MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 513, 3 July 1850, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

- Exhibition of the Industry op all Nations. — Yesterday a very numerous meeting of the City of London Committee for promoting the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations was held in the long parlour of -the Mansion-house. The most lively anxiety in favour of the object prevailed. Several gentlemen addressed the meeting and spoke in the most enthusiastic terms of the object, applauding the generosity of the idea of extending the class of exhibitors to all the world. Many questions were asked as to the nature of the articles to to be exhibited — whether they were all to be mauufactured or whether raw products and natural productions, articles of elegance and luxury or articles only of utility — whether manufacturers or wholesale houses were to be each class exhibitors, or whether manufacturers alone were to have the privilege — whether the building to be erected would be sufficiently capacious for home and colonial and foreign exhibitors. Most of these questions were satisfactorily answered by Sir James Duke and Mr. F. M. Forster, and by the honorary secre- I taries, the Rev. S. R. Cattley and Mr. D. j W. Wire ; after which two resolutions were { adopted, appointing persons to canvass, and authorising the sub-committee to apply from time to time to the Royal commissioners for information as to plans determined upon, so that the public may be fully instructed upon all the points necessary for the guidance of the exhibitors. Some gentlemen connected with the American trade gave qvery reasonable assurance that the project would be hailed in the United States with great delight, and said that large subscriptions from that country might be expected. A sum of £1,000 was announced in the room, including £500 from the East India Company. Amongst the company were Alderman Humphi ey, M.P., Alderman Salomons, the Baron Rothschild, M.P., Sir James Duke, Bart., M.P., Alderman Musgrove, Mr. F. M. Forster, M.P., Mr. W. Tite, and a I numerous attendance of some of the leading merchants and other gentlemen connected with the City of London, — Times, Feb.

Borneo. — A daily paper states that the Peace Society and the Aborigines' Prptection Society intend to take up the subject of S|r James Brooke* recent exploits in the Eastern , Archipelago. A public meeting is to be held in the city of London, just before the opening of Parliament, where not only the, Borneo massacre, but the whole system of head moneys as now practised by the Government of this country, will be brought under review. — Observer, 14th Jan.

Burning of the Ship "Ganget," at Poplar. — Between nine* and ten o'clock on Saturday morning, January sth, information was received at the various brigade engine stations that a destructive fire- had broken out amongst the shipping in Messrs. Soames' dock, at Poplar. Foggo, the chief officer of the London Brigade, started to the scene with several engines, where the firemen found the, splendid ship Ganges, npwards of 800 tons burthen, advertised to sail for China on the 4th February, had taken fire, and that a serious amount of property had been consumed. It appears that the, ship carpenters working in the yard perceived dense bodies of smoke pouring from the hatchways, and upon en-

f tering the ship they found the main cthin in t flames. They instantly gave an alarm, but r before assistance could be obtained. the fire f was rushing from the various openings on the i deck, and mounting the mjzen mast with sucli ■ impetuosity that the entire destruction of the ; vessel appeared inevitable. The engines ol i the West India Company and others were got to work, but in spite of the most strenuous exertions some hours elapsed ere the , flames could be conquered. The fire so weakened the mizen mast that fears were entertained lest it should fall and kill some of ( the persons who were engaged in extinguishing the fire, and also pull the other masts . over. One of the men, therefore, mounted the next mast for the purpose of cutting away the tackle which held the two together. In doing so he nearly lost his life, for the instant he severed the ropes the mizen mast fell with a tremendous crash over the dock gates into the river, at .the same time the man was swung round with such violence that had he not have held on by an iron ring he must have been dashed to, pieces. The whole of the bedding, furniture, fire arms, &c, in the main cabin have been consumed, and the ship so severely burned that it will take some thousand pounds to repair her. She is reported to be insured. — Atlas.

Inundation and Loss of Life. — The overflow of the Oder at Gohran, in Silesia, has occasioned great damage, seven villages having been entirely inundated, several gentlemen's mansions swept away, and great loss of life caused. So high, indeed has been the rise of the waters, that at the departure of the latest .intelligence, one village was on the point of being entirely submerged, together with the greater portion of the inhabitants, who bad taken refuge in the church, which had been so rapidly surrounded by tbe water and ice that the unfortunate people who had repaired to it for safety were compelled to be be left to their fate, the only hope left being that the sacred structure would resist the force of the inundation. — Deutche Reform.

Death of the Sovereign op the Gipsies. — Hannah Boss, of Boswell, sovereign of the gipsies, died in Lincoln Union house, on Sunday week, at the advanced age of 99. She entered the Union five years *go, being, through age and infirmitiy, no longer able to accompany the well-known tribe in their wanderings. The old lady has been connected with the Bosweil tribe from her birth.

