NOTES AND NEWS. BRITISH AND FOREIGN. I

North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8141, 28 November 1894, Page 4

NOTES AND NEWS. BRITISH AND FOREIGN. I

' Woman ia always the sternest orlbio of bor sex, and bho New Woman, herself tho severest orlbio of tho malo leoelveo no meroy at tbo pens of tho oorapebitoro for bho prize for tbo beet epigrammatic definition of her offered by tho Gentlewoman. Tho prize was •warded to tbo following : " A fresh dun In tho original blue atooklng,' bat at> least as good la " Sox o! one and half-a-dozen of the other." Perhaps tho moot slashing dofinltlon sent ia Vftfl, " One wuo baa ceaeed to be ft lady, and has not yeb abbained to be ft gentleman." According to the Daily Telegraph, a ooiuio Inoidonfc happened on a rooent night at the performance of Fanfan la Tulipe at Monb. Paroaaso, A borne, in which one of tho actors was raounbod, took fright at the clash of muolo, which had no power to soothe bho savage breasb, and threw his rider into (he prompter^ box. Tho animal then felt through a trapdoor and disappeared Inbo tbo regions bonoith the abago. This horse (aaya bho Globo) must have been « " Obealnub " which had been reading about Quintan Ourtlue. Tho vagaries of a oompoelbor are never tnoro convenient than when they affoot theological mabbor. Tho latest evidence of this comes from a statement in tho Record — a sober journal wbiob, of ooutso, could <( never exaggerabe, etc." The ed tor of a raagsano published In London, it tootns, eon i bo his printers the other d»y bhe "oapy" ot a sermon, Tho hand«wr b ing of the author is eucoino ly deeoril-od by tho edibor in qaeebloo bb " horrible." Bat that hardly ooomo enffioionb excuse for the fact that an eloquent passage ending with tho wordf?, " No orcss, no orown 1" appeared in proof wibh bho moving exclamation, " No oowo, no cream 1" A correspondent in Batbersoa who has rnfttfo a collcoblon of (he gems of oratory need by some of bae vestrymen in bio neighborhood writes : " Moßb parioboi cm boast of supplying some fine gpeolmouß ot ' English as ehe is epoke' by vestrymen, bub in this reopeot B*ttorßea oan ( take tho oako.' In a recent ditoasßlon on sanitary matters a vestryman talked about ' tubular dieeaeoa ' and * tripod fovor,' and be wanted a ororaatorla ' in every parish, Another member would nob oooopb a abatement upon the ' hipsob dixber ' of the chairman. At this same vesbry a member declared the ohairman ought to bo like r Pobiphar'a wife, above bubpiotan.' When ib w»s proposed bo give a deserving official *an honorarium ' a xnoonbor wonbod to know whothor it would not be an inducement to the c/Hoial bt wasbe bid blroe. ilfi If he abfconda to his duby he won't have much time to play tho honarium.' " A novel shaving record has been established by a Hingurian barber. He made a bob of 100 florins that be would, on a railway journey of 290i1d. from P>Htyan bo Neuutadt, shave 15 men w'tbout caMvng bbom, The be* was morn than won, for he actually shaved throe more than the stipulated number. A dootor In tho Midlands reoently performed successful surgloal operations for snoring. Stroking a Bleeper'a face with the Gngors will, it Is said, fltop anoring. la West Afrioa, before a girl is married, ehe is plaoed in ohargo of an old woman who oures her of flooring by closing her raoabb. To Oiooinmttti (Jniversiby young ladies are taught to " sloop elegantly." General Sir William Olpherts, V.0., enjoys bSesnlbrloob Dobriquot, probably, In tho British Army, where a man wibhout a fond namo m virtually a man nnknown, Tbo General (aayß tho Pall Mall Gazette) acquired hta (< something " in this way, It was in the Luokoow buofnes?. A gun bad threatened lo burst if it were oorved with another shell like the last, Another shell was necessary, however, but the norvors hesitated. Whoroab, Captain Olpherto sat) himself h callfourohot upon tbat quo. " Arrah, ye divils! Will yo firo nowl" he inqilroJ. The " divile " did. Tho gun thought bettor of it, When He rider dismount d bo was " Holl-firo Dick," Every little while some oil Idol of other days is shattered, and oach year the writer of bcoks for boys dads hio fttock oharacbars dropping otf. To day ano her \om to boyish funcy and fiction raust bo recorded, and it is a heavy one. The United ytatee War (Moo havo decided bo abolish bho entiro oorpo of Indian flooato. This body now nnmbers 150 men, and thoir pay exhaufb< over LlO,OOO of tho Army approprmbioo, bosides keeping down the forco cf regaiar soldiers by 150 wen—'or bho army U limited. As the present force of Indian eoouta is equal bo about five timos tbo number of hostile Indians, bbc deparbment have come to bho conclusion that the Anaor'oxn A-ray is nob In as muoh need of scoot ias is Earl's Courf. But who c»q think with calm of a boy's Jitorn'mo bereft of tho cmnisoiont <• Indian ooout 1" What ia a " patent soliciboc V aske the Weflbmineber. In it anybhing like a ''Ponaog lawyer?" Tho latter is, wo bel ovp, tho name given to a certain p'cullatly tough and lissom Bpeoimon of walking-stick. Is the former an English variant of this, or a volume In he style of " Every Men His Own Lawyer," or an automatic m chine who gives a six-and-eighb-penny opinion on tbo insertion of a ponny in the slot 1 According to an nopinnt bo bhe (Me who was brought before the Lord Mayor reoenbly by the Incorporation L\w Society, tho "com* pound word "in que«b r on means none of bhese things but simply a person who performs no'icitor'fl work In connection with btmnoos pertaining to patents But the Lord Mayor concurred with tbe Society that a man who bfifj not the righb to call himeel a solicitor does not aoqulre it by the eimplo fxpedlont of putting "patent" before tho name, The point ie not yet definitely eotbted. It is obvious that everybody does nob take tho Him© cotnbto view of the man of law's title m Dr Johnson, who onoe observed, as somebody left bbc room, [[I do nob mih to my evil of odvodo

