MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1725, 20 September 1862, Page 6

MISCELLANEOUS.

Wooden Two deckers.—TLe unusual circumstance of paying off a line-of-battle ship on a foreign station is about to be realised in tbacase of the Aboukir,Capt. Charles F. A. Shad well,'C.B. Tba Imauto, at Port Royal, is old and rotten, and, although it was originally intended to replace her with a snip from England (the Ilindostan), it has been decided to retain in ihe Weat Indies one of the finest two-deckers in the service. This fact is significant of the value now entertained by the Admirably of our magnificent screw steam liners. We spent millions in producing them, and we now devote one of tbe finest of the class to a duty performed for the last twenty years by a ship which was always considered useless as a man-of-war, but which politeness to the Imaum of Muscat induced us to accept at his hands. The glory of the Aboukir and her sister ships has waned before the mighty power possessed by the Wanior and tbe rest of our ironsides, and we must therefore he content to witness the grounding on their own beef bones of the vessels which, until that troublesome La Glorie was brought into existence, were a source of honest pride to us. Captain Shadwell, his othicers, and crew will be sent home, and doubtless an immediate and appropriate command will he provided for the former, as he has only held his appointment since the month of Feb., 1861, and few officers in the navy deserve more consideration than doe* Captain Sh tdwell.— Army and Navy Gazelle. Salmon Fishing Extraordinary.—' The Banffshire Journal, after mentioning that Prince Alfred killed seven salmon on the Dee, tells tbe following story of Alexander Uaclaren, head keeper, Invercauld. While trying his “ luck” at the gentle art a few days ago, he hooked a seven or eight pounder, which, after some of the usual evolutions, began to splash hither and thither in a very curious manner—sometimes rising above the water, followed by an indistinct black figure, altogether presenting such an unusual spectacle that Maclaren could not help making many conjectures as to what species of the fin tribe he had caught. His mind was soon set at rest bv seeing an otter spring out on the opposite bank with the fish in its mouth, so intent in the destruction of its prey that the keeper and bis operations where wholly unobserved. Maclaren immediately despatched his assistant for a gun, wo discharged its contents at the daring poacher though not with deadly effect. Before a second could be fired, the otter made his escape by springing into the water. Relieved from his opponent’s cruel grasp, the halt danced with head and tail, and ere the water could e forded, tumbled into the river, apparently non* the wo* sh of thin singular adventure. The Ever. Living* - One more lesson from our c&nd e, and we have done. What becomes of the human soul when it has left the body ? What becomes of the flame when the candle is extinguished? Must our philosophy hall here ? or will it turn round upon us and attempt to prove, in scientific jargon, that there is no sue t mg as a future. We think not. We believe that, as the relationship between the candle and man bears strict analogy from the first kindling of the mysterious vitalising principle, through the varied phenomena o life, in sickness and in health, and even m the more mysterious phenomena of extinction,-so can the analogy be carried further into the dim shadowy realms beyond. If there is one question more than another which has occupied the attention of modern phlosapbers, it is that relating to the conservation of force, or as it is sometimes called, of energy. It has long been admitted that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, and tbe whole tendency of modern discovery is now directed to show that energy is equally incapable of extinction. So long as it is exerting its action in a definite way, shining and glowing as a candle name, evolving the forces of heat and light, we take note o it by means of our outward senses; but when the flame goes out, are these forses annihilated ? Assuredly not. The energy which hitherto was occupied in the production of heat and light has only changed its 'inmate, ial form; it still exists in uodiminisheJ quantity, though it is now incapable of appreciation by our material senses. For, just as the forces evo ye y burning fuel are transformed into the mechanics motion in the steam engine; and just as mechanical motion is equally capable of being retransforme into heat, light, electricity, or chemical action, so o the forces once born to activity when the candle is lighted live to tbe end of time undiminisM , " te "‘ sily, although changed in character. When t e ame is naturally extinguished these living forces 0 not le . but become absorbed into that vast reservoir of energy which is the source of all life and light upon t Jls 8P e * And shall we then suppose that the soul of my n 13 0 loss account than the flame of a candle? If P 1 osop i> can thus prove that the latter never dies, shall not ait i accept the same proof that our own spiritual 18 c 2f~ tinned after the vital spark is extinguished i— ie Popular Science Review. . “ Passing Out!” —A renowned clergyman of Lincolnshire lately preached rather a long sermon fr°' n I ® text, “ Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting.’’ Alter the congregation had listened a an hour, some began to gel weary and went out: u ners soon followed, greatly io the annoyance of the mi" ,stcr - Another person started, whereupon the parson slopped his sermon, and said, “ Tint is right, genll eman I as fast as you are weighed pass out!” He con ,m ued his sermon some time after that, but no one disi ur e him by leaving. Adulteration in Silk Fabrics—What Jutk is. —What is jute ? is a question often asked by the general reader. This article, well known to those engaged in the East India trade, played an important part in the recent great fire in London. It has been demonstrated that it is a rather unsafe article to stow away, on account of its easy ignition and tendency to spontaneous combustion. It is also unsafe in another particular, for it is the great adulteration of silk. Jute is the fiber of a species of hemp (boianically speaking the corchorus capsuluris) which is grown in the East Indies, chiefly in Bengal. The same class of men who put shoddy into cloth, logwood into a villainous compound and then call it port wine, adulterate silk with silk jute. I t has a lustrous, silky appearance, and the fraud is not easily delected. A recent English writer in the Technologist says that, thanks to jute, there is scarcely a piece of sound, genuine silk in the country, and the consequence is that the so-called silk fabrics, instead of lasting for generations, as they did in the time of our grandmothers and great-grand-mothers—barely last the brief period of the latest new fashion. The reason of this is evident—for in preparing this fibre for the maket it is necessary to cause it to almost putrefy in order to develop the fine silky character so much valued in the jute intended forexport. In India the cloth made from the fibre is much stronger and more durable, because they do not take such care in steeping it for home consumption. In lire’s Philosophy of Manufacture (newest edition) a writer says of jute: “It is mixed with the cotton warps of cheap broadcloths, and also with silk, and, from its lustre, can scarcely be detected.” Why cannot jute be turned to more honorable and useful purpose than adulteration ? Dr. Forbes Watson say’s that “ its production admits of unlimited extemion; and who knows but the great paper, rag and cotton question may be somewhat solved by jute ?N. Y. Journal of Commerce.

