ODDS AND ENDS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1106, 12 May 1893, Page 43

ODDS AND ENDS.

Already there are 120 signatures of proposed members, with every prospect of gaining more, I for the Ohingaiti Working Men's Club. Ths application for a charter will be presented in a few days, and it is expected there will be no difficulty in obtaining the charter. The club is lo be conducted on exactly the same rules as the Wellington Working Men's Club. \ The Sydney Burns Club are taking steps to erect a statue of the poet in the capital of New South Wales, Last year a woman lost the Bight of one eye, and another was seriously injured, by Bparks from an engine belonging to the London and North Western Railway. She brought an action against the company, and was awardfd LSOO. Leave to appeal was granted to the company, who, however, were ordered to pay the plaintiff LI a week pending ! the result of the appeal. There have been two remarkable events at Cambridge (says the World)-the Pitt scholarship has been won by a freshman, Mr J. A. Nairne, of Trinity, and the second Chancellor's medal for classics has been withheld for : this year, in consequence of the examiners having found that there was no candidate worthy to receive it. Thu happened only once before since these prizes were founded by the Duke of Newcastle in 1751. j People (says ' Oriel' in the Argus) have i been grumbling a good deal lately about the ! heat, as if 105 degrees in the shade seriously / inconvenienced them; but, after all, one can become habituated to anything in the way of temperature. There is a famous pisture in 1 Antwerp representing the martyrdom of St Lawrence, which shows the Saint being slowly grilled on an ordinary gridiron, and it is reported that when the culinary operation was only half finished he requested the zealous attendants to turn him over, as he felt that he was sufficiently 'done' on one side. That is the philosophic frame of mind cultivated by the inhabitants of Wyndham in Western Australia, where there is a climate to which the heat of Melbourne is a circumstance. At Wyndham the thermometer mounts gaily up to 120 deg in the shade, and is too much exhausted to come down again for months together. 'So this is Wyndham, is it?' said an American visitor to the princi- i pal local merchant in the place .recently. 1 The resident perspiringly assented.* 'Wall. I stranger, if I owned Wyndham and Hades 11 guess I'd sail Wyndham and go and live on my other estate.'

j In Jersey recently an old woman named Bisson had not been seen for several days. She was found in her house, lying ill and in want of food. From LBOOO to LIO.OOO, however, in gold, notes, &c, wa3 discovered in all kinds of hiding places, the old lady having evidently lived a typical miser's life. | A relic of the Franco-German war—a watch * which has lain in the earth for 22 years—has just been unearthed, and is now in the possession of the authorities of Frankfort. A short I time since the single craves of those warriois who fell at the Battle of Forbach on the 6th August, 1870, were opened, and their contents were removed to the larger plot of ground where the bulk of the slain were interred. Various articles of value worn by the soldiers who fell on that battle field have been found. Among these was a silver watch, with a double gold rim, enclosed in a brara case. It was owing to I the watch being encased in brass that on | opening the grave it was found in such a good state of preservation. On the inside of one of the cas°s is the watchmaker's name—i' Emil Sasche, watchmaker, Frankfurt.-a-d.-O.' On enquiry being made at the horologist's it was found that the watch belonged to a certain Herr Janisch, of Jacobsdorf. The \ glass of the watch is still intact, and the hands / rigidly indicate the hour at which, it is (presumed, its owner received his mortal wound.

Saragossa, in Spain, has an aged executioner all to itself. He is seventy - four years old, and has taken the lives of more than 300 human beines. Lately he gave a specimen of the stuff he is made of, when, having to despatch a poor wretch, he entered the chapel where he was spending the last moments of his life, growling, ' Come, make haste; we don't want a comedy. I have got to send you to the devil.' On the scaffold his strength was not equal to turning the screw of the garotte. He tugged and stamped, and swore at the instrument of death, and at last accomplished his hideous task with an oath. The populace tried to get at him, and would certainly have sent him after his victim but for the soldiers.

