ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 352, 2 December 1879, Page 3

ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

' (Collated from our Exchanges.) A tolerably extensive and varied expedience of Scotch hydropathics has led to the conclusion that they are frequented only to a limited extent by invalids of the class for-which they are primarily intended. .--\ AfrsH of them one does meet with cadaverous and sallow-faced individuals, who take the baths regularly, who are constant in their attendance at prayers, and who dutifully sup on hot water and dry bread. But tbe number of those who are impelled by quite different motives—by a liking for p* comparatively cheap and, on the whole, comfortable living in the midst of pic-, turesque scenery, and by the attraction of a free-and-ea?y and gwasi-refined society ._, is certainly very much larger. Even of the confirmed invalids it_ is sometimes said, in good humoured malice, that they are in the habit of supplementing their draughts of hot water at supper-time by stronger potations in their private rooms, and that they thus supply themselves with the complementary ingredients of the national " tumbler" by instalments. Whatever may be said of the beverages, it is certain that the society encountered at such is very thoroughly mixed.; The peo*ple you meet with there are of all ages, of ' all professions and callings, of very different social grades, and of widely varied nationalities. This is due very much to the fact ithat hydropathics have come to be used, by ' certain sections of the community, as large boarding-houses, conducted on temperance principles. Entire families occupy their suites of rooms there for a week or two, instead of hiring a country house at the seaside or in the Highlands for a month. The fife is pleasant, and the cares of housekeeping are banished. Tourists use them for a few days at the time, instead of living at hotels. The expense is less, and the excitement, such as it is, is greater and more varied. Moreover the system affords an opportunity of participating in a ""certain kind of social life to persons who have- no other chance, from , ; year's end to year's end, of mixing : with those who are, in externals at least, '" ibetter than themselves. In the spacious ] and luxuriant furnished drawing room at ' Moffat, or Melrose, at Wemyss Bay, or Pitlochrie, the forlorn bank clerk or the provincial shopkeeper may hobnob with the railway director or the city clergyman ; and the small farmer or rural manufacturer may have his ambition warmed by seeing his wife and daughters share couches and exchange civilities with real _k> #t#adies; It is, however, as a newly-found and *!f successful matrimonial mart that the 1 hydropathics seems destined to confer the ; i greatest benefits on society. When a I;, I well-to-do but friendless colonist comes *T m home in search of a wife now-a-days, the first expedient he adopts is to spend two or three months in making a round of the Scotch hydropathic establishments. If in that time he has not found a helpmeet for him, he has his own fastidiousness to blame for his failure. The fault certainly does not lie with the young ladies, who climb hills and go excursions with him, who play croquet or lawn tennis with him "from mom tin dewy eve," who sing to him in the drt;'vr.U'-roorn, or who dance square 1 dance being strictly pro- ;? * ✓rhibitfed) iii the recreation room of the On economic principles supply of~ourse, follows the demand ; all ti_i_ is sO well understood now that V eligible young Indies, for; the most part ■ bafflers of the Census officer, are found ■ eagerly Socking to the cold water treatmeat. Strange to say, some men are so intolerable - fa? tidious that these golden H opportunities arc lost on them. It will be inferred from what has been said that a hydroaslhic house forms an excellent field for tLf study of character—a fie: t H whicn-has not yet been cultivated to tl s K. extent 'of its- great capabilities by I J of society. _____________

A short time ago we (Otago Daily Times) gave in some detail the various schemes for an interoceanic canal which were under the consideration of an international congress, sitting at Paris during the month of Maj*. last. From an address recently delivered to the Paris Geographical Society by M. de Lesseps, we see that definite action is now being taken to carry out one of these schemes. He announced that he had entered into .a contract with the Societe* d'Ettidesf or purchasing their rights, so as to have the whole affair in his own hands. To the "Venezuelan;. Government a deposit of £80,000 had : been paid, andhe proposed to establish a public subscription of £16,000,000. Thissum, supplemented by the sale of land conceded by the local Government, he considered would be quite sufficient to construct the canal, and he thought the work could -be completed in less than eight years. The international scheme does not find much favor in the United States, considering how directly benefited that country would be ; and it is curious to notice some of the alternative schemes which have been advanced by Americans. One of the most remarkable is that of Captain J. B. Eads, who isat present occupied in constructing the jetties to deepen the channel at the mouth of the Mississippi. In a letter to the New York Tribune he proposes to substitute for the ship canal a railway across the Isthmus of Darien, so constructed as to carry the largest vessels' across in 2-hours. This project he claims to be quite practicable ; it would cost: less money, and only take three or four years to carry out. The ships are to be raised by a lock and the usual hydraulic methods, and suitable precautions are taken to avoid straining. W|ien changes of direction in the railway are necessary, turntables are to ; be used instead of curves. The car or cradle to carry the ship is to be in sections, each about 100 feet long, and supported by about 200 wheels, some of them being driving-wheels driven by engines. Taking the weight of the largest merchant steamer as not exceeding .10,000 tons, Captain Eads would place such a vessel on five of these sections. This would give 1000 wheels, supported by 8 or 10 rails, and each carrying a weight of about 12 tons. Engineers will be best able to judge whether the plan is as practicable as Captain Eads considers it to be.

A sceptical young collegian confronted an old Quaker with the statement that he did not believe in the Bible. The Quaker said —"Does thee believe in France?" '• Yes, for though I have not seen it, I have seen others that have ; besides there is plenty of corroborative proof that such a country does" exist." . " Then thee will not believe anything thee or others have not seen ?" " No, to be sure I won't." "Did thee ever see thy own brains?" •'No." "Ever see anybody that did?" "No." "Does thee believe thee has any?" The young man left. It is said that a baker who has invented a new kind of yeast, which makes his bread so fight that a pound loaf of it seldom weighs more than ten or twelve ounces. It is because that he has heard that close attention to little things makes a successful business that the young Government clerk pays such close attention to his moustache. . Next year, as our readers are aware, is leap year, and the marriageable girls will once more have it all their own way. If they do not receive prompt proposals from their swains, they have liberty to pop the question for themselves ; and, if accepted, the contract must be kspt or the young man concerned must look out for an action for breach of promise. It would save a vast amount of time and worry if some awfully rich and lovely young widow would consult our feelings on matrimonial points.