Death of Dr. Wolff.—The Rev. Dr. Joseph Wolff, whose name is so intimately associated with Eastern travel, died a day or two since at Isle-Brewers, near Taunton, of which p irisli he was the vicar. Dr. j Wolff was the son of a Rabbi, and was born at Weilersbach, near Forchheim and Bamberg, in the year 1795. Being of a studious disposition, he learnt the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew language**, while still a jew, in Halle, Weimar, and Bamberg. He was converted to Christianity through his acquaintance with the Count of Stolberg and Bishop Seder, and was baptized by Leopold Zolda, Abbot of the Benedictines of Etnaus, nei»r Prague, in Bohemia, on ibe 13th of September, 1812. In 1813 he oommenced the study of Arabic, Syriac. and Chaldean, and in that and the following year ho attended theological leotures in Vienna, having for his friends Professor Jahn, writer on Bi'dical archaeology ; Frederick von Scblegel, the poet Werner, and Hofbauer, tbe General of the From 1814 to 1810' Dr Wolff was, by the pitronage of Prince Dalberg, enabled to pursue Im studies at the University of Tubingen, which were chiefly directed to tba Oriental languages, more particularly Arabic ind Persian, as well as ecclesiastical history and Biblical exe«gesis under Professors Stendcll, ScLnurrer, and Flatt. In 1816 Dr. Wolff left Tubingen, and among others visited Zschckke, Madam Krudener, and Pestalozzi in Switzerland. Ho also spent some months with Count Trucbsez and Madame de Stael-Holsiein, at Turin, delivedng lectures in their circle, on the poetry of the Bible. He arrived in the same year at Rome, and wh introduced to Pooe Pius VII., Cardinals Letta, Caccias piati, Consalvi, Ostini and the Ambassador, Niebuhr tbhisiorian. Dr. Wolff was first received as a pupil oe the Collegio Romano, and then of tbe Ci.llegio Propa-f ganda, from 1816 to 1818; but, his sentiments, having been declared erroneous, he was expelled from Rome and retraced his steps to Vienna, where, after advising about his scruples with Frederick von Sohlegel, Dr. Emanuel Veit, and Hofbauer, he was prevailed upon to enter the Monastery of tbe Redemptorists at ValSaint, near Fribourg; but not having been able to convince himself of tbe truth of Romanism as taught there, he left Val-Saint, and came to London to his friend the late Mr. Henry Drummond, M. P., whose friendship he bad formed at Rome, and placed himself for the study oi Oriental languages under Dr. Lee, of Cambridge, and for theo.oav under the late Rev, Charles Simeon. Dr. Wolff then commenced his , travels for tbe purpose of proclaiming the Gospel to Jews, !sftb9msltßg{ «$ fljpW'i wA Pf fwfcfag ISi

