MISCELLANEA.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume I, Issue 25, 19 December 1861, Page 6 (Supplement)

MISCELLANEA.

Ravages of Insects, and the Value of Bieds. —ln the French Senate lately, Mr. Bonjean read a report on four petitions, praying that measures might be taken to preserve birds which destroy insects hurtful to agriculture. The report, which occupies five columns of the Moniteur, is an amusing essay on insect-eating birds, their habits, anatomy and species of food. It treats at length of the ravages of insects, and the importance to man of the objects they destroy. France is infested with thousands of species of insects of terrible fruitfulness, nearly all of which prey on what would serve the purposes of man. The first section of the report is headed “Importance of Birds to Agriculture.” It says the wire-worm consumed £160,000 worth of corn in one department alone, and was the cause of the three deficient harvests which preeeeded 1856. Out of 504 grains of colza gathered at hazard at Versailles, all but 296 had been rendered worthless by insects. The reduction of yield in oil was 328 per cent. In Germany, according to Latroille, the palama monacha consumed whole forests. In Eastern Prussia three years ago more than 24,000,000 cubic metres of fir had to be cut down because the trees were attacked by insects. Man is unable to cope with these destroyers of the produce of Ins labour. His eye is to dull to perceive and his hand too slow to catch them. Without the aid of birds ho would be vanquished in the struggle. The commission excludes birds of prey, such as magpies, ravens, &c., with the exception of buzzards and rooks, from the benefit of its protection, because the buzzard consumes about 6,000 mice yearly, and the rook an incalculable amount of white worms. Sparrows are rehabilitated, and their usefulness shown by reference to the facts that when their destruction was attempted in Hungary winged insects increased so rapidly that rewards for the destruction of sparrows were suppressed, and given for bringing them back. Frederick the Great ordered the destruction of sparrows because they ate his cherries ; but in two years’ time he found cherries and all other fruits consumed by caterpillars. In a sparrow’s nest on a terrace in the Rue Vivienne, were found the remains of 700 cockchafers. Owls, and birds of that class, which agricultural ignorance pursues as birds of evil omen, ought to bo welcomed. They are 10 times more useful than the best cats, and not dangerous to the larder. The martens that were killed were found to have in their stomachs the remains of 543 insects. After further illustrations of the same nature, the report proposes the prohibition of all means of destroying birds save by fire-amis, with the exception of nets for wild ducks and palmipedes generally, and the prohibition of birdnesting and destruction of eggs or young birds. The petitions were referred to the M blister of Commerce and Public Works. —Southern Cross.

A Taxe of the Heart. —A youth, whom we will called Alexis, loved “ not wisely but too well” and suffered in consequence from an affection of the heart caused by the all-piercing darts that flashed from the brilliant orbs of a beautiful but barbarous brunette named Euphemia, who regarded with adamantine indifference the sufferings of alove-lorn swain ; although in personnel and portemonnaie, he is unexceptionable. In the extremity of his anguish the unhappy youth sought from us advice and consolation, and both were cheerfully given, so far as our limited experience in these delicate affairs enabled us to offer them. From his statement, it appeal’s that he has conformed with orthodox fidelity to the established rules of courtship. He has expended, in the most exemplary manner, the requisite amount of sighs and vows —has invested fabulous sums in the presentation of propitiatory jewelry, while his votes for scented paper perforated envelopes and postage stamps for billets doux, have been so truly “ liberal,” that their total would furnish comfortable annual salaries for half a dozen of our purest “ patriots.” But all in vain Euphemia remains inexorable, and cannot be prevailed upon by the fond Alexis to “ name the day, the happy day,” that shall see them enter the hymeneal ring. Driven to desperation, the “ victim of unrequited affection” resolved to do something rash without ever “seeing the major,” and when ho called upon us had conceived the laudable idea of proceeding to Fiji to join in the good work of imparting to the Cannibals of that delightful ground a taste for roast beef in preference to their national dish of broiled homo. Seeing that the condition of our friend was everything but “ satisfactory,” we recommended and enlarged upon the astonishing virtues of patience and sodawater in allaying the inflammatory symptoms that variably attended an attack under the sinister side of the waistcoat. He listened patiently to our invaluable recipe for the heartache, but shook his head despondingly, and with a melancholy smile assured us that his disease was far beyond the powers of Job or Henfrey to effect relief because he had discovered reasons for believing that Euphemia’s obduracy was invincible, and that her heart was proof against every tender emotion ; on asking him for an explanation, to our unextinguishable horror and amazement ho replied : Alas, my friends how wretched is my life, Euphemia dear will never be my wife ; She has no sentiment for me I feel,

