OLLA PODRIDA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 932, 10 January 1890, Page 6

OLLA PODRIDA.

HOW OUR BURMESE PRISONERS ARE TREATED. *1 was much struck,’ writes the Bhamo correspondent of the Pioneer Mail, by witnessing the way in which prisoners are conveyed from place to place on board tberiv=r steamers, Three men were sent on board at a river station with military policemen as escort. The men were hand cuffed and then had leg-irons on. In addition to this they were all fastened together to. a long chain which seemed strong enough to hold an elephant. Once on board they were made to squatdown in a row together, andthisposition they were obliged to assume all night. The legs of some of them were linked together by short handcuffs in addition to the longer leg irons. When it was necessary for them to go downstairs the shorter links were removed so that they could walk, and a stout rope was fastened round their waists and arms, and a sepoy walked behind them hold, ing this rope. They were fed much as the worse and less valuable kind of dogs are fed. A kind of wash bowl- full of boiled rice with a small quantity of curry, the whole seeming to be broken victuals left by more fortunate eaters, was brought and thrown down on the end of one man’s filthy loin cloth, and was taken up by still more filthy hands. The men are most peculiarly dirty, and with their villainous countenances and unkempt hair they present a very repulsive appearance. Surely some plan might be devised by Government for keeping these men secure without debasing them and crushing out every spark of self-respect which they possess, 'without which self-respect they will be wholly unfit for citizenship when liberated, and had far better be deoapitated at once.’ v THE ENDOWMENT OF DAUGHTERS. The bard case of women who are left in middle life to provide for themselves without the previous training which fit them for any remunerative work was recently the subject of an animated but short-lived public interest. Mr Walter Besant, it may be remembered, warmly advocated what he called ‘ the endowment of the daughter,’ and called on all parents whose means would admit of the sacrifice to take such measures betimes as should secure at least a small pro. vision for each unmarried daughter. The discussion which then took place had the effect of drawing attention to the question of insnrance and benefit societies for women. Such societies as exißt have not yet grown to any large proportions, and for the most part their benefits are confined to working women, The * United Sißters’ Friendly Society ’ has recently opened a branch for members of the teaching profession, but this is a solitary ei ample, Recently, however, a society has been constructed with special reference to the needs of women of the educated classes, unmarried or widows. The *Home-for-Life Society’ derives its name from the fact that the annuities acquired by its members, if amounting to an annual value of £3O, can be exchanged for residence and board in one of the Homes to be established for this purpose* The idea is novel in this country, but societies similarly constituted exist in Germany and Denmark, and the arrangement respecting the Homes is said to work well.—Manchester Guardian. LESSONS FROM THE MAYBRICK CASE. The trial of Florence Maybrick for murder has excited an extraordinary amount of interest. From a lawyer’s point of view it is of limited importance. From a medical standpoint it is of enormous moment, because it proves that scientific evidence is practically useless in difficult cases. It is an alarming fact that upon almost any issue involving medical opinion, contrary and diametrically conflicting views may be laid before a jury to almost any extent. So far as lawyers are concerned, the trial shows : 1. That we possess one judge at least of the very first rank of criminal judges. 2. That it is desirable in the interests of jus. tice that accused persons should be allowed to give evidence on their own behalf. In this case the prisoner’s statement—a tissue of improbabilities —would probably have fallen to pieces under cross-examination, and standing alone must have contributed much to lead the jury to the righteous conclusion at which they arrived. A further reflection suggested by the case is this—-that tbejudgment of the mob is generally absurd and illogical. The pnthipking crowd outside the court hissed the verdict and booted the judge. This shows how important it is that the admlnistrat on of the law should be kept out of the hands and free from the influence of the men in the street We see it stated that a peti-. tion in favour of Mrs Maybrick is being got up by the bar in Liverpool. We trust that this is untrue. The profession should teach the public how to keep its head in these sensational matters. The surmise that the learned judge did not agree with the verdict is idle. The conclusion of his summing-up is wholly inconsistent with any such idea.— Law Times.

