ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 448, 5 November 1880, Page 3

ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

fCollatcd from our Exchanges.)

Lord Chancellor Cairns, when travelling from Oxford to London recently, was unfortunate enough to get into, v compartment of the train which had to be slipped at the Hanwell station. Finding himself thus left behind, and that he would have to wait, His Lordship thought that he would kill time by making an inspection of the famous Hanwell Lunatic Asylum. He accordingly presented, himself at the gate rung, the bell, and was speedily accosted by a porter attired in the well known uniform ot the asylum, who asked him what ho wanted. " Oh," said the Chancellor,

" I merely want, as a matter of curiosity and interent, to look through the estab-

lishnient." "Where is your order?" demanded the porter. To this his Lorship replied that he had not obtained one, but added, ". I shall not want one, and you will merely have to take my card as your authority for admitting me." " But my orders," said the porter, " are not to admit anyone without a properly signed order, and I must not leave my post to cany in any cards." " But my man," responded Lord Cairns, " I am Lord Chancellor of England ; " upon which the porter burst into a loud laugh, and with a comic leer in his eye remarked, pointing with his thumb backward in the direction of the asylum,

"We have three or four Lord Chancellors here, and several Archbishops of Canterbury too."

An alarming accident took place at the Bridgnorth floating-bath on August 12. It seems that since the establish ment of this bath certain days have been set apart for ladies, many of whom have made considerable progress in the art of natation. On the day in question about thirty ladies had assembled in the bath, and the River Severn, owing to recent rains, had increased in volume, but there was nothing to excite any alarm. Owing however to several of the ladies sitting on one side, the bath gave a lurch, and then began to sink. The ladies in great alarm—seme partly dressed, other in full bathing costume—hastily escaped to the bank of the river, and to their dismay the bath immediately sank with all their clothes. The dilemma in which so many ladies found themselves on the bank of the river close to the town with hardly even the simplest articles of clothing, seemed incapable of a satisfactory solution. At la6t a cattle shed was espied in the distance, and a race took place to gain its friendly shelter. Even hear the difficulty of finding a presentable wardrobe was not overcome, but by borrowing sundry blankets and spare apparel all the victims of the accident were conveyed to their homes.