OLLA PODRIDA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 771, 10 December 1886, Page 5

OLLA PODRIDA.

' COST OF MAN. , Something of the cost of a man. is thus estimated by. the Pittsburg Times : ‘I met one of, our old citizens on the street the other day, who was in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He said : 'Do you know that it costs between 6,000 dols. and 7,000 dols. to raise a man of my age ?’ I answered no. He continued ; ‘ Well, sir, in the past seventy-five years I have partaken of 82,125 meals, consumed 61.595 pounds ot solid fopd, drank 51,000 cups of , tea and 18;250 cups of coffee. I have not lived extravagantly and my. meals halye cost me on ah average 8 cents each. Therefore, the 82,125 meals have cost me 6,580’ dols.’ Where is ’ there an octogenarian who can figure closer than this ....... JAIOIICATEA v We. have evidence that Jamaica can produce tea of a very superior character, and no doubt Camellia thea ctould be grown in many other parts of the West' Indies with .profit and success. The Director of the Jamaica Public Gardens points o»6 ia hfe, report flar 1885 that the small plantation of tea established at the Government cinehona; plantation is in a thriving' state as regardstHe growth of the plants, many of which are from 9 feet to 13- feet high. . Sortie, little' time ago, it may 'be- remembered, samples' of tea produced at this plantation were sent: home, and were most favorably reported upon by' two well-known firms of London brokers.. Messrs. George White & Co. valued the samples at Is. 6d. to Is. Bd. per lb. in bond, and remarked that'the tea was * of .good flavor, and combined to a great extent the peculiar characteristics of a fine China black leaf and Ceylon Pekoe Souchong.’ Messrs. Park, Macfayden & Co. described the liquor as ‘full, strong, and .rich in flavor,’ and had no hesitation in saying that the tea would find a ready market in London. With such testimonials as these, the planters of Jamaica, who are finding coffee and sugar unprofitable, might do worse than follow in the footsteps of the planters of Guatemala.—Colonies and India. ‘THE PROTEAN MAN.’ Some wonder is being excited in the provinces of France by the exhibition of an individual who dubs himself ‘ L’HommeProt6e. ’ The number of shapes and attitudes that the man is able to assume is said to be so great .that the title of ‘Protean ’ may well be allowed if the individual manifests only half the powers attributed to him. Now whatever he cun do, it is pbvioqs that his facnlttefl are the same k» kind as those possessed by the rest of mankind, though the degree in which the faculties are developed may vary vastly; so that we «annot agree with the writer who asserts that the contortionist transforms himself, thanks to his peculiar system of muscles. Doubtless his frame is wonderfully mobile, and every part of his nerve and muscle aparatus has been trained $0 the utmost. It is possible also, that M. Aiguier is gifted with the power of influencing the action of muscles over which man usually exercises no voluntary control, though with practice many may acquire the capacity if they set themselves about the task in the proper fashion. The Protean man, it is said, can assume the rigidity of a statue,, so that, the body sharply struck, the blows fall as on a block of stone. This probably means that the man has the capacity to develop at will the cataleptic condition. But varying the activity of different muscles of the abdomen he is alleged to be able to give his trunk a great variety of shapes and sizes, from that of the proverbial alderman to that of the lean and haggard student. He is even accredited with the possession of the power to appear -as lean as a skeleton; but this, must surely require an effort of the imagination, as well as a still greater effort on the part of the muscular and vascular apparatus of the contortionist. What most astonished M. de Quatrefages, who examined him, was the ability to stop the flow of blood, now on the left, now on the right side of the body .; this was ascribed to the influence of unilateral muscular contraction. —Lancet.

STRANGE PHENOMENA WITNESSED AT ROCHESTER, N. Y.

New York, Sept. 28.—A Rochester dispatch to the World says that five weeks ago Arney Westvier, the 12-year-old son of a respectable paperhanger, was _ seized apparently with a form of St, dance, and for fully fifteen minutes was unable to control the muscles of his lower limbs. The fit passed off and no other symptoms appeared until he retired in the evening. After getting , into bed he was seized again with a shock which apparently affected all the muscles in his body. ,Th® hoy cried for help and his parents entered the room. As they did so they were astonished to see the chairs and other furniture moving up and down seemingly in unison with the movements of his muscles. The chairs would rise six or. eight inches, while the bed and bureau would - shake perceptibly. Finally

