MISCELLANEOUS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 4547, 24 May 1889, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

« Feven weeks ago a German blacksmith of Schloswig-Holstein ate four pounds of raw meat, washing it down with six quarts of beer, at & singlo silting. By so doing he won a wager of GOO marks. His funeral occurred three days later. Li Hang Chang, the Chinese statesman, recently paid to an American correspondent that within 60 years China will be gridironed with railroads ; its immense mineral resources developed ; manufactories with modern machinery will spring up, and with the numbers, skill, industry, and abstemiousness of the Chinese, they will be able to manufacture for the world. Intelligence has been received from Pietrs, m the province of Genoa, stating that M. Willinm Geiaondorff, son of the Swiss Yiqe. Consul at Cannes, ha* been murdered near that place m a railway carriage m which bo was travelling. He left Cannes with his intended bride and her mother, his destination being Yentimiglia j but ho extended his journey to Genoa. On returning from that city by the Ligurian line he went to Monto Carlo, and was lucky at the tables. Bis murderer or murderers evidently knew this, and they probably dogged him and entered the same railway carriage- with him. The young fellow waa stabbed and then thrown out on the line, where ho wns found with his faco horribly mutilated. Near him was a travelling bag. His pockets as well aa tl>» bag were empty. Three hundred miles an hour is (remarks Frank Lfliff') flltttfrafat Nemtpaper, published m Bfojr Tori) tije propqsecj speed for the elcotric postal railroad of tlio fijturp. An experimental lino has been ereoted at Lnurol, 20 miles from Baltimore, Md. A compromise between the pneumatic tuba and the ordinary railroad carries a miniature train of two cars solely for mails end light parcels, without any attendance. The road has three rails— one above the car for carrying the current and two below which carry the cars. The cara are built of sheet iron, and are 2ft square and 2lft long. Speed will be regulated and po^er o» tjrokei applied by electricity solely. If the experiment at Laurel succeeds, it U stated that similar roads will bp laid between Baltimore and AVashiogton and elsewhere. Ijoutcnant W. H. Beehler, of the United Statet nary, dispusies the use of oil to still the waves of the sea, whiph be describes as magical m its effeots, and recommends that all yessejs and boats should bo supplied vit'i it. atwpll osiwith special oil distributors ; that its employment should be encouraged by marine iniuranoe companies, by allowing a dt>oount on the rate of inauranoe for vessela supplied with oil and oil apparatus ; that the Stats should prescribe penalties m caioa of marine casualties avoidablo by the judicious vie of oil ; that life-saving stations should be provided with oil and oil distributors ; and that similar precautions should betaken with respect to dangerous harbour entrances and channels. For these, buoys filled with oil have been invented, which can be mado to discharge their contents by electrio connections,* Professor Platon I. Kubaso/f, of Moscow, has carried out a long series of bacteriological researches on malignant (cancerous) nnw growths, and has arrived at the following conclusions : — l. The discaso is caused by a special puthogcnic rod-shaped microbe. 2. The bacilli have slightly ovoid outlines, and Ijro arranged mostly m pairs and little heaps, tli'oir lunjUl amounting fq one-fourth of tjjo diamotor of a fed blood cor'pusole. U. In a pure oultlvation the rodi grow best on coagulated blood-serum at the body temperature. 4. When inoculated under tho skin m animals, the microbe gives riio to a cancerous degeneration, commonoing m the nearest lymphatic glands, and subsequently spreading to tbe internal organs, especially m the mosenterio glands, omentum, liver and pericardium. In all the organs genuine cancerouß nodules ore formed. 5- Of lower animals, rabbits and cot) provo to be raest sensitive m regard to tho bacterfua?. Yfboy inoculijted f.l)py dje jn one or two month,! 'from pachexy, wjth coner«li»Bj,iop of cancerous foci all over th» tjojjy. $ All cancers (of any variety and ♦By organs) seem to be caused by one and the •j\m» tucilluß.— sh'«* Jfeiioil Jourml,

Mr Frank Harvey, the actor, gives the following os the drollest slip with tho "text" he ever heard on the stage. " I onco heard," he says, " a nervous, excited, juvenile actor exclaim, ' Dare to harm one head of her hair, and the last moment shall be your next !' " Messrs Thomas Cook and Son have just signed a contract with the Egyptian Government, under which from May Ist, 1889, they will undertake tho conveyance of the whole of the mails, as well as of civil and military officials and servants of the Government, by their steamers between Assiout and Assouan, and thus relieve the Government of the expense of working their own steamers. The service will take the place of what has been known during the past season as tho Cheap Express Service, and will m no way interfere with tho ordinary tourist service. Captain Markham, m his account of a voyage to tho Polar regions, says : — lt is a ourioim fact connected with tbosa who were for a long timo absent from their ships, thnt the hair on their facps was bleached nearly while The loss of colour was gradual, and, though noticed, was never alluded to, each one imagining that his companion's hair wbs turning grey from the effects of hardship and anxiety. It was only after their return to the ship that thosa possessing beards and moustaches discovered tbe change of hue m their own hair. The colour gradually returned m three or four weeks." The London correspondent of a contemporary states that Mr J. C. Maodonald has elected to spare Mr John Walter the dccossity of dispensing with his services, and retired voluntarily. He has been 40 years on the staff of The Times, and only followed his employer's lead m the matter of " Parnellißm and Crime," but someone must be scapegoat for tbe Vigolt Jiasco, and on the whole Mr Macdonald ib the most convenient person. He will be succeeded by Mr Arthur Walter. The shareholders m The Times are grumbing sadly over their diminished incomes, which promise to become even smaller bofore all is over. How serious things are may be gathered from the fact that one lady who has Always hitherto had at least £2000 n year from The Times, this year received £600 only. It is said m well-informed army circles that tho Duke of Cambridge will within a short time resign his poßt of Commander in-Chief. Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar is spoken of as likely to be his successor, to bo ultimately replaced by His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught. The latter (says the London correspondent of an exchange) would at the outset be a far moro popular appointment than the former. The Duke of Cambridge was never a brilliant man, but he has always been a careful, earnest, and business-like Commanderin-Chief — politic, yet easy of approach, and not above details. When he goes he will bo greatly mieied, even by thoso who have most criticised him. On all hands his conscientiousness, bis devotion, and his administrative ability, are spoken of with cordial appreciation. There is good news from that most unexpected quarter, the Desert of Sahara. The French colonists haT» found subterranean water everywhere within an easy distance of the desolate surface, and have created so many artificial oases m one of its »ont districts, e> narrow tract of land 120 miles long, called tbe Oued Rir, that the export of date alone from newly planted trees already amounts to £100,000 sterling m annual value. Yet tho sandy and rocky surface strata afforded no apparent sustenance for vegetation, nor had it, supported settlement since the days of King Solomon, until the South Algerian Society took it m hand. There are now 114 French springs, and 493 natural springs have been discovered, cleared, and improved. The gallant and seamanliko manner m which Captain C. H Kane and the ollieors and crew of the Calliope behaved during the hurricane at Samoa caused the greatest satisfaction m England. Lord George Hamilton incidentally referred to tho subject at the annual dinner of the Institute of Naval Arch ttcts. After alluding with prido to tbo ability, courage, and skill of British officers and seamen, ho proceeded : — " I thick us englishmen we may all he pleased tint, m the recent terrible catastrophe whioh has overtaken many ships of war at Samoa, one English ship alone escaped wreck. I regret to say that certain civilian members m tbe House of Commons consider that the exhibition of seamanship and courago shown by tho officer commanding the vessel and by the seamen was of so exceptional a character as to require special recognition from Her Majesty. I am glad to be able to say that those qualities aro not rare, and have not been rare, m Her Majesty's Navy." Tho Kansas Supreme Court has been cqlled upon to decide a point prob,ahly never before raised, It seom.s that when a jury went out one of tho number proposed to open their deliberations with prayer, and thereupon proceeded to pray loud and long. What the tenor of the appial was — whether it was impartial or favourable to the other sido— does not appear. The verdict, however, was aguinst the defe>nd»nt wbereupon ( the lawyer moved to set it oaide on the ground of " undue influence oserciaod hy ono of tho jurymen by moans of publio prayer m the jury room." In his brief on the point tbe councellor admits that thoro can be no legal objection to a " private petition to tho Throne of Grace earnestly offered by a conscieutious juror with the motive of freeing his own mind from prejudice and pasiion. But a publio prayer m such a place presents a differoot case, since one long-practised m tbe wielding of this subtlo influence oan play upon tbo feelings and judgment of his weaker brother, and the more gifted m prayer is tbe leader, the more powerful will bo his influence." The oourt has not yet announced its opinion, Who m tho world is lit (asks a contemporary) that gulls our friends at Homo so egregiously ? A day or two ago wo republjshcd an extraordinary yarn about Tp Kopti, i rom Modern Satiety. HevoU another about our supposed sufferings m New Zealand from hordes of wild pigs. It is clipped from the Sheffield Independent of a dato m March last : — " The latest grievanco from the Australasian colonies recalls tho old days of " Merrio England." We have heard much from Australia about the kangaroo plnguo, and how tho importation of rabbits hos been followed by the multiplication of the species m a manner so alarming that it threatens to eclipse m deadly effect (.hat plague of locusts of anpipijt daya. And now from the neighbouring colony of New Zealand wo have tidings that the swine have run wild and increased so abundantly that today they roam about m vast herds, destroying tho crops, devouring the fnrmyard stock, and working havoc more terrible than the wild boars which were hunted m tho foreßts of England m the days of bluff King Hal. Thus doos history repeat itself, only m this inatanco the terror of tbo swine docs not appear to bo surrounded with that halo of romance m hunting which mado tho presence of the wild boar not an unmitigated evil." Admiral D. D. Porter, of the United States navy, i« reported to have said, apropos of the Bamoan difficulty, that m 60 days he could improviso a fleet and set about destroying German commerce. But a British admiral, whose opinion was asked un this point, has proved (remarks the London correspondent of Ilia Argus) that Germany is quito ablo to retaliate, as her morcantile marine contains double the number of steamers thnt tho Ainerlonn does, beaidr* being of greater speeij. In tho matter of armed cruisers, when Germany's present naval scheme is completed, sho will have 28 vessels, and America 19, but six of thorn will be faster than any m tho Gorman flool. r Jho guns m tho American ships abroad aro pronounced by the R,ritis^ expert to bo mostly of an. nn(.i(jv, ate d ty n( >> whj'p German ship* are nald to bo armod with modern Kruppi. m rogerd to ironclads, the United Statos possotsed 18 ohsoloto vessels, without having a single availablo seagoing battleship. Germany has, 011 tho other hand, 26 ironclads, of which 12 aro for coast defence, thrco are obsolete, and 10 compose a fighting fleet, which is well armed and armoured. Tbe superiority at sea therefore rests with the Germans, and their advantage is enhanced bjf the extent of the United Sta^po &a&»* line. Tho interests of \h,9 t^a Powers which would b,e jeo^»vdj|o4 »t «f* U» the event of war aro apt very uuequol, amounting m tho case oC the United States to £271.000,000, and m tlml pf Germany to £2'J|3 l OOO,OOa These interests comprise stoamers and sailing ships, s,nd imports a,nd, exports, io courec of tra^t,