ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 812, 14 May 1853, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

We are sorry to have to state that a comma* munication was received in town on Saturday, from Nice, stating that Lord Denraan had been seized with a paralytic attack, and that he was in a very dangerous position. His lordship's eldest son immediately left town to attend upon , his venerable parent. The will of the late Duke -of Wellington is to be proved under the sum £#00,000. It has j at last been decided that the car which conveyed the remains of the late illustrious Com-mander-in-Chief to St. Paul's Cathedral is to be placed in the repository of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, and the pall used upon the" occasion of the funeral in Chelsea Hospital. — United Service Gazette. Anthony Jenkins, a jeweller of St. Louis, together with his whole family, six in number, have been poisoned, in consequence of partaking of food into which a quantity of arsenic had been put. Two mulatto girls, in his employ» are suspected of having committed the crime. One of the daughters is dead. The" others are slowly recovering. The New York Herald says—" Billy Bowleg and suite —comprising six celebrated warriors and chieftains of the Seminole tribe, and a veherable negro interpreter —reached this city on Thursday afternoon, and quartered themselves at the American Hotel. Billy for several years, has been distinguished as one of the first patriots, geherals, diplomatists and philosophers of the age. His dareer in Florida —continuing to reside there despite the efforts of the government to remove him —proves that he possesses each and every one of these qualities. Now, however, it is understood that he has agreed, with his followers, to abandon the home of his childhood, and remove to the western side of the Mississipi, where a home has been provided for them, and where a large portion of the Semmoles have been residing for years. Ole Bull, the Noi'we'gian violinist, has declared his intention, in Philadelphia, of becoming an American citizen. He has established a colony of his countrymen in the interior of Pennsylvania, several hundreds of whom are already engaged in clearing the land, and otherwise striving to make themselves independent. They are a hardy and industrious race. Twelve stacks of hay, the produce of 300 acres of land, near Burton-on-Trent, had been burnt by incendiaries. The loss was nearly £1000." Two men were in custody on suspicion. There were great losses from floods in Southeryfen, Isle of Ely. A B razilianr azilian Railway Station Built in Birmingham.—We have lately had occasion to notice the preference for Birmingham manufactures which eastern potentates are so fond of showing in the decoration of their palaces; but our inspection of a couple of railway stations about to be exported to the capital of Brazil, attests in a very different manner the universality of the demand for the productions of our town. The edifices in question are intended for the Rio Janeiro Railway, and have been constructed by Mr. J. H. Porter, manufacturer of corrugated iron roofs and buildings, at his works in Gas-street. Each is 200 feet in length by 70 feet in width. They are divided into two compartments, one for goods, and the other passengers, and are in every respect complete ; so that if the line is finished by the time they arrive at Rio, travellers may be standing in front of the pigeon-holes, asking for tickets, within 4 or 5 days afterwards. Some improvements have been lately introduced by Mr. Porter, in the construction of such buildings, which go far to prevent the risk of breakage in course of shipment ; amongst these is a new joint, which is at once simple and effective. —Birmingham Journal.

A Dental Curiosity.—-There is at present a servant in a family at the west-end of the town, a girl about 13 years of age, who is in possession of a double row of teeth in the under jaw. The two sets of teeth are beautifully regular, but are not easily noticed unless a hearty laugh happens. The front and inner teeth have each their fellows ; and the possessor, as may be supposed, has good masticating powers, and feels no inconvenience whatever. —Perth Courier. A letter from Stutgard, Wurtemberg, of Nov. 11, says, " A young black woman, from Africa, named Pauline Fatime, who for some years was servant in the house of Baron de Muller, has been charged by the Protestant Missionary Society of Basle to propagate Christiani'y amongst the black women of Egypt. It is said that she is the first negro woman to whom such a mission has been intrusted.'* Irish Evidence. —" Pray, my good man," said a judge to an Irishman, who was a witness on a trial, " what did pass between you and the prisoner ?" " Och, -thin, plase your wor-

ship," says Pat, " Sure I sees Phelim on the top of the wall. Paddy, says he— what ? says I — here, says he— where ? says I — whist! says he — hash ! says I ; — and that is all I know about it, plase'your worship." — Paddy was dis- 1 missed.

