A DELIGHTFULLY NOVEL IDEA.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 145, 12 April 1873, Page 2

A DELIGHTFULLY NOVEL IDEA.

I A mjaiiiku of High Church lad ios have formed themselresinto a society culled "' The Phoebes," whoso self-incpoteih duty iv to clean out the ehure'iiM which they frequent. A ; correspondent oi a contemporary thus humourously describes 1 tiieir operations :— Just at lirst it is considered well to under- ■ take the charge of but one church, until the society shall 1 be iully organised ; bo one fabric lias been selected "as theu'rat ior the Putubes to commence operations upon. Tho* woik is clone on Friday and Saturduy afternoons, and as I boon as tlic daiLy service on Friday inormng is over the Plwebes muster m the church. Li ly A 's carriage sets her down ut the door, und the brougham of the hon. Muses li come-> next. Tluj luunbler cab bnugs Miss 0 , and Mrs D is seen hurrying round the corner on^eot; and so on till the number is complete. Then the cilarcli doors are locked, that profane eyes may not gazj on what is being done. From the hour \\ hen the doors are closed upon tho workers, rank and perfect equality reigns; the Phcebes are then only known by their numbers. Thus l'uiebo No. 1 goes on her knees to polish the tiles of the j chancel door ; iWbo No. 2, carefully gloved, attacks, with blaeklcad brushes, the stove ; Phoebes 4, 3, 6, and 7, are sweeping out the pews and boating uu t J the hassocks ; * hile Phoebe No. 8 ha* taken the brass eagle of the lectern in^ hand, and under her ■» igorom exertions, its youth seems to bo renew cd The society has onlj been in n orkmg order for a few weeks, uud has hnc'jpome difficulties to encounter, chief amongst w huh is the utter ignorance of the Phoebes ol how the work ought to be done. As one lady desci ibes their ditliculties : "i always thought," she said, "that a housemaid had tho easiest life in tho world, but it is quite a mistake. You have no idoa how hard it is to polish a stove ; and scouring a iloor is painfully dreadful. As to beating the dust out of the iiassocks, it is not to be thought ol ; and if 30U just take nij aducc you will leave it for the the present, ami some d.iy 1 will get a woman to do it I kiio\» it is against the rult"*, but I would sooner aend a furni-turo-vau and luve t'Kun done at home thau break my back, us I hare been domj; "

.Some turn' ago it wis uiuounced that Mr Nicholas i (Jlie\alicr, who accompanied the Duke of Edinburgh on hi* j tour to India, Ja 4 i,in, .md Justralm, and mad« some , iidmjr.ible sketches in fio-t lo.irnoy, hi I boon com Missioned |h\ Iliu Queen to [u. nt -x picture c'OiiiJiit'nio.'Jiriiig the National TlijinlngiMii,; ullist i'Vbruin Mr (.'iiovulivi li.w now oolu))lctid Ins rjin:<iivioi) il« made two &Lotc!ics on the aio nontblo d:i i )--ont' in St. P.iul's m the Ko^al party w»s Htumiin^ tip in the ]>e«v *ct a^irt i\>v tiio.n ; the other in Fleet btreofc, showing the triumphal arch at the bottom of liiuigatu lull, anvl tlio Queen «ml her partjjust on the point ol driving through it on their way to the catliedral. Her .Majeslv dune the lat tor sketch, and Mr Chevalier hiu just vJuboratvd it into a \ovy r.'ni.'U'kablo picture, which a lew generations hence will bi of great hi»toric interest. Artisti* eallv the picture is wortlu of the highest praise. m An Englishman and a Ocruan were travelling together in* a diligence, and both smoking. The Uerinan did all in hi* powii* lo dniiv luscuiiipuiiiou into conversation, but to no purpose; at one moment ho would, with a supoi abundance of politeness, apologise tor driving his attention to the fact that tlie ash ol his cigar had iallen on his waistcoat, or a HMiirk was eudangerin>4 his neckerchiof. At length the En.;! B nifniexrianned, " Win llii'.dicken-. can't >oit loa»euie ■iJoiil ' \i»iir i luu l.ul li,i« kin buiniii^ k>i In. )a4 ttn IUUIUIu b u 1 UUi.i i b-t .■ r . ja aiiL'Ut U. '

