MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 295, 2 April 1874, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Scientific American saye that, according to a prominent manufacturer, there are more pianoi injured by improper tuning than by legitimate use and the consequent natural wear of the instruments. The frame of a good piano, fully strung and tuned, is made to resist a tension equal to about seven tons. This serere strain relaxes as the strings recede from pitch, but is renewed when the piano is tuned ; and it is frequently discovered, as a result of this repeated process, that the frame is bent or bellied ; and at the hands of an ignorant tuner or one lacking good judgment, an instrument at this stage is soon injured beyond remedy. With reasonable use, a piano is expected to remain in good condition for seven years, and the best makers will so guarantee their instruments ; but the incompetence and malpractice of certain so called tuners bet the seal of destruction on thousands of instruments in from two to five years. In tuning a piano the correct method is to begin in the centre of the instrument, on what in called middle C. Yet many tuners, when leaving middle C, instead of going down the scale and turning the lower notes and heavier and longer strings first — thus immediately bringing the greatest tension to bear upon the frame, and forming, as it were, a solid foundation upon which to operate, — will go up the scale, beginning with the shorter and lighter wires and higher notes, leaving the baas strings until the last, with the invariable result that, when the tuning of the lower portion of the piano is completed, the upper octaves are found to be decidedly away from pitch. Every time a piano is tuned in ibis tnmner, it increases the liability of bunihug the frame, ard renders the instrument more difficult to tune and keep m tune. The apparent physical effect may be so infinitesimal as to be impossible of measurement, yet a change m the outline of the frame equal to but the thickness of a sheet of tissue paper will produce a difference of nearly a half tone in the sound of any given note. It the lighter strings are tuned first, tbey relax when the greater strain is brought to bear m keeping the heavier wires up to pitch, with the effect referred to above. Many tuners do not carefully note the condition of the frame ol a piano, and adopt their treatment to the circumstances of the case, with full knowledge that a bent, weakened, or very old frame will not bland the extreme tension, or strain the strings at the high pitch which can bo put upon and borne by a frame and wires which have never bceu injured through ignorance or negloct, and bcur no special murks of time or use. Tut re are very few pianos, und those of the best description, that will btand at concert pitch. An extremely well puinted oil-colour, representing the Hooper Telegraph Ship, has been exhibited and attracted a good deal of attention. Some idea of the enormous length and graceful proportions of the noble steamer can be formed from the painting. The Hooper, which is commanded by Captain Ed ing toil, was built on the Tyne in the- extraordinarily short period of six months. As the subject is both of general and local interest, we quote some portions of an article on the ship from a London contemporary : — " The ship was built for and belongs the Hooper Telegraph Company (Limited) — one of the two largest manufacturers of submarine telegraph cables in the kingdom. This enterprising and successful association were wise enough to see that many advantagei would accrue from having a ship built specially for the work of laying ocean submarine cables, and v> ith the advantage of no small experience of their own, and of a perfect kuowledge of the lessons to be learnt from tbe experience of other companies, they designed and built a vessel which has justified their anticipations by one of tbe most successful cable expeditions ever made. The Hooper is 320 feet between perpendiculars, 56 feet beam, and 35 feet in depth of hold, with throe enormous cable tanks, giving a stowage capacity of 5000 cubic feet in excess of her onormoui rival the Great Eoitern, which is 23,000 tons register. The construction of the (hip had been specially adapted to meet the requirements oi the elaborate and ponderous machinery required lor pa\ mg out, and mote particularly for hauling in cable, in case of accident during the process of laying, or of having to recover cable already laid in which a fault has developed. The requirements of electricians, engineers, and navigators have been met in the most complete way, while the veisel'i labour-saving appliances make her worthy an inspection on that account fclone. She sailed from Plymouth on the 22nd of June last with 1400 nautical miles of cable and 1200 tons of coal on