OLLA PODRIDA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 955, 20 June 1890, Page 6

OLLA PODRIDA.

A LOST OPPORTUNITY- * I can sympathise with those passengers who are snowbound on the Western railroads,! he said, as he laid down hia paper, f I have been right there myself.’ , • Give pa the particulars,’ remarked his audienoe. ‘lt was the second year of the Union Pacific Road, and we were caught in the Rocky Mountains. It was a sudden storm, and no one was prepared for it. We were six days in the drift.’ *How did you keep warm?' ‘Burped all the wood and then the baggage car. 1 ■ How were you off for provisions ?’ ‘Had nothing after the second day, and we had to cut up our boot-legs and chew ’em. Qn the fifth day we were going to kill and eat a boy, but his mother made such a a fuss that we determined to wait one day. I have always been sorry.’ ‘ What—rfor waiting V

’Yes. My stomach has never been right since, and it wasn’t two weeks later when the boy fell out of a window in San Fran cisco and was killed. He would haye made a good square meal for twenty-five of us, and been of real benefit to his fellow-men. Bet I don’t make no simpleton of myself again.’

HOW A WOMAN SHOULD WALKShe Should Imitate the Panther in Hpu Movements. Have you noticed how few womep walk grapsfully now T a-days? asks a writer in the New York Herald. Jt is unusual to see a women carry her hpad and shoulders well and step oqt freely, with a poetical grace of movement. The majority waddle, strut, or bounce. The schoolgirl hurries or trips along head forward. The loitering shopper goes on her way with lolling step. The young woman studying art, music or the drama lets her flapping, aesthetic cloak hang loosely open as she saunters among a crowd. The tailor-made girl, severely buttohed up to the chin, has a stride exactly like her brothers. Observe, if you pleaße, the swr ying, sidelong swish-swash of that over-u imued girl • wearing a satin gown on a wet day. Though you oannot see her shoes, you know from the way she rests first on pne foot and then ua tho other that they are too tight- We rpeet at every tprn the girl who runs out her arm, who sways her arms, and who carries one shoulder higher than tho other. The undulating movement, which should be natural to women, seems to have disappeared. Modjeska is one of the few women in New York who walk well. She has the gait of a

goddeßS. To see her move is satisfying in one way and tantalising in another-you wonder how she does it.

