A Hero's Reception.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3261, 20 July 1889, Page 2

A Hero's Reception.

Captain Murrell, the "hero of the great Atlantic rescue of immigrants

from the disabled steamer Denmark, was the object of a most enthusiastic reception when his vessel arrived in the Thames oil May 18. £ll the boats and barges of the Thames, as they recognised tho Missouri, made some manifestation of delight, the crew and passengers of one of the great Australian liners just arrived home, taking part in the demonstration. Some ot the observations mado to the eager admirers who surrounded Captaiu Murrell shed additional light on his achievement in connection with tho loss of the Denmark, Tho waves were running high wheu the tranship-, nient of the eight hundred souls took place. . There were only nino boats with which to do the work. All grown-up persona were lifted into the Missouri by means of ropes lashed round them. Quite a scorn of the children were under eleven months old. It speaks volumes for the patience and skill displayed that not one of its little ones was lost in its transfer from labouring ship to tossing boat and then again from the small craft to tho rescuing (tamer. Captain Murrell mentioned one amusing and pathetic incident, and that was that a little girl was born on' board the Missouri, a daughter of one of the Denmark's passengers, and that this little lady was christened Atlanta Missouri Linne, The Americans have shown, it .would seem, lavish admiration of tho gallant deed of Captain Murrell and his crew. The captain said he bad enough to do to SEve ono button on his uniform from ladies who were desirous of having some token of him. Ho was loaded with medals from Societies and bodies in tho United States, whilo he was warmly impressed with tho abundant kindness shown himself and crew at Philadelphia and Baltimore, His own countrymen are to give him, ani the brave fellows who co-operated with him, official recognition through tho Lord Mayor at the mansion house today (May 24),

Punctuation. Mr James Bailey, ot Leeds, contributes in the columns of a contemporary to a discussion on tlie subject of Lawyers and Punctuation. Commenting on previous communications lie writes Lawyers very wisely dispense with any and every sort of punctuation in their instruments, because "commas, those useful, often indispensable aids to tho .understanding," as Mr Herodotus Smith calls tliem, are the most risky and often mischievous little signs that pen or typo can produce, and a misplaced comma in a will or deed might easily misrepresent the intention of the testator or signatories, and divert the course of ownership ol an ontiro property, I

may give a few instances which are not new but will serve to illustrate this. A bishop was horrified to find in the report of his speech the sentence, "Hiscontention was that there was nothing in the Mosaio narrative; which was at variance with the discoveries of modern science," Take out the semicolon and you get tho bishop's meaning, A story is told of a precentor getting the intimation-" A sailor going to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the congregation," and rendering it thus '.—"A sailor, going to see his wife, desires the prayers." Another instance ot lamentable turning away of the sonse by bad punctuation is tho toast," Woman—without her, man is a brute," rendered " Woman, without her man, is abrute." There are one or two which will not be so familiar. In a notice of Sir Theodore Martin's " Life of the Prince Consort," a sentence was quoted which ended, "and thus the Belgrade question is solved, thank God," and tho reviewer went on to say, "one more volume will close tho deeply interesting story of the Prince's life." Both the reviewer and Sir Theodore Martin must have been pleased when it appeared.— " Thank God, one more volume will close the deeply interesting story." Only the other day' tho Observer spoke of a certain lady as " daughter of Frederick Landgrave, of HessoCassell," instead of putting the comma after the word Frederick. These instances will serve to show the wisdom of lawyers in avoiding tho pitfalls of punctuation, and letting the evident sense of the wdkls tell for itself. Edison's Latest, The inventor, Edison, isn't happy unless ho is able to invent hall' a dozen things every day. He does it j list for amusement, sometimes, when his regular business isn't .pressing. Tho other day, when out for a stroll, he thought of a plan for walking on one log so as to rest the other. Lounging into a billiard room, he was struck with the amount of cushion required for a table, aiid quick as lightning lie thought of a better and more economical way—cushion tl>9 halls,. Edison is perfecting what will be a boon to dvinkiug men, He callsit

the toddygraph, .11 is a machine so constructed that after a man lias taken one drink lie can breathe into it and afterwards the effects of flio drink,can be reproduced as many times as he chooses by applying his lips to a small tube and turning a crank. A man with a toddygraph concealed under his coat has no. excuse for going out between nets when hef takes his wife to the theatre. Of course the saloons and the Liquor Dealers' Association will make a bitter fight against Edison's teddygraph, for it is liable to break up their business, It will beat high license and prohibition any day in the weelc, Sundays not oxcepWdf'M. man can mix bis drinks to suit himself, and then stock his toddygraph—it can be double barrelled if lie prefers—with a supply of beverages sufficient to last a lifotime. And when lie has drunk himself into the grave, his bereaved family can bring the toddygraph out occasionally and revive tender recollections of the old man by'turning the crank and getting a whiff of the old man's breath. ■