Interesting Incident. — Denis Delaney, now in Dublin, served in tbe 51st Regiment as private in India, and bas a pension of 9d. a day for wounds. On tbe nigbt of tbe first attack npon the Sikbs at Ferozesbab, when lying on the ground, two officer* with cloaks on came to tbe apot where be (Delaney) wai. One of them sat down and tbe otber went away. After a abort time tbe officer sitting down asked him (Delaney) if be would let bim rest bis bead npon his body by way of pillow, that he might try to sleep. Delaney willingly assented. After sleeping about an hour, tbe other officer came back, and addressed tbe one who bad been sleeping, calling bim " your Excellency." Delaney then felt sure that it was Lord Harding*, the Go-vernor-General, who bad been sleeping; the other officer, he thinks, was Colonel Bar, who, on returning said, " I have brought your Excellency a small jumbo of water." Lord Hardinge drank some of the water, and then gave tbe pitcher lo Delaney, saying, " Here, my good fellow, I hare made a pillow of your body ; it is only fair that you should have some of the water." The troops were at this time suffering dreadfully from want of water, all tbe wells being in possession of tbe enemy. After some further conversation about a gun which was annoying tbe troops, the two officers went away to another part of the field, and Delaney stw nothing more of them. With refence to tbe above, Denis Delaney was appointed to the constabulary 22 years ago by Colonel Browne, now Commissioner of tbe Dublin Metropolitan Police ; resigning from that establishment, be enlisted in tbe 31st, and saw some serere services in India, and was severely wounded. Calling to see bis old friend, Colonel Browne, be was questioned as to bis services, and in the course of conversation recounted bis having met with Lord Hurdinge at Ferozeshah, as above related. Tbe Colonel communicated with Lord Hardinge, now Master-GeDeral of the Ordnance, recommending Delaney at tbe same time for any bumble situation be might be qualified to fill. A very kind answer was received by the Colonel, stating the anecdote to be true, and that the Secretary of tbe Ordnance had written to the officers of Ordnance in Dublin directing Delaney to be appointed to any small situation which might become vacant, and for which be would be found suited. This little narrative requires no comment.

Canada. — A late Quebec Gazette coutained an important proclamation. It was enacted, in the Railway Act of lasi session, that, if the colonies should fail in obtaining from the Imperial Cabinet the guarantee required io procure English capital lo build the trunk line, the Governor should be at liberty to throw open the enterprise to private capitalists in this province and in the United States, and to advance piovincial bonds fof one-half the amount required for any single line. It seems that our Cabinet have only just decided that the negotiation with Sir John P*kington is a failure, and have concluded that, if the main trunk line is io be built at all, it must be by »ur own efforts ; so the proclamation notifies to the world that the various sections of the road are at tbtrtdjsposal of capitalists. Parties are stirring actively to obtain subscribers to the following branch lines : — Ottawa line, 150 miles ; Cobourg to Peterborough, 30 ; Toronto to Barrie and Lake Huron, 95 ; Toronto to Guelph and Goderich, 130 ; Hamilton to Buffalo, 70 ; Brantford to Buffalo, 72 ; Brantford, Simcoe, and Dover, 33 ; Port Dover to Port Burwell, 45 ; Port Burwell to Ingersoll, 35 ; Port Stanley to London, 27 ; London to Windsor, 120. Some of these lines are actually commenced. The price for wild lands in Lower Canada is to Le reduced to 3s. for the comity of Ottawa, and for the rest of the north of St. Lawrence, except the Saguenay, to Is. 6d. ; south of Quebec, east of the river Chaudiere and the Kenneuec road, Is. 6d.; wtst of the Chaudiere, 25. ; on the south of the St. Lawrence, in ihe diitricts of Three Rivers, §t. Francis, and Montreal, 35. ; in tbs districts of Saguenay and Gaspe, Is. per acre. Not ntore than 200 to be granted to each individual, payable in five yearly instalments, with interest. In certain cases, a higher price will be demanded. In Upper Canada, the pi ice, with some exceptions, is to be fixed at 7s. 6d. for districts west of the counties of Durham and Peterborough, payable in ten years without interest; for all other parts, 4s, in five y«ar» with iu'.erest. To settlers without means, 50 acres will be given on the public roads, on condition of maintaining the frontage. A Gtrman, residing in Paris, a hatter, lost 'bis reason from grief at the death of bis wife, and landed himself made of glass. He was accustomed to tell the people not to approach him too near lest they should break him ; and for the same 'fear he scarcely moved, and could with difficulty -be persuaded to eat. Last week he hanged himself. A letter left on the table stated that he bad voluntarily put an end to his existence to avoid being broken to pieces. Vegetable Gas. — Somebody has discovered the art of extracting gas from vegetables, and we may therefore expect to have our streets ligh ed «itir gr6en peas in summer, potatoes in winter, onions in autumn, and during the remaining seasdn we may look for our illumination to nice spring radishes. If however, green-grocery may be turned into gas, we may look for a tremendous explosion some day among our fritnds the vegetarians. We never knew nntil the present day bow close is tbe analogy between ihe potato and the coal, which ire usually found in tbe same humble sbed, and which, it seems, share in common the same gas-producing qualities. — Punch.

