmag says, "Dear begin:" Dcar_ begins with D; so does *tfL^g,cr'? ;, and out comes one from the lady. If he" has to lead, and she says " S my love," she wants a spade. Smigsmag and spade begin with the same letter, and sure enough down comes a spade. " Harriett, my dear, how long you are sorting your cards !" Mrs. Smigsmag stumps down a heart ; and a gentle " Come, my love," on | either side, produces a club." Cttriotts Plant. — In the extract of a letter, read before the Linnaan Society, from Dr. Welwitsch, who is engaged on the Portuguese expedition, a description was given of the general character of the vegetation of the district south of St. Paul de Loanda, including Benguela, Mossamedes, and Huilia, and more especially of the | littoral or shore flora. The most remarkable | plant discovered is a dwarf tree, to which no [ existing species or genius is allied, and which I seems to be a type of an entirely new order. It I is known to the natives as the N'tumbo, and is remarkable for its extraordinary proportions, the stem not exceeding a foot in height, while its breadth or diameter is not less than four or five feet. Another curious feature is, that although some of the trees are presumed to be more than a century old, they constantly retain the two woody leaves which they threw up at the time of germination and first emergence from the soil. Besides these two opposite leaves they never put forth another, and they are often upwards of a fathom | long, by two or two and a-half feet broad, trailing on the ground and split up into numerous ribbonlike segments. Dr. Welswitch is about bringing some specimens of this remarkable tree to England. Easy Cube. — Dr. Moore, author of. ct Zeluco," used to say that at least two-thirds of a physician's fees were for imaginary complaints. Among several instances of this nature he mentions one of a clothier, who, after drinking the Bath waters, took it into bis head to try Bristol Hot Wells. Previous, however, to his setting off, he requested his physician to favor him with a letter, stating his case to any brother Galen. This done, the patient got into a chaise, and started. - After proceeding half way, he felt an itch to . pry into the contents of- the letter, when the following words themselves : — Dear Sir, the bearer is a s *at Wiltshire clothier ; make the most of him." It is almost unnecessary to add that bis oure was that moment effected, as he ordered the chaise to turn, and -immediately proceeded home. Miseb's Chabity. — An illiterate person who always volunteered to "go round with, the hat/ but. was suspected of sparing his own pocket, overhearing once a hint to that effect, replied, " Other gentlemen puts down what they thinks proper, and so do I. Charity's a private -concern, an 4 what I gives is nothing to nobody " Peeasant Desebts. — Matoisin, physician to the King of France, was so fond of administering medicine, that seeing all the phials and pill boxes of his patient completely emptied, and ranged in order on the table, he said, "Ah, sir, it gives me pleasure to attend you— -you. deserve to be ill." An advocate having lately, gained a suit for a poor young lady, who was very ugly, she remarked 'rrr '* I have nothing to pay you with, sir, but my heart.''. ."Hand.it over to the clerk, if you please j I wish no fee for myself," he replied.

Photo&baphs by Machinery. — A highly interesting and singular paper was read before the American photographic Society lately, and is reported in the " Architect's Journal" of New York. By this paper it appears that 12,000 photographs or sterographs an hour can now be produced from a single negative by means : 'o£ condensed or focalised light and simple machinery by a crank ! A sheet of ordinary paper, sensitised, was exhibited, containing 300 of these photographs. Mr. Chas. Fontayne, .of Cincinnati, Ohio, is the inventor of the process. The prepared or sensitised paper is simply passed in a continuous sheet, before the negative, in a boxi where condensed light is made to penetrate through the negative and impress its image upon the paper, which it does in .03 of a second for each impression. The condensing lens is 7 inches in diameter. Thus, as it is said, " the illustrations for a,book, having all the exquisite beauty and perfection of the photograph, may be turned out by the use of this machine with a rapidity wholly undreamt of either in plain printing or in" lithography." The cost of engraving, also, will of course be dispensed with. All sorts of drawings, too, may be thus multiplied as well as actual objects photographed or sterographed, in cheap . and endless profusion. The Architects' Journal' publishes a print thus produced from a rough sketch by the ordinary ammonio-nitrate process.