It is proposed to form a mounted infantry corp 3 in Masterton. The flooring of the House of Commons consists of open ironwork, and i 3 constructed with a special view to ventilation. The ironwork is covered with fine twine matting, and when walked over conveys no idea of the cavernous depths that yawn beneath. But there they are—vast air caves receding one beneath the other. Through these by elaborate machinery fresh air is drawn from the terrace, passed through layers of cotton wool, driven through the floor into the House, floats upwards through the roof and is drawn away to be burned in a vast fire, which through the length of the session at least nover die 3. Immediately under the floor of the House is a Rallory running round the air cavern, and here, if the Speaker so willed, a couple of hundred people might enjoy the oratory of the members under quite novel circumstances. The Wanganui Herald says:—At about 6 o'clock on Friday morning Mr David Boss, of Okoia,went out to get some cows, when he heard a noise in the vicinity of a briar bush on the banks of a creek. Thinking there were some ducks, and being a k- j en sportsman, he continued his way, intending to return with his gun. On his return, however, further examination proved that the noise proceeded from a newly-born infant, carefully concealed from view in the bushes. He immediately apprised his wife of his strange find, and she, accompanying him to the spot, took charge of the little one, and tended it with every care until the arrival of Dr Innes. The inhuman mother of the child had simply left it wrapped in a piece of linen, and had not exercised the slightest care or trouble in looking after it from the very hour of its birth. The matter has been placed in the hands of the police. The ' trouble' which was threatened recently at Galatea, in the Bay of Plenty district, as a consequence of a dispute between two parties of Natives, has quite blown over. When news of the bellicose attitude of the two factior.3 camo to Wellington the Hon Mr Cadrnan gave instructions for the polica then at Buatoki to go across to Galatea, but the Natives evidently heard of and took alarm at this movement, for when the police arrived they found, that the game had flown.

Patrick Hughes, sscretaiy of the No, 4 Branch of the Dock Labourers' Union, London, was on the llth March sentenced to three months' hard labour for stealing LlB2, the [ moneys of the union. An interesting story of the heroism of M. de Lesseps is Sold bv a correspondent in the Times. 'ln 1830 or 1831,' he says, ' the plague ravaged Alexandria, and the inhabitants shut themselves up in their houses in order to escape it. _ The French lazaretto, a square building with a large inner court, was severely visited, and was shunned in consequence. Corpses were heaped up in the court, and nobody would approach it to bring provisions. M. de Leasepa. then in charge of the French Consulate, heard of this. He unhesitatingly collected all the officials at the Consulate, and marched at their head with the French flag to the spot, brought succour to the living, buried the dead, and thu3 dispelled the panic. At this time of affliction for all his friends, it is well to record this instance of his heroism.' Quite a craza—and a very interesting onehas come over the French gardeners. They have suddenly begun to bend all their energies to the creation of new flowers and the acclimatisation of such as have never before been cultivated in France. Among the latter is a flower from Central America, which changes its colour three time 3 a day. It is white in the morning, gets pink at noon, and turns a lovely blue when the eun is settincr. The Knights of Labour, Greymnuth, have passed a unanimous resolution discountenancing traffic with Chinese storekeepers as detrimental to the best interests of the town, commercially, morally and otherwise. It is stated that at Nelson Mr Harley, the well-known brewer, proposed a vote of thanks to Mr F. W. Isitt for his address on prohibition. _ The League Journal, the organ of the Scottish Temperance League, states that out of 2747 Congregational ministers in England and Wales 2034 are known to be abstainers. Of

1285 students in Congregational colleg's in England, 561 are abstainers ; in Wales 82 out ot 92 are abstainers ; in Scotland alt are abstainers; and of 386 students in Great Britain 356 are abstainers.

An English newspaper reports that the wife of a workman at Sittingbourne gave birth to four children, three cirls and a boy, who lived 24 hours. The parents, before the infants died, had five children, all of them having been born in a year. The medical attendant, Dr E. Grayling, of Sittingbourne, has communicated with Her Majesty the Queen with a view of obtaining the royal bounty. A pumpkin, weighing 80 pounds and measuring 6i feet in circumference, is said to have been grown this season at Totara in South Canterbury. A Sydney pawnbroker for L 3 10j bought (as a garnet) a fine red stone mounted in a ring. He was so pleased with it that he refused to sell it under Ll 7, which sum he got. The buyer took the stone and consulted an expert, who valued it at over L2OO. Finally it was sent to London and realised L3OO. It was a ruby.

