MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1692, 10 December 1861, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

Blondin in Danger. — A correspondent of the Globe writes as follows:—^-1 was yesterday, the 2lst. one of the gaping crowd who assembled at tbe'Cry'stal,Palaoe to see Blondin. By the advice of. a friend I reluctantly expended five shillings upon a ticket for the upper gallery, whichgave me the privilege of being upon a level , with the rope, and the advantage of a place ou the platform from which "the man started*. Shortly.after I had arrived 'Blondin came upon the stage, the band, struck up a lively march, and the perform- 1 ancei upon a rope 160 feet above the floor beneath, commenced. With a steady step, the acrobat paced the first few yards of bis cord, then with marvellous agility quickened his steps into a rapid run, when [" with a crash, his pole, weighing 60 lb., snapped in the centre, the slight rim of iron attached to it as a support bent double. Blondin fell with easy skill astride the rope, and, grasping it with his thighs, was safe. The pole hung in two pieces from the cord, held together only by the olasp of iron. While his attendants hurried to and fro to procure assistance . he alone remained calm, with a courage and coolness which it was impossible to regard without admiration. He gradually raised the broken pieces, bent double as they were, and with this shattered and ill-balanced pole he again stood. Up and ■: walked the remainder --of the distance. A considerable delay then took place before another pole could be procured.; The orowd beneath, who, thirsting for morbid excitemeut, had but faintly cheered him when he saved himself irom a - terrible position, soon began to show symptoms of impatience, and at ! last broke out into veiy audible sounds of disapprobation. As these sounds increased, I watched the countenance of the acrobat as he looked anxiously below. Whatever we may think- of the foolhardiness of his ' calling, what must his thoughts have been when he found his life thus reckoned as the gladiator's was of old, the price of amusement for the people; At length a pole arrived, far smaller, than that he usually carried, and wanting the balance weights at the points. Evidently stimulated by the noise beneath he blindfolded himself, and in a sack returned along the rope to the satisfaction of the audience. . One of the officials, remarking upon his , courage, said, " He never yet disappointed the public." Excuse me," replied a wag, "he has done so to-day." " How ?" , exclaimed the official. "By not breaking his neck," said the wag. , - , An Insatiable Drunkard.-^A moat shocking case of addiotioh to the excessive use of intoxicating liquors was revealed at an inquest in Newcastle on Tuesday. Thewife of a beerhouse keeper in the side, being in liquor, fell down < stairs last week, aud died from the effects of the injuries sustained. The husband of the deceased told the coroner that the night before the accident, his wife drunk as muoh as four gallons of beer out of a bucket after she had gone to bed, and during the evening previous to that she drunk 5s 6d worth of. whisky atone sitting, and 5s 6d worth of spirits at ano- , ther ! The jury returned a verdict " That the deceased died from incarnation of the stomach produced by the excessive use of alcohol."— NewcaitU Chronicle. Death oi* a Young Woman on her way tobe Married. — A sad illustration of the frail tenure of human life was witnessed in Wai brook, London, on the I7th December. A young woman named Rosa;. SteWart, living I''with1 ' 'with her aunt at No. 2, Bell-court, adjoining Deacon's Coffeehouse Tavern, London, who was to be married at St Luke's Churoh, Old-street, left her home for that purpose ,at nine .. o'clock. On reaohing the entranoe,to tfoo court, she stopped for a few minutes td wait fov her aunt, who was to accompany her to church. To all appearance she was in full glow of health and spirits ; she' was drawing on her gloves, when sudden- . ly she was seen to <reel and fall to the ground. She was carried into the premises of Messrs. Maolure, Maodonald, and ,Maogregor, lithographers. A surgeon promptly attended, but only to pronounce life to be extinct. What Constitutes a Vagrant f-— , ' A good aneodote is related of a well known vagabond, who was brought before a magistrate as a common vagrant. Having suddenly harpooned a good idea, he pulled from the capacious pocket of his tattered ooat a loaf of bread aud half . a dried codfish* and holding .the'iti i ?js>. L with a triumphant look and gesture^ to ' the magistrate, exol aimed, "You don't ketoh him that way ! I'm no vagrant,' Ant them visible means o' support I - should like to know ?" . ; ./ . ;: •

steam is employed one horse power is sufficient for four of iheni. The cost, if made of metal is, say, dE 10 j if of wood, very cousiderably under that amount. The flax thus prepared wai " honorably mentioned" at the Exhibition of 1851, and arrangements were entered into in England to carry the idea out on a large scale. Mr. Whytlaw again returned to Auokland in 1855, but owing to the complete revolution which the gold diggings of Australia had effected in the piice of land, fco., he was utterly unable to purchase an extensive wild flax field at anything like the price he had contemplated. He advertised but almost in vain, and the intelligence of machinery and workmen being on their way obliged him to oloso for the only site offered, whioh although comparatively deficient in wild flax, would it was thought prove suitable for its culture. The factory was erected and a 15 horse steam engine driving 32 machines set to work. All that was produced sold readily at the prices before stated, and the waste material fetched £18 per ton for upholstery purposes. But the wild flax came to an end ; and as to have cultivated the flax for supplying the machines 200 acres would have had to be cleared, ploughed, fenced and planted with taany thousand roots, the partners in England shrank from the expense . and resolved to abandon the undertaking. Mr. Whytlaw then resolved to do so likwise, and has recorded his experience, described his machine, and given the practical details of cost and sale, for the benefit of the public. The pamphlet gives much valuable information on the cultivation and cutting of the flax, aud is altogether a most Valuable production. We trust, however, we have said enough to induce our readers to read and study it for themselves. After we have laid it before them we shall have much pleasure in again directing their attention to it.