MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 387, 5 November 1874, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

Mr Adam,, the Immigration Agent for Otago, was in the extreme north of Scotland in July last, and writes to a friend in the Bruce district an account of his more recent travels. Travelling from Lairg to Tongue in Sutherlandshire, he writes : — " On the roiul the coach stopped and picked up an elderly gentleman who had been angling. On seeing him I said to him, ' come up beside me ; I want somebody to talk to.' The old gentleman smiled, and said, ' Well, I will do so ;' and, as wo were the only passengers, we talked' away about twenty things during the three hours we were on the coach. Once or twice I wondered at some things and. people he seemed to know, and as he had previously said, ' I see you are a public man,' I was so persuaded he must be a public man himself that I said, ' "What is your name, please V ' John Bright.' ' What,' I said, ' the great parliamentarist ? ' I said that I was glad I did not know him at first, as I should not have been so free and easy with him ; but that I was proud to have been with him on the journey to Tongue, and arranged with him to come down to my lodgings and I would show him a large number of beautiful photographs of Otago scenery and public buildings." Mr Adam spent some time with Mr Bright, but his report of their conversations is not very entertaining. "He seemed," says Mr Adam, " to know all about the public men of Sydney and Melbourne, but I had to give him some idea of Mr Vogel and others. On showing him a photograph of the runs and stations of Mr Stafford and Sir F. T). Bell, he asked me very playfully 'How those gentlemen looked after being knighted?' " A lady, subscribing herself " Terpsicore," makes the following complaint in the Buller News (Nelson Croldfield). I don't pretend to understand Acts of Parliament like you men, but I think Mr Fox and the honourable members of Parliament have not done a manly act in depriving us girls of a livelihood. Mr Fox, and other old paterfamilias like him, may rail at dancing, because they can't dance themsolves, just as Lord Byron wrote against the waltz because he was lame ; but I don't see why we should be deprived of innocent amusement on their account. If dancing is so very wicked, why do they have balls in the Genera Assembly halls % I should like to know. Can Mr Fox prevent dancing in houses ? No, the nasty, jealous old thing, ho ain't, and he shan't. And pray, if it is naughty to dance in public, is it not quite as naughty, if not naughtier to dance in pri\ ate 1 Drat the nasty old thing, I've no patience with surh starched-up, mockmoral old bacelors, and sour old paterfamilias.