One of the many uses to which piper is now put is that of making gas pipes. Manilla paper is cut in strips equalling in width the length of the pipe to be made. These are passed through a vessel filled with melted asphalt, and then wrapped firmly and uniformly round an iron core,until therequiredthicknessisattained. The pipe is then subjected to powerful pressure, after which the outside is strewn over with sand and the whole cooled in water. The core is then removed, and the outside of the pipe coated with a waterproof composition. These pipes are claimed to be perfectly gastight, and are said to be much cheaper than iron pipes. The Titirangi Run, at the entrance to Pelorus sound, formerly owned by Captain Holliday, of Wellington, has been purchased by Neave, a well-known Canterbury sheepfarmer, who intends to spend L 12.000 in improving the property. The estate contains 10,000 acres, 900 of which are freehold. Mr A. Fisher, one of the late owners, has been retained as manager. A correspondent informs the Oamaru Mail that while up at Mr J. Henderson's Crossfield, Maerewhenua, he was shown by that gentleman a young rabbit which a cat had brought in from a paddock close by, and was rearing up along with her litter of kittens. Although it had been in the nest a few days, the rabbit looked none the worse for its change of domicile. Puss had evidently been carrying it about like one of her own progeny, as the fur on the rabbit's neck was wet where she had been holding it in her mouth. j

On Wednesday, at Napier, a gale raged which was described as the worst experienced there for year 3. At times it rose almost to the force of a hurricane.

The Makotuku correspondent of the Hawke's Bay Herald writes :—A man travelling on crutches, represented himself as a shoemaker on the way to his family in Wellington, having walked all the way from Gisborne on crutches, which had taken six weeks to accomplish. He had a very ingenious story concocted, which he aired according to the positions of the persons to whom he applied. Since living us he has visited Danevirke and Woadville, and enlisted the sympathies of the people there, and he seems to have done well from a financial point. He is rather inclined to be talkative when ho has partaken of liquor, and is able then to show a nice pocketful of money. It is hoped that he may soon fall into the hands of the police for obtaining money under false pretences.

A correspondent of the Bristol Mercury supplies the chess editor of that journal with the following interesting extract from Father Hue's travels in Thibet and China : 'We enjoyed at Lang Ki-Tsoung a few days of salutary and agreeable repose. Prayers, walks, and some games of chess contributed to the delights of those days of leisure. The chessmen which we used had been given us by the Regent of (capital of'Thibet). The pieces were made of ivory, carved with some delicacy. The Chinese, as is known, are passionately fond of chess, but their Rame is very different from ours. TheTartarsandThibetians are likewise acquainted with chess, and, singularly enough, their chessboard is absolutely the same as our own, and the rules of the game are precisely the same in every respect. What is still more surprising, Tartars and Thibetians cry " chick " when they check a piece, and '■ mate" when the game is at an end. These expressions, which are neither Thibetian or Mongol, are used by everyone, yet no one can explain their origin and true signification. The Thibetians and the Tartars were not a little surprised when we told them that, in our country, we said in the same way check and mate. It would be curious to unravel the archaeology of the game of chess ; to seek its origin and progress amongst various nations, and to explain its introduction into Upper Asia with the same rules and the same technical terms as we have in Europe. We have seen first-rate players among the Tartars. They play quickly and with less study than Europjans, but the move 3 are not the less correct.'

I The Wanganui Herald, of Friday, has the 1 following paragraph .-—One of those distinctly dignified and orderly meetings so characteristic of the Tory party was held last night to evolve if possible something out of chaos in the direction of selecting a candidate to contest the Wanganui seat in their laud-grab interest. But little if any thing was done, however, beyond ' windy suspirations of fore'd breath,' it being palpable that the less p:ichy(!er r matous were suffering from a pricking of conscience anent the nomination paper of a certain candidate who has already suffered two defeats and is still courageous enough to undergo a third ordeal. But he is absent from the Colony), and at one time it was quite on the cards that his claim to the suffrages of ' the independent' would be jumped, so to speak. Eventually, it was decided that the meeting should adjourn for a week, the principal supporters of the party leaving for their homes with the fond hope that in the interim something may turn up to release them from what is undoubtedly a huge difficulty as far as ' the other fellow ' is concerned.

The Mayor of Melbourne has adopted the suggestion of the Premier of Victoria that a public meeting be held for the purpose of organising a comprehensive movement for settling the unemployed on the land and raising a fund to sustain them during the preliminary stages of settlement.

