MISCELLANEOUS

Timaru Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 5420, 23 May 1892, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS

Tt is estimated that OO'O new dwellings ■will bs.stsrtod m Philadelphia during the nexs 12 months.

' A Eempsoy farmer sent 80 bags of pototoee tp Sidney; and received nine penny stamps as the pot prjocoede of sale.

Erofessbr T.azjnby, of Ohio, is of the opii'on that the perfect apple will be seedless rind corelosi. It takes as much mineral elemeita to grow lib of apple seeds as 1001 bof fles 1 ). '

Toung Mistress : I don't tae why you should lonVo roe so suddenly. I'm surd I've dons all I could to help you with tbe housework, and I have done all the cooking. Maid : Y«'m, that's what's the matter. Mistress i Witt is ? Maid : I can't stand your cooking.

Then tbe earth wan young, says Dr Ball, Asronumer Royal for Ireland, it spun rouni atiuclia tato that the day was only three hours long. The earth »as liquid then, ani as'it revolvod at that fearful speed tin sun. 1 caused ever ineroasing tides upon its surface, until at last it burst m two. Tresraa.ler part .became the mooo, which bw boon g itng around the earth over since at at iqqreaaing distance. Tbe influence of the rmon nbw raises tides on the earth, and nbilo tliore wns any liquid to operate on m the moon, tbo earth heaped up much grcntor Iroar tides.

Exports are predicting that the baofes of t) day *>ill full to pieces before the middle of tbe next century Tbe paper m tbo books that have survived two or tbrco centuries was n.ode by hand, of boncstrag 1 , and without the we of strong chemicals, while tho ink was madd of nut galls. To-day much of the pupor for books is made, at least m part, of wood pulp, treated with powerful acit'f, white Iho ink is a compound of various subetaacesnuturally at war with the flim*y papor upon übiob it is laid, 'fbo printing of tuo centuries og"> has improved with ago ; that of to-day, it is feared, will, within fifty yrar*, have acteu through the pages upon which it is impressed.

An inporlant oiporimou*, designed to teet tho poiers of endurance potsessod by the Russian infantry so'.dier m campaigning work during a period n! intenso cold, has lately been ttndo m a district near tho western frontier. It was desired to discover under wh&tltgroe of cold troops could camp out m tenls, 9\id for this purpose eight infantrymen wereohesen nt random Ibe snow, which lay oWpbn the ground, w*s lovelled over a certain treo, a tent pitched, and its interior eoverod with mils, on which were laid 66ib of straw. 'Tho men, accoutred m heavy great coats y.d Wellington boots lay down to rest, ueing their knnpsacko as pillow;, at ninj o'clock m tbeovening. Out»ido, the thernrmeter, protected from the wind-blasts, then iidieated 31dcg. of froßt iahrenboit. An oiTicer remained outsido all night, making obaerntuns. At ono o'clock the temperature iflsidetbe lent was seventeen degrees above zero, md outtide at zero. Towards morning the thSrinometer gradually fell without and within and at four o'clock marked four degrea below zero Until three o'clock tho man {opt quite comfortably, but towards four, vhen tbe front became so intense, sleep was in-possible The soldiers left their tont and ru about injthe open, to prevent tbomselves rom being frozon to death.

'Sear'.ely a week passes (writes the Now York correspondent of the Si/dncy Morning Bcralfy. .without on announcement of jet anothe .innovation m the building of ships. Tho sircess of tbo " whaleback " has turned tbe genus of all the inventors m tbo direction of n»vi architecture, and there i) no tolling what Birftngo monsters may yot be let loose upon tie great ocean. The very latest is a " oombjaation navigator," odapted for upc both oqa shallow rivor and on tho open sea, Shs ha* [One bow and two sterna, cash pro vidoi vrith a rudder and a r crew, and she will carry aoadjustnblo centreboai'd eho is built of itecj, : ia 300 ft long, and has 85ft beam. Her soO3ud.&tern en&blea hertoorawl about m any wder that is nob loss tb»n sft deep, and ebe w.ll carry a cirgo m weight equalling sboui ©,000 bu!hol8 of wboat. Her lirat trip will to to tbe Amazon, and hating unloaded her i fight she will m*ke her way up the river JboiA 800 -milea to the ooffee plantations, and will sail from (hence direct withn_fjilJ.

nnovotS^iH SS^ncTbTSjiu™.. but it rXoo much «o say lhat within the pas tlclvembnth more daring ideas m the navr.l lino have been incarnated m this country w uteel ottd wood than during several centuries previously all over the globe.

