MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

Manawatu Standard, Volume XII, Issue 1727, 7 June 1886, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

At theclo«e of every year the London Positives meet, together and lalie the oppcunity ol' reviewing the history of the proceeding twelvem onth . Mr Fred . Harrison's annual address this year is more than usually interesting, and ha* excited great attention. He devoted considerable space to examining ibe great constitutional changes that h>ve lately l>eGn witnessed, and as a rastlt finds that the English Govevment has become the most nbsolute democracy m existence. Ihe Crow aud the house of Lords aye only theoretical checks on the House of Commons, which responds to every wave of popular sentiment,! and there are no practical chocks' such as have been provided m the consititutions both of Prance and the United States. Moreover, m both those countries there is a large peasant-farmer class, which has no counterpart iv England, imbued with Conservative instincts. The editor of a paper, published m the States was waited upon m his office the other day by a butcher, who knocked him about m a very lively fashion fora time, meanwhile shouting out sentences concerning ".sausage." Aflor he had £one the editor looked through the culumns of his paper's last issue, and concluded th*tihe wrati had arisen from the unintentional adjoinment so to speak, of the anne.\ed paragraphs m the paper :— "The citizens of MarUernn are mowning the loss of 20 valuable dogs, pois>ned by some miscreant," "Butcher Se#ir, of Marble to a, announces that be has just made up a large batch of fine layge sausages." . The total extinction of the great carnivora m Africa is only a question of time. They aye dir.appeunn? m the northern parrs, as isdiown by tl)e the following extract from an Eu«lJsh paper: — In the eleven years fi-otn 1873 to 18S4, the number of lions killed m. Algeria Was 202,f0r which a premium of £400 has been paid by the Government. The number of panthers destroyed m the same period is 1214, and f he monoy paid by the Government £720. About £400 has been for 1882 hytenas, and £1600 for 27,000 jackals. The large felidse are almost ex tirpaleJ, piincipaUy m the ■western provinces and the lion of the desert" is fast becoming a myth In "Washington recently a young doctor, handsome, strong popular and of great promise, was called from his office jo attend a lady m a carn:»ge at his "door. Keen v ing no answer to his greeting to his patient he i bought she had fainted. He stepped into her coupe and found her already a corpse. He rode by the side of the dead woman to her house and thence to the hospital, where he was expected to partial psii ft m a meeting of the managers. Apologising to his colleagues for his lateness he related hi» ghastly experience. Th^n remarking, " I fell faint, "he fell struck dead by paralysis. The following amusing - election .inoHeut is related Iv "Dnsjonet "m the Referee : — " The (»ther day a man was driving some cows from one farm to another, and one of the cows bolted and climbed a bank. Against this bank aud built with fi y'ooin^ roof li«low it, is a blacksmith 'h shop. A* the 'moment that the 00~/ rrot on ths "bank a Conservative yioiineian was m tbo stiop hftranjvinjr t.ha blacksmith— a Radical — on what he was pleased to term ""Radical lies and false promises." "You've returned a Radical for the country," said the Tory, "and now where's your row and your three acre*? 3 suppose you exuecrtd 'em to fall through the roofp,l > ....-..A.fe-i.b"^-.i»* > ">ott^theio wa" a erivTh, and through the roof there Ml. right at' the feet ot the Tory disbeliever, ;■- sval life cO<v. Re —the politician, not the cow— gave a wild yell of- irrmr «.nd fled. He wns afraid tha Ifuvo acrea would follow and crn::I) lii m. This story is . aboslufcoly trno. '!■■< occurred at Pickwiilow. the cow. belonged tn Mr Joseph ScuboTj av-d '•he blacksmith's name was Stanley. The story was wired to Mi* Cuain-'iorlain at once, and he rent, it on 'to Mr 'Grindstone as a birthday present." The following \» mta^d as a true story, and it in-i.v well be so, for the smallest incidents have often led to : the greates results : — Many years ago two armies were aiTiyd against eaHt -etf um- ia Ireland and fought what is iT known as the battle of the Boyno- It was the Ist of July, « hot snmnjpr's : , day. Just before the battle the sentin els of King William's army felt uncommonly tired and sleepy, and very much inclined to take a nap. nor— ." withstanding the near neighbourhood of the enemy. Of course, if grown ■up soldiers tell asleep, a little drum tnev '.:■ • boy could not be expected to keep awake. — While ho slept, his companions nodding around him, a little *ren spied some cru's upon his drumhead and strightway hopped upon it. to pick them up. The noise oi her little feetaivl her beak bopping on the par hment woke the lad. who spied the enemy advancing, and instantly gave the alarm, But for iha little bird, the sleepers might have been surprised, and the event of the day altered. As It wa«, the skill of William won him the victory, and .Tames fled, beaten, from the field. — Banbridge Almanac. A correspondent thu-< writes of the weather and the homeless on«?« m New -York: —After being lulled into sweet forgetful ness that there was such a thing as win ter, a blizzard s wppt down onus which has moved nn about 30ileg. ;■' nearer the .North Pole. Haw it did •■"* blow and h^w it did snow, and at the conclusion of'lia '-"^rm an icy wind gwent the stress, .b-ivi.ner thousands of - tranms ursd hcivgav.-;' \n the shollpp of B^the.AfatiofThon.SPi«,. wbioh woyp crum-fcmo-d with snfforinc 'watches who have IP no home or «hr^c.-. A man cm have ■;-•" no more ir.st,ruc f .iv-."?i(\'''Mnts'antnir l nkpg a round of the station houses on a I stormy night. I*, is n<>t alouo (lift ¥ wretched Mrtinn.s ais-1 stivwt begffnrs r." tbnt you fiixl tln--re. There a<e, v thousands of men niv\ w.Miifn — ycaing girls and boy v , who come here every year m search of employment; their little capital gives out, and they art mercilessly turned on the. streets The night* i" th'es** station houses are awful, but bitterer th m all is i he morning Tn th* dark «jl<>om of a winter ' morning, when the snow or sleet i« falling, thousands of shivering wretch p* a<o turned out on th« street" % to allow the scrnbbM-s to purify the I ' dtm wlmts tlioy step 1 ; i,be nij*hfc V»ofW. \ Th^n cornea the quoyilon of brenkfasfc, \ nr , <;] b/! w are they nl l fe< • -? . He wh o feeds | the ravens alone cai: teil. Iv c ?«T Vo-s, 'c <. •>.. •'-='• ''•-■" -Tf--vcb«. beer |," to' intimate tlid 'v" ii.^e rwti-ceived I. advice of a very br--i.no of lafran UhI ters, havinff baev. <-\v.-~\ 'jx them at ft ■fcc^eaW Wv r.c^t J^e Irt. and Klhey :: - . . ■ . ; -,.7;- X i RK^tnoXvo'ftrtliS JiUMRwM.O," '