The Aphis, G-bdb, &c. — Mr. B. Naughfcen, of Armidale, has discovered an effectual destroyer of these pests to a garden. It is simply the application of fowl manure diluted with water. » l?or the aphis, the leaves of the cabbages infected are stroked with the solution, which may be applied with the hand or a brush, followed by a slight rubbing with ashes or earth ; and for the grub, caterpillar, &c., pouring into the ground at the bottom of each plant a pint of the solution. In either case, if the first application is insufficient, it must be repeated, but it is seldom that more than one or two are necessary. Mr. Naughten recommends, also, that in .putting out cabbage plants, only half of the root should be inserted in the ground, as grubs prefer a soft substance, and do not like to climb over a harder portion to where the leaves commence. Of several grubs which we saw thrown into the sqhition, some lived a minute, but others survived only half a minute. For blight on fruit trees, Mr. Naughten. has found an application of boiled linseed oil to the bark with a brush to be as effective as conld be desired. — Armidale Express.

Adyice to a Bishop. — The advice I sent to the Bishop of New Zealand, when he had to receive the cannibal chiefs there, was to say to them — {c I deeply regret, • sirs, to have nothing on my own table Buited to your tastes, but you will find plenty of cold curate and roasted clergyman on. the sideboard :" and if, in spite of. this prudent provision, his visitors should end the repast by eating him likewise, why I could only add, "I sincerely hoped he would disagree with them." In this last 'sentiment he must cordially have agreed" with me; and upon the whole he must, have considered it as a useful hint, and would take ; it kindly. Don't you think so ? — Sydney Smith.

A lawyer, on circuit, dropped a ten-pound note under the table whilst playing cards at the inn. He did not discover his loss until going to bed, he then returned immediately. On reaching the room he was met by the waiter, who said, "I know what -you want, Sir, you have lost something." — "Yes, I have lost a ten-pound note." — "Well, Sir, I have found it, and here it is."—"Thanks, my good lad, here is a sovereign for you." — " No, Sir, I want no reward for being ho» nest : but," looking at him with a knowing, grin, " wasn't it lucky that none of the lawyers found it?"

Fanny Fern lately Baid— '• If one half of the girls only knew the previous life of the men they njarry,*he list of old maids -would be wonderfully increaslS." But the Boston Post asis — " If the men knew, Fanny, what their future lives were to be, wouldn't it increase the list of old maids still further ?"

. How to keep an TJmbbstiTiA. — Dr. Buckland could not bear to lose an umbrella. He lost two or three in one way or another, and at last he inscribed,, in conspicuous letters, on the handle of a new one he bought purposely, " Stolen from Dr. Buckland j" and this he never lost, although it often invitingly stood by itself in solitary glory in the umbrella stand in the hall.

Speaking the Tettih QtrigiiiY.— A quaint old minister of a parish in Jjanarkßhire one Sunday morning gave his text from theJ?salms, "I said in my haste all men are liars,". and began bis sermon by, thoughtfully saying, "Aye, David, ye said it in your hast^did you? If ye had lived in this parish ye mighc have said it at your leisure!" .-_ .

Novbii Remedy fob Whooping Cough.-— Great numbers of children, laboring under whooping cough,. now, visit the gas works in" Preston,"f6r the purpose of breathing the exhalations from the gas lime. It is said that all the little sufferers feel considerably relieved, and many are absolutely cured by this simple remedy .-^-Preston Guardian.

