MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 284, 7 March 1874, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

" Tinu wilt se]e--«eho'«i *>iti a<;e-— they vail not stop the jpoaToh of the Prussians. Trocbu -vrjH be obliged to come to th4 National Guard. Then »•» r hall aay, * General, give . us our terror and go t-> sleep ' I shall be summoned to the I council' of war. I have my. plan. ' I explnin it — 'tit ac-|-cfpf*d-it 3u<?C€ieo», f am pjaoed in supreme command, j .-bePr^aawiio are chaoi^i back to their scjur'krout, iitirM-— i Av-li, i -ion't like to boswrt, but th*u'lt se« — thoti'lt see— , •«£!<>? "< ill' happen. " "And thy plan, OWrV> — fchou hast fernv d it all ?\dy ?" l% Ay, ay — the really uiilitary genius ic prompt vmn peti*" Armard— a flash of the brain. Uaiic ye ! 3>t the Vandals come to Fans ami invest it. Whatever their numbers vn paper I den't care a button r they can only have a few thousand f at nny given point in the vpflt cirflnmfrif rce rf the capital- Any fool mutt grant that— tuou taM4u pr^nt it, eh! 1 " It seems just,.* "Of course Well, then, we proceed by sorties of 200,000 men lepea'ed every other day, and in ] 2 clays the Ptussians are in full flight — they are cut to pieoes. 1 depone f rochu — : the National Guard elects theSaviour of Fiance. I" have a ' place in iny «ye for Ihee." - The Paritians, by Lord Lytton It was an aggregative cave of complicating ciicumstaucea. You see Pick Slater is a Randolph street saloon keeper, and very prond of hit skill with the rifle, lie shot' a lynx once, or claimed hn did, and as lasting proof had the' animal stuffed and tet tip in one of his thow windows. ' Pour hoys were passing the window on yesterday ' morning, and •topped to look at the lynx. One of the boys had a bulldog, and the bull dog ttoppod also-. No sooner did he get his eyes on that lynx, however, than crash he went through the window, seized the game by the throat, and sheok the stuffing out k lota than no^itne. The glass breaking frightened a horse standing befoT? the door, and with a splendid luage he went on the sidewalk and gcdchdcl another Dig piece out of the name window, then tied, upsetting two boys who were in the buggy behind him. He was caught at Twelfth ntroet ; pitccn of the bnggv might have "been picked tip all along between that- point and the starting one, and the boyn are now nursed by anxious mothers. Slater eet up some folding doorM to protect his place till he could get a new window , Presently Mrs Slater cam* down stains, and being totally ignorant that anything had happened, opened the aide door into the Balloon. This knocked down the folding doors, and completed the wreck. A piece of glass g&shtvl yin Slater's nose painfully, and (springing suddenly back in alarm, she ujnet two junior Slaters who bad follower) her 'lawn. Af. present tlio saloon lias a brand new window, and in place of the lynx is a green frog which prognosticates all kinds of weather. — Times i The i ttent • f uiilroad open in India at Ifirtiutnnirr, 1873, vra» 5,611 widen. " T!v*> »to*« irrenur of the year 1872 was £6,8M ,617 ; tho p»»»engrr traffic produotng orer two million*, and the goods traffio t>earjy four million?. The expenditure amounted to £8,482,394, ienvi»g a net revenue of £2,869,228. The guaranteed intereit advanced by tli* G^orernment in the year amounted to £4,60ft,883, JeariJig £1,731,660 in excels of the receipts from thr traffi. The pxppnditvro on guaranteed railways to Mire's 1873, hw» been £91,086,025, and on State lines to the end of 1872 £8,492,322, making the et-' penditure of capital £95,178 847, rxolusive of the land for the guaranteed lines. Since the commencement of mlwuv operations in India material* of the ralnft of nearlr 30 millions sterling have be«n sent there from the United Kingdom. The number ot persons employed on the railways open in India in Ontob^r, 1872, was 5 T.S'W : above 50,030 were native* of India. At tlie end of Ib7i there were 61,940 proprietor* of