Miscellaneous Items.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1650, 5 March 1886, Page 4

Miscellaneous Items.

•* Ths .following story appears m the i 'Montreal G-Azette, and it is allaged to have been, current m that, town forty years ago, dining the early days of the; parish church. How it got to Canada wecannot imagine, but eyery Jfew Zealand reader will see at glance that yit belongs to this country, • Montreal is really Wellington, and the parish is the story:— "The devil {diabolus borii) was one day walking with a priest, boasting •'ttpbnifhe extent of his strength m this , Neighbourhood. As they disputed £ they - ,came ; tp the cbmch. 'Come ~ in,' said the .'priest, 'and 1 wiJJ show you thae^iere you will lost all your power.?' The > deHl ' corisented^ but as he was accd npfinied by a he turned to the latter arid said. *Y6n stay there till Teqmeout.' As the defal lias .riot made his appearance, ;■ the wind, rhas bjgpi hanging about&tyeve t &y&¥4*s& l > • ' ■'■■■• It is 1 proposed to erect a national ■ memorial to the late Eurl Shaftesbury There ,has not been a man during the p;astc«ntury more worthy of such recognition than he. He not only contributed liberally towards every v eflort. to 1 raise the masses,' as they are •^tilled, but he went down amongst j^Jiijiu anl. .tried to raise them himself, i an£ ? Vith, such success that his name ** ; ||sftbfie>n a household; word among •Wh^*costermong > ers of London; for fesfcy yeara past, It is designed to V erect a statue to the late Earl m Abbey, bnt. it is also con tern plated to establish a convalescent home for poor ohildren. The forntfV is a praiseworthy ojvject; but thelat'ter" . -will commend itself to : those who are m Kympathy with the philanthropic enterprise* m which Lord Sh^ftesbury t so mnfeh delighted. Subscriptions to may be sent, to Sir R, N* Fowler, -M. P., 50, Cornhill; London. One .of the inhaitants of Turakina ' has m her possession a most peculiaa bone/ The bone is about five inches long, and a little move. than an inch . think, hollow, and spreading >out towards the top into two branches, '■ which look as though " t\i ej had at time, been joints, biit had been .sawn off at the extremities. Several medical men have seen the bon.e asd have been unable to delern)ine whether it is the bone of bird, beast, or man. It has been m the possesion of thejowrier's family |or upwards of a 'ceritury-^-tbat is to say, it is actually known to have been m their possession for that time — tradition says for twice that time. Upon the bone is carved a picture of the Fall. Adam and Eve are represented standing upright 1 by the bole of a large * J^ree. Hanging from the branches is a serpent, having m. its month an apple, which it is offering to both of them. Adam seems to be eating one apple and holding another out to Eve. ' This is, of course, a revised version. The figures are represented as very much above the average height, indeed judging by the other objects - around, they seem to be about nine feet high. The bone was unearthed m a chalkpit|in Hampshire, and has been m the present owuer'n family since its diuinterraent. It was found very deeply embedded m the chalk.