ARE THERE TOO MANY LEARNED - : 1 MEN ? ' The number of highly educated men in Germany is increasing qnite rapidly, despite the growing public opinion that there are already too many learned Germans. In lSb9, 17,631 students attended the universities/ technical high schools and schools of mines', agriculture and forestry. In 1872 the number had increased 23,261 ; in ISSO, to 26,032 ; in 1885, to 31,755; in- 1888, to 34,118. In nineteen years the total number' oE students has been almost doubled. In 1869 there was but one student to every 2297 inhabitants ; in 1875, one to every IS 8: in 1888, one to every 1409. *ln these figures,.’ says a German newspaper, .‘is a wholesome warning for all who study at the higher institutions o? learning, apd are still youDg enough to |orego their gay student life, which is liablp to be crowned with bad prospects for active life.-’ The same paper speaks of the ‘ great over.pro? Auction of learned men ’ in Germany.

ILLITERACY IN ENGLAND. One good is likely to result from the visit of Emperor William to England recently. Among the many questions he asked was one a 3 to the percentage of illiterate persons in England. An approximate estimate being given him he bluntly expressed his surprise at the existence of such a condition of popular ignorance in a country bo wealthy and so high in the scale of civilisation. His comments were reported to the Queen, who lost no time in laying the matter before her advisers and requesting them to suggest a remedy. The persistent agitators who'have for so many years kept the question of free schools before the public, in spite of their discouraging experiences, feel at last that there is a prospect of seeing their labours crowned with success, but they complain bitterly of the indifference of most people of high positino, and the open hostility of others who do not hesitate to proclaim education the parent of socialism and anarchy, and frankly say that the common people know too much already. It must be said to the credit of the House of Lords that very few of them entertain this sentiment, the ultra conservative element, who associate dynamite with spelling books, finding their firmest supporters among oountry Squires and rural members of the House of Commons. NOT SO BAD. * I want yon,’ said a detective to a stranger he had been shadewiDg around town for an hour. ‘ Am I arrested ?’ ‘You are.’ ‘ And got to be locked up V ‘Yes.’ * Well, go ahead. I knew it would come sooner or later, and I’m glad it’s off my mind. Yes, I stole Charlie Ross.’ * Oh, you did,’ replied the detective. ‘lf that’s all I’ll let you go. I suspected you of stealing an overcoat.’ A MAMMOTH GUNA cast steel gun, weighing 235 tons, has just been shipped by Messrs Krupp from Hamburg, for Cronstadt. The calibre of the gun is 13$ inches, and the barrel i 3 40 feet in length, its greatest diameter being 6$ feet. 'i he range of the gun is over eleven miles, and it will fire two shots per minute, each shot costing between £250 and £3OO. At the trials of the gun, held at Meppen, in the presence of Russian officers, the projectile, 4 feet long, and weighing 1,800 lbs, and propelled by a charge of 700 lbs of powder, penetrated 19$ inches, and went 1312 yards beyond the target. The gun, which is the largest in existence, and the heaviest yet exported by Messrs Krupp, had to be oarried from Essen to Hamburg on a car specially constructed for the purpose.—lndustries. A MAN OF STATURE. A gentleman connected with the German Embassy was talking last night in the Hoffman House about the young emperor : * It is odd, ? he said, ‘ that the papers persist in Bpeaking of William IJ. as an insignificant little man. The London correspondents have frequently used similar phrases, all of which carry the impression that the ruler of the German Empire is a small and unimpressive looking man. I served in his regiment, r,nd I am only four weeks out of Germany. I have frequently seen him since his accession to the throne, and know him as well as I would my own brother, as far as appearance is concerned. ‘ He is six foot high, magnificently proportioned, and has the misn and bearing which go by right with the head of the house of Hohenzollep. There is nothing about him that is at all sentimental and silly, except, perhaps, hi 3 delight in being photographed. In this respect it must be said that he displays a little vanity. The photographs on sale in Berlin nowof his majesty are numerous and many of them exceedingly handsome. Side by side with them are often sold the photographs of his grandmother, the i- impress Augusta, but they are all copies of pictures taken of her thirty years ago. She had not sat before a camera since At that time she was awoman of queenly preseoce andmajestic beauty, and the ravages of age have so changed her that she prefers to be re*, membered by her people as she looked in hep prime. Bqt perhaps the most pqpular photograph In Germany after that of the empepor is the present Crown Prince, a lad who has the winsome qualities of little Joseph Hoffman and the bearing and graoe of Little Lord Fanntleroy. The emperor is frequently photographed with his eldest son. The child is now, I think 7 years of age. The pictures of the late Emperor Frederick hare almost entirely disappeared from the shop windows, and the memory of that somewhat commonplace man is rapidly disappearing, except when revived by the dootors or the incidents of the diary.’

