MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume V, Issue 12, 24 December 1877, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

Referrins: tn n bite invention in lighting, a correspondent of the San Francisco Cnll says: — " Amnnsr oilier batflps at whioh one assists nt this moment in France is that between plectric candles and gaslight. I visited this peculiar candle manufactory, in flip Avenue dos Villiers, tho director of which is a Russian en» ulneer nnd also thp inventor, M. Jobloclfolf. Now, as Voltairp observed, lijjhk comes from the north. The laboratory is bung wifh pictures nnd colored stuffs, which can be ns easily distinguished in their shades as if in full noonday. The candles have the same rufcio to gas and oil lump ns sun to moonlight. The inventor pvured some glasses, of waler on tlio flame of his dips, but they burned away all (he same. They Arnifc. no smoke, and consequently cannot blacken objects, nor any heat— 3so times less than an ordi nary candle— hence books will not fall out of their bindings, nor tapestry turn into bi n ek snuff. There can be no fire, no explosions, nnd the light can be laid on some thrpe to 15 times eheaner than gas or oil light. The light does not (ramble or twinkle much, and none at all if ifc passes through a globe slightly oqipiip. The candle is composed of two cylindrical sticks of charcoal, separated by a preparation of sand, ground |lass, and kaolin ; a magneto electro machine furnishes the current. which flows from ono point to the other of the charcoal rods. Each candle burns three hours, and the extinction of one lights up another. We are more than on the eve of a great discovery ; but ns the proof of the pudding is in thp eating, the invention will scon be tested, as the circus," the* opera, the Louvre drapery shop, and the railway termini are to be illuminated by the new process. Ifc will never be accepted by ladies for a bail room, as, unlike charity, it will not cover a multitude of sins. There being a dearth of the ordinary ws tering place sports at the Virginia White Sulphur considerable ingenuity is displayed in improvising amusements. The latest nnd most original wus an exciting snoring match betweeu a couple o

the guests, whose extraordinary nasal nccnm pli 4i ments caused them to be dubbed Blowknieht and Judge Snorter The eventful night at last arrived, and the tsvo champion* were placud in posi' tion nt 320 a.m. The Judge, winner of the toss, chose a centre room in Broadway vow, and the other tool a similar one. in Virginin row, tho posi lions being oontiguous, and Ihe umpire and re-feree under n tm> fen the lawn, lloyal ai»d Cltamberlayne, the two great talkers, wero deletzftted to put them to sleep, and exactly nt 3.45 annou.ieed that they were nnder tho iuiliienco. The guests wvre all in bed, nnd tho row that wa* waked up fir**, decided the contest. * There he goes,' said tho umpire, as something like the prolonged wail of iho tuba in a dead march was hciiid. • And there's tho Other,' suid (he umpire, an v something like n piny ful flourish on the chuionot. lollowed by n short trombone solo, wus heard. The judge canto up crescendo, and F.F. Vt to a splendid torn' do force, but tho colonel made a brilliant staccato movement, evidently arranged for tv concerted niece of reed and brass instruments. 4 What in Ihe nanie of God is that ?' says nn old gentleman poppinjhis head out of a window. ' Hang you, says a young mm from th-* other row, don't seranade me ; I aint'a politician.* ' llio house is shaking,' says another. ' Wbat is it ?' •Itis my pcfc e'eph-mt,' answered ihe delighted Oolonol Bottle- whacker, ' It's my pet steam saw-mil.' suid the other backer. Then out carno the startled sle-pers, half dressed and blaspheming, throwing boots afc imagintiy cats, some thinking it was an eurthqu ike.other.-i tviiit it was a thunderslorm, nnd the African portion oi' tho community sleeping calmly through it all. The umpire and referee ran from room to r mm, these being all bachelor quarters, and presently es.ertaining that Jii lire Snorter was the victor, ior there wasn't a man in his row, while n single one proceeded quietly with his night's work in the row of Colonel Blownight. •Gentlemen,' said the ulnpires. getting parties up, ' I have to announce to you the vieiory of Judge Snorter, und I " 'No. you don't,' cried the referee, suddenly, - it's a foul ; that sleeping man is deaf The last of what was so long known las the Table Bocir afc .Niagara has now roken off and fallen into tbe river. The mass weighed nearly six y tons, and up lolß7fiover 4000 n»m»'s of visitors had been carved upon it. The part which has /alien composed only IihII" o the original rock, tho rest having fallen before. On Saturday January 1,1829. n surface of the r.-ck. supposed to be tbe s'.ze of half an rtciv, torming Lite bed of Aiuiden Walk, broke loose, and was precipitated into the immense cluisin below. The crash was heard for a distance nf live mi le.*. nnd the effect in the immediate neighborhood resembled the s'-ock nt an Sirlbq-nke. The water running under the bank i.s supposed to have caused the last fall, and tiie sh >ek when the rock struck the water was distinctly felt three mil"s from the fall. S -vjral of the trees which sioil nn tha rock are now seen standing ifi the river as erect as whcp ii their original places on lite rock. Where ih- rock shelved off from the bank, at a distance of twenty feet from thf t<>i», can bu s-vn the ro it of a tree, estimated to be t.vo feet in diameter. It altiuuts considerable attention. Do c Brown.—- The Wellington Post mnurns over a see i"ti of suffering rate pa vers in thai city. The new electoral role. s,iys our cnntetnpoary, for Ihe year 1877-8 contains 2 f i27 names, but ou glancing down the list we were stuick by the fact that not a single "Brown appears on (he roll, notwithstanding ihe fact that the name of the Bmwus of Wellington is legion. Now, why shoald all these worthy Browns he disfranchised, from the Registrar-Oeneral downwards? We do not remember any Aot being passed— even during the present curious s.-ssion — making it penal to be called Brown, or that any inherent disability attaches to that name any more I ban to the eq-tally popular patronymics of Smith, Jones, or Bobinson. In fact, the presence of Messrs J. K. and J. C Brown in the House of Hepresenlatives appears conclusively to prove tho contrary. Then why exclude all Browns from the Wellington Browns who should have right to vote.