searches among the Eastern Christians, thus preparing the way to missionary labours tor the conversion of the Jews and Geuthes, from 1821 to 1826, in Egypt, Mount Horeb, and Mount Sinai, where b» «rtde very first missionary who gave copies of the whole Bible to the monks and Bedouins. Thence be went to Jerusalem, where he w.s the first «««' o " w / "J° preached to the Jews in Jerusalem. He went to Aleppo and Cyprus, from the latter oTfUg he sent Greek boy* to England lo be educated and continued his travels in Mesopotania, Persia, i enus, the Crimea, where he visited tbeCaraites, near liagm-sche-Serai, preaching to the German colonists, as welt as to Russians. Mabomedans, and Jews, at Karasu Baz.ar, Simpheropol, Sebastopol, Kercsb, and thence to Odessa, Constantinople, Adrianople, Boosa, (Smyrna, England, Ireland, and Scotland. In 1826 he formed the acquaintance of Lady Georgiana Mary Walpole, and was married to her in 1827 by the R b v. Mr. Simeon Shortly after the marriage they went to Jerusalem, and, leaving her Ladyship at Malta, from 1831 to 1834 be proceeded to search for the Ten Tribes. He went to Alexandria, Anatolia, Constantinople, Armenia, and Khorassan, in which place he was made a slare, tied to a horse's tail, and ransomed by Abbas Miraa. Thence he pursued his journey to Bokhara, Balkh, Cabool. Lahore, and Cashmere, being received with great distinction by Runjeet Singh, Lord William Bentinck, and Sir Edward Barnes. Dr. Wolff then went by land from Loodiatiato Calcutta in a palanquin, preaching on his progress at 130 stations. From Calcutta he went to Masulipatam and Secunderabad, and was seized by the cholera near Madras. On bis recovery he left Madras in a palanquin for Pondicherry, visited the successful m'sdon in Tinnevelly, went to Goa, Bombay, Egypt, and joined Lady Georgiana Wolff in Malta. In 1836 be journeyed to Abyssinia, and at Auxm he fouDd Dr. Goba', the present Bishop of Jerusalem, who was very ill and brought him back to Jiddah, in Arabia, and there leaving him, Dr. Wolff proceeded to Sanaa, in Yemen, where be visited the Rechabites Yahabites, thence to Bombay and to the United States of Noith America, where he preached before the Congress, and was made doctor of theology. He was ordained deacon in 1837 by the Bishop of New Jersey, United States, and priest in the following year by the Bishop of Oromore. He made a second journey to Bokhara, in order, if possible, to effect the liberation of Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly, the particulars of which are fully detailed in his Journey ioßokaraIn 1845 he was presented to the vicarage of Isle-Brew-ers, and held that benefice up to the time of bis death. —Times, May 5. An African Leobnd.—We are told that once all men perished. A prodigious animal, called Kammapa, devoured them all, large and small; it was a horrible beast; it was such a distance from one end of his body to the other, that the sharpest eves could hardly see it all at once. There remained but one woman on the earth who escaped the ferocity of Kammapa, by carefully hiding herself from him. This woman conceived, aud brought forth a son in an old stable. She was very much surprised, on looking closely at it, to find its neck adorned with a little necklace of divining charms. " As this is the case," said she," his name shall be Litaolane, or the Diviner. Poor child; at what a time to be born! How will he escape from Kammapa? Of what use will his charms be?" As she spoke this, she picked up a little straw to make a bed for ber infant. On entering the stable again, she was struck with surprise and terror; the child had already reached the Stature of a fu'l grown man, and was uttering words full of wisdon. He soon went out, and was astonished at the solitude which reigned around him. '' My mother,'' said he, " where are the men? Is their no one else but you and myself on the earth ?" "My child," replied the woman, trembling, '* not lung ago the valleys and mountains were covered with men; but the beast, whose voice makes the rocks tremble, has devoured them all." " Where is ihe heast ?" " There be is, close to us." Litaolane took a knife, and deaf to his mother's entreaties, went to attack the devnurer of the world. Kammapa opened bis frightful jaws, and swallowed him up; but the child of the women was not dead ; he enieted armed, with his knife, into the stomach of the monster, and tore bis entrails. Kamnupa gave a terrible roar, and fell. Litaolane immediately set