MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 252, 20 December 1873, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

A correspondent inform* t ho Manchester Ereninq News that during a nwrringe service at St. -Simon's, Salford, a verr (liigrnrcfiil mviv occurred, the conduct of tlie parlies being so unseemly that the officiating clergyman (the Rev, F E. Harper's curate) threatened more tlinn once that if such., invverancc were persisted in, he would refuse to continue tho ceremonj . There were three wedding parties, and the majority of the persons composing them — especially the women — were far from being sober. The clergyman's admonition* « ere of no avail, and the service was performed amid a sticcession of jocular remarks and exclamations, chiefly from one of the bride's friends, who, with her sleeves tucked up, wn* siftin<* on a inftu'*knee. nnd had her arm round Ins neck. Tile man was wearrog his cap at the time, and only removed if at the bidding of the clergyman. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the same "bridesmaid " led off a. dance opposite the vestry Ao&r, and wont capering in an extraordinary manner along the male while the certificates were being signed in the vestry. As soon a« the church was cleared, a ladjjrwlio w.13 seated in a retired part of the building, and had apparently entered the church for «hcltcr irom a shower, rose Ironi her seat, advanced to the chancel, nnd entered inio a seemingly animated rem on t.t ranee with the clergyman, the concluding portion of winch was dklinctly audible. To a question from the lady as to whether " tl.o»epe^sons were parishioners of his?'' the reverend gentlemen replied, " Xliat k no business of yours; it is a question yon have no.rigjit to ask." To which the lady replied, " I never expec-tecT to bo fo »lio< Ked fii aHmrcli." It is highly- probable, says the Pall Mali Budget, that the distaste for school too often exhibited by jouthfnl members of society, arises not so much from a disinclination to acquire knowledge, as from the very gloomy nature of the arrangements by which such knowledge is crammed down their throats; a dark, uncomfortable, ill-ventilnted school room, is a perfect chamber of horrors to a healthy child, and many a spirit is cowed" and constitution impaired by the ignoranco on this point of teachers, who frequently require education, in common sense far more than their pupils. An example* of what a schoolroom ought to be is given by Mr Jolly, Inspector of Schools, in liii general report on Church of Scotland schools for last year : — " The room itself,' 1 he soys, is scrupulously clean, being regularly washed and swept, and no dirt lurk* in the corners. The seals and furniture are bright nnd clean, tho walls whitewashed, and the window s clear as glass can be. Tbe^unsbine makes it«elf known by its brightness and reflection, and not by streaming with difficulty through a dusty fog. The walls are hung with maps, coloi ed pictures, good prints and, illuminated sayings of the good and great, tastefully arranged. Festoons of leaves mingled with, flowers hang graeefuiry on the wall, and are regularly renowed alMho year round. The desks are free from littered books and bonnets. Jlie books are placed on shelves below-, and such as. arc- on the desks are evenly arranged above each other. Every child has his own part of the shelf for books and his own nail for bonnet and clonk. Flcm-or= So"ring in pots stand in each window — a boquet adorns the teacher's desk, the gift of a scholar in the morning, and another i& on, the mantelpiece ; for tbechildren vie with each othor in bringing them, and the room is never without their freshi sweet influence. The children themselves are clean in hands, faces, and dress, them hair i& neatly combed, and their boots still show the morning polish. Every child reflects the tidy and cheerful look of the master. The forms of the classes when seated or standing on the floor have regularity and symmetry. Ko boy is seen lounging on the desk or lazily leaning on his neighbour's shoulder or laid with shot-out foot ngainst * desk or wall. The attitudes of the children axe areut and act he, and have not a little grace. Even the books and slates are htld with neatness and grace " Not one point m the above picture is from fancy. Air Jolly "bus been it all." Why, he asks, should it not be true in cverv case ? There could be a flood of refutations of the incorrect notion on men and women frendships if the writers could venture to lay bare their hearts in a public newspaper. Even in spite of the shelter of the norn dc plume, most people shrink from giving details of friend -4 ship which would be neep«sai»y to prove their reality, and the