board, made a good passage, steaming at the rate of 9 knots, to Pernambuco, and laid her length of cable to Para, returning into Millwall Dock on the 4th of October last. A contemporary >ayi : — Victoria is in almost the same dilemma as New Zealand. It is nnxious to construct railways, but has not tbe necessary labour for the prosecution of the works. We learn, from a perusal of the Melbourne papers, that the Government have given it out as their intention to submit to tbe consideration of the next Parliament a scheme of railway extension. One of the Victorian Executive, in his address to bis constituents at Maryborough, is reported to have expressed bis belief that within the next ten yeara railways would be extended to the remotest part of the colony, and "he hoped that every assistance would be given to the present or future Government in the prottcution of railway extension, for there could be no doubt that those cheap railways did a wonderful amount of good." Mr Gillies having overlooked the labour question, however, in making these remarks, is reminded of that fact by the Argus, which aayt that tbe lines already authorised will absorb ai much labour as the country can possibly spare for some years to come. As in New Zealand so in Victoria it would appear that tbe farmers find grounds for complaint in tbe scarcity of labour and the high rate of wages, and the Argus points out, a* has been similarly done m these columns, that " unless tho Government walk circumspectly, it will Eeriously retard the progress of the colony, by enhancing the value of labour to such an extent as to put a stop to enterprise." We have, says our contemporary, frequently insisted that there is a limit to our powers of railway construction beyond which we cannot go without serious risk of injury, and that limit has been reached, if not overstepped. It is evident that railways are useless if there is nothing to carry, and consequently they should go hand-in-hand with settlement. To starve industry in order to provido meant of communication is an absurdity on the face of it. The Argus points out that there is only ono way out of the difficulty. The example of New Zealand must be followed, and an adult population introduced from abroad, and concludes with a remark full of sound common sense : — " There is nothing which burs our rapid progress except the selfishness and stupidity of tho working daises, with the example of Naw Zealand before their eyes — where, in spite of the large immigrntion, wages are at an almost extravagant height— canot tee population is as necessary for their nelfaro as for that of any other class in the community. They are, what Pitt devoutly prayed he might never be — ' ignorant in spite of experience' " We (Waikouaiti llerald) believe that during the late scarcity of labour Chiuese have been employed by contractors, and the comparison between " John " and the European is, w« aro informed, by no uieanu disparaging to the former; in fact, wo understand that "John" makes a very good navvy, and deducting the difference in pay betweeu him and hit European brother th« advauuge is, n auytUinr, on bis unle,

The great charm of suoh books m ' Gulliver 1 * Travels,' w» are always told, u that they oan be read with equal interest for m»ny different -purpose*, and by various sorts of student*. The child who believes them to ba true— every word— and the elderly philosopher who cares nothing about the narrative, and only enjoys the satirical illustrations of human weakness, feel an equal amount of delight. So, perhaps, of the Tiohborne case. Oue set of people follow only the narrative, and care nothing for the comments ; another set pay hardly any attention to the connection of the evidence, and are chiefly interested in the episodical controversies wbioh sparkle here and there through each day's reports. We travel half the globo as the case goes on. We sail the «eas in the Bolla; we see between us and the horizon the mysterious cordage ai.d the dim sails of that mocking phan-tom-barque of the case, the O<proy. We are with Castro in the buth ; we watch Arthur Orton'i marvellous feats of horsemanship ! we are landed, all dazed and bewildered upon the quay at Melbourne ; we rest awhile under theplowing skies of Bio ; wo exchange a word in pasting with Captain Burton in the Andes, as the shepherd going out of the gate in the ' Odyseey ' calls his greeting to the shepherd coming iv. Far back we are borne among the youthful philosophers at Stoneyhurst, where the ingenuity of counsel c injure* up for us visions of Jesuitical plotting and darksome moulding ot youthful character which might have suited the terrible ecclesiastic in Eugene Sue's ' Wandering Jew.' Every grove and path in our near and ancient residence of the Tichborues is familiar ground. We visit Paris, we visit Ireland ; we learn every incident of mess-room vivacity and burrack-room horse play. We study death's-head shirt studs and peculiar pipes. Every phase of the story hatit* different scene. Wagga-Wagga will have its pilgrims, as Wjpping has. The Globo public house is to many persons an object of greater interest than anything connected \wth the Globo Theatre, Southwark, could possibly be. The witnesses arrange themselves in geographical and ethnological groups. 