OLD STORIES RETOLD. (From the Taranaki News.)

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 184, 15 July 1873, Page 3

OLD STORIES RETOLD. (From the Taranaki News.)

Ix to-day's obituary we record tho death, by the wreck of the ill-fated ship Atlantic, at the mouth of Halifax harbor, in Nova Scotia, .of Mrs La.wiston Davidson nee Umphelby and her daughter Lilian, widow and d mailer of the late -Captain Davidson, of the ship Wilium Stovvld. This unfortunate lady \> as the heroine of u romantic affair which occurred m the early dnjs of tins settlement, tl c particulars of which we forbear to" publish The present writer .new Captain Davidson, having sailed with him in the William Stcneld m 18J4 On Die vojage he learned irom the Cap tain's lips, some particulars of his adventures on this coast now fifty jears ago, the publication of which he trusts will interest his hearers and will add another chapter to the history of Taiannki. Captain Davidson, whom the writer found to be an upright and good-hearted sailor, was on the coast of Tarauaki in 1823, for the purpose of buying flax from the Maoris. lie anchored off the Waitara, and the Maoris came out to trade with him in large canoes. These were the palmy days of the Niatiawa, for the tribe had not then been broken by the aggressive Waikato, armed w ith the murderous English gun Captain Davidsons impression at that time wns that the Waitara was a densely populated district. From Waitara the Captain sailed to Kapiti, and while there employed Maoris on board his ship in making sinnet for lathing the bales of flax, giving as wages a large blue glass bead for every two fathoms of sinnet. One poor slave girl earned several beads and strung them round her neck One of her masters came and took them from her Pieeently another master came to see after her .earnings, and found them gone. Then ensued a quarrel, which ended in the poor girl's be-uig taken ashore, killed, and dn ided at a cannibal feast. The horrified captain warped his vessel broadside to the spot where these atrocities were being enacted for the purpose of discharging his carronades among ] the wretches. He was dissuaded from this rashness by the whalers who feared that the Maoris would mako reprisals upon them. When the captain's anger had cooled he agreed to take several canoes with their crews to Port Underwood, with a clear understanding that they should not molest the people of that district. He had not, however, "been there many days before a canoe camo alongside his ship with fine tattooed heads which they requested him to ■purchase. These heads had been procured in the happy hunting grounds of the Wairiu. Plains where the Rangitane maintained the precarious existence of wild deer on an Indian chase.andwhosenumbersannuallydiminished till the arm al of the British settlers put an end to the atrocious sport. We once heard the following curious story of a captain who purchased se^ eral dried heads about "Uie time of the passing of the law which made such transactions punishable. On reaching port and learning the state of affairs, tho captain, bj the connivance of the Customs officer, sent his heads ashore to his wife packed m Ins portmanteau among his dirty linen. His spouse, all unconscious of the contents, with true feminine curiosity, hastily proceeded to unlock the ■box, fully expecting to find, as usual, some little present for herself The reader may imagine her horror on raising the Jid to find three ghastly Maori faces vis-d-vis with her. She closed the lid and fainted away. The second time the William Stoveld came out frem London to Nelson and New Plymouth, the affair happened at which we have already hinted. Miss Umphelby, who was a passenger by the ship, found that circumstances had transpired at New Plymouth, that rendered it unadvisable for her io leave Nelson. She accordingly remained on board the ship When the ship was about to return to London, the gallant Captain finding that he could not take the ludy home <is a passenger, offered her marriage, and was accepted. We "heard nothing more of the gallant old Captain and his romantic bride, till we read the sad record of the deaths in a ■Southern paper with the appendix— Taranaki papers please

Hints to Make Houses Wholesome.— Punch contributes to this controversy the follow ing version of Dean Swift's Advice to Servants; — "Always keep the windows shut ; for thus jou not only present unwholesome draughts but stop the smuts from dying m and dirtying the furniture, Ncter sweep under tiie beds, or the sofas, oi-fhe sideboards, but allow the dust to remain there undisturbed, for other, vise its particles might float into the air and injure respiration. For the same reason, suffer the ' Hue' to settle on the tops of wardrobes, pictures, bookcases, and cabinets, and refrain from injuring jour health bj attempting to lemove it "iVhi'ii visitors are expected, and you aie honored with instructions to dear out a bi'dioom closet, o. 1 peihaps a chest of dr.iwei* for them, do st> in as j;eutlo a manner as you can, and sp.eatl ci .-in paper on the shelves without disturbing the du.