NEWS AND NOTES.

New Zealand Mail, 20 August 1902, Page 13

NEWS AND NOTES.

mV W Brown, Edinburgh, was the fin al bidder for several Burns’ auto--sVni,s at Christie’s last week. Three Sauza s beginning “The last time I came ,-1,0 moor,” with on the back in the poet’s autograph a “List of books bought the Monkland Society’s Library, made £3O; a letter to James Haim It on. ‘racer Glasgow, dated May o(; 178') £i4 10s; another to Mrs McT Vhosc £2O; and a fourth from that S?o Robert Ainslie .Gallon Hill. £5 ins Mr Brown also bought, for re sne'etively £7 5s and £5 10s, two letSs addressed by Scott, 1819-22, to W. Laitlla" ■ „ „ B c

Whole armies of rats leave towns at the end of summer to go and spend a part of the autumn in the country, +h re to enjov the change of diet whioli fresh fruit affords. Country rats enjov t of the wild ducks, and many a water fowl, besides their luckless yrsv>g foV whom they lie in wait ill the long grass, and th.e rat can swim as well a= run after his quarry. Thev will tuk-‘ t|,o eggs and bury them one by one in the soft bottom of a little stream rill they have a store of these, to he judicious! v indulged in as need arises.— “Pall Mall Gazette.”

A blue rose, which lias just reached Liverpool from America, and is to go to Kow Gardens, was raised by a ho a -l gardener in the States named Macdonald (Scotland has a way of being on the top, in gardening matters). The no wroe js described as a “perfect blue.” As a rarity it may claim rank with the choicest new orchid, and it is, therefore, not surprising to learn that on the way over the Atlantic if received the most careful attention, and was protected in a specially-constructed miniature greenhouse —a care which was rewarded hv its arrival with blooms in excellent condition. * * # * *

Kubelik, the violinist, admits he has already received many offers of marriage from ladies on both sides of the Atlantic. Only the other day he received a letter from a wealthy lady in far-awav Alaska, and who had never seen him. asking him o-o marry her, while more than one lady moving in Loudon society has thrown herself at his lic-ad.

' Writing in the “Century,” of the organisations to create or preserve beauty in public places, Sylvester Baxter thus soaks of the service of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society:—lts record of work accomplished includes the purchase by New York State, at its instance, of 38 acres of the battlefield of Stony Point on the Hudson. committed to the custody of the society with an appropriation for its improvement : the purchase by the State of a tract of about 35 acres at the head of Lake George, the scene of notable events in the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars, and the principal for Cooper’s novel “The Last of the Mohicans”; causing the creation of the Interstate Park Commission for the preservation of the Palisades, with an appropriation cf 400,000 dollars from the State of New York and 50,000 dollars from the State of New Jersey to realise that purpose; inducing the embellishment- of the surroundings of the ancient church in Salem, New' York; and securing the purchase by the city of New A ork of the fine old colonial mansion where Washington lived in 1770. The society has also been active in the steps for preserving such histone monuments in New York citv as Fraunees’ Tavern, the home of Alexander Hamilton, and the cottage of Edgar Allan Poe, the Phillipse Manor Hal! m lookers, the mansion of Sir William Johnson in-Johnstown, and the ruins of the forts at Crown Point and Tieondoroga. A feature of the society P the oiganisation of a Women’s Auxiliary, which has per fori ik-rj effective service. * *

r Berlin correspondent, writing on iiiie 18 says that a hank servant na.m- , Constantine Onrdaez was sent to the hank .u Warsaw, with 30,000 roubles. Un the way a gentleman met him and 7f cd hm \ t! ‘° ’-vay to some street or einor’u- m blanks be offered him a i" V G te ' T' C kaaik servant had scarceW w, a feW \ vhiffs w) ien he fell down W A T • F'Bleman seized hold of the Ou ß w ntaimng - tho monc y au d vanished. to be pois e on a ed. ,ne ’ th ° dgarctte P r °" ed * * * - •

