THE BYSTANDER.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1217, 28 June 1895, Page 10

THE BYSTANDER.

" When found maka a n ;te of." . . —CA) ■?. CUTTPWv

A mania for treasure hunting 1 , says the London Globe, has cropped. Up at Luckno w from time to time since the mutiny. The latest quest is the search for the jewelled crown of the ex-King' of Oudh, which is engaging the attention of some Lucknow officials and a Calcutta treasure seeker. An old soldier of the 32nd Regiment is tefcated to have given on his death-bed particulars of the place in which he buried the crown; but the most careful search lhas failed to reveal it. The latest report its that the searchers,-were tiring of their Ttask, and were likely soon to abandon it. In connection with treasure-seeking in India, it may be interesting to recall the methods of old campaigners during the mutiny, The regular practice of the natives was to bury their treasure, and people in search of loot used to bring a "mussuck" of water, which was poured over the ground where a " cache " was suspected. If the water sank in at once it was a pretty certain sign that the ground had been recently dug up, and digging that spot generally turned out to be profit- i able. It may be remembered that in "Loot" Mr Rudyard Kipling refers to this ingenious dodge.

A Dunedin debt-collector was lately "taken down by a Chinaman. He had to collect a debt of £1 from one (say) Too Kwid, greengrocer. He had called repeatedly at Too Kwidfs, but was told T.K. ■was "ill," or ".."just gone out," and was going to prepare a summons. But one morning a knowing Celestial called on the collector and made known to him that he could get in T.K.'s money if the collector would allow him something for his trouble —say, give him a receipt for 20s and accept 13s. He also promised to see the matter settled in a week's time, but it might take longer, as Too Kwid was a hard nut. The debt-collector agreed—ho would take anything rather than sue a Chinaman. The debt-collecting Chinky called sure enough at the quoted time with 13s, and demanded receipt for 20s. It occurred to the business man that it would be as well.to get his Chinese co-worker's name before he Jeft, as he might come in useful for future transactions. " I say," he asked, "what's your name ?' "Name me?" said the Chinaman, half-way out of the door— " me Too Kwid;"— -Bulletin.

The following extract from a London exchange of a recent date will be. read with interest-.—" The .ways of the bankruptcy law are past finding put. How many men are there in London, bold of front and brazen of tongue, who, after passing through a bankruptcy examination, have paid a lordly shilling in the pound and betaken themselves righteously to fresh fields and pastures new ? They have their reward. They are treated with what it is proper to call '. every consideration' —to encourage the others. But how if a debtor pays all' his debts and refuses the bankruptcy examination■?. How is he treated in the best of all possible worlds ? Why, he goes to prison.. That is what has happened to Mr Morgan Charles. He has been m prison for nine months for declining to disclose his affairs, and a few days ago at Aberdare he was again committed to prison. Yet his estate has been sold and has yielded ' considerably more than 20s in the pound.' What a logical and justice-loving people we are, to be sure!"

The first number of the new nagazine, London Home, contains an interview with Mr Mylchreest, well known as one of the earliest and richest friends of Mr Rhodes, " the Great Amalgamator " in South Africa. He says it is true that there are failures in South Africa and all the other colonies. " But I do not know that the failures make successes any the more difficult. And, after all, the colonies supply no more failures than the home country. The other day a friend of mine advertised for a clerk at .£l2O 'per annum to go out to a sickly climate—it was the Congo—and for this poor post he received no fewer than 123 applications. Were not these failures ? The fact is, we have the failures in life with us everywhere. The extent of the failures varies in degree, but we can take it that a man fails in life if he fails to attach so much of this world's goods as to protect him, with his family, in old age. But there is another sort of failure in life, and, if it is not quite so common, it is among the most tragic and pathetic of all. I mean the man of great accumulated wealth, who labours all day and every day to provide for his children, as he will say, though in reality he is slaving in this way because he does not know how to take his ease. He does a bad thing by himself, and very often a wicked thing by his own children, in leaving them to*spend money which he himself never learned how to use, which they have never had the oppor-

In a recent lecture Lord Rayleigh briefly discussed the question how we knew from what direction a sound came. The point was one of considerable difficulty. The fact that we had two ears was supposed to supply an answer, since the right ear, if turned towards the sound, might be supposed to hear more than the left. That theory might hold for sounds coming from the side; but what if they were in front or behind ? By experiment, he had found that with pure sounds, such as were given by a tuning fork, the ear could tell with certainty their direction when they were to the right or left, but was quite at a loss if they were in front or behind. But with other sounds the case was different: the ear could easily judge the direction, wherever it was, of sounds such as were produced by the human voice or by clapping the hands.

