PRESS PICKINGS.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 6, Issue 30, 23 November 1883, Page 5

PRESS PICKINGS.

« • The ' Taranaki Herald ' says over 10,000 acres of bush land have been cleared at the back of the Waimate Plains during the past season. The soil takes the grass well, and it is reckoned that- it will take a bullock to the acre. A second death has resulted from the buggy accident which occurred during the fl )od at Pleasant Biver on Saturday evening, the owner of the trap and horses (Mr Foster), a resident of Palmerston, having died from the effects of his immersion. In a letter from Mr John Reid, of Blderslie, now in-England, the following, statement ig made. We take the extract from the ' North ? Otago Times': — Itispossible tbatanew patent will soou be brought out by Mr Larkworthy and some other capitalists, which thay say will completety eclipse all the present methods of refrigerating. I had a long talk with Mr LaTkworthy about it some time since, and he spoke very confidently. If there is likely to be anything in it, it might be advisable to wait a little until the patent has had a thoroughly practical test. The machine is now being made on a large scale, the model having worked most satisfactorily. I will try to learn something further about . this.al.sp. .before n.e^t^out^j^.mai.L^..^., Th c New Zealand I nsurance Company have purchsed a commanding site in San Francisco, *'• on which they propose to JJcrecfc a six»storyed building of pressed brick and granite. . The autobiography of Anthony TroTlope, which came out at the end of October, reveals -sadr .-incidents,, qf,,poveriy r and misery duringjhisboyhood and youth, ft shows that between 1847 and 1849. he received L 96,000 for his works. . Among the reasons urged: 'by a ! Peoria wo-? . man 'fora divorce are :. Drunkenness,' swearing, obscenity, arson, filthy habits, incom- ' patjbUity,.infidelity, brntality. ; : Vrueftji laziness, bigamy and non-support*.! She married i him to spite her father for boxing her .ears., „ ... t ,■'""'. ■'/ : .;/■"• •''"•. . Between. September, i ,• 1882,. and.September 1,1884, two.agents of thc/New r ' York- Bible Society have distributed :anic>ng J tho immigrants arriving r at , Castle,, garden, .53,877 Bibles, and Testaments,, printed in Gferman, Hungarian or Scandinavian. No, .Bible or Teatamentis given to aribamigrantunleeshe or she liable to read ; . the .book in -the language, in which a, cbpy.^ Is desired. ' ijurimg ' the same-period manne agents have visited 3,484 vessels and distributed 39,775 volumes of the Scriptures. - '.-'•>■ '.'.'..' The Mosgiel Woollen Company's; proftti for the year, are LBIB4. They, pay a isn per cent dividend and add L 8384 to the reserves.. A good story is told of a French general, ■ well-known in society. He observed that his shirts were usually a fortnight at the wash. Puzzled, if not embarrassed, by this phenomenon, ...he. demanded, •£..'jUia .bodyservakt the reason. "Pardon me, s General," replied that worthy, "your shirts are always so clean when you take them off, that, thinking it were a sin to wear them out by wash- | ing, I use them myself for a week." Collapse of General." ■ Captain Jeannie White, from New Zealand, who has charge of the Salvation Avmy Btation at-Williamstown, Victoria, is styled " The Hallelujah Maori." Six ladies have distinguished themselves as students in the South London College of Chemistry, where they have been studying with a view to pass the examinations of the Pharmaceutical Society. They mean to begin life as druggists, and we believe they are the first women who have been -trained in a public school for the business of pharmacy. ..-.Another visit from the "healer," Mr Q, M. Stephen may be looked forward to shortly, says the ' New Zealand Times.' According to advices received by a Wellington lady the other day from Mrs Stephen, her husband and self are at present at Brisbane, and are doing * well there. Mr Stephen's power . has increased rather than diminished. They purpose leaving Sydney for New Zealand by the- -Frisco mail steamer on the 29th inst., and will work their way south from Auckland, as they did "at their last visit. Somewhat of an innovation in Church music was recently introduced in the special services of the Beresford Congregational Church at Auckland. In addition. , to the harmonium, six other instruments were employed in order to swell the .volume of praise, viz., four fiddlcsy a cornopean, and ;ft flute, So far as the music produced was concerned, the result was most satisfactory. -The local ' Star ' says that the congregation, as a body, seemed highly pleased with the fresh- auxiliaries to the sacred harmony; but several Presbyterians, lately from Scotland, who were at the services, sustained a severe shock to. their ideas of propriety. ' .. - ;- . Literature is; studied that'we may become acquainted with the life of humanity under various* social conditions and at "various epochs; We study. Horace or : Juveual for social life ; or' Whittier for soul b'fe. It is this portraiture of life Which makes the study of literature so broadening in -ate. effects, and this best result of literary studiescan iaow be obtained by busy people With! a littfe leisure, Bmall means arid no knowledge* nof 'any language but their own. We study ■ hhrtory that we may trace the evolutions iof the nations, """ and the. race for their earliest and rudest beginnings to their present state of civiliza* tion.-- [Lyman Abbott. '•>■''•• A remarkable wedding'took place on tht , stage of the Buckingham Theatre, in Louisville, last month, when Mr^ .John Zmaris, better", known as Major Mite,-:30. years of age «nd 42 inches high, was solemnly married to Miss Marie Nail, aged 33, whose height is only. 31 inches. 'This pair .of midgets, wh« hava been travelling all over the world for several years; fell in love with each other when on exhibition at Pittsburg three months ago, chiefly, it would seem, because they were both of a size, and, it must be admitted the area of choice for such dwarfs is exceedingly limited. On the occasion of this utage wedding a great crowd assembled in the theatre. At nine o'clock the curtaia was rolled up, disclosing a stage set after the style of: a fashionable drawing-room. After " The Marriage Bells " had been sung, . Judge H. B. Hoke, of the Probata Court, came, upon the stage in evening dress. He was followed by the bridesmaids. The little bride was attired in a dress of white satin, with Court train, and wore pearl ornaments. A long white veil, interwoven with orange blossoms, fell gracefully over her shoulders until it touched the door. Her tiny hands were encased in four-teen-button white kid gloves, and her feet in slippers. The latter were No. 6, children's size. The groom wore the conventional suit of black broadcloth, with patent leather . pumps and white kid gloves. A few moments after nine o'clock the manager's | daughter came upon the stage with the licence, which she handed to Judge Hoke, | who promptly performed the ceremony, and j concluded it by kissing the bride. Then, ! amid the wildest applause, the curtain went down upon the fairy-like scene. The mayor of the city and other officials occupitd th« proscenium boxes, and Louisvi.'le is not a little elated at the thought that it has witnessed one of the "most remarkable marriages on record."