MISCELLANEOUS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 258, 8 September 1874, Page 7

MISCELLANEOUS.

„The J oUowftg, whicirm&y beaiefnl to Riven « the best plan of hardening steel:—lt is not generally known that steel can be made so hard that it will pierce any known substance but a diamond. Many jewellers and lapidaries have great 'trouble in getting sS* paiifti 4ifskvr drills .hard enough\ttf pterin gythyiff Fojrtjie benefit of miners ana others using arills that require a hard point we recommend the following manner of nianipulation. The drill should be held, if small, by hot pincers or 'tongs,; while tempering. . First heat the tool to a white heat, and then press it into a stick of sealing wax ; leave it but a second there, ptjcjc jfc iu. ( another place. Thkoperation israpidly.repeated until the graver is too cool to enter the wax. For

turning or drilling, the tool is moistened with oil of turpentine. The habit of hanging mackerel on a nail hear the door to drip broke up a match on Esser»street, Wednesday night. The couple got home late in the evening, and going round the back of the house so as not to disturb the

folks, they sat down on a step to think. During the x procjess Her head, in a new Spring "hat, against the house, and became absorbed in the stars and other improvements, while he tenderly eyed his bootsAfroflt h&lf an hour was spent in this profit, ablo occupation, when the young man felt something trickle down his neck. " Don't weep, Julia," o ,hj? |oftly murmured. "I ain't," said she,* surprjsjed> He looked up, and his eyes on an oozy substance back of her head. r " WfiatYtftat on the back of your hat ?" he cried,. She jumped up at this interrogation, and instinctively placing her hand on the„backor h§r head, drew it away again full of atf unpleasantlyiflavoured'slime. With a shriek of-*age and passion, the infuriated girl tore mackerel from the nail and trampled it beneath her, feet, while she snatched off Her hat'arid'tore it J in : shreds with her livid fingers. The horror-stricken young man, not knowing what else to do, jumped Jhe firsf; fence and disappeared, and hasn't been seen since by the unfortunate girl'.— Daiibury Ne&sS '" ' From the Australasian we take the follow-

ing from' Wbdonga, by telegram:-- "At Green-hills, yesterday, Bobert Weston, a boy six years of age, committed suicide by shooting himsetf through tne'heart with a gun. Death was ihstaritaheous. He hadijeen accused of stealing a pipe from the shop of Mr Smith, a.butcher at Green-hills, and Mr Smith had said that he would give r him in charge. Bte becamealarmed, aridcommitted the rash Act; An inquest wss held to-day before the Coroner, Mr B. J. Dartley. The jury gave a verdict that in their opinion, the deceased cftm'e by his death while labouring under strong mental excitement and the fear of prosecution. _ Tjfeey also found that, with the exception of the shot wound, no other marks of violence on the body. The affair has caused great sensation in the neighborhood.

An atrocious attack has been made by a Chinaman on a woman near Walla (N.S.W.) .The coolie having secreted himself upon the premises, during the' absence of the woman's husband, suddenly made an attack upon the defenceless woman, who, ..was seated at the fireside nursing her child. To throw a piece of whipcord round hsr neck and to,' pull the same so violently as temporarily to stop her bre.ath were the work of an instant. A struggle took place—a violent and desperate one—and they both fell upon the floor, the Chinese beneath—-It was but a momentary triumph for her. as the next instant he succeeded, in partially tying with cord her wrists. Here, however, the tide of affairs took a turn in favour of the poor wife arid mother—a happy thought flashed across her mind. Her scissors, she recollected, were in the pocket of the dress she then wore. With the rapidity of lightning, rendered desperate by her unavailing struggles, she plunged her weapon full four inqhes into the Mongolian's stomach. This placed him hofs de combat, so he beat a speedy and sanguinary retreat. She subsequently rushed to the house of her father-in-law, who cut the cords from her throat with great difficulty.— Sydney Morning Herald, August Ist. A gentleman of a scientific and ethnological turn of mind(says the Timaru Herald) was recently making some excavations in his garden at Timaru, when "he came ripon some bones, apparently, of gigantic birds, if not of human beings. They bore the marks of fire, and near them lay embedded in the clay some fragments of the rudest earthenware, and what seemed to resemble a weapon of wood. The philosopher's heart was heavy, and he bowed himself in deep humiliation when he thought of the savage race of heathen fellowcreatures, with no aspiration beyond food or the.chase, whose habitat he fancied these remains might signify. But when, a little farther on, he dropped acrow a square gin bottle and a mutilated Knave of Clubs, his soul was strengthened, and he raised himself to Vis full height haughtily; for hj« knew he was among the relics of a civilised and Christim people!

An Ugly Excuse.—A juror's 'name was calfed by the clerk. The .mm. advanced to the judge's desk and said, '«Judge, I should like \p be excused." " It is impossible," said the jidge, decidedly. " Not, judge, if you knew my reasons." "Well, sir, what are they?" "Why, the fact, is," and the mau paased. "Well, sir, proceed," coutinued the jndfc. "Well, judge, if I must say it, I have the itch." The judge who is a sober man', solimnly and impressively esalaiined, " Olerk, eiraieh that roan out." American P-'Per. " \