behind his book, butt I believe that) is an attorney." A young lady had an oxporienoo the other evening. She was upstairs, and had juab turned out her light when she hoard a caller ask for hot. She mado a dive for her powder puff in the dark and dusted her faoo with powder. She wont to tho parlor and found a distinguished stranger, on whom she was anxioas to mako an impression. Ho appeared rather nonplussed ot hor looks, but boing a man of tho world--' which moans a man wise enough not to toll a woman her faulto — he said nothing. She sat and chatted grace* fully, and had a delightful evening. As soon as ho had gono oho rushed to tbo mirror, aa every girl does when hor beau leaves. She gave one scream and wont off into hysterics, for in her hasto and in the dark ehe bad dipped her powder puff into a box of pulverised charcoal, and sho had the raako-up of an amateur oolorod mm« strol. The contrast to her dainty gown and blondo hair was very funny. Tho Queen of Greece is a remarkably charitable woman, and is not content with tbo sort of philanthropy oo many people indulge in who ligure as patrons of institutions of which they know little moro than the namo, Sho is tho president of a sisterhood which ie devoted to the reformation of criminals, and sho is vory often to be found visiting tho prisonore. Like many other authors, Mr Conan Doyle converts his shiHeuffs into a note-book, on which hejota down ideas which strike him when paper is not handy. One of Sherlock Holmes' most enthralling advontures was noarly lost through this habit, the tolograph having to be brought into requisition to prevont tho laundross oxpuDging from a cuff an idea that had not been trans, forred to paper. Tbo subject of a brightly written little brochure by Sir Edward Sullivan, has recently employed even more pens tban usual, and a study of " Woman" from co vivacious a writer will certainly find many to read it. Sir Edward Sullivan illustrates his opinion by an 'tmußing reference to planetary astronomy. " Tho earth and Venus aro vory noarly equal in sizo ; so oro man and woman. The timo of tho rotation of tho earth and Venus ap« peara very much the oamo, but it in not ; the oarth rotates once in overy 24 hours, Venus rotates in half an hour loss ; and it is just a little half* hour that makes tho whole difference between man and woman 1 in ovorysho does woman io just a little quicker than man." Apropos of the uttev indifference that many poors have to appoarancos, an instance may be given. Tho Duke of Noifolk wai once met quietly wonding his way along Pall Mai), carrying a huge brown paper parcel undor his irra, An acquaintance was vastly amused to meet the Duko thus burdonod, but his grace catmally remarked that he wos bound for a drawing-room at Buckingham Palace, and was taking hie uniform along with him in tho parcel.