FROM OUR EXCHANGES.

Temuka Leader, Volume 2, Issue 125, 1 March 1879, Page 2

FROM OUR EXCHANGES.

Colonel Colcomb (says a Home paper) has raised a question in connection with cremation which deserves immediate attention. If: bodies are allowed to be burned on the production of the certificates which arc accepted as sufficient in the case of burial, a very wiele door will be open to murder. At present the interment of o body is not an absolute bar iuto further investigation as to the cause of death. Examination can be resorted to if any reasonable ground for suspicion presents itself, and the presence of poison can be detected long after ithas done its work. But cremation would constitute an absolute bar to further investigation. A murderer who could avoid exciting suspicion for a week after

death had taken place would Lo perfectly safe. The body would have disappeared, and the ashes of the victim would tell no tales. It is imperatively necessary that before cremation is allowed propel' provision should be made either for the official examination of all the organs in which it is possible to detect traces of poison, or for their removd from the body before burning and their preservation uniil such time as they cease to Servo as possible witnesses to the cause of death. A ''sanitary improvement" winch made murder any easier than it is would be a very decided change for the worse. Taking' things for granted brought an illicit distiller to grief, after carrying on his illegal calling for years, under suspicion indeed, but nevertheless with complete immuuity. M'Tavish rented a small farm in Glentartan, but the revenue officers never found any apparatus upon the premises, nor any of the necessary ingredients about the farm. Every nook and cranny of the neighboring hills and dells was rigorous]}' searched again and again without any result save exposing the officers to the taunts of McTavish. Where this wonderfully concealed " still" might be was the question to which no answer was forthcoming. Dwellers in the glen of course had not the faintest notion of its whereabouts. One night an exciseman with two comrades knocked up the occupants of a farm-house and demanded a horse and cart in the Queen's name, saying he had seized M'Tavish's illicit still with all i's contents, and required assistance to carry the whole to headquarters. There was no resisting the demand ; horse and cart were soon ready, and a driver too. Getting into the cart wite his assistants, the exciseman ordered the man to drive as fast as lie could, without telling him where he wanted to bo taken. Never dreaming but what the officer had previously discovered and seized the si.il!, the man drove on, and pulled up at the concealed spot. Out jumped the exciseman ; the entrance was burst open, and M'Tavish was a prisoner and )ts bothy emptied of its contents before he could comprehend how the misfortune had befallen him, and Ins long-kept secret had been discovered.

It is very satisfactory to observe, says the ' Otago Daily Times,' that while V:ctoria is complaining that during the yearending 30th September last the deposits in her hanks hav<> decroased by LG97,413, those of New Zealand, a much smaller and younger colony, have in the year ended 31st December last increased by no less than L1.G58,350, viz., from L 7,758,757 to L9,417 ; 107. Even the prosperous and progressive colony of New South Wales only increased her deposits by L 409,434 in the year. Besides this, a comparison of the New Zealand advances shows that additional resources from ourside, not of the nature of deposits, have been used to the extent of about one million.

There is running on a railway in the neighborhood of Paris a locomotive without fire, similar to the locomotives employed on the tramways of New Orleans, TJ.S. It is provided that a cylindrical reservoir of great strength, which being filled from a fixed boiler with steam unt.l the pressure reaches fifteen atmospheres, then distributes it under proper regulation to the working machinery, and the fireless engine begins its journey. The pressure can be varied according to the exigencies of the route, the ordinary speed being about eight miles an hour. The filling of the reservoir takes fifteen minutes, and must be repeated, if required, every time the engine returns to the boiler station ; but experience has proved that for short distances this locomotive has advantages over .all others. It will turn a short curve and travel uphill, with a load of ten tons ; makes but little noise, wastes a whiff of steam only, , and is in no danger of explosion from overheating. Lord Provost Collins, Glasgow, in opening a bazaar, said lie was glad to see there was no lottery in connection with if. Some, people might have different opinions upon this subject, but at the present time he did not think lotteries should be promoted. There was a proposal at present to raise a large sum for the City of Glasgow Bunk shareholders by means cf a lottery, and a gentleman with whom he was conversing on the subject used as an argument that the land of Canaan was divided by lots amongst the Children of Israel. lie confessed he failed to see the analogy between the cases. The following is a simple method by which water may be tested : —A pint of water is to be placed in a clear bottle, perfectly clean, and a lump, about the size of a pea, of the purest and whitest loaf sugar is to be dropped into it. The bottle is then to be laid on a sheet of paper, and exposed to the sun on a shelf or window of the room, and allowed to remain eight or ten days. If, after a time, the water becomes inrpiu. ir shows that it contains foreign or organic mailer, probably resulting from sewerage in filtration. According to Professor Franklin, who suggests the experiment, the coloration of the water results from the fungoid, growths which are developed by the sugar, and from the traces of phosphoric acid derived from the organic matter. — 1 San Francisco Tmlletin.' There are waiters and waiters in 'his world, and New Zealand can evhi-mtly produce the tine undulated specimen. Says the 'Thames Advertiser' : —''The other day Mr Sheehan was banquo'ted. All the world and his wife were there to do him honor, and there were some visitors to whom the accustomed hospitality was extended. Some of these visitors I must have been rather astonished at the | free and easy slyle of the waiters at that feed. No. doubt many men who consent to throw off their coats at a dinner and "help" the guests consider that "Jack's as good as his master," if not better. - When, however, the waiters are the first to pull out and light up very strong pipes without permission from the chairman, and before the guests have been served with the accustomed cigars, the principle of equality is too obviously asserted. It is not proper either for a speaker to be slapped on the back (by a waiter) when he is in the midst of a speech with a "Good for you, old fellow," or to have the applause of making some point anticipated with a loud "Well done, Brown ; go it." These little ebulations of feeling, however genuine, are trying to one's nerves, and if I had been interrupted as some were by vocal and physical manifestations at-that banquet, I think I should have made the atmosphere of the room decidedly too warm for somebody. _ Banquets would not be much patronised if wine were excluded, rerhaps : and the

