MISCELLANEOUS.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 7082, 2 March 1893, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

It is not sincerity but selfishness which is the parent of all rudeness, all unkindness, ail blunt, sad unsympathetic conduct. “ If I’m net homo from the party ot ton o’clock, don’t wait for me, wife.” “ No, I’ll not wait for you. If you’re not home, I’ll •go ’ for you.’ He arrived at ten. | A man said to his wife Homely as you ) are, I love you os if you were pretty." She retorted : —“ .Fool as you are, I love you ns well as though you had wit.” A lady was recently described by a rival as having “ organs of hearing which were unfortunately .too largo for ears, and not large | enough for wings.” S Husband —“ That fence wants painting | badly. I tbink I’ll do it myself." Wife—- «< Top, do it yourself, if you think it wants to j be dono badly." “Why, Poinpey, I didn’t know until in- i ay that you had boon whipped last -»rpk.” 1 Didn’t you, massa ; why, I know’d it at I he time.” I Some interesting details lately appeared in I The Times or, the decrease in the value of !

cattle and sheep in the United Kingdom M e | article states that on the 4lh June, 1890, j beasts averaged £l2 10s per head and sheep j 36s 3d per head,whereas at same date in 1892 | the average value of beasts had declined to | £8 per head and sheep to 21b 3d. The art:c';c j concludes as follows It will be seen that! the drop in values since 1890 when they i reached their maximum has been enormous— 1 ho great, in fact, that although we have I 729,559 more cattle and 1,975,623 more sheep ] their value, if sold now is £64,369,196 less i than in 1890- That is a largo drop in two j items of the capital invested in the farms of 5 the United Kingdom.” ■ The Scottish Farm Servant?, Carter.-, and j General Labour Union direct attention to i some facts that, it issla'ed, are snot under*! stood or known by farm servants and labourers j generally—namely; that when they engage | with a farmer for six or twelve months, ns ; the case may be, they are bound to ebry the | mandate or cell of the master during any hour ! of the twenty-four, day or night, should he , deem their presence or assistance necessary, j Take, for example, harvesting. “ The farmer ; can compel his servants to work whole night, 1 taking in the crops into the stack yards with- I out any additional par. Should a servant refuse > he is often dismissed, without one penny of wages. Should the servant appeal to the sheriff to recover the wages wrought for he generally loses his case, and very often has to j pay a fine for not complying with the farmer’s j unjust demand ” ,

A committee of tho guardians of Spalding workhouse is considering whether the pigs kept at the union house should not be fed 9 on the contract wheat meal instead of on their usual food, the wheat meal supplied for the inmates being so cheap. The price of flour supplied to the establishment is Is per stone, of white-meal 8d per stone, and of whitewheat meal bread 2d per 41b loaf. Hera is a story of a miser told by the Roumanian papers. A Greek died in the small town of the Caracal, having always lived on the alms of bis compatriots. Before dying ho made his wife swear that she would bury him in the dirty old overcoat which he wore every day. The poor woman had to ask tho Greeks of Caracal to help her to provide the costs of the funeral* A good-hearted Greek went to see her in her affliction, and, pointing to the body, said he would give her a better coat to bury the man in. Then she told him ot the dead man’s last wish. The Greek, whose suspicions were awakened, told her that she should certainly not part with the body before she had well examined the coat, for there must be some particular reason for the request. The widow unpicked the lining of the overcoat and found thirty-five thousand franc bank notes, which the miser wished to take into the grave with him.

The London correspondent of the Man Chester Guardian tells the following extraordinary story : —An interesting and curious case, illustrating the recuperative power of nature has just been recorded by a surgeon. A workman, whilst attending a machi e used for cutting blocks of tin had the tips of two of his fingers of his loft hand cut off with the knife. Seven hours afterwards he went to the hospital for treatment- '* he surgeon determined to attempt to replace the missing portions of tho fingers, although the prospect of getting thorn to unite seemed to be most remote. The wounds wore carefully cleansed and the ends of the fingers were restored to their places and fixed by sutures. In a fort night firm union was found to have occurred sod when the patient was next ssea, after a considerable lapse of time the surgeon was able to note that both motion and sensation were perfect in the ends of the fingers. Some interesting details appeared in The Times on the decrease in tho value of cattie and sheep in the United Kingdom t the article states that on the 4th June, 1890— Beasts averaged £l2 10s per head and sheep 36<t 3d per head whereas at tho same date in 1892. the average value of beasts had declined to £S’per bead and sheep to 210 3d. The article concludes as follows “It will be seen that the drop in values since 1890 when they reached their maximum has been enormous—so great, in fact, that although we have 729,559 more cattle and 1,975,623 more sheep their value, if sold now is £64,369,196 less than in 1890. That is a large drop in two items of the capital invested in the farms of the United Kingdom.” It would be well for the Highland lairds says a Home paper, who are fuming and fretting against the contemplated Government inquiry respecting deer forests, if they would give a little eonridcr-Uou to the housing of their crofter tenants Tho description furnished by tho local inspectors of the wretched “ shanties ”in which industrious crofter and fishermen vegetate would surprise even those familiar with the miserable slums of London. Outwardly tbev are in a state of hopeless dilapidation. There is but one entranca door, and that opens into the portion devoted to the cattle, in which there are long accumulations of manure and liquid filth. Between this compartment and tho ,! kitchen ” there is sometimes a thin wooden partition, sometimes not. A hole in the roof supplies the only vent for smoko. Last comes the “ sleeping apartment," with three or four beds,where the whole family regardless of sex, huddle together for the night. The recent reductions of rant enforced by the Crofters’ Commission have enabled tho tenants to do a little in the way of repoirs. Government it has been suggested might render judicious assistance. It is signifieent,however, that no one in the locality seems to think of appealing to the landlords.