The announcement that the German women in South Australia did not intend to take advantage of the franchise has roused the clergy to action. Five German pastors have issued an appeal to the women to alter their determination. They say:—" The law which gives women the right to vote has been forced upon us ; we Germans have not asked for it. But now that it is law, we should be the greatest fools if we did not make use of it. We therefore earnestly ask all German women to have their names registered and to vote at the next election. In the end, it may be possible, with the aid of the German women, to abolish this useless law, or, if that is not feasible, we can at least oppose it 3 hurtful tendencies."

Handwriting as a diagnostic sign in obscure cases of cerebral or mental disease has lately been invested with much importance by the Italian School of Anthropology, the head of which (Dr Cesare Lombroso, the eminent Turin professor), says the Lancet, has just issued a little volume on the subject. It is entitled " Grafologia," and is published by Ulrico Hoepli, of Milan. A history of graphiology, going into the handwriting of individui normali, and showing how it illustrates individual character, precedes an elaborate examination of the handwriting of individui anormali, in which the distinctive features of the cursive style assumed by epileptics, lunatics and " hypnotics " is described with great minuteness, aided by the copious reproduction of facsimiles. This is much the most interesting portion of the treatise, and Dr Lombroso's immense experience as a medico-psychological expert in criminal trials is displayed to special advantage. The "range of variation" within which the same individual, healthy as well as insane, will modify his handwriting according- to his cerebro-mental condition is one of the many interesting inductions arrived at by Dr Lombroso.

M. Andree, the celebrated Swedish aeronaut, who proposes to undertake a voyage to the North Pole in a balloon, is the chief engineer of the Stockholm Patent Office. He has executed a number of aeronautical ascents, with the assistance of a fund which is controlled by the Swedish Academy of Science. He always ascends alone in a balloon of 30,000 cubic feet, built in Paris. M. Andree, in 1893, crossed the Baltic from Stockholm, and landed on a deserted island forming a part of the Finnish Archipelago. He has expressed the belief that, in view of the favourable conditions which the Polar regions afforded for aerial voyaging, and the great progress lately made in aeronautics, a balloon could make the voyage from Spitzbergen over the North Pole in about thirty day. The cost of the enterprise would be about 130,000 kroner (about .£7220). There has always been a great fascination about the Pole to the adventurous —" the glamour of the Arctic," Mr Stead has called it—but it is at present a sad story of failure.

The New Woman. Oh, the twentieth century girl.' What a wonderful thing- she will be ! She'll evolve from a mystical whirl A woman unfettered and free ; No corset to crampen her waist, No crimps to encumber hor brain ; Unafraid, bifurcated, unlaced, Like a goddess of old she will reign!

She'll wear bloomers —a matter of course, She will vote, not a question of doubt; She will ride like a man on a horso, At the club late at night she'll stay out; If she chances to love, she'll propose ; To blush will be quite out of date ; She'll discuss politics with her beaux, And out-talk her masculine mate !

She'll be up in the science of things ; She will smoke cigarettes; she will swear If the servant a dunning note brings Or the steak isn't served up with care. No longer she'll powder her nose Or cultivate even a curl, Nor bother with fashions or clothes — This twentieth century girl!

Her voico will be heard in the land ; She'll dabble in matte/s of State ; In counsel her word will command, And her whisper will laws regulate. She will stand 'neath her banner unfurled, Inscribed with her principles new ; But the question is—What in the world The nevj century baby will do ? — New York Truth.

