ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 3, Issue 300, 3 June 1879, Page 3

ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

(Collated from our Exchanges.)

A fine old soldier, a,true type of the old school of officers, has passed away in General Jervis, who has just died after Bixty-seven years' service. Although his career was not marked by brilliant exploits { in war, his name is perhaps as widely kilown and as much revered as that of any officer in the service of the Queen. For years and years he was the central figure at the Chatham garrison—first, a commandant of the old "Pongo " battalion, which all- officers joined who were gazetted to regiments in India; and afterwards, as colonel of a depot battalion, he endeared himself to all. Indefatigable, clear-headed, punctiliously exact in the discharge of duty, he was just the right man to set a ■ good example to young officers, and instil j proper ideas into them. Off parade and in the well-known messroom there wae no tnoie courteous gentleman or pleasant companion to be found. There are many officers —some retired, some rising rapidly to high rank themselves—whe will ever remember with affectionate regret a chief whose wise counsels, alternately with kindly encouragement, helped to form their character and make them what they are. Major Bussel, of the 12th Lancers, who resigned his post as equerry to the Prince of Wales in order to join Lord Chelmsford al the Cape, bas organized a regiment of mounted infantry, which he himself commands. The men are regular soldiers from the Line regiments now serving at the Cape, and the officers are drawn from the earns so.urce. It is not in any respects a colonial corps ; therefore, as the first force of the kind, it will be interesting to watch the results obtained from a hybrid arm, which, it is predicted, will some day be generally employed in war.

The Wellington Post says—Some men carry about with them a quantity of general merchandise, which would be sufficient to enable them to open a general store. This afternoon a gentleman was arrested on a charge of drunkenness and when his pockets were searched they were found to contain the following articles:—One carrot, one piece of candle, one key, one " Guide to the Hot Springe," one soda-water bottle containing whiskey, one onion, one pair of. gogglee, one fishhook, a piece of soap, and a religious tract. There was also newspaper containing an account of his last appearance in Court, the paragraph referring to his case being marked. j There is no necessity for stating from what part of this sublunary sphere the following " veracious" paragraph comes. The nationality of its author is obvious. Here it is :-—An intelligent farmer in Dcs Moines County has invented a benophone, by which one old reliable hen occuping a central position, sits on all the neate about the the establishment, leaving other fowls free to Jay eggs, scratch and cackle. Aβ fast as a new nest contains the full complement of eggs, it is connected with the central office by a copper wire and the business is settled. The only trouble with the machine is thatit. sits so hard that it hatches out the porcelain nest eggs along with the others, so that one chick in every nest is born with glass eyes, and the farmer has to buy and train a dog to lead it round. This makes it expensive.