MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 382, 31 March 1849, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

Death of Thomas Gray, the Railway " Pioneer."'— During the last week Thomas Gray, whose friends claim for him the titles of " author of the railway system" and the railway " pioneer," died at Exeter, in the sixty-first year of his age. Though not an engineer, he was contemporary with the late George Slephenson. His name was brought into note by the publication, in 1820, of a work entitled ' Observations on a General Iron Railway ; or, Land Steam Conveyance to supersede the necessity of Horses in the Public Vehicles, showing its vast superiority in every respect over all the present pitiful methods of conveyance by Turnpike roads, Canals, and Coasting traders.' At the time Mr. Gray's book was written, all that was known of railways was as they then existed in the rude tramways at Newcastle and its collieries, and considerably before the construction of those eailiest of our railways, the Stockton and Darlington, and Liverpool and Manchester. The gist of Mr. Gray's suggestion was to carry out a comprehensive Tailway at one stride over the whole United Kingdom — in fact, to make a simultaneous system to all the principal towns, instead of making the work a labour of section and degree. The progress of the railway system, however, proved that this was impracticable in many, but more especially in monetary, points of view — and the suggestion, from its very comprehensiveness, perished. In 1825 Mr. Gray petitioned Parliament and Sir R. Peel, but received no encouragement. Latterly he was reduced to poverty, and sold glass on commission. Appeals were made to the railway world on his behalf, but they met with no response, and it is said that he died broken hearted. — Morning Paper.

A Scene not mentioned in the Bill. — Not many years since at a city in the Eastern States, a large audience was collected in the theatre. The performance had reached the crisis where the dreadful villian of the play is about to be shot — the fatal pistol was even pointed at the victim, the house was wrought up to the intensest excitement, and all was still as death. At this breathless period, a highly respectable citizen in the stagebox arose, and addressing the hero of the pistol, while his wife sat by his side, her cheeks ashy-pale, a thumb thrust into each ear— he said, — " Mr. Duffy— Mr. DuffyMr. Duffy, don't shoot that villain yet ! My wife's afraid of a gun ! Wait till we retire from the theatre !" The effect of this interruption may be imagined — the wheels of the drama were stopped, and as the timid lady was banded out of the box by her anxious husband, the sensation of all, actors and audience, were expressed by such hearty peals of laughter as were never before heard within the walls of the theatre. — American Paper.

How they build in New York. — There was once a gentleman who, having moved into a house in Hudson Street, tilted his chair backward against the front wall after dinner, as all Americans do, to enjoy his cigar. The dining-room was on the second floor. The wall gave way behind him, and he was spilled into the street. He was an alderman, and, luckily, pitched upon his head — or, perhaps, he migltt have been hurt. He had a two hours' headache as it was. When he sought damages in the Court of Common Pleas he was nonsuited, on the ground that, living in a house in New York, he must have been aware of the peril, — and was not entitled to compensation for harm of his wilful or careless seeking. A washer-woman in Canal Street, going to drive a nail into the brick wall of the | next house, thereto to attach her clothes-line, '< struck the iron through into the skull of the tenant, who happened to be taking his afternoon nap in the posture of the sufferer of the preceding story, and killed him as dead as Sisera. — Boston Herald. i

" Melancholy Accidents."—An American paper says that an old bachelor who edits a paper somewhere in the western county puts " Melancholy Accidents" as a head for marriages in his paper.

Walking.—Of all kinds of exercise, walking is that which is the most universally attainable, and at the same time the best. Calling so many muscles into action, and especially those of the lower extremities, of which the circulation is apt to be moie languidly and imperfectly performed, from the degree of resistance presented by the foice of gravity to the return of blood to the heart—calling, moreover, so much of the moving apparatus of the body into reciprocal and balanced action, flexor and extensor muscles being correspondingly exercised—walking is undoubtedly the best of all exercises for the purposes of health, independently of its secondary, and by no means little useful effect, of carrying the respiratory organs into the freer and purer air, and exposing the system to the extraordinary and (at least in the colder and temperate countries of the earth) the healthful influence of the direct rays of the sun. The degree of the exercise must of course vary with the age, condition, and habits of the individual : but the degree of exercise that is in most cases serviceable is generally much underrated. Two miles a day is the minimum distance which a person of moderate health and strength ought to walk. If the powers of the system increase, or are stronger to begin with, the minimum ought to be four miles. The object should be, in most cases, to walk the four miles in an hour; and the invalid, beginning, perhaps, by walking a mile, or a mile and a half, in an hour, might gradually increase his rate of walking until he had Accomplished this end. Quick walking calls more muscles into action than slow walking does, and is therefore better. The muscles of the back and trunk, njck and arms, are comparatively very little used in slow walking. A person can hardly walk quickly without using them to a very considerable degree. It is a maxim so sound and important, as to deserve frequent repetition, that the greater number of the muscles used, the more advantageous will be the exercise. —Robertson on Diet and Regimen.