The oommon classification of ")»>.'« ana" m civilisation are tho hunter und fisber, the pastoral, and the agricultural periods. A different ,iew is taken by Dr Hahti, a Gorman ethnologist, who point, out that ell the various forms of progress, from tbe lowest to the highest,- rimy still bo seen oa the earth, and m : many cases alongside oach other. Theso. -forms ho regards as six m number, the simplest being hunting and ffabinjf.: "A: wt area m North- KosternKur.^pe, America, and Asia is aesignea to it j inoludirig the entire Arctic regions and many tractfs-.in other parts of the i wor d. Next comSa what hq calls •• Uackbau," or hand tillage,' as still practued m Central America and tropical' Africa. Aftor this is Bgriculture m shape of plantation ; next, the kind of tillage practiced m Europe and Western Asia by means of tbe, plough. Tho fifth form^ia oattle farming and the keeping of sheep and goats, though tb^s, nbceositating a more ' wandering life, is, tie r,hinks, rathor inferior to tho herding of tbo larger s.tp,p.k •. and, l N t at 8 11, D* HaUu ragatrds tbfl^ elabor ft te'mode of cultivation practised m China by »w. of manure a ppUod .o » unientific manner—high farming, m Bhort— as the highest cultural stage to whioh man i ba» attained. This is the " allotment tillage wbioh is now beginning m earnest m Hogland.

. Hinco the publication of the law that minors ehall not be allowed to work more than eight hours a day, 71 factories of St. Petersburg have adopted a resolution not to employ ohildren of a minor ege at all, and 1054 young labourers have been thrown out of employment.

Two Irishmen, who had not met for years, ran across each othor, and after a period of handshaking, adjourned for some wet congratulations. Long time since we met, Olanoy, isn't it ? Greet lots of thiDgt bare happened sinoe then, said the first. Tea, indeed. Look at myself. Sure, it'e married I am, replied Clancy. You don't tell me P Have you anything to show for it? asked O'Crrady. Faith, and I hare that. I've got a fine healthy boy, and the neighbours say he's just the picture of me. O'Crrady looked at Olanoy, who was'nt. built on the lines of a prize beauty. Ah, well, what's the harrum so long sb the ohild'o hoaltbr P ,

I A carious instance is chronicled of the | royal assent having been given to a Bill by mistaie. Much an occurrence ie recorded as having taken place m 1844, when one of two railway Bills, which had not ptaseH through all ita stages m tba House of Lords, received m orro? the assent intended for the Bill m which all the formalities had boen complied with. This singular oversight necessitated the passing of a special Act m order toreo'ify matters. XTinally, it way not be generally known that m 1876, whan the Queen was irboutto visit the Oontinentt doubts were expressed whether she could legally give lier asßonf. to Bills by commission during ber absence. No case oauld be found m which the aasont had been eo given; but it was discovered that m the reign of William and Mary this contingency had beon provided for to the effect that "nothing should bo taken to exclude tr debar bis Majesty from the exeroise of any aot or loyal power, but that every -such sot should bo <>* good «.od effectual as if his Majesty was wii bio the realm." Her Moj isiy was advised, therefore, that she would be able to give her assent to Bills while absent from the realm Accordingly, several Bills teosived the Queen's assent under those circumstances.

Much scandal has been aroused ' m Japan owing to certain allegations regarding Ihe behaviour of the passengers carried on board the Jitpnnesc warship Uirfeikan, whioh has recently visited tbo leading ports of Australia On the return of the vessel to Japan com plaints wore lodged by one of tbe pnesengerg that tbe proceedings of some of thoao aboard had been calculated to bring the flfg of Japan into contempt. In Bri.bane, too, it was alleged, pome of tbo passengers had been seen m a state of intoxication, m which condition they bad insulted several ladies. It was further alleged that one of th» p&nengor* had engiged or attempted to engage m trade, 4 proceeding which a Japancsegentleman would prefer beggary to rathor thun be guilty of. An inquiry was instituted, when it was found tbat one of the passengers had m his panseesion some fans, wine (sake wade from rice) and lacquerware. Tl>B offender was thereupon severely reprimanded, and he being of a fiVry disposition, and euru pulous abmfc maintuining Lii honour untarnished, proposed that bo should alone for the diegrace he had brought upon the ship by committing hari Vari. viz., suicide, bj tipging open the stomach." It is addrd thut. he was with great difficulty prevented from currying out his purpore.