CHOICE EXTRACTS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 239, 27 January 1877, Page 2

CHOICE EXTRACTS.

THE PARS >NS A\D THE REPORTERS.

The practice of the New York journals of reporting the Sunday sermons of the various preachers seems, in one case, to have led to some amusing consequences. The Tribune reports a trial of a Rev. C. C. Sminyth, minister and pastor of the Elevi-nt!i-street United Presbyterian Church, before f.e Fii'dt United Presbyterian Church Presbytery of New Y<> k, t'.ie Rev. Dr. Finlay, moderator. Tae rev. gentleman was charged with having, after his sermon on a previous Sunday, colL cted t!:e six reporters who were t!ier., and asked tl»em to drink. Tlie charge, after stating fat he took the reporters to a refreshment house, went on to say: " Fourth, that beefsteak and oysters having been ordered, lie turned to the reporters and asked them what they would drink ; fifth, that orders having been given, he himself requested the barkeeper to bring him some of the same ; sixth, that this turned out to be gin and milk, of the forr. er of which liquids he took five fingers ; seventh, that he swallowed the dose witli evident relish ; eighth, that the viands having been dispos.d of, all rose to leave, and Mr. Smyth turned to the barkeper carelessly requesting him to ' hang that up.' " The prosecution think t'::at the facts mentioned in the foregoing allegations involve a breach of the Fourth Commandment as ordained by Ex >dus 20, v. 8 to 11, and that if they prove to be true Mr. Smyth ought to be censured. It is sad to record that for this laudable hospitality to a deserving class, Mr. Smyth was vislt.d with the censure of the Presbytery. * DARING ATTEMPT TO BLOW UP A TRAIN. Another instance of the use of dynamite for the purposes of plunder has occurred on the Pennsylvania Railway. The passenger.* on a train between Philadelphia and New York were alarmsd by

an explosion in the baggage waggon, the I contents of which were scattered in all i

directions. An examination showed that one of the injured boxes contained an extraordinary machine. "It consisted of the bras 3 works of a clock, occupying a space about six inches in length and four in width. Tiie woodwork of the clock had been sawn off, and the miniite-!:and taken from t'.ie face. A small pistol, loaded with a metallic cartridge, was firmly screwed on the top of the c'.ock frame, and the trigger-catch filed down until it barely held. Tiie muzzle extended over the back of the at an acute angle with the face, leaving the bottom of the trigger opposite the centre of the dial over the figure XIL A wooden button, such as is used on doors, was screwed to the woodwork in such a position that one end touched the trigger, and the other was in the course of the hour hand when it reached XII. on the dial. The clock and pistol were placed in a pasteboard box, and this embedded in a mass of hay and shavings in a Saratoga trunk. It is thought from the fragments of glass found in the hay thr.t the explosives were contained in gl.iss bottles." W.iether it was intended to wreck the train ortoil/uu dainag s for injury don J to baggage, is not known, the occurrence shows thai die dangerous classes ai'J fully aware of r-he properties of dyn unite.