MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 278, 21 February 1874, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

A writer m the Nelson Mail relates the following facts rogarding the incrensing mporiame of this Colony at home : —Talking of prosperity, 1 ,im reminded that a few days since I had the increasing importance of New Zealand as a whole brought forcibly under my notice. I was looking over the advertising columns of the London Times of the 24th October, and there I saw a list of the ships at present engaged in the New Zealand trade. And how many do you suppose there were ? You might answer with a cortain amount of surprise at rour own rashness — ' Five-and-twenty, but you would bo far under the mark, find, 1 suspect, \ should have to toll you several times to guess again before you armed at the actual number, which was fiftyfour' Nor are tbey small and insignificant boats, for the tonnage ranges from 708, the lowest, to 2500, the highest. Not bad this for England's youngaat colony, which when the last census was takon, did not number more than a quarter of a million ol m>uls Oi the vessels named »h are now building for the Otago trade specially. They are to be 1200 tons ouch, and will he named respectively the Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington, Nelson, Dunedin, and Invercargill. New Zealand must be *omewfaat better knowi> at home than it was a lew pears ago, when such a fleet at is advertised in one London newspaper is required for its trade mtli the borne country. '

The Spectator, in an article on the " Uselessness of Ab-1 str ict Preaching," has the following remarks as the resul^fl of personal experience :—": — " Wo may be permitted to dott^| whether tne general and abstract method of spiritual in"- 1 str iction is that by which the clergy of England will practt- 1 cally benefit thoir parishioners. Our own experience, extend- 1 f ng OTer e period of nearly ten years in a country parish, I would lead us to conclude that preaching of this kind has I ab-oiiitaly no <übre client upo'» the character or lire* of thjfl parishioners than the raoaniug of the wind has upon thW bones that he in fcbe churchyard. During that period ire I h,i 1 gradually become acquainted with the characteristic I temptations, failings, tricks, vices, and crimes of the neighbourhood. The chief social ill is, of course, that the men drink their wages, instead of taking tbem home to their wives. Market-gardening is the prevailing occupation. Th# people are tempted to trickery in weighing their good* and' in preparing them for market, and many tricks they practise. It is not safe to buy a sack of potatoes without weighing it, or a basket of apples without looking whether those on the top are not immensely better m quality than those below, or a t russ of hay without ascertaining whether ft brick has been inserted to increase the weight. The rule with the farmer*, when any of their live stock is ailing, and cannot be per fectly cured is 'to get rid of it,' without mention of the ail ' Dent. There is a constant temptation to overload horßes, and to use them with cruel carelessness. We said that we have been nearly ten years in the parish. We hare heard pn-aching in the parish church all the time ; and we are prepared to state that, if a few allusions to drunkenness are allowed for, we have never known a preacher lay s> 'fiery finger ' upon, or so much as mention, any one of the pecusir vi< es of the place, — systematic selfishness, utter and unabashed, is the practical moral code, and never have W ki'own the clergyman come down from the clouds to the eitent of even saying, 'If you %< best " your neighbours, and watch day and night for the advantage in bargains, you are violating the laws of Christ.' The consequence in our cue has been that we scorn and detest the Jiypooritic sham of mouthing moral platitudes whicn have no effect whateyer. Our distinct impression is that it has never oecurredto th« great body of parishioners that seru>ou* preached in the parish church have, or are meant; to hnve, any connection whatever witli their daily life. And we are quite sure thai no good will be done by inculcating, as tho sum of morality the imitation of Christ, until preachers also say how Christ! would act if lie hud vegetables to sell or horses to drive, 'fu Elephmnts were of old employed in India in the launcbinH of ships. Ludolph relates that one being directed to force! a very large vessel into the water, the work proved supenoi to its strength ; his master with sarcastic tone, bid the keeper take away the lazy beast and bring another; the poor animal in-rantly repeated his efforts, fractured his skull, and dn;d on the spot. One of the carriers of a New York paper called the Ad' vacate, having become indisposed, his son took his place, but not knowing the subscribers he- was to Bupply, be took foi his guide a dog which had usually attended' his father. The animal trotted on, a-head of the boy, and stopped at everj door where the paper was in use to be left, w ithout making a single omission or mistake. During a sudden inundation of the Rhine a hare unable to escape through the water to an eminence climbed iA tree. One of the boatmen rowing about to assist the m> fortunate inhabitants observing