The Indians — their Enemies. — We had hoped to hear no more of Indian butcheries in California. With the calendar of bloody deeds which last year closed, it was our earnest wish that this species of iniquity had blotted the page of our history for a long, last time. That the murderous tomahawk had been buried, and the terrible rifle of the mountaineer laid aside ; Hut our hopes have proved fallacious. In another part of the paper we publish a communication from a friend residing at Sonoma detailing particulars of the recent outrage committed by a party of white miscreants in that neighbourhood. The victims upon whom the sins of criminals of their own colour have been visited, were, as is usually the case,, innocent of offence, and by their uniform quiet demeanor have thoroughly established a name throughout the portion of California inhabited by them, for tractability and usefulness. They were the Indian employes of the several settlers in Sonoma and Nappa Valleys and for many years they have maintained' a relationship of perfect amity with the whites. Definitely cnncerning the nature of their alleged evil doing, our correspondent does not speak ; but we can readily imagine why the chivalrous " hounds" of the red woods have concentrated and commenced ! indiscriminate . daughter of* the Indians. Early last spring similar difficulties disturbed the tranquillity of the miners on the American river, and the grounds of complaint against the Indians were sufficiently strong to arouse the whole mining population to arms and unite them in the work of extermination. The ladians committed several brutal murders, but they sought savage redress for .outrages committed by the whites. The desperadoes of our people who went among the > Indians, to communicate with them through the muzzles of their rifles brought down the deadly vengeance of the various tribes around them, and the consequence was the shedding, of much innocent blood. The Indians were mercilessly hunted down, and order finally*restored by the expulsion of the Indians from/the grounds occupied by the miners. The cause of the recent aggressions in the Sonoma valley on the part of the whites is said to be the murder of white men by the Indians last fall, and for which, it would appear, the slaughter of whale tribes has not sufficiently atoned, We hope and trust the United States troops in California will prevent further violence, while the arm of the civil law will ferret out the perpetrators of these infamous crimes, and bring them to condign punishment. — Daily Alta California, March 11.

i -jFather .M&tfefti l—The' notorious religij«as .fanatic," generally knoWn as " Father Miller," who 'predicted the destruction of the world, and the secotid comrflg of Christ in the year 1843, X building up a sect of some 40,000 disciples, died at New York on the 20th December, at the age of sixty-eight,—Atlas.

Student Life in Paris.—Some excitement was evinced in the Rue de la Harpe early on Saturday morning by pieces of furniture, crockery, sheet*, blanket!, &c, being thrown from a window on the fifth story. On going to the room the landlord found lying on the floor, and bawling'lustily, a young man fastened in a sheet. It appeared that fie was a student, and bad not paid for bis furniture, and that the upholsterer threatened to take it away. This greatly exasperated bis mistress, a grisette, who resolved to be revenged on the upholsterer : and accordingly she sowed her lover tightly in a sheet, while asleep, and then set to work to smash the furniture and throw it out of the window.—Atlas.

The Warrior Wasp of the Isie op France. — It is carious that in the Isle of France the common bee is not to be found as : a native of the woods, while, in the Isle of Bourbon, it is very common, and furnishes an abundance of wax and honey. This is explained by supposing that the warriors of whom we are about to speak destroy the bees, and have thus prevented their multiplying in the island in question. Truly, like the banditti of whom we read in books, these wasps are splendidly attired, although not in the spoils of those they have robbed. Their head, chest, and body, is of a- resplendent lustre ; now green, or seen in another position, blue, and glistening with all the lustre of an exquisite varnish ; their antennae are black, their eyes of a brownish yellow, and their legs partly bronze-coloured, and partly of a beautiful violet. They are strong and swift of wing, and are possessed of a terrible lance, the thrusts of which even men cannot endure without far more pain and inflammation than attends an ordinary sting. The foe with whom these magnificently-dressed warriors have to contend, is a kind of insect allied to the cockroach, which, in our kitchens, has acquired the incorrect title of the "black beetle." This insect is detested by the inhabitants of the island, for its ravages upon almost everything of value or delicacy, and is not less hated by the sailor for its destructiveness on ship-board. It is called Kakerlac, and is much larger than the cockroaches, which are the plague and terror of our cooks. Imagine that one of these great and odious insects is marching along the highway. The warrior wasp has also been 1 making his expeditions for prey abroad, when suddenly his eager eye catches sight of the kakerlac, hastening to some new scene of depredation. The warrior instantly alights, and the kakerlac stops, thinking perhaps to intimidate its adversary by its size and ferocious aspect. Both insects glare at one another. The wasp is the first to attack, and darts upon the other, seizing him by the muzzle with its strong jaws, then bending its body so as to bring its tail under the abdomen of the kakerlac, the lance with its charge of poison is deep- plunged into the body of the unhappy foe, imbuing a deadly venom into its system. Having made this thrust,, the warrior looses the foe, and soars in triumph a little way into the air, satisfied of a successful issue. The wretched kakerlac, after « few brief convulsions, lies paralyzed on the ground, unable to stir a step- from the spot where it encountered its terrible adversary. Fully aware of this, the victorious wasp, after taking 0 few turns as if to proclaim the downfall of the giant kakerlac to the surrounding neighbourhood, returns to the scene where the conflict was fought.. The kakerlac, unable to resist the victor, and being naturally, though a great devourer, a very faint-hearted creature, lies immoveable, while the wasp seizes the prostrate foe by the head, and in a sort of triumphal march drags it along jthe road to its nest. — The Life of an Insect, , :

