HOW MR. BEECHER LOST HIS BOOTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 560, 23 August 1862, Page 2

HOW MR. BEECHER LOST HIS BOOTS.

The following is in Mr. Heury Ward Beecher's best vein : —

The difference betweeen 7 and 8 is not very great — only a single unit. And yet thnt difference has power over a man's whole temper, convenience, and dignity. Thus, at Buffalo, my boots were set out at m\ r ht to be blacked. In the morning no boots were there, though all the neighbouring rooms had been served. I rang. I rang twice. A pretty hotel— nearly eight o'clock, going out at nine, breakfast to be eaten, no boots yet The waiter came, took my somewhat emphatic order, and left. Every minute was an hour. It always is when you- are out of temper. A man in his stocking-feet, in the third storey of an hotel, finds himself restricted in locomotion. I went to the door, looked up and down the hall, saw frowzy chambermaids; saw, afar off, the master of the coal-scuttle ; saw gentlemen walking in bright boots, unconscious of the privilege they enjoyed, but did not see any one coming with my boots. A German servant at length came, round and ruddyl faceJ, very kind and good-natured, honest and stupid. He informed me luit a gentleman had already taken boots 78 (my number). He would hunt him up, though he was breakfasting. Here was a new vexation. Who was the mail who had taken my number and gone for my boots ? Somebody had them on, warm and nice, and was enjoying his coffee, while I walked up and down, with less and less patience, who had none too much at first. No servant returned. I rang again, and sent energetic and Btocailo messengers to the office. Some water had been 'spilled on the floor. I stepped into it, of course. In winter cold water feels as if it burned you. Unpacked my valise for new stockings. Time was speeding. It was a quarter past eight; train at nine, no boots and no breakfast. I slipped on a pair of sandal-rubbers, too large by inches for my naked foot, and while I shuffled along the hall, they played up and down on my feet. First, one shot off; that secured, the other dropped on the stairs j people that [ met looked as if they thought I was not well over my last night's spree. It was very annoying. Reached the office and expressed my mind. First, the cl'-rk rang the bell furiously three times, theu ran forth himself, met the German Boots, who had boots 79 in his hand, narrow and long, thinking perhaps I could wear them Who knows but 79 had my hoots? Some curiosity was beginning to be felt among the bystanders. It was likely that I should have half the hotel inquiring nfter my boots. I abhor a scene. Retreated to my room. On the way thought I would look at room 77' a boots. B hold, they were mine I There were the broken pull straps : the patch on the right side, and the very shape o. my toe — infallible signs ! The fellow had marked them 77 and not 78. And all this hour's tumult arose from just the difference between 7 and 8.

I lost my boots, lost the train, lost my temper, and, of course, lost my' good manners. Everybody doea that loses temper. But bopts on. breakfast served, a cup of coffee brought pence and goodwill. The whole matter took a ludicrous aspect. I moralised upon that infirmity which puts a man's peace at the mercy of a Dutchman's chalk. Hnd he written seventy-eight I had been a gooJ-natured man, looking at Niagara Fahs in its winter dres3. He wrote seventy-seven, and I niuied, saw only my owji falls, and spent the day in Buffalo ! Are not most of the pests and rubs of life such as this] Few men can afford to-morrow to review the things that vexed them yesterday. We boast of beug free, yet every man permits the most arrant trifles to rule and ride him. A man that i 3 vexed and augry turns the worst part of himself into sight and exhibits himself in buffoon's coat and fool's cap and walks forth to be jeered ! And yet one's temper does worse by him than that. And men submit to it not once, but often, and sometimes every day 1 I wonder whether these sage reflections will make me patient and quiet the next time my boots are hubplaced f

A Magnificent Gift.— A Plymouth contemporary records a munificent act on the part of Mr. T. J. A. Robatcs, M.P., viz -.-The establishment, at his own expense, of a hospital at Redrutu for the beuefit of the workiug miuers of Cornwall, who are peculiarly affucted by n disease known as the miner's consumption. The building will be at present erected for thirty patients, wirh a power of enlarging, if necessary, and the cost will be about ,£1,600, — irrespective of the annual cost of its maintenance. Mr. Kobartes is also erecting ftt Redrutu 'an infant schoo', which will accommodate 800 children. When the building is finished a schoolmaster and mistress will be provided, and instruction will be afforded to huudr«d* of children.