A GOOD CUP OF TEA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 75, 12 June 1852, Page 7

A GOOD CUP OF TEA.

To secure the satisfactory and economical preparation of this favourite beverage, atten - tion must be paid to several particulars which are frequently overlooked. Water.—lt is essential that the water employed in tea-making be good, fresh, and soft. Hard water sets the herb, and fails to draw out the flavour. Kettle.-—A good kettle that shuts closely, and is free from fur. An oyster shell in a teakettle gathers the earthy particles to itself, and prevents furring. A kettle should never be suffered to stand by with a small quantity of water in it. As soon as done with, it should be drained dry, and well rinsed before filling. When filled, set it on the fire immediately, and let it boil quickly. Tea-pot.—A round tea-pot is found to draw better than an oval one. For material the preference is due in the following order •• —Silver, ! china, Britannia metal. For management of the tea-pot, never let it be dipped in the vessel in which the tea things are washed, but having removed the drained leaves, fill the teapot with boiling water, and empty it in the vessel for washing up the rest; drain and wipe the inside with a perfectly clean dry cloth, and keep the lid off or open. If a teapot lid is closed but a few hours, a dampness gathers and soon becomes musty. Immediately before making tea, half fill the pot with boiling water, drain it perfectly dry, and let the tea be made while the teapot is still quite hot; the teapot should hold at least, two more cups than the number of persons who are to be supplied from it; one to allow for the bulk of the tea, and one to. remain on the leaves between each filling. If the tea is drained, the next filling will be good for nothing. A larger teapot than absolutely necessary, is no disadvantage ; only there must be calculation as to the quantity of water. Thus if the teapot holds eight cups, and three persons require from it three cups each, in the first making let it be moderately full; after pouring out one round, add only as much water as two cups ; this will supply the quantity required without waste. Tea.—A sufficient quantity of good tea is essential: inferior tea is but water spoiled. Black tea is reckoned most wholesome, but a mixture of green is generally preferred; one ounce will make two quarts of good tea, not more. It is best to put in at once the whole quantity required; by adding a little and a little, the tea is not so well flavoured, and does not go so far. Mode of Making.—Having the teapot heated as above indicated, see that the kettle is actually boiling at the 'moment of making tea, and not before. If the water is kept boiling for some minutes before tea is made, or if it has ceased boiling and has to be made to boil up again, the tea is never well-flavoured. The teapot may be filled up at once, or "brewed," that is, put only a small quantity of water at first, just enough to wet the leaves, and let it stand two or three minutes before filling up: the latter mode draws all the goodness in the first filling: the former preserves a uniform goodness throughout, and a more delicate flavour. Tea should not stand more than from five to ten minutes before pouring out. The teapot when on the tray, should always stand on a woollen mat or rug, by which the heat is kept from passing off. Finally, to have a good cup of tea, it is necessary to have good sugar and cream (for those who can afford it) if those articles are used at all; and they mingle much more smoothly and pleasantly if put first in the cup, and the tea poured upon them. Work if You Would Rise.—Richard Burke being found in a reverie shortly after an extraordinary display of powers in Parliament by his brother Edmund Burke, and questioned by a friend as to the cause, replied, " I have been wondering how Ned has contrived to monopolise all the talents of the family ; but then, again, I remember, when we were at play he was always at work." The force of this anecdote is increased by the fact, that Richard Burke was considered not inferior, in natural talents, to his brother. Yet the one rose to greatness, while the other died comparatively obscure. Don't trust to your genius, young man, if you would rise; but work—work! Let no man be too proud to work. Let no man be ashamed of a hard fist or sunburnt countenance. Let him be ashamed only of ignorance and sloth. Let no man be ashamed of poverty. Let him only be ashamed of dishonesty and idleness.