Indian railway Htop.k and dnbpntnres; 388 were native. In thn y»>ar 1872 there wern 9 p«M(mib*th killed and 68 injured ; bat there w *• on'y ,1 killed and 37 injured from eau*»» beyond their own control, th#». other 8 killed and 2-1 injarrd owing- their misfortune to ,tbeir own min"onJui)t or w*n>. of c*utiiin But there wore alto 78 trespasR^rd killed, 2 prrsoni at. level crosiin^n. 108 s^rvantu of the companies oi of com ractora. and 14 *' mitcellaueoui," making in all 211 percont killed. The number of pMisnee^ in 1872 w«* 20,325,596, inclusive of 12,869 periodical ticketbolder. The third and fourth clatt ])atsengeri constituted nearly 94 per cant ot' tljr whole number, and contributed 77 per cent of the receipts from passenger traffic A discussion on marriage has recontlv been raging in the correspondence columns, of the Melbourne papers. Tiie Ttlcgraph admits that there arc fewer marriages iu Victoria in proportion to the population than in European countries, nnd adds that t'>e «Tp7arintioii lie* to a groat extent in the Acarcit) of lad es in Victoria Tsking unmarried persons of the age of twenty years and upwards, and the l&tt ennsuf returns gire 96,685 bsrbrlors end J^ 20$ f |»in»tcr?. We mtr asoume that one-hall of the 25,000 young ladies arc J erig»?riJ, and if v, Hie prospects of the re. narnm-j 12,300 muet be regarded as «• trrllent. Thuy have $3t lca«r*84,000 bachelors to sue them. It ie notorious that in largo districrs like the Talbot and t V Wuutnora, « hole <rhordes of bacW lcs arc running wild, no more chance of meeting a wita fchau they have of finding u bunyp. Three tyjjioal dutiis may bu quftted :— Iioddon, 12,454 bachelors, 320 spinsters ; Wimmera, 1,184 b«c\jelorfc, 70 npinbttrs; Talbot, 5,929 buQbelors, 26b' spuwlera. Young nmn prowoding to theiu districts omj well ejaculate, jffterDaote— " All hope abandon \e who enter hero.' For thorn tne ch.,r i» snd pnins of I flirtation milting into courtship and sub iding into matrimony, are not. Ih.e tet.i'ng§ of totalization end u rod by theEii unhappy or^etnrea -.-hen tlit'j road the charges igaintt the Mslbourno beaux of neglecting the fair aex must bave been pirticularlv poignant. American female newspaper reporters are now to be found 4n all parts of tbs Si^ppn went to the. Vi^nmt Erp'wtjoo.

Tliore are ot'ur m" l hoils> of settling Kb'l I'ftsus without the assistance of intellectual jurymen, and as ttie following tjfici'lont .occurred in tin editor's room nob a hundred milA from Dunedin, it will probably be read with interest (says the Otago Dudy Times pf February llth). Aa a certain e>Htor waa busily employed in lna room writing a leader, a lou I thumping was heai«d aft the door, and in cams a rou^hish specimen of a regulajr" Downcaster. Addressing himself tug the ochtor, he s,ud: j'Say, ain't you t'io cuts that drives the I nibt h» this i-aij t'aatovy ?' 'I'm the editor, if you wish to aee him. 1 ' Preoiioly. you are the man I'm looking for. I I intended to go for you. Faot u, I'vo travelled overland ti j -pound you.* * Indeed, eir/ the editor coolly replied, ' how W<j I given jrbU^wflRnKWt', * Well, you're called mo an assUine abortion of»»tu*vdity} 'wiiioh slightly kind of rile* mo.' The'matt' of lettora looked at .the. Yunkoe, and then requested him to trait till he had finished hi* article on 'Toe .'Advantages of the. Noble Art of Solf-Dofanoe.' -The subject of the leader was hardly in aooordanoe with the stranger's idei of the taatv he hud travelled overland to pound, ttvli he wa» determined to tee the matter out. On the leader being completed, the editor rang the bell, and theu turning to the Yankee, aaid, ' Now, sir, I will attend to you.' '•Well.' ' said the stranger, 'as I want this little affair to be private, nhat liavc you pullc I that hell fctf?' 