Law os Life Assurance. — An important decision was recently given in a case in which the directors of an assurance office sought to recover a sum of money from a person who had become security for another who had borrowed money from the company under the following circumstances. Knight borrowed £200, insuriug his life at the same time for £600, and giving the personal security of Gant for the repayment of £200. Knight afterwards committed suicide by drowning himself; and the Company brought an action against Gant ior the £200. Gant contended that it was covered by the policy of insurance; but the Company declared it to be void on the ground ■ that the deceased had fraudulently concealed from them the material facts of bia mother and brother having died insane. The

question proposed by the office, on which this was grounded was the following :—": — " If aware of ■ny disorder or circumstance tending to shorten life or to make an assurance more than usually hazardous ?" For answer to thi3 the deceased had wriiien " Don't know of any." The court ruled against this view of the case. The following are amongst the points stated as the grounds of this decision by the Chief Baron and Baron Aldenon. It was not necessary that a man should voluntarily slate the circumstances attending the deaths of his relations. Suppose a man was in the habit of bathing twice a day, and that be Mat not aware that such a practice tended to shorten his life, the non-statement of this fact would not render his policy invalid. A man is not bound to tell an insurance office that he is in the habit of hunting every day duriug the season, although it might break his neck some day. If the proposal does not require any information on gout, it is not necessary that a man should state that 1 bis father and mother were afflicted with that disease. You are bound to communicate lo the office the evidence of any present disorder, but it is not necessaiy to go into circumstances which might possibly tend to shorten life. Cochin China Fowls. — Within the last few weeks a gentleman, near London, has sold a pair for 30 guineas and another for 32 guineas. Jle has been offered £20 for a single hen ; has sold numerous eggs at one guinea each, and has been paid down for chickens just hatched 12 guineas the half dozen, to be delivered at a month old. j One amateur alone has paid down upwards of £100 for stock birds. Cottage Gardener. — In our own neighbourhood, during the past week we happen to know that a cock and two hen» have been sold for 32 guineas. — Bury and Nor- S wick Post.

Wages heightened in consequence of Improvement in Machinery. — It is stated ia a report of the commissioners appointed in 1832 to inquire concerning the employment of wome»i and children in factories, tbat '* in the cotton mill of Messrs. Houldswortb, in Glasgow, a spinner employed od a mule of 336 spindles, and spinning cotton 120 hanks to ihe pound, pioduced in 1523, working 74 \ hours a week, 40 pounds of yarn, his net weekly wages for which imounted to 275. 7d. Ten years later, the rate of wages having in the mean time been reduced 13 per cent, and the time of working having been lessened to 69 hours, the spinner was enabled by the greater perfection of the machinery to produce on a mule of the same number of spiodles, 52£ pounds of yarn of the same fineness, and his net weekly earnings were advanced from 275. 7d. to 295. lOd. Similar results from similar circumstances were experienced in the Manchester factories. The cheapening of the article produced by help of machinery increases the demand for the article ; and there being consequently a need for an increased number of workmen, the elevation of wages follows as a matter of course. Nor is this the only benefit which the working man deiives in the case, for he shares with the community in acquiring a greater command over the necessaries which machinery is concerned in producing." — Extract from a Lecture by Mr. G. R. Porter to the I Wandsworth Literary and Scientific Association.

