MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

Wellington Independent, Volume VIII, Issue 772, 5 March 1853, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

Advantage of a Little Knowledge. The mysteries of magnetism should be unfolded to the sailor, above all men, since he is the one of all others whose safety depends on its phenomena. He should be told that, on electro-magnetic principles he would materially influence the march of the needle" by wiping the glass which screens it, especially with silk. It is some years since a fact was told us which may be adduced in illustration:— It was that of a ship which arrived at Liverpool, after having been for several days the sport of winds and waves. The mariners' compass being washed overboard in a storm their voyage was dreary and procrastinated, much caution being necessary, and, despite of which, they might have been inevitably lost. Now had the simple fact of the extreme ease with which a mariners' needle might bo mado have been known to any one on board, the peril might have been avoidod. A sew-ing-needle, or the blade of a penknife, being held in an upright position and struck by a hammer, and subsequently floated by cork on water, or suspended by thread without tension, would become a magnetic needle, and poiut uorlh and south; or the end of a potar held vertically, and passed over its surface from one extreme to the other, would impart magnetism, and which if the needle be of steel, would be.of a permanent character. Wheu a Dutch maid servant wishes to go to a dance, and has no swain of her own, -she hires a cavalier for the occasions. A beau with an umbrella receives double pay. ' An Irish Capitalist.—A gentleman in Newcastle was applied to some time ago by an Irishman in his employment) to see if he could assist bitn in the investment of a hundred pounds. "A hundred pounds!" said be; "where hove you picked-up: such a sum ?" " It's all my wages since I eamo to work for you, your honour." " But how Krvo yon lived' in the mean time?" "My wife keeps the house and we save what I earn." "And what does your wife work at?" " Why. the thruth is, your honour, she goes out .every day with tho children aud cadges." The Grand Duke of Tuscany has enacted .that all -young men leading an irregular life, or having contracted habits

of noting and debauchery, shall be subicctedtomilitary,disciplme. : _. _ : '' A country minister, while .conducting , divine service lately, prayed to ; be delivered from the evil of popularity. 1 he. . number of his. congregation to six adults an and infant. :f , :. . : Mr R. Sands, circus performer announced in New York that he^voukl. walk across the ceiling, with ioet upwards and head downwards, by weans ofascienlifio apparatus appended tolas riment was successfully made by Mr. ; E. Sands, and feotly satisfied with what they had seen all excent one person, who said that ; Mr, Sant eould P not perform the feat out of the oirens.. Mr. Sands offered to. exhibit the same performance in any place where a ceiling having a smooth surface of sufficient strength to sustain his weight could be obtained. The largo room : m the Town-hall was selected. Mr. Sands repaired to the hall, and commenced his antipodal performance over the ceiling at an elevation of eighteen leet from the floor. He had proceeded several steps, and was in the act of returning, when a largo portion of the plaster gave way, and ho was precipitated to the. floor beneatf.. Mr Sands was taken up senseless. His neck was broken by the fall, and death ensued instantly. Stick to tour owk Business.—Let speculators make their thousands in a year or a day : mind your own regular trade, never turning from it to the right hand or the left. If you are.a merchant, a professional, or a mechanic; .never buy lots or stocks, unless you have, surplus money which you wish to invest. Your own business you understand as well as other men: but other peoples you donot understand. Lot your own business be one which is good for the community. All occupations possess the elements of profit in themselves, while mere speculation has no such elements. The. Will and the Way.—Cobbett writes " I learned grammar when I was a private soldier, on the pay of sixpence a day. The edge'of my berth, or that of my guard-bed was my seat to study in ; my knapsack was my bookcase, and a bit. of board lying in my lap was my writing table. I had no money to purchase candle or oil; in winter, it was rarely that I could get any light but that of the fire : and only my" turn even of that. To buy then a piece of paper I was compelled to forego some portion of food though in . a state of half-starvation. I had not a moment of time that I could call: my own,, and I had to read and write amid die talking, laughiug, singing, whistling, and bawling, of at least half a score of the most thoughtless of men—if I, under these circumstances, could encounter and overcome the task, is there—can there bo in the whole world, a youth who can find an excuse for the non—performance ■?''' A "Biuck" op an Unclb.—A journeyman mason named Bretend, was lately ago employed to moke some repairs in a chimney in the apartment of a gentleman residing in ihG lluu dos Francs Bourgeois,, Paris. While about his work, the mason broke a brick which he found in the chimney, and, to his surpriso, he discovered that it was hollowed out, and contained a bunk note for 500 francs. The workman was alone, arid might readily have appropriated this sum to himself, but ho honestly communicated the fact to his employer, who called to mind that, about two months before, he had written to his uncle at Amsterdam for a supply of money and had in return received a carefully sealed-up package, which on opening, he found it to contain nothing but the brick in question, which tho indignant recipient threw into the chimney and wrote to his uncle an angry letter on the subject to which no answer had been given. Novel Illustrations of Science.— During a lecture by a German, adventurer, he illustrated the glory of mechanics as a scene thus:—De ting dat is viade! is more superior dan do maker. I shall show you how in some tings. Suppose I make de round whoel of de coach. Vcr' well; dat wheel roll round 500 milo !— and I cannot roll one myself! Suppose I am a cooper, what yoo call, and I make de big tub to hold wine. He holds tuns and gallous and / cannot hold more dan five bottle! So you see dat what is madeis moro superior dan de maker." When the. King of Prussia and the Empress of Russia were at Coblontz, a butcher presented them with a sausage thirteen feet long, containing all sons of sausage meat; and terminating with a pig's head. ■ Their Majesties laughed heartily at the strangeness of the gift, but kindly accepted it. : ' , The climax of superfluous politeness has been declared to be that of holding an umbrella over a duck in.the rain. Poteety.—lf you are poor, do not let folks know it or else they will discover in you a thousand blemishes, a host of defects, which would never be discovered, at leas.t .talked about, if you keep a stiff , upnerlip, and carried yourself as if you had ten thousand dollars at your command. It is as natural to hold poor folks m contempt as it is for a rat to steal .cheese.