A VHKT OLD FuIEND.-A romantic r^mon on last, Chri.tinai Eve is recorded by the Han Frawtco BuUrtin. About ten years a C n two brot'ion. Mt thr.rhomem Illinois Tba eHerwn n man ol tlu- iro*t «, »<U h»biti-. «d bad recaved a good busmen i t0..*..", but the jouugor was inclined to bo dissipated, and, indeed, had figured mso many scrapes th.t his depmlmv »■- >«* regu-.n,! to »'»»«•« Tillage. The two broths lived together lor » hlioit time in San Francisco wh-U- the* looked for *itu .tion-. thojoungor brother, however, 1.-11 into bad company, und tiirv -<m separated by muttu.l , o.w nl. 'Clio elder brother ub a,,i«l a situation in a wholc-lc ..ore as porter .mil bj h.* dil.gencp and steadiness so wo. Led hmi-olt into the confidence ol his employers that he gradually rose from the portion of porter to that of partner in the firm. He lately purclmed a house in Bush street, married a lady with a considerable fortune of her own, and lnst Christmas Evo he saw "three beautiful child, en nn»imd him enjoying the wonders of the Christmas tire " The family retired to rest at midnight, but the gentlern.m hail hardly elo«ed his eyes when he was awakened by « now downstairs, and moving stcalthilj to the pivrlour with a revolver m hi- hand, he saw a man endeavouring to open the buffet where he kept his ,ilver. Levelling the revolver at the thief s head he shouted, "Slop, or jou are a de.id man" The "jemmy"' dropped from the hands ot the burglar, who, falling 01. Ins knew, cried out, "As (rod ls m Y judge, Robert, I did not know jou lived here.' Ibe gentleman then diseo\cied to his lioiror that the burglar whom he was about to shoot was his jounger brother, whom he had not met for nearly ten yenr*. That night the burglar dent 1 encefull v under the roof of hib f»r o 'i vmg brother, who a-ouud the reporter of the Bulletin, with tears 111 his cvvs, that he was going to give him emplovmcnt 111 his own store, and owing to the prospect thus opened of wiving his erring relative he had never spent a happier Chroma- It is not stated what kind of reception was accorded the younger brother the next morning at breakfast by the wife oi his ho.st, but let us hope she participated 111 the joy of her husband — Pall Mall Gazette. A characteristic anecdote is related of an out-nt elbows j poet, who bvsome freak of fortune came in possession of a , five-dollar bill. lie came to a lad, and said, " Johnny, mj I boy.take William and get it changed." "What do you ; mean bv calling it William?" inquired the wondering lad I "Why,* John," said the poet, " I am not so familiar with it to call it Bill. ' SiuanoeMiKOßlAT. cfWau.-Tlu> invasion of J""»«* j bv the Germans has had a curious inlluonce on the flora 01 | the former country. A large number of foreign j.lnnt-, clue ly fiom the South ot Europe, the -mis of which were brought by the invading am.v along with forage and by other me.ui-s have sprung up in the neighbourhood of Pans and c*tablulled thnnsclvcs utlu-r t. nipoiarily or permanently, lwo Kivnchbotamsls have published i Ftotul.i Vb&uHunalis, w lloia of the two sieges, lnchi'ling 190 .specimens hitherto unknown to the district. Ncnilv the whole ol 1 them belong to families of plants cmplojed for forage or otber commissariat purpose*, 58 being specimens of the leguminostr, or pea anil clover tribe, 34, eompositrc, and 32 grasses, the remaining 60 belonging to other orders. The gi cater number of the plants were found on the left bank of the Seine, though several wore- mot with at >'eiullv, the liois dc Boulogne, and Ranela'h, on the right bank; beyond the line of German | investment scarcely nuy were found The majonty of these denizens will probably disappear in one or two masons, while others will no doubt stand their ground long after the »>il of Frame his been 7 urged from its human invaders. . The Pans Horn at present includes at least one plant which was introduced by the Russians in 1815. — Globe. I The Psychology of Self- Acctsaiioji — The cr rnie | of murder may or may "not, the Lancet sajs, be on the 111- < create in pre port ion' to population; but it is a curious | phenomenon that after every tragedy like that of Coram ■ (•treet, or