MISCELLANEOUS.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 5010, 18 May 1889, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

Their precious bones are lighter and their flesh is more buoyant. The records of the humane societies on both sides of the Atlantic show that of late years a fair proportion of their medals fall to the lot of girls. There were several notable instances of rescue from drowning last summer by girls nnder 20 years of age. Many women are accomplished swimmers. This is but natural. As their bones are generally lighter than those of men, and their flesh more buoyant, they have leas difficulty to overcome in acquiring the art. Some of them could float at their first attempt if they could acquire the requisite faith in the power of the water to hold them up. Swimming is very much an act of faith, for it is generally the case that when a person believes sufficiently in the buoyancy of the water to trust to it his precious body, Jo! he is a swimmer. There were young girls at Newport last summer who could float on the surface of the ocean with no more difficulty than they experienced in lying upon a sofa. They could have floated for hours if neees-, sary. Some of the most famous swimming feats have been accomplished by very young women.

Mr Justice Windeyer has been dealing out stern justice at the Armidale Assizes, N.B.W. Two witnesses for the Crown in a conspiracy case managed to elude the vigilance of the police and get drunk. When placed in the witness-box both were found so " far gone ” that the case for the Crown broke down, and the Judge, getting indignant, gave the unfortunate tippling witnesses six and twelve months respectively. This matter has been brought before the House, and the Minister has promised to inquire into it, and so we may look again for some entertaining correspondence between the Judge and the Minister for J ustice.

In the Province of Konisberg (Germany) agricultural societies are numerous, and they do much to improve the breeds of the several farm animals by offering prizes at the periodical shows. They own some 88 bulls principally of the Dutch breed, said to have cost £I7OO, and other valuable animals for stud purposes, and they lay themselves out in every way to benefit the farmers. They maintain two travelling teachers of high-class farming, several schools in which everything connected with husbandry is taught, and an institute for chemical research. These societies obtain their working capital from the State on loan for fixed periods, and they reimburse themselves from the dues they levy for the use of their animals and machinery.

A story was recently circulated in Paris that a battalion of soldiers at Longwy had deserted to Belgium. The following may be tahen as an accurate narrative. A body of seventy-ono men of the Chasseurs left the barracks without taking any arms. There were no non-commissioned officers among them. They marched out of the town in good order, past the Porte de Bourgogne, and without incident reached Halenzy, the first village over the border. Being safe hero, they went into a cafe to take rest and refreshment. A lieutenant who had been sent after them found them hero, and tried to prevail on them to return to Longwy j but they were obdurate. They declared that they would not go back to the regiment until a captain and an adjutant, against whom they had ground for complaint, were removed. Finding argument useless, the lieutenant gave them up, and a few moments later the seventyone men took train for Mousson, the station beyond. The Burgomaster and the villagers afforded them good entertainment and a night’s rest. This brought them into a more dutiful frame of mind, and before dawn they were on their way back, and by six had returned to Longwy. The excitement which had been caused by the event was somewhat allayed. After this the men were placed under arrest, and General Varaigne came from Meziferes, his head quarters, to commence an inquiry. The chief grievances of the soldiers were that they wore ill-fed, ill-clothed, iil-treated, and subjected to excessive duty. - Daily Newsr '

According to the administration report of Java recently laid before the Dutch Chambers, portions of that island aro being depopulated through tigers. In 1882 the population of a village in the South-west of the Bantam Province, was removed and transferred to an island off the coast, in consequence of the trouble caused to the people by tigers. These animals have now become an intolerable pest in parts of the same province. The total population is about 600,000 and in 1887, 61 were killed by tigers, and in consequence of the dread existing among the people, it has been proposed to deport the inhabitants of the villages most threatened to other parts of the country where tigers are not so common and where they can pursue their agricultural occupations with a greater degree of safety. At present they fear to go anywhere near the borders of the forest. The people at present seem disinclined, or they lack the means and courage to attack and destroy their enemy, although considerable rewards are offered by Government for the destruction of beasts of prey. In 1888 the reward for killing a royal tiger was raised to 200 florins. It appears also that the immunity of the tiger is in part due to superstition, for it is considered wrong to kill one unless he attacks first or otherwise does injury. Moreover, guns were always very rare in this particular district, and, since a rising a few years ago, have been taken away by the authorities altogether.