The Star. THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1895. To-Day.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5295, 27 June 1895, Page 2

The Star. THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1895. To-Day.

A hundred years ago, things were different. So the contributor of a pleasant article to one of the English magazines demonstrates. He has worked industriously amongst the old records, and the result is to give us a glimpse of the past which, at any rate, has the merit of presenting old facts in a new light. But not all things were different then. For instance, with regard to matters meteorological, people are won't nowadays to consider themselves placed in phenomenal circumstances : " there never was," they Bay, such heat or cold, such drought or flood, aB the case may be. Only a little while ago, the Home journals were full of details of " extraordinary" frost, and these narratives of hardships were speedily followed by accounts of disastrous floods. .Yet they were better, provided with senBational weather conditions in 1795. People walked about on the Thames, in January, and in the following month rowed in boats in the streets of Kingston. "In May the weather was of a kind rarely experienced ; one day no place could be found cool enough, and on the next great coats and coal fires were in requisition." In Jane a tremendous fall of snow killed thousands of newly-shorn sheep ; July brought heavy thunderstorms, and an earthquake constituted one of the later sensations of the year.

Turning to social matters, some of our readers may be interested to learn that the movements of notable personages were chronicled with even more minuteness than they are to-day, which is saying a great deal. We are told how the queen of the third Qeorge Bpent her birthday celebration on May 20, beginning the mild festivities at an hour which would make some of the modern society dames Bhiver with apprehension :— A walk out at seven in the morniDg to drink tea, a concert at nine, and so on, a supper winding up the proceedings. Then again, there were chronicled the daily life details of the Eoyal family daring a summer holiday at the seaside, after this manner :— " A,ngust 21, This morning his Majesty bathed a little after six; and three of the princesses were in the bathing machine by seven." Again: — "October 2. This morning his Majesty has bathed very early for the last time this season, aa have Borne of the princesses. They depart to-morrow morning at five o'clock." Jußt as much twaddle gets reported now, and it lacks the merit oE demonstrating the existence of such a virtue as "getting up in the morning." By-the-way, there 1 was a sensational incident in connection with royalty in the month of August, when, as the king was on his way to open Parliament, an attack was made on the procession by an infuriated mob, who, disappointed in not being able to get at his Majesty, gained some consolation by smashing the carriage as far as possible when it was returning— empty.

That year of grace 1795 saw Pitt and Fox prominent in the Parliament— the Parliament that imposed a guinea tax upon all weaiera of hair-powder, and gave rise to the nick-name " guinea-pigs;"- as applied to the followers of the fashion; That was the year in which the famous trial of Warren Hastings took place, and in which that ever-famous song "The Friar of Orders Grey," was first sung ; the year in which a system of telegraphy— by the use of semaphores placed at suitable distances — was practioally worked, and it was conceived to be possible to convey a signal from Portsmouth to London in twenty minutes! But travelling was also slow, progress depending upon the luck attending the lumbering mail coaches; and the charge of a shilling for conveying a letter from, cay, London to Dublin, was not excessive under the circumstances. Halcyon days, they were, in the fancy of some of the discontented folk who live now; but if those same folk could be placed in the conditions that existed in 1795, there is a strong probability that their happiness would still be incomplete.

Litebabt Society.— The weekly meeting of Sfc John's Literary Association was held on Monday. The chair was occupied by the President (Rev H. 0. M. Watson). Poems by varioua authors were read by the Chairman and several of the members, and a very pleasant evening was spent. The Fabmebs' Paper. — Articles on clover-growing and on anthrax, with jottings, nofreß and correspondence on many subjects interesting to farmers, large and small, will be found in the agricultural columns of this week's Canterbury Times. Illustrations are given of the effeots of the mysterious disease which has attacked horses in the Kaiapoi district, and also of some dangerous and spreading noxious weeds.

It is supposed that the average value o£ furniture per house in the United Kingdom is about J6160. This estimate includes the valuable pictures, plate, and carriages, which are appendages of the more pretentious establishments.

In 1745 Dr Watson stretched a wire across the Thames and sent an electric shock through it from ono observer to another. Cnancing, however, to shock some persons who could not be made to understand the principle of the thing, he was accused of witchcraft, and had much trouble in proving his innocence. He gave up his electrical experiments.