OLLA PODRIDA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 879, 4 January 1889, Page 5

OLLA PODRIDA.

CULINARY MAXIMS. No economy without efficiency. All sweets are nob wholesome. Eat well ia Drink well’s brother. Long fasting gains no meat. The best fish is the one that’s' caught. 11l beef never made a good oroth. Hunger will break through stone walls. Pride iB as loud a begger as want and a great deal more saucy. The stomaoh hates long sermons. There is reason in the roasting of eggs. All meat is bad to a full stomach. VVho dainties love shall beggars prove. When good cheer is lacking, our friends will be packing. The bones are quiet when the stomach is full.—Table Talk. SHIPBUILDING ACTIVITY. From Lloyd’s return for the quarter ending September 30, 1888, just issued, it appears that a remarkable increase has taken place in the amount of work in progress at the shipbuilding yards in the United Kingdom. The number of vessels iu course of construction is'recorded as 400, against 249 in the corresponding quarter of laßt year * the gross tonnages being 698,995 and 394,340 respectively. Of late the advanoo has been rapid* and it continues so; for, as compared with the quarter ending June of this year, there is an addition of 90,877 tons building, and at the end of September there were 167 vessels aggregating 351,281 tons for the construction of which preparations were being made, against 82 of 179,581 tons three months previously. Of the 400 vessels building, 260, with a gross tonnage of 483,022, are for the United Kingdom ; 6, with a total burthen of 6,470 tons, for the colonies ; and 13 (tonnage 36,916) for Germany. Steel plays a more and more prominent part in iharine architecture. The number of steamships being built of thi3 material has grown from 143 in the third quarter of 1887 to 279 in that of 1888, while the iron vessels have risen from 41 to only 49. As for sailipg ships,’ the out ire increase is in steel—from 10 to 27 ; iron' craft snowing no change, and wood and composite ships a'decline from 43 to 36. A THIRD SCREW. The Italians have made use of a new principle for the propulsion of some of theii’ fast gunboats,and torpedo cafcohers under construction. They have improved on'the twin screws of modern steamships by the addition of a third 1 screw moved 'by a separate shaft and set of engines. The three screws are plaeed in the angles Of a triangular pyramid. There is qne qq each sjae of ? tpe rudder, as usual,' and the third is unjepneath, on a level with the keel plate. It was claimed that the third screw increased the vessels epeed by fully a third, on account of the great gain in power from the deep im» mersion. GLASS CLOTH. Mr Dubus Bennefc, of Lille, France, has invented a process of spinning and weaving glass into doth. The warp is composed of silk, forming the body and groundwork, og

V-. g —— — . . ~ which the pattern in glaa9 appears, [as effected by the weft; The requisite flexibility of glass thread for manufacturing purposes is to bo ascribed to its extreme fineness, as not less than from 50 to 60 of the original strands are required to form one thread of the weft. The process is slow for no more than a yard of cloth oan be produced in 12 hours; The work, however* is extremely beautiful, and comparatively cheap. A French paper, commenting on the discovery, says ‘ When we figure to ourselves an apartment decorated with cloth of glass and resplandant with light, we must be convinced that it will equal in brilliancy all that the imagination oan conceive and realise ; in a word, the wonders of the enchanted palaces mentioned in the Arabian tales.’ THE KING OP SERVIA DETAINED FOR DEBT. A correspondent at 'Venice writes :—lt ia said that King Milan is at present detained at the baths of Gleichenberg for debt. For years he has been in fiuancial difficulties ; but in spite of that he has been travelling constantly this autumn, and incurring large responsibilities. The Belgrade papers say that bills were sent in lately from Talbach, .filibazia, and Gleichenberg, and gave an amusing account of the consternation of the Ministry, and especially of that of Rakitcb, tie Minister of Finance, for not only is the treasury empty, but the King’s credit is exhausted. Rakitch set off for Gleiohenberg, and tendered his own and his colleagues’ resignation. These were not accepted, but Mijatovitch was called in to arrange matters, if possible. An article in a Belgrade paper concludes : 4 When we hear that our King ha 3 left Gleichenberg for Vienna, then will we also be sure that Mijatovich’a mission has been successful, and that something has been done to meet the expense of His Majesty’s long wanderings beyond'the frontier of his happy State.’ The Belgrade papers also confirm the story which has been current for years—namely, that the magnificent sword of the founder of the dynasty is actually now, aad has been for long, in the office of the * Monte de Pieta’ (the Government pawn office) at Vienna. King Milan, when on a visit to the Emperor Francis Joseph, incurred enormous debts by gambling at * Circolo dei Nobili.’ It is said that- he lost 600,000 francs in one night. The Emperor Joseph came to his help on his giving his word of honour to play no more, but he foolishly oontiuued playing until he had no alternative but to dispose of this ancestral sword, It is covered with diamonds and precious stones, and was first given to Prince Milosoh by the Emperor Nicholas, and oame down to King Milan’s father, from whom he inherited it. The interest on the sum lent upon it is said tq be aipnp a burdensome debt, and there is jjo hope present of this sword being Redeemed. A RUINED CITY IN TEXASThe surveys at present being made for the Kansas City, El Paso and Mexioan Railroad, at a point north latitude 33 degrees and west longitude 106 degrees, have passed along tho lava flow which by the local population is called tho Molpaio. It consists of a sea of molten black glass, agitated at the moment of oooling in ragged waves of fantastic shapes. These lava waves and ridges are from ten to twelve feet high, with combing crests, This lava flow is about 40 miles long from north-east to south-west, and from one to ten miles wide. For miles on all Bides the country is the most desolate that oan be imagined. It has been literally burnt up. It consists of flue white ashes to any depth which, so far, has been dug down; To the north of the lava flow, and lyihg in a country equally desolatb aad arid, the surveyors have come upon the ruins of Gran Guivera, known already to the early Spanish explorers, but whioh have been visited by White men less often even than the mysterious ruins of PalGnq e, in Central America. Only a few people at Socorro and White Gaks have been at'Gran Guivera, because it is at present forty miles from water. ’ Tho surveyors found the ruins to be of gigantic Bfone buildings'made in'the most substantial manner and of grand proportions. One of these was four acres in extent. AU indications around the ruins point to the existence here at one time of a dense population. No legend ot any kind exists as to how this great city was destroyed, or when it was abandoned. One of the engineers attached to the surveying expedition advances the theory that Gran Guivdra was in existence and abundantly supplied with water at tl}o time the terrific volcanic eruption took plage. American, EFFECT OF EARTHQUAKES ON ANIMALS. In the last issue of the Transactions of the Seismological Society of Japan, Professor Milne discusses the effects of earthquakes on animals. The records of most great earthquakes refer to the consternation of dogs, horses, cattle, and other domestic aDirnals. Fish also are frequently effected. In the London earthquake of 1749, roaoh and other fish in a canal showed evident signs of confusion and fright; and sometimes after an earthquake fish rise to the surface dead and dying. During the Tokio earthquake of 1880, cats inside a house ran about trying to escape, foxes barked, and horses tried te kick jiriwn the boards confining them' to their

stables. There can, therefore, be no doubt that animals know something unusual and terrifying is taking plaoe. More interesting than these are the observations showing that animals are agitated just before ail fearthqualte. Ponies have been known to prance about * their stalls, pheasants to scream, and frogs to cease croaking suddenly a little time before a shock, as if aware of its coming. The Japanese say that moles show their agitation by burrowing. Geese, pigs, and dogs appear more sensitive in this respect than other animals. After the great Calabrian earthquake it is said that the neighiDg of a horse, the braying of an ass, or the cackle of a goose was sufficient to cause the inhabitants to fly from their houses in expectation of a shock. Many birds are said to show their uneasiness before an earthquake by hiding their heads under their wings and behaving in an unusual manner. Atthe time of the Calabrian shock little fish like sandeels (Cirric9lli), whioh are usually buried in the sand, oame to the top and were caught in multitudes. In South Amerioa certain quadrupeds, such as dogs, cats, and jerboas, are believed by the people to give warning of coming danger by their restlessness ; sometimes immense flocks of sea-birds fly inland before an earthquake, as if alarmed by .the commencement of some sub-ooeanlo disturbance. Before the shock of 1835 in Chili all the dogs are said to have escaped from the city of Talcahuano, The explanation offered by Professor Milne of this apparent prescience is that some animals are sensitive to the small tremors which precede