Hoxton, or Kltham, there aro always three or lour persons who voluntary give themselves up os its jwrpetrator. The seclusion of a prison cell and the opportunity of sober reflection invariably bring them to their senses, though never till thov have cost the detectives three, or four valuable days. It is noteworthy, aho, that in no other crime but that of murder nre huch self-accusers to be found. Here, at least, medico p-vcbologv has an opportunity of serving the law, bv e^p'iunii'g the* genesis ot the phenomenon, and devising 1 csts tor its exposui c. It is asv mptom of genei al paralv sis, | the early sta«cs of which are often accompanied by so-called exaltation of idea*, taking the form of a perfect passion for notoriety ? Is it another ell'ect of what has been classified as "the lijpcrajsthesiaof an over-wrought civilization," 111 which the emotional nature, brooding with fascinated intensity over a horrible deep, yields so far to the law of imitation as to lealifc the position, nnd even assume the per-on, of the perpetrator? The self-accuser is always one whose nervous system is to enfeebled as to be at the mercy of I inoiWYrtnv'j unymW, swid who, under the sway ol a powerful ' imprt-siou, if unable to ca-titoll till he has almost identified ; himself witb tlio train ot events in wlnrh it has culminated. The phenomenon ban a social as well as a psj ehological interest, showing as it does the conscious rapacity for crime among so many people, and the actual insecurity oi nil who may unwittingly piovoke its unexpected outbreak. An Ancient 'Ni/w>r apeu --A Bcrks.hn 0 paper has marked the completion of its lJOlh ve.ir 111 a novel manner. "With its edition of the Ist February*, the Reading Mercury re-issued copies of tout journal published February 1, 1723, 150 3 paw ago. The fac simile is 111 itself a curiosity, and illustrates the surprisingly diminutive size of newspapers a century and a. half »go, t'l.o dimensions of its pages not exceeding 9ir. "Tub' Late Lokd Lnro>\— The illness which terminated the life of the distinguished novelist was sudden and unexpected, lie had for many y ears been the subject of discharge from the car, probably attendant on disease of the bone. This bad, however, ot no tinio pi cv ions given rise to «vmptoms causing much anxiety. On Thursday, acute }a n in the ear and head set in, and eontirued until Saturday, when unconsciousness supervened, and speedily ended in dcntli. — Briluh Medical Journal. - „ « 1 i On the 23th Januarj, n house in the yard of Mr Oadsby, builder, Torquay, in the occupation of hi-* workman, Henry Piper, was observed to be on fire. A crow d of people gathertd ; round, but the fire had gained such a mastery that it wan impossible to stop the flames. The house was of wood, aid burnt rapidly. The door was locked, and when it became | known that three children weie in the house, the excitement ■whs intense. The father and motLer were both awaj. The father had gone out with a friend, and the mother hud gono to get a bucket of water from a well in the neighbourhood. When the door had been burst open, the mother returned, and she wanted to jump into the midst of the flames to save her children, but ot course she was held back. It was certain | destruction to go into the house, and although every attempt was made to save the children, it was impossible to do so, as the fire had obtained such a hold of the building bif»re it was seen ; in fact it burst suddenly into one sheet of flame, and nothing remained but the three bodies, if one could call them bodies, lor only one bore, the least resemblance to the human form, the other two were but ashes. The house was burned to the ground, and the father and mother are now homeless and childless." A Russian Conspirator *>d a Polish Loyalist.