about opening bis way out; but the point of his knile made thousands of human beings cry out, who were buried alive wiih bim. Voices without number were heard crying to him on every side, " Take care, thou art piercing us.'' He contrived, however, to make an opening, by wbicb the nations of the earth came out with bim from the belly of Kammapa. The men delivered from death said, one to the other, " Who is this who is born of women, and who has never known the sports of childhood? Whence does he come? He is a monster, and not a man. He cannot share with us; let us cause him to disappear from the earth.'' With these words they dug a deep pit, and covered it over at the top with a little turf, and put a seat upon ii: then a messenger ran to Litaolane, and said to him, " The elders of thy people are assembled, , ami dooiro tJiao to 0..„.0 on<l uit iu lb« miiist of tliara.'' The child of the women went, but wben be was near the *eat he cleverly pushed one of his adversaries into it, who instantly disappeared forever. Then the men Haid to each other, "Litaolane is accustomed to rest in the sunshine near a heap of rushes." This plot succeeded no better than the former. Litaoaae knew everything; and wisdom always confounded tbenw'ice of bis prosecutors. Several of them, while endeavouring to cast him into a great fire, fell into it themselves. One day, when he was hotly pursued, be came to the shores of a deep river, and changed himself into a stone. His eHeiny, surprised at Dot finding bim, seized the stO'ie, and flung it to the opposite side, raying, '• That is how 1 would break his head if I saw bim on the other side." The stone turned into a man and Litaolane smiled fearlessly upon bis adversary, who, not being able to reach him, gave vent to his fury in cries and menacing gestures. Can this tale be a confused tradiction of ihe redemption of man wrought out by Jesus Christ ? I certainly should not venture to affirm that it is so; but Kammapa might, without much difficulty, be apposed to represent Satan. In all ages the imagination has delighted to clothe this spirit in the most hideous forms, ami the evils be has caused have often been compared to the ravages of a wild beast. The supernatural conception of Litaolane, his birth in a stable, his quality of a prophet, his bremature wisdom, thu victory he gained over Kammapa by becoming his victim, and the persecutions he suffered, seem to be so many points of resemblance to tbe history of our Saviour. I must add that the natives declare themselves incapable of giving tbe explanation of this extraordinary legend.— The Basulos; or, Twenty three Years it, touth Africa By (be Rev E. Casalis. Traffic in Human Halr.—ln the report of tbe Exhibition of Arts and Sciences at Paris in 1832, a statement of the trade in human hair was given, from which it appeared that the exports of unwrought bair in 1832 amounted to 36,41 2 lb., of the value of £5300; and of wrought or manufactured hair, 30,2221b., of the value of £5.i00. A large portion of the hair exported goes to tbe United States and to Great Britain. We import on the average about sixty tons weight of human hair; the imports in 1859 where 14,905 lb,, officially valued at £5962. A considerable trade, it is well known, iscanied on in bair for tbe manufacture of bracelets, liugs, aod brooches, as ornaments for ladies as well as for artificial braids, coronets, curls, and plaits; whilst there is also a considerable consumption for false beards, moustachios, whiskers, and perukes. As the average weight of the full clip of hair when purchased from the French and Flemish peasant girls is only about five and a hall ounces, the quantity imported annually shows that fully 45,000 heads must have been polled to ' furnish tbe amount. The hair, when it reaches tbe hands of the bairworker or hairdresser, is sorted into lengths of G, 12, 14 inches, &c. It is scoured or cleared from i mpurities with sand and sawdust. About three ounces in the pound are lost ill the processes of cleaning and sorting. The waste hair-clippings of hair cutting rooms is sold as manure, being worth from £3 to £'s per ton.—Wm. Danson, iu tbe Mechanics' Magazine. A Londoner told his friend he was going to "Margate for a change of hair." " You had better," said the other, " go to the wigmaker's." Mme. Rochefoucauld's Maxims.—Women's feelings are more intense than those of men. We are happy or miserable at a ball or at home. A woman hates a question, but loves to ask one.

