Our Miscellany

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 22, 26 August 1893, Page 4

Our Miscellany

(Collated from experiences furnished by readers of the Million.)

THE PASTOR AND THE POLICEMAN. An amusing incident occurred some years ago in New Zealand in which a well-known minister of religion in a large town figured. He had promised a poor woman, whose furniture had been seized for debt, that he would see that she had at least a bed for herself and her two little children to lie on. Other pressing matters caused him to forget his promise till late at night, when he was turning into his own comfortable crib from the wintry air. Then suddenly it flashed upon him, and he at once arose, hastily dressed, and bundling up his own bed, sallied forth with it. A policeman, seeing a tall figure bearing a great bundle stalking through the night, insisted on interposing, whereupon the grand old pastor had to explain who he was and what he was doing, whereupon the . bobby volunteered to carry the bundle for him, and both together trudged to the bare abode of the astonished and gratified widow. I was one of the children thus relieved. [The hero of the story is Dr Stuart, of Dunedin. —■ Ed. S. C.] A NOBLE SACRIFICE. I was the witness of a noble deed during the last war in Afghanistan. A young officer, with a small body of soldiers —of whom I was one —was sent upon a mission some distance from camp. As we were returning, riding gaily along a narrow mountain gorge, we suddenly percieved a troop of Afghans galloping headlong down after ns. Being greatly outnumbered, our only chance of safety lay in flight, and being well mounted we soon began to distance our pursuers. All at once a shot from an Afghan rifle struck one of our horses, which staggered a few paces and then fell, crushing his rider beneath him. In an instant, whilst we swept on, our officer had drawn rein, flung himself from the saddle, and dragged the fallien man to his feet. “Quick, my horse will carry two!” he cried. But, alas, the horse finding himself free, and terrified, perhaps, by the shouts of the Afghans, had galloped after us. One minute more, and our noble officer and the man he had vainly tried to save were lying lifeless, pierced by the long knives of their merciless foes. A HORRIBLE DISCOVERY. In my early days I was out prospecting - in the Rocky Mountains with a party under the leadership of John R. Watson. On arriving - at Devil’s Gulch our party made the ghastly discovery of the skeletons of a company of soldiers. Instead of having been massacred by the Indians, ho w.ever, wo found that the soldiers must have drank heartily from a poisonous verdigris spring - close to where they lay. Their guns were stacked just as they had left them on the night when, tired, weary, and thirsty they reached the poisonous spring, and, after partaking of its deadly waters, lay down to sleep that sleep which knows no awakening. Forty-three skeletons, some of them still encased in uniform, throe piles of guns stacked as they left them, a lot of ammunition, and the skeletons of forty-five horses constituted the extent of our ghastly discovery, A REMARKABLE SHOT. Travelling in. Australia a few years ago, I stayed at the house of a settler, the owner of a large sheep-run on the hills. While waiting lor dinner one morning, I sat at the door of the cabin reading, and watching the two-year-old child of ray host playing about in the clearing, Suddenly 1 heard a scream, and, to my horror, saw a large viper approaching the child. It was poised to strike. Transfixed by the sight, I awaited the fatal, jioisonous bite. Suddenly the sharp report of,a rifle-shot rung out, and the viper rolled over dead. Turning round, ! saw the wife of the settler fall back into a chair. She had fired the -rifle and saved her child.

MY CURIOUS DREAM. I had a remarkable dream the other day. Walking home from work with my week’s wages, I discovered, when about to hand the housekeeping money to my wife, that I had mysteriously lost a sovereign. Further investigation showed that the coin had escaped through a hole in one of my pockets. As a sovereign is a great part of my wages, I can assure you we were greatly dismayed; However, it “Was too late and too dark to search for the coin, so we went to bed. During the night I dreamt that the coin was under a stone by the canal bridge over which I passed on my way home. The scene and the spot where the coin lay were as visible to me as though I saw them with my own eyes. On waking in the morning I told my dream to my wife, who advised me to look at the spot when I went to work. And, sure enough, I found the sovereign in the very place where I bad dreamt it would be! A PROGRESSIVE PORT. Under this heading a correspondent of the Nautical Magazine for April devotes an article to the port of Cardiff, which has, he states, now attained, in regard to extent of tonnage entered and cleared, a leading position. He points out that in 1892 Cardiff surpassed all its Home competitors in the clearances of ships in the foreign and colonial trade. It even puts in a claim to be considered the first in the whole world in this particular line of commerce. Last year, 6,717 vessels, registering 6,267,218 net tons register, with cargo and ballast, cleared in the oversea traffic from Cardiff. The similar trade at London was 6,049,513 tons ; and at Liverpool 5,206,116 tons last year. The only other port in the rest of the world, doing such an extensive export tonnage, is New York. The latest consul’s report published for the latter place is dated May, 1892, and gives 6,743,266 tons as cleared therefrom in 1891. But this sum is for “ all shipping,” and includes the coasting trade. If the same rule be applied to Cardiff, then we have 7,390,264 tons cleared in 1892 at that port. The American coasting trade is considerable, and is confined to ships flying the “ Stars and Stripes.” If half a million tons be allotted to that branch, then the Cardiff figures, in the oversea trade outwards, are ahead of those of New York. Who could have conceived of this fact half-a-century ago ? In 1843 the clearance of vessels at Cardiff in the foreign trade amounted to 355 vessels, with carg-oes, and the tonnage was only 39,037 tons. The similar' traffic, 1892, was 6,446 ships of 6,970,474 tons. Fifty years ago the population was about 10,000, now it is nearly 170,000. Half a century ago the place had a foreshore of mud, now it has a wet dock area of 230 acres, capable of accommodating the largest vessels afloat. DEATH OP THE “ QUEEN’S CHAMPION.” Mi Francis Seaman Dymoke, J.P., the “ Queen’s Champion,” died at his residence, Scrivelsby court, near Horncastle, on June Ist, at the age of 65, after several months’ illness. The deceased is succeeded by his only son, Mr Francis Seaman Dymoke. The office of “ Queen’s Champion ” is to ride up Westminster hall on Coronation day and challenge any one who disputes the right of succession. The office was established by William the Conqueror, and was given to Marmion and his male descendants with the manor of Broad Scrivelsby.