Miscellaneous.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2029, 11 February 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Miscellaneous.

Au Amorous Analogy. A loveless life, it seems to me To use o linmblc simile, Resembles much a cup of left ; Which from its burnished prison poured Sits useless on the social board, And with a more Cimmerian hue Than heathen writers ever knew j A flavour that would only stir The wrath of any connoisseur. What wonder, though its parent root In fields celestial shot to fruit, Near where the Yang-tse-lviang flows, And, Yarra-likc, offends the nose I What wonder, though to it belong The charms that lurk in best Souchong, And that delightful power to please That cheered enchanted Portuguese l If to its depth no sweetening slide, Or if the attribute’s denied, That soon transforms the glowing hue, And takes by storm the palate too; The unattractive bowl will grow From warmth to coldness, nor will know The bliss (I hope I have permission To state that tea has got ambition) Of being dmnk and bringing forth A panegyric on its worth, Bat joins the lowly gutter’s flow, The Hades of bighsoiiled Pekoe. And so with man. At least, so it (For the analogy to fit) Is with a single man, A bowl Whose contents is a living soul, All set with gems, perchance beneath An uninviting gloomy sheath. But just as table tea will show What nnthonght beauties bide below, If some invading summer beam Right through and through its current gleam, And from its inky depth nnfold A sunny bar of liquid gold : So love must light the darksome mine Before the gems begin to shine. 0! wretched man I to let thyself Sit on a self-constructed shelf, Unlike the one that spinster bears, The fault is very rarely theirs ; And wrapped in commerce or in pleasure, Revealed naught of inner treasure 1 The world’s cold air will o’er thee steal, And all thy youthful warmth congeal Within thy breast the turgid tide, Where selfish whims and fancies ride j Will in their vortci drag thee deep, Thy nobleness in baseness steep ; Till love, like sugar in the bowl Drops in the current of thy soul, And melting fast pervades the whole. Then in thy life the colouring shows That from this new experience flows, Just as the cup that cheers is best When milky nectar adds its zest. The sourness of the celibate Is honeyed in the love-sick state, Just as the sugar in the tea Redeems it from acidity. The fpi>onn to stir the sugar up, If need he in thy brimming cup, When rightly handled should procure A malestrom in miniature. Love comes in lumps of every size, Some sweet sixteen—some otherwise J And how she sweetens life why, I Still hope some day to testify. Beatrice.

German Social Usages.

The forcign'student resident in Germany very often is exposed to peculiar dangers owing to his ignorance of the great difference between the German social customs and those of his own country. I recall an example says Prof. Boyesen, of an ingenuous youth who came to the Fatherland with a due array of introductions, lie was invited to the bouse of his professor. The professor had three daughters, all excellent girls, but, ns is often the case with excellent girls, not eminent for personal attractiveness. They were extremely cordial to the young stranger, as were also their papa and mamma. My guileless friend suspected no ulterior design, but was delighted at the rapid progress he made in German under the care of the three maidens. Knowing nobody else in the city, and being a little shy of the rough ways and drinking habits of (he students, he found himself almost daily drifting into the soaiety of the professor's daughters. He occasionally made—witheharming impartiality—tentative remarks to them of a tender and complimentary character. He seemed to be under the impression that remarks uttered in German were a mere linguistic exercise, like the “ red cow of the grandmother in the garden of the rich count.” It would have surprised him to be told that they might have a personal application and might load to com* plications. He was, however, soon to have his eyes opened. After having called with great regularity upon the professor's daughters for a couple of months, he began to be regarded as a member of the family; and once the mother at the young ladies asked him in strict confidence upon which of the girls he had fixed his heart. Some little unpleasantness had arisen, she added smilingly, from the impartiality of his attentions. My friend felt for a moment as if the ceiling had tumbled down on bis bead ; but recovering himself he replied that he was in a serious dilemma. The young ladies were all so charming that he felt himself equally attracted to the three. Would the fran professorin have the kindness to grant him a week for meditation, and at the end of that time he would return and make known to her his choice. The lady tonnd this proper and natural, and granted the respite. It is needless to add that the stranger has not to this day made up his mind. He found it convenient to betake himself to another university shortly after his Interview with the professor's wife.

Indian Relics— A number of Indian reiics of great antiquity and value have been found in the possession of the Miami Indians in Indiana. Among them is a silver medal, five or seven inches in measurement, presented in person by George Washington to the Wyandotte tribe and afterwards given to a Miami chief. It bears the inscription " George Washington, President,” and the figures of an Indian and colonist smoking the pipe of peace. Another medal, circular in form, and two and a half inches in diameter, was presented the Miamis by Andrew Jackson. It is inscribed “ Pence and Friendship— A. Jackson, President, 1829," and bears the medallion of Jackson, artistically designed, The silver crucifix worn by Frances Slocum, the celebrated white captive taken at the massacre of Wyoming, is owned by Gabriel Godfrey, a Miami chief. The oro's is eleven inches in length and the arms are seven inches long. It was taken from her neck when she died in the wilderness at the ageof, 90. The Indians highly prize these rcl ics and though liberal offers for them have been made they cannot be induced to part with them.

Dynamite Pile-Driver.— Mr. Pradanovie, of Pesth, has been using dynamite for driving piles. He places an iron plate 15 inches diameter and 3? inches tbica in a perfectly horizontal position on the pile to be driven. A dynamite cartridge in the form of a disk, containing 17.} onnccs of dynamite, is placed on the iron plate and exploded by electricity. Ills stated that the pile is driven by each explosion to the depth equal to five blows of a pile-engine weighing 14i Vienna cwt., falling 9 feet 10 inches. The iron plate on the average resists twenty-five explosions.

Some air brought from Cape Horn has lately been analyzed in Paris. It was found to contain about the same proportion of oxvgen as air in other parts of the world. The air of different regions appears to differ very slightly in the quantity of oxygen and nitrogen present.