Presence of Mind.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1842, 26 April 1884, Page 6 (Supplement)

Presence of Mind.

Some persons imagine that presenoe of mind is an instinctive quality that is never to be acquired; but that is an erroneous view. Familiarity with danger is greatly conducive to it. Soldiers and sailors, as well as medical men, acquire it by experience. This is not available to all, but a contemplation of the possibility of danger, and of the means which should be taken to avoid it, will greatly conduce to tho possession of this faculty. If every woman would think aa to the best method of procedure if her bedroom was on fire, she would be more likely to act rationally, if the accident did occur, than 0119 who had never contemplated the possibility of such an occurrence; and a girl who is convinced of the danger of rushing into the open air on her dress catching alight, is more likely to throw herself on the floor and roll over and over than one who has never thought at all about the subject.

"All's Well That Ends Well."—This would be a very appropriate title for the recent romance of real life which ended happily in Paris. The son of a rich gentleman residing in the Faubourg St. Germain had fallen desparately in love with a pretty, amiable, but dowerlpss girl. The cours9 of true love ran smoothly enough so long as the young man's father was not aware of what was going forward ; but when his consent to the marriage was asked he flatly refused to give it. A last meeting took place, vows of etornal constancy were interchanged, and the lovers separated. The young lady, deeply affected by the parting, took the rash determination to drown herself and her sorrow in the Seine, and about twilight on Sunday she carried out her intention. A gentleman walking along the quay at the time saw her struggling in the water, and without a moment's hesitation plunged in to the rescue. The would-be suicide was saved, but the most curious part of the story is that the gentleman who saved her chanced to be the father of the young man she loved. The denouement of the affair can be easily gueased. The stern parent's inflexible resolution to refuse his consent to the union gave way under the emotion he felt at the drowning incident. He conveyed the poor girl home, sent for his son, told the delighted young people that they were free to take each other for better or worse, and that the wedding might take place as soon as the young lady had recovered from the effects of her immersion in the river.

An extraordinary wager was made recently on an English farm. It was made by Mr. Terrell, a Wiltshire farmer, and Mr. Abbey, an Oxfordshire farmer. The issue was who would do most work in the harvest-field, the former drinking beer and the latter water only. Fifteen acres to each " pitcher " were allowed. The result was that beer won by above an acre. Mr. Terrell held a veiy decided lead from the first.

At Clapham Junction, where the great railroad systems of London connect, the rails lie together like the wires of a piano. Sixteen hundred trains a day run over them. There is no shrieking of whistles or clanging of bells. They keep their signals for their officials, and outsiders must expose themselves at their own risks. A tunnel way for the passengers connects the whole, so that no one is allowed to cross the rails except the employes, who grow foolhardy, and now and then come to grief. On the average one man is killed every six weeks.

On "Letting it Alone."—Thereisnothing in which men do more wisely, when they agree to act upon the principle of letting things alone, than when they apply this rule to the slander and misrepresentations which are directed against themselves. If only they can possess their souls in patience, and sit down in quietness and self-control when they are misunderstood or misrepresented, they may rest assured that they will gain a much more certain and easy victory than if they insist upon doing battle with all whom they regard as their enemies. The truth is great and it will prevail, says an old Latin proverb. One may go further, and say that after all the truth hardly needs to be helped by us. It will make its way by its own weight; it will prevail by reason of its own strength. So when the angry storm of slander rages, when jealousy has begotten fierce and bitter passions, which in their turn have armed themselves with cruel weapons of falsehood and malice, the wise man will learn the wisdom of letting things alone. Let the storm blow past; but do not bruise yourself in fruitless attempts to hurl back the remorseless blast, Leave it alone ; and it will shriek around you harmlessly; and by-and^bye the hurricane will have blown itself out, and you will be exactly where you were before it began to rise —that is, provided you have had the wisdom to let it alone.—Leeds Mercury.