avoidance of the rock on which some friendships are wrecked. I, for one, eonitl tell of a young lady who from her father's position, and' her own ns head of her father's house, was continually m the society of gentlemen, and on terms of intimacy with a large number. Amongst these she made many warm ia-ithtul friends, 111 whom the was and is deeply interested, yet I am positively certain that with the exception of her hucband she has nevr met one man with whom *be eouKl believe it possible for her to be " in love," oven for a moment. And for the gentlemen she can say that they gave strong proofs of nho escaping this calamity , such as confiding in her about fcheir love affairs, or other equally undeniable symptoms that the friendship was not moic than friendship. This nws* be the rnse in the lives of innny. It is a pity it cannot be so in more, for men and women nnpio\c each other. In the case I refer to the marriages of the lady and the gentleman have made no sort of difference in their feelings to cadi other. Yes, they bave, for in each case where they h«ve met the lady's husband has made a real friend of ths> gc-iilttmnjj, and tieir wives Ime made u inuiid. of her, so tho bond is doubled and strengthened. It will not be many jears before America will have newspapers in cv«tj knovin language. Ten venrs ago nlmort nnj one would havo lidiculcd the idea of a Chinese newspi per in California; yet we see b} a San Francisco paper that the Quang Se, which sailed for China about a week ago, corned an order for one million p.i't-es of Chinese type, which will te used for the publication of a tri-wcekly paper to bo printed in the Chinese language m the city of San J lantisco. l'he proprietors will bo a i-ompanj of Mongolian merchants. "Wo may therefore expect," fsvs the Call, "to see pigtailed reporters nt meetings, and be treated to scuthirg Cliine«o editorial* " It begins to look as though the '* Dam chinaman " wowld become a reeopnised power. How long will it be before tl>e Chinaman will make bis first purchase of American printing material ? An inhabitant of .Alabama has patented a mosquito fnghtener, composed of the following formidable ingredients • oils of pennyroyal, mviii. origanum, terebinthe, aud sassafras, tinctures of lavender, chloroform, and arnica ; gum, camphor, nitre, alcohol, and kerosine oil. The Scientific American wry reason it bly reinarkftbaf ll the Alabama inos-quitos car. 6tand such a preparation as the above, they are proof against anything, and the only reuitjmng thing to be done is to sefc mousetraps to catch them-

At a recent meeting of the Ballarat Farmers' L-lub, tho following instructive paper was read by Mr Brndburj — '• The subject T would call jour attention to for a short time is thiii ot a dun \, l.n\ up b-ul a great many years' oxueiience in constructing -kili buddings m tho old country, and ha\mg lnid one o* inj own hen- for the last fourteen or tifteen ytar«, which «c h'u\» used with I 'if ereatest sure— . For instan o let iSite I some yeais g> i eislc of huf-ter weighing auiiiit lUibs when it wis nine month- old and obtained it two diHen nt places the fir^ pi /c in cncli place, and, after k» oping 1. nil it wns twelve mo iihs o'd. -old it to Messrs Southwind t S: Sumptun, tlien guu-eis in S.uil «iiuet, JNovr, gentlemen. I am lully persuaded that the principal cause of our butter not keeping as it out to do, is on account of the poor and mean places peisoß, have for receiving the milk nfter it comes from the cow to be lodged for tho purpose of gathering the cream. In nineteen cases out of twenh, theso places aie built m a very pmmti\e fashion, and "no care taken either to have them kept well drained ; for tins is very necossa-y, so that they can be hell swilled occasionally with cold water to keep them clean and properly ventilated, and that they may bo kept cool all the jear round. In places that I have seen, in most casos, the floors are laid with wood on sleepers, thus causing a space between the floor and the enrth, where, in the absence of propui drainage, the water will be sure to lodge j ai.d tie droppings and spdlmgs from tho mi[k and cream getting through the boards into the water, und allowed to remain there "from one month's end to the other, will cause any amount ot bad smell to arise. Hence, tho milk and ci\.un beioines contaminated with that bad smell. Now, gentlemen, to prevent this is my object in writing this p.