MISCELLANEOUS.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 5027, 7 June 1889, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

A boy fourteen years old, recently imported from Kentucky, handed the following in as a composition on “ Breathing.” The instruction was: “ Tell all you can about the breathing.” He said : “ Breath is made of air. We breath with our lungs, our lights, and kidneys. If it wasn’t for our breath we would die when we slept. Our breath keeps the life agoing through the noise when wo are asleep. Boys that stay in room all day should not breathe, they should wait till they get out of doors. Boys in a room make bad, unwholesome air. They make carbonioide. Oarbonicide is poisoner than mad dogs. A heap of soldiers was in a black hole in India, and a carbonioide got in that there hele and killed nearly every one afore morning. Girls kill the breath with coroeits ihat squeezes the diagrams. Girls can’t holler or run like boys because their diagrams is squeezed too much. If I was a girl I’d rutber be a boy, so I can holler and run and have a great big diagram,” In 1816 one bushel of corn would buy one pound of nails. In 1839 one bushel of corn will buy ten pounds of nails. In 1816 a pair of woollen blankets cost as muoh as a cow’; in 1889 a cow will buy five pairs of woollen blankets. In 1816 it required sixtyfour bushels of barley to buy one yard of broadcloth ; in*i 889 sixty-four bushels of barley will buy twenty yards of broadcloth. In 1816 it took twenty dozen eggs to buy one bushel of salt; in 1889 twenty dozen eggs will buy ten bushels of salt. In 1816 it required a bushel of wheat to buy"one yard of calico; in 1889 one bushel of wheat will buy twenty yards of calico. With these before them, who can justly claim that farm products are not improving? The outlook for the productions of the farm is certainly hopeful. The farmer can exchange his'crop for more of the necessaries of life than at any former period in the history of OUV country Wall Street yem*

The speech made by Sir Charles Russell seems to confirm the generally received impression that Mr Buckle, the editor of The Times, was throughout opposed to the “ Parnellism and Crime ” business, and particularly to the publication of the letters. Unfortunately, though editor, Mr Buckle had not absolute control of the paper. That rests with Mr John Walter, and he has for many years believed very much in his manager, Mr Macdonald, whose reign it is now supposed is not far from its end. According to current report one of Mr John Waiter’s sons will become manager, and another who is at present associated with Mr Buckle in the editorship will before long take the -place of his father, who will retire from all connection with the direction of the paper. The proprietors of The Times arc feeling the effect of the heavy expenses entailed upon the -journal by the commission of inquiry. One of the coproprietors who last year draw £3600 as his share of the profits, hr.s this year only received £9OO 5 while another share is reported to have fallen from £6OO to £7O.

The London Court Journal says: “ Through the efforts of Lord Campbell, who takes great interest in the various regimental flags, there have been discovered in a pawnshop the flags of the Fifty-fifth (Westmoreland) Regiment. They date as far back as 1760, and there is little doubt that they have been hidden in the dark recesses of the pawnshop for over a century, How they got there will idoubtless ever remain a mystery. Lord Campbell has expressed his desire to hand the ancient relics over for final keeping in the parish church at Kendal, and some structural alterations are at present being made for the purpose. There are already in the parish church the tattered rags of the regiment which went through the African, Indian, and Chinese campaigns. The regiment is now stationed at Portsmouth, and in a few days it is to be presented with new colours ; when this has been done, the old colours of the Crimean war will also bo handed over to the parish church at Kendal for safe keeping The inhabitants of the county are proud of the flags of their regiment, and tha greatest interest is taken in their proper preservation. 3be presentation of the flags will be accompanied by a public ceremony.” The German War Department has just published, in accordance witli one of the last wishes of the late Emperor William, a history in two volumes of Prussian flags ’since 1807. The work is intended as akind of introduction to the history of the Prussian regiments qhemselves from the earliest times, which is in course of preparation. In the wars of 1864 and 1866, it appears that 99 flags were pierced by bullets ; in that of 1870 there were 151. The flag of the 7lh Infantry Regiment received 23 bullets at the battle of Mars la Tour alone. In the latter e-impaign 38 standard bearers were killed flag in hand.

The Admiralty have finally decided to introduce into the navy a large number of the guns recently patented by Paymaster George Quick. At the recent trial of the gun the working of the breech mechanism was found to be both simple and safe, and the velocity of the projectile was regarded as quite phenomenal, dhe results showed that while in the Woolwich 6-inch breecbloading gun it takes a powder charge equal to 55 per cent of the projectile’s weight to produce an initial velocity of 1969 feet per second, in the Quick gun a greater velocity is produced by 46 per cent of lbs weight of the projectile, while the pre’sures are all in favour of the now gun.

We learn from the Japan Mail that it was recently determined to break open a safe that had stood for years in the British Legation at Tokio, the key having been lest, 'ihe deed was done, and in the safe were found the accounts of some of the Consulates and a box of gold and silver medals which had been sent by the British Government for distribution among the Japanese who defended the British Legation at Tokio against the attack made on it —in which the late Mr Laurence Oliphant was wounded —on the 4th July, 1861. The?e medals have been entirely forgotten for 26 years, and the difficulty now is to find the men for whom they were intended.

In the report of the Comptroller of New South Wales Prisons for last year, special reference is made to the now licensing system under which upwards of one hundred longsentence prisoners are employed in improving the harbour at Trial Bay. The men are housed in small huts, and are grouped in messes of six, and enjoy as much liberty as is consistent with fair supervision. They are neither dressed nor treated as convicls. and in addition to enjoying freedom are paid a small wage. The system, which is quite a new departure in prison administration, has worked admirably, and the men appear to be anxious to do all they can. The separate treatement of first offenders between sixteen and twenty-five years of age, has been satisfactorily carried out, and it is proposed to extend it to all young prisoners, whether first offenders or not.

A veteran soldier of the great mutiny has passed away in the person of General John Longfield, Colonel of “ The Kings,” Liverpool Regiment, at the advanced age of He commanded brigades in Bengal from 1835 to 1859. In 1857 he was present with his regiment when the native troops mutinied at Jtillundur ; at the scig'e of Delhi, during the sis days fighting that ensued, when he commanded the 2nd Brigade, and after the capture of the city he was left in commond of the station For his gallant services ho was created a C.B. and received the mutiny medal and clasp and a good service pension. He died 'at his seat, Eilcoleman, Bandon, County Cork.