Her heart is like her petticoat —all steel! On recovering from our surprise wc found the miserable maniac (for mad he must have been to make such an assertion) had rushed wildly forth and we have since heard that the unfortunate youth has enlisted in a regiment of volunteers. Egbert O’Hara Burke, leader of the Victorian Exploring Expedition, was about thirty-six years of age at the time of his demise, was second son of the Hon. Sir Thomas Burke, Bart., of Marble Hall in the county Galway, Ireland, and brother of the Hon. Col. Burke of the 88th, of Indian and Crimean notoriety. Mr. Burke was in the Austrian service for upwards of ten years and held the rank of General, has fought in several engagements, and was presented by the Emperor of Austria with a gold medal, together with a beautiful sword his arriving in Ireland was appointed by the Earl of Clarendon—then Lord-Lieutenant —Deputy In-spector-General of the Mounted Police, which office he resigned in 1853 and proceeded to Melbourne, was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Police and rendered great service to the Government

and public in organizing one of the best disciplined civil forces in her Majesty’s dominions ; proceeded from Melbourne to Beechworth and held the office of Assistant Police Magistrate and Superintendent of Constabulary in that district until his appointment by the Government as leader of the Expedition. Burke’s youngest brother will be remembered by many as the heroic young Lieutenant who was massacred by the Russians at Kertch: notwithstanding liis being overpowered by numbers he sold his life dearly by killing six with his revolver and six with the sword. The Russians had held out a flag of truce to the English at the time and young Lieut. Burke and his party were proceeding in boats on shore when fired upon by the Russians. The deceased Robert O’Hara Burke proceeded from the Ovens, in 1855 to the Crimea, for the purpose of avenging his brother’s death ; but in consequence of the peace treaty having been ratified at the time of his arrival, his services were not required and he again returned to Victoria. Poor Burke was a hero and an honorable man, and his bravery and undaunted courage had also been displayed in Victoria when accompanied only by Serjeant Major Kirk and after a desperate conflict both officers being severely wounded ho succeeded in capturing the notorious bushrangers Timothy Driscoll, Bugane Jack, and Paddy Bourke alias Driscoll. Poor Burke was good and useful, and his death is regretted by every one who has ever had the, pleasure of knowing him. He was a descendant of the honorable and memorable Edmund Burke, and a near relative of the present Lord Naas.

Military Scandal at Gibralter. —A general court-martial ia about to sit, or probably is now sitting, at Gibraltar upon a case which has excited so much noise in that command, and is happily of so very unusual a character in her Majesty’s service, that we consider ourselves justified in laying before oiir readers such particulars as have reached our ears. It would appear that in the 2nd battalion of the 7th Fusiliers, a series of robberies had been going on for some months past and that scarcely an officer of the regiment but had more or less suffered this depredation. Watches, rings, trinkets, purses, plates—in short all articles of a light and valuable nature disappeared in an extraordinary manner from the quarters of of the officers ; servants without end were discharged on suspicion, but no clue to the thief or thieves could be discovered. At length, Major Birtwhistle resolved to bring matters so far as possible to a climax ; and assembling the officers in the ante-room of the mess he pointed out the absolute necessity of solving the painful mystery ; and by way of example, proposed that a committee of officers should be named on the spot to search the barracks, commencing with their own rooms. All present willingly assented with the exception of one officer Ensign Loveridge, on whom, as it happened some slight sort of suspicion had already fallen, from an over zeal he had shown in discharging his servants, and offering personally a reward of £SO for the discovery of the guilty parties. He was most righteously indignant at the proposition, and declared that his rooms should not be subjected to such an indignity. We need scarcely say that this opposition at once strengthened any floating idea against him, and Major Birtwhistle, with praiseworthy firmness at once declared that the rooms should be at once searched, and his the very first. The committee was instantly named, and on proceeding to the quarters of Ensign Loveridge they found in a very few minutes the whole of the missing property to the value of no less than £3OO concealed in cushions, chair-seats, sewed up in the ends of sheets, and in fact most artfully concealed. Painful as were the revelations they were as nothing compared to the relief infused throughout the regiment by the suspicions and unjust stigmas removed from the heads of many humble yet innocent people. There is, however, a still more distressing feature in the matter. It oozed out, as things will ooze out when once the wedge has been inserted, that another officer had been for some time past aware of the guilt of the culprit, had detected him in the act of easing a boosy comrade of his soverigns and in a weak moment of temptation had been prevailed upon to to take a part as hush money, and keep the secret. He too is to be tried. Perhaps still more extraordinary is the fact that since the miserable circumstances became known, a banker on the rock has produced a letter of credit in favor of Ensign Loveridge, amply supplying him with funds ; so that should he prove to be guilty, the temptation to commit this evil cannot be imputed to the ordinary pressure of want of means, and is indeed, scarcely to be accounted fox’. However this may be and we shall doubtless, hear more about the matter, wo can only at present offer a word of sympathy to the officers of the 7th Fusiliei-s in that such a calamity should have fallen upon the domestic economy of so distinguished a x’egimcnt; and at the same time express our satisfaction at the pi’ompt andfirm measures they adopted for rooting out the evil from among them —Army and Navy Gazette.

