THE BYSTANDER.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2691, 14 December 1895, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE BYSTANDER.

“ Whan found make a note of.” —Cam. Cdttm.

A writer ia Land and Water thus describes the death of Pasteur, the greatest of French scientists “ Slowly last Saturday morning the welcome dawn -broke on the anxious group, headed by Madame Pasteur, which iecludodthc great mau s family and disciples, who watched the life ebb out of the world’s greatest savant. As tho light waxed brighter, the moribund’s strength waned, and Madame Pasteur, about 8 o’clock, bending over tho agonised form of her adored husband, asked if ho Buffered. ‘ Vos,’ ho whispered, in a voice so low that only she heard it. Ho never spoke again. Vainly tho doctors tried to detain his spirit until the oldest son returned from St. Sebastian, a distant watering-place. At half-past 10 a convulsive spasm shook the once mighty frame, and tho spirit of the great curer had probably made a discovery beside which all that he had previously found was, ns Newton said, * The more picking up of pebbles on tho shores of the Eternal Seas.’ ”

Wo are told that “ when his life was discovered to bo gone, tho attendants still continned chanting tho Requiem for the Dead. Madame Pastour, who had never once broken down dining tho long trial, closed tho open eyes and the void mouth, folded tho long, almost shadowy, hands, ns in prayer, placed the ornoilix on tho dead man’s breast, and tho glittering orders with which the scientific societies of the world, Governments, and kings had decked this eon of a tanner,' from Dole, a little village in the Jura. Then the room was darkened, and six tall candles placed by the side of tho corpse. Born in the third decade of the century, when many things now science were coujecturc, Pasteur’s life from very childhood was one of self-denial, charity for others, and toil. I have no space to follow the long sequence of his educational, university, and hospital studies ; nor chronicle the invariable honours which crowned all his examinations. Place of importance was followed by place of dignity ; and tho highest offices in Paris became his.’’

It is bewildering to calculate, says the London American, how much of this world’s goods will some day bo in possession of the Duchess of .Marlborough, nec Consuelo Vanderbilt. As Duchess she will become mistress of Blenheim I’alace, with its art treasures, its 1100 rooms, its army of servants, and its 2700 acres of land. ' .A price cannot be put on Blenheim as on the Vanderbilt properties. It is worth millions to the man who can appreciate it and afford to liic in it. Miss Vanderbilt's dowry, which it is said will be £2,000,000, will enable her to live with dignity as the mistress of Blenheim,, although it will not bo excessive. As one of VV. K. Vanderbilt’s three children she will inherit her share of the following properties:— A fortune of £11,000,000.

A house at Fifth-avenue and Fifty-second street, Mew York, valued at £(100,000. Marble Ball, Newport, valued at £IOO,OOO. A house .and estate at Oakdale, L 1,, valued at £IOO,OOO. The steam yacht Valiant, valued at £IOO,OOO. Rubies, diamonds, and other jewels, valued at £OO.OOO.

At a time when something like an organised attack is being made upon the reputation of the police, says London Topical Times, the force should be thankful to anybody who comes forward to champion them. When that championing is practically a return o£ good for ceil, they should he doubly grateful. Mr Charles McKay, tobacconist, was recently “run in’’ at Kingsland for being drunk, and this is what he said when brought before the magistrate: 41 Qnitc right, your worship, I was drunk—t cry drunk. I was very glad there was a policeman there who knew his duty and took me to the station. It is a pleasure to pay rates and taxes for such a man. ’ - No doubt Mr McKay iound it a pleasure also to pay a tine of live shillings, for it is evident he doesn't mind laying out his money when he thinks it will be judiciously expended. It is a pity all ratepayers are not so well or so easily satisfied, though, of course, there are other ways of enjoying one's share of the benefit from public disbursements than indulging in the luxury of tan appearance at the police court. "' j

A pitiful manifestation of religious bigotry writes Mr Labouchorc in Truth, has just been giVen by a cleric named Proby at Colyton. This little Devonshire town has a Volunteer brand, supported by public subscription, and a few weeks ago the members took part in the musical portion of the harvest thanksgiving service at the parish church. Of course no Nonconformist subscriber thought of objecting to this, but on its being announced that similar assistance was to be rendered by the band at the CJnitarian church last week, the conductor received the following note ** Colyton House, October 3, 1895. “The Rev. W.H.B.lTobyissorrytohaveto inform Mr West that, having seen tho band advertised to take, part in a service at the Dnitaria Meeting House, he must decline subscribing any more to the band funds, and requests that this may be borne in mind next Christmas. It can hardly appear reasonable that an institution upported in tho main by Church people should be used for the purpose of glorifying the functions of heretics or other Dissenters,”

To prevent any misunderstanding on,.the point, it nhonld ,bo added that the Rev. RrotSy Is hot the Vicar of. Colyton, nor does he appear to have any clerical charge— a fact on which the Church may be oongratu-. lated.

