HERE AND THERE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2947, 7 September 1910, Page 82

HERE AND THERE.

—Preaching in Shirt Sleeves.— The heat wave still blisters the Eastern States of America (says the New Yoik correspondent of the Daily Telegraph on June 13), and the mortality amongst the poor and children has greatly increased. Native ingenuity has been taxed to assist people in keeping cool, and by means of diet, clothes, reduced hours of labour, and supplies of ice, the problem has been ! largely solved. ''Peekaboo" blouses for I ladies are again common, and to-day in j Wall street I saw many men going about their business coatless, and with their ! shirt sleeves turned up. At the corner of Wall street, opposite to Mr Pierpon'r Morgan's office, I saw an Episcopal clergyman, who is known as the ''Bishop of Wall street," admonishing a large and perspiring crowd of brokers and clerks to keep cool. Anxiety, irritation, covet - ousness, and anger, he said, increased the temperature of the body, but j:ood thoughts, peace, and content are as soothing as a summer breeze. In mam' churches and chapels it is now customary for women to remove their hats and men their coats during the service. In Waterbury, Connecticut, yesterday, the Rev. I Henrv Merritt, pastor of the Congregational Church, preached in his shirt sleeves. "My brethren." he said, "it is hot." The congregation looked eloquent, but preserved silence. "Are there anv here." continued the pastor, "who would see (?rave indecorum in the removal of a cleravman's coat durin? the service?"' There was no answer. "As many as are willing that I should preach to them in sorrethincr approximating comfort, raise their hands." sa ; d the nastor. Hands were raised a!' over the c.harel. women seeming to lead the movement. Mr M*f> ritt is yonnT and popular, and has a trim figure. The -raptor counted the raised hands, and "in o/->nfovynitr with your wishes. I praise Hod in mv shirt-sleeves." ■' he said, removin" h ; = frock coat and appearing in a soft white shirt. —A for T,ife.— A delegate of the Paris Penal Congress. Mr Harry de Windt, has been permitted to sec and converse with Louis Lucch- m, who, a few years ago. assassinated the Empress of Austria on the Quai du Mont Blanc at Geneva. In a message to the Express, Mr de Windt says that, contrary to reports, Luccheni, who is in the old prison at Geneva known as L'Eveche, has never been confined in a dark cell except for three short periods necessitated by his refractory conduct while in prison. "I found ham as cheerful as a cricket, in a light, airy ward overlooking the Lake of Geneva. He was bookbinding, and chatting amicably with several other convicts, although the governor wards told me that he had recently attempted to stsJo him with a murderous weapon secretly fashioned out of a sar- — dine tin. Luccheni, who need not work unless he feels so disposed, is now 70 vears old, a sallow-faced, sturdy-looking little man, with dark, restless eyes, and a perpetual and most sinister smile. He looks and, as he told me, feels extremely well, having an abundant diet, a pint of red wine, and fcrar cigarettes daily. The ! abominable crime that startled Europe w«s probably the outcome of a craving for notoriety, for since his incarceration Luccheni has had no communication whatever wath the outer world, which would scarcely have been the case had he been the agent of a secret society. He now constantly feigns insanity, but with poor success, for he is possessed of more than average intelligence, and is a great reader, Montesquieu, Rosseau, and Dickens bsing his favourite authors." —Sale of the Pass 01 Kiiliecrankie.— The estate of Faskally, extending to 5827 acres, and belonging to Mr Archibald Butter, C.M.G., was disposed of by private treaty at the end of June. The purchaser is Major Frederick C. Foster, D.L., J.P., of Queensbury, Yorkshire. Faskally House is beautifully situated at the south entrance to the Pass of Kiiliecrankie, and, the fishing in the Rivers Garry and Tummel is some of the best m this part of Scotland. It will be remembered that it was through the Pass of Kiiliecrankie that nearly 1000 Atholl men marched to join the Earl of Mar in the rising of 1715, and Prince Charles Edward Stuart made his way from the Castle of Blair to Dunkeld through the paws ; n September of 1745 before he made his campaign. General Mackay led his forces through the pass in 1689, when he fought the Battle of Kiiliecrankie. The head • i the pass had been held for some days by* a detachment of Hanoverians, and General Mackay, having "ascertained that Claverhouse was still at Blair, marched his forces through the pass and deployed them on the Haugh or flat below Urrard House, about 4CO yards beyond the p-;ss. He left a sentinel on a projecting v-jck overlooking the pass, whese first intimation of the result of the battle was seeing ;i party of wild Highlanders rushing u;;o.i him, and, findang no way of escape open, " he boldlv leapt the Garry from the rock on which he was standing and alighted safely on the other side, and then, bidding defiance to his pursuers, made his escape in safety. The rock and gorge are still known as "The Soldier's Leap." The remainder of the estates, including Ballyoukan, extending to 2485 acres, Straloch of 2860 acres, and the greater part . of the town of Pitlochry, was to be rflerei I for sale by auction a week later. —United States Pensions.— In regard to the United State? army pension system, it has been shown that pensions have been granted to men who were drummed out of the army, to men who injured themselves while drunk, and = even to men who had shot off their own fingers so as to avoid service. Among the d private Pension Bills which President t, Cleveland vetoed, and which would have e become law but for that unprecedented action of b's. was one confirming a pen- -