the shock passed away and the motions ceased, only to be followed, as the family state,.by noise or rappingc. which seemed to come from the. walls and ceilings of the room. The rapping also soon died away.-. , Since that Arney has had fits or shocks at intervals of two or three days. They are novv increasing in frequency, and hardly a day passes without one, though they do not increase in violence. In each instance the shocks are accompanied by the moving of articles in the vicinity of the boy. Visitors to the house have almost daily witnessed strange phenomena. Among those who have called are Rev. Peter de Beauyn, pastor of the church which they, the Westviers, attend, and Rev. Meievama of the German church. The physicians are all puzzled by the symptomsr They say he is not troubled with St. Vitus’ dance or epilepsy. Drs. Kemp and Schuchart are inclined to believe he has heart disease, but Dr. Stihvell says that his heart is in a normal condition. The victim of this strange malady is perfectly conscious when under its influence, and can converse. He is, however, entirely powerless to control himself, and cannot move a muscle until the trouble passes off. Occasionally articles in another room from that in which he is are affected, bub only when the spells are very violent. The articles nearest him move more than others.

EATING SCIENTIFICALLY CON- - SIDERED. ”• • .

A temperature above that of the body retards digestion. Meat, which is digested by the gastric juice of the stomach, has time to cocl before it gets there ; but farinaceous food, which depends upon its conversion into chyme on the salivary glands, suffers a serious loss if, by reason of being too hot, it cannot avail itself of the saliva supplied by the mouth. It:should also be borne in mind that;a.temperature .much above that of the body cracks the enamel of the teeth. Excessive concentration impairs digestibility. The removal of water is an injury to viands, and drying, salting, overfrying, overroasting, and even overboiling, renders them ‘less soluble in the digestive juices, and so less nutritious. The attainment of nutritiousness by concentration is of considerable importance to travellers and in military medicine. There are nob a few strategists who attribute the success of the Germans in the War of 1870 to the easily carried and easily prepared food supplied to them by the sausage makers of Berlin. The saHsage thus supplied by the sausage makers of Berlin was invented in Prussia in -the year 1870, during ,the war with France, and .for which. the Prussian Government paid the inventor the sum of 37,000 dols. It was at first manufactured exclusively for the army, but it is not unlikely that it may become in common use and enter into general commerce. This dish is not so much a sausage as a complete meal prepared from peas filled into a bladder and dried and made to keep. The secret consisted in the addition of salts which prevented the sausage from turning sour. The advantage accruing from such prepared meat for the maintainance of the soldiers in camp and during war ip apparent. The large herds of animals need not be ' driven with the advancing army, and are not exposed- to malarial diseases; and the many thousands bf tons of bones and hides remain at home and in the neighborhoods of the markets. The sausage factory in Berlin during the war employed no less than 1,200 persons, of whom twenty cooks, on forty boilers, prepared the meat, which was filled by 150 men into bladders, with the aid of a socalled sausage syringe. Every day were required 22,500 pounds of 'bacon, 45,000 pounds of peameal, 28 bushels of onions, 4,000 pounds of'salt; 75,000 sausages were daily packed in 600 boxes, eaoh box holding 100 to 150 sausages. The soldier had only to put it into boiling water, and his meal was ready. EDUCATE THE MIND AS WELL AS THE HAND. Every man who is engaged in a kind of mechanical labor should cultivate studious and observant habits. There is scarcely any description of knowledge but which he will at some time have use for, especially if he ever hopes to rise above the position of ordinary mechanical labor. No man can ever hope to attain distinction as a mechanic unless he educates his mind as well as his hands. One of the most important acquirements of a mechanic is that he should be able to readily and lucidly convey ideas to another. Many men, says a contemporary, otherwise competent; to direct others, have failed from lack of this faculty, or have refused good positions because they knew their weakness in this respect. Perhaps as many foremen fail from this cause as from any other. Undoubtedly this faculty is one to be acquired; it is not one, if there are such, that is born with a man. Every man who works at a mechanical business should labor in the direction of acquiring the habit of concisely expressing his ideas, making this a part of his mechanical education. Talking of such subjects -will help a man $ writing of them is excellent practice, _ A. good mechanical eye is also a most essential requisite in a good mechanic. No one can ever attain distinction as a mechanic unless he is able to detect ordinary imperfections at sight, so that he can see if things are out of plumb, out of level, out of square, and oat of proper shape, and unless he can also detect disproportioned or ill-shaped patterns. This is a great mechanical att eminent, and one which can be readily attained by any ordinary person. Of course th re are defective.eyes as there are other defeccive organs; the speech, for instance, is times defective, but the eye is susceptible of the same training as any other orgar. The muscles, the voice, the sense of hem'ng, all require training. Consider how the artist must train the organ of sight in order to detect the slightest imperfection in shade, color, proportion, shape, expression, etc. Not one blacksmith in five ever attains the art of hammering square, yet it is very essential in his occupation. It is simply because he allows himself to get into a careless habit; a little training and care is all that is necessary for success. The fact is, says the writer, that the eye is not half as much at fault as the heedless mind. Some carpenters acquire the careless habit of using a try-square every time they plane off a shaving, in place ol giving their .minds right