570 u have doubtless watched a panther pacing backwards and forwards in hia cage. How like velvet is his step ! How regular, how easy, yet full of suppressed strength. Men who have devoted many years to the study of physical culture say a panther and a womaa should get over the ground in the same easy, dignified way. If you walk well, girls, study the panther in the park, then go and do likewise. A good way to practice is to start on a fine, bracing morning for a straight three-mile stretch and cover it at an easy pace. Wear warm wraps, but leave your corset at home. Corduroy makes an excellent walking suit. A few days since I met a party of three girls in the upper part of Central Park, each one a Bymphony in brown corduroy, made with Bkirts of ankle length and Norfolk jackets. Fore and aft caps of shaggy tweed and bearskin capes completed the costume, which seemed by right to belong to the heroine of one of William Black’s Highland tales. AN IDEAL STEAMSHIP. Designed to Cross the Atlantic in Three and a Half Days. Drawings and propositions for a new style of fast ocean steamship appear in the current issue of the Amerioan Mail and Export Journal. Civil Engineer B. Schieldrop, the author of the proposed new greyhound, claims that it will be able to raise the record of speed across the Atlantic from twentv-one to thirty-four knots an hour. This would admit of voyages between Queenstown and Sandy Hook in three days and thirteen hours. Mr Schieldrop claims that in the fundamental principle upon which the modern transatlantic steamers are built and operated no real advance has been made since the Savannah crossed in 1819. He thinks that the trouble has been that the same boat has been ‘ a mail conveyance, an hotel, a barn, and a warehouse ’ all in one. He proposes to build, upon a special model, a vessel for first-class passengers and mails which will possess the maximum of speed and space with the minimum of weight and displacement. By removing cargo space of the vessel now in use he proposes to lighten the structure of the hull and still keep it submerged to the same water-line. This would give the hull a shallow and broad upper part and a Darrow and deep lower part. It might be described as a combination of the centre- . board type in the upper part and an English outter in the lower part. As regards stability, the new vessel will prove a mean between the cutter and the centre-board type. He claims that on account of its fullness above the water-line his plan will ensure a dry decK both amidships and at the extremities. The upper deck will be devoted to a spacious library, ladies’ cabin, smoking-saloou and musicroom., The main deck will be taken up by a dining-saloon, an elegant after cabin and several high-prioed staterooms. The dining saloon, will seat 65G persons comfortably, The entire lower deck will be divided into state rooms of different dimensions. All of the modern conveniences will be at band, and cleanliness, it is claimed, can be more thoroughly secured than if steerage passengers and freight were carried. Mr Schieldrop says that his method would be in reality a fast limited express transit with Pullman accommodations.—Free Press, A NEAT REJOINDER. A good instance of a neat diplomatic rejoinder is embodied in a story regarding Count Herbert Bismarck on the occasion of the Ger. man Emperor’s visit to Rome last year. It appears that at the station Count Herbert, who is not renowned for the suavity of, his manners, pushed rudely against an Italian dignitary who was watching the proceedings. The dignitary was greatly incensed, and remonstrated very forcibly againt such unceremonious treatment, whereupon Count Herbert turned round haughtily and said, ‘ I don’t think you know who I am. I am Count Herbert Bismarck.’ ’ That,’ replied the Italian, bowing politely, ‘as an excuse is insufficient, but as an explanation it is ajpple.’—Court Journal. THE RESULT"”OF TOO MUCH CUNNING. Not a bad story comes to hand from a village not far from the town of Beaune, in the sunny province of Burgundy. The favourite pastor of the pariah was a round, jovial-faced little Abb£, who enjoyed a good glass of wine ; and so, as the villagers, who were mostly small vintage owners, ugreed to give him a pleasant surprise by filling a wine tun that was lying in his back yard and presenting it to him on his birthday. Each naan was to bring his share of wine, and pour in into the cask quietly at' night. The next morning \ the cask was decorated with wreaths' and flowers. All the friends assembled; and the leader presented the full decorated cask of red wine, good sound Burgundy, though of no special brand, to the delighted Abbe. Glasses were brought, and wjth cries of ‘ Vive M’sieu l’Abbe !’ all stood round to drink his health ; bis old housekeeper turned the tap, and drew out the first glass, but, iniraole of miracles, the wine had become pure white water ! Each cuuniDg peasant had thought his share of water would not be noticed among the other wine, but their unanimity had worked a miraole by no means acceptable to * M’sieu 1 Abb6.’—Court Journal. FOREIGN BODIES IN THE BRAIN. The British Medioal Journal, referring to a case recently reported, says : —‘ That a bullet, or a fragment of a larger projectile, may remain imbedded in the brain for vnonths, or even years, without causing any very serious symptoms has been proved by U table of seventy-two eases collected by Dr Andrews, qf Pennsylvania. Sir Thomas Longmorp bias put on record the case of an i English officer who, with a musket-ball imbedded in his brain, was able to discharge i certain military duties during nine years . after the receipt of the injury. In several L of these instances the foreign bodies were of i considerable size and weight, A well-