-fc which thi'ie hit- peacefully accumulated. Always put away jour wine-glasses and decanters without washing them ; and when a flower- vase is sent down from the draw-ine-room, let the water remain in it to bo ready for next time. You thus may save yourself much trouble, and avoid .the risk of breakage. When you are directed to light a bedroom fire for an unexpected visitor, never look to ascertain if the register be closed. Should the room be filled with smoke, recollect that fumigation is prescribed as a meaws to prevent infection. Take it for granted that all the household lineK has been well aired at the wash, and do not diiturb your mind by any doubts |upon the subject. If damp sheets are the consequences, an 1 illness should ensue from them, you will ha\e the conflation of reflecting that your carelessness has been the means of bringing profit to an honorable member of the medical profession, and that your master, and not you, will have to pay the charges It is convenient to keep a dirty cloth or two underneath the sofa cushions, m order to be handy to wipe up any mess which you unluckily may make, in case jou should upset the milkjug while you are handing round the tea-tray. If you are bidden to poke the fire (particularly in the library, where you find your master intensely busy at his writing-desk) so with all the violence and vehemence that you can muster, in order that the dust may fly into the room, instead of falling into the ash-pan, whence jou would have to undergo the labor of removing it. When you go to light the gas, always turn it full on before you strike your match, which you will take caro to keep damp and probably incombustible. A slight escape of gas not merely imparts a piquant perfume to a room, but serves to turn the observation from detecting eveu more offensive odours Xever shake the rugs and doormats or so much as even s>tir them, if you can possibly help it. A good quantity of dirt may thus be snugly stored beneath them, and need not be dislodged until the yearly ■cleaning. If jour mistress be attached to pug-dogs, cats, or parrots, encourage her to let them have their meals at the same table as lier-elf, and refrain from sweeping up the scraps which they may leave, lest they afterwards may wish for them. If canaries be her pets, do not clean their cages oftener than once in every month or so, and fill up their baths and drinkmg-fountains without pre\iously emptying them. Above all things bear in mind that scrubbing is a .painful and degrading operation, and abstain therefore as much as possible from practising it " Hard to Swallow — J H Batchelder, of Salem, [The Denial Cosmos,He\ tembcr, IS72), reports the caseof a patient, a gentleman aged 65, who had worn for several years a partial upper set of teetli on a gold plate, which measured two and one-eighth inches in its w idest part by one and threein its Jnirrowest dimension. The teeth had never been secure in the mouth, and their owner frequently carried them about in his pocket, or left them in various places about the house. While sitting m his chair, about two years ago, the patient was seized with a fit, upon recovering from which he experienced a sense of suffocation in the throat, accompanied by severe pain in swallow ing. His family physician considered and treated the case as one of paralysis of the thrrut. No solid food could be taken, and there was constant uneasiness in the throat, attended with difficulty in swallowing. Some five weeks after the attack he asked for his teeth. His wife failed to find them, and then, for the first time, suspected that they might hare been swallowed. On mentioning her suspicions to the physician, he considered the occurrence of such an accident impossible. Fifteen months from the time when he was taken w ith the convulsions, during all which time he had suffered from a painful cough, the patient awoke with an alarming sensation of suffocation. He soon recovered and went to sleep, but was again awakened about two hours later, bj a violent attack of coughing, during which the lost teeth were thrown into his mouth. His symptoms at once disappeared, and the next morning, the first tune for fifteen months, the patient ate a substautuvl and solid breakfast. — The London Medical Heard. A Real Needlewoman. —The Italian gentleman who recently swallowed a fork has found a dangerous rival in a French lady who has been accustomed to seek noui ishment in needles. Notwithstanding the most careful and anxious precautions of her friends, the old lady in question ■was successful in her d uly endeavours to possess herself of her favourite fare. The most remarkable feature in the case was, not that the needles did her no harm, but that she seemed to thrive upon them. What became of them all was, not unnaturally, a constant theme of wonder in the circle of her acquaintance. The mystery has just been solved by a post-mortem examination made in the amphitheatre of L'Ecole de Medicine at Paris, and witnessed de .?<•* propres ytux bj a well-known journalist. The needles were all found embedded in the flesh near the old lady's backbone, ranged in neat order, as if in a pin cushion. So bountiful had the deceased fared that there was scarcely an inch of room left for the proper diiposal of another pennyworth ; and her friends have at le st the melancholy satisfaction of knowing that she died before the total absorption of the a\ailable space had her veil to make the approach of the luncheon hour a terror to her — Fall Mall Gazette. WoMJEiiFii, Babjt.— A S\di)i>\ pixr contains the announcpinent of Ilie exhibition of a "wonderful baby," and truly it does •>eciti to lit a woinlorf .1 in.iliiiv, for i| i. -..ml to be only 8 weeks old, and jel it m asiired as follows: — Height, 2ft llm ; round the chest, 2tt 3in ; round tlie waiat, 2ft ltn ; lound the thigh, lit Gin. Honest byupvniY — Intelligent Boy — "Pa, I'm sorry you've got the 'lluenza'" P.ipa — " Why, laddie ?" Boy — u 'Causo /might catch it, you know !"