'Oli,' that ii to send die boy for aome lint, and bandages, and a uab}'for to tell you the truth, the last three men that I h.ire thrashed here hate 'lain in the office two or three days laid, up with wounds and. fractures. Now, si the directors meet here to-morrow, I. want to get you out of the war sharp.' This ■ emark fl^bburgaste'l the would-bai bruiser. He turned to the editor and said, 'Why, yS mmt be the man that whipped the "Slasher." ' 'I'm th3 identical party.' ' Well, as he can give me two atone and a| licking, I'm sorry I spoke. Good day.' The above incident « strictly true, and is Undoubtedly a rduch better way of settling a libel than all the, publicity and expense of law. The Lord Chief Justice of Queen's Bench on the treatment of wituusapv mwark* : — "I deeply, deplore that member* ol the bnr »o frequently put, uuiieoessawLy, questions affecting the private life of witnesses, which is only justifiable when they .go to the credibility of » witness. I have watcbec closely tW administration^ pfjiuifice in France, Germany Holland, Belgium, Italy, and a little in Spain, as well as in the United States, in Canada, and in Ireland, and in iri place have I seen witnesses so badgered, browbeaten, and % every way so brutally maltreated «s m-Englaud. Th« -vrrti in which we treat our witness is a national disgrace, arid seriously, obstructs instead of aiding the ends of justice. Ir England the most honourable and comiciuntiou* men loathi the witneai-box. Men and women of all ranks shrink with terror from subjecting themselve* to the wanton insult aic bullying, misnamed cross-examination, in our Englisl Courts. Watch the tremor that passes the frames of man; persons is they enter the witneis-box. 1 remember to bay aeon so distinguished a man as the Into fir 1 Benjamin Brodi shiver as he oufcered the witness-box. I dare say hisappre hension amounted to exquisite torture. Witnesses are jus a# necessary for the administration at justice as Judges d jurymen, and are entitled to be treated ,with the name oon sideratioii, snd their ntfturs and private lives ought ttk held as sacred from the gaze of the public as those of m Judges or jurymen. I venture to think that it it the dut of a Judge to allow no question to be put to a witness un loss such as iw clearly pertinent to the iseoe before th Court, except where the credibility of the witness is delibi rately challenged by counsel, and that the credibility ( % witness should not be wantonly challenged on sligl grounds." ' - *■ Trinity Church has jit length been the scene of s miracle 1 On Wednesday list, crowds of eager believers were witness*! of the p-Kceful flight of a pretty, mjsterieus, white hit around and around the spire. The crowd v»s affe-strttc] Bishop Kip and Professor Silliman were instantly sent fo; to witness what could be nothing less than the miraerilot descent of the Holy Dove. The crowd thickened, Bisho Sip prayed a prayer, and Professor SiHimun piused aroun the plate. Paray-le-Moniol was cast into the shade by th paying»up«the-money. - At length the sacred fcird ceased ii evolutions and settled on the spire Looking down on tt prostrate crowd of believers — the plaza wan quite full — tl sacred bird lowered its head, whilst a beautiful aureole in ■enen to rise shove it* head* and it sprtJtM " It »}icak^ ■apeakrl '? shouted Ktp, turning a sotneroault in hn eusW E Ond^ more the sacred bird lowered its .head ; once more tl gotdJn il«wrrpse like thr young 1 Jettuee arrangement on th head of aeeckjitoo, and once motfe it spike these ever m morable word*: 1 " Grive poll* a cracker ! "~-8a* FrAHmtt Hfeu,* Letter. '^'^ Lively little episodes frequently oocar in America. T* verr latest item of interest iti'this line it thus recorded :■ "• if r Lloyd Clary, editor of the Cumberland Daily JSm Maryland, was murdered in InV office on the 27th of Oetobc by a young man named Ro^lej, ion of the clerk of tl Circuit Court., In the Times of that morning hid appear. TiTfTWfiWe in which certain apparent inequalities in tl manner 'of- ronrpatift^ thi fflfteag^iSni'-plfy r>i jurymen in recent caee tried in the Circuit Court were pointed out, tl orders for the money being made out by Mr Resley, or^i of Ms deputies. At two o'cloek tn thcaflernton yomip B0 went into the Timtt office armed with a revolver, » meeting Mr Clnry in the hall, at the top of tlie first flije of stairs, be put to him the qnestior.