SCISSORS.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3970, 10 April 1884, Page 4

SCISSORS.

In tlic Houso of Commons 40 members arc necessary to make a quorum; in the House of Lords only three. "A true American," says a Transalantie contemporary, " is too proud to beg, and too honest to steal. He gets things on tick." The first balcony, or belcony, as it was originally called, was put tip in Covcnt Garden by Lord Arundcl in the seventeenth century. Twenty women have taken the B.A. degree in the University of London during tho past year. At Loehgoilhcad school (Scotland) refractory children were punished, up to a late date, by receiving more or less large doses of castor oil, according to tho offence. Need wo wonder at Scotchmen being well educated. Oscar Wilde is going to be married. He is now lecturing in Ireland, and it is there he first met her. She is a Dublin girl—a Miss Lloyd, a niece of the late Sergeant Armstrong, very well known and very much liked in Ireland. To her other attractions sho adds tho important one of money. Tho Irish Times asserts that Mr Wentworth, M.P., having recently at a temperance meeting declared himself to be tho oldest total abstainer in England, and offered £100 to any person who could beat the record, has received upwards of a dozen claims to the money on the score of still longer abstinence. With the object of curbing tho adventurous spirit of officers in the British Army, H.R.H. the Coinmander-in-Cliief has, we understand, just issued a formula, whereby officers in the army obtaining foreign leave are required to pledge themselves not to take part in hostilities going forward in any part of the world. Conservative lectures do not appear to be much in demand at Great Missomlcn. The other clay a Mr J. Stallwood announced his intention to lecture on "England's late Morning Star and Political Sun, Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Boaconsfiold, K.G. ;" and succeeded in attracting an audience of one chairman, one hall-keeper, and one cashtaker. Miss Dargon, the most gifted elocutionist who has ever visited Australia, with, perhaps, the exception of the late Walter Montgomery, will shortly visit New Zealand. Tho lady loft the stage in the heyday of her hrilliancy to become the wife of a New South Wales medico, hut since tho death of her child has occasionally appeared on the boards. To show the immense popularity of football in tho Old Country (says a Home paper), we havo only to point to tho fact that on Friday night, June 18, no less than three excursion trains conveyed over l'2oo persons from Birmingham to Glasgow, a distance of over 300 miles, in order to sec a football match between the Queen's Park (Glasgow) and Aston Villa (Birmingham) Football Clubs. London Truth says : "The amount of building going on in Great Britain is an every day matter of conversation, but I doubt if many people realise how large that amount is. Forty years ago built 40,000 new houses a year in Great Britain ; now wo build mure than 80,000. During tho last forty years we havo erected two and a quarter million houses, which arc estimated to bo worth double the amount of tho National debt." The most exciting topic of conversation in the unions of the French Jockey Club at this moment is the admitted fact that Count Frederick de Lagrange, in spite of his largo winnings on the turf in France and England, died over four millions of francs in debt! Tho sale of all his property will fail to meet this enormous demand. Count do Lagrangc owed Mr Jennings, hi.s Newmarket trainer, £'2000 when he died. In 1881 thore were in India only 88, ■]'>(! true Britishers, of whom 0"),7'J0 were soldiers ; and from these figures it is obvious that the pure "alien population," as it is culled by Bubu orators, is not increasing very rapidly. The statistics of those British subjects rovcal some curious facts. There were, for instance, 13,018 married men and only 7913 married women in the country on the night when the census was taken. Where tho other (JOOo wives were does not appear. The celebrated brood mare Caller Ou, brod in 1858, had to be shot early this year, having become crippled with rheumatism. As a two-year-old she ran twelve times, winning thrice. She won Doncastcr St. Lcgcr by a head from Kettledrum, who started at f> to 4, the winner going out at 1000 to 15. She won the Northumberland Plato twice. During - her career she won no loss than thirty-four Queen's Plates. Caller Ou was by Stock well out of Haricot. The following may be taken for what it is worth: —Mr Henry George, the agitator, on coming out the other night from delivering one of his lectures on the equal distribution and nationalisation of property, had his pocket picked of his watch. On finding it out ho made a great row, shouting, "Someone lias stolen my watch!" One of his late audience hearing him, quietly said, "No, not stolen, only nationalised !" Tho resolutions passed at the lato annual meeting of tho Canterbury Rugby Union were to the following cll'cot: —" That clubs connected with the Union bo recommended to play in two forty-five minute spells, and to score points ou the lnsis of two points for a try, four for a gaol kicked from the field, and fivo for a gaol from a try—the iive points to include the two allowed for the try ; ', ;ilhu, "That no man shall play for tho first fifteen of more than one club during tho season —this rule not to apply to the Canterbury College, Christ's Coll ego, and Boys' High School Clubs." Experiments are being made on one of the American lines to see whether or not the wire fences on either side cannot be used for telegraphing purposes. Tho wires are being run iniifer the level crossings, to make tho circuit continuous. It is stated that the experiments so far