Dr. Abercrombie on the bess Training for Young Physicians. — We remember hearing a" young doctor relate how, on one occasion when a student, be met with the late Dr. Abercrombie, when visiting a man who was labouring under what was considered malignant disease of the stomach. He was present when that excellent man first saw the patient along with his regular attendant. The doctor sauntered into the room in his odd, indifferent way, which many must recollect ; scrutinised ail the curiosities on the mantelpiece ; and then, as if by chance, found himself at his patient's bedside; but when there his eyes settled upon him intensely ; his whole mind was busily at work. „ He asked a few plain questions ; spoke with great kindness, but very briefly ; and coming back to consult, he said to the astonishment of the surgeon and the young student, ' the mischief is all in the brain ; the stomach is merely affected through it ; the case will do no good ; he will get

blind, and convulsed and die.' He tbin ii bis considerate^ simple way, went over wha migbt be done to palliate suffering and pfrfa long life. He was right. The man died- a he said, and on examining tbe' btttin wa found softened and tbe stomach sound. Th< young student who was intimate with Dr Abercrombie, ventured to ask him what i was in the look of the man that made bin know at once. ' I can't tell you, I can hardlj tell myself ; but I rest with confidence upoi the exactness and honesty of my pait observations ; I remember the result, and actupoi it ; but I can't put you, or without infinit) trouble, myself, in possession bfall the steps. 1 ' But would it not be a great saving if yot could tell others?' said the young doctor 'It would be no such thing ; it would be th< worst thing that could happen to you ; yoi would-not know bow to use it. You must follow in tbe same road, and you will get aa far and much farther. You must miss often before you hit. You can't tell a man how to hit ; you may tell him what to aim at.' ' Waa it something in the eye ? said his inveterate querist. ' Perhaps it r/as,' be said goodnaturedly ; ' but don't you go" and blister every man's occupul whose eyas are, as you think, like his.' — North British Review. Mansfield's Ready Wit. — Macklin, against whom he might be supposed to en-1 tertain some spite for libelling bis countrymen] under the names of Sir Archy Macsarcasra and Sir Pertinax Macsycophant, recovered a verdict with £700 damages, in an action tried in the King's Bench, for a conspiracy to hiss him off tbe stage. After the verdict was pronounced, the magnanimous player said, j " My Lord, my only object was to vindicate, i before the public, my character and the rights of my profession ; and having done so, I waive the damages awarded to me." Lord Mansfield — " Mr. Macklin, I have many times witnessed your performance with great delight ; but, in my opinion, you never acted so finely as in the last scene of this piece." Trying an action which arose from the collision of two ships at sea, a sailor, who gave an account of the accident, said, "At the time I was standing abaft the binnacle." Lord Mansfield asked, "Where is abaft the binnacle ?" upon which the witness, who had taken a large share of grog before coming into court, exclaimed, loud enough to be heard by all present, "A pretty fellow to be a judge, who does not know where abaft the binnacle is." Lord Mansfield, instead of threatening to commit him for his contempt, said, "Well, ray friend, fit me for my office by telling me where abaft the binnacle is ; you have already shown me the meaning of half-seas-over." Lord Chief Baron Parker, in his 87th year, having observed to Lord Mansfield in his 78tl», " Your lordship and mysett are now at sevens and eights." The younger chief replied, " Would you have us be all our lives at sixes and sevens ? — but let us talk of young ladies, and not of old age." After Parker had resigned, he continued to enjoy vigorous health; while Sir Sydney Stafford Smith, who succeeded him, was often prevented by infirmity from attending in Court ; upon which Lord Mansfield observed, " Ihe new Chief Baron should resign in favour of his I predecessor." There was only one man at the bar to whom Lord Mansfield did not behave with perfect courtesy ; and tbe temptation to quiz him was almost irresistible. This was Sergeant Hill, a very deep black-letter lawyer, quite ignoraut of the world, and so incapable of applying his learning that he acquired the nickname of Sergeant Labyrinth. In an argument which turned entirely on the meaning of an illiterate old woman's will, he cited innumerable cases from the Year-books downwards, till Lord Mansfield at last asked, "Do you think, brother Hill, that though these cases may occupy the attention of an old woman, this old woman ever read them ; or that any old woman can understand them ?" — Campbells Lives of the Chief Justices.