MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 9, 9 December 1862, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

The Penny to the Waiter.— There is a good story going the round of the Paris newspapers An agitation has been, it appears, for some time on foot for abolishing the douceur of one or two sous givenfrora time immemorial to the gaison who brii.gs you your demi-tasse, or your glass of absynthe in a coffee-house. Lately a customer at one of the most fashionable cafes in Paris paid his reckoning without adding thereto the ordinary copper compliment to the waiter. This functionary said nothing, but regarded the customer, who was an old habitue of the establishment with a look of bland remonstrance tacitly enforcing explanation. " Alphonse," said the customer, kindly but firmly " I am very sorry that 1 beloug to the society for giving nothiug to waiters." "O, Monsieur, neditespas ca," cried Alphonse, "you are an old pratique, and in that case, I may hint to you that I, and Eugene, and Louis yonder, all belong to the socie y for accidentally spilling hot coffee, over the trousers of stingy customers." The member of the society for giving nothing to waiters immediately pressed ten centimes into Alphonse's hand, a sadder and wiser man. — Express. Canine Sagacity. — An instance of canine sagacity worthy of being recorded came under our notice a few days since. A miner residing at Kangaroo Plat has a bulldog chained to his tent door, perhaps the most ferocious on Bendigo, and neither man nor biute will venture within length of his chain. On the occasion in question, a little girl about three years of age was sent to the tent with a newspaper, and not seeing the owner, toddled boldly in at the door. The huge animal rose up, placed its nose against the child's face and then quietly lay down again. The mother, who at that moment came up, uttered a scream of terror; but the child, having executed its commission, toddled safely back again. — Bendigo Evening News. The Cousin op Nana Sahib — The trial of llao Sahib, the cousin of Nana Sahib, fov treason and murder in J 857-8, is going on at Cav;npore. His real name is Seeteram. He was adopted by Bagee Rao, the last ofthe Mahratta Peishwa-*, who named him Pandoo Rao, and was known respectfully among lhe servants as Rao Sahib. He waa in char»e of the Nana's estate at Bithoor in 1857, and is clearly proved lo have ordered the murder of an English toll-collector and his wifo, to have had the head* of four English officers, who were under the charge ofa band of Naiire Cavalry, brought to him in a basket, and to have captured the Futteyghur fugitives, and sent them on to Cawnpore, where they were massacred. With the murder of the toll collector's wife a touching incident is connected. Rao Sahib*s wife implored him to spare her, because she was, like herself, in a delicate condition, but the fiend would n.^t listen to the request. He himself, in his defence, described his wanderings with Taniia Topee, whom we hanged in 1859. and Feroze Shah, not jet caught, acknowledged that he was in Hyderabad when thai recent dangerous conspiracy was discovered, and told how he was captured by a ireacherous friend near Sealkote. What a life he must have led since 1857, hunted all over India, dressed as a Faquir, with two attendants. There is no chance of his escaping his just doom on the scene ofhis atrocities. — Times. II ah vest Prospects in Western Australia. — The prospects for the coming harvest are reported to be very good for the corn left by the ravages of the unusually heavy rains and floods of the last four or five months, and it is probable the produce of breadstuffs will be about the same in quantity as last year. The fruit crops promise to be unusually short ; the vines in particular exhibit an unusual pnucity of bunches, and so far as we can yet judge the prospects of stone fruits are not much better. — Perth Gazette. Plant Tubes. — A little attention, a little more thought of ton.hrrow a little more faith in what a day may bring forth, wouid would surround every house in the couhtry with shady groves and fruitful yards. Plaot a vine here, nnd a iree there — send or go to your neighbour's orchard and clip a bud ot a shoot, ancl insert one in every stock that does not already produce fruit. Plant trees by the fenesides the roots will penetrate beneath them, and draw sustenance from ground you cannot cultivate. Set a stout thrifty grape root directly where will be daily thrown, and in three years time you will have a fruit-bearing screen lo hide the view of some unsightly place. How to Detect a Forged Bank of England Note. — The forged Lo and LlO Bank of England notes now in circulation are easily detectad. In the first place, they are vilely engraved, the signature is clumsy and unlike, and the vignette of Britannia is so badly executed that a mere glance detects the forgery. In the genuine note the background represents air and water — the air by faint lines ; but the most facile way is to look to the numbers. Previous to the yerr 1858 the two letters, one above the other, were engraved in what H printers call open letter thus, — 59784, but now H H these directing lines are printed in black, thus — 5684. The forgers copied notes issued before 1858 but date tbeir forged notes 1861 or 1862. (Of course, the numbers aud letters on the forged notes vary. The above numbers are not to be understood as to be found on the forged notes.) A new patent stove, tor the convenience of travellers, has just been invented. It is placed rnder the feet, and * mustard plaster upon tho head draws the heat through the whole system. A Wealthy Company. — A cheque for twenty thousand pounds sterling on the National Bank was put into our hands lately. Lest, however, anybody should be alarmed at this announcement we may add that the cheque was not banded to us for any corrupt purpose, but only to show us that the Great Extended Company had paid over to the Band of Hope Company the sum of money stipulated by the much debated agreement between the two companies. Tho next move will be the motion by the dissontients for an injunction, or the motion of tbe Koh-i-noor Company, supported by the dissentients, for a dissolution of the injunction between thafc company and tbe Extended and Band of Hope Companies. — Ballarat Star.