The female mind is too poetical to be tamely methodical. Who would marry a woman who punctuated her lo»e letters?

Cupid is blind to everything—save pin money. In society compliments ate loans, which the lenders expect to be repaid with heavy interest. Praise a woman's tasie and you may attack her sense with impunity.

Your candid friend has never anything pleasant to say to you. He reminds you of his pet virtue by wounding you with it. If you want to know a woman's true character linger after the guests have gone, and listen to what she has to say about them. A woman wins an old man by listening to him ;and a young man by talking to him. •Snjoy to-day, for to morrow the first gray hair may come. *

Hymen is only Cupid in curl papers. Women confess little faults, that their candor may cover great ones.

There are no reasons which explain love ; but a thousand with explain marriage. Age is venerable in man—and would be in woman—if she ever became old.

Whoa a womrjn, ia flirting

Nomenclature of San Francisco.—Among the names in Langiey's New Dictionary, we find some remarkable contrasts aud parallelisms. Here are a few of them, theybelp to affirm our cosmopolitan character. Mr. Rich and M. Poor, Mr. Cerfe and Mr. Freeman, Mr. Tirce and Mr. Goodman. Mr. Drinkwater and Goodrnm, Messrs. Dores and Gates, Potts and Kittles Quill and Penman, Doolittle and Still, Short and Long,' Port and Sherry, Hooks and Crooks, Great, Little and* Small, Whitehair and Whitehead, Swift and Qn.j c fc Lion and Lamb, Rocks and Hills, Pease and Bieng' Christian and Turk, Pillow and Cushion, Cherry aari Appell, North— but no South, West—but no Cain and Abell, Gold and Silver, Washington 40f j Jefferson, Clay, Calhoun, and Webster, Boswell and Johnson, Brougham and Russell, Cbeereman and Butterwortb, Carpenter and Chipman, Sharp and Shears, Stones and Diamonds, Hardy and Strong, ten Floods and but two Noahs, Barber and Shaver, Sintoa and Goodman, Cox and Hentze, Djy and Knight Parent and Son. Reed and Wright, Storms, Lull and* Haven, Flish, Salmon and Eells, Root and Branch, Frost and Snow, Summer, Spring and Winter, Blu e ' Black and White, Gray, Green, and Brown, Folsom and Flattery streets, and Park, Herons and Swang, Lemon and Peel, Fowlers and Birds, Chase and Hunt] Greef, Graves and Coffins, Brooks, Graves, Banks and Bowers, Hall and Holmes, Britton aud Savage, Lynch aud Low, Rose, Bush, Blossom, Flower and Bloomnr. In ornithology we have Parrott, Peacock, Partridge, Crow, Hawks and Sparrow. In warlike names, there are* Garrison, Armes, Swords, Shields, Flint, Buckler, Spear, Cannon, Gunn and Sbute. Of titles we baye Kiog, Prince, Noble, Duke, Earl, Barron Lord, Laird, Knight, and Squires. Of tbe ecclesiastical order, there area Pope, Bishop, Divine, Abbott. Prior, Monk, Dean, Par-ons, Parrisb, Clark and Sexton, together with Temple, Church, Kiric and Chapelle. We al-obave Mr. Penman, an accountant; Mr. Flagg, a stone-cutier' Mr. Wbitechair, a mattress maker; Mr. Baker, a baker; Mr. Barber, a blacksmith; ar.d Mr. Barge, a searaau, with many such like.-A'. F. Bulletin. Gettino a Wedding Coat.—Among the anecdotes related by Dr. Bushnell in a sermon at Litchfield, illustrative of tbe age of homespun, was this : J One ot the aged divines of that country, still living, was married during the revolution, but under diffil culties. There was an obstacle to the wedding which seemed insurmountable He had no wedding coat nor was wool to be had to make one, and it was iu the dead of winter. Yet all parties were ready and he wag anxious to be married without delay. At last the mother of tbe intended bride discovered the difficulty and promptly had some of her sheep shorn and sewed up in blankets to keep them warm, while of the wool she spun and wove a coat for her intended son-in-law. Farmers Killino their FBiENDs.