Random Readings

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7865, 29 July 1911, Page 19

Random Readings

The town of Garrucha, Spain, of over 5000 inhabitants, is pleasantly situated on the Mediterranean coast. The houses aro grouped on tho slopes of the hills and form a picturesque sight from the sea. Tho weather is almost always clear, the sc'.i generally cu-hu and the temperature rarely goes below STdeg. Fahr. in winter, while in. summer it rarely exceeds S2hdeg. in the shade. All this makes tho town a very pleasant and comfortable abode, both as a summer and a winter resort. It is sheltered by the hills from the west and partly from tho north winds. Tho only woman who over took part in a walrus hunt is suid to ‘be Airs Peary, tho wife of the famous Arctic oxpldrer. When I’eary went on an expedition to Greenland once his wife accompanied him, but was left behind with the Eskimos at the winter quarters while her husband and his followers went off to explore and map out the northern shores of the country. One day the Eskimos formed a walrus-hunting party, and Mrs Peary joined it. She sat iu the stern nt tho boat, and when a shoal of walrus surrounded it isbe calmly‘fired at the monsters a-s they attempted to 6nm«h in the side of tho craft with their tusks. An -amateur in ‘Paris, in default of a picture gallery, lias a unique collection ux jrcat jja-mtWii' paiciKtj, about Jive hundred in number. All still bear tho paints which the owners squeezed out upon them, or they would have no interest for tho collector. Corot's palette is almost covered with greys, whites, and yellows. Isabey’s is brilliant with reds and blues, Theodore Rousseau's < has gryat patches of brown. On many _of the palettes are sketches by the painters. Corot drew a pip© with a cloud of smoko on his, aud Gustave Doro a stork on his. On 6of M. Harpignios's has a deer drawn oh it, and that of M, Detail!© iho picture of a soldier. Most of. tho old Inns of Chancery' in London are no more, says the “Law Journal.” Clement's Inn, where Falstaff and Shallow* “heard the chimes at midiv.g.ii" ; New luu, of which Sir Thomas Moro was a member; Lyon's Inn, where Coko once *taught tho students; Furnival's Inn, where Charles Dickens' Jived; Thavies Inn, which was one of tho earliest of all tho legal settlements in London; Barnard's Inn, where Lord Chief Justico Holt was among tho “principals”—all these historic places have, “in tho change and chance of time/' disappeared from view. Staple Inn remains in its ancient state by the goodwill of tho insurance company that purchased it some twenty years ago. 'The high postal rates that prevailed in the earlier years of the last century made tho transmission of a letter or parcel a matter of serious moment. “A packet weighing 320 z was onco sent from Deal to Loudon/' writes Mrs Eleanor Smyth in her life of Sir Rowland Hill. “The postage was over J 36, being . • . four times as much as tho charge, for an inside place by tho coach. Again, a parcel of official papers, small enough to'slip insido an ordinary pocket, was sent from Dublin to another Irish town addressed to Sir 'John Burgoyne. By mistake it was charged as a letter instead of as 7 a parcel, and cost JBlll For that amount tho whole mail coach, plying between tho two towns, with places for seven passengers and their luggage, might have been hired.” King George's stock of fuel was not long ago enriched by two faggots, received from the Corporation of London as quit-rent for certain lands. If he cared to assert his rights the King could gather in many moro oddments such as an annual bowl of porridge from, the Lord of the Manor of Addlington, a bucketful of snow from the owner of tho Foulis estate in Scotland, and a garland of roses from the owner of Crendon, in Buckinghamshire. Then, should he visit Aylesbury iu the winter, the owner of certain lands in the neighbourhood could bo called upon to furnish straw* for his bod, and also for the floor of his room. And should he go to war at tho head of -his troops, the holder of the Corbet estates, in Shropshire, is bound to supply the Royal table with a daily supply of bacon. It may seean curious, but it is none the less a fact, that Lord Avebury was the first person in England to be photographi od. Daguerre had called on his father, the lato Sir John Lubbock, who was a distinguished scientific author and a vice-president of tho Royal Society: The object of the Frenchman's visit was to explain the nature of his discovery to tho elder Lubbock, and to invite his support. While they were talking Daguerre saw Lubbock's young son playing in the garden. He suggested that a dagnerrotype should be made of the child as an illustration of the practical value of his discovery. Sir John consented, and the boy was there and then daguerrotyped, or, as w© say, photographed, ❖❖❖ “One by ono, slowly but non© tho less surely,” says a letter from Russia, “things old and venerable are being pushed aside, destroyed or disregarded by trade, progress, and other relentless instruments of change. The latest is the attack «on tho Asiatic caravan, by means of which the best tea has been brought from China, packed in airtight metallic canisters, across ,tho Great Gobi desert of Central Asia to Russia, crossing cu route three ranges of high mountains, This picturesque transportation system will soon give way before the automobile. A line, running at regular intervals, has already been established and ,two weeks’ time is cut off, while the tea is better because of the shortened time of exposure.” East pf Aldgatc, in London's Ghetto, is where tho Shadchan —the Jewish matrimonial agent—is to bo found. The name denotes a “bringing together/' and it is tho Shadchan who initiates tho whole affair. He .says to a young man, “You ought to marry. Now, X know the very girl.” The Shadchan's fee is generally calculated upon the dowry. This strange decaying occupation is an ancient one, Hebrew literature of tho thirteenth and fourteenth century refers to the Shadchan and his legal claim to remuneration, which was always higher when the couple lived more than ton miles apart. Perhaps the extra fee was for shoo leather. Amongst old-fashioned Jews all the world over, marriages are still brought about by the Shadchan, who has figured as a witness in n breach of promise case beforo'now, when the charms of the dowry, or both, have proved illusory, pr exaggerated.

- A young ostrich becomes a foot taller every month of its existence up to eight months, when it is, practically, fullgrown. iu addition to the polo tournament at Delhi, the finals of which will be played during the Durbar week, there will also be football and hockey tournaments, Gups for the winners of which will bo, presented by King George.