to their business and properly training their eyes, and unless they cultivate this power of the eye they will always be at’journey work.' X/ook at the well-trained blacksmith ; he goes across the shop, picks up the horse’s foot, takes a squint, returns r to his anvil, forges the shoe, and it exactly'fits the ! foot. Contrast him with the bungler who looks at the foot, then forges a shoe, then fits the foot to it, often to the'ruin of a’fine'horse. Now, the fault lies in ever allowing' himself to put a shoe on that is not in proper shape for the foot; he should determine to make the shoe fit the foot in place of the foot'fiting the shoe, and he should'follow it up until the object is accomplished. A very good way to discipline the ’ mechanical eye is to first measure an inch with the "eye, then prove it with the rule, then measure a half inch, then an eighth, and so on, and you will soon be able to discover at a glance the -difference between a twelfth and a sixteenth of an inch ; then go to three inches,'^,'l2, and so on. Some call'this guessing; there is no guess work about ; it- 'lt is measuring with the eye and mind. Acquire the habit of criticising for Imperfections every piece df work that you see ; do everything as nearly as you can without measuring '(or spoiling it), or as nearly as youcan trust the eye with its present, training.: Tf you.j cannot see things mechanically, do not blame the 'eye for it; it is no more ’to’blame than the month is because we cannot read, or the fingers because we cannot write. A person may write a very good hand with the eyes closed, the mind, of course, directing 'the fingers. The eye is necessary, however, *0 ■detect imperfections. ‘Every occupation in life requires a mechanically trained-eye, and we should realise, more'than we do, ffee great importance of properly training that organ.—Mining and Scientific Press. TELEGRAPH REVENUE. The receipts on the Postal Telegraph "Service of the United Kingdom from April 1 to August 28, 1886, amounted to £74S;@6O, against £760,000 received*from Augusta.to August 29,1885. PROGRESS OP INDIAN RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. As it is of all things important that there should be speedy eommunicataoa between Calcutta and the frontier, it is satisfactory to .note that the new frontier railways Are progressing steadily. The ‘Sdmde-'PiShin line is finished to a line beyond €sharing*h. The Scinde-Sagar line is being laid ;at the rate of a mile daily. One hundred and fifty miles are completed, and the, rails 'have reached a point nearly opposite Bora Ismail Khan. It is expected that the whole frontier system willbe, finished by April, 1887.—Colonies and Inda. ~ \ ' " .; ‘ , V RAILWAY RETURNS. 'Seven months and a half after the cl tee of the year, the Board of Trade have contrived to publish the * Railway Returns' 1 of 1885. The length of railway open in the ! United Kingdom at that date has increased in the year by 305 miles, or from 18,864, to 19,169. The capital paid up has increased by £14,393,688, or from £801,464,367 to £815,858,055. The gross revenue has fallen from £70,522,643 to £89,555,-774, or by £966,869. The working expenses have fallen from £37,217,197 to £36;787,«57, ®r by £429(240. \ They bear almost exactly the same relation to the revenue as they did m 1684, or 52'77 per cent i«a place of 52 "SS. And the final outcome of the met-earnings on capital has fallen 4‘16 percent in 1884, to 4'02 per cent in 1885, being a lower proportion than has been found to exist in any year since!lß66, which was the same, with the-exception of 1867, whieh was:-3*91 per -cent. The highest ratio recorded in the Board of Trade tables was 4:74 per cent in 1872. There were conveyed 2,221,000 pas-sengers-more. ; .2, "201/100 tons of (merchandise less ; and 461,000 tons of minerals more in 1885 than in 1884, but as is given of the average distance in either case, little useful information can be elicited-from the statement- Tit appears,:-however, that (upwards of" 2,000,000 more train miles were arun in *IBBS than in 1884, so that in railway transport, as -in so many other i industries, more work appears to have been done for an -equal cost as oompared with the preceding year. The increase in mineral - tonnage has been accompanied by a decrease-, .of -over a .quarter of a million sterlingrm. receipts,, but here again the absence of information -as to length of hasd "leaves the calculation imperfect. —Builder.

Alfred "Krupp owns probably -the largest imsinese establishment in the EWorld. The works within tke town of Essen.cover more than SOO acres. He employs nearly 20,000 men, who, with their ‘families, make -nearly -persons supported by the (factory. Krupp owns 547 iron mine 3 in- Germany and •d: ocean steamers. Over the works T-un 42 males -of railway, working 28 engines and ;883 tewoks. There are <69 horses with 4591 waggons. There are also 40 miles of telegraph ■wires, with 'BS stations and 55 Morse apgars&as. ' j . '’ ''