Savory Morsels.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4376, 12 January 1883, Page 4

Savory Morsels.

GeneraL Booth..is-said to have been threatened with an action for libel by the late lessee of the Eagle Tavern, because of the General's alleged assertion that the Salvation Army had turned the devil out of the place, and seized his dominions. A more serious difficulty for General Booth than this too literal construction of his figurative speech-is likely to arise out of the terms of his lease His application for the renewal of a dancing license for the Eagle has been refused, because he admitted he had no intentiop to avail himself of it in practice. The magistrates did not see why they should grant a license which practically was not re. quired; but General Booth's position is awkward, as he was bound by the conditions of his tenancy to apply for the license. If. his failure to Jget it should lead to leeal disputes, the General may not feel disposed to bless the lawyers, as he did the reporters. ■

In the coarse of a lecture at Wellington, Archdeacon Stock, after dwelling upon' the importance of observing the Transit of Venus for the purpose of ascertaining accurately the distance between the earth and the sun, stated that he believed that distance was known to the ancients.! and .to those who built the Pyramids,, though he could not pretend to say how that knowledge was lost. He did opt .wish them to understand that he went, the length of believing all the theories regarding the Pyramids advanced by Piazzi Smith, but if they took the height of the Great Pyramid, multiplied by 'ten, and raised to the ninth power, they got the distance of the earth from the sun—ninety millions of miles. Some, people might believe that this was chance, "but he did not think so.—Exchange. A contradiction b.as been given at Southampton to the statement that the " Claimant has written to his wife, now an inmate of the South Stoneham Union with three illegitimate children, announcing his .intention of suing for a divorce. She has,, it is said, received no communication whatever from her husband, but a> sympathiser in Sent wishes to adopt the youngest child, whilst a Yorkshire publican has offered " her ladyship " an immediate engagement as barmaid.

A large number of artesian wells have been sunk along the northern border of the Desert of Sahara by the French, who steadily persevere in the work of^redeeni' ing the waste expanse of sand. More than 150 wells have been sunk in the Province of Con Stan tine, and the work is ad▼anciog to.the interior. One of the curious phenomena which the digging of these wells has brought to notice is tbe existence. of fish (and. crabs at great depths. The learned engineer, M. Jus, who for twenty years has directed the work, avers that he. once boiled and ate a orab which' had been drawn up from a depth of 250 feet, asd that, moreover, it, was of an excellent flavour.

An ingenious New Yorker has invented a bathing suit which a woman could wear without showing her iorm at all. He hasn't sold one so far this season.

What odd names some mortals are" blessed with ! A family in Michigan actually named their first child Finis, supposed that it was their last, but they afterwards happened to have a- daughter and two sons, whom they called Addenda, Appendix, and Supplement. A man in Pennsylvania called his son James Also, and his third William Likewise.

A French officer said to a Swiss Colonel " How is it that your countrymen always fight for money, while we French always fight for honour ? " The Swiss shrugged bis shoulders and replied, " I suppose it is because people are apt. to fight for that which they need most."

" Never milk while the cowas eating," is the advice of a bucolic contemporary. Judging from the character of milk that comes to market, it would be more to the point never to milk while the cow is drinking. ■