New Ze\l\xd Woods. — The following memorandum bj Mr Balfour upon New Zealand woods possesses much vilue. He says :—": — " New Zealand woods are for the mint i>art slioit in the grain, and break w.th little warning, although to this there is a number of ■v.ihublo exception*, yet the ratio of safe load to breaking weight is high, winch greatly compensates for this peculiarity The black an. l ved birch will be largely used for public woiks in iuture, sis the\ grow to -i large size and possess \ery properties ' He Biigt;e-ts a complete investigation of all th.- facts us a matter of public importance. Another matter he recommend* to the <onudcration of the Government for investigation, namch , the proper time for felling timber. In countries where the climate is severe the season is midwinter or midsummer, when the trees are most free from sap. Iv New Zealand, where the climato is never severe and trees never cease to grow, he suggests that midsummer would be the time. Spring and autumn are tho worst seasons for foiling. Attention should also be paid to the important question of seasoning timber. — Waikouaiti Herald. The Argm of the 26th May hits nn article on the postal question, from which we make the following extract : — " The British Government, it will be seen, are prepared to make similar arrangements with regard to any services which may be established between Australia and Singapore and Australia and San Francisco. There is thus a choice of routes open to all the colonies, and the mission of Mr Samuel on behalf of Now SouthJWales to Washington is rendered perfectly unne* cessary. Mr Samuel has already,,started for New Zealand, but before he leaves that colony for America he will, no doubt, be informed of the new propositions whi>-h have been made, and will most probably be recalled. The mails could not be transmitted from England to San Francisco at a less rate than the home authorities propose, and therefore all that remains to be done by those colonies who prefer that route is to arrange for an efficient service between San Francisco, New Zealand, and Australia. If this be done, Victoria wdl probably be willing to contribute towards it. Indeed, she has never refused to assist in maintaining a really efficient lino via New Zealand and San Francisco, but she did most properly refuse to have anything to do w ith a service w Inch experience proved to be utterly incompetent to fulfil its engagements. As for the Singapore line, that is a matter which almost solely concerns Queensland, and, to some extent, perhaps, New South Wales ; but at present it is not a route which the more western colonies are likely to support."

FEET. There's feet that houlds on like a cat on a rocf, And theie's feet that thumps like an elephant's hoof ; There's feet that goes trundlin on like a barra, And some that's crooky, some as straight as an arra ; There's feet that's thick, and feet that's thin, And some turnin out, and some turnin in ; And there's feet that can run, and feet that etui walk, Aye, feet that can laugh, and feet that can talkBut an innocent fut— it's got the spring That you feel when you tread on the mountain ling ; And it's tied to the heart, and not to the hip. And it moves with the eye, and it moves with the lip. I suppose it's God that makes when he wills Them beautiful things— with the lift of His hills, And the waft of His winds, and His calms and His storms, And His woik and His rest ; and that's how He forms A simple wench to be true and free, And to move like a piece of poethry. — " Betsy Lee" in Macmillan. The first Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, was the famous Walter Travers, the opponent of the judicious Hooker at the Temple. Archbishop Lofthouse probably sympathised with his "Low Church" views, and he seems to have given satisfaction in Ireland. The Archbishop, who may justly claim to have founded the college, is a very prominent character in the history of his time. He held the Archbishopric of Armagh before that of Dublin, so that he made, like Chief Justice Montagu, a descent in dignity, but an ascent in profit. He was the first Adam Loftus or Lofthouse whs was Chancellor of Ireland ; the second was his nephew A coat of arms was gi anted him in 15G7, but he relinquished its use on finding that lie was entitled already to a different shield. The family was of old standing in Coverdale, in Yorkshire, his father having been steward and iinpropriator of the suppressed Abbey of Coverham. The arms granted to the Archbishop are worth noting as an example of ecclesiastical heraldry : — Azure, a crow, or, auttee de sanij, between four pelicans, " pectora sua iidnerantes." They are evidently founded on those of Cranmer, whose four " cranes," alluding to his name, were changed by Henry VUF. into pelicans m i allusion to his office j The Lyilelton Times savs;— "lt may encourage our I patriotic preservers of forests to Lno\\ that timber legislation was m novelty in the old days. In Japan a law exists that whoever culs "down a tree is obliged to plant another. In Biscay, every proprietor plants two for every one ho cuts down. And the system is rapidly spreading in our own day. In America an important law on the same subject passed Congress the 11th of March, 1873 It is enacted that any one who plants forty acres of timber, the trees eight feet apart, and keeps them in a healthy growing condition fbv five