"The faculty," says the Bulletin, "adores terrible names. Through the Dean Poisoning Commission the public knows more about 'peripheral neuritis ' than it knows aboiit influensa; and yet, a month ago, not one reader in 10,000 had ever heard of such an awful thing. Which awful thing is merely a symptom of several ' complaints,' and every hardened old sot who has ' suffered' a prolonged 'recovery' has probably had it a hundred times. ' Wot's er matter, ole f'ler ?' * Got the cramps in my toes, knees and hands.' ' Cramps ? By Jove! old man, you've got peripheral neuritis !' Then the hardened old sot will try and recollect a prayer, and give up his drunken-ghost.

An extraordinary rumour is going about London, It is said that a well-known West-end incumbent has received a gag as a. present from a section of his congregation. An anonymous donor once sent the late Prebendary Calthrop the princely sum of fourpence, urging him to have his hair cut. The Prebendary announced the fact in .church, adding, says the Pall Mall Gazette, that he had never paid less than sixpence, and suggesting that his adviser should send the balance of sum.

Sir Patrick O'Brien, M.P., whose death was recently announced, was one of the raciest characters in the House of Commons, where he had a seat for 35 years. 'His picturesque description of Mr W. Redmond as "the young sea-serpent from County Clare "is well remembered. Sir Patrick was very fond and proud of his nephew, Mr T. C. O'Brien, the famous cricketer. On one occasion the House was droning away in the dog days over Supply. Sir . Patrick caught the Speaker's eye. "Mr. Speaker," he said, "we are simply wasting our time in this place. I move that we adjourn and see my nephew bat at Lord's." The motion was not put from the chair. The cricketer succeeded his uncle in the baronetcy.

The English papers are full of stories—good, bad and indifferent about Sir Patrick. ''. A writer in The Realm tells of an amusing interchange of courtesies between the Knight and that famous wit and politician, Mr Bernal Osborne. "Mr Bernal Osborne once encountered Sir Patrick O'Brien on the hustings—at a time when it had not yet entered into the mind of man to conceive a Bill the object of which should be to check the exuberance of election oratory. The scene was Waterford —if I recollect aright and the passage of arms between the worthies was as' offensive as possible. Bernal Osborne must, I think, have had the best of the encounter, for he aroused the passions of the mob so much that he had eventually to escape from his hotel over the roofs of the adjoining houses. One of Bernal Osborne's retorts has become historic. Sir Patrick alluded to the notoriously brittle threads that had bound Osborne to successive seats, and denounced him as a man who had been rejected by seven constituencies. In reply, the rejected one indulged in a marvellous imitation of his opponent's manner, and when he had apparently exhausted his powers of ridicule —which were considerable —he solemnly concluded, ' But, gentlemen, to be serious, Sir Patrick has described me as being the rejected of seven constituencies; and when Sir Patrick says that, I hurl the insinuation back in his teeth —if he has any.' It was at this stage —to quote a vulgar, but expressive, phrase—that the band played.

Though there is little humour in the historical works of the late Professor Freeman, there is plenty of it—chiefly of a somewhat; sledge-hammer type —in his recently-published letters. Obscurity was, above all things, his bugbear. He remarks with surprise and relief that in private life Browning " did not need a dragoman,' and comments on an eminent philosopher as follows:—" They say that his style ie formed on German writers, and that an acquaintance with the language would make on appreciate him ; but I do not see what is gained by that so long as the affected ass professes to talk English."

Energetic Politician : Here's a pretty mess! I've been invited to deliver a speech on bimetallism.

Friend : Well, what's the matter with that ?

E.P.: I can't. My private secretary says he doesn't know anything about it. —London Globe.

" I have known several good story tellers," says Mr Joseph Hatton, in his Cigarette Papers in the London People. " It is characteristic of the race that they never spare themselves. Some of the brightest things that you hear about Mr Labouchere, and which seem to leave him as the butt or the victim, are the stories he has told of himself. Vizetelly gives a reminiscence of Sala, without mentioning names, in which Sala, requesting a cabman to drive him to Barnes's (a Haymarket tavern) was landed at Barnes's Common and left there, is an anecdote which the famous journalist tells against himself.