nearly all earthquakes. He has himself felt them some seconds before the actual earthquake came. The alarm of intelligent animals would then be the result of their own experience, which has taught them that small tremors are premonitory of movements more alarming. Signs of an alarm days before au earthquake are probably accidental ; but sometimes in volcanic districts gases have emanated from the ground prior to earthquakes, and have poisoned animals. In one case large numbers of fish were killed in this way in tho Tiber, and at Follonica, on the morning of April 6, 1874, ‘ the streets and roads were covered with dead rats and mice. In fact, it seemed a 3 if it had rained rats. The only explanation of the phenomenon was that these animals had been destroyed by emanations of carbon dioxide.’ —Nature. A WONDERFUL RIFLE. According to all accounts the new * Lebel rifle’ is a wondrous weapon, and is destined to do wonderful things in the hands of French soldiers. The members of the Academy of Medicine, wishing to diagnose the physical consequences of wounds inflioted by the bullets of the gun, recently had experiments made on twenty corpses, probably those of paupers whom nobody owned, or those of ill-fated Waifs picked up at the Morgue. The bodies were placed at the original firing distances—from 200 yards up to a mile or so. The bullets whizzed through the bones and pierced them without fracturing them, as is dime by the bullets of the ‘ Gras rifle.’ The wounds, if they may be called so, which were inflicted Were small in their punctures, arid consequently very darigerbus arid difficult to heal. Injuries Inflicted at short distances were so considerable that, in the qpinion of j;he surgeons they would liß almost jncursb!e. " A$ the' l longest range—2ooo meters —s, poplar tree was hit, but the bullet did not go through the tree. At 1200 meters the tree was pierced through. The discharges of the rifle are unaccompanied by smoke, and the reports are comparatively feeble. NEW COMPOUND FOR HARDENING WALLSA patent has been granted for a waterproof compound adapted to be applied to the floors and walls of buildings to prevent the access of water and dampness, which will also withstand extreme and varying temperatures of air, and which will be practically indestructible. The composition consists of the following ingredients, combined in substantially the proportions stated, viz.: New Zealand (or Portland) cement, 100 pounds ; cream of tartar, 3 ounces ; pulverized ivory, 1 ounce ; quicksilver, 1 ounce ; Isinglass, 4 ounces ; marble dust, 5 pound ; sand, 200 pounds ; rain water, 1 pail. In compounding the ingredients a small quantity of cement, for instance, one pound, is mixed' with the oream of tartar, quicksilver and isinglass and water enough to make a very thin paste, and the composition is let stand for twenty-four hours. If the weather be cold the composition should stand in a warm place. The remainder of the cement, the pulverized ivory, marble dust and sand are mixed dry, and the • standing compound is thereupon added, together with enough rain-water, about half a pail, to produce a plastic mass, capable of being laid with a trowel or similar implement. . After the compound is laid upon a suitable foundation, such as'Wood, earth, brick’ or metal, it becomes very hard, equal to steiel; and capable of a very high polish. STONE PILING~FOR WHARVES. There has been invented a stone-pilmg for wharves, trestles, bulkheads, etc.,' that is designed to be proof against the attabks of the tered6 ; Uavalis, 1 so destructive to wood piling. The Mobile Register thus describes the inyentipn C. Delafielcj. has invented a stone pile which is a curiosity. Ho states that his attention was called a long time ago tq the short life of piling when exposed tq the attacks of the teredo navalis, or shipworm. He reached the conclusion that a pile can be made of stone, thus forming a pier base whioh would be absolutely indestructible. The first part of the pile he has inventod is an ordinary pipe, with a nut and a large washer on the lower end. Upon this pipe he strings, like beads, a number of cubes of stone, each cube so made as to fit npon the one below, and thus prevent lateral motion. The cubes are also oemented to gether, so that when the pipe is strung with cubes it has the appearance of a stone pillar with a hollow pipe in the centre. This stone pipe is then sunk into the water in the same manner as wooden piles are usually placed. A jet of water is projected at the base if the pile, the sand or mud is washed out at that point and the pile sinks by its own' weight. In the case of the stone-pile the water-jet

can be pumped down the interior pipe. Instead of stone briok can be used. The piles can be used for bulkheads aud piers, as well as for bents ar trestles in railroad use.

