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Excerpta.

-—§— — Beginning of the Income-Tax.

The first indication of an income-tax occurs in 14:5, when an Act was passed imposing a tax on every person ‘ seized of manors, lands, tenements, rents, annuities, offices, or any other possessions.’

But, although we have here the idea of income-tax, yet this mode of raising a revenue is generally considered to have been introduced oy Pitt in 1799. The rate was 10 per cent, and it produced about £6,000, 000. After the peace of Amiens, Addington repealed it, on the ground that it ought to be exclusively reserved for times of war, but re-imposed it, for the sarno reason, when the war broke out again the following year. It was very unpopular, and was repealed in 1806, as soon as possible after the close of the great war. The tax was re-imposed by Peel in 184’3 for four years, bis object being ‘to relievo trade and commerce from the trammels by which they were bound ’ by repealing other taxes in his opinion more injurious. We were, however, over and over again promised that it should be only temporary, and it is still only imposed from year to year.—Sir John Lubbock, in The North American Review.

The Profession of Duelling.

Here is a story which serves to show how far the pursuit of such a profession as duelling may brutalise a man. It is quoted by Millengen from the" Courier de la Louisiane,’ and the duel took place near New Orleans so lately as June, 1840 : A meeting, as atrocious in the mode of conducting it as it was disastrous in its result, has just taken place between M. Hippolyte Throuet and M. Paulin Prue, both Frenchmen by birth, and long resident in this city. It originated in a bitterly-contested lawsuit, and took place in the following manner :

The principals were placed at five paces distant from each other, back to back, with a pistol in each hand. At a signal agreed upon they were to turn round and fire. At the first discharge they fired together, but without effect.

Prue then took his second pistol into his right hand, but so precipitately that it was discharged in the air. Seeing- himself thus exposed, without any means of defence, to bis adversary’s fire, he presented his bosom to him, and said, ‘ Fire 1’

Several of the bystanders, of whom there were a great number, trembling for the fate which awaited the disarmed man, cried out from their places, ‘ Don’t fire !’ but the seconds interposed, and demanding who dared interfere in a matter of the sort, invited Throuet to discharge his pistol against his opponent.

Throuet needed not the invitation ; but, having kept both Prue and the bystanders for a considerable time in a state of the most painful suspense, still holding Prue covered with his pistol, and grinning ferociously, fired at last, and, the ball passing through Prue’s body, ho died instantaneously.— ‘ The World of Ad venture.’

A Cat’s Journey on Fool.

A little story that will interest all lovers of cats is told in lilac/i and While. The eat, a big black one, was reared in a house over-looking Lincoln racecourse, known as the Carholme. Pussy was a great favourite, and in December last when its owner, a medical man, removed to London, the cat came with the family. For a month it was contented and happy, and ate and slept much. Towards the end of the month the cat was missed, and

much lamented by its owners, who considered it lost for ever. It was at the beginning of the severe period of frost and snow, and before the storm was over the cat turned up at its old home in Lincoln, receiving a great reception from the folks next door to its old home, who guessed at the task pussy had performed. The distance traversed was about 140 miles, and the animal, which was in fairly good condition on its arrival at Lincoln, did it in eight days, thus making an average of 17 miles a day. Considering the severity of the weather, and the obstacles to be surmounted on the way, pussy certainly achieved a most remarkable feat.

Wood and Absorption of

Moisture.

Microscopical investigation has proved that the pores of wood invito the passage of moisture in the direction of the timber’s growth, but repel it in the opposite direction. This accounts for the phenomenon which has often been noticed, and which puzzles a great many people—namely, why two pieces of timber sawn from the same section of a tree sometimes appear to possess very variable degrees of durability. If the wood, say, of a gate post is placed right end up the moisture in the soil will affect it, but the rain falling on the top will do little harm ; if, on the other hand, the butt end of the tree is put uppermost, the top of the post will decay, because the moisture of the atmosphere will penetrate the pores of the wood more rapidly in this position. Many people have noticed that the staves in a wooden tub appear to absorb moisture irregularly, some getting quite sodden, while others are comparatively dry, and apparently almost impervious to moisurc. In this case the dry staves are in the position in which the tree grew, while the saturated ones are reversed. Colliery Guardian.

I am Tired!

Sufferers from indigestion and liver complaint are subject to a continued feeling of drowsiness, headache, tired aching limbs, and a general inclination to languor. These symptoms are due primarily to a deficient secretion of bile, the natural cathartic of the liver, which, when secreted in insufficient quantities, permits the course and fibrous particles of the food and other waste and poisonous matter from all parts of the system to become impacted in the duodenum and lower intestines, creating a very dangerous condition which requires instant and proper treatment. An experience of five years with Clements Tonic has proved this remedy a specific for such complaints, and its universal success has resulted in thousands of imitations being forced on the market; not because they possess any therapeutic value, for they are purely speculative ventures. Sufferers who desire to get relief must insist on having Clements Tonic. It acts scientifically, has proved its efficacy in thousands of cases as effectually as in that of Miss Marrio Cullum, Westport, N.Z., who writes on June 19th 1893 A short time ago I suffered from an attack of inflammation of the stomach, which left weakness of that organ, and a feeling of nausea and nervous debility which affected my brain. I was led to try Clements Tonic by reading the label on an empty hottie, the first two or three doses made me feel worse, so I took a teaspoonful after meals and finished the botile which toned the whole system up. 1 write this trusting it may benefit others suffering similarly. Yours truly, Maria Cullum, Westport, N. Z.

In 1857 there existed only 87 nautical miles of submarine cable; there are now 139,500 traversing the hills aud hollows of the seas.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/KAIST18940814.2.3

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Kaikoura Star, Volume XIV, Issue 764, 14 August 1894, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,184

Excerpta. Kaikoura Star, Volume XIV, Issue 764, 14 August 1894, Page 2

Excerpta. Kaikoura Star, Volume XIV, Issue 764, 14 August 1894, Page 2

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