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Southland Times, Issue 1538, 16 February 1872, Page 3

An Honest Fabmer of Surrey has written a letter to a relative in Virginia to say that all the talk in the newspapers about a sanguinary engagement between the Germans and the English at Dorking; is a hoax — that, he lives in the neighborhood of Dorking, and that nothing of the sort has occurred there at all. Twenty Precautions against Fiee. — We extract the following from the New Zealand Insurance Company's Almanac for this year: — "1. Be careful to keep lucifer matches in metal boxes and out of the way of children. 2. Wax matches are particularly dangerous, and should be kept out of the way of rats and mice. 3. Do not deposit coal or wood ashes in a wooden vessel, and be sure burning cinders are extinguished before they are deposited. 4. Never put firewood inside the fender or on the stove to dry. 5. Do not put ashes or a light under a staircase. 6. Fall kerosene lamps in the day time, and never over a candle or fire. 7. Be cautious in extinguishing matches, and never throw them on the floor. 8. Do not throw a cigar stump upon the floor or into a box containing sawdust, without being certain it is not on fire. 9. Do not blow out a candle or put it away on a shelf or anywhere else until sure that the snuff has gone entirely out. 10. A lighted candle ought not to be stuck against a wooden wall. 11. Never enter a barn or stable at night with an uncovered light. 12. Ostlers should never be allowed to smoke about stables. 13 Never take an open light to examine a gas meter, or to search for an escape of gas. 14. Do not put gas or other lights near curtains. 15. Do not read in bed either by candle or lamp light ; place glass shades over gas lights in shop windows, and do not crowd goods too close to them. 16. No smoking should ever be permitted in warehouses, especially where goods are packed or cotton or flax stored. 17. Stove pipes should be at least nine inches from woodwork and well guarded by sheet iron. 18. Bags should never be stuffed into stove pipe holes ; openings in chimney flues. .'for Btove pipes which are not used ought always to be securely protected by metallic coverings. 19. Never close up a place of business in the evening without looking well to the extinguishing of lights and the proper securities of the fires. 20. When retiring to bed at night, always take every precaution to see that there is no danger from your fires, no firewood put up on end to burn out ; see that the gas is properly extinguished, and take care that your lights are safe. Have a few buckets always filled with water available in case of accidents.