PARNELLISM AND CRIME; Tho position in whioh Mr Gladstone’s lawyers find themselves must be peculiarly painful. They are selected to defend Mr Parnell before the Special Commission, and they must do it whether they like or not. And, worse still, they must go so far as to justify boycotting of a kind and some Plan of Campaign. To this Sir Charles Russell was driven at Lowestoft, and the way in which he did it iB a curiosity. Here it is : * As to the Plan of Campaign, he wished to guard against any particular view the interrogator might have, but he had no hesitation in saying that combination by tenants to enforce by threats of injury to life, limb, or property was in the highest degree condemnable. At the same time there were a great many things done in Ireland that were held up by the popular prints as instances of the Plan of Campaign which were perfectly justifiable and by no means reprehensible. If tenants really believed that 25 per cent were really due to them, it was perfectly proper for these tenants to act in concert, though one or more of them might have the money (acquired by other means than the land) wherewith to pay the rent they were withholding ; it would be right so long as no threats to life, limb, or property were imported into the contention.’ This is amazing. A number of debtors who by law are legally liable to pay their creditors may combine to render it impossible for tho creditors to recover their debts, if they, the debtors, believe the law to bo unjust! And what is the meaning of the limitation that there may be combination against individuals so long as they do not employ threats to life or property ? Are not a man’s rents due by law property ? And is not boycotting, directed to make life intolerable, an attack upon life? We would advise political lawyers to avoid all attempts to justify any Plan of Campaign which the Irish agitators have produced, for by no recognised law can it possibly be jus ifled.—Law Timfcs. THE MOST UNHEALTHY TOWNAcoording to the last report of the British Consul at Jeddah 46,020 pilgrims to Meoca arrived there during the past year. Of those over 10,000 came from British India, 16,000 from Egypt, Turkey and Syria, nearly 7,000 from Morocco, Algeria, Tunis and Tripoli, 5000 from Java, and between 1000 and 20C0 each from Arabia, Yemen and Persia. Of all these, British steamers carried about half. There was a decrease in the number of British vessels arriving in the port on account of deficient harvests in the Persian Gulf, and the consequent cessation of trade between it aud Jeddah, and also on aoopunt of a decrease in the Javanese pilgrims arriv ; irig for the Haj from Singapore. The ex-" ports are gum, mother-of-pearl, henna, and goat and sheep skins. A new supply of water from the adjacent hilts has somewhat improved the general unhealthiness of the town, whore, for thirteen month's, only two slight showers had fallen. No system of drainage prevails. ( A large cesspool is constructed in the centre of the foundations of a house when bojng built, which, wheq full, fs emptied by tbe'Simple method of digging 8 big hole in the Btreet before the door, and transferring it 3 contents to it. Thus, Jeddah has become a mighty cesspool, which, with the excessively damp heat of 90 degrees whioh generally prevails, sufficiently accounts for the great mortality from fevers, which make it the most unhealthy town in the Red Sea. A NOVEL BAROMETER. A skilful Parisian clockmakor, M. Ledrefc, has given the aneroid barometer a new aspect which seems to us attractive and worthy of being described. A very light mica disc is connected with the mechanism of the ordinary barometer, and revolves about its centre. The upper part of the disc is painted so as to imitate the different aspects of the sky. When the barometric pressure is high, and it is probable that the weather will be fine, a blue sky appears. If the pressuro iB very low and the weather is very stormy, there is seen, on the contrary, a dark sky loaded with nimbi. The movable sky revolves under a glass, upon whioh is painteda' landscape, and which is left plain at the upper part, so that the different aspect of the sky can be seen. ‘ At the top a small blaok arrow is engraved on the glass to show the pressure in millimetres on mercury, as in ordinary aneroids. ' 1 ' , i • •. , - FRANCE AND GERMANY IN 187,1- ‘ Much has been said about 'the national sins 1 of the French ; and no doubt this may be urged with perfect justice, especially if we havb regard rather to Paris and tho other great cities than to the country at largo. But it may be questioned whether any nation is so virtuous as to be entitled ! to cast ’ the first stone at them. After all, it is beside the question. France was ruined,’ not because there were profligates in her towns, but because there were divisions and incapacity in her counsels,' and in the national itself a Xvarit of wisdom, qud eyen of qrdjnarv oenSe, absolutely‘aatQuridiflg. Folly, winged find rendered active by a certain natural wit and cleverness, is the terrible and fatal oqrse yrhioli Providence lays upon nations it has designed to overthrow. Rather, perhaps, we ought to say that it is the one invincible and triumphant evil by which nations that have resolved on their own ruin contrive to baffle ail the gifts of Providence whereby they might bo saved. Against fools, said a terrible old Greek proverb, even the gods are powerless. We might speak in the same Pagan style, and aver that the gods will forgive anything sooner than foolishness. From the beginning of the war to the end, the French were incapable of learning wisdom, and they paid the penalty In desperate shipwreck. But let us not fall into the vulgar mistake of identifying success with every form of goodness, or of holding it to be sufficient for its own justification in every aspect it presents. The conquerors ju this miserable war were victorious by virtue of their .having fully mastered the conditions of success ; but on moral grounds they were open to many heavy impeachments. Insatiable greed and arrogtfnt self-assertion were the mainsprings of their conduct. Remorse-