years, shall receive the fee-simple for the quarter-section of 160 acres, but only one-quarter in each section is to be appropriated ; and every 6ettlcr under " the Homestead Act, who has planted with trees ' and kept in good and thrifty condition ' one acre in sixteen of the holding, is to have his grant at the ' end of the third year instead of waiting for five.' " The following is from the Sydney Mail :—": — " The Ballarat Farmers' Club is in high feather. ' It is really doing good service to the eauso, and furnishes an example that should be followed. The members nre pouring out their experience at the monthly meetings Hoy the common good, and their torches, handed round by the Australian Press, throw quite a light around. At the last meeting, the President read a paper on the potato farina. He discoursed upon its uses — it yielded whiskey — lewt of potatoes giving over a gallon and a-half of proof spirit. There is starch, too, easily procurable. Machinery, driven by two horses rasps down and converts 18ewt of potatoes into starch in an hour, including pumping. The starch obtained amounts to about 17 per cent of the potatoes. Maize flour may bo similarly used. Potato starch is equal in flavor to arrowroot. The President stated that a gentleman who had manipulated the farina in a simple manner informed him that he could place it on the market at 3d a pound w holesalo. This is good hearing for those who are at a distanco ftom population, since it will bo far cheaper for them to reduce tho root to farina and transport it to market in that state. The pulp would be consumable by pigs. In tho discussion that followed many of tho members confirmed tho President's remarks, and affirmed that tho potato farina was preferred in their households to arrowroot." The library of Trinity College is one of the best in the three kingdoms. It possesses, like the British Museum, the privilege of receiving a copy of every book published. The MSS. of Archbishop Usher are among its greatest treasuies ; it has {also a fine Lollard or Wycliffite Bible in English, and, what is one of the most remarkable volumes in existence, the Book of Kells. The gre.vt room of the library occupies almost the whole upper story of a large building, and. was formerly covered by a flat ceiling ; but this showing signs of weakness, the present picturesque arched wooden roof was designed by the late Mr Woodward, and put into place about seven years ago, arrangements being so carefully made and can ied out that the library was kept open during the usual days for students. A cynical traveller, who acquired a taste in Canada for sleigh riding, and cannot humor his taste in England, publishes the following recipe for a like sensation :—": — " Sit in the hall in your night clothes, with both doors open, so that you can get a good draught ; put your foot in a pail of ice water ; drop the front door key down your back ; hold an icicle in one hand, and ring the tea bell with tho other. You can't tell the difference with your eyes shut." Speaking of the present drinking habits of the Scottish people, the Scotsman says — " By our discountenancing innocent pleasures', we have succeeded in educating the great mass of the people to have no taste for any enjoyment but that of drinking whisky ; and now when whisky drinking has through our own action attained the dimensions of a gigantic evil, we are driven to consider by what means, repressive or otherwise, we can undo our own work, and extinguish or restrict it " There are good times in store for British oyster eaters. A new bed has bein discovered between Fleetwood (North Lancashire) and Whitehaven, of almost exliaustlessdimen810113, being calculated to cover 800 square miles, the o> sters lying 2ft or 3ft deep. The fish is said to be reraarkablv fino and well fed, and of a delicate flavor, though tho rut-side shell appears to be somewhat hard nnd rough. Near Fleetwood tho oysters sell at 2s per score — Aryvs. A New York writer on fashion says : — " Tho number of our prematurely grey young women in the streets, dressed in tho height of fashion, and stylish, attracts attention. Tho hair is not powdered or frosted, but is really grey. One would hardly credit the fact, but tho fact it is, that a chemical proness is resorted to, to bleach tho hair white. Tho reign of the blonde is over, and tbo old term 'tow head 1 passes from room to room. Golden locks are at a discount. Raven tresses are vulgar, and snowy hair is tho style. TUe highest priced wigs are grey, and not black or auburn. Such is the tyranny of fashion, that young girls with black and auburn hair are crazy to have a bleached head." When Brennan, tho noted highwayman, was taken in the south of Ireland, curiosity drew numbers to the gaol, to see loaded with irons the mnn who had long been a terror to the country ; among other? was a banker whoso notps were not at that time held m the highest estimation, who n«>ured the prisoner that lie was very glad to see him there at last. Brennan, looking up, replied, " Ah, sir, I did not expert, Hint from you— indeed I did not; for you well know that when all the country refused your iwtes, I took them." Sir George Bowen has written to the effect that lie misses the pituresquo'scenery of Now Zpaland, tho Victorian scenery being flat and insipid. Ho will always regard Now Zealand as the most fascinating country ho over know. — The Weekly Times.