— ' Did you write tjh article ?' at' the ssme time iliawi'h.i his pistol. Clsry e; claimed — ' John, give ine a chance'!' Besley said ' No J' oi immecliately fired two shots, the one passing through Clarj reek, and the other entering his riiesVjnst below the heal inflicting a fatal wound. Mr Clary died ita the evenill Resley surrendered himself." Renowned a* the mother country is for bid railway ma agement, she is gradually picking up the lesuou of the vuli of low fares. In 1872 tlie example of the Midland Cotttpai ltd the other companies to attach third class passenger cs to all their trains, 4&st trains included, am! the result 1 been just what continental oxpecienoe would lead the ob*M to expect. Tlie first-class traffic was not affected, but «flP c natural incresae, the number of eecond-clnes pwgengi cieoreased 8,562,000, end the third-class lias rioK&ecd 1 64,000,000 giving the companies i- vn»tJj increased reven nnd practically not adding to their working expenses. Ca Tyler, in his annual report, seems to think, indeed, that t! x-hoie of the increase may- be counted as profit, for it real outs next to nothing more to carry a carriage quite full passengers than it does one with tvo people in each compe nient. Low fares will now begin to find champions even t ie conservative mother country. - An example .of literal interpretation .of a judicial tngg tion is not w-fchoutr its ipwnil as to hou a good deal ■relations petty litigation might be disposed of. One cost mengerhtd soeff another in the Westminster County Coi S> >r a money Ba^nnre claimed «i arising out of the rale ol t]o»fcey. His Honor patiently endeavoured to extract t truth from a conflict of hard s'wesiring. At luncheon til he said, ' The Court will now adjourn for 20 minutes. Mei time* (addressing the litigants) 'you had better settle t. case by yourselves outside.' They looked at each otl in flstonitbmrtit. until the defendant said, 'you liesrd wl liis Honor said, Bill ; I suppose he means it. 1 After M rounds in the ttreet the plaintiff acknowledged himi tatiefied, and the parties to the suit aojonrned in compa to drink the Judge's heslr,h. A poor peasant ofHnsialt, Belgium, went the round all the coffee-houses with a tack containing eartb, »1ati: that he hid linxnd the m«a\i» of Renting room* with that su stance, impregnated with the solution of soda. He ma the experiment before a crowd of people, and succeedi He filled 1 • scuttle three-quarters with small coal, and t remaining fourth, with vegetable mould," tl. en dissolve* halfpenny worth'of common carbonate of soda in half a lit of water, and mixed up the solution with the rest. Tl quantity was found sufficient ti> warm a room for five houi Advices from Zanzibar report the capture of a ilaver < l,amoo, by the governor of that place, with a cargo of 2 slaves. This is a moi>t satisfactory proof that the S^t nf 7anzibar and his officials, on the coast are acting Wf the late treaty with Great Britain for the abolitionof t transport of. elavfet. A young backwoods lawyer lately concluded hi« argume in a case of damages for injury done by the defendan swine with ihn following strblime bnrsfc:— ' If, gentlemen tihe'jury, the doiendsnt's hogs are pertnitteif \o roam large over the fcir fields of my client with impunity*! without yokes — then, yes, then indeed* have your foreiatbf fotig>.» and bl-^rl »rd died in T4>n.' A foolvh frnjk:, which b«d a fatal result, hts occurrtd Fifeshire. A lad while passing a secluded part of.