I Abraham Lincoln could not resißt the grim humour of the rebuff his son Robert suffered at the hands of the railroad superintendent at Washington, who, in sympathy with the President of the Road, was a staunch Whig, and bitterly opposed to Lincoln, Contemplating an important excursion, Lincoln sent his son Robert to order a special train of cars. 'My road doesn't run special trains for the President,' said the superintendent. ' What!' said Robert, ' didn't you furnish a special train for the funeral of President Harrison ?' ' Yes,' said the superintendent, stroking his whiskers, ' and if you will only bring your father here in that shape you shall have the very best special train on the road.' "

The Financial Times tells a story that is going the rounds in banking circles of a chief clerk who, having completed twentyfive years of meritorious service, naturally looked for something handsome in the way of an increase of salary. When the day arrived the director who had been longest connected with the board was seen, all beaming with smiles, approaching the faithful member of the staff, and the eyes of the whole office were turned upon him. He drew from his pocket a long envelope, and a whisper passed round that it contained a Bank of England note for .£IOO at least. The chief clerk would fain have put the letter into his desk, but the director stood by, and suggested that he should open it. It was found to contain a short letter congratulating him upon his long and faithful service, and also—a recent photo of the director. Paralysed by his emotions, the clerk was dumb, and could only look up in the director's face. " What do you think of it ?" asked the director. " Oh/' replied the clerk, " it's exactly like you, sir " !

How the Novel of the Future will Read. —"Adolphus," said the new girl, in tones of strong, vibrant tenderness, "be not afraid, sweet one; look up and tell me you will share my lot. I cannot offer you fame or fortune at present, but the path to both is open before me. This very week I have been made legal adviser to the Maidens' and Matrons' Bank, the Salesladies' Trust Company (Limited), and the Shoppers' Railroad Association. Rely upon my strong heart and willing hand, dearest, and be mine !" Adolphus, trembling and blushing, toyed with the flower in his buttonhole. It was her gift. She drew nearei to him ; their eyes met; and with one yielding sigh he dropped his head upon her stalwart shoulder and whispered *' Yes!" — Topical Times.

" I have had some curious experiences in my time," I once heard. Mr Leslie Ward, the famous Vanity Fair caricaturist, say, writes a contributor to the Westminster Budget. " General Ignatieff was staying at Claridge's, so I packed up, drove off, ordered a bedroom, and even called for hot water, when suddenly Claridge came down and ordered me out of the house; and I could not persuade him that I was not a Nihilist bent on the General's destruction. However, a glimpse of him as he stepped into his carriage served my purpose well. Cardinal Newman, too, was a difficulty. A friend asked me purposely down to stay in Birmingham. At Euston Station, on my way, who should I see upon the platform but the old Cardinal himself! He went into the refreshment-room, ordered a plate of soup, and I did the same. In a few minutes I had all I wanted. However, I went down to Birmingham, and next day called at the Oratory, and asked to see the " father." To my alarm a priest suddenly came forward, and—did 1 wish to consult his Eminence? If so, ho would try and procure me an audience! Here was a dilemma. I could not say I had come to caricature the old gentleman. The priest left to make inquiries, and I fled. I wonder if they counted the spoons afterwards/

According to a writer in one of the magazines, the Prince of Wales's intimate friends and habitual associates are Lord Carrington, Sir Frederick Johnstone, Lord Londonderry, Lord Lonsdale, the Duke of Abercorn, Lord Hastings, Sir Allan Young, Mr Christopher Sykes, Lord Eosebery, Lord and Lady Warwick, Mr Alfred Kothschild, Baron Hirsch, Sir Henry Calcraft, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, Lord and Lady Cadogan, and last, but not least, the American-born Duchess of Manchester, who, with her children, is a frequent and welcome guest at Sandringham.

Leo XIII. has far outstripped the average age and length of reign of the Eoman Pontiffs. Since Peter, there have been 293 Popes, of whom 11 only have reigned longer than 17 years; and since the Papal See returned to Eome from Avignon only 16 Popes have lived past the age of 80. It used to be believed that no Pope could live to reign longer than 25 years, the period which, it is said, the Apostle Paul ruled in Borne; but this belief was shattered by Pio Nono, who reigned 32, years. It is said the present

Pope believes he will live to be 90, it having been foretold in his youth that he would do so.

