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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 15, 17 January 1879, Page 4

A good thing is told of a "Washington belle, Misa L., noted for her wit At a dinner party, the lady in question, who is a daughter of a distinguished judge, was seated next to a gentleman whom she had not met before, and who was on a visit to the city on businesa which brought hitn in contact with the judge ! mentioned, who had shortly beforo decided a case against him. At this dinner the gentleman, who had not caught the name of the lady when introduced, took occasion to vent his feelings and express his opinion of the judge in terms anything but complimentary. An awful pause in the conversation indicated something wrong, and the gentleman took occasion to express to the lady hia hope thafc the judge was no relation of hers, to which, to the infinite amusement of all present, she replied, " 0 no ; only a connection of my mother's by marriage." A shout of laughter could nofc be prevented, and the gentleman, after a little reflection, came slowly to the conclusion thafc the judge's family were too much for him. A good deal baa been beard of tbe progress of female emancipation in Russie, but il is somewhat of a novelty to find the Kussian ladies fi-^uriog in the character of duelists, as was tbe csbb not long since with two bellta of Petigorsk, a well-known fashionable resort on the northern slope of the Caucasus. A dispute arose between the rival beauties, springing out of tbe attentions paid to eacb in (urn by a handsome young man a cavalry officer quartered in tbe neighborhood. The quarrel ran so high that one of the Amazons nt length dispatched ber maid to the other with a forma! challenge, which was instantly accepted. Tbe belligerents met without seconds in a lonely place outside the town, each armed witb a brace of loaded pistols. Before, however, tbey had even taken up tbeir respective positions, the trembling of one lady's hand cause:) ber pistol to explode prematurely, sending a bullet tbrough tbe dress of tbe otber, who shrieked and fell down io a swoon. The assailant, frightened out of ber wits, flung away her weapon and rushed to raise the supposed corpse, but her ungrateful antagonist, recovering her senses as suddenly as she bad lost them, clutched her by the hair with oue hand, boxing her ears with the other in a most energetic style. The firing having ceased, tba battle proceeded band to band. Locks of hair, ribbons and t-hreds of clotbiog flow in every direction, and, but for tbe timely advent of tbree or four polioemen, the affray might bave ended like the somewhat similar combat of the Killkenny cats. The military Lothario's only remark on hesriog the story was, " Its lucky they took to clawing each otber instead oi me." In an address delivered at the Working Men's Club in Auckland, the Hon Mr Sheehan referred in the following terms to the Chinese immigration question :—Personally he had ho affection for Chinamen. This country was too good, that any part of it upon which Englishmen, Irishmen, or Scotchmen, or other Europeans could settle should be delivered np tbe Chinese invasion. It is not too large for all our own people who are likely to come to it. The Chinaman does not come to settle. He makes money by self-sacrifices, which some people would do well to imitate; bnt he makes oo home in those colonies which he visits, and what be saves he only thinks of taking with him to spend in his own oountry, and among his own people. The case is not the same as if colonists had no other people whom they could bring here, or if labor conld not be got elsewhere than from China. There are millions of our own people who would flock to these shores, and fill the country with labor if required. He would object to an alien race coming to New Zealand and taking up laud. He would not deprive Chinamen of living. There were large tracts of country and other fields of enterprise suited to Chinamen, where the Englishmen did not thrive although Chinamen could. There was Queensland for instance, but New Zealand was so peculiarly suited to British people that it should be colonised by those who had the best right to come there. But the actual question had not yet arisen in this colony. He would endeavor to impress all working men who heard him, with a firm faith in the high destiny of the country of their adoption. Since the abolition of slavery in the United States tbere has sprung up in the mind of the black population an intense desire to return to the land of their origin. For some time the sentiment seemed likely to fade away, without leading to any material result; but, recently, it has gathered new force, and undergone great development in consequence of its direction having been takeu in hand by the most intelligent and earnest of the negroes. " Exodus Associations" are springing up in every considerable centre of population, and several ships have already sailed for Liberia, heavily freighted with returning Airicans. The associations have extensive ramifications amongst the 5,000,000 of free negroes in the different parts of the Union, and at the present moment 200,000 individuals are prepared to leave the Cotton States for the land of their ancestor*. When the landlady discovered that her lodgers were dropping off, the burden of her song became « Nothing bot leaves." I