A Tale op Horeou.—Me , we shall call him Mr Yellum, of Melbourne is blessed with the friendship of Mr. , we shall call him Mr. Stockwhip—whose cattle station is not a hundred miles from Echuca. Stockwhip is in the habit of sending down tongues, potted butter,rolled beef, and fifty other little up-countryniceties to his town friend as presents. On Tuesday last arrived at Vellum’s office a good-sized keg, the address card in the usual well-known handwriting. It was late in the afternoon, jnst about time to start for Paradise Villa, South Yarra ; the gift was safely stored in the buggy, and off Vellum started with the treasure ; while tea was getting ready the keg was opened. “Howhcavyisit,”saysone. What on earth can he have sent fhis timesays another. Speculation was uot allayed when the lid was prized open, and only dry salt presented to view. “ Dive deeper,” was the order of Paterfamilias," there must be something else in it.” The salt was carefully removed and with considerable difficulty, something bulky was dragged out, of indefinite shape and texture. “ Perhaps it’s a Murray cod,” said one of the juveniles. “Seems to bo some preparation of pork,” remarked Vellum ; “ however let’s have some fried for tea and see how it eats.” Fried a slice or two of it; everybody tasted, but nobody liked it ; it was horribly tough. “ Perhaps we don’t know how to cook it properly, suppose

we try it to-morrow for breakfast j” stewed it was and certainly it tasted a little more savoury! but still tough. The proper mode of cooking it had evidently not yetbeenhit upon ; a piece wasordered to be boiledfordinner.and Yellumstartedfor the day s business in Chancery lane. There was the usual pile of letters to open, but one in Stockwhip’s handwriting had the preference, and hero it is-—“ Dear - the scourge has {reached us at lust, iwo of my micsL bullocks were found dead in the paddock yesterday morning and on being opened the indications of pleuro-pneumonia were unmistakeable. The left lung of one of them Dr. -here says is the most perfect specimen of diseased structure he ever saw. I want Dr Macadam and Mr. Miscamble to see it, and therefore I send it to you - in ■ salt. \ ellum’s eyes began to swim. He did not dine at home that day. Geelong Advertiser.

A telegraphic message was forwarded a few days ago direct from the offices of the Electric Telegraph Company in London to Taganrog in the Sea of AzofF, a distance of 2500 miles, being the greatest length of direct telegraphic communication ever yet achieved. Owing to the diflerence of meridian between the two places, the signals, which were instantaneous, arrived atTaganrog about two hours and a quarter later than they were dispatched from London.

The Lancashire manufacturers, startled by an export of cotton from Liverpool to America, have begun to work half time. It is calculated that should this movement become general, the stock may hold out over the spring, or longer, but the Indian cotton does not come forward so freely as it might. It is alleged that merchants are afraid of a sudden opening of the American ports, and a State guarantee of a minimum price for one year is openly recommended, but wo think upon insufficient grounds.

A soldier who gave his name as Henry Brouchdon was lately brought up at Dublin police-court by the inspector of police, who stated that whilst he was on his duty on the previous night the prisoner had come to him and stated that he belonged to the Gsth Regiment of Foot at present stationed in Richmond Barracks ; that about four years ago he was at Bathurst in Australia when he was met by a man named Addison Mitchell, who was standing near the dead body of a man named Abbott, whom he had just murdered ; Mitchell threatened to take his life if he refused to assist him in lighting a fire to bum the body and that through fear he consented, and accordingly tho body was destroyed ; but subsequently Mitchell was arrested on suspicion, and fearing ‘ho should be implicated he gave evidence against Mitchell to the effect that he had witnessed the murderer fi 0111 a distance, but denied having had anything to do with burning the body ; that Mitchell was convicted and hanged, after which Broughdon returned to England, where he enlisted in the 65th, and that owing to the disturbed state of his mind ho was unable to rest, and accordingly gave himself up. Captain Crofton is not about to retire from his post as director of convict prisons in Ireland as was for some time apprehended. The working of the Irish system excited much attention during the meetings of the Social Science Association and Lord Brougham took occasion to remark that with Captain Crofton’s departure his confidence in the system will depart also. Since the Social meetings Captain Crofton has been daily occupied with English and Scotch visitors seeking information as to the mean by which such signal success has been attained, both in the reclamation of offenders and in the diminution of crime.