WEALTH AS AN ENEMY TO HEALTH. One of the most original of the Health Society’s lectures, bearing the above title, was given last month by Mr James Smith. In it he pointed out the ills which frequently flow from the acquisition of affluence by those who do not know how to use their money wisely and well; physical generation and disease following the cessation of physical and mental activity which had been incident to the accumulation of that wealth which they had hoped but failed to enjoy. The disparity between the average mortality in civilised communities and the possibilities of life, was due to onr want of knowledge of the laws conducive to wealth and happiness, and our neglect of these naturally affected our offspring. The speaker said when he looked baok on the number of his contemporaries who had died of too much prosperity during the last 30 years he could not help feeling that wealth was an enemy to health in the sense he indicated. ‘ It ought not to be, and he could conceive of a state of society in which it ’would be the ally of health, both personal and public, individual and general. Ho coplfl imagine an enlightened Selfishness superseding the ignoraqt selfishness which now prevailed. He could imagine the rich man not relinquishing the pursuit of happiness, not ascetically in. different to enjoyment, but suddenly dis»

covering the shortest and directest road to both. He had only to direct his efforts to promote the happiness of others in order to find that happiness reflected upon himself from a thousand recipients of that which he bad bestowed. He could imagine a conditions of affairs in which wealth would be so wisely employed that no town or city would contain a squalid habitation, much less a squalid quarter ; when such 9pid3mics as typhoid fever and diphtheria would be spoken of much as we now spoke of the black death and the sweating sickness of the middle ages ; when the motives and temptations to vice and intemperance would disappear, because of the levelling up of the classes from whom their victims are now chiefly drawn, because the standard of living, the standard of intelligence, the standard of popular pastimes and recreations, the standard of household comfort, the household elegance, and domestic enjoyment would have been raised to a high level by the influence, the example, the material assistance, and the moral sympathy of the more prosperous classes of society, who wonld regard themselves as the trustees of the wealth they had acquired or inherited.’ The lecturer was much applauded during his address, and at its close received a vot9 of thanks, on the motion of Mr H. H. Hayter, seconded by the Rev. A. McCully.

INDIAN MARRIAGE RITES. An American journal publishes an extract of a letter from Mr Jacobsen describing the marriage ceremonies of the Bilqula Indians of British Columbia. An Indian who intends to marry calls upon his intended wife’s parents and arranges with thorn how much he is to pay for permission to marry the girl. Among people of high descent this is done by messengers, sometimes as many as twenty being sent to call on the girl’s father. They are sent by the man’s parents before he is of age. The messengers go in their boats to the girl’s house and carry on their negotiations without going ashore, where the relatives of the girl are standing. The messengers of the young man praise his excellence and noble descent, the great exploits of his father, grandfather, and ancestors, their wars, victories, and hunting expeditions, their liberality at festivals, &c. TheD the girl’s relatives praise the girl and her ancestors : and thus the negotiations are carried on. JFinslly a number of blankets are thrown ashore by the messengers. Generally from 20 to 50 blankets, each of the value of about half a dollar, are paid. After this the boy and girl are considered engaged. When they are grown up the young man has to serve a year to his father-in-law. He must fell trees, fetch water, fish, and hunt for the latter. During thi3 time he is called Kos — ‘ one who woos.’ At the murriage ceremony seven or eight men perform a dance. They wear aprons and leggings, trimmed with puffin-beaks, hoofs of deer, copperplates, and bells, The Binging master, who beats a drum, starts a song in which the dancers join. The song used at the marriage festival is sung in unison, while in all other dances each dancer has his own tune and song. The first dancer wears a ring made of cedar bark. The Lair is strewn with eagledown, which flies about when he moves, and forms a cloud round his head. The bride groom presents the first dancer with a piece of calico, which thelatter tears to pieces and throws down in front of each bouse in the village, crying ‘Hoip,’ in order to drive away evil spirits. The pieces of calico are lucky, and at the same time express the idea that the bridegroom, when he comes to be a wealthy man, will not forget the inhabitants of any house when giving a festival. The dancers swing their bodies and arms, stamp their feet, and show the copper plates to the lookers-on. Then the bride s father brings a great number of blankets, generally double the number of those he ha 3 received from the bridegroom, and gives them to his daughter. The bride orders a few blankets to be spread before the bridegroom. She sits down, and he puts his hand on her head. Then the bridegroom is given for each of the parts of his body one or more blankets. Finally he receives a new blanket. After the bride’s father has given a blanket to each dancer and to the drummer, the villagers are invited to a grqat feast. At this the bridegroom and bridq eat fqr the first time together.