An Irishman was indulging in the very intellectual.occupation, of sucking raw eggs andread-; ing a newspaper. By some mischance he oont^vied \^ to bolt a live chicken. The^pobr-bird, chirruped. " i: as.it-.went down his throat, and lie ;very oooiiy; said,-^" By .the powers, my. .young • ixiend^ypu spoke too late I" ■'"■• V- ; ; :-; V

The New President.— Abraham Lincoln is -a gaunt giant more ■ than six feet in height, strong and long-limbedi ;He walks slow, and, like many thoughtful men (Wordsworth and Napoleon, for example), keeps his head forward and downward. His hair is wiry arid black; his eyes are dark gray f "Ins smile is frank, sincere, and winning. Like most American gentlemen, he is loose' and careless in dress, turns down his flapping white collars, and wears habitually what we consider evening dress. His head is massive, his brow full and wide, his nose large and fleshy, his mouth coarse aad full ; his eyes are sunken, his bronzed face is thin, and drawn down into strong corded lines, that disclose the machinery that moves the broad jaw. This great leader of the "Republican" party — this Abolitionist — this terror of the Democrats — this honest old lawyer, with a face half Roman, half Indian, ao wasted by climate, so scarred by a life's struggles, was born in 1809, in Kentucky. His grandfather, who came from Virginia, was killed by the Indians. His father died young, leaving a widow, and several children. They removed to Indiana, Abe being at that time only six years old. Poor and struggling, his mother could only afford him some eight months' jrpugh schooling; and in the clearings of that new, unsettled country, the healthy stripling went to ■work to hew hickory and gum trees, to grapple with remonstrating bears, and look out for the too frequent rattlesnake. Tall, strong, lithe, and smiling, Abe toiled on as farm labourer, mule driver, sheep feeder, deer killer, woodcutter, and, lastly, as boatman on the waters of the Wabash and the Mississippi. — Once a week.

Frost Mttsic— l was once belated in Canad a on a fine winter day, and was riding over the hard snow on the margin of a wide lake, when the most faint and mournful wail that could break a solemn silence seemed to pass through me like a dream. I stopped my horse and listened. For some time I could not satisfy myself whether the music was in the air or in my own brain. I thought of the pine forest which was not far off; but the tone was not harp-like, and there was not a breath of wind. Then it swelled and approached ; and then it seemed to be miles away in a moment ; and again it moaned as if under my very feet. It was, in fact, almost under my feet. It was the voice of the winds imprisoned under the pall of ice Buddenly cast over them by the peremptory power of the frost. Nobody there bad made air holes, for the place was a wilderness ; and there was ho escape for the winds, which must moan on till the spring warmth should release them. They were fastened* down in silence ; but they would come out with an explosion when, in some still night, after a warm spring day, the ice would blow up, and^make a crash and a racket from shore to shore. So I was told at my host's that evening, ■where I arrived with something of the sensation of a haunted man. It had been some tiin<* before the true idea struck me, and meanwhile the rising and falling moan ' made my very heart thrill again. — Once a week.

New.Pbocess o:f Bread-Making-. — Mr. Pescodd, of St. John-street, Luunceston, after two years' careful study, has at length perfected his patent machine for making bread without yeast, and dispensing with the uncleanly practice of kneading by hand. This he effects by using carbonic acid gas instead of yeast, which he introduces by strong pressure through pipes into the /nixer, which is capable of mixing up three bags of flour and fitting it for the oven in a few minutes. The dough falls from the mixer into tins placed under it ; as many as ten loaves per minute may thus be cut off, so that the dough is never touched by hand in the process. The uertificates of gentlemen of the medical profession testify to the wholesomeness and nutritious quality of the unferznented bread thus manufactured. The process is bo superior to the old one in every way that Mr. Psecodd's patent bread will be certain :to supersede -the use of any other. — • Cornwall Chronicle.

