ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 345, 7 November 1879, Page 3

ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

(Collated from our Exchanges.)

The " Pinafore "mania took a strange iftiape in New York, where 2000 or 3000 persons assembled to witness the play " on a real ship, and real water." The ship Was 110 feet long, and was fully rigged as a man-o'-war. A San Francisco paper says: " Her sails were ' loosed to a buntline,' her 3*un-deck ports were closed, but on the main deck were four broadside guns and two boat howitzers ; there was the wheel j* in front of the cabin, the<capstanj the topes coiled up around the fife-rail, the starboard anchor down—in short, it Was a good representation of a ship of war. The orchestra waß out of sight in the forecastle, but * not' out of sound.' The action was in the centre of the main deck, and when the sailors departed they went down the forehatch, while the Admiral, the captain, his ! lovely daughter, and the sisters, cousins, ; and aunts disappeared at the proper times into the cabin. When Little Buttercup came on board she came in a boat alone, and was met at the starboard gangway by a gallant tar, and sang the first stanza i* while in the boat. The Bisters, cousins and aunts arrived in the same way. When 1 the boat containing Sir Joseph and Hebe , arrived there was a commotion on board. *?. There was a salute, and the yards manned by the men who were aa agile, and evidently understood what they were about as though they were real man-of-war's men. Then there was a file of marines who did their duty, notably the silent drill, so well as to win merited applause. When the Admiral left the ship with Hebe he sang his " I'm the Monarch of the Sea,!' after be had boarded a small boat, and while preparing to start. ! And over all and above all was the BtrangeneßS of the Burroundingß, the water, and the sky, the reflection of the opera in the lake, the im- •"*• menße audience scattered around the shore of the lake, giving a novel, not to say weird, appearance." A reporter and a lawyer were recently _ engaged in a discussion on the merits of ?? their respective professions. After ,dealing with all sublunary matters incidental to the subject, the lawyer thought he delivered the coup de grace when he said— "Well, I think I've heard it rumoured that one newspaper man got to heaven by mistake." But he admitted himself beaten when the scribe replied—"That's quite true ; and they hunted all round for. a lawyer to serve a writ of ejectment on him, but couldn't find one—not even an articled clerk." The man of law returned to terrestrial matters again.

The Askbttfi'ton Mail thus describes what ft Calls'a lecture"extraordinary :—"The Town; gall waß„i)Ju,minate:dl for!the-purpose of enabling ofj to deliver oheof.his..eccerilric lecttiresi 1 ' Alipfit a„ , of five* tneir, two boys, and a brown retriever. TH, 1 led urei? pcrossjijje vdjttfporni between the side scenes somewhat uneasily, like an : angel of light; tharts" to" say, he. wore a , suit 6f faded tweedypiinateail m the ortho • dox lecturing ( fcosthih^. !v -''--Ar'last he appeared ibefore f the which-iTwere daTkerie'di''and'hiformed the eight listeners', including the retrierer,"that he would • abolishf > hiß-tißtended'»lecthre,' ;and 'their rhpney would; ;( be .returriedi) iAsnobddy had paid, thipintimation, was/greeted with derisive applause. "Mr M'Guire then dived into ,the] >\»rings| but-speedily reappearing with a bottle of , r pale brandy, and a tumbler, he again'a'dvahced the 'front and dfahk sUccessto the h'eaVehly bodies." Again' he retired ;for several minutes bebirid the wings. f On emerging he advanced to the table,- picked' vp 1 'several I ' slips of paper, presumably, his notes,and, tore them ;r in fragments, scattering the.'pieces at his, feet. Shortly lafterWards, ! the 'halNkeeper,/ .to prevent an y' more stage antics', allowed the curtain t'o= fall' and 1 'extinguished 'the lights, while the' lecturer, bottle in'pocket, and with, his tumbleroor.n r . the. end. of his stick, disappeared from ; the ; building, amidst the. shrugging- of, ethpulders and whispers of 'Sunnysido:' It is"to be hoped the Town Hall Committee out of charity .will refund the poor'fellow the amount he paid for the i premises." } •[is ;■;;.; .//I Past and present.—The following paragraphs strikingly illustrate the i changes in America during; the. generation; bet ween 1841 and 1871:—"Five-Dollars Reward.— Run away from the/subscribers on the 23rd Nov. last, the Negro'boy Oscar Dunn, an apprentice to the plastering , trade. He is of'grifEe ColOrj 1 between twenty'and twenty-one years; of' age, : and about five fee. ten or eleven .inches [high* ■, All persons are cautioned' not' to harbor the said boy under, ipenalty; of- the' law.—-Wilson and Patterson, cCJ./St, John, and Common streets." N. 0. Picayune, 1841.—" In New Orleans, Wednesday, Nov. 2nd, 1871, theiHo'n. Oscar J. Di__JVLieutenantGovernor of Louisiana" * <■.'<: \