prove that tho thing can be done. Quite a now opening for economic telegraphy here presents ■itself, especially to railway engineers, and we commend it to the attention of tho New Zealand Government, to whom frequent complaints arc made of the unfenced condition of the railways. Mr S. E. Sleigh has sent us a printed copy of the amended Rugby Union rules for football. Ho summarises the principal changes as follows :—That the number of laws has been reduced from sixty to fifty. Punts out after a try has been secured are not permitted. An important change may be noted in the new laws •!.') and 44 —" Tho ball is dead after an ineffectual shot at gaol from a try." As to the alterations in laws IS) and 20 (old code), this is only defining more clearly the practice as to "maids in gaol." These changes havo been warmly supported in England, and the Unions of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales thoroughly approve of them. A Dakota schoolmistress suod three young men for breach of promise. Counsel for one of the defendants moved for a nonsuit, on the ground that .slio was too promiscuous. The Court soomerl disposed to grant the motion, whereupon tho plaintiff asked—" Judge, did you ever go duck shooting?" Hi.s (Conor's eyes lighted up with the pride of a spoilsman as he anBworecl—"Well, I should say so, and many's the time that I've brought down v dozen at a shot." " 1 know it," eagerly added tho fair plaintilf ; " that's just the case with me, Judge. A flock of these follows besieged me, and I winged three of them." Tho motion for a nonsuit was denied. Under the now Dominion License Act all licenses will be granted by a commission consisting in each district of the judge of the County Court, the mayor,' and an officer appointed by tho Dominion Government. Tho powers of tho commission are limited to this extent—for tho first 1000 inhabitants four ordinary licenses may bo granted, and an additional license for ovory 500 of the population ; for 1200 inhabitants fotir shop licenses may bo granted, and an additional license for every further 1000 inhabitants. The petition of every new applicant for a license must have tho .signaturo of one-third of the electors of tho district, or two-thirds in ;i polling district. Tho sentiment of tho country is said to bo thoroughly in accord with tho now measure. A great discovery is roported to have been made in oyster cultivation. Mr Ryder, tho Embryologist of the United States Fish Coinmiseion, has solved, the problem of cul- (

tivation from artificially impregnated eggs. At the Government Station at Stockton, Maryland, he had many millions of young oysters Jin in diameter, which had been hatched from eggs artificially impregnated. The difficulty previously experienced was in preventing the young oysters escaping immediately after "being hatched as, they pass through the meshes of finally-woven fabrics, such as flannel. Mr Ryder has overcome this difficulty, and any suitable locality can now be planted with ease by putting into it the oysters when very small, and yet of suitable size. In a billiard tournament now in progress at Birmingham, J. Roberts performed on Ist February a feat which is said to be unique in the records of billiard-playing. His opponent, Shorter, started with a miss in baulk, Roberts then giving tho usual miss below the middle pocket, under the right-hand cushion. Shorter, essaying a hazard from this, failed to score, and never had another opportunity of doing so in tho game, as the champion run right out_ with the extraordinary break of GO2 unfinished, made in exactly 27|mins. Starting with a canon, he made 13 by all-round play, and got into position for the spot-stroke, and there lie stayed until he had compiled this remarkable break, pocketing the' red ball no loss than 190 times. When he had made •12G his ball ran a little above tho spot, and he then played all round the table for position, which he obtained with wonderful accuracy. The original telegram sent by Sir Garnet Wolselevto the Queen after the battle of Tel-el-Kebir is given in the Queen's new book. It says: " Arabi's strongly entrenched position was most bravely and gallantly stormed by the Guards and Lino. . . . Enemy completely routed, and his loss has been very heavy ; also regret to say wo havo suffered severely. Duke of Connauirht is well, and behaved admirably, leading his brigade to the attack." Seeing that tho Guards did not " storm the entrenched position" — that we did not "suffer severely," and that the Duke of Connaught did not, load his brigade to the attack —- one wonders where Sir Garnet could have acquired his information. He certainly could not havo witnessed tho battle. Her Majesty (observes "Truth") might havo been spared her anxiety had she known what Baker's rout has since disclosed—that Egyptians when attacked do not even defend themselves, but lie down and scream in abject terror. A laudable instance of commercial integrity has come under the notice of a Homo paper, it appears that in 1875 Mr Samuel Osborn, stool manufacturer, of the Clyde Steel Works, Sheffield, while serving his term of office as master cutler, was compelled, partly through the coal famine and partly through losses in America, and elsewhere, to file his petition, with liabilities amounting to £70,8(10, and assets estimated a.t £■')(),009. He bought back the business from the creditors by a composition of 12s in the £, payable in three instalments, the last of which was paid throe months before it was due. Mr Osborn determined to pay the balance of 8s in tho £, and sot himself ten years in which to accomplish this task. A sum of £'28,000 was required, and the other day tho creditors received the intimation that Mr Osborn was now prepared to pay tho whole of