authenticated case has been published in which recovery followed the removal on the twentyseventh day after the injury of the linch.pin of a cannon, which had been driven into the brain through the frontal bone. Hughes, an Irish surgeon, has published an instance in which a patient lived for fourteen months without any bad symptoms, with a portion of the breach of a gun in the anterior lobe of the brain. One of the most remarkable of such injuries is that recorded by O’Callaghan, and referred to in Erichseu’a “Surgery,’ in which an officer lived for nearly seven years with the breach of a fowling-piece, weighing three ounces, lodged in the forehead, and resitng on the surface of the brain, from which it was separated by a false membrane.’ BITS ABOUT UMBRELLAS. Umbrellas should be placed handle downward to dry. The moisture falls from the edges of the frame and the fabric dries uniformly. If stood handle upward, as is commonly the oase, the top of the umbrella holds the moisture owing to the lining underneath the ring, and it takes a long time to dry, thereby injuring the silk or other fabric with which it is covered. This is the main cause of the umbrella wearing out so soon at the top. Umbrella cases are responsible for the wear of the silk. The constant friction oauses tiny holes to appear so provokingly early. When not in use the umbrella should be left loose,jaad when wet left loose to dry. THE ENGLISH CHANNEL BRIDGE. It has been proposed to build a bridge across the English Channel. Plans have been formulated, and the project declared feasible by civil engineers. It will span twenty, four miles of deep sea water, starting from near Folkestone on the English side and placing its Continental end at Ambleteuse on the French coast. The piers will number 125 and will be solid masonry, built in caissons and floated out to see and sank in their respective places. They will project 69 feet above low-water mark, and will each sustain a steel cylindrical column 120 feet in height, making a clear elevation of 180 feet above low water. The Bpans will vary in length from 1500 feet to 3,000, each span resting on two piers. Over 1,000,000 tons of metal will be needed, and the cost of construction is estimated at from $175,000,000 to $200,000,000. Ten years of steady work will be required to complete this magnificent undertaking. CREMATION IN PARISThe new crematory furnace founded on August 12 last at the cemetery of P6re-la-Chaise has, ap to December 31 last, effected 735 cremations. Of this number 35 only were at the request of the relatives : 183 coffins containing remains of human bodies from the hospital services were destroyed, and 217 still-born ohildren from the maternity charities were disposed of. The new furnace is an apparatus based on the Byatem of Siemens. It possesses considerable advantages over the older model. The coat of oremation is much reduced by the substitution of coke for wood fuel. The expense has diminished from thirty.five francs to three francs. With the old apparatus it required on an average an hour and three-quarters to cremate the body of an adult; with the present one from an hour to an hour and a quarter suffices. It is thought that before long the operation may be completed in three-quarters of an hour. - Le Progr&s Medical. THE LARGEST NICKEL MINE IN THE WORLDQn a ljttle branch of the Canadian Pacific road near Sudbury, Canada, is a nickel mine that produces more nickel, it is said, than the entire market of the world calls for. It is fpund at a depth of about three hundred feet below the surface, in a layer of oxidised Laurentian rock characteristic of that region. Immediately the mineral is hoisted from the mine, it is hioken up and calcined, or roasted, for the purpose of eliminating the sulphur it contains. When thjs process is completed the residuum is conveyed to the smelter. After the dross of the molten metal flows off, the nearly pure nickel and copper is blended together, forming an alloy, 70 per cent of whieh is nickel and 3,0 per oent copper, which is drawn off at the base of the furnace aud allowed to cool. When cold, the product is shipped fo Swansea, Wales, aud Germany, where the constituent metals are separated and refined by secret processes, known only to the manufacturers, and jealously guarded, The present output of the mine is. stated at 4000 tons qf nickel annually.—Pall Majl Gazette. YOU SHOULD HAVE A CHANGE OF SHOESProbabjy tfie best reason that can be adduced fqr giviug the shoes a rest occasionally is tfio fact that they have a chance to become thoroughly dry. This is to be recommended both as a sanitary measure and as a preservative of the leather. Whenever possible every person should have at least two pairs of outdoor shoes and wear them on alternate days. The moisture of the air and pavements in wet weather, and the dampness from confined feet penetrate the leather, and in bed chambers, where there is but little warmth, the shoes do not become thoroughly dry between night and morning. LEMON SOAP AND ORANGE BLACKING. Lemons are used for soap in 11. any countries whoie they grow. When, for instance, the men and women of the West Indies want to wash their hands they squeeze the juice of a lemon over them and rub them briskly in water until they are clean. There is an acid in the lemon similar to that used in soap, and hence it is a sort of natural soap. And In countries where oranges grow in great plenty country gentlemen use the cheapest kind for blacking their boots. The orange is cut in two and the juicy side of one half is rubbed on the soot of an iron pot and then on the boot. Then the boot is rubbed with