Some excitment was caused in the town of Avoca, Victoria, lately, by the news that Mounted Constable; Monks had been shot while attempting to arrest a man charged with stealing saddles and grass seeds .at Clunes. ' Monks had been looking for the man since,morning, and about 12 o'clock met him driving in a waggon, with a boy on horseback accompying him, on the.back tracks near the Pyrenees'. "The constable stopped them; _nd> Waae_amihm'g : the saddle on the.boy's ho?sß,-when,theHiar_o_lled out, " Batf up,.' and .the constable found a revolver pointed to "his face/ "He struck it down with hiswhipyand at tlie : sama' ! 'time instant.it exploded,.and/the went into the constable's thigh... The man ,tppk another shot, but the constable dodged behi_da tree and fired in return, but missed as the man *fot behind the waggon. The constable kept him bailed up in, this position for one no'ur when a boy passed and he sent hhiiitO.Avoca for assistance. A man also came along; and 'Monks■ asked his assistance, but the man presented a revolver and he ran away. The man made a run for it, dodging |rom tree to and-firing rat the constable;;who laliQwed nam for _ miles, when he had to give-up, the pursuit on account of his wound-and' 'loss of blood. The man fired twice and the constable four

times while bailed up at the waggon. The man-mtd alive, plenty v o'f ammunition, and would ,be as bad as the Kellys. | " Biih'd=with rage* meant ! sbm'etn'ing"in; a Paris ivorksho'p' brie afternoon" some time 1 ago. An:overseer of the finding: that one,of the, men .had inbt finished a piece of Work w.hiph was;urgently required, fell into such a state of, ( fury; ps to', Pitrikehim in the face. Almost in the very act of striking, however, he fell back, shouting for aid,-and complaining .that he could not see. The workmen came around him with offers of assistance, but nothing could he done. It was certain.'that- he had ; suddenly lost the use of his eyes.;. Medical evidence showed that some of-the blood vessels behind the eye had burst, arid that the blood had flooded the interior cavities of the eyeballs. ; ~ ..; ■ ; , : ,;"l A dreadful accident has occurred, in.a circus near Bordeaux. l One of the horses took fright ; fjuring the, performance', jumped into the midst of the spectators, killing one woman, ' severely wounding many others, fracturing theleg 'of the person who rode the beast,, and doing incalculable mischief. The consternation was generar, degenerating'into a.panic. The scene was, however, less horrible than that which was'witnessed- at a wild beast show in the provinces, A tiger burst through the bars of his cage . and leaped into the crowd, killing the woman on whom he alightedj, .< and, ,aftei-yfards .venting his' fury on ' many others. The tamer subsequently induced s him, ,by, powers of iron ; bars 1 to return to his cage. It was discovered .thafo,the, bars had been sawn asunder by a, keeper who had been discharged for drUriketitiess.' The German 1 papers giye. an ..account of the death of a clergyman from a wound caused' by that apparently innocent instrument, a steel pen. Pfarrer Fi-anz'Motis, ; of PuchWrchen,<wa a Jn;the..habit ;of-. stiefcingiihW pens in the holes of his inkstand .with their points upward. Leaning over to Ibokmoie closely at abob%:which was-propped up blithe further side of the inkstand,>the; ;point of a pen accidentally ( him,. jThe, Wound --■ w_b : ■ ied ,/ ' 'insignificant that ne took no, notice* of it ; at the- '•■ time ; bdt the! folioWirg day the pain becanie, . so. ■■ great that he sent for a physician/ tfho found that it was a very bad case ; ; 6f ■ soning. In spite of all remedjes.the!virus'; got such a grasp upon his.system that, after, eight weeks of inci-easin^ 1 suffering', he died from the (casual >prick of a penl"^ 7 '^:

A striking instance! of .canine' sagacity came, under,my notice a few day ~ago. (i ini George 'street, DitnedihV' As 'one 'of, the steam-cars wa_ turning; 'ihe- 'Whiter Horse' corner at a slow pace,;a bearing a bandrbbx: ,in one,, hand j and f/ «•* paper parcel in'the dmer,' -jumped 'off ana managed not to land ou his *_e& The band-jbox, of coursej, want jone,, wayr.jandj the paper parcel another. r ßefore.. the, luckless wight had time to an intelligent ,and[ observant. :mastif_ ■ that had been basking in the, sim. close by, marched quietly over to the ' paper pacel and picked it up. '■ Drop thatj you hungry wretch," roared the discomfited one, as he made a rush towards the'dog. " Drop that, it's a pork-pie I'm taking home to the missus." The sagacious animal, however, was not to be persuaded, and thinking dis-

1 bretion was the better part of valour, he 1 bolted with MS prize round , the corner, j leaving the traveller! in. anything but a , pie-ous humour. Moral : Never juiflp off a tram-car whilst it is in motion, and p>H ,hd trust in mastiifa when pork-pies r are, ' knocking about.— Saturday Advertiser:' • ■ j Scene in New York.—'• Here's a boy down here who wants to lick me!" exclaifliedla|raotblackr a as he'approached a 3olic.fflan.in GrftwdWlStrtwt— >« He doe's, eh>*W4iat : _dr Hi saytfl called him names, but I didn't."—" Are you afraid b_ \ him ?"—" No, not exactly, but I don't want to fight. One reason'is- ; I promised my dying mother I wouldn't and the other reason is *Cauße he's bigger than I iam 1" .< V~" v /' "i ""■".''' ■•