Hints to Volunteers by an old Soldier.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3693, 26 October 1880, Page 2

Hints to Volunteers by an old Soldier.

Now that the orthodox British regimes* tals are becoming generally'adopted a few directiofcsibr keeping the appoin^BiettU \a, condition will not be malapropos/ Jf(x cleaning belts use pipeclay dilated with water, with a little Glenfield, starch ad^ed, of the consistency of milk; this should.be applied with a sponge., Tp make the white metal buttons appear like polished silver, mix half an ounce of powdered chalk with a table spoonful of gin; apply this mixture with a tooth brash to tbe buttons and "helmet ornameat* t and allow it time to dry, then polish with a dry nail brush. To clean the brasses of the rifle and bayonet scabbard, use powdered brick dust and a little sweet oil,, To render the bayonet or sword scabbard of a glossy blackness, rubi it well wkh • button of heel ball,- and polish with an^li> silk handkerchief. Particular, attention should be given to polish the ramrod,,; by rubbing it smartly with dry brick<iusti in a piece of canvas, or,duck rag; to do this properly the ramrod should be placed sideways on a table, atfd made to revolve by rolling it to and fro,' with 1 the back of . a brash, holding , thf, brick iiaßt,.find rag-' 'aronnd the jag at the same^ time. The.t yellow, facings of our popular Scottish corps, should be renovated when soiled" by some obramt yellow powder diluted 'with milk and water, the 1 white cloth; edging afterwards requires to be well rubbed with a lamp of dry pipeclay, aad< the doubled should then be well beaten: and brushed. Always bestow' particular 4 pains to polish your boots for inspection, dirty boots; spoil the tout ensemble of a soldier'! 'appearance. --Keep .the jlimbs well bratiedf the chest thrown to the front, and the bread-basket kept backus much as possible daring inspection. Some volunteers stand in a back-bent position, and by that means give undoe. prominence to the stemach. This should' be studiously avoided by rather leaning*, forward, so that the weight of the tjrunK . may be on the forepart of the feet, not on > the' heels. If the volunteer, attends to4| this, his appearance will be imposing m™ the ranks. Above all things be steady in the ranks, whilst at attention, look stolidly to" the front, and mind only your own business, and, trouble not about the doingt' 1 iof your neighbor. " . . „. t ,

The French police authorities :ha?» forbidden the sale of imported hams known in the" trade as "Cincinnati." The yellow material in which they are sewn is coloured vith a chromate of lead.It is'also said that ftey 'frequently contain trichina*. It has aho beea found too that the golden hue, so appreciated by amateurs of " bloaters," is often,imparted to them artificially bj purreywrs* of this delicacy. 'Analysis kare revealed here i again the presence; of one of the most poisonous chrpmates. ■'' The Belfast News*, Letter says:—' "Charles Wesley wrote about JS.OQO hymns. Even the Weslftfans do aft sins:' all these—probably notfmore than 200. Not more' than thirty of Charles Wesley's have passed into, general hymnology. John Wesley's translations from? the German are among the.btst hymns in the English language. ; T,hew are, say* 40,000, passable hymns in ourlanguage-HBostl f" forgotten." . '*i r .',. f r * In an, Irish breach oi promise cape it was stated that, the plaiitiff was. o>lled > Miss Benjamin, after Besjtmin !Dtii*t{i, " because she was snchta clever diplo* matist." T . ,