In one of the Fianch galleries of the Paris Exhibition there was a marvel of labour and industry which haa been manufactured by a cutler, of Montron, in the department of the Dordogne. It consists of 100 microscopic knives enclosed in an ordinary 9izcd cherrystone. They have all box handles, open and shut in the ordinary way, and yet they do not weigh more than seven grains in all. A memorial, signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Gibraltar, and a large number of the members of the Church of England Temperance Society, has been forwarded to Sir Garnet Wolsely, asking him to prevent the increase of the number of drinking houses in the island of Cyprus. ' It is urged that English influence and civilisation ought not to carry with them so serious a blot and drawback as the inducement afforded by such places to habits of intemperance. A kind gentleman prevented some boys from stoning a pigeon fastened by the leg. Extricating it with much trouble," he put it tenderly to his bosom. The next day he remarked that it made a much nicer pie than he expected. "Errors Excepted. "—lt is hard to say whether the intelligent compositor shines most when dealing with poetry or prose. He was grand when he gave us " Caledonian stern and wild, Wet nurse of a poetic child;" but he alsoßhone in telling of the pride a young Oxonian felt in "turning to his Alum water." A curious woman.—" You see," said uncle Job, "my wife is a curious woman- She scrimped and saved, aud almost starved all of us to get the parlor furnished nice; and now she won't let one of us get into it, and hain't even had the window blinds of it open for a month. She is a curious woman." As two ladies were walking along the street, one exclaimed, as the sky suddenly darkened, " There's a thunder-storm coming on. I'm so afraid of lightning .!" To which the other calmly replied, " Very well, my dear; then let us step into this car, which seems to have a good conductor." The fashion reporter who wrote, with reference to a belle, " Her feet were encased in shoes that might have been taken for fairy boots," tied his wardrobe up in a handkerchief and left for parts unknown when it appeared next morning. " Her feet were encased in shoes that might be taken for feny-boats." The man who has never seen two women in Shaker bonnets trying to kiea each other has never experienced the rejuvenating power of a laugh tbat could throw him down and kick him in the ribs. At a matinee. Gentleman to lady : " I fear there will be a rush, and we sha'n't get in." Lady .- "Not get in ? What do you mean ? There are very few matinees where I ever failed to get in, with perseverance and — this big shawl-pin !*' Mr D. N. Kern, of Pennsylvania, tells the Practical Farmer that 24 whole potatoes planted in as many hills, with a handful of bran in each, gave a yield of three pecks, and the same number right alongside of them, but without bran, yielded only half a bushel. " While there's life there's hope." This it well said, for often poor sufferers from depressing maladies have been brought so low that it seemed hopeless to hope for recovery. The new medicines introduced lately into New Zealand, have worked such wonders in many such apparently hopeless eases, that they should be tried by all suffering from Rheumatic attacks, severe Gout, Liver Complaints, &c. These medicines are pronounced to be the " Wo>"»er " of tbe nineteenth century, and can be had of all Chemists. Ask for " Gollau's Great IXDIAK C CUES " An vice to Mothebs ! — Are you broken in your rest by a sick child suffering with the pain of cutting teeth ? Go at once to a Chemist, and get abrttle of Mrs Winslow's Soothing Syrup. It will relieve the poor .offerer immediately. It is perkctly harmleßß and pleasant to taste. It produces natural quijt sleep, by relieving the child from pain, and the little cherub awakes " hs bright as a button. It soothes the chiki, ir, softens the gums, allays all pair, relieves wind, regulates the bowels, and is the best known remedy for dysen ery and diarrf- eea. whether arising irem teething or other causes, told everywhere at is. ljd. per b.tt!e Manufactory 493, Oxford-3 treet, London. Valuable Discovkrt for the Hair.— lf your flair ia turning grey or white, or falling off, use " The Mexican Hair Renewer," for it will positively restore in every case Grey or White hair to its original colour, without leaving tne disagreeable smell of most 'Reet. rei s ' It makes tbe hair charmingly beautiful, as well as promoting the growth cf the heir on bald spots where the gland -3 are not decayed. Ask your nearest chemist for " Tbe Mexican Hair Renewer," prepared by Henry C. Gallup, 493, Oxford-street, London, and sold everywhere at 3s. Sd. per bottle. Flomlinb!— For the Teeth and Breath — A lew drops of the liquid " Floriiine " sprinkled on a wet tooth-brush produce a pleasant lather, which thoroughly c?ean?es the teeth from ali parasites snd impuitries hardens tbe gums, prevents tartar, stops decay, 'gives .to the teeth a peculiar pearly •whiteness, and a delightful fragrance to the breath. Jt removes all unpleasant o3our srising from decayed teeth or tobacc; smoke. " Tha Fragrant Floriline." being composed in part of honey and sweet herbs, is delicir us to the taste, and the greatest toilet discovery of the Bge. Sold everywhere at 2b. 6d. Prepared by Henry C. Gallup, 493 Oxford-street. London.