puss, rowed up to the tr»j and mounted it, eag^r for the game, without properly fastening his boat. The terrified hare, on tbe approach of lti pursuer, sprang from the branch into the boat, which thai set in motion floated away, leaving its owner in the tree in dread of being washed away by the current After several hours' anxiety he was perceived, and taken off by some of hiß companions. Mr Adamson, in his " Voyage to Senegal," &c, mention that durmg the time of his residence at Pod or, a French factory on the bank* of the! river Niger, there were tV i ostriches, though young, of gigantic size, which afforded him a very remaikable sight. " They were," he says, "to t.ime that two little blacks mounted both together on thi back of the largest. No sooner did he fe«l their weight, than he began to run as fast as possible, and cariied them several times round the village, as was impossible to stop him otherwise than by obstructing the passage. This sighs pleased me so much that I wished it to be repeated, and ta try their stiength, diiected a full grown uegio to niounn the smallest, and two others Ihe largest. This burfcken dij not seem at all disproportionate to their strength. At flfl 1 they went at a toletafijy sharp trot, but when they became heated a little, they eXpfcnded their wings as though te 1 ratch the wind, and moved with such fleetness, that they scarcely seemed to touch the ground. Most people have one time or other seen a partridge run ; and consequently know that there is no man whatever able to keep up with i it ; and it is easy to imagine that if this bird had a longer ' step, its speed ■would be considerably augmented. G^be ostrich moves like the partridge, with this advantage ; and I urn satisfied that those I am speal- ing of would have distanced the fleetest racehorses that wfcre ever bred in England. It is true they would not hold out bo long mi a horse , but tb*y would -w*do»»t>to«lly go-<y»gr a givau apaci in less time. 1 have frequently beheld this sight, which n ' capable of gning one an idea of the prodigious strength of an ostrich, and of shewing what use it might be of, ha&ye : but the method of breaking and managing it as we "t ; horse. " The .A meriean Indiana are known to be excellent runner»> i being almost able to match the swiftest horses. The bu i frog of American swamps is also well known for its su prising power of leaping, often compassing three yardq . one leap. In order to make & trial of its powers, son i Swedes laid a wager with a young Indian, that he cou [ not overtake a full-grown bull-frog, provided it had in , leaps in advance. They caught one in a pond, and carri it mto a field at some distance, where applying a burni • faggot to its tail, the irritated animal bounded across tl i field towards the pond a* fast as it could, the Indian f< [■ lowing with all his might. The race was however i •natch ; the frog had regained the pond before the Indii , was within many yards of it. j Many people seem to forget that character grows ; that l ' not something to put on r*ady made with womanhood or mi ' hood ; but, day by day, here a little and there a little, gro ■ with ihe growth and strengthens with the strength, until, goc > or bad, it becomes almost a coat of mail. Look at a man ' business— prompt, reliable, conscientious, yet clear-headed a 1 energetic When do you suppose he developed all these a . miracle qalities ' When he was a boy ? Let vi lee the way which a boy of ten year* gets up in the morning, works, play > studies, and we will tell you jutt what kind of a man he wQ make The boy that ii late at breakfast and late at schoo stands a poor chance to be a prompt mm . The boy who neglect* his duties, be they ever to small, and then excuse* himself bj ' saying, " I forgot, I didn't know !" will never be a reliabh man. And the boy who finds pleasure in the suffering of weakei things will never be a noble, generous, kindly man—a gentle- , man. i A German paper contains a reply from a clergyman who i was travelling, and who stopped at a hotel much frequented , by what are called " drummers." The host, not being used to hnve clergymen at his table, looked at him with surprise and the clerks used their artillery of wit upon him without ; eliciting a remark in sell-defence. The worthy clergyman ate his dinner quierly, apparently without observing the gibet ! and sneers of his neighbours. One of them, at last, ii^espair at his forbearance, said to him : " Well, I wonder at yonr patience ! Have you not heard all that has been said against you ?" " Oh, yes, but I am used to it. Do you know who lam ?" " No, sir," " Wnll, I will inform yqjp lam chaplain to a lunatic asylum ; such remarks have m> effect upon me.'^ It is pleasant to see things put strongly and pointedly. Some one asked Colonel Howard, of Georgia, lately, if ho thought that a certain Radical in the State would steal. " Steal ! " responded the colonel, " why, if be were paralysed and ham strung, I wouldn't trust him by himself in the middle of the Desert of Sahara with the biggest anchor of i the Great Eastern ! Steal! I should think he would." The belt way to apply fresh wood ashes is to the surface broadcast, before or alter sowing the seed. It should ne\fl be ploughed under, when the quick results are wanted.