Canute Intelligence. — A gentleman connected with the Newfoundland fishery possessed a dog of .noted sagacity and fidelity. On one occasion a boat's crew, in his employment, were seen to be in circumstances of great ultimate peril, juat outside .a line of formidable breakers^ which, owing to . some change in wind or weather, since the boat -had passed outwards, had risen sufficiently to render the return passage through them most hazardous. The spectators •on shore were quite . unable to render any assistance to the jeopardised crew., Mach time, had already passed, and the danger .was of course increasing rather than diminishing. Among those on the shore was the- , fishery-master's dog. He seemed to be quite aware that there was much cause for anxiety, and was. suddenly seen to .take to the water,. and swim .in the. direction of the boat. He was successful .in making his way through the surf, and on being seen by the crew of the boat, their first supposition was that he wished to come aboard. But it was . soon evident that he had no intention of the kind. , He continued swimming near the boat, but without, approaching it at all too closely. At last, after some comment on his peculiar behaviour, one of the hands . divined his purpose, and cried " Give "him a rope j that is what he wants." The rope was thrown, the dog seized the end, and turned -irbund, and made forthe shore with it ; where, by its mean's, a few minutes after, boat and crew, .thanks .'.to . thejjgntelligence of. their four-footed ofxiend, were placed quite safe and well. — rAtMnscw's .Sketches in Natural History.

• • : ; Mr-Mudie, the author of some popular works oii.the 'seasons, was originally a teacher in Dundee. He ! happehed|tojbe one of a tea-parly at the house -of the'Rev.-DrM — : — . ; The Doctor waß reputed for the suavity of his manners, and his especial . politeness towards the fair sex. . Handing a dish of honey to one of the ladies, he said in his won- , ted manner, "Do take a little honey, Miss — — j , 'tis so sweet, so like yourself." Mr. Mudie could, .not restrain his .native, tendency' to humour ; so, handing the b utter-dish to the h oet, he exclaimed, ■*f Din taice Htfclej butter, doctor, 'tis sp : 'like : ycmrself."" \'^.\' K. '.' . "' ' ' ' "' "'"''' ' '"?■•"}■& A&'i'-' doctor^ iow. is -niy wife to-day ?"— The "doctor ; shpok^'hiisiiheacl. and said, > " You , must { ; jireplariß'fqritiie ~ "What I (exclaimed the *;: :^tto^,K^ti^d)vitf?B^©.bett"ar-p ; 'V- .•■■■ '. .-..'■ :■; ; '^jM. *das9us-taker tfound:. a- woman - ; who = gave :^l^K^^^g©^^::^eaw/;;ma{.:tliat -of- her eldest ium.ißiiiSiSl'^icy'J -■'''/■ -■ '->■-:-;■ '■■'.'■,■■' ■": ;.A-: .;-^- \-. •■...,■

Peo&ebss op WATBaVGtAS:-i-Thiiß novel burhvHg> fluid has been practically. 'applied to lighting ,iH&i> Girard House, Philadelphia;" and n egotiationswK! now pending for its introduction into other lasH| American hotels. Over the principal entrancMMi the Girard House, jets of this, gas form nighJK the words " water gas." : The agents, : are^njPji ereoting water gas' works in Massaclmaijd|j|j|B|fe , exhibition of the light aflfae recent MlffflH^Hß in Boston hairing satia^eopebpletof its supertowp. New Jersey has-! one set of these gas wortfafTn operation, arida company has been organised to 'establish another in Sackport, New York. Steps have also been taken to extend this light to California. The flame produced by this gas is not inferior either in quantity or quality to that produced by coal gas. The principal materials used, in addition to water, are roam and charcoal — all attempts to burn water alone having signally failed. While not of an inferior quality, economy of production is the great advantage of this gas. The cost of the works for generating a given quantity, the material and the labour, are all much less than are required for producing coalgas, and of course the article can be offered to the consumer at reduced rates. In Philadelphia the saving.effected is said to be fully fifty per cent.-; and,', in "Bostolf the New England Company undertake to supply it for a little less than one dollar per thousand feet, the cost of coal gas being more than double , the amount. — London American.