to << thf l:lb ( - 01 ’ S ’ S { ournal ” Rives currency great P T*’ ab ° ut T P * IV ith, the f K ' A - Being advised by a friend Vom,l SI3G i akmg lik( ; I >ess of himself in his shop / 01 , sa * e i' l «■ certain and founrl l - VCnt to ,ave a look at it-, ago. f Rein J o ° Wn F°rtrait of 45 years was told hv +i mo a a \ to origin, he woniaiA tu +/ e attendant in charge (a tation of G t ie . canvas was a.represen. dmself and G Cb r- otl Frith > Pointed asin h as ihl Z-Z "’ as valuable inhad i f £ f tke , ar t‘st. was deceased—■ was , ur rls be? * < rink - ° f this she fnnoral) ’ fI? attended the whioi, proved tl iJ OUg,l & the P icture > °Wn earlv 1 r really one of his Story 0 f ]f P , r netions. This recalls a I; f whicl, has, no doubt.

given heart of \grace to many a disapTppinted artist. Burke once obtained one of Reynolds’s early works and submitted it to the master as that of a young student who sought his advice. It’s a cl ever! sih thing,” replied Reynolds, dubious]v • “but really, whether it is of sufficient promise to justify the young man in adopting art as a profession I oannot say.” * * * # f* ‘ •

Some illuminating facts with regard to the food of working women are stated in a report furnished to the Women’s Industrial Council by Miss Iv. Marion Hunter, its honorary adviser. She finds that the dietary is made up of tea, which conies first in every list she has made; bread, buns, heavy meat and fruit pasties, sausages, pork, bacon, tinned foods, fried fish, pickles, cheese, and condensed milk—used because cheaper than fresh milk. The standard aimed at is a “satisfying” and “.stimulating” diet. Tea is taken so constantly because it is stimulating, and whips up flagging energies for the work still before them, while in winter it is, of course, warming. “Is it reasonable,” asks Miss Hunter, “to look for such children as our country requires if the parents become more weakly every year?” The.question needs no answer.

That the art of acting js in decadence is generally admitted. The old school of actors is fast disappearing, and the art bids fair to disappear entirely. This subject is being discussed in the New Tork press, and one writer says:—“A waitress at a summer hotel, estimable person though she be, or a Pullman palaco car porter, or a young woman in suburban society, cannot and does not, by some miraculous interposition of providence, prance on to the stage a fully-equipped artiste. A person 'to succeed upon the stage should be possessed of good eyes, good teeth, minus gold filling, a good figure, a good voice, cultivated by competent teachers, and a slight knowledge of the French language, sufficient to pronounce properly monsieur, madaine, an revoir, monsiogneur, etc. He should know how to sit down and how to stand up, and have the manners cf being accustomed to good society, and given education, figure, cultivated voice, and the neeessary polish of manner, the actor must, in addition, be the painter and the poet. There is no school for actors. The aoior ‘noscitur non fit.’ Observation and experience do the rest. He must bo willing to learn from the masters.”

Two men recently got into a railway carriage in which a young lady was sitting. Although it was not a smoking carriage, they began to smoke, and presently they started a discussion upon the woman question. At last one of them appealed to the lady thus:—“Do you think there will be men in heaven miss?” The lady blushed. “No.” she replied, “they will want to go somewhere where they can smoke.” The hint was taken. » » » •

In Vienna every man’s home is his dungeon from 10 p.in.rto G a.m. Vienna is a city cf flats, and at 10 p.m. t-.ie common entrance door of each block is closed and bolted. Thereafter persons passing in or out must pay a fine of 2d to the concierge until midnight, and 4d from that hour to G a.m. To go out to post a letter costs 2d. and the same amount to return. To prolong a visit to a friend after 10 p.m. means 2d to get out of his house and 2d more to enter your own. A natural result of this irritating tax is that of all capital cities Aheima is earliest to bod.

