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Marlborough Daily Times, Volume II, Issue 181, 14 December 1880, Page 4

The following colloquy is said to have occurred between an insurance agent and a rev. gentleman :“\ eu seem rather busy, -MrS , v said the clergyman. “ Yes 1 am," returned the agent. “1 am filling in some policies for life insurance." Clergyman: “Life; what is life ? Life is but a shaddow, Can you insure your soul?“ The readywitted insurance agent replied that he regretted that the Covernmcnt had not yet taken policies under lire risks. Tableau. The Covernmcnt in a fit of niggardly economy having striped the issue of reduced rate tickets to the railway employees, I would commend to their notice the following extract from an American paper :—“ A railway employe on one of the English railroads applied on a Saturday night to visit his family. You are in the employ of the railroad," asked the gentleman applied to. ‘W es. “"S on receive your pay regularly? 'l es, W ell, now. suppose you were working for a farmer instead of a railroad, would you expect your employer to hitch u)i his team every Saturday night, and carry you home ?’ This seemed a poser, blit it wasn’t. “No," said the man promptly I wouldn t expect that: hut if the farmer had his team hitched up, and was going my may, 1 should call him a darned moan cuss if he would not let me ride." The employe came out three minutes afterwards with a pass good for three months.— ('hristchurcli Teh'i'irnjih, Ihe w riter of “ Passing Notes " in the Ohii/d 11 ituexx says :“A Canterbury correspondent sends me a circular signed 11.J.t., Christchurch, in which I recognise the venerable and respected Primate of the Kuglish Episcopal Church in New Zealand. I bis circular opens with a statement that the Cathedral Commission, after mature deliberation, had sent home for a LI.'iOO organ, and goes on to say, 1 with the exception of a few pounds in hand already contributed to the object, the ( 'oimnission hare no means available for nicotine’ the payment for the organ ; it becomes a matter, therefore, of the utmost importance that immediate steps should he taken to procure the necessary funds.’ Yes, I should think so.. In the ordinary transactions of business it would not he considered quite the thing for a man to order an article costing Ll.iOO with only a few pounds in hand, and a profound faith in J'roviMeii’to tor iiis capital, r am afraid it would not he a suflieient plea in Court, if that imliridual were sued for the amount, that Providence had incontinently failed him. The •fudge would be disposed to say, ‘ j don't, know I rovidonee in this matter, hut you 1 do know, and I think you must have a considerable amount of assurance to order L 1 .>()!) worth of goods wish only a L2O note in hand. I can t. imprison you (1 would if I could), hut I shall withhold your certificate.' "

A 1 ecu liar ( ase. A very striking instance of the danger of convc'ving nourishment co the mouth with the blade of a knife has occurred on the ( Vmtineiit. When the last mail left, a decision was about to be. pronounced by the Imperial Loyal I rioun.il at Marburg upon an action brought by an Italian commercial fravelh-r against the Sud-1 I ,aha (‘ompanv, to obtain compensation for injuries sustained by him through a railway accident which recently happened upon the line. The plaintiff, we :m: '"formed by an Knglisb paper, at the very moment in which the collision tonk plaee, was introducing a junk of bologna sausage into his mouth on the point of a penknife, and the shock imparted to him by the accident caused him to widen that feature by an involnntarv slit, some two inches in length. For the pain and disfigurement thus incurred lie claims a large pecuniary indemnity. The railway company, however, refuse to admit any obligation to compensate a person for mjuiies incurred ,hy bis own indeeoroiisness of conduct and evil manners, pleading that “ no decent, person eats with his or her knife, and that the plaintiff, having hurt, himself in the very act el commiting a social delict, must bear the consequence of his oflcncc."

It is not true <is reported by telegraph lutely that himnott. the grout impersonator ot liitzis dead. I lie correspondent of a i\ew Workpaper, writing from Louis, Mo., 011 Oct J>, syas Kmniet and Fritz were x\ ithdrawn after in consequence of I'.mmets inability to sing on account of hoarseness; superinduced I<v a Lad cold. He was placed under medical attendance at tile residence of a married sister here, and lias been in a most critical condition sine ■. in fact, the rumour of his death, circulated about on last Thursday, was generally ci edited until denied by the evening papers. A t last reports he is considered out of immediate danger, and his physicians express hopes for his ultimate recovery. It is sin rinsed that his recent incarceration in the Tombs, New York City, weighed heavily on his mind, and led him to excessive drinking and that the strain of two performances on last Saturday shattered his ' nervous system and completely prostrated ' him. lie is somewhat deranged, and ' imagines, another imprisonment : and to dispel this illusion one oI his nurses is costumed as a. police-officer, and explains to •''linnet that lie is sent by the chief-of-poliee to protect him from further molestation. All of his engagements have been canceled to .Nov. 1, when he is to appear in ('ineinatfi. ill's company will remain in the citv in tin: I meantime, idle, " ‘ 1