A Music Missionaby.— ln a Kentish village, numbering hardly more than 500 inhabitants, thanks to Mr. Hullah's scales, the children, the young men and women, even several of the old men who work on farms, have become singers. This Christmas and every Christmas and Easter for some years past, they have performed an oratorio of Handel or some other great master j they cherish their church music, and they live together with their minds awakened to such sense of- harmony that for years past not one of them has been punished for, or accused of, offence against the law. The vicar and his parish are as one family together. At one of their mid- winter oratorios a young women did not come in till after the music had begun. Her house had been snowed up, but her father, a farmer, had been getting his laborers together, and they had all cleared a way for her, that she might go and take her part in the sublime strain. At the bottom of all this, what do we find but Mr. Hullah's musio book ? Some of them found their way by chance to Pitcairn's Island, where men have learnt from them to make a desert blossom with their songs. — All the Year Mound.

A New Attitude toe Riflemen.— A letter from Liverpool, describing the proceeding at the Lancashire contest, gives an account of a new firing position : — " One gentleman, said to be an Indian officer, made beautiful practice with a Turner rifle. His firing position was somewhat peculiar, but it possesses the virtue of perfect steadiness. You sit down on the ground, support the barrel of the rifle on the left arm, lay the left hand on the right arm, and drawing up the legs towards the chin, rest the,butt of the rifle against the middle of the right arm, supporting.thft^Maf the butt on the right knee. This position is somewhat acrobatic, and the performer appears to be carefully hushing his weapon to sleep ; but when the rifle was brought level with the object not a tremor could be noticed. ' Bull's eyes 'or • centres ' generally reward the riflemau's steadiness."

new Steam Peess. — Mi\ Beech, late editor of the New York Sun, is known in America no less favorably for his inventive genius than for literary and financial ability. He is now completing the construction of a steam printing press, by which the sheets are cut from rolls, damped, printed on both sides at the rate of forty thousand impressions an hour, folded up, counted, and delivered from, the machine ready for the carrier or mail. It is needless to say that this press is of immense size, and of many parts. — London American. •

Stbong- Example.— Hood mentions a sea-toper, who never saw a flask or pewter measure that he did not inexorably seize, and, gauger-like, try the depth of. He had a son equally fond of potations, on which a neighbour remarked that he. took after his father. Whereupon the would-be Trinculo retorted — " Father never leaves none to take."

Something New. -Mr. Billing the well known proprietor of the Watsons Bay menagerie, has been driving about Sydney in a vehicle drawn by two. veritable zebras. They came from South Africa, are females, and it is said that Mr. Billing contemplates crossing them with the timor pony. Their tractability is said to be truly^astonishing. "

Teey Heavt Obdnance. — According to a calculation which has appeared in the Mechanics',, Magazine t our Armstrong guns, of which we possess 451, have cost the country no less than £2,000, apiece. Truly the Armstrong gun is a tremendous weapon. We ought to" be able to knock La Glorie into atoms with our two thousand pounders. — Punch.

An E^ECTtTAi.. Hit. — A tall fellow persisted in standing during the performance at one of the theatres, much to the annoyance of the audience, and was repeatedly called upon to sit down, "b.ufe: would'nt. " Let him alone," said Hood, who wall in the pit j" he is a tailor, and resting Mmself." He sat down instantly.

" You, are from t the country, are you not, Bir?" said a dandy young book-seller to a homelydressed Quaker, who had given him some trouble. "Tea," "Well here's an 'Essay on the Rearing of Calves.'" « That," said Aminadab, as /he turned to leave the shop, " thee had better present to thy mother." - - , '' - '■ ;!V "Daddy,, why is a public house like a badshilling ?". " Pon my wbrd^ I don't. kriow," ; replied daddy, '. after puzzling "i for five minutes, " Because you. can't pass it^said the boy.; '. i " s : ■ If you wera obliged to swallow a man, whom would you to "swallow?. — A little London porter. - '

Why cannot dying wives s make their wilT as well as dying husbands ? — Because the wives have their wiU. during their lives. . . '-'.Up^to snuff" is nqvrrendered "elevated to an equal capacity with the titillating, particles of the tobacco plant." ■ " : ; v 1- .;\ ,-, ; . „-■,. :