GENERAL ITEMS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5384, 29 June 1878, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL ITEMS.

“Atlas,” in the World, writingunderdate April 24th says ;—The first steel vessel of war iu her Majesty’s Navy has just been launched, and I understand the Coraus is merely the precursor of many similar ships. Some time back Sir Joseph Whitworth, tho greatest machinist of the day, gave it as his opinion that ironclad ships had reached the point of absurdity under their enormous panoply of armour, which threatened to bury them, just as the knights of old were stifled by the weight of their armour, and that we were bound to return to first principles by building steel ships of amazing lightness and speed, carrying' one or two guns of immense power. His prediction is now likely to be fulfilled, and that not a day too soon.' " Can any one tell me what a lawyer should get who obtains an unexpected five millions, for a by no means prosperous family, without pilfering anybody ? If I can obtain that information, I shall be able to say at once what Mr. Isaac Butt should be worth. He has just succeeded in convincing the Indian authorities that the five millions left by the intestate opium trader named O'Keeffe, who died at Allahabad two years ago, belong to one of his own, Mr. Butt’s, constituents and Ilia four brothers. The Limerick architect,who has been named in the papers, and who was one of two hundred applicants for tho windfall, laid his claim before Mr. Butt. Mr. Butt advised in lu's favor ; undertook, as counsel, the management of the case ; and, as a result, was able to communicate to his constituent that £500,000 was ready for delivery. If there is gratitude in a Limerick man, the senior member for Limerick should himself be almost a millionaire.

We notice iu tho last number of the Westminister Papers, the record of the death of John Cochrane, an old and much respected ornament of the Cheasworld, who died on the second of March last, at the good old age of 87. We also note that Mr. Blackburne had given another of his wonderful blindfold performances, against eight of the strongest players of the Metropolitan Chess Clubs, Seven of these players he defeated, and made a draw with the eighth ; and at the conclusion of tho paragraph that gives us this news we are told : “He has now in a short space of time given six pertormances, consisting of fifty-one blindfold games. Of these he has won thirty-seven, drawn twelve, and lost only two.” Truly this is marvellous. A genuine automaton has at last, it appears, been constructed, by name Monsieur Mephisto, who will make his first public debut at the Paris Exhibition. We shall look with interest to the performances of this wonderful gentleman, but for tho present refrain from remarks as it our intention to refer to the subject again. Health and Talent. —lt is no exaggeration to say that health is a large ingredient iu what the world calls talent. A man without it may be a giant in intellect, but his deeds will he the deeds of a dwarf. On the contrary, let him have a quick circulation, a good digestion, the bulk, thews, and sinews of a man, and he will set failure at defiance. A man has good reason to think himself well off in the lottery of life if be draws tho prize of a healthy stomach without a mind, rather than the prize of a fine intellect with a crazy stomach. But, of tlie two, a weak mind in a Herculean frame is bettor than a giant mind with a crazy constitution. A pound of energy with an ounce of talent will achieve greater results than a pound of talent with an ounce of energy. Some Journal.

Diphtheria. —A lady correspondent writes to the Sydney Mailoi the Sth inst. as follows; —This frightful disease taking so many loved ones from our midst, I consider it the duty of all to lend their aid to stop its ravages. I had two children brought to death's door with it, and also had a slight attack myself. I tried the far-famed sulphur, but, after almost suffocating my children, derived not the slightest benefit from it. As a last resource tho doctor advised the use of Dr. Liegle’s spray inhaler and sulphurous acid. Any chemist can explain how they aie used. The small bottle was filled with sulphurous acid, and sprayed down the throat every four hours, day and night. This saved them, one being at tho last extreme, and I firmly believe, if persevered in, it would cure any case of diphtheria or bad throat. I may mention I kept up the strength of the patients with teaspoons full of brandy or beet-tea continually. I have no hesitation iu asserting the above as an unfailing remedy. Pretty Parsers. —A cox-respondent of a New York paper writes from Bombay ; —A day or two after my arrival I accepted an invitation to attend the exhibition exercises at a Parsee school aud witness the distribution of prizes. "The visitors were Parsees, Hindoos, aud a few Europeans ; the pupils were girls, some fifty or more, of ages varying from 8 to 12 years. All were bright-eyed and intelligent, and nearly all were as pretty as pinks—browuhued pinks, I may say, as the most of the complexions had a brunette tinge. Ido not remember ever to have seen a more pleasing lot of juvenile faces than on that occasion, and all through the exorcises I continued to admire the galaxy of budding beauties. Each head was covered with a gold-embroidered cap, and the rest of the costume was quite Oriental—loose trowsers, with, a white or embroidered frock. As the exercises were entirely in Guzerat, the language of the Parsees, I cannot say much about the sentiments expressed. Tho recitations and songs were delivered iu a manner worthy of any school in America or England, aud with a coolness and self-possession highly commendable to the tiny ladies that gave them. As each little miss—l don’t know the Parsee name for miss—came forward to receive her prize, she bowed gracefully and marched off to her seat with all the dignity of a princess. And we call these people ignorant heathen.