Miscellaneous.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2082, 17 June 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Miscellaneous.

The Seven Ages of Women.

All the world’s a Wardrobe, And all the girls and women merely wearers; They bare their fashions and their fantasies, And one she in her time wears many garments Throughout her Seven Stages. First the baby, Befrilled and broidered, in her nurse’s arras. And then the trim-hosed school-girl with her flounces And small-boy scorning face, tripping, skirlwaggling, Coquettishly to school. And then the flirt, Ogling like Circe, with a business eeillade Kept on her low-cut corset. Then the bride, Full of strange finery, vestured like an angel, Veiled vaporously yet vigilant of glance, Seeking the woman’s heaven, Admiration, Even at the Altar’s steps. And then the matron, In fair, rich velvets, with suave satin lined, With eyes severe and skirts of youthful cut, Full of dress saws and modish instances, To teach her girls their part. The sixth age shifts Into the gray, yet gorgeous, grandmamma, With gold pince-nez on nose and fan at side, Her youthful tastes still strong, and worldly wise In sumptuary law, her quivering voice I’rosing of Fashion and LcFollett, pipes Of robes and bargains rare. Last scene of

all, That ends the sex’s Mode-swayed history, Is second childishness and sheer oblivion Of youth, taste, passion, all—save love of Dress,

Methods of Life Insurance Agent*.— “ Well, yes, I suppose it does require some check to be a successful life insurance agent,” said an official connected with a insurance company to a reporter. “ The most successful agent 1 ever knew was one of the mildest of men, but he possessed an exceptional amount of patience. He worked what is known in insurance circles as the “quiet racketthat is he was never very talkative, but he would by easy stages prevail upon his man to believe that it was necessary for him to insure. Some loud mouthed agents are boisterous and impress their would be customers with the idea that they are the cheekiest of men. Cheek is no longer an important factor in the life iusurance business. Ingenuity pays much better in the long run. I must admit it is a serious question for a man to decide, especially if he is of limited means, whether or not he will get his life insured. Different men must be worked in different ways. It is generally supposed that very wealthy men insure oftener than men of moderate means. My experience is that men on salary whose incomes are just sufficient to support their families, are much better customers of insurance companies than men of wealth. Young couples, just married, are easily insured. The husband knowing that his income is small, and that in case of death he will leave his wife penniless, does not feel easy until he has taken out a policy. It is not always necessary to put up money to obtain a policy. Many companies often take notes with good indorsers in lieu of cash. In a few years life insurance will be much cheaper than now. The rates at present are hardly within reach of laboring men. This fact is to be deplored, but I hope for better things in the years ttreome.”

Kiss or the Wife that’s True. There's the kiss pressed on the lips of the child, Of lovers when parting at night; The kiss of mother our sorrows beguiled, linking the face cheery and bright; The kiss, so silly, of girls who meet, Who so blissfully kiss in lieu ; But the kiss that lasts and makes life sweet, Is the kiss of the wife that's true. Kisses in kinds ns countless as sands— Of friendship, betrayal, deceit; The kiss on the eyes, the forehead and hands, The kiss that is awkward and neat; The kiss that's given —the one we steal, The kiss that awakes as all through ; But the sweetest kiss that lips can feci, Is the kiss of the wife that’s true. There's the kiss of youth, and the kiss of years, And the kies we lay in the grave : The kiss wc press in sunshine and tears— The kit-3 for the brow of the brave; But the kiss that is the kiss of life, To him who the gamuts run through— That brings surcease to anguish and strife. Is the kiss of the wife that's true.

The Human Head—The human head is nicely balanced on the spine. Compared with heads of lower type, this equipoise forms a prominent feature of a man's estate. The head-mass of dog, horse, or elephant requires to be tied on, ns it wen;, to the spine. Ligaments and muscular arrangements, of complex nature, perform their part in securing that the front extremity of these forms should be safely adjusted. But in man there is absence of effort apparent in nature's ways of securing the desired end. The erect posture, too, is adjusted and arranged for on principles of neat economy. The type of body is the same as in lower life. Humanity appears before us as a modification, an evolution, but in no sense a new creation. Man rises from his “ forelegs ” arms being identical, be it remarked, with the anterior pair of limbs in lower life—and speedily there ensues an adaptation of means to ends, and all in the direction of the economical conversion of the lower type of being. The head becomes balanced, and not secured, as wc have seen, and thus a saving of muscular power is entailed. Adjustments of bones and joints take place, and the muscles of one aspect, say the front, of the body, counterbalance the action of those of the other aspect, the hack : and between the two diverging tendencies the erect position is maintained practically without effort. It seems hardly credible that any one who has himself died in the jubilee year of Queen Victoria's reign should be the’grandson of a man who lived for twelve years under Charles 11. Yet this was actually the ease with the late Captain Maude. His grandfather, Sir Robert Maude, was born in lfi'3; his father, the first Lord Hawardenin 1720; and he himself in 1798. Thus three generations have covered 213 years, or an average of seventy-one years to a general ion, and have lived under ten sovereigns. A novel flower has been found on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, at the San Jose hacienda, about twenty-two leagues from the city of Tehuantepec. This floral chameleon has the faculty of changing its colors during the day. In the morning it is white, when the sun is at its zenith it is red, and at night it is blue. This rcd-vvhite-and-bluc flower grows on a tree about (he size of a guayavc tree, and another peculiarly of the flower is that only at noon does it give nut any perfume.

It is Stated in a French paper that Professor Place, of the Cavalry School of Saumur, has recently applied electricity with great success to horses which prove refractory while being shod. A vicious beast will often give much trouble in shoeing. M. Place's method renders it at once tractable, and permanently cures its aversion to the forge. An electric shock is given ihrough a bridle of special form. Thompson : “ Suppose a man should call you a liar, what would you doT” Jones (hesitatingly); “ What sized man 2' The manner of advertising for a husband in Java is by placing an empty flower-pot on the portico roof, which is as much as to say, “ A young lady is in the house. Husband wanted.” •• That,” says a morose bachelor. “ is as much as to say when a man marries he goes to pot,” S‘JB