Walking Sticks. — A walking-stick '•of moderate pretensions, made of ordinary wood, and to be sold at a moderate price, passes through almost as many processes as a needle, and is, to all intents and purposes, a manufactured arScle. Let as look on, while such t stick is being made. First, then, shall it have the baik on or not? Most of the better kinds hare lost their bark, and ours shall accordingly. Only one half-penny is paid for stripping the bark from a branch of the warled crab, which is a favourite wood for sticks ; but has a bark obstinately clinging to tbe side of the branch. The peelers boil the branch for a couple of hours, and the bark then readily yields to any simple instrument. In straighler and smoother branches, the difficulty is less *, and, consequently, the rate of pay ii lower. Then comes the straightening of the stick, and the fashioning of the crook, which so often forms its upper teiniination. The upper end is immersed in hot, damp sand ; it becomes soft and nonelastic, and readily assumes and maintains any curvature which may be given to it. For eveiy kind of wood, there is a temperature and a-damp-ness best fitted for this process ; and thus the stick-maker has to store his memory with a body of practical rules ou the subject. Then, lor tbe straightening, the stick is immersed in hot, dry sand, which gives it a kind of pliability different from that requisite for the crooking ; and by bending and humouring it in a groove in a board, the stick becomes straight and symmetrical. But if our walking-stick contemns this Quaker-like straightness, and has a yearning for tbe knobby and crooked, it comes under tbe operation of tbe rasp and file — unless, indeed, the knobs are such as Nature gave. The external adornment is even more varied than the original form. Many walk-ing-sticks appear in such masquerade costumes, that their brother-branches would not know them again ; they are sand-papered, or emeried, or rotten-stoned, and aie further smoothed with fish-fin or fish-skin ; then they are stained by liquid dies, the chemical composition of which tbe stickmaker probably numbers among his secrets ; and 'astly, they are varnished. Sometimes tbe surface is charred, and the charred portion scraped off here and there, so as to impart a mottled appearance to tbe stick. Sometimes, but more frequently on tbe Continent than in England, lithographic transfers decoiate the surface of the slick. These every-day, steady, looking, thorough-going, middle-class serviceable walking-sticks form tbe mainstay and support of tbe manufacture, like as willow-pattern plates and twopenny cups and saucers are commercially more important to the Staffotdsbire potteries than Parian statuettes or dessert services/ But still tbe more ornate and aristocratic sticks and caves give employment to a large number of work-people : whalebone, tortoise-shell, ram's born, rhinoceros' horn, gutta percha, shark-spine, narwhal-horn, ivorj — these are some only among many substances employed for sticks. The mode of working each kind does not differ materially from that of manufacturing other articles from the same materials ; but there is a curious exception in relation to tertoiseshell : the raspings aud parings of this substance are susceptible of being conglomerated by heat and pressure, and formed into elongated rods for sticks — a capital mode of picking up crumbs, and making them useful. As to the ferules, crooks, handles, and decorative appendages, who shall number them ? Gold, silver* •barn-gold, sham-silver, ivory,

ebony, tortoiseshell, mother o' pparl, agate, nelian, jasper, jade, leather, hair, silk, skin are employed. What offence crooks have \. that they should be out of favour, does not ap bat certain it is that the rectangular hand now in the ascendant : it juts out in stern cision from the vertical stem, and ignores ] arth's theory of the beauty of curved lines, sometimes aspires to stags' beads, and at o descends to siagi' feet ; and not unfrequem make* a Jenny Lind-ish attempt at portrai . So large has this manufacture now become, the principal London maker is said to sel ' nually about oue hundred and fifty thoi walking sticks made of English wood, and hundred and sixty thousand rattans and cane making the more expensive varieties. The lished ash sticks are mostly made at Birrham; where they are sawn and turned by, chine-lathes, previous to the polishing. Tin portalion of walking sticks from abroad i ve»y considerable, as the English makers i to meet all the demand that may arise : tlvlates to the finished sticks and not to the raw ' teria'. There is a nationality even in Wd sticks. Germany makes better whalebone s than England, and is also expert in making ' tic and tough slicks from the almost impene hide of the rhinoceros. Austria excels ir slicks wiih carved ivory bandies ; bu. En, bears the palm for those ornamented with 1 wiie, or gold and silver chasing. Paris ij to have had, in 1847, no less than one hut and sixty-tvo workpeople employed in mj walking sticks and whips ; but as we cannj how many have been added to these numbers} other and similar ttades, so are we likewise out data to settle tbe numerical claims oj walking-sticks. There were, however, I thousand five hundred and fifty -six cwt. ot raj bamboos, and other canes imported into Ft in 1850, and this seems to tell significantly I targe walking-cane manufacture in that coul The little Grand Ducal (if nny thing so I ct.n be grand), State of He>se excel | other countries in the manufacture of picf - walking-sticks, lv neatly transteiriu^ lithogrl patterns to sticks Hesse is unrivalled. Th^. sold largely to England and America, and AH of them are exceedingly elegant ; the pattenfe ar transferred from paper while the ink from th printing, whether coloured or black, is we! and the stick is afterwards varnished. But Ham burg seems to be the walking-stick metropolis Herr Meyer, of that city, is the king of stick, makers. His star of walking-slicks, radiating in all its splendour ia the Zollveiein department of the Great Exhibition, attracted many ar admiring gaze. Very little less than 500 varieties there made their appeal ance ; from tbe ornate and costly, down to the usetul and cheap. Being a free porl for tbe reception of sticks and canes from all parts of the world, and hand-laboui being cheaper theie than in London, Hamburgh drives a large trade in this department of industry. — Dickens's Household Words.