'My Carabineers,' as Dr Kenealy styled them, call up associations quite distinct from the Hampshire witnesses and the Melbourne witnesses. Then there wereall the various episodes which had in their turn such elements of excitement. The Contempt of Court episodes, the Luie episode, the episode of the smudged photograph, and all the rest of them — each in its turn, like the stories introduced into ' Don Quixote,' seemed to have interest eaough of its own to stand independent of the main narrativealtogether. The death is announced in the Sydney papers of an old colonist— James Boyle — who died aged eighty-three. Hecame to the Colonies in 1834, and was placed in command of the Governor Phillip, and in that capacity eostinued to act without intermission • until the transfer of that vessel (with the dependency of Norfolk Island) to the Government of Van Diemen's Land. Captain Boyle was ultimately discharged by the Government of the last-named Colony on the 16th of March, 1845, having been employed as master of the brig Governor Phillip for nearly eleven consecutive years, with credit to himself and all concerned with him. I» his command Captain Boyle had to convey stores, troops, and convicti to and from the Colonies and Norfolk Island, often at great personal risk and danger. In June, 1842 — when discharging cargo at Norfolk Island, with a military . guard on board — the soldiers were suddenly overpowered by a gang of convicts from the islands, and it was only througk Boyle's dauntless courage that the desperadoes were finally put down. The convicts actually succeeded in taking thebrig and in keeping possession of her deck for upwards of an hour, nor was it until Captain Boyle had, through theskylight and from the cabin below, shot the ringleader, that the vessel was regained. In the desperate struggle that then took place five prisoners were shot, and one soldier wa» drowned ; the sergeant of the guard, moreover, being desperately wounded. For this gallant service to his country thadeceased received in June, 1846, a sum equivalent to on» year's salary. In April, 1859, he was in consideration of hi* past services, allowed to occupy on sufferacce, a portion of Government land on Lake Jlacquarie, for the purpose of establishing a fishing station ; but the enterprise does nob seem to have been as prosperous as could have been wished, and the veteran latterly lived in Sydney. The Neio York Herald of the 14th December, received at Plymouth per the Hamburg- American steamer TVisia, giveathe following sad Account of the state of affairs in New York arising from the late panic and the severity of the weather :—": — " The recent inclement weather has developed more suffering and misery among the unemployed poor every day, and applicants for admission to the station houses and the several charitable institution* around the city increase,, and the number has become so large that fears of a bread riot are entertained in the densely-populated districts of the citj. The privations of the poor are terrible. The committees of relief have instituted soup-houses here and therethrough their wards, but this charity only provides against death from starvation ; while many hay« died from exposure to the elements. Every night the station-houses are full,, and many persons are turned away to sleep in the stretts, or any place else they can find. With thie state of affair* it isnot to be wondered at that vice is on the^hrcreaoe? as-will be seen by reference to the police court calendars. Aid i» being given to 600 parasol makers out of work in the city, and ib> Jersey City there are hundreds of families verging on star- i vation, owing to the Erie Railway Company not having paid their men for two months." ' Talk on 'Change ' in the Australasian has the following : — The occurrence which resulted in the death of poor Maxwell Reynolds (than whom . a worthier, more single-minded or persevering man ever lived) has made people timid in. opening strange parcels. The carelessness of a friend of mine caused some consternation amongst the officials of the Botanical Gardens a few days ago. He had been entrusted! by iiis wife with a small packet for conveyance to a Collinsstreet jeweller. Like a good many husbands in similar circumstances, he forgot the commission, and in returning 1 home unconsciously pulled it from his pocket with his handkerchief. An Irish gardener (the workmen