Field-Marshal Lord Roberts received his nickname of “ Our Bobs ” from his soldiers in India, by whom he was greatly beloved. When still a lieutenant, in 1858, he saw two sepoys making off with a standard. He rode after them at full tilt and overtook them as they were about to enter a village. There tho pursued turned round and one of them ievelied his mnsket at tho young oilicor, but fortunately the cap missed fire and tho standard-bearer was out down. On the same day Lieutenant Roberts won his Victoria Cross.

A post-ollice town in Pennsylvania is called A itch, for tho following reason. It is said that there used to live in that part of tho country live prosperous farmers, respectively named Anderson, Isenberg, Taylor, Crum, and Henderson. Each wished tho town to be named after himself, but they could not come to an agreement. Finally, as a compromise, it was suggested and agreed that the first letter from each name should be taken and placed together.

“ It is a remarkable fact, but one never sees wooden telegraph poles in India,’’ said a well-known railway man recently. “Tho ants are so numerous throughout India that they would eat a telegraph pole through and through in one night. On that account stone is Used, The atone piles arc from six to eight feet in height. For ties, inverted iron boxes are used, which have been carefully tempered in order that they may not warp in hot weather.”

In England, as in America, the weddingring is the only distinguishing sign of the married woman: etiquette does not demand that she, should wear any other especial mark of her blissful state, But in other countries this is not the case. Among some of the Germans tho badge of a married woman consists of ti little cap or hood, of which they are very proud, and “ donning the cap ” is a feature of tho wedding-day among the peasants of certain localities. The married women in Little Russia arc always seen, even in tho hottest Weather, with a thick cloth of dark hue twisted about their heads. In New Guinea a young woman lets her hair hang about her shoulders ; but when sho is married, this is cut short. Chinese matrons braid their hair like a helmet. In Wadai the wives colour their lips by tattooing them with the thorns of tho acacia and rubbing them with iron filings ; in parts of Africa tho married women perforate the onlcr edges of their ears and lips, and stick rows of grass stalks in thorn ; and among a certain Mongolian tribe of people—the Manthes—tho women wear suspended from their ears a little basket full of cotton, to which a spindle is attached.

M. Paul du Chailhi, the original discoverer of tire pigmies of Equatorial Africa and one of the very few living white men who have met a gorilla face to lace, is a square-built® medium-sized man, with a heavy grey moustache. When in Africa he lived much of the time among the Pahouins, Fans, and other cannibals. Ho escaped being oaten by them because he was considered an Oginzior Moginzi—that is, a sort of guardian angel, whose presence brought good fortune to the people he dwelt among. This belief ho fostered with the aid of the electric battery, magnet, and musical boxes, as well as with the firearms he carried.

“Before entering the house of the royal Prime Minister” (says a traveller lately returned from Corea), “ I proceeded to take off my shoes, as I always complied with the customs of tho country; but the prince, having somehow been informed that such •was not the custom in England, insisted on my abstaining from doing so. 1 had already taken off one shoe, and was proceeding to untie the other, when, catching me by the arm, he dragged me in. I had now but one shoe one ; still, I managed to be equal to the occasion, and bad a long talk with the prince, his courtiers standing round. Suddenly a young relative of the prince whispered something in his ear) and directly the courtiers rushed from the room. A minute after, amidst the deepest silence, was brought triumphantly into the audience-room and deposited in tho middle of the table — my shoe which I had left outside I It appeared that this special state of excitement was produced entirely by the fact that my unfortunate footgear was made of patent leather, and that, being almost new, it shone beautifully. Neither prince nor court had ever seen, patent leather, befoie, and much delight, mingled with childish surprise, was on the face of everybody when it was whispered round that my shoe'was covered with a coating of glass. So great an impression did it make that when I came away the prince himself accompanied mo to the door, while a page put on and laced my dazzling foot-gear.”

A good story, says To-Day, is going the rounds of tho clubs concerning tho impossible American in Paris. He alighted at an hotel, which can bo named at tho pleasure of the man telling the tale, to find it absolutely full. “ 1 have nothing,” expostulated the host, almost tearfully, “nothing. The first floor is taken by the King of tho Ostenders ; tho Queen of Slontegaria occupies the second, the Duke of Cottonopolis ia sharing the third floor with the Caliph of Port Said, and the Crown Prince of Nova Esperanza is sleeping on tho billiard table. As for myaolf, X have to make up a bod in the office, and there only remains tho chamber of my daughter. Of course ” “Is that your daughter !" interrupted the American, pointing to the young lady at tho desk. “All right. I’ll marry ' her after lunch.” And, giving his valise to the speechless Boniface, he added, “ Now you can take my baggage up „to our room.”