>per. In the first place, all such building* m this eo'ony should be built either ol brick or stone, one-half below the surface, and the other halt .ibo\e. It built with bricks, they (the brick-) must he laid 1 1 good mortar, and that very thin, so :i- to prevent the damp Irom coining through tho joints as much as possible , and if built with aton-, to havo the best stone inside, .md the sump caieto be laken with the joint* a- in that with the bricks. Ihe work should also be done yen neatly, so that the watts can bo occasionally washed with lime, which tfdl not only give the place a clean appearance, but will also make it smell sweet. The floor should bo so constructed that it can be laid either w ith tile or brick, and in such a position thot it can bo well scrubbed nud swilled with cold water, so that it, can be carried away, and not allowed to accumulate under the floors. As to ventilation nnd light, a piece of peifor.ited 7Jnc, say fourteen inches In twenh -four inches,' built in the end, and a similar piece fixed in the door, which should be in the opposite end, will give any amount of light, and thus cause a current of air to bo constantly parsing through. This ventilation is quite sufficient fora building twelve feet by twenlyfonr feet To prevent dust from getting in from tho roof the ceiling should be lathed and plastered, and in no qiso moiv than eight feet from floor to ceiling. The sills should be- buil* with bricks, and arched, «o that the pans of milk may bo placed all round ; and the jars underneath to rooeiw the cream should be about two tat lrgh and two feet wide, and built with very small joints of mortar, nnd \ery even, so that when wished there will be no place 3 for anything to accumulate. It should also be built at such -i d.stanco from tho sheds or stockvnrds so that no smell can be carried by this means. To prevent tint 1 would recommend you to grow sweet b«ai\ honeysuckle, or any Ine fence lnving a sweet and pleasant »mcl)', so that what "is carried through with the, euvi cut of air shall he awect and pure This fence should bo some six: or eight feet from the building, and plant between them wallflowers or any kind of sweet herbs, so that instead of a bad swell \ou will always have a beautiful nosegay in tue- midst of woik. If such buildings as I have attempted to describe were erected, by our farmers and dairymen — and the cost would not be much — I am convinced that they could make butter that will keep any length of time, and stand carrying to any part of the woild, and open up .in indu-try which will enable us to export our produce to a market where it will command a fair price and a ready sale. Now, Mr President and gentlcmon, if anything I havo said should prove of any value to anyone in connection with the .Ballarat Tanner's Club, I shall be only too happy to ftss.st them in putting the same into practice. Mr Farjeon's new nove', '* Jjondon's Heart," contains (m chapter \xii) this good bit ol character drawing :— The ni.in ol the woild whose character rests upon a -ound foundation is sure to get the best of his neighbouis. He ishrewd and cunning, and, like the fretful porcupine, so nriiied at nil aints fin to bo nltno-t certain of wounding wh lti-ter comes in contact witli him. Frankness benns in hi» c\c, but calculation -its in his soul; he gets information out of you h\ side 'trokes and profits by it ; he brings Aon round by the irt fullest of roads to the point he is working for ; he pumps dry so skilfully that joudo not feel thirsty in the process , and he leaves _\ou under the impression tha* he j l- the most amiable ol companions. Fortunate it is for you if further e^pciience of his amiability do not compel jou, with gionn-.to rewrso this \erdict. Attached to the popular interpretation of " man of the world ' aro profound and puzzling depths. A man fails in business, lifts up his eve, look- mournfully around, bins cloth and ashes, sighs frequently, is soul-despondent, grows a little shabby, meets his cieditors, obtama his release, and, hey, presto! smilingly reenters the circle from which ho had been temporarily banished — re-enters it calm and confident, with no sign of defeat upon hnii. He is received \» ith open arms, for it i« whispeied that he has "means;" and if one says to another, '• Is it not strange that. Mr Plausible, who was in such ' difficulties In-t month, and was supposed to be ruined, should be living now m such good style?" it is ten to one another answers, " Ho is a man of tho world, sir, a thorough man of the world ; " and lifts hij hat to Mr Plausible, who just at that moineut happens to pass by. See the other side ot tho pit t ure, A man fails in business, is soul-crushod, looks mournfully about him, shrinks from his former friends, grows old gui( kly, sits in »iickcloth and rs'ies, sinks down in the woild, obtains his release after bitter struggling, and I never raises his head ngain ; orip says to another, " Poor Mr Straight ' Kegulnrly crushed, isn't, he? " And another answers, "What