Some fair imitations of hand-made lace, are already manufactured by machinery. A recent invention by an Austrian named Matit.scli renders it possible to reproduce one more variety, known as torchon lace. Hitherto it has been necessary to have a separate machine for each design. With ‘ the Matitsch machine it is only necessary to substitute one jacquard for another, as in weaving cloth. In Vienna it is thought that a now ora in lace-inaking is ahead. *****

Cheerfulness is the virtue specially enjoined upon us this year. The King, by instituting musical Sundays on'the terrace at Windsor, lias set a good example. . Some people think religion and sadness synonymous, Which perhaps accounts for the intolerance of so many good people. One can but rejoice when music is added to the joy of life, and cheerfulness allowed as a duty, even on Sundays.—“ Graphic.”

r ®\,P i . xon ’ President of the Institute of Mining Engincei*s, says that colliery operations if carried on by means of electricity, and by the aid of high pressure and improved steam engines, would result in a saving of fuel by at least one half. Thus, from eight to ten million tons of coal per year would be saved in Britain alone. * * * * •

The partaking of a slioe of piu e apple after a meal is quite in accordance with physiological indications, since, though it may not be generally known, fresh pmo apple juioe contains a remarkably active digestive principle similar to pepsin. This principle has been termed “broinelin,” and so powerful is its action upon proteids that it will digest as much as 1000 times its weight within

a few hour 3. Its digestive activity varies in accordance with the kind of proteid to which it is subjected. Fibrin disappears entirely after a time. With the coagulated albumin of eggs the digestive process is slow, while with the albumin of . meat its action seems first to produce a pulpy gelatinous mass, which, however, completely dissolves after a short time. When a slice of fresh pine apple is placed upon a raw beef steak the ~ surface of the steak becomes gradually gelatinous, owing to tho digestive action of the enzyme of the juice. • » * • ■

In the “Revue Generale de Sciences,” M. Nordniann proposes a theory of the propagation of electric force from the sun into space which is based on the assumption that Hertzian waves are emitted from the surface of our luminary, and that the emission of these electric waves must ho particularly intense at epochs of maximum solar activity. M. Nordniann admits that hitherto attempts to discover Hertzian waves in the solar radiation have led to a negative result: hut, in his opinion, this may be explained by the copious absorption of the electric undulations in the higher layers of our atmosphere.

( The number of- lady students at the German universities is increasing. At Berlin 3G5 have inscribed their names for this summer, as compared with 303 during the same term of last year. The number of male students is always higher during the winter in Berlin, and •so it is with the ladies. Last winter there were Gil of them—the highest figure as yet attained. .

When lawn tennis enjoyed the popularity that to-day is attributed to pingpong, the late George du Manner, in one of his famous cartoons, depicted a garden scene ill which, by the light of the moon, the Pccklington-Sniythes or the De Rigby Postlethwaites are pourtrayed olad in garments possessing phosphorescent properties, and playing the game with balls and racquets treated with luminous paint. A well-known lady who lives within a hundred miles of Riohmond Park has, it is said, instituted croquet by moonlight—a sport requiring the organs of vision usually assigned to the feline race—but. no one is recorded to have entered upon Sr game of lawn tenuis in the open within measurable distance cf the hour of midnight. Perhaps, in view of the enthusiasm displayed by devotees, it would be safer to say nc one has owned to having been engaged in such a travesty of the game as the conditions would suggest.

M. Moirand, a well-known Paris dentist, lias just described a case in which hypnotism as an aid to dentistry was resorted to with complete success. A young man of seventeen presented himself with a decayed molar iu the left upper jaw, accompanied by alveolar periostitis. M. Moirand decided that extraction was necessary, but his patient refused to submit to the operation. His father proposed that he should bo taken to M. Berillon, a specialist in hypnotism, and this was done. The hypnotist, as the result of tho interview, simply told the young man that lie must bear to M. Moirand a message to the effect that he must make an injection of cocaine and take out the tooth without causing the slightest pain. The patient returned to tho dentist’s, and sat down quietly in the chair. M. Moirand pretended to inject the cocaine, took up his forceps and removed the tooth. This proved to bo a difficult task, and considerable foroe had to be employed, but tho patient remained completely motionless, and seemed entirely inseiisibilo to pain. *****