Intelligence in Boston is not confined to human beings, but is liberally manifested by the brute creation, to judge by the strange tale of the resentful cat narrated by the Boston Transcript. In the house of a family long resident in that cultured city, there dwells a big gray cat named Blossom, made much of by members of the household, and greatly petted as a rule by visitors. But one day a young man came to stay for a few days, who was an inveterate . tease, and, in spite of pleadings and protestations, he determined to take Blossom in hand. Her ears were greeted with the unfamiliar terms "Old rascal," " Scapegrace," and kindred names, until the astounded cat did not know what had come to pass. One morning she was missing for several hours, and was not to be discovered in any of her familier haunts. At last loud cries from the chambermaid revealed Blossom's whereabouts. The indignant cat had visited the guest's bedroom, and revenged herself upon his nightshirt, which lay in tatters on the floor. Puss was severely scolded, and everyone cautioned to keep the door shut, but all in vain. The cat would find her way in, and hide till the chambermaid had done her work, and then renew her onslaughts on the young man's clothes, if any could be found, or failing them, on the pillow-cases. Her enemy tried to soothe her feelings, but she would have none of him, and he was glad to cut his visit short. Since then Blossom has entirely recovered her usual amiability, and has never been known to destroy anything from that day to this. The cat bids fair to oust the snake as a subject for American humour.

There has been a strange discovery of a lost will of a deceased farmer in the Aberdeenshire parish of Forgue. He was a bachelor, and had no friends as heirs, and his property passed to the Crown. All his goods were disposed of, except a pocket Bible and a few old books, which were given to his old and faithful housekeeper. These she sent to her people in the North, and went to fill a place in Glasgow. On her return, her people told her that mice were destroying the .books, and she removed them, examining them the while. To her astonishment, she found in the Bible a scrap of paper, which proved to be her old master's will, by which he left her all he was possessed of. The Crown will have to refund »82000.— Glasgow Herald.

As an instance of the fact that very eminent Q.C.'s sometimes defend- —and win great renown in doing so —men whom they know to be guilty, a story is told of the late Chief Justice Cockburn, who, when practising at the Bar, on one occasion failed to secure the acquittal of a man who was being tried for his life. The prisoner was sentenced to be hanged on the 20th of the month, and as his counsel passed him in the dock he plucked him by the gown. "I haven't got justice, Mr Cpckburn," he said. " No," replied the Q.C., gravely, " not yet; but you will—on the twentieth."

How babies are announced in South Africa. —The following quaint advertisement is from a South African paper:

Birth

It was on Thursday, at 0.30 a.m., fhe 4th of April, 1895, that in the passive retirement of C M. de Tarnowsky family, at Bonne Terre Pcenix, a lovely babe named : J'Jliacin Milton Lubomir has drawn his first breath of life, on this earthly world. All generous Christian friends, kindly to pray our Heavenly Father, to protect, thi« puny, living springthrough time and for eternity !'

Mr James Bailey, who is the new Conservative member for Walworth, is a striking instance, says an English paper, of the rapidity with which some modern fortunes have been acquired. He is only 45, was son of a small farmer at Mattishall, in Norfolk. He came up to London at 20, and took a small hotel in Gloucester road, South Kensington, then covered with market gardens. Ten years' hard and successful work there enabled him to buy the site of and to build thereon the present Bailey's Hotel. The Princess Louise was interested in the new enterprise, and now it has become the "swagger" place for rich colonials, and all such visitors. Last year he sold the hotel to Spiers and Ponds, Limited, for over .£300,000, of which £150,000 was set down as the value of the goodwill. He became a director of Spiers and Ponds, and is also a director of the big Harrod's Stores, South Kensington, and of D. H. Evans and Co., a mammoth drapery company in Oxford street. Mr Bailey has made his pile practically in 20 years, and now he is spending it. He has a large house in Harrington Gardens near his old hotel, and last autumn he gave £60,000 for the Shortgrove estate, near Saffron Walden, in north-west Essex. He is a generous giver to good causes, and 1 prides himself on being a self-made man.