MISCELLANEOUS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 4559, 7 June 1889, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

A boy foui'tren years old, recently imported from Kentucky, bander! the following m as a composition on " Breathing." The instruction was : " Tell all you can about tbo breathing." He said: " Breath is madoof air. Wo 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 tho noiso when we are aileep. Bojs that stay m room all day should not breathe, they should wait till they get out of doors. Boys m a room make bad, unwholesome air. They make carbonieido. Curbonieide is poisoner than mad dogs. A heap of soldiers was m a black hole m Indii. and a carbanicide got m that there hele and killed nearly every one afore morning. Girls kill the, breath with rorocits that squeezes the diagrams. Girls can't holler or run like boys beiauso their diagrams is squeezed too much. If I was a girl I'd rutlier be a boy, so I can holler and run and have a great big diagram." Tbo speech made by Sir Charles Russell seems to confirm the generally received impression that Mr Buckle, the editor of Tie Times, was throughout opposed to the " Parnellism and Crimo " business, and parti, cularly lo the publication of tho letters. Unfortunately, though editor, Mr Buckle had not absolute control of tlic paper. That rests with Mr John Walter, and ho his for many years believed Tery much m his manager, Mr Macdonald, whose reign it is now supposed is not far from it« end. According to current rdoort ono of Mr John Waiter's 6ons will bpcome manager, and another who is at present associated with Mr Buckle m the editorship will before long take the place of his father, who will retire from all connection with the direction of the paper. Tho proprietors of The V imis aro feeling the effect of the heavy expenses entailed upon tho journal by tho commi«ion of inquiry. Ono of the coproprietors who I'Ut year drum £3G<H) ao his sharo of the profits, his this year only received £900 j while ano'her share is reported to have fallen from £600 to £70. A French missionary, who has been travelling through Kcudar, has made enquiries into the condition of the Indians, and roports that, although they aro nominally free, thoy aro m reality m a stato of slavery. Although, according to the laws, tho Indian is a freo man, ho is, ns a maltor of fact, bought and sold, bequeathed by will, seized by a croditor m payment of debt, und is m no way distinguishable from the beasts of burden. 'I his state of things is brought about by the law that permits the Indian to sell himself into slavery when ho is unablo to satisfy his creditor m any other way. Onco a slave, ho is rarely ablo to extricate himself from his servilo condition, liis wifo and children aro oho slaves. Tho family is allowed a miserable hut m which to lodge, and a small patch of ground barely suOiciont to supply tho food necessary to sustain life. A man who has thus Bold himßelf into slavery is attached to tho estate of his owner, and passes with it into tho hands of tho heir or purchaser, when it is transforrod by death or sale. Tho greater pnit of the Indians of tho interior are roduoed to this condition, and livo a life of tho utmost degradation and misery. A terrible scono occurred at tho Adelaido Zoological Gardens reoently. Two pairs of Bengal tigers are kept m adjoining cages, aad at feeding limo the males began menacing one another through a grating dividing tho cugn.i, and which, it appears, was notproporly fastened. m his endeavour* to reach his enemy tho younger tincr' got his paws under tho graiing, and tho old male at onco seized them und tore at them with such forco that tho grating was broken down, the combatants rolled into the den of the old, tigers. Hero Iho battle was continued, and at iait tho old tigers joined m. Tho uproar, meanwhile between the combatants , and the Qlh,er animaU m the gardona wns ! Inrrlblo. 'J ho young male was seized by tho hindqunrtora by Iho old tigresß, whilst tho old mule fought him m front. Tho odds wero too much for the youngster, and after struggling for 10 ininulos his jugular vein was torn open, tho animal dying about five minutes aflcr. Iliß mato, tho younjjor tigress, did not pariieipnto m, tho fight, but crouched m tho corner 'in evident fear. AH aro full grown, tho animals being valued ut aboul £200t!uch. Tho London Court Joiinml says: "Through tho efforts of Lord Campbell, who takes great interost m the various regimental flugs, thore navo buen discovered m a pawnshop the flags of tho Fifty-fifth (Westmoreland) Wegimcnt. They datn ns far back as 17G0, and thcro is lilllo doubt that, they havo been hidden m tho dark rocessos of tho pawnshop for over a century. How they got there, will 'doubtless over romnin a mystery. Lord Campbell has expressed hrn di>siro to hand tho ancient relics over for final keeping m Iho parish church ut Kendal, and Borne structure} alterations are nt present being iniid'p for, tho purposo. Tboro aro nh-oai^ m the' parish church tho to^orcd, vugs ot the regiment w]ii6h wont through Iho African, Indian, anil Chinos* eampnigin. Tho regiment is now stationed nt Portsmouth, and m a few days it i« to ho presentod with now colour* ; when this lias boon done, tho old colours of tho Crimean war will also bo linniU'il Cfton l °. tho puish nhiiivh at. Spmlul toy jufo keopi'uj^ The inhabitant* ot tho «>u'nly aye proud at tho ijuga of tiicir regiment, and lha giv-ilr*!. jntorbjt is takon, m thoir proper pw«orvnt|i,!i. Iho prospntation of the tfagg will be accompuuied. by q publjo cerptuoDy."

One of the latest things m American railroad equipment is the fitting of an aahbarrel >on each locomotive, which collects the dust ' and cinders which heretofore were blown put of the chimney, and particularly into the eyes tfae pnesengers. The new device is a long cylindrical projection m front of the engine. The boiler flues are so many gune through which the hot slugs fire fired, and the force of the discharge is sufficient to carry the Blugs into the receptacle provided for them, wherein the draft is dead or so confused that it cannot get them out again. The German War Department has just published, m accordance with one of the last wishes of the late Emperor William, a history m two volumes of Prussian flags since 1607. The work is intended as a kind of introduction to the bietory of the Prussian regiments themselves from the earliest times, which is m course of preparation. In the wara of 1864 and ISG6, it appears that 99 flags were pierced by bullets ; m that of 1870 tbera were 161. The flag of the 7lh Infantry Regiment received 23 bullets at the battle of Mars la Tour alone. In the latter campaign 38 Btandard bearers were killed flag m hand. The Admiralty have finally decidbd to introduce into the navy s largo number of the guns recently patented by Paymaster George Quick. At the recent trial of tho 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. The results showed that vihila m tho Woolwich 6-inch breechloading 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, m the Quick gun a greater velocity is produced by 46 per cent of the weight of tho projectile, while the pressures are all m favour of the new gun. We learn from tho Japan Mail that it was recently determined to break open a safe that hud stood for years m tho British Legation at Tokio, the key having been loßt. 'Ihe deed was done, and m the safe were found tho accounts of some of tho Consulates and a box of gold and silver medals which had been sent by tho British Government for distribu- J tion among the Japanese who defended the British Legation at Tokio against the attack made on it— in which the late Mr Laurence Olipbant was wounded — on the 4th July, 1861. Theae medals have been entirely forgotten for 26 years, and tho difficulty now is to find the men for whom they were intended.