Rain in Rome. — A Roman torrent is a very different thing from an English shower. You put up your umbrella ; it is laid flat on your head in an instant. The flimsy Parisian article is viewed with contempt by the Italian people. The native carries (when apprehensive of rain, which may continue three days without cessation) a ponderous machine, which, when opened out, resembles a little tent suspended in the air, under which he walks securely. The construction of the Italian umbrella is simple enough, — a mass of oiled calico is attached to a stout pole ; and this, when spread, resists the torrent wonderfully. In a short time the spouts begin to play, the jets d'eau of modern Rome. I think these spouts have been dexterously contrived to aid in washing the streets, a process the natives would perish rather than undertake. 1 hese ducts are about two feet long, and project from the roofs of the houses ; through such spouts the water is made to spin into the middle of the street with admirable effect, for no deposit can withstand its power. But while the twofold deluge from the houses and the heavens may be so useful in dispensing with the labour of scavengers, it increases the discomfort of the passenger ; he must keep close to the eaves of the houses, and get under cover as speedily as he ean — then he listens to the play of the waters with an almost inconceivable degree of pleasure. — Whiteside's Italy.

The Apache Indians. — '* The yard in which we were here quartered, had some years before been the scene of a massacre. The Governor induced twenty of the chiefs of the Apache Indians to enter it, when they were murdered by soldiers who had been concealed in the buildings. Tne governor paid the penalty of his treacherous conduct : as he gave

the order ' maten a los carahos !' (kill the scoundrels !) a chief sprang forward, and stabbing him, cried out 'Entonces moriras tuprimero, Carajo /' (then you shall die first, Carajo !) These Indian warriors died bravely, after killing several Mexicans. This tribe is the most powerful of all the Mexican Indians. It inhabits the range of mountains called the Sierra dcs Mimbres, which separates the State of Sonora from those of El Paso and Chihuahua — and on each side of this range is its extensive foraging ground ; the country further south being under the control of the Camanches. Ido not think the Apache Indians are naturally brave : but having been long unopposed, they have become bold ; so much so as to visit large cities amicably, and otherwise in small parties. The fact is, they so heartily despise the Mexicans that they say they would kill them all, were it not that they serve as herdsmen to them — meaning this, that they themselves neither hunt nor plant, and being of roving habits, they do not overburden themselves with cattle, preferring to descend from their mountain fastnesses and help themselves out of the first Mexican herd they come across — first killing the herdsmen, if possible. The latter have an instinctive dread of these Indians. The word Apache is enough to make a Mexican herdsman tremble, although ha goes armed with a sabre, carbine and lance, and is always mounted. One thing which has principally served to make this tribe powerful, is the fact of one State frequently arming it against another. Some tribes of these Indians live entirely on mule and horse flesh, whilst others eat the prairie wolf, but there is no doubt they prefer fat cows and'steers, frequently running off with several thousand bead at a time. If a quarrel arises on the foray about the ownership of an animal, they kill the creature, leaving it where it falls, and, of course, the dispute with it. Their track can be traced by this frequent mark of a quarrel. The government of Chihuahua at one time set a price on every Apache scalp ; it was I believe, one hundred dollars for a man, fifty dollars for a squaw, and twenty-five dollars for a papoose. This plan was afterwards abandoned ; and an Irishman, named James Kirker, was hired, at a high salary, to attempt the extermination of the tribe. This was rather an extensive operation, as they numbered about fifteen thousand. However, he, with a band of Americans and Mexicans, soon made the Apaches fear him. The Mexicans look upon him as almost superhuman ; but I have heard from credible authority, that his bravery is rather lukewarm, and that his victories have always been achieved through cunning. He has never risked a fight, unless when his own party has greatly outnumbered the Indians, or when he could catch them asleep — and even then he himself prudently keeps in the back ground. He joined us the morning after the fight at Bracito, having given up hunting the Indians, in consequence of the government having forgotten to pay him." — Edwards's Campaign in New Mexico. " A poor Spaniard came to the colonel and complained that a soldier, standing by, had stolen his pig. The commander turneJ to the man and asked him whether it was true ? The soldier replied 'Yes ;' adding also, * and pray, colonel, what are you going to do about it?' This blunt mode of response, mixed with question, rather puzzled Colonel Doniphan, who, after some hesitation, said, * Well ! I don't know, unless I come and help you to eat it.' lam sadly afraid the complaining party get no redress." — Ibid.