epeeehos would be r-oinewhat-flat, jjrliicli as a rule was not the case at Mr Sheehan's banquet ; but au elemt?!?t of Good Templarism amongst waiters will be preeminently desirable if they cannot retain the exuberance of their stimulated verbosity."

At a recent ball in Paris the electric light was trier., to the eminent discomfiture of some of the ladies, one of them, whose cosmetic objected to the electric flame, 'turning perfectly black. False roses were displayed in ail their nakedness, and a regular stampede into a dres-sing-room took place. Their rouge was washed off and. powder dusted on ; but the effect of the latter process was still more comical, each lady looked as if -half»,/"H prepared for the role of a clown in the pantomime. The introduction of this illumination was not a practical joke. Monsieur Cernuischi simply desired to have his rooms brilliantly lighted, and was guiltless of a malicious intention of . converting his establishment into a Palace ■ of Truth. \

The special correspondent of the ' Chicago Tribune, 5 describing the arrangements which have been made for the domestic comfort of the new Governor of Canada, the Marquis of Lome and the Princess Louise, says : —The bedroom set is of heavy black walnut with marble tops. At the head of the bedstead is a handsome carving, representing Cupid. The bed cover is of Greek lace. Adjoining the bedroom -is, a \large bath-room. The suite of three brooms occupy nearly one-half of the second floor. The room on the opposite'- side will be used by the ladies of the-princess' party and members of the family. The decorations in every part of the house are in excellent taste and there are many ferns and potted plants. With such appointments, if the marquis and princess do not enjov their stay at Halifax it will be their own fault.

" Dan Kelly has got shot !" The news spread like..,wildfire throughout a leading hotel retfeutly, having been brought to Ballarat (the ' Star' says) by a gentleman arriving by the afternoon train from Castlemaine. "That's good news," said one open-mouthed listener. " Whereabouts?" enquired half a dozen others. '• All over lis body,'' came the satisfactory reply. " Ah, qpw, didn't I tell you so ?" exclaimed a little samby-haired man ; " I knew they'd sho'ot? him before the week was out-"- " What about the inefficiency of the force now V asked a smiling policeman off duty, ;uid refreshing in plain clothes. " Yez can't bate the foorce," added the constable in triumphant tones. "Great work, by Jove! I'll shout all round ; here, waiter, take the orders ;" and the man with the sandy locks spun-a sovereign on the table in high glee. Incame the liquor, up went the glasses, and somebody else ordered in cigars. " And now," said Sandy, puffing away a full flavored Cabana, "now, mister, tell us' all about it. Dan's dead, of course V " Not to my knowledge," replied the traveller. "Eh ! what, not dead did you say?" " Certain!}- not ; who said he was dead? I merely stated that Dan Kelly's got shot, and you may take your oath he's got powder too, and intends to use both freely before he is taken. Gentlemen, the compliments of the season to you." The meeting then closed, the customary! vote to the chair having been omitted, and the inexpressibly gratified waiter being capsized in the passage by the wrathful lift'e gentleman boasting of the sandv locks.

Hollow-ay's Pills. —Nervous Debility. —Persons who feel weak, low, and nervous may rest assured some serious ailment is looming in the distance, against whifh instant action should be taken. Holloway's Pills present the ready means of exciting energetic action on the liver, liberating occmnulated bile, and lifting at once a load from the spirits and expelling a poison from the body. This simple and natural method of remedying the first tendency to disease gives present ease and ensures future safety. The pale, and all those who are losing flesh, should fry these Pills, which are especially useful when the digestive or other functions are imperfectly performed and demand immediate correction, cr in after years neither mind nor body will be well developed.