SPORTING.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 7062, 7 February 1893, Page 1

SPORTING.

ASHBURTON STAKES. (By Telegraph.) ASHBURTON, Fbb, 6. The following thirteen hate made the second payment for the Ashbttbton Stakes, of 2 bo vs each, with Bovs added ; 5 furlong?. - Mr Randell’s Persuasion; 2yrs j&Kk. Mr Brown’s Warrington, 3yrs Mr Brown’s Errington, 2yrs Mr Alexander’s Bosehill, 'iffiEHHß Mr Alexander’s hr f by Cable, 2yrs Captain Mr which B^^^^^HH^^H^^^H^epiring They e followhear cashed the fined by a hampton for The e sugar aaser. that everybody knows enterprising jeasures in Wolver- i so that there has j to be no ia Queensland! are backblocks problem by termed “ Salvation of these received their hands of Major Peart i provided with saddles i small tent 6ft by Bft, pair i lamp, bobbles and oilcapes, leggings, riding i felt hats, water bag, saddle clothing, and cornet. Their the red jacket, closely ‘of the Queensland Mounted main business is* “to carry j of salvation into the back : they are expected as far as their own expenses and pay j^^^^Hway. HBHfshock was given to several resident Melbourne by an extraordinary HHHy made recently at the residence of 1 HBBr Illingworth, 81 Hotham street. HHfghter of Mr Illingworth, happening to 1 Bo the front entrance, perceived a bundle lying on the door mat. It proved be a shawl, containing the dead body of a male infant two or three months old. The body was fully clothed. The clothing was clean, as was the body, but it was quite cold, life having been extinct for some hours. The child would seem to have died of starvation, so very emaciated was the body. Pinned to the shawl was a piece of paper on which was written in lead pencil:— “Please bury my dear baby, as I cannot myself. I hope 1 will soon follow him. God bless him and yon.” Charged with uneonndness of some kind in the matter of doctrine, Professor Briggs, a Presbyterian minister of New York, has (says the Daily News) addressed to the presbytery of his church a letter, in which the following alarming passage occurs:— “ Have you considered what will be required of you if you consent to this pro- | nasal of the prosecution? It will be necessary for you to employ a reader to read to you oil the contents of the standards of the ch urch, all of fcho Holy Scripture, the entire inaugural address, and all of my writings referred ?■» therein. You are required by law to have ail the proposed evidence before you.” The Eew York Nation is of opinion that if this Accurately describes the position of affairs the threatened prosecution is likely to be dropped. The present year (1892) says a correspondent of Notes and Queries, sees, amongst other centenaries, the centenary of gaslighting. A hundred years ago William Murdoch “illuminated bis home with gas made in an iron kettle, and burnt at the end of an iron tube ”; and Professor Lawes, lecturing before a technical audience, follows custom, and refers to Mr Murdoch as the inventor of gas-lighting. For practical purposes perhaps he was, but another inventor had been beforehand with him all the same. This was Archibald, ninth Earl of Dundonald, an eccentric genius, who was bent just at that time upon the manufacture of coal tar on a large scale. To this end he had constructed on a property in Scotland, which ho could still call his own, a sort of rude retort, in which some hundreds of tons of coal were treated lor the production of the—to him—allimportant reiiduum. Tha “ vapour ” arising from this combustion was got rid of through an iron pipe. Accidentally the “vapour” became ignited and illuminated the whole country round about. The earl thought this was “ curious ” but, intent upon bis tar, that, was all he thought about the ' phenomenon-. This inventor had actually > jutenfcod without knowing it.

A tiny kind of shark is a noted light-giver. Specimens captured and taken into a dark apartment present an extraordinary spectacle. The entire surface of the bead and body emits a greenish gleam that is constant, and ia not, as in the ease of most of these luminous inhabitants of the sea, increased by friction and agitation. The smallness of the fins of this fish show that it is not an active swimmer, and the assumption is that its light is useful in attracting its prey, on the principle of the torches used by many savage in fishing. An experiment of considerable importance in the direction of economy has been ordered by the Victorian Railway Commissions in connection with the renovation of carriage floor carpets. An American solution for the restoration of faded or dirty carpets has been brought under the notice of the commit* Burners, and the result of an illustration I made to show the use of the preparation i wore bo satisfactory that they decided to give the article a trial. A carriage floor rug, much worn in the middle, and so filthy.dirty that it bad become unfit for use, was treated with the solution-with the result that the dirt was removed, end the colours restored, till the rug appeared almost as aright and fresh ss if new. It it, claimed for the solution that it does not injure the material, while restoring its fresh colours. The provision of floor- rugs for the railway carriages means a serious item of outlay, and the use of a preparation which would make the carpels last a year or two longer would be a most desirable piece of economy. The preparation in question is not expensive.