— Our I Berlin Correspondent writes, under date of January 26 :—: — " Netchajcff has been sentenced to 20 jcars' forced labour in Siberia, on the charge of implication in the murder of one Ivan Ivanov, his accomplice in a recent studei.ti 1 conspiracy. The prisoner declined to ■answer any of the questions put to him by the President of the Court.' ' lie was an emigrant,' he said ; ' lie had ceased to be a Russian subject, and would not ftoop to defend himself before a tribunal which had no right to try him. The very charge brought against him wus false. The murder of I\ anov was not a murder according to the spirit of the law ; it was an incident in a revolutionary conspiracy, and ought to be regarded as a political crime, not as a ense of homicide ' When sentence wns pronounced upon ' bun he cried out, ' I have ceased to be the slave of 30111* despot. lam a freeman ! Dow 11 vv ith Absolutism ! Hun ah j for the Russian Parliament ' The fact of such a trial being ( held in public, and under a jury, best illustrates the progress of Russia under Alexander 11. Michael Cznitowski, better known us Sadjki Pasha, who, after 40 years of exile, has been permitted to return to his native country, addresses a letter to the editor of the Moscow Quzrflc, explaining the motiv es of his conversion to loyalty :— ' As a Turkish general,' he nvs, ' lie ha» hod occasion to convince himself that if the , minor tribes of Slavonic origin wish to preserve their nation- I ahty, there is nothing left for them but to join and entirely support the Russians. Otherwise they arc sure to succumb to Germanism, which has swallowed up already so nmnj Slavonic tribes, or nt best they will be used as tools by the "Western Powers, without ever attaining the visionary objects they have in view. If the Poles had accepted the favours showered upon them by Alexander If , instead of allowing theincolves to drift into an insane rebellion, they would bu ft happier nnd a much more highly respected people now than they arc.'fc There is plenty of "evidence m M. Czintowski't letter to show that he has long been suspected of Russ an leanings by the Polish refugees at Constantinople." The engraving of the " The late Emperor JS'apolcjn 111. after Death," recently published in the (Sraphic, appenre to have aroiiHi'd bo much political feeling 111 France as to h.uc excited the lcart of the Government , which has forbidden thi; exposure of the picture in the kioetks on the BoulevtmU, Several prominent Parisian journals had previously app 10 1 to the proprietors of the Giaphic for permission to ropubiish Abo) got fooling round hie father's horses, until iin illy one of them put his hoof in his face. He was carried in, and the doctor sewed up his lips nnd bandaged hi* eves, n id poulticed his checks : but ho pulled up and hud a-bed number of days ; and when ho began to gi t a little better ho culled lor a looking-gluss, and casting hirt eves upon 11 m countenance fell. " Father, do you think I will ever b<- «o pretty again 9 " " Ho, my »on," the old mtm replied, ' >i»i 11 never be m> pret ty again, but jou'll know a precious * lit A CiiFKurri. i u w.kstjon. -Nervous oM invalid :" " *i Alits VippLi, I it'b i|uitt; time these prissi g« v* Is were ru-papered !" Landlady . " Parding vie, sn, bi'» I am a-waitiu' t<> see 'ovv your 'talth goes 011. < 'otiinn i> *- en tbings to knot!., tin- pipa oti r-civim' down. '

4 Diamond Cvt riNQ.— This buiineishas always been confined to a small numbor of hands, and though there urc diamond cutters in London, the bulk <>f tho work is performed by the Dut n u Vti«". ni mi The nutter cutters ha\o enjoyed two \eui-. i»l wukilul pr npei itj, which the men have now resolved to sh.ue We he n- 1 tut workmou refiw> to instruct !i|),ireiitici'B, uud are eo'i-»i a itly insisting on n ruo in their own puv ; and it i- Mid limt ordinary journeymen cutters an- c irmujr 4:10, and more ekillod hands £20 I]m r week or c\«u nioic. lue charge* lor cutting avo now *# i much us 21-s per carut. on the weight of the lough stone, inI stead of lws or 11s. The monopoly the cut lew poc-evi w being made the mo-it of bv them, anil the workmui now often refuse to cut the very "small stones at any price. The " waste" in cutting \ fines according to the shape of the rough Htone, and it frequently