Remarkable Accident.—A most remarkable accident has occurred on the Forth and Clyde canal. A heavily-laden scow, proceeding from Glasgow down the canal, came in collision with a schooner, and was capsized. The men on board got to land, but in the cabin were a woman and child; the boat had been turned completely ovei, and the water did not enter the cabin. For half-an-hour the woman's screams were heard. The men hastened to cut a hole in the bottom of the boat, but their well meant zeal was fatal; no sooner was a hole made than the air escaped from the cabin, and the water rushing in from below to supply its place, both mother and child perished. Singular Accident.—As an omnibus was passing along the place de la Basti.lle, volumes of smoke suddenly issued from it, and the passengers were observed to descend in terrible confusion. In the interior was a man who was rolling about in horrible suffering. This man, it appeared, had imprudently placed a bottle of nitric acid in his coat pocket, a jolt of the vehicle caused the bottle to break. In a moment his clothes were reduced to cinders, and his flesh was horribly burned. A lady seated next to him had her silk gown entirely destroyed, and was, besides, slightly injured. One person had a bundle of chemical matches, which caught fire. The flames extended to the vehicle and did considerable damage to it. The man who had the nitric acid was conveyed to the hospital Saint Antoiue in a deplorable state, his flesh falling from him. Lord Bacon beautifully says, " If a man be gracious to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut from other lands, but a continent that joins them."

Maori account of the Moon. —It is said by .tradition that the moon is a stolen firebrand from the other world, aud was stolen as follows :—Two females of an extraordinary inquisitive turn of mind, having also a good proportion of manly daring, wished to look into the world of spirits. The New Zealanders' abode of the dead Is situated on the Northern Island of New Zealand, about 14 miles north of Cape Maria Van Diemen. As seen from the sea, the land in the vicinity of the " Reinga" is thickly covered with forest trees; beneath an abrupt headland which runs out considerably beyond the rest of the coast, is situated the entrance of the Reinga. It is: said. that on this point, in former days, grew a pohutukawa tree, the roof of which g>evr over the steep, down which the spirits gently slid—not daring as timid seldom do, " to take a leap in the dark :" the natives say that rude travellers have, in wishing to procure a piece of this tree, and not able to get near it, so far cut the root by firing at it, as to cause it to decay and fall to the greund^at the same time observing, " what matters now, since Europeans have come, our spirits must-go another way." The two females after holding a long cousuftation as to bow they should proceed in the next world, and how they should get back, descended the long, dark, steep cave, and after going a considerable distance they saw a light, and on coining near it, they could see it was a fire composed of three pieces of wood, and three old grey-headed men sitting wanning themselves. The women thinking the fire of a more holy nature than fires on earth, (the Maories hold certain .fives sacred) wished to procure one of the fire brands; they watched an opportunity, and when the old "unearthly feli.,ws were looking aside, one of the females snatched one of the pieces of fire and ran back towards this world as fast as she could. The intrusion so astonished the old fellows, that their spimships sat aghast for, it may be supposed, some time, by which the females' got some distance back, but, as all know that spirits can outstrip thotie who have body and spirit combined, one of them overtook the thief as she was at the entrance or the Reinga, and not wishing to appear in daylight (as no modest spirits do), he had no. alternative- but to seize her by the heel; s& not wishing to lose her prize, after getting it so far, with a power worthy a giant threw the fire-brand as far as she could out of the mouth of the cave, and after some time being spent in, releasing herself out of the power of the'l>rd fellow, what was her astonishment, in getting into this world, to find she had thrown the fire with so much force that n had stuck m the sky, aud so remains to the present day. ..—- - "

Improvement in Spy Glasses.—The London papers,'in ..speaking, of- works of art in the Great Exhibition, mention a newly-invented, very small, powerful, waistcoat pocket glass, the size of a. walnut, by which a person can be seen and known one and a half mile distant; they answer every purpose on the race-course, at the opera houses, country scenery, and ships are clearly seen at twelve and fourteen miles. The same instrument, three and a half inches long, with an extra eye-piece, will show distinctly Jupiter's moons, Saturn's ring, and the double stars; with the same telescope, weighing only three ounces, can be seen a person's countenance three and a half miles distant, and an object from sixteen to twenty miles. They supersede every other kind, and are of small and large sizes, with increasing powers accordingly. "