One of the most remarkable of trees or shrubs (says the Horticultural Times ) grows near some springs, about 12 miles north of Tusoarora, It is about six or seven feet high, with a trunk, which, at its base is three • times the size of an ordinary man’s wrist; It has numberless branches and twigs, and resembles somewhat the barberry. Its truly wonderful characteristic is its luminosity, which is so great that on the darkest night it can be plainly seen a mile away. A person standing near could read the finest print by its light. Its foliage is extremely rank, and its leaves resemble somewhat those of the aromatic bay tree in shape, size, and colour. The luminous property is due to a gummy substance, which can be transferred to the band by rub* bing, and with the transfer the phosphorescent light, while that on the leaf disappearsThis luminosity is thought to be due to a parasite form. The Indians regard it with superstition, and will not come near it, even in daytime. They give it a name which means “ witch tree.”

Recollections cf the famous Tiohborne scandal are awakened by a ease which was heard in the Sydney Water Police Court on the 13th Jan., when an old man, with unkempt beard and ragged, faded clothes, was charged with embezzling £2 15s fid, the 1 moneys of bis master, Stephen Whelan. The prisoner gave the name of John Lewis,. but he will be better known to the public as Jean Luie, the Frenchman who took such a prominent part in the Tichborne ease, in which be was one of the principal witnesses. It will be remembered also that for perjury in the case he was sentenced to 14 years' penal servitude: Since his return to the colonies, Lewis, or Luie, has had a chequered career, his latest vocation being that of a bailiff. In this capacity be was employed by Mr Whelan, a builder carrying on business at Paddington, to collect certain moneys, and it ie alleged that £2 15s fid, paid into the Small Debts Court in one of these cases, the accused appropriated to his own use. After hearing the evidence, the Bench altered the charge to one of stealing, and Lewis was committed for trial.

In accordance with an annual custom on the first meeting of the London Court of Aldermen in December, the very ancient usage of inspecting and selecting the livery cloth sent yearly to certain great officers of State and other functionaries was duly observed. The custom dates from the earliest periods, when the retainers of great lords, wearing their liveries, were so numerous as to be dangerous both to the King and the laws. The disorders arising from them -required all the vigour of the Sovereign and the Legislature to restrain, and many statutes from 1877 downwards were passed for that purpose. An exception was made in favour of guilds and fraternities and men of the mysteries of cities and boroughs. Hence the enrolment of “ liverymen ” of the various guilds and their apprentices, who all worq the particular garb of their company. A gift of four and a half yards each of the best black cloth is annually sent by the City to the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice, tha Master of the Bolls, the Lord Chamberlain, the Vioe-Ohamberloin, the Lord Steward, the Treasurer and Comptroller of the Household, the Home Secretary, the Foreign Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Recorder, and the Common Serjeant, while the Town Clerk receives six yards of black and six yards of green cloth, and his principal clerk (Mr F. S. Knott) four yards of each.

Under the head “ Ecclesiastics ” are some capital anecdotes in Dean Hole’s book, which in a layman’s mouth, might seem profane but as (here told must be void of offence. As the story of a man who preached a charity sermon at Denver, and got a well-known gambler called “ Billy the Kid ” to take round the hat for a collection. One young miner put in a “a quarter ” (1s), upon which Billy, regarding him sternly, put his baud under bis coat tails, drew his revolver and clicked it at the donor, saying with the utmost gravity, “ Young man, take that back; this here’s a dollar show.” He got many dollars that day from the congregation. Another story is of a collection in San Francisco. It was a member of the congregation who put nothing into the plate, and, being remonstrated with, urged that all hie money belonged to his creditors. “ And who ie your greatest creditor? To whom do you owe the most?” asked the collector. “ Well,, that’s very true,” said William, •* but just.now He’s not crowding me quite so much aa the others." Of a little girl who sometimes appearedlu the pantomime, who was asked how mahy:'breeds there were—“ Please, sir, two—the ’Postles and the Lyoenm.”