The following lively state of affahs is reported by" bhe Westpoi t Times : — Nearly a famine prevails in the land, a plentiful scarcity of everything eatable. The butchers' shops are bare, eggs at a premium, and salt and preserved provisions running out. At \ Charleston worse times prevail, scarcity has been succeeded by absolute dearth, and the principal viands now in connsumption are jams, kippered harrings, and tomato sauce. Bacon is> not to be obtained there, and the butchers days ago shut up g their shops for an indefinite period. * This is the way a muchly bothered exchange puts it : — The young man who came into this office this morning, sat down on a box, and then bounced up with a yell and then fled like one bewitched, is requested to return four long brass tacks that were on the bob when he took his seat. No questions will be asked — we understand it all ; but we want those tacks — we have use for them. The box is specially devoted to the parties who not only read our exchanges, but spirit them away, and the tacks are what we depend on for excitement. "What can be pleasanter, says an exchange, thsm the life of a Missouri farmer 1 At daylight he gets up and examines the holes around his corn hills for cut worms, then he smashes coddling moth larvae with a hoe handle until breakfast. The forenoon is devoted to watering the potato bugs with a solution, of Paris green, and after dinner all hands turn out to pour boiling water on the chintz bug in the corn and. wheat fields. In the eveiiing a, favorite occupation is smudging peach trees to discourage the curculio ; and after a brief season of family devotion at the shrine of the night-flying coleoptera, all the folks retire and sleep soundly till Aurora reddens the east and the grasshoppeis tinkle against the panes and summon them to the labors of another day. The great match in which Mr D. Stanton had agreed, for a wager of ,£ijO a-side, to ride a bicycle from Bath to London — a distance computed at 108 miles — under eight hours and a half, was decided yesterday amid gieat excitement, the inhabitants of the various towns and villages through which he had to pass turning out en masse to cheer him on his way, while at Kensington a mob had congregated to witness his arrival. At 5 a.m., Messrs J. Snargis and C. Small despatched him on his journey, and settling down to his work at once, he rapidly ran through Pickwick, Calne,Chippenharu, % Marlborough (here he found the going through Savernake Forest veiy tiring), Hungerford, Newiy, and Calcott-green to Reading, reaching this town at 10 o'clock. Half-an-hour's rest for refreshments saw him again away, and all went well until Maidenhead-hill was reached, where he came in collision with a gentleman's carnage, breaking the tire of his wheel and severely injuring his left shoulder to such an extent that he could only use his right hand for the remainder of the distance. After repairing his machine he again got under weigh, and, journeying through Slough, Hounslow, Tumham-green, and Hammersmith, at about 20 minutes past 1 it was announced that he was in sight. Slowly, and evidently in pain, he made his way along Kensington High street, and nearing the goal he put on a spurt, reaching his destination, the Three Tuns Hotel, at 28 minutes past 1, and winning by exactly two minutes. A bicycle by Stasson. of Edgware road, with a wheel 57iinwas used for the occasion. — Times, Aug. 18. A French period, of July last, gives the first authentic and detailed narrative of the recent mas-saci-e of Roman Catholic native converts in China. The account, as translated for the London Tablet, relates that the massacre broke out on February 25, when the " literates," as the persecuting party is called, opened the campaign by beheading two. men in the service of Pere Doare and a Christian, whom they then threw into the river. The same day they burned the three villages of Tnm Lam, Flo, Vin, and Bau Tach, and massacred the inhabitants that were in them. Those who succeeded in escaping to the woods were hunted down with hounds, brought back and killed on the following day. The river was covered over with bodies floating down it from the side of Lareg. At that time the murderers were massacring the Christians of the parish of Holven, and were burning their village. . Those who took refuge in the cliffs of the neighborhood were hunted down and burned alive. Few flowers are more esteemed in winter and, early spring than mignonette. Although it is not a delicate plant, yet it is not genei-ally seen in the perfection to which it might be brought by the simple method of culture which I am about to describe. To flower at or soon after Christmas, the seed should be sown in the beginning of August, in pots of any convenient size. The soil should be good loam, moderately enriched with rotten dung, mortar or lime rubbish. It is essential that the pots be thoroughly drained, and upon the drainage a handful (more or less, according to the size of the pots)/ of one-year-old pigeon's dung should be placed. After sowing the seed, set the pots where they will not acquire frequent waterings, too much moisture being extremely injurious!} to mignonette ; for this reason, therefore, it will be safer to place the pots in a frame or pit, -where they may be covered by the lights in rainy weather. As the plants increase in size, they should be gradually thinned, ultimately leaving three or five in each pot. The principal point to be attended to now is judicious watering ; by this I mean giving water only when the plants really require water, and then in sufficient quantity to moisten the whole of the soil — not dribbling a few drops over the plant to-day to prevent them from being dry to-morrow — a practice too much followed with plants in pots. Pinch off any premature flowers that may appear, keep the pots free from weeds, and far enough asunder to prevent the plants from being crowded, and when they are removed to winter quarters, set them near the g las. in any airy situation. A few of the plants might be placed into an intermediate house, or other situation rather warmer than a greenhouse, to come into bloom a little earler than the rest. I have recommended the seeds to be sown in pots, which is the method I prefer ; but, if more convenient, a sufficient number of self-sown plants might be taken up and potted, only a few extra should be put in to allow for casualties, as the mignonette transplants badly. The best mignonette I ever saw was treated in this way ; but, as it is notevery Gn e who can procure pigeoix's dung, I may add that guano, will be found an excellent substitute. This admirable fertiliser must, however, be applied in a liquid state, and not before the pots had become well filled with roots, when a small quantity of guano, given at intervals of a week or so, will increase the vigour of the plants in an extraordinary degree. A second crop might be sown in the beginning of September, and managed in the same manner. Single plants will attain a large size in 6 or 8-inch pots, if the main branches are pegged down as they grow and the flowers are kept pinched off for a time. The Wallabadah correspondent of a Murruundi contemporary relates tee following: — "A curiosity came under our notice the other day in the shape of an opossum reared by a cat. The two are now inseparable companions, the 'possum being usually seen riding a stride on the cat's back. Its history is this : Some time ago, at Mr E. H. M'Lean's, a young 'possum was caught in the bush ; about the same time the cat had kittens, which were all drowhed. The 'possum was shown to the cat, which declined to netice it. Dining the night, however, the cat took the 'possuw in her mouth, not to eat, but to tend as if it were a kitten, and from that out they were mother and child. One thing in noticeable, the 'possum does not grow any larger, and is I now about the si/,e of a newly born kitten."

The following question has been asked : What elements are removed from the soil by the growth of cabbage ? The outer leaves of perfectly ripe cabbage are composed of albuminous substances, 1-16 per cent, woody fibre, gum, and sugar, 5-0 per cent, ash,' 2-2 per cent, water, 91-1 per cent. The heart leaves contain a little more water, and little less of the other constituents. It removes potash, lime, phosphoric and sulphuric acids principally from the soil. These acids are in combination with the various bases which are absorbed by the growing plant. A Chronicle reporter was coming down Clay street lately, when he saw a large crowd of ragged bo\s eagerly surrounding some small object. The reporter came up, and, looking over the heads of the juvenile crowd, saw a tiny little man in a high hat, ruffled shirt, and black dress" coat, offering his photographs for sale. The Chronicle man seized the tiny form in one hand, and, lifting it over the heads of the gamins, bore him in safety to the editorial room, where he perched him upon a high stool, and extracted the following information : The little lump of humanity proved to be General C. R. Decker, who claims to be smallest man living. He was born in Mississippi in 1850, and hence is 24 years old. He measures 2 feet 7 inches in height, and weighs 35 pounds. He is well formed, and has a handsome and intelligent face. The General is the sole support of his mother, who lives in Memphis, and he earns their living by selling photographs of himself. Baraum has made repeated efforts to get little Mr Decker to become part of his show, but ' he has a repugnance to exhibiting himself, and has therefore declined all overtures of that kind. New Governess : " Very good .' And how long did you practice in the holidays, Maud?" Maud : " O, I practised half an hour, Miss Bailey. But then that was by the dining room clock. When " I practised by the clock on the stairs it was three- t ' quarters, because that's slow !' " If," advertises a philosophical victim, " the pe»son who took a fancy to my overeat was influenced by. the weather, then all is serene ; but if he did so from commercial considerations, I am ready to en- _ ter into commercial negotiatioas for its return."