GLEANINGS FROM THE PAPERS.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 3, Issue 111, 15 November 1879, Page 3

GLEANINGS FROM THE PAPERS.

Mr. Edward. Triokott, tlio sculling champion, boon presented by a New Zualuud admirer (Mr. S. \V. Forry, of ibo Occidental Hotel, Wanganni) with a. tumbler, bearing an inscription and un engraving of tho race i 1 between Trickott nud.SodJor for tin championship of the : yvui iiL tfe is a neat aunveidr, and .. aiLapprapryitu prespujt from. ou» hotel-. , Tbo Wat* Department is on tho point' of at length adopting war balloons into the luud and ua serviues. Movable ap-

'paratus for*lnflating and manijtalating military balloons in the field fjHrjusthecu completed in ' the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, and been tried with two now balloons, specially constructed' fb>' military purposes. The appliances consist of a portable tank weighing 4001b, containing iron shavings, .together with a portable boiler and furnace. The appliances can be moved' about' with' troops on the field or on vessels at sea. Hydrogen is generated by passing steam through the iron turnings. As soon as the necessary arrangements can be made it is contemplated to send a few war. balloons out .to Zululand, —so says Nature, but the fragments of one of the balloons arc still missing. They are, it appears, not quite manageable War coaches. A detachment of Russian troops, bound for General Lazareft's expedition against the Turcomans, is reported by the Kaykaz to hare met with a curious misadventure near the Georgian town of Eliza - vetopol. At a few versts from the town the soldiers encountered the wing of an army of locusts reputed to be 20 miles in length and broad in proportion. The officer in charge did not like to turn back repelled by mere insects, and, pushing .on, soon beoame surrounded by the locusts. These appear to' have mistaken the soldiers for trees, and swarmed by thousand around them," "orawling over their bodies, hding themselves inside their helmets, penetrating their clothes ami their knapsacks, filling the barrels of their rifles, and striving to force themselves into the unfortunate men's ears and noses." The commander gave the order for tho troops to push on double quick for Eliza - vetopol, but the road was so blocked with locusts that the soldiers grew frightened and, after wavering a few minutes, a regular stampede took place. Led by noncommissioned officer of keen vision who had observed a few huts a short distance from the road, tho troops dashed across the fields, "slipping about over the crushed and greasy bodies of tho locusts as though they had been on ico. Tho huts were soon the officers rushed inside, but the refuge proved be of-little value,-as the premises were' already in the possession of the enemy.. The peasants told the correspondent of the Kavkaz that for days they had been besieged by the vermin, the insects filling the wells and tainting the water, crowding into ovens and spoiling tho bread, and preventing any food being cooked or stored. At intervals the villagers issued from their houses and made'; onslaughts on tho locusts, killing them by thousands, and carting them away afterto the fields for manure. The soldiers were detained prisoners by the insects for 48 hours, and on their march to Elizavetopol in the rear of the locust army they found every blade of grass and green leaf destroyed, and the peasants reduced to beggary. Particulars are to hand of the departure from Boston (Mass.), of the Golden Gate, a boat of only 11 tons burthen, and said to be the smallest that has evor yet attempted to oross the ocean. The crew consists of two men, Herbert F. Burrill, aged 35, who projected the venture, and Andrew It. Coon, aged 28, a sailor of great experionoo. Tho design of the voyagers is to sail to Melbouro in time to be present at tlie Great International Exhibition in 18S0. The vessel left Boston on July 9. The course is from Massaohussetts Bay across the Cane do Verde, thonce to tho Cape of Good' Hope, and across the Indian Ocean to Australia. A clergyman in South Washington has won a big prizo at a lottery. The first investment brought him nothing, nor did the second, tho third, nor many more. Still his couviction that he would be able to build a church in this way became so strong that ho continued month after month to buy tickets and pray for good luck. Finally fortune bogan to smile upon him. lie drew a 5-dollar pi'ize. He was now confident that ho was fated to win, and instead of taking the money on his prizo he went one« dollar better, requesting the New York agents of the lottery to seud on six tickets for tho next drawing. One of these tickots has carried off a prize ho wont' one dollar hotter requesting the New York agonts of the lottery to seud on six tickots for tho next drawing. One of those tickets' has carried off a prize _ of 15,000 dollars. " I see no harm iu it," he remarks to a reporter of the 'Washington Star. " I feel as though I had been moved by the Divine Spirit, and if I thought there was any wrong about the matter, or that my octiou would offend Jehovah, I would not tako a oont : of tho money. On the contrary there is nothing wrong about buying a lotteryticket. A man simply pays a dollar, for tho chance of bettering his condition, and if ho losses that is tho end of it, audrif he wins thcro is uo dishonosty. Lottery business is not gambling, and it might do a great deal of good." lie. ha* selected tho site for the church lie .intends to build. The Doutscho Allgemoine Zcilung makes the incredible statement that a German named Carl Steinboch, has made an important discovery in photography* Aftor years of study and experiment, by moans of which a mirror image may bo fixed and sold as a photograph. With this composition tho mirror surface is painted, and tho baek part of tho mirror roccivos also a coating of oil. The mirror thus prepared is hold before the liorson who is'to bo photographed. The oil coating evaporates, and the Hknncsfc of the person remains in natural colours an the. light surface. Tho image, so 'fixed, is brought into n bath, and is oxposed fur half an hour to sunlight, oofoio dolivery.