The first official record of the Scottish Artillery is contained in a parchment . document‘ of IGBG, -signed by diaries li., preserved amongst the State papers of Scotland in the General Register House at. Edinburgh, which gives the “Establislnnent of the pay of his Majesty’s standing forces in his ancient Kingdoms of Scotland according to 28 dayos in each month and 12 months in tho year.” The forces numbered, all told, close on 300 of all.ranks, and consisted cf a troop of guards (horse) with four officers, a quartermaster, four corporals, a “ohyurgeon and mate,” at 5s for the pair of them, four “trumpetts,” one kettle-drummer, one clerk, and 99 “souldiers,” at 2s Gd apiece, who no doubt were all gentlemen; a regiment of footguards, comprising 10 companies of threescore and ten “souldiers” each, and a “granader” company; the Earle of Marr’s regiment of foot, of the same strength; a regiment of horse, five troops of 50 “horsmen” each; and a regiment of dragoones (infantry), six companies of 50 “souldiers,” and the garrisons of Edinburgh, Stirling, Dumbarton, and the island of the Basse, which contained respectively 108, 38,” 24. and 24 “centinclls.” The pay of a foot-guardsman was Gd, and of the “souldier” of the Earl of Marr’s Regiment- (now the Ist Regiment of the Line, the Royal Scots) only sd. But a “horsman” drew Is 8d a' day, and a “dragoono” Is 2d. The “centinell” of tho garrisons was paid at the same rate as tho foot-guards, with the exception of the men on the Basse Reck fortress, who for unknown reasons drew

a dai't fay of Bd.—“Blackwood’s Magazine:” !r

Tho Bishop of Hereford,' in a letter to tho “Daily News,” says:—My observation of London crowds lias led me tr reel to wliat a surprising extent boCs the lower strata of the city population vill louif lias grown up dring the last thirty years, out of sight and out of mind, and also the vast multitudes of tnoso employed in great commercial houses, in which they are given little cr no interest in the fruits of their employment, and no hope beyond tho earning of a daily or weekly wage, have developed a new type of character—excitable, noisy, even hysterical, craving for amusement, and in essential particulars 'very different from the oldfashioned English type, bred in the country. * * * - *

Salt is so cheap! Why, then, will not the English cooks put salt into their vegetables. Eggs are so expensive! \Vny. then, does the English cook uso ten of them to make a cake which, when baked, needs a Samson to lift it and pass it round at tea, when Amerioan. women use but two or three eggs in. the making of their delicious featherycakes? One of the principal things that an English cook needs to learn is the art of seasoning.—Elizabeth L. Banks in tho “St. James’s Gazette.”

After all that has been written about) the King’s Champion, and the disappointment, felt by the lovers of historical spectacles when it -was known that he was not to have a chance of challenging anybody in Westminster Hall, it is gratifying to learn (says ‘‘London Society”) fcliat Mr Dymoke was given an opportunity to “witch the world with noble horsemanship” by prancing in the procession from Buckingham Palace tc the Abbey. It (£> understood that he is an accomplished rider, and he was doubtless seen to better advantage than some of his predecessors, who were obliged to “back out” at very considerable risk to everybody.

On the. occasion of the Coronation of Queen Victoria four new peers were created. The Marquis of Carmarthen, eldest son of the Duke of Leeds, was called to the House of Lords in his father’s Barony of Osborne; the Earl of Mulgrave, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, was elevated to Marquis of Normanby; Baron Dmidas was elevated to Earl of Zetland; and Baron King (husband of -Lord Byron’s daughter, “Ada, sole daughter of my house and heart”) elevated to Viscount Oakham and Earl of Lovelace; and one Scotch peer, the Earl of Kin tore, and three Irish peers, Viscount Lismore, Baron Rosemore, and Baron Clarew, created Barons of the Lnited Kingdom. The four new peers were the Hon. William Craven Cavendish Ponsonby. third son of the Earl of Bcssborough, who was created Baron de Mauley; Mr Charles Hanbury Tracy, created Baron Sudeley; Mr Paul Methuen, M.P. for Wiltshire, created Baron Methuen (the present General and peer is his grandson); and Sir John Wrottesley, Bart., M.P. for Lichfield, created Baron Wrottesley.