else could bo expected? Straight was never a man of the world ; " and turns his back upon the unfortunate-, who just at that momrnt, happens to becoming tow ards him. To be a completely snecesful man of the world, one must be thoioughly selfish, often dishonest, often false, seldom conscientious, and the porcupine quills which guard his precious interests must be well sharpened. Human nature is e\er the same. In fact the author's art consist- in skilfully transporting some of ourselves to distant time and foreign circumstance. It is a great point now-a-drn s, w hen we come to see that we arc essentially no better than our fathers. We make a great fuss about architecture and engineering, but the Greeks built the Parthenon and the Egjptians the P3 ram ids, We plough by steam and cultivate our fields by rules of chemistry, but thousands of our people die of slow starvation. A step is inadn townrds the percept ion ftf these things when the writer of flotion puts a soul into n coat of mail, and shows ns how hearts beat under slasho I doublets. Tnis illustrative method is sometimes useful with regard to great religious movements. The ordinary "religions novel," which professes to deal with individual experience, i« in most cnsc3 an abomination Pro- 1 bnbly no religious feeling which can be Hiked about in public is good for nmoh j our inmost thoughts upon such subjects are too *acred to be flaunted in the fiee of a chance reader Prnolieally, the religion displayed ma 'religious novel ' is «nd twaddle, and the book is chiefly composed of feeble tci-drmking and feebler lo\e-making-~tho chronichug of small beer and the intellectual sueuling of fools. In an historical religious novel, however, tho subject is usually po 1 ulnr modes of thought on great questions rather than personal religion. It will do us no harm to listen to Savonarola with Gecrgo Elliott, or to receive a visit from Dr Luther among the Schonberg-Cotta family. We may not agree vrith either of tho men, but it will do us good to learn what and how they thought. Polities too, may be illustrated in noveU, but will not be very convincing except in the form ' t of a satire. The idens most suitable for expression in a work I of fiction are those principles ojf socuvl philosophy which in | one direction or another govern our daily lives Our natnral I diameters are csrwble of great modification, and the success or failure of our li\es is highly due to such modification. It | is good for us to sec the tendencies of tarious forms of moral mdivid'inlity, not. merely in dry dissertation, but in vivid j and hiinrmized description. The drama goes a st"p farther than the notpl, and gives us not merely a description, but nn net mil sight of the effects of different principles of action. Tho nrfc of tho writer consists in making the characters sufficiently real If we do not believe in them, the lessons of their notions is lost upon us. This is the great tost of his genius, n<■ Hi mnnd of hint not labelled dummies, but men and woiicn; nnd according to bis ability to satisfy us in this r -pert is his rank as an artist. When the characters are icntly lifelike, his poncr is immense. Hi- dramatic }u 1 smut enthral our attention but the} arc his puppets. He h t\* us listen to their soliloquies, nay, it is he who supplies thorn with their inmost thoughts. The grandeur of purity nnd the »nrci of po.tcr, or the glut of foil v and the flash of any —these things are at his command. Tho talent of giving lilt lo hit- eicitioiis is n rare one-- he can use it as he pleases. No cla-« of men and women in society can do without Wad and meat, and the various agricultural pioducts of the earth \nd hence we all have a direct and permanent in tcict in what will make our mother eaith 3 leld us double and treble the amount of grass, grain>, vegetables, fruits, ke , to the acre that oho now 3 ields us under our present soil-exhnustnig modes of farming. And it is the duty of men of learning and experience, and of our statesmen and legislators everj where to eombino their efforts^ajid.-d" all they cm for the speedy abandonment of out" «Ainuuitve modes of farming, and for the introduction of such new modes as will improve our lands and bring them up to and keep them at the highest possible, point of productiveness. Tho French Customs' authorities recently di^ooverel thnt fi new mode of Miiugj>ling has been adopted. I'ln- innnhor of rock 1 q hoiv-i - for Pails suddenly increased; indeed, it appealed that a soit of mama hnd tiikcu possession of children's miiuN Suspicion being at length e\cito.d, one of the horses was opeiud Packed inside \\u« a large quantity of choice cigara and tobacco. The rOckiug horse, m fact, ■was a Trojan horse modernised.