; Tliecraniumof Docs4rtes,(,%>;3NatuiQ) t is ott«n fe-yw , general rule that a great 'mind rcqulrera r large brain.-. This, statement seems to ■ have rests* 1 on no exact .measurement,. t and-Dr. Lo Bon resolved fecently to test ■ its accuracy. The result is that he finds i the cubic capacity of Descartes' skull to • bo 1700 centimetres, or 150 centimetres i above the mean of Parisian crania of the i present' time. At the same time, Dr. i Bordier has recently found the average ■ capacity of the skulls of 3$ guillotened • murderers to be 15-i7.91 cubic centimetres i the largest reaching the enormous figure , of 2070 cubic centimetres: f The old'fashioned open fireplace has come mora.and more into nso of late years and this has brought out the old ! brass' andirons and fenders that were t used when a backlog andforcstick were • seen barring on overy hearth in, wiufe^, • and anthracite coal and furnaces wore • not thought of. Old brass ore fixtures, i are bought up wherever they can. be hj found, aud meet a growing . demand, • modern imitation are freely offered for • sale; but "if the shovel and tongs and £ andirons have a history, and particu- ', lorly a family history, it adds , greatly • to their value. In the parlor of a > large, old fashioned family mansion , in. J Connecticut, there were two fireplaces, ■ eaoh furnished with a very beautifully ' wrought fender aud audirous. When the owner died many of his effects " woro sold, for there was no member of j the family who wished to keep up the homestead. One of the beautiful fenders was given to a daughter; who prized ■ it very highly, and who gave it a fit? • ting place in hdr elegant house ■in ; Hartfovd. The other fender, which was to have gone to another daughter, was • lost sight of, and whether it had been 1 stolen no one could say.' For : - years ' tho search for it was unavailing. At last 1 at the Centennial Exhibiton, a visitor '■ was carried away with admiration for a 1 brass fendor displayed in the Connect! 1 out house. Attention was at once called 1 to it, when it was recognized as the ,; missing article. A littlojnquiry revealed !' tho-fact that,'it was owffod by persons ;. in Maiiie; whcf-wHon sought out, said it had been stored in a garret as an article out.of date, and of little value. '■ At the suggestion of one who. had seen it, it had been sent to tho Exhibition, lii the circumstances, but little difficulty was had in inducing the .owner to part with it, and now, after the lapse of years, it has become the property of "the daughter whom it was • intuded, and has a place in the library \ of her cottage iu Newport. Wandiwash, tho scene of so much fight- . ing in these years, was preserved , (when, by treachery, it was about to [ become the prey of Hyder) by a remarkable act oi' daring on tho part of a young officer, Lieutenant Flint. On the approach of Hyder, the killedar, [ an ollioer of Mohammed Ali, became justly suspected, so Flint was despatched ' with only SOU men to get possession of the place. Though threatened that the guns of tho fort would be turned upou him if ho dared to approach the walls, he nevertheless did so, saying 1 that he had a letter front tho nabob, which he was ordered to deliver info the hands of the killedar aloue, and for this purpose begged admission with a few men. Tho killedar refused, but ' agreod to roceivc tho lotter iu the space that lay between tho outer and inner barrier. Attended by only four faithful sepoys, Lieutenant Flint entered, and found the killedar sitting on a ' carpet, surrounded by soveral oflicors, with thirty swordsmen as his personal guard, and a hundred sepoys drawn up for his protection, their whito teeth and eyes gleaming malevolently out [ of thoir visages. After a few prefatory remarks, Flint confessed that he had no-letter, but ottered as an equivalent therefor-ithe order of Sir Eyre Coote, acting in oonoert with Mohatnm'od Ali; but this the killedar treated with contempt—he desired the lieutenant to be gone instantly, and rose to depart. Oh this Flint seized hirn by the throat, and'threatened him with instant death if'lio raised a hand for rescue, while tho four sepoys lefcllod their weapons at his breast. At that moment tho rest of tho detachment rushed in, and Wapdish became oil rs' on the very day it wiis to have been surrendered to Hydor. Overawed by the resol uto courage of this hardy young Briton, tho nabob's garrison agreed to serve under his orders, aud he at oncu ' took every means to defend it.—Cosbell's Illustrated History of India, As muoh as £+,250,000 was raised in London last year for charitable objects. , This is inbre than one pound for every man, woman, and child in the metro- ! polis. Tho fastest'run on record was made by the English mail steamer Durban. i She ran from Cape Town to Plymouth —6OOO miles—in 18 days and. 22 hours —making for tee voyage 18. 1 knots. ' 'One sign of the depression of tho times ' in England is the suusiblu diminution of 1 the number of boys at Eton this year. It \ is said on good authority that there are now 100 fewer boys thcro than have bcon [ on.the lists for several years. i Tho- latest idea, is itatifl that when the ' (MMv has been extracted from the tallow, ) the remaining substance oan be made > imto most excellent butter—equol to the i beet fresh butter churned from cream as i. fur si table purposes, are concerned, i and bettor for pastry making. It is sugi gestod that if thin dweovervjwrte turned ■ to practical account iu the colonies boil- , iug down shtop wuuldbecomu much moro profitable.

J... Australian Line steamship "CdzcSrfrOm -Australkv .«wiv«L, at"" Ply-' mouth at' 11.30 a.m on July. 2U—Sue has made the fastest passage on record", the time occupied between Adelaide and Plymouth being 37 days 12 hours,"'includiug detentions at the intermediate ports. -,--.•