WOMEN OF RENOWN. Pericles wedded the lqvely Aspasia when she was 36, and yet she atterward, for thirty years or more, wielded an undiminished reputation for beauty. Cleopatra was past 39 when Antony fell under her spell, which never lessened until her death, nearly ten years after ; and Livia was 33 when she won the heart of Augustus, over whom she maintained her ascendancy to the last. Turning to more modern history, where it is possible to verify dates more accurately, we have the extraordinary De Poictiers, who was 36 when Henry I&, then Duke of Orleans and just half her age, became attached to her, and she was held as first lady and the most beautiful woman at court up to the period of the monarch’s death and the accession to power of Catherine de Mediois. Annie of Austria was described as the handsomest queen of Europe, of whom Buckingham and Richelieu were jealous admirers. Ninon de L’Enclos, the most celebrated wit and beauty of her day, was the.idol of three generations of the golden youth of France, and she was-72 when the Abbe de Berais fell in love with her. True it is that in the case of this lady a rare combination of culture, talents and personal attractions endowed their possessor seemingly with the gifts of eternal youth. Louis XIV married Madame de Maintenon when she was 43 years of age. Catherine II of Russia was 33 when she seized the Empire of Russia and captivated the dashing youDg Gen. Orloff. Up to the time of her death—at (?7—she seemed to have retained the same bewitching powers, for the lamentations were heartfelt among all those who had ever known her personally. Mile. Mars, the celebrated Frenoh tragedienne, only attained the zenith of her heauty and power when 40 or 45. At that period the loveliness of her hands and arms especially was celebrated throughout Europe,

The famous Mme. Recamier when 38, was without dispute declared to be the most beautiful woman in Europr, which rank Bhe held for fifteen years.

A ROMANCE IN REAL LIFEA case of mistaken identity, involving elements of dramatic interest sufficient to make the fortuue of a sensational novel, has just occurred in Switzerland. A young couple, named Favre, belonging to the working class, had lived happily together for some years at Neuch&tel, when the husband, a working mason, began to give way to habits of drinking. Efforts were made to reclaim him, and he became an abscainer for a time. Some months ago, however, ha broke out again and left his home. His wife had heard nothing of him for three months, when one night she was awakened by a voice calling her repeatedly from the street outside, and which she felt sure was that of her husband. She rose, dressed, and went into the street, but found no one. A few days afterwards she read an account in the newspapers of a man who had committed suicide on the railway at a small village near Bdle. From the description of him she suspected it might be her missing husband, and became full of the idea that the voice she had heard was a communication from him at the moment of death. She was corroborated in her b?lief by learning, as the result of inquiries, that he had made application for work at a neighbouring quany, but being in drink at the time had been roughly refused by the foreman. The body had now for some time been interred, but in order to put an end to her suspense the poor woman, having got together a little money, started off with the determination to have the body disinterred. She reached the village, and after some delay secured permission to open the grave. With two or three men as assistants she set to work. When the coffin was opened the effluvium was so terrible that her companions ran, and left her alone with her dead. For twenty minutes, unaided, she pursued her ghostly task. The body had been decapitated by the train, and the head, horribly mutilated, was wrapped by itself in a cloth. She uncovered it, and recognised it by the teeth. One of the stockings also she knew again from having mended it with a particular kind of worsted. Her worst fears thus confirmed, she returned home in the depths of sorrow. The aged mother of the man was informed of the identification, and mourning was being prepared for the whole family, when the crowning act of the drama was furnished by a letter which has been just received from Favre himself, announcing that he is at Winterthur alive and well ! The wife had, after all, identified the wrong man 1 Who it is that actually lies in that lonely grave no one knows. What would not Wilkie Collins have made out of that midnight voice, the graveyard vigil, and the extraordinary denouement I—Pall Mall Gazette.