- (lie m near Markinch, after dark, was confronted bv. € person e vel6ped in a white sheet. fVrror-stricken, he could v move from the spot, and was with diflSouliy got home. T nervous system received such a shook* that after lingering i a few dajs ho expired Housemaid : 'Tm wrry to hear you've lost your uncl Mary.' Mary : ' Ye*; it wet quite sudden. But— -ain't i! real comfort as I' got that black dress, instead of the gre one you wanted me to buy? '—Punch. Lady (to Jeamee, who has brought up a note) : ' Didjr aA the young perion to' take a se%t ?' Jeames : • Beg p«l ffl'lady/siie'd hevidently been eatitf'o' onions; so I as'd 1 fo bo s'good as to wait outside !' — Punch. We arc sorry tc hear that the case of Col. Fraser agair the police is to be reopened by Mr Lowe. He means m chief; for bo is 1 himself a Bobby. — Morntt. The New Yofk Arcadian defines ' journalist' as a man wl ■pends the best days of his life in conferring reputations < others, and potting none bimsf If. 'What's the date of your bustle ?' mi what an anxio' papa of Cobleskill asked his well-dressed daughter, aft searching for the latest copy of bis paper. Tim quantity of coa* rawed in Oiuat Britain in 1872 wi 123,393,853 ton;, and, the lives lost in raising the co smn«nt"d to ,\060; thus showing that 111,409 totJS wei raised for er^ry lite lost. Pnynr "tilaUs" for bohoolhoT/i, tn d piper b»t* in itnit Mon of felt. sr« among the rjoTel nutnutttcturtt latulj n troriuced into Jipan

Captain D H. LeolcroJ of tho French army, last week laid before the Academy of Science a statistical account ot the Jois'8 sustained bv (Vrmany during the late war with France. At B ilm, Alui.ich, S uiigaiut, an.i Dresden nominative IW-i were publitluil ut nil ii •> killed, wounded, an3 missing, >md <"iw>i tlu'se captain L .-lore ht« compilod feOOO tables, chryix»l.> •»o»H\ ir>ungedb., > Win mt1 militnr, operations, giving ill I u jj«i icu!ar-> i. •> .-i tin.- tho nil n i 01 the wound 1 -, tli-- rnnfr c ol the olJi.v, , th, nurrli ii troops engaged 111 i.,ab. >>■'•> battle, m 1 -uinim • &.c 1' nen6rmou8 work, » hn !i I ■• uut/.or na- j. . Mint.- ' ith i i ■. w ta compete for tlw j-iuc of --t 'uti-s m t! ,.fi, .it t ,» Academy, offers tanou "*'i i^sull l l hu tel,iu»i m. t ie general- Iqbso 1 ? 9f the i*i a uiid 4th G .nan urmies oppuded to Marshal MooMahon, from the 24th. of .< j^ to the 3rd of September, 1870, amount to 2*5,462 demi, »rounded, or faifssikg. ■ 6f-S,V21 of" the latter, $22 Bavuritni »re eo avitt ; , oot of 1,078 dffietrnliit, E98 were killed on the spot. During the eaine Jjorlod, I he I si and 2nd German armies that fought against General Froistrd and Mai'iLol Bazaine, losl at Spichereii-Porbnjfh, on the 6th August, 5,056 officers, noncommUiionfcd oflioei-e, and loldiera, either killed, wounded, or musing ; on the 14th of Aueuct, at Borny, east of Metz, in l«e» than fire hoars, 6,064 men ot ali grade*, from one or other of the abore cansoi ; at VionviUf and lilars-la-Toura, in «l»ven anti »■ half hours, 14,915, of whom 3,167 were killed, and 1,436 miiiine ; on the IStb, o,t Gravelotte, Verr.eTille, and 8t m seren hours, 20,675, .noju-Uhg 4.410 killed, of whexu 292 v?ere offioers. The abdrA four Gbrtaatt armios thereioro lost 74,786 men, comprising 2,963 officers, 6,154 nori-oomuiLiaionud ofiieerj, 749 ctrtJmmar^.Or bu^lrmen, and 217 Tolunicers onlistrd fora year, 'tbenf flfures include 6,815 mi««n»j 323 of whom, Batdriim, hare not turned up again. This calculation, be it remembered, only extends to tue 3id September ; from that period to the 30fh of January. 1871, the low* sustained by (Jit German* amounted to 54,484 men killed. wound?d, or missing, making a grand total ot 129,270, including 5,153 officers, 11,095 nun commiisioued officers, 1,202 druiuu^en, or buglers, 595 Tolunteern, and 96,425 colrliers The grnpi.il tdtal of' the dead, either IdHlod on the »pot or hanng died in consequence of their wounds, amounts to 44 996. The «?eg<* of f*ri* cost the Germans 11,701 men dead and wounded. Advices from Archangel state that Greenland is suffering uncltr a turnble famine Tlie seal-fishing having coiupl«t«ly failed this jcur, the inhabitanU are deprived of their usual ■winter food. At Nuparoa 160 persons have alrendy died from hunger.