FACTS AND SCRAPS.

Southland Times, Issue 1628, 3 September 1872, Page 3

FACTS AND SCRAPS.

There is a talk of shipping " Cleopntras' | Needle " from Alexandria to England in order to erect it ou the Thames embankment. An En^lislnmn has invented a process I-y which n!>.-, porter, Ol> brown stout ii-iu-be Jimde in a s'>]i.l lin'in. nnd <iis>olve<'l like vo'i-^t eako^. when wnnfed tor nso. I'Yrm-h Co:!. 1 tor Kissing. — Give your lmul to a Lent lonian to kis-s your cheek to a I'il-iul, but keep your lips fbr your j lover. The King of the Boli^'ans is said to be the gayest, most t{ood-n:it un> i, j>K\-is sntmannered kia^r in tiic world. He is a tall, {^od-lookinjr man, with a frank open j face, and makes a capital figure on horseback. Irate Officer: " "Mr O' Brien, yor out o'dtep, sir !" Smart Private : " Shure thin, clarlin', its tries elf that's the only mm in the houl ridgment that's in step, ye mane." Firmness without mildness is harsh and forbidding; mildness without firmness becomes wetk and contemptible; both united make a character respectable and amiable. You will alwus notis one thing : the devil never. offers tew go into partnership with a bizzv man ; but yu will often see him offer tew jine the lazy, aud furnish all the capital. — Josh Billings. Pity; the poor, the shabby, the ugly, and the suffering, and do not sneer at them. All ways of life are weary enough, and mercy is ;ike the gentle rain from heaven — and very sweet to a tired soul. Florins, shillings, sixpences, and threepences are the only silver coin now struck for crener.il currency. The last issue of crowns was in the year LSoL, aud no halfcrowns have b^en issued since 1851. No fourpeua7 pieces Lave been corned since 1b56. During the debate on the Permissive Bill in the House of Caramons, Mr Plicnsell gave the House an account of a recent visit to America to ascertain the working of the Liquor Laws there, demonstrating their failure. In Portland, the chief town of Maine, a place of 31,000 j inhabitants, there are about 300 publichouses, and 2-JOO arrests for druukenness every year, though the saie of intoxicating drinks is entirely forbidden. The Ameer of Afghanistan, a man of real, though semi-lunaiie genius, has addressed a letter of regret tor Lord Mayo's death to the acting Viceroy, Lord Napier, which contains a remarkable expression of the great sub-thought of Asia — the permanent hostility of Fate to man. Fate is resistless, but malicious. After stating ih.it ho had an intention of going to England with Lord Mayo, he says — " Before the eternally predestined decree, however, men must bow in silence. A crooked and perverse fate always interferes to prevent the su-eessful attainment by any human being of his most cherished j desires." The Hindoo even has got beyond that, fir he bel ev>-8 that by continuous exertion of the will in subjugation or' the flesh, man can coerce Fate — the theory embodied iv the whole system of the faquirs — Spectator. Sheep o>" Tl'kmps. — For every hundred pounds of the live weight of sheep, the weekiv consumption of roots id 701 b, of hay 51b, and of oilcake 51b. The weight of these substances required to make the one hundred pounds of live weight is — roots lj to I:} tons, hay 2.V cwt, and of oilcake the same. To eat a crop of turnips (:•;() tons, to the acre), it has been estimated that twenty young and ten old Hlackfaced, sixteen youug and eight old Leicester sheep would be required during the winter half-year. The weight of the fleeces of the different breeds is as f Hows — Leicester 71b, Cotswold 71b to 81b, Lincolnshire 101 b, Blackfaced 31b, Exmonr -iib to 51b, Eomney Marsh Sib, Cheviot 51b, Dorset Gib, Hampslnie Down 71b, Eyiand 41b, Mermo Gib to Sib. — English paper. "Where the Gold goes. — In the reign of Darius, gold was thirteen time 9 more valuable, weight for weight, than silver. In the time of Plato, it was twelve times more valuable. In the time of Julius Ca?aar, gold was only nine times more valuable, owing, perhaps, to the enormous quantity of gold seized by him in his wars. It is a natural question to ask — what became of the gold and silver ? A paper read before the Polytechnic As. sociaiion by Dr Stevens, recently, is calculated to meet this enquiry. He says, of our annual gold product, fully fifteen per cent, is melted down for manufacture ; thirty-five per cent, goes to Europe ; twenty-five percent, to Cuba; fifteen per ceut. to Brazil ; five per cent, for circulation in Great Britain. Of that which goes to Cub i, the "West Indit-s and Brazil, fully fifty percent, finds its way to Europe, where, deducting a large percentage uaed in manufacturing, four-fifths of the remainder is exported to India. Here the transit of the precious metal is at an end. Here the supply, however vast, is absorbed, an-.i never returns to the civilised world. The Orientals consu ne but little, while their productions are ever in demand among tbe Western naiions. As mere recipients, these nacioua have acquired the desire of accumulation and hoarding, a fashion common alike to all classes among the Egyptians, Chinese, and Persians. A French economist says, in his opinion, the former nation alone cau hide away twenty million dollars of gold and silver annually, and the present Emperor of Morocco is reported as so addicted to this avaricious mania, that he has filied 17 large chambers with the precious tuetala. The passion of princes, it is not surprising that the same spirit is shared by their subjects, and it is in this predilection that we discover the problem as to the ultimate disposition of the precious metals. This absorption by the Eastern nations has been uninterruptedly going on siuce the most remote historical period. According to Pliny, as much as one hundred million dollars in gold was, i in his day, annually exported to tbe East. The balance of trade in favor of those nations is now given at eight million dollars. '

Bit BRIGHT'S PHOSPHODYNE.—MULTITUDES OF PKOPLE are hopelessly suffering from Debility, Nervous and Liver Complaints, depression of Spirits, Delusions, Unfitness for Business or Study, Failure of Hearing, Sight, and M.Tnoi-y, Lassitude, Want of Power, &o , whose flasks admit of a. pcrmnnont cure by tho new «vm,..ly PHO3PHOJ>YN_E (OzonicT Oxygen), which at once allays all irritation and excitement 1 , imparts new energy and lile to the enfeebled constitution, and nipi.lly cures every stage of t'-,i->s' hitl'.erto incurable and distressing maladies. Noil by all Chemists and Storekeepers through— out the Colonies, from whom Pamphlets c>n tnining testimonial* may be obtained. Caumox. — "Pc p-irticul-ir to ask for Dr BRIGHT'S PI UJSPiIOIJYJS'Ii, as imit.itiotis are abroad. Wholerale Agents ior New Zealand — Kempthorne. Prosper. & Co., Duuedin.