their claims in full. An exchange mentions as a literary curiosity a summary of tho contents of tho authorised version of the Bible ; tho work of a soldier in prison, who wrote it upon the back of tho cover of an old Bible. It took him three years to accomplish: "The Biblo contains v>oo,-ISO letters, 773,092 words, 31,173 verses, 1189 chapters, and 0G books. The word 'Lord' occurs 1805 times, the word ' reverend ' occurs but once, which is tho 9th verso, 111 th psalm. Tho middle verse is the 7th verse of tho 110 th psalm. The 21st verso of the 7th chapter of Ezra contains all the letters of tho alphabet except the letter I. The finest chapter to be read is the 26th chapter of Hie Acts of Apostles. Tho 19th chapter of tho Second Book (if Kings and the 37th chapter of Isaiah arc alike. Tho longest verso is the 9th verso of the Bth chapter of Esther ; tho shortest verse is the '25th of tho 11th chapter of John. The Bth, 15th, 21st, and 31st versos of the 13(ith psalm end alike. There arc no words or names of more than six syllables." British justice is thus commented upon by the London Truth : " A most extraordinary miscarriage of justice appears to have taken place in the case of Morris Nicolson, who was sentenced in ISBI to seven years' penal scrvituco for manslaughter. Another man has confessed to tho crime, and is actually anxious to give himself up, but tho police—or, at all events, tho inspector at Hoxton police station—refused, tho other day, to take the charge. An application was made last week by a solicitor to Mr lTunnay to order tho man who had made the confession to be arrested and brought to tho Court, but tho Magistrate said ho did not like to interfere. The solicitor said he had applied in vain to tho Homo Office, and Mr Ilannay, somewhat facetiously, I fear, recommended him to apply to the Public Prosecutor. This is certainly one of tho most singular combinations 1 cvor hoard of. A man is in penal servitude for a crime of which another man declares himself guilty, but no amount of prayers and entreaties can prevail upon tho authorities to take No. 2 into custody and investigate the truth of his statement." The "Vagabond," has re-visited Pcntridgo, and gives a long description of the changes that have occurred since ho was there before in the character of a notetaking chiol. In the course of his sketch lie remarks :—Another dear friend of mine, Father Dowling, has long - since left Australia. Ho is now working in the slums of Limerick with the Redomptionist Fathers. I laugh when I remember how I endeavored to dose the young chaplain. Ho wns suspicious of my identity, and would eomo into tho gaol surgery trying to entrap me by conversations on literature, with quotations from tho classics. But J. was as stupid as anyone assuming to bo a chemist could bo. As an excuse to interview me, Father Dowling professed to bo suffering from a complication of diseases. Dr. Reed prescribed for him, but the medicine did no good. Tho chaplain had to come again to the surgery. " Could you not make mo up something'r" ho askod. "A little tonic, Father, is all you require," I answered. " A little mixture of magnesia, tincture of cardamums, and ginger." I prepared this whilst tho priest tried to pump mo as before. Then he wont up stairs to sec Harry Power, and no draught was over slung quicker than the one I then compounded. I laughed to myself as I handed tho substituted bottle to Father"Dowling. " That will keep this meddlesome priest from troubling mo for a week or two," I thought. But ho never turned a hair, having, as ho afterwards told mo when we became tfrieud.s, emptied the contents of tho bottle over the stonos in the churchyard. At Goorgivo, a straggling Daimbian town in Roumanid, I had hired a three-horse dro.sky to take mo from that place along the banks of the Danube as far as Zimnitza. We started full of enthusiasm for the front. The weather was clear, but intensely cold, so much .so that our furs, thickas they wore, scorned quite unequal to tho occasion, and wo wore obliged to swing our anus and logs about in the wildest; contortions to keep Jack Frost; at a distance. If it bo the custom of Grand Dukes to thus assort themselves, or if Russian generals arc given fo such antics, I know not; but, true it is that wo attracted direct attention from the Turkish outworks near Rustchuck, two shells being sent unpleasantly near us. Tho horses became unmanageable, and got ho helplessly mixed and entangled that sonic moments olepsedbefore wo wore again on the way. Our stoppage had given the gunm.rs a steadier tiim. Another all-10-f'imiliar boom, a prolonged screech, and then the m/s/i of a shell, which .seemed to lift us from our scats, and throw us and our already scared steeds into, if possible, greater confusion than before. This last shot had tho effect of so startling the horses that, having at first plunged to a considerable extent, they started off in headlong flighty soon taking us round a corner, and so out of sight of tho enemy. Arriving at Zirnnitza wo decided on remaining there for the night, and crossing by the now historic bridge of boats into Bulgaria in tho morning. This being the case, I went in quest of sonic necessaries which I wanted from my portmanteau that had served as a back to my ,soat on tho drosky during our journey. Imagine my astonishment to find it smashed, and tho contents mulched into a confused mass within ! The shell had struck home rather closer than lat flic had any notion of—my life liavingbonn .saved by that wellpacked valiso. All that remains is now much treasured by my wife who has astonished more than ono servant at tho cares she takes of "that thorc old portnianter, as she wouldn't bo seen a-carryin' on uo account."—-Adventures of a War Correspondent,