An eccentric individual in Odessa is reported to have just departed this life after bequeathing ono million of roubles to each of his four nieces, on condition that for a twelvemonth after his decease each of them shall go into service either as laundress, maid of all , work, farm hand, or in some other equally bumble capacity. A twelve hours’ day of work is insisted upon, and the local authorities are requested, for a consideration, to see that the provisions ato duly carried out. Tho heiresses, vve are told, have entered upon their resnectivo lowly duties, and have not had timo to choose between tho hundreds of “ disinterested” offers of marriage which have already flowed in.

General Booth, under the patronage of Horace Tozcr, has been touring Queensland in connection with his pauper-colonisation schemes* The General professes to have his eye on Bouth Africa as the most acceptable dumping-ground, but he’s touring Bananaland all the same. Africa vvill undoubtedly suit him best; no turbulent, jealous democracy ; no anti-alien agitation ; only a happy hunting-ground for the syndicate and a pasture-ground for its obedient slave—the pauper immigrant.—Bulletin. -

A log of hardwood with a history, says the Queenslander, has just arrived in New South Wales in as good a condition as when it left eighty years ago. In the very early daj s of 'settlement, that is to say, during the first decade of the present century, it was cut from the bush, perhaps in the neighbourhood of Sydney itself, and along with three other logs, each some 15ft or 18ft in length, was shipped asasamplu of New South Wales hardwood to England. Tho wood was put on board a vessel known as the Boyd, which is believed to have been a brig of some 500 tons register. Tho Boyd sailed for New Zealand, where she purposed loading kauri gum for the Cape, in tho year 1809, having on board seventy white people, and a Humour of Maoris, also a very valuable cargo. In Whangaroa Harbour, however, a terrible fate awaited the ship and her crew. The Boyd fell into the hands of the Maoris, and the unfortunate white people on board, with the exception of four—two women and two children—were killed, cooked, and eaten. The vessel herself then appears to have been run aground and burnt to tho water’s edge. That was eighty-six years ago. The history of the unhappy, voya-to has since been embalmed amongst the most stirring events of seafaring life in Australasian waters, and tho charred remains of the ship have been traced with recurring interest as they have drifted from time to time about the harbour of Whangaroa : sometimes projecting above the surface, sometimes seen a few feet below, and occasionally completely lost tor months together in the mud.

The average London journalist knows as much about Australia ns a New Zealand editor about Titnbuctoo. Thus the London Graphic gravely announces that 44 Wallaby is the native name for Kangaroo.’

The Cioceurry (N>.W.) Advocate tolls the story of a local 44 individual who has been supplied gratis with four quarts of milk daily by a kindly disposed person. Lately the donor was .astonished at seeing her regular attended waiting at the dairy door with a four and a ten. quart billy can, which he asked to the filled without a blush and which tho owner refused, telling' him that he should be thankful for four for nothing with-

out asking for anymore, and not to do so again. When a beast is killed he is always there and takes away as much as he can carry without any thanks to the donor, and though he says he is not greedy he certainly likes a lot.' When an old acquaintance turns up he tells him how badly he is used and the lack of employment, and so touches the heart of the busbraan that he buys him rations at the nearest store. Yet only last week men were wanted to go with cattle but could not be found.*’

The Sydney Morning Herald’s special correspondent (sent Horae re produce markets) writes from Liverpool :—The ordinary business man of Britain has about as much sympathy for “ his dear brother,” “his own people on the other side of the world, his owu flesh and blood, held to England by that unseverable silken tie ' (expressions frequently heard from public platforms, especially Australian ones), as the ordinary brick of commerce* There is used here a brick with a vitrified glassy face, smooth as A tils, 'i’bat is the brick Which mehta this, cage. It has a smooth face, but a very hard one. . . . Such a man will trade with America or Armenia,, just aa be will with Australia, ihe smallest fraction; say the thirty-second part of a farthing, will turn the scale in favour of the country which biters it; Sentiment is perhaps necessayj to the imperial Institute, but it doesn’t exist in the trade centres of London, Liverpool, Manchester, or many other places I have visited.

One has become eo accustomed to regard Mr Gladstone's knowledge as being literally encyclopaedic in its scope that an incident related by the New Age, which goes to show that the G.O.M. does not really know everything, comes as a kind of shock. The story runs that, not long ago, he was talking at dinner with a lady about music. Mr Gladstone laid down the very doubtful dictum that the best music was that which appealed to the largest cumber of average people, and bo declared that his favourite opera was “ I Puritani.” The lady naturally suggested that much had been done in the way of opera since “ I Puritani n was produced, and hinted at Wagner. “Wagner?” aid Mr Gladstone “is the man dead