a soft brush, and a bright polish at once appears. So you see, my metry girls arid boys; you have drunk many. a glaSs of soapade and eaten fhany a ball of blacking; WHAT FOGS SIGNIFY; Night or morning fogs, or in winter per. sisfcent fogs, often signify a calm and settled condition of the air and the prevalence of fair weather. Heavy dews, especially in the autumn, likewise portend fine weather, bnt usually of shorter duration. Fogs appear usually in one of two conditions—either the air is nearly saturated up to a considerable height, or else is unusually dry, except in a stratum immediately above the ground. A SERIOUS DEFECT IN THE SMOKELESS POWDER. A great deal (says a Berlin correspondent) has been written about the smokeless powder which has been adopted for the French, German, and Austrian armieß. The French have a powder of their own, and, for all that has been reported of the experiments made with it, it is a very good powder. So is the German and Austrian powder, but it has a serious defect, which the military authorities of the two countries have been making un. easy endeavours to conceal. The powder has too great a force of expansion, and cracks the 7-millimetre Mannlicher barrel after twenty shots. After long deliberation it was decided at Berlin and Vienna that the powder must be adopted notwithstanding ; but it was also resolved that the Mannlichers must have new barrels. These are being manufactured with as much expedition and secrecy as possible ; but, to let the cat out of the bag, it must be stated that the rearmament of the Austrian and German foroes cannot possibly be effected within less than two years.—Court Journal. THE NEW DISEASE. The Rome correspondent of the Standard gives some fuller particulars of the singular malady which has appeared in some of the northern provinces of Italy as a sequel to the influenza. The country people call it La Nona, and declare that the | atieot sleeps himself to death. Although rumours and paragraphs have been circulated for some little time about La Nona, the popular accounts were supposed to be exaggerated ; bat the following circular lately issued by the Perfect of Bresna to all the Syndics in that province shows that the thing is serious, and has not been overstated. It should be observed, for the information of the English reader, that the Italian law requires that interment shall take place twenty-four hours after death. The circular runs as follows : * Although the epidemic known as influenza is almost at an end, yet in these late days, in several communes, cases of very rapid death have been verified in consequence of capdiacal paralysis and comatose attacks, . In view of this fact,, the Prefect finds himself obliged to recommend the Worshipful Syndics not to hurry the burial of persons deceased from such maladies, protracting the period of delay even to forty-eight hours, I would beg the Syndics also, by means of the reverend parish priests, to recommend that the doctor be called in in cases of even the slightest indisposition,’ Following this a paragraph appears in the Sentinella Bresoiana to the effect that Drs, Da Maria and Fontana have under their care a young man who has been sleeping for twenty days. He opens his eyes once each day for a few moments without uttering a word, and immediately afterwards is fast asleep again. The youth is stated to be reduoed to a terrible state of emaciation, and is so pale that he might be supposed to be dead, except for the slight respiration which is observable, BOGUS NOBLEMEN. The nqmbers of hogus nobleman who have traded on the credulity of the wealthy Amerioan is absolutely inorediblo. Many American girls of education, fortune, and social prominence have contracted hasty marriages with pseqdo noblemen, only to discover within a few months after their wedding that they had alljed themselves with men of a birth even more plebeian than their own, Nobody ever seems to think it worth while to make a butiness-like inquiry. Still there are quite a number of men of high birth and social standing in the whole world, who, havjng gone a ‘ cropper,’ have gone to America for the purpose of retrieving their shattered fortune:*. In the head waiter at the Grand Pacific Hotel, in Chicago, is Baron von J—: —, yvho in Berliu some eight years ago was a dashing lieutenant of the Zeithen Hussars, the present German Emperor’s favourite regiment. A Count von B——, formerly an equerry to one of tho German Royal Princes, and son of an ex-German Ambassador, was a short time ago acting as a commercial traveller fqr a particular brand qf whisky 5 a Count von F —, a member of one of the most powerful families in Germany, has been earning a dollar a day as driver of a tramcar; while a Count of Funfkirchen is employed as money-taker at a low-class variety show. The brother of an English baronet and heir-presumptivs to his ancient baronetcy, is working as a day labourer in a Florida saw mill. A well, known English diplomatist has a brother who is a porter In a merchant's warehouse at Tallahassee, and the heir of an earldom died at New York in poverty while employed in the mailing department of a large newspaper. —Court Journal. NOVEL THEORY OF OCEAN " CURRENTS, . A yery ingenious theory of ocean currents has been recently advanced by M r R- G. M. Browne in the L on^on Nautical Magazine, He seeks to account for these great * rivers in the Bea ’ by the varying tide-pradneing effects of the sun’s and moon’s attraction and the local variation of terrestrial gravity through the earth’s diurnal rotation, com* bined with the advance in its orbit. Owing to its annual journey around the sun a solar tidal wave travels round the earth once a year in such a way that its vertex is always at that part of the globe over which the sun is most nearly vertical, A lunar tidal wave,

due to the moon’s monthly revolufion, also travels round the globe onoe a month, but in a circle crossing the path of the former wave at an angle of itbouc five degrees. Mr Browne, therefore, argues that the water * heaped up ’ in these waves must flow obliquely but continuously in the direction in which the power of terrestrial gravity increases, and hence must eventually take the form of a current.’ The theory is apparent y insufficient to explain some phenomena of ocean currents.. If it fails to account fully for the genesis of the warm Gulf Streams and Kuro Siwos and their counterbalancing polar currents, it throws new light upon some of their hitherto unexplained variations of velocity and direction and other apparent vagaries. It proveaatleasttbatthese mighty currents are greatly affeoted, if not originated, by the gravitating force of the sun, moon, and earth exerted on the oeean’s surface waters. For this reason the theory bears very decidedly upon practical navigation, showing seamen what ohangeß in velocity and direction marine currents undergo at different periods in the progress of the great annual solar and monthly lunar tidal waves travelling around the globe.—New York Herald.