art not now alt Teutons) picked it up, and feeling that it contained a littlebox, rushed in alarm to the curator with the intelligence | that some vagabond had placed an infernal machine on oneof the walks, and 'Shure, master, we'll all be blown tosmithereens!' It was with some difficulty he was persuaded to ascertain what the parcel contained, and this he prudently investigated with a long-handled rake from behind a tree. His cautious exertions resulted in the disclosure of a gold locket and a curl of fair hair — only that, and nothing more. In Dr Mayo's * Never Again,' Mr Whooper thus dealswith the subject of amenities of journalism : — ' It iscon*idered bad taste to use the naked word. The better ftyle is to do it by implication, or what you may call the roundabout or circumlocutory process. Instead! of calling a man a thief, you begin an article on> kleptomania in general. Show that it is not a new disease, but that it was known to the ancients. Suggest an hospital for the treatment of patients afflicted with that disease, from which category you except cases, like that of theeditor of the Flipper. For his case there is already a capital asylum established at Sing Sing. Or you can begin — 'What a vivid idea of the atrocious cruelty that characterised the Spanish conquest of America da wo get when w« find Montaigne compelled to apologise for not giving the names of certain nations whose laws and customs- he is compelled to 4 mention. He mentions one custom — the offering to their gods of human blood drawn only from the ears and tongue in expiation of the sin of lying. What a curious, but what a lucky thing for some of us, but especially for our friend and neighbour the editor of the Nmo York Comet, that we live in a country where no such sacrifice is required.' ' The Bega Gazette states that.Mr Bryant, a practical paper manufacturer, visited Bega not very long ago for the purposeof trying to obtain paper-making material. Mr Bryant showed us maize stalks in various stages of preparation, from the coarse ' half-stuff/ up to the delicate creamy whitsfibre ready for the last procew of pulping into- sheets of paper. There can be no doubt then, that from maize stalka good paper can be made. The stalks are prepared by being first ' trashed,' that is, the leaves are stripped off, and rejected as of no value, and the bare stalk is crushed by simple machinery, made dry, packed in handy bundles, and shipped^* to the factory. For the stalks thus handled, Mr Bryant oiibrs £2 per ton. Our flats are estimated to yield from two to three tons per acre. Say two and a half tons, and there is £5 per acre for material now absolutely wasted. In " Archibald Com table and hit Literary Correspondence" the following curious passage occurs in a letter to Constable from Mrs Campbell, showing that Buonaparte once desired to enter the English army. : — " If, as we hear, Sir Walter Scott is writing the History of Buonaparte, you may tell him that the late Sir Charles Stuart (of Bute) told me that when he commanded our army in Corsica, Buonaparte wished to come into our service. I asked what rank be expected ; he said he believed he would have accepted a Lieut. -Colonelcy. This is a fact that I know has been doubted, but you see Sir C. Stuart's authority is decisive." It is maintained that the inferior quality of certain kinds of wheat and rye flour is frequently due to the action of sunlight on the flour ; even when in biga or barrels, the glutea experiences a change similar to that occasioned by heating in the mill. The tendency thus imparted to it, to become I lumpy, and to form dough withought toughness, is similar M to that of flour'from moist grain, or of flour when it is too \ fresh, or made from grain ground too early, or when adulterated with cheaper barley meal. Such flour can be improved by keeping for some weeks. At a school examination one ef the visitors made a brief address to the pupils on the necessity of obeying their teachers and growing up loyal and useful citizens. To give emphasis to Lis remarks, he pointed to a, large national flag spread on one side of the room, and inquired, "Boys, what is that flag for ?" A little urchin, who understood the condition of the house better than the speaker, promptly answered, " To cover up the dirt, sir." W Genius loses a part of itself, as it were, by the death of a brilliant man in any profession or walk of life. This is well illustrated in the case of a ' super ' who brain-wearing task it was to remove the chairs trom the stage theatre. When Macready'a death was announced he, with dramatic gesture aud feeling, exclaimed : 'Great heavens! another one of us gono 1 '

•Hare you feed my black- faced antelope?' inquire! Mr Lootcopc, who had a collodion of animals, of his friend Bottlojack. 'No, I havn't. Whom did your black- faced »unt elope with ? '