Miscellaneous Items.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1692, 24 April 1886, Page 3

Miscellaneous Items.

It ought to lie generally undeistod 1 (.observes the Lancet , that, whethe- in fesca|jinjy from a burning building dp m endeavouring to r scue a person ■who has been unable te escape, the aim sbo'ild be to keep the head as low as possible, by stooping or crawling. as, although smoke is heavy, the purest and most easily respirable air will nearly always fie found m the !nffi;r jitwhnn.. of the atmosphere, near the'flooi or ground. Another po?nb to note is that with the aid of a damp but not wet cloth, such as a blanket, held over the head and face, but far enough from it, a considerable atmosphere may be carried around the head sufficient to last for two or three minutes, if the piecaution be ;;.. taken of breathing as little as possible, and through, the nose instead of ; the mouth, the obect being to avoid irritation of the larayx or air passages, which would produce cough, and by entpring tho -lungs necessitate .deep breathing, with disastrous iesults. The blanket or cloth, if damped must not be made sufficiently wet to generate- steam, or the heat will have dn exaggerated effect and the length of time during which respiration ia possible will be seriously ahrMjred.. Qrcat self-possession is the first essem ial condition of a successful pxerc se of courage m connection with fire. Every act must bo' carefully though quickly thought out, and the peril clearly understood and intel'i* gently ihecd, or no good services for self or others can be successfully performed. One of our valued exchanges contains the following, which is ac applicable to one city as another: "Wo ■would like to impress on our good people the inipoi tance of getting acquainted with the strangers who are 8 'eking homes among us. a family ought not to be allowed to live for months without receiving* call from, neighbors. Many a woman has become homesick only for the reason that she thought herself slighted by her new neighbors. This ought not to be. Especially should members of the several churches look after newcomers and sea that they find encouragement and assistance, from those of their ovn *fait.h and order.' This is not proselyting, but a Christian duty. Jf the family have no church -relations), it is none the less, the duty of good people, to : make 5 their acquaintance, and by kind acts a>.d Christian work lead them up to the better way." Loobfefter.'the.-new-comer?, and make then* feel that they are welcome among us, and very soon they will not want to leave v?. " It U not often that a knight and a Brigadier- General grace a Police Court ".with their presence, yet such happened m Sydney .recently, when Sir Edward Strick 'and, President of ' the" Geographical Society summoned Brigadier-General Mclvor, on a charge of using threatening language towards him. The affair aros« out of a meeting of the Geographical Society, at which Grneial McTvor wished, to speak, but was not permitted to do so. On tjie case being called on, Mr Marsh, fc?.M'.. strongly urged upon General" Mofvor. to withdraw the words com plained of intimating that no tloubt the complaint would then be satisfied. After considerable hesitation, General Mclvor withdrew the words, and said that he legretted the occurrence. Sir Kd ward Strickland said that he was perfectly, {satisfied, and the information was accord injjly withdrawn. ' ; , Anything 1 which tends to the manufacture of raw material, on the spot, into an extensive article of use must tend to assist the settler m his* strugglo to make both -ends meet. There has lately been introduced into the colony an article. of groat value to the conn try farmer, which will revolutionise the method of making soap. !By the means of a caustic soda of a high power (wich can only now be obtained m Oliristchmvh, but which when its merits are known will certaiuly be sold at all centres) the hitherto waste fat of a farm e in be converted by a simple process into soap equal to the best recpived from the Auckland factories. Into 70lbs. of rendered fat, melted, but not too hot, is poured a solution made of •water and lOlbs. of caustic soda ; the mixture is stirred for one hour; then when of the consistency of honey is poured into a box and left far -# week or two, when it can be removed and cut into ba*rs, which" will be found to contain about l2olbs. of soap with.i ont*nny of the deleterious chemicals which arc-usually employed to fortify the cheap bought .article. When* Mr. Foray tb. of Pihama, was m Canterbury, (says the Opunake corres-

j Continue ! from 3rd pag«\] potul tit of t,lie Tarauaki Herald) he ositaine.il some of this soda, the cost ot which m .small packets is 9d, per l'o., t»ut m casks 4|d., amllie hasalrpsuly nuxdii a considerable quantity of B>:i|) for lionie consumption. The •»•■*&] ue to this district, whence tallow is exported, to realize 14s. per cwt, m Wellington, is great, as every district butcher can now obtain a fair return for the fat, which, has been lately anything but a profitable portion of his proceeds. ■„.*.•.