Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 84, 8 April 1878, Page 4

A man that ought to be allowed to Bit down — A merchant of 40 years standing. "Ain't ye ashamed of yerseif to be having a black n&ger for a husband ?'' said an Irishman to a white woman. " Law, no 1 I had a Bister done worse than that," was the reply. '' What was that, ehure ?" " She married an Irishman."

Glass, like iron or the bamboo, is, as we are occasionally reminded by commercial enthusiasts, a substance of which the uses defy enumeration. We may drain with it, pave with it, roof with it, and even build with it, if we are careful to construct our semi-trans-parent abode with the toughened glass, on which stone-throwers may wreak their utmost spite in vain. But that we should wear it ; that a glass greatcoat should B_ield us from the wintry storms, and vitreous gloves protect our fingers when we are abroad ; that our. wives and daughters should be splendid in glass gowns, and glass hats be hung up in club vestibules, is certainly an idea wild enough to have found a place among the freakish fancies 6f Dean Swift. The glass wool of the Germans, the corton de verre of the French, promises to take a high place among the textile fabrics of the future. It is only in Bohemia, yet matchless for her mastery over tinted glass, tbat this wondrous thread can be as yet manufactured, tough, fine, and so pliant that incredulous worldlings find it hard to reliase that the web they handle is born of mere silex and alkali. If it resembles anything, that substance is silk. The very high price of this novel material (sixteen shillngs a pound) acts as a hindrance to tbe recognition of its merits, but it is eagerly bought up by chemists and experimentalists as an indisputable tissue for filters, brushes and other purposes, although some years may probably elapse before we see tourists' glazed suits for summer wear advertised on railway hoardings. A Cat's Mistake.^— Mr Hollister has a large and well-kept moustache. Mrs Hollister has a large and well-kept cat. Mr Hollister _i moustache is in a constant state of being waxed, and its long ends stand directly out like the boards on a finger post. A man with a moustache like that can scarcely consent to lumber his miud with the progress of science. Mrs Hollister was dressed to go down to breakfast the other morning, while Mr Hollister remained in bed. The cat sat on its hind legs listening to tbe conversation between Mr and Mrs Hollister, her interest therein being somewhat intensified by the circumstance that her breakfast w6uld be hastened by its conclusion. Mr Hollister spoke to such length that the cat finally turned her attention in the direction of the voice. Tbe clothes were drawn so close to his face tbat she did not see it. But Bhe obseived something else, and for a moment all interest in the conversation was lost. Her eyes shone, her tail whisked to and fro, ber whole body quivered for an instant in the throes ot a mighty emotion, then she sprang upon the bed, and in a flash both forepaws were planted in the face of the horrified Mr Hollister. To see the look of astonishment on that cat's face when. she discovered that what she had taken for a rat's tail was no tail et all but merely an end of her master's moustache, was a sight never to bs forgotten. Completely dumbfounded and crestfallen the unhappy animal lit off from the bed, and slunk through the ! door from sight, It is very rarely a cat is taken in like that. Mr Hollister is spending a few days on bis father's farm iu the mountains. The case of tha " Russian Count " Jacobsen, alias Count de MourauMf, found guilty of obtaining money and goods under false pretences, and who bas beeo sentenced to a term of imprisonment, is (says the Wellington _ hronicle) another instance of the vulgar credulity of human nature which finds much too frequent, illustration in every day life. Here is the case of a man ot gentlemanly exterior but without a dollar in his pocket, travelling about the country arrayed in purple and fine linen, faring sumpiuously on the gooi things tha Gods provide, purchasing horses here, di_moudß there, obtaining a five pound at a tbirtf place, and drinking champagne at each of them— all of this is he enabled to do simply by tepresentinv himself to be a Russian Count travelling on behalf of his Government and in this role liberally distributing valueless cheques. Now who on earth is "John Jacobsen" or " Count de Mourvaieff" any more than John Smith or Tom Brown that his ipse disit that he is what be represents himself to be should be taken unquestioned, and that his note at hand for a few paltry ten pounds should be accepted with as much condfience as if had been backed (by the manager of the Bank. But aa an actual fact if John Smith or Tom Brown were to put on airs enough I to spin a pausible thing tbey can go and do the same thing to-morrow that the Count did yesterday. We have had eo many instances of the ease with which valueless cheques are cashed in this colony that the repetition of the story becomes somewhat nauseous. The Judges have time after time called attention to tbe fact, and not very loDg ago one of them expressed himself to tbe effect that the duped should be made to suffer for tbeir credulity Bnd the ease with which tbey are victimised in the face of frequently recurring examples by being mulcted in a share ot the expenses of the trial. Il Mrs Hiller or Mr Robinson, two of tbe Count's victims, had this little pleasure added to that wbich they have already enjoyed in bowing and scraping to a Russian Count in disguise, and Juliet • like hanging on the honey of bis lips to the tune of £71 28 5d tbey would receive a " check " of considerable more value to them than the Count's, and one which the general public would know how to diecount at its proper v&lue on future occa-

sions. We protest against Ilia country being put to the sole expense of vindicating the injured innocence of Miss Hillers and Thomas Robinsons who romantically enjoy the society of greatness in the guiee of Russian noblemen. Why is the Bank of England like a great opera singer— Because the public honor ita notes.