MISCELLANEOUS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 271, 10 April 1873, Page 6

MISCELLANEOUS.

Tho " Echo's " correspondent says : — All Frenchmen — particularly mid-dle-aged Frenchmen — consider a sea bath nothing without an attendant. Before wetting a foot they place themselves in an easy position — the eyes of the ctablissemcnt are on them — and receive six pailfuls of sea water all over the body, launched by the vigorous hands of the Triton at 50 centimes the patient. Once in the water the Gallic bather is gay, sociable — rather too sociable and eager to display his power to the beat advantage. He lies flat on his back, and is tugged round in a circle by the baigneur. ■ He teaches his entire family how to swim. He carries his son pn his back, gives his arm to Madame,* who has issued from her hut in a complete Figaro costume, wearing gloves, shoes, and a dainty shepherdess hat. Some parties are made up, quadrilles performed, one or two ladies use fans, and the danseurs are as much at their ease as though the limitless ocean were M. Hausmann's reception room at the defunct Hotel de Ville. Enterprising young France takes to frail and narrow canoes, whence it is a glorious feat to tumble in twelve feet of water ; others indulge in marine velocipedes, conducting flirtations in double vehicles of this character with the greatest fascination and assurance. It must have a romantic effect to take a plunge with some fair companion in the midst of those very tender passages that are so very difficult to bring to a climax under ordinary terrestrial circumstances. A very strange yet authentic case of mesmeric influence is reported in the " Indian Medical Gazette " by the civil surgeon of Hoshungabad. A young woman named Hunnee, aged twenty-four, was married some twelve years ago ; she however, did not go to her husband's house till two years afterwards. After staying with him for eight days, she suddenly became insensible, and remained so for two or three days ; she was taken back to her mother, and soon got well. Then follows a very remarkable history. During the next four or five years she never entered her husband's house without falling insensible, and remaining so. He was very kind and attentive to her ; she liked him, but whenever he came in her presence she at once sunk into this state. This went on until she became emaciated and exhausted, and at last her parents applied to the court for a separate maintenance for her. While she was in court the husband entered, and she instantly became insensible, and was carried into the hospital, where the ease was carefully attended to by Dr Cullen in March this year. When in this state her pulse was even, breathing soft, her body pliant and relaxed , ahe could eat nothing. Experiments

were carefully made to see if there was no trick about it. While she was in bed her husband was muffled up and made to walk through the ward, she said she felt he was near her, and she was by no means well, but still had not seen him anywhere about. Next day this experiment was repeated, and she actually became insensible as before. When the husband left the place she recovered. The experiment as to the influence of the husband's presence was tried in all sorts of ways. He was made to pass behind her, and to be near her in a separate ward, but this had no effect ; but whenever he was brought to look on her face though muffled up, or disguised as a policeman, as a sepoy, and so forth, she was at once influenced. The experiments continued for about a month, and tt»© conclusion was iiixsib the husband had unconciously mesmerised her. The Court came to the conclusion that it was impossible she could live with him, and a separate allowance was ordered. The husband was asked to try if he could not remove the effect, seeing that he had power to cause it, but he was quite frightened at the idea of having the power and could not control it in any way. The recent attempt to murder the Eev. J. J. Carroll, Eoman Catholic clergyman, while performing a marriage ceremony in St Mary's Church, Bombala, is thus described by a Sydney paper : — A marriage ceremony had just been performed, and the clergyman was about to administer the Holy Communion, when a man was observed to enter at the door of the Church, quickly walk up to the altar, pushing the altar gate open, and, drawing out a knife, said "he would murder the priest." Father Carroll immediately jumped off the altar, over the communion rail into the body of the church. The women screamed and rushed out. Senior Sergeant Byrne who was present at the time, ran forward without a moment's delay and seized hold of the would-be assassin by the throat, who at once turned on the Sergeant to stab him there and then. A desperate struggle then ensued, Messrs. Dunn, E. Hart, and Tierney rendering valuable service, and eventually managing to svercome the villain, who was at once conveyed to the lock-up. It is very evident the man intended to carry out his attempt to murder, for previously he had called at Mr. D. M'Kay'a station, seeking for father Carroll, saying "he intended to murder him." It was fortunate the reverend gentleman was not alone at the time, or we should, without doubt, have had to chronicle a murder instead of an attempt. Great credit is dae to our Sergeant for the plucky manner in which he seized upon the man, and the presence of mind he displayed at the time by taking him at the side; had he grasped him in front of the throat nothing but a miracle would have saved him from a fatal blow of the desperado's knife. As illustrative of the rapidity with which lightning travels in New Zealand we may state that our English telegrams given in to the office at the Bluff at eight o'clock this morning have just finished coming through as we go to press, 4.30 p.m. Our Australian telegrams placed in the Tele-graph-office at the same hour this morning have not yet began to show up. If they come any time between this and to-morrow we shall issue a second edition. Great are the blessings of the electric telegraph. — "Auckland Evening Star." There is in Melbourne a gentleman who professes to have discovered a means of protecting the bottoms of telegraph poles from decay and the upper portion of the poles. The process, we are informed, is inexpensive. The inventor has communicated with and is desirous of selling his discovery to the different Governments of Australia. If it will do all that the inventor claims for it, the discovery is certainly a valuable one. If the proprietor does not succeed in disposing of his invention to the colonial Government on fair terms, he intends patenting it, as it is applicable to many other purposes than the preservation of electric telegraph poles. A Conshohocken father, with a marriageable daughter, finding it impossible to keep the beaux from the house, introduced a musical-box which plays " Home, Sweet Home," at 10 o'clock p.m. He thought the young men would take the hint and leave at that hour — and so they did for two nights only. The third night a second musical-box might have been seen in that house, placed there by the daughter — a much larger instrument than No. ] , and emitting more powerful sounds. At ten o'clock when No. 1 machine commenced to grind out " Home sweet Home," No. 2 box simultaneously struck up " We Won't Go Horns Till Morning, 1 * completely drowning the music of the first. And the young men took that hint too, and didn't go home till morning. This father has'nt as much music in his soul as formerly. "The American '* Girl of the Period" is hard to beat. Holloway'B Ointment and Pills. — Diseases of the Skin. — No case of disease of the skin, be its nature what it may, has failed to be benefitted by these potent remedies when properly applied. In scrofulous and scorbu* tic affections they are especially servicable.. Scurvy and eruptions, which bad resisted all other modes of treatment and were gradually becoming worse from year to year, have heei* completely cured by Holloway's Ointment and purifying Pills, which root ou.t disease, from the blood itself, leaving the oonstitution free from every morbid taint. In the nursery Holloway's Ointment should be ever at hand ; it will give immediate ease in in sprains, contusions, burns, scalds, and in? fantule eruptions, and may always safely bq applied by any ordinary attendant.