less in the struggle itself, they were without a touch of magnanimity when the fight wai over, and their enemy lay gasping and fainting at their feet. If the French laoked sense, the Germans laoked hiimaffity; and, although this may matter little from a worldly point of view, it may matter much from a higher. From many a burnt French village, from many a desolate French town, from many a shattered French dwelling, from many a French domestic circle where the father or the eon was now missing for ever, slain not in the ordinary ways of war, but by so-called judicial sentences for acts of presumed opposition to the invaders, went up a cry for justice which no success can stifle, and no lapse of time can silence. The world entered on a darker and more pitiless period from the date of the Franco-German war. The polioy of blood and iron received the consecration of its first great triumph, and Europe set her face sternly toward the future she had been taught to dread.—Cassell’s Illustrated History of| the Franco-Ger-man War. CHINESE HAVE NO NERVESThe North China Herald says the quality of * nervelessness ’ distinguishes the Chinaman from the European. The Chinaman can write all day, work all day, weave, beat gold, carve ivory, do infinitely tedious jobs for ever and ever, and discover no more signs of weariness and irritation than if he were a machine. This quality appears early in life. There are no restless, naughty boys in China. They are all appallingly good, and will plod away in school without recesses or recreation of any kind. The Chinaman can do without exercise. Sport or play seems to him so much waste labour. He can sleep anywhere—amid rattling machinery, deafening uproar, squalling children, and quarrelling adults. He can sleep on the ground, on the floor, on a bed, on a ohair, in any position. HOW THE COBRA.”IS CHARMED. On account of its timidity and the great ease with which it can be tamed, the cobra is the only snake with whioh the snake charmers will have anything to do. By attracting its attention with one hand, it may be easily seized round the body with the other; and so long as the hand or any other object is kept moving before its eyes, it will never turn to bite the hand that holds It. This is the simple fact, the knowledge of which the charmers turn to such advantage in their well-known performances. The snake is taken from its basket, and a slight stroke across the back brings it at onoe into a defensive attitude. The constant motion of the musical instrument before 'the snake keeps it watchful and erect, and no,t the music produced. As a matter of fact, snakes have no external ears, and it is extremely doubtful whether the cobra hears the tpiisic at all; DISCOVERING LEAKS IN SHIPSA Norwegian engineer, Herr Th, Thorbjornsen, of Kragero, fyas constructed an apparatus for discovering leaks in ships. The apparatus is very simple, consisting of a closed fqrnace, u(nioh is placed on the deck of tfie vessel, and in which smoke is produced by burning straw or bramble. The hatQhes having been closed, the smoke is forced into the hold by means of a blower and a tube, and in the course of half an hour or an hour the smoke will escape through any leaks there may be in the vessel’s sides or bottom. Of course, the vessel must be in a dry dock. At a recent experiment at Gothenburg, a leakage which had previously defied detection was discovered in half an hour by the help of the apparatus. The time generally occupied in discovering a leak is estimated at from thirty to forty minutes in a vessel of 500 tons, and the cost of the experiment at 4d per ton.—-Iron. A NEW FORM OF SAFETY BOILER. A form of boiler for the instantaneous generation of steam, possessing some peculiarities, was recently described in a paper read before tho French Society of Civil Engineers by M. Lesourd. The apparatus, which is manufactured by Mcriers Serpollet Brothers, consists of a thick wrriught iron' tube, of any convenient diameter, ilvhieh is flattened at a temperature below the %elding point, till its internal walls are almost in contact, a section of the tube showing only a straight line the thickness of a hair. The tube is coiled into anj convenient shape, and is exposed to the direct’heat of the furnace. Cold water being friroed in at one end by a pump issues from the other as 1 stdam, the pressure s and dryness of which depend on the temperature of the tube. It is stated that no furriugor sealing up Of the tubes takesplace, as the high velocity with which the steam passes throiigh breaks up aud carries along with it any deposit at the very' instant of its formation. ■ The largest boiler yet constructed by Meskra Serpollet is a ten-horse one, which has proved perfectly successful, and they are now about'to extend tho system tri steain generators fd’r torpedo boats and similar'work.—Engineering.