happens that in order to remove a Haw or spot, and so produce a more perfect bnllnnt, it is deemed advisable to cut away large pieces from Mir original rough block: these cutting, are culled "cleavage," and if from good stones are valuable, as they mv eisily iimdn into Binall brilliants or rose diamonds. The practice of diamond cutters varies a good ileal n* to the ileavr.ge, some keeping it | (as a tailor would cuttings oilc loth n-nt to him to make up) while others arc con-cieutiDiH enough to return it A skilful diamond cleaver command, for higher wages as a workman than a mere cutter or politer, in on his judgment ot each ] rou&h stone depend-, tlie form and size of the brilliant. | Fish HvrcurNa \t Soi iv Kkwno ion. —Those in- i terested in the avtifii'inl cultivation offish can now see at Mr , Buekland's Museum of Fish Culture, fcrnitli Kcii-mgti»n, hatching operations* m full working order. For jeveral years past Mr Buckland has earned on with more or less success j different experiments regarding the growth and rearing of , salmon and trout, and has elucidated thereby many impor- | tant questions of natural history which doubtle-s may even- I tuallv be turned to protttable account when legislating for the economic working of our inland waters. In a few j ears mam thousands of fish have bwn hatched out at South Kensington from ova. collected m English, Irish, hootch, , American, and Continental livers. Each je.ir huge batches offish eggs are rscened b\ Mr Buckland from various parts lof the world. Unfortunately, the space at present devoted to fish-hatching at South Keimngton is somewhat hunted, i and room cannot be found for one quarter of the amount of 1 eggs receded. We understand, however, th.it the authorities i contemplate shortly extending the accommodation, and allow i , mg Mr Buekland better neope for carrying on his invcutiga- | ! tions None of t lie eggs, however, are allowed to be lost, for | 1 when the troughs are fully supplied a e ireful distribution of | | the remainder is made. "'These arc distributed in various | directions, Mr Buekland Inking care to forward the eggs of i the hm oral ii-h to rivers the nature of which is supposed j to be favourable to the increase of the ditl'erent ipecies. By these means man y of our English and Welsh waters hare been supplied clunnti the last few years with several foreign fish, mum of which aro reported to be thriving well , and 'although sufficient tiny Im3 not jet elapsed to pronounce definitely on the subject, it is generally believed that most of the<o foreign importations will in time prove valuable additions to our stock of native fish. This year the boxes at South Kensington have been supplied w ith a remarkable healthy and varied lot of eggs. The list consists of Neuchatel, Swi^s gieat lake trout, New stead Abbey, Norwegian trout, silmon and trout hybrids, i targooh or Welsh char, silver char, Sal mo Alp'uiui, silmon I from th«T\ ne, hjbnd salmon from ilumngue, whilo m a | few days arc eipected to arrive some eggs of the Danube, salmon", Salmo Huco. We understand that Mr Buckland has lor many months past held permits from several 15oaul» of ConservaLors to lake salmon egc». ... i SrartClOLi-.— A country editor, receiving an invitUion to take tea with a lady lricnd, accepted. While at the table, ! the lady observed that he had no spoon for Ins cup. "Is it possible," said she, " that I forgot to give you a spoon ? I could not have made such a mistake." " I have no spoon, madam," s.ud the editor, rising from lus seat ; "and if you don't believe me you may search me. ' • As a proof of the indefatigable literary ability of the late Lord Lvtton, it lrmv be mentioned that independently of " Keuelm Chillmglj,"' the novel which he hud just completed before his death, he was writing "The l ) ari-.i:uis" anonymously in Blackwoad To him ulso, a-< we are now informed, we owe that clever and biilliaut book. " The Coming ILiee." which has been attributed to so mam pern. I \\h\t Norn vi t- i\iH Diiv>k Fkom — The tap of i the drum. i