-Farmers and gardeners will gape and stare when they come to learn the fact that grubs and caterpillars are now doing immense mischief in many places, and especially i a the neighbourhood of Liverpool, all because the fools who cultivate the soil have had nearly all the little birds killed that would have kept them under. And whit will tbe British farmer tbink of himself when he findj that this practice of destroying smalls birds is one which has been imitated from the French, whose Government have been obliged to put a Mop to it iu order to stay the plague ot insects which it has brought upon France? He will surely be ashamed of bims>-l; for having taken a lesson in folly from foreigners who, as he well knows, wear wooden shoe* and are accustomed to eat frogs. Our clod-hoppers labour under a sad mistake in supposing that small birds live chiefly upon fruit and grain, thus consuming large quantities of human food. The grub which they eat most of is not good for man; it is a maggot, and a noxious one, which devours an amount of produce very much exceeding their little pickings. The bushels of corn, currants, raspberries, and cherries which used to be swallowed by them are few in number compared to the bushels of caterpillars which abound in consequence of their destruction. Goldfinches, hedge-sparrows, and other small birds ha»e actually been imported into Australia from this country for the express purpose of consuming a troublesome weed ; for little birds, be it known io Johnny Raw, not only eat worms, but weeds also. The particular weed which they were wanted to check is the thistle, of which nuisance a Scotchman, out of nationality, had sown some seeds at tbe Antipodes, where, consequently, it is overrunning the land. He was an ass, and deserved to reap the crop of what he bad sown, for food, and to eat no other ; but the farmer is as great an ass who tries lo extirpate tbe sparrows, and finches, aod warblers that snap up the blight insects, the cockchafer grub, the slusjs and snails, the wireworm, the green caterpillar, and the daddy-longlegs. A Novel Idea.—The Moniteur de I'Agriculture publishes the following : —ln April last a gentlemen made a novel experiment which produced results altogether unexpected. He planted four potatoes in t?3 of which he inserted a bean, and in each of theotnev" two a pea. The beas and beans flourished well snu gave a good result, and the potatoes were large, not attacked by disease, nor at all discoloured in the stalks. They were alao cxtrermcly productive, as ihe first had fifty-eight tubers, the second thirty, the third twentynine, aud the fourth twenty five. The experiment will pe lepeated this rear on a much larger scale. An ingenious American mechanic has just invented a machine for enabling a man to wash, shave, and d>ess himself, say a hymn, brush his hat, snub his wife, and air his newspaper, without waking himself, and it will call him at any given hour, so that the first thing he will do in the morning will be to find himself at his breakfast table.

The note-book of a reporter gives the following definition of a gentleman, on the authority of an Irish cook :—" A rael gintleman is one that never earned* haporthfor himself or any one belongin' to him.''