An English member of the Ancient Order of Foresters, suspected of imposing on the society, was suspended by his court. Ha appealed under the rules, and the court was instructed to reinstate him. He was then summoned before the Watford Petty Sessions for obtaining money by false pretences. In giving judgment, the chairman said he looked upon the defendant's conduct as a serious crime. He was determined to protect these societies from such frauds, and fined the defendant LlO, with 17s 61 costs, besides ordering him to refund 2ls, which he was charged with having obtained, or, in default, to undergo six weeks' imprisonment with hard labour. The chairman added that societies might, with advantage to themselves, look a little more closely after members who were receiving sick pay. A Dunedin minister,, Dr Stuart, has celebrated no less than 3927 marriages.

A leper has been discovered in the George street Asylum, Parramatta. His toes were commencing to fall off, when Dr Violette, the Government Medical Officer, was called in, and ordered the man's immediate reI mova!.

In Victoria a remarkable developmsnt has taken place in the sale of letter cards and post cards since the reversion to 21 postage. Prior ti September 12th the monthly average sale of letter cards was about 1,2000. Now it is L 219.000, while the sale of post cards, which averaged 1,65,000 monthly before the reversion to the 2d postage, now averages L 222.000 monthly.

One of the keenest of Melbourne anglers was passing down Collins street lately when his attention was claimed by a photograph of a bushrnan's hut, but more particularly by a fish nearly a yard long hanging outside. He had taken interest in bush huts and bullocks and bandicoots, and things so he exclaimed to the photographer and was anxious to know the locality of that hut, and the name of the owner. He got both, and wrote promptly to the man asking him the name of the fish, where they were to bo had, and the best bait., He got the reply about a week later, and it read : —' Dear Sir, —The fish you asked about is the ordinary salt ling of commerce. It may be had at any grocer's, and the best bait is cash. But you can nearly always get them with credit, for the man who buys ling fish to eat ain't the kind of chap to waste his substance on h'gh living and go insolvent.'

An influential meeting of Catholics was held on Wednesday night at Christchurch for the purpose of considering what means should be taken to convey to Father Le Menant des Chesnais, prior to his departure for France, some sense of the gratitude of the Catholics of Christchurch for the selfsacrifice which has characterised his work. A committee was formed, of which Father Marnane was appointed chairman, and Mr E. O'Connor, secretary. It was decided to present Father Le Menant with an address and a purse of sovereigns at 3 o'clock on Sunday afternoon. It is anticipated that Father Le Menant will return to the parish before the end of the year, but until. the business upon which he is summoned to France by his religious order is settled, it is uncertain whether his absence may be permanent or not. The account of a dog finding his way to his old home from a distance of 20 or 40 miles, although not formerly acquainted with the road, is nothing unusual, but when the distance reaches some 200 miles the event is worth recording. The following remarkable

journey of a fox terrier can be authenticated : —A minister in a southern parish in Dumfriesshire got a fox terrier sent him by rad from a friend near Elgin, Morayshire. After being cap-

tive a few days he was let loose. No sooner did the dog find himself at liberty than he disappeared ; nor could any trace of him be found. To the surprise of the Morayshire people, he walked in one morning, looking famished, and he lay down near the fire, and it was some time before ho was able to taete food. It transpired, on exchange of letters, that he had been just seven days in traversing the distance, which, as the crow flies, is little short of 20S miles. How he made his way to his old home is a mystery, but still an indisputable fact, as much as that he is alive and well in his old home at this moment.—Land and Water.

According to the Bruce Herald, the veteran colonist .and politician, Mr Vincent Pyke, has had another stroke of paralysis, and for the present is incapable of using his right arm. Many earnest Democrats object to the presence of lawyers in Parliament, holding that their influence is always on the wrong side. An American correspondent, writing to a contemporary, states the case against the lawyer very forcibly, thus.—' Personally I place the responsibility for the misgovernment and maladministration of cities and courts, and the consequent criminal record, upon the shoulders I will not say the consciences of the lawyers. The United States of America is run by lawyers. It is almost a sine qua non that the President and Vice-President should be lawyers. The majority of the Cabinets are composed invariably of lawyers. So are the Senate and the House of Representatives. So are the State Assemblies and Senates. Official positions, places of trust and influence, diplomatic and consular posts are, in the majority of cases, filled by lawyers. Everywhere and anywhere they abound. The business man, the merchant, the retired trader are conspicuous by their absence. The legal fraternity, like a plague of locusts, have gobbled ut> everything worth gobbling. The swarm of flies and Jic« could not have been thicker in the Egyptian households, They appropriate the whole

legislative, executive, administrative, municipal, and (of course) judicial work of the land. And the result is ?'