FLOWERS AS AN ARTICLE OF - FOOD The rew Kew Bulletin contains a memorandum by Mr Duthie, botaoioal director for Northern India, on the use of the flowers of the Calligonum for food in North-Western India. The use of flowers such as those of the lily in China as a condiment is not uncommon, but it is quite unusual to find them used as food, In India they are hardly left to the poorer classes only, and are either mixed with flour or are eaten separately with salt and condiments, to which a little ghee is added by those who are able to afford it. The flowers are swept up from the ground and are kept for a night in a closed earthenware vessel, so as to fade. They may be kept for a long time. Usually they are eaten as a vegetable, but sometimes they are kneaded with thin alta and baked in cakes. An analysis of the flowers which has been made shows that their chief peculiarity, from a dietetic point of view, is tbeir richness in nitrogenous compounds, and consequently their importance as an addition to foods which are poor in nitrogen. There is said to be a close resemblance in composition between phog and the seeds of the edible amaranths and buckwheats, only sugar replaces starch.

WAGE 3 NEARLY A CENTURY AGOThe condition of the American wages class nearly a century ago, says the Scientific American, is full of instruction. In the large cities unskilled workmen were hired by the day, bought their own food and found their own lodgings. But in the country, on the farms, or wherever a hand was employed on some public work, they were fed and lodged by the employer and given a few dollars a month. On the Pennsylvania canals the diggers ate the coarsest diet, were housed in the rudest sheds, and paid Gdols a month from May to November, and sdols a month from November to May. Hod-carriers and diggers and choppers, who from 1793 to 1800 laboured on the public buildings and cut the streets and avenues of Washington, received 70dolsayear, or, if they wished, 60dols for all the work they could perform from March Ist to December 20tb. The hours of work were invariably from sunrise to sunset. Wages at Albany and New York were 3s, or, as money then went, 40 cents a day ; at Lancaster, Saols to lOdols a month ; elsewhere in Pennsylvania work, men were content with 6dols in summer and sdols in winter. At Baltimore then were glad to be hired at 18d a day. None by the month asked more than fidols. ! At Fredericksburg the price for labour was from sdols to 7dols. In Virginia white men employed by the year were given £l6 currency ; slaves, when hired, were clothed and their masters paid £1 a month. A pound, Virginia money, was, in Federal money, 3 33d015. The average rate of wages all over the country was 65d01s a year, with food, and, perhaps, lodging. Out of this small sum the workman had, with his wife’s help, to maintain his family.

FAMOUS GIANTS. The Greek Orestes was 11$ feet tall. Galabro, an Arabian, was 10 feet tall. Farnum, the Scotchman, w»3 11$ foet tall. The Emperor Maximimw was 8$ feet tall,

Evans, who lived in King Charles l.’s time, was 7$ feet. tall. Colonel Orr, who died Borne seven years ago, was 7 feet 4 inches in height and weighed 520 pounds. Walter Parsons, the famous porter of King Charles 1. of England, was 7 feet 4 inches in height. The Chinese giant, Chang Woo Gow was, doubtless, the tallest man ever exhibited iff America. He was S feet 2 inches high. Daniel Lambert, the largest man known to history, measured 9 feet 4 inches around the body, S feet 1 inch around the legs, and weighed 739 pounds. There appeared in England three years ago an Austrian named Winkelmeier, whose height was 8 feet 9 inches. Captain Martin Van Buren Bates of Kentucky, ■ weighs 496 pounds, and his height is 7 feet 11$ inches. He wears a 26 inch collar and a N0.'15 boot. Miles Darden was born in North Carolina iff 1795, and died in Tennessee on January 23, 1857. He waß 7 feet 2 inches in height, and at the time of his death his weight was upward of 1,000 pounds.—Charleston Sun.

A tree-planting machine is the invention of Thomas A. Stratton, a farmer living near Lincoln, Neb., having a tree claim in Southwestern Nebraska, at Stratton. He found himself with 100,000 two and three-year-old seedlings on hand and no chance of hiring the labour for planting tUe same. He devised and constructed the trea-planter with his own hands, and began planting on 17th April—planting, with the aid of one man and five horses abreast, the entire IGO.OOO trees in eight days, most of the ground being unprepared. a small part only having been back set. The 22nd April was Arbor day, and Mr Stratton set 11,200 trees, handling every tree himself in order to obtain the premium ‘for the greatest number planted by one man.’