sion on a man who had hurt his ankle at a time when he had made up hfe mind to enlist : another pensioning a man who bad broken his leg while gathering dandelions in a ditch, long after the war; another pensioning a man who had fallen wriii? getting over a fence, but had no trace whatever to show of any injury, and several pensioning ir.cn who -were proved to have deserted from the army. Another typical case was that of the soldier's widow who made application for a pension from the? United States Government because her husband died of heart disease in the 188'3's. She attributed his dea'h to the far-reaching effects of a wound in the foot received while chopping wool during the war in 1854. And but for Mr Cleveland** nngallant interference she would have got b-r pension. —A Model Dairy Farm.— Mr Alexander Peacock, a millionaire, who is devoted to the raising of choice cows and poultry. has (--ays the Vew York correspondent of the Daily Tele"ranh) completed plans for a ninrld dairv farm to cost £lO <X)O. Nothing hut the bpsf bloodstock will be bought and no equioment endorsed bv the latest scientific m-ethock? whi~h monev can buv will be missing. Thfe farm of 155 ocres. with 150 s+ock imported from Canada, will tV situated at a townshin near Pittsburg. The barn—one might almost sav, without desecr tion. the "oivs' boarding-house—will be as fine as manv a country dwelling, and will be is as manv a country dwelling, and will be equipped with every modern convenience. A room with bath for i cow sounds preposterous : but this will be litem Hv true of 'be Peacock dairv. Tho bathrooms will' enable the cows to bathe winter and summer, and. in addition, the the 'o-.vc titUl be scrubbed daily, *his precaution is no novelty in some parte o f the T T nited States. Motor-oars w'tb the latest refrigerating armliances will distribute t-hfl milk in P'ttsbnrg. and. as Mr Peacock do.ps not desire to pose as a philanthropist, he will charge a quart, a sum which is estimated to be sufficient to pay exnenses. —An Extinguisher.— A Japanese engineer named Yamnska.wa has a method of silencing Parliamentary bores, and from his invention he is entitled to be considered a benefactor of the human race. Attached to each seat in the House of Parliament he proposes to have a. metal tube, the top Wing shout the size of a franc piece or shilling. Each member of the House is to receive a leaden ball or bullet on entering. These balls can be pasi]-- nascp.-} into th* tube, which carried unrlpv tbe floor. b*ad<s to a reoeptacle immediately under the place where a member stands when addressing thp assembly. This snot is lik*> the traps on the stage of a theatre. The trap is so arranged that when a certain number of balls—not less than one-half the number of members, of a full House—have reached their receptacle the trap is made to descend automatically, carrying with it the garrulous speaker or bore, as the case may be. No points of order have to be raised; the displeasure of the House is manifest in silence. Away goe= the bore, and another speaker is called upon. Exchange of Compliments. A pretty exchange of compliments between the German Empress and an old fisherman's widow is reported from a little place on the Pomeranian coast. The Kaiserin was passing the widow's hut when she noticed some fine Madonna lilies growing in the little garden, and stopped to admire them. The old woman, hobbling out of her cottage, plucked all the flowers, tied them in a bundle, and presented them to her Majesty. Delighted with this gift, the Empress walked into the hut and incnired of the widow's family. One of her sons, she soon learnt, was dead : the other was in the gold mines or Australia. " I am glad." added the woman, " for your Majesty to have the flowers. Lilies are for happine-s, and unsuitable for a widow." The Kaiserin then gave the old woman a little four-leaved clover, saying: "I give von in exchange this four-leaved clover that I have iust found. T hope it will bring you luck, and will brinig your son back to you." Automatic Flogging Machines.— Automatic flogging machines are in use among the military forces of several European nations. For many years the whipping was always done bv soldiers under the command of an officer, and the punishment varied according to the personal relations subsisting between the soldier and his victim. It was to correct this disadvantage that the .flogging machine was invented. The machine is automatic in action, and as soon as the culprit is fastened in position a soring is tightened or loosened to gai'j'e the exact force of the blow. A pointer is moved over a dial to the requisite number of stroke.; and the mechanism is started. With perfect regularity the victim's back i« scourged bv the thongs, the handle of the whip being moved bv a screw device after each stroke, so that the lash doe* not fall upon the same spot throughout the punishment. Each blow is of uniform severity, and as soon as the required number has been given the machine comes to a. rest and the offender is released, with the assurance that the exact punishment ordered has been meted out to him. Jonathan's Brother in Black.— As a rouidi test of the progress the negro race is making in America, the statistics of coloured propertv-nwncrs may be taken as the best available—a more trustworthy gauge certainly than a contest between racial champions in a prize fight. Recent returns, quoted by the Christian World, show that in several Southern States great headway has been made in recent years. Between 1900 and 1908 the value of property held by negroes in Virginia increased from £3,171.200 to £5.125,600, or 62 per cent.: in Georgia I

from £2,823,600 to £5,403,400, or 91 per cent. ; and in North Carolina, from .61.895,600 to £4,250,600, or 123 per cent. Automobile Smoke.— New York has been setting an example to the rest of the world by a recent attempt to compel careless motorists to pay some regard to the comfort of pedestrians. A by-law which went into force on Julv 1 makes? it a misdemeanour to emit "dense smoke" from an automobile. A faint film is allowed as sometime unavoidable, but the clouds which are so unpleasant to evervone but the motorist himself are. prohibited. They can be prevented, it is declared, if due care is taken not to p-ive the machine an overdose of oil. The New York health authorities are reported to be likely to take action shortly against another automobile nuisance—the formation of oil puddles in the street when a motor has been standing for a while in front of a house.