In a paragraph which appeared in the Australian Mining Standard recently it was stated in a cabinet of chemical elements bequeathed by the late Prince Buonaparte to the English nation there is a substance called germanium, which is of the fabulous value of 60 times its weight in pure gold. Writing in reference to this statement, Mr F. M. Kratse, curator of the Ballarat School of Mines,savsthe phrase ' fabulous value' somewhat magnifies the difference in the price of germanium as compared with gold. With gold at four guineas an ounce, germanium is at present worth L 194 per ounc*. There is, however, a still rarer metal known to ohemists, viz , gallium, the pre-ent market pries of. which is at the rate of LSS3 per ounce. Costly as are these technological products, they fall into insignificance when compared with the diamond, an ounce of flawless brilliants, say one-carat pieces, being worth L2GOO.

The Bill declaring the legal time for Germany to be that of 15' east of Greenwich passed the third reading on 16th February, and was to come into force on Ist April. A similar Bill has been laid before the Austrian Parliament, and it is hoped that the Bill would come into force at the same time as in Germany. The Austrian Bill provides,—l. That the leg-d time in Austria is the mean solar time of the meridian 15' east of Greenwich. The same to replace tha present local times for legal, civil and all other purposes. 2. The Government is authorised to make the changes in the school and industrial hours, which will become necessary in consequence of the adoption of the above.

The ' plunge into the social swim,' or debut, of the late millionaire's daughter, Miss Helen Gould, took place, early during tha present year amid great festivities, As an instance of how American millionaires do things it may he mentioned that the orchestra alone cost L2OO for three hours' music. The luncheon was provided on a similar scale of magnificence Miss Gould is of quiet and reserved manners, and has always displayed a marked interest in church and Sunday school work.

Mrs Mott, an old lady, is enjoying the sunset of life in the hill village of Ochunga, 3L miles east of Adelaide, South Australia. She may well be called an Anglo-Australian, for she has lived just 53 years in England, and 50 in Australia. She was born at E-ist Hanningfield, in the year 1790, and is now in her 103rd year. She was one of a family of three, one of whom died in childhood. She became an ophan when very young, and was brought up by the parish. She was sent out to service, and began a hard toiling life at the age often. She married a farmer of Essex, and 50 years airo they both came out to South Australia in the ship Kajahistan.. They took up land between' Macclesfield andEchunga, and with too exception of a short residence near Adelaide, she had lived there ever since. Mrs Mott has had nine children, eight of whom are living, the eldest daughter being 76 years old. Two years ago the family numbered 200, including grand, great-grand, and greatgreatgrand children. The old lady is still vigorous both in mind and body, and can talk intelligently about any period of her life.

The Manawatu Herald of Saturday says : The School Inspector a few days ago arrived in town —not to curse, but—to examine the school, and remained, net to pass, but to bless tho children, as in his report to the committee he asserts that 'the manners of the children were very pleasing.' What can parents want more than this ? when they call to mind that 'money makes the man, but manners the gentleman.' We thank the inspector for the great compliment paid to the instruction given.

Iu the forests of Oregon, Washington, Montana and British Columbia there is a species of tree which has a continuous and copious dripping of pure clear %vatar from the ends of its leaves and branches. This extraordinary sight may be witnessed at all seasons when the leaves are on, and seems equally as plentiful on clear, bright days as on damp, cloudy nights. The tree is a species of fir, and the 'weeping' phenomenon is attributed to a remarkable power of condensation peculiar to the leaves and bark of this species cf evergreen. In the Island of H'erro there are many species of 'weeping trees,' but in this latter case the ' tear,-;' appear, according to published accounts, to be most abundant when the relative humidity near the dew point. Mr lailt's lectures in Onnondvillc and Norsewood have baon postponed. The damp weather and excessive speaking have proved very trying to Mrlsitfs voice, audit has [been thought better that he should rest two days.