MISCELLANEOUS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 345, 15 October 1875, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

Officials and others appearing in public ' courts have lately been getting." gvatui ; tously, much instruction as to their ' manner and-mode of procedure. This ii-s been the case on the West Coast in the ' Supreme Court, before i\ir. Justice Johnston, and in the District Courts, before Judge Weston. It is noticeable, however, that it. is not always on the same points that the judges pronounced passing judg—- , ment. A barrister lean in-; on a witness—- , box, or approachirg the Court-house fire, were lately circumstances to which atten - tion was directed, though not by words, in the Court at Greymouth ; and at Heelton, we are told by the ' Times ' Judge Weston suggested to the counsel the propriety of not leaving the barristers' table for the purpose of handing documents to witnesses in the box. He said that.there was an officer in attendance whose duty it was to perform that service, and it was more becoming the dignity of the profession, no less than in respect to the Court, that the latter course shculd be adopted. His Honor continued, " The proper practice and forms of the Court should be adhered to as closely as possible,, otherwise we shall degenerate, and little by little all ceremony will disappear, and as young men grew up they " will follow in the same course, and eventually., there will be . no practice at all" The Bard of Avon referred to by Mr. Plimsoll in the House, wag a ship built, in 1&39; her class had run out, snd after remaining useless in the Clyde for some years, she was sold-by the dock trustees to pay for dues. The price she fetched was £7BO. or about£l per ton, whereas a good new ship would bring froni £2O to £3O. Her owners alleged that they had spent £7OO more on her in repairs, but' it spoke volumes that they purposed earning in half a voyage a sum equal to the entire cost of the vessel. Such cases, Lord Gilford said, were lamentable and frightful, and were referrible to the fact that such vessels paid better as lost ships than by being broken up. 'J he effect of these dia" closures coming at such a crisis may readily be conceited. Among the letters published on thb subject Is one frftf) the Earl of Shaftesbury to Mr. Plimsoii, in which, after expressing his syjnpathy, Earl says, "Language would fail to the wickedness and the folly of giving the preference to the Agricultural Holdings Bill over yours,—for yours it is that affects the 1 t-ves of so many men, and happiness of so many families." Another letter is from the pen of Mr. David Brown, who says —" I have been a Conservative all my life, and my father before me. I am sure 1 am speaking the feeling of thousands of Conservatives throughout the eouutry when i say that I would rather desert my standard than record a vote in favor of a member who could follow the leader that prefers agricultural holdings to saving seamen's. lives." The influence of all this upon the Government and upon Parliament was immediate and irresistible. The Government has been compelled to bring m a temporary measure empowering the Board of Trade to detain unsea. worthy ships, and Mr. Disraeli has promised that, when he introduces n-jxt year the permanent Act, he. will allow Mr. Plimsoll's Bill to run part' passe with it. A Comparison of the Rev. J Upton Davis.—'" The Cretans were always liars." Children feel powerless in presence of adults, —when the storm scowls on the teacher's face, they can think of no refuge but deceit., As women are more tempted to falsehoods than men, who have bigger muscles and larger bones, so boys and girls—specially the latter—are sorely tempted "to act the liars part" The Cretans were "evil beasts"—ill jades, horses that will neither "gee" nor " wo "—un- | manageable brutes that will only jib not ! draw - The potential obstinacy and peri versity of boys- and girls are very wonder - ; ful, and. their occasional outbreaks remind one of nothing so much as of Mrs. Caudle's, without her constant flow and imperturbable calm. The Cretans were " slow bellies " —lazy Children are specially so on Sunday afternoon. The " lessons of still," ' they get on the day of rest, make them —being forbidden marbles or skipping, weary and listless. Their natural eneigy though it is muddy enough—lies dormant, and will not be easily excited to care for sober discourse on this or that. Cold din- • nerg are going out of fashion; many youngsters never dine at home except ' Sunday, therefore they have a regular ; good tuck in, when the chance comes; < this process comes close upon a somnifer— '■ ous sermon—followed by supplies of apples ; and lollies, lasting to school time—much of j which is occupied in the apostolic action i of gathering up the fragments that nothing 1 be lost. It is no wonder that teachers— * who have been subject to similar though ] weaker narcotics should find their ( scholars sleepy, dull stupid. Judge Harvey, the ' Wakatip Mail' in- ] forms us, evidently, does not wrap himself t up in the stolid mantle, as much as to say •' " It is not my duty to give advice." He ' freely expresses his opinion either to the * legal gentlemen practising, to suiters, and s even to witnesses. These opinions, which f are given unostentatiously, often prove s very acceptable. This is an agreeable * feature to note in one of our Courts of law. 11alf-a-dozen valuable opinions were thus given during the last sitting of the District Court. Four hundred thousand pounds for a head of'hair is a startler. Our readers * do not believe it? Well, then, thev " must have a suspicion of the correctness c-f what appears in the newspapers. if we are to believe a paragraph which f has gone the rounds of the press, Madame. Ivilssmi possesses a head of hair winch she ..might readily turn into ' £400.000. According to a medical'

■j. iunr.il". s?ivs the 'Universe,' there are Irui'ii i {jO.OOO id 200,000 hairs in a lady's liimd Midatnli Nilss.m ft splendid hear] cf hair, anil pr«bul> ! y llie full complement c.f. individual h lirs We ;ire informed l>y the same journal tliat ilife gifted' JSilsson sold a hair from her head for and that -' in a few niiiiutes tile Sweedish songstress was surrounded by admires anxious tb buy a hair, at the thd same late." The sale took place at a fancy iair in New b'ork, and r e are glad to find, the cause was charity Just imagine the the number of charitable institutions that mio-hfc" b established if the 200.000 hairs were sold at the same fate. A valiidble natural head dress, truly. - The follow ing analysis of the great debate on the second reading of the Abolition of Provinces iji 11 has been handed to. us (' Wellington Evening Post') —The debate extended over eleven nights, and 31 members out of 76 addressed the House. The speeches occupy 665 colums of c Hansard,' and, were they placed lengthwise, would measure 414 feet 4 inches. The longest speech in - the debate was delivered by Mr. Fitzherbert, measuring 374 inches of ' Hansard,' or over 31 feet! The shortest was M r. Dignan,s which measured 5 inches. Mr. Fitzherbert's speech equalled, within 2 inches the conlbined speeches of 14 of the shortest speakers during the debate. Mr. Shoehan come 3 next to Mr Fitzherbert in order of length, with 203 inches; being an inch short of 17 feet. Mr Reid contributed 15 feet 4} inches: Mr Stout, 12 feet 6 inches • Mr. J: C. Brown, 1 ] feet. The longest speech on the Government side was ¥l"' Cuthl Jerton' S , who contributed 10 feet 6 inches. The greater numberof speeches delivered at any one sitting was on the 10th day, when nine members spoke. The ninth sitting, however when seven members spoke, contributed the largest quantity ot matter to 'Hansard,* —namely 55 feet 6 inches. A frightful negro slaughter occurred at Oliuto'i, Massachusetts. Early in September there was a great riot first, in which the bkicks suffered heafily, and were, driven off. On Saturday, the 4th September, 500 armed whites, arrived from Edwards and Bolton, and occupied. Clinton. On Saturday those and Wickstiirrers commenced slaughtering the negroes, and killed in cold blood all they could find. Five hundred were killed iri the city and country. The authorities vvere utterly powerless to stop the atrocities whicli were reported. For days afterwards it was a reign of terror all over the country. Governor Ames did ali he could to stop bloodshed. 1 Mr. Macandrew said when the San' Francisco mail contract was being con si- 1 dered, that a line of steamers by way of { the Strait of Magellan was, he believed, , the best line for New Zealand. As to the ( objection raised against the coastal part of i the San Francisco mail contract—namely, y that the steamers were too big, .and did j not pay. he could inform the House that c Webb's boats paid better between Auck- j land and Port Chalmers than between Auckland and Sydney. One of these £ boats left Port Chalmers with j£6,000 j worth of freight, besides passengers. A ] good traie was being opened up when the < service broke down. i