MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 301, 16 April 1874, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

The issue of crowns nnd half crowns- has been suspended eTer since 1851. Florins- have been coined recently at a-, great rate. Nearly seven million florin* were coined in, 1872. and about three tunei that number were coined in the twelve years, 1861-72. Half-crowns wer« issued so long ago as in the reign of Queen M»ry ; the florini was introduced in 1849. A committee, consisting of Lord Cathcart, Mr C. Wliitehead, Mr Jabez Turner, Mr Wakefield, Mr Brandreth (3-ibbs, Mr J. Bowen- Jones, Mr W. Carruthera, F.L.Si. and Mr J. Algernon Clarke, appointed by the Royal Agricultural Society to carry into effect the suggestions of the judges of the potato disease essays held a- meeting yesterday at Hanoversquare. They will recommend the Council to offer three prizes of £100>each for disease-proof potatoes. Competitorswill probably be required to send in one ton of each variety by the middle of February. Each sample will be distributed among growers in many different parts of England, Walei, Scotland, and Ireland ; and the produce of potatoes which resist disease duruog the first year's' trial will ba tested fortwo years longer. With a view of encouraging the production of new varieties handsome prizes are to be offered alsofor disease-proof sorts raised from potato plums to enter intocompetition in the Spring of 1879. The terms and conditions will be decided upon at the next meeting of the Council. Mr C. Roberts, writing from San Francisco on the sth of December, informs the Toronto. Globe that he and Mr P. Beresford Ilope have orossed the American continent on British territory, with the exception of the short canal at the Sault St Marie, which is on United States territory. They landed at Quebec in May, and proceeded, via Toronto, to Fort Garry, by way of the Georgian Bay, the north shore of Lake Superior, and the Dawson-road. They left Fort Garry on the 24<fch of July to cross the plains to Forfc Edmonton by way of Forts Ellioe, Carleton, and Pitt, and arrived there on the 4th of September, riding on horteback, . and carrying provisions and baggage in the common Red " River carts. From Edmonton-they started with a pack train of nine horse* fo? Jasper's house, and crossed the Rocky Mountains by the Yellow Head Pass and Tete Jaune Cache, and down the Cranberry, Albredt, and North Thompson ▼alley to Kamloops, where they arrived on the sth of November. They proceeded by stage to Yale, and thence to Vi«toria by steamboat, arriving there on the 15th of Nov., just sit months after landing at Quebec. In their long; journey they encountered no difficult ies except such as arecommon to travel in unsettled countries. They had tolerable sport; among the prairie grouse and wild ducks, bufc were frightfully tormented by mosquitoes. Thoy h*d the usual troubles with perverse pack-horses, but the great scarcity of food in the forest, and the bad packing, soon reduced them to * state of subjection, but dejection, and of the 14 horses used between Edmonton and Kamloops only 4 soven reached fcho latter plaoe, and of that number only two were equal to a day's work. Between the Macleod and the Athabasca, rivers the travellers were caught in a snowstorm, and were detained one day, and had to travel the wholo of the next day through snow 12 or 14 inches deep, bnfc otherwise they had remarkably fine weather, having had only one thunderstorm in the night and two wefc days during the three and a half months' journey. From, the lateness of the season and the low temperature ill the mountains, all therivers were low, and there were none of tho dangers and difficulties in crossing them which Lord Milton and Dootor Cheadle experienced in their adventurous journey over the same ground ten years ago. "Throughout the journey," writes Mr Roberts, " we received th© greatest kindness and assistance from tbe oflicrrs in charge of the Hudson Bay stations, without which, indeed, our journey could not have been attempted. We were also much indebted to Mr W. Moberley and Mr Selwyn (who were at Tete Jaune Cache, on their survey of th» Yellow Head Pass) for much kindness, guidance, and assistance. It would be trespassing toomuch on your space to give our impressions of the country through which we passed, but I must express our convictions^ of the fitness of a very large portion of the north-weit ter« w ritory for agricultural purposes, nnd, without pretending to nny knowledge of engineering, but from a practical knowledge of railways in Switzerland and other Darts of Europe, our belief that the proposed Canada Pacific Railway is a perfectly practical undertaking, and one which is not only necessary for opening up tho country, but for the consolidation, and, indeed, for securing the very existence of the Dominion, and when completed it will form one of tho strongest bonds of union between ' tho old country ' and Canada. Further, we would advocate the construction of the lino bv the Government, ai it is impossible to conceive ™ the political con»equeuces which might re«ult from placing so large a. tract of valuable Itnd in the hands of » pri*-»t& company."

The two places which most pleas. 1 tho I'arisitui servant are the serrioe of the gandin, or, in more modern Parisan slang, gommeux, and his worthy mute the cocottc. For these two situations ha will leave dukes and priuees, for there alone can he satisfy his I i i Imnt> mid his love of money. The gommeux, the man nlwnst (own, the lounger, is only at home en, passant, mid mi.-, iv- ennui and conceit abroad, while his lackeys plays high ]inks in his amrhuents, plunders his oellar, breaks las eiockery, and rolls on In-, furniture In the society winch 'receives,' but which is not receueil, an intelligent valet soon ha* two w 1112s attuc'ied to Ins feet, Mercury's rod 111 his hands, and numerous louts dor in his pockets, without mentioning tliut ho may be impertinent with impunity, As for tho waiting wo ueu, it is needless to say that it is in a service like this especially that they enjoj the precioui faculty of rummaging the watdrobes of their mistresses to cut a figure at a subscription ball. No idea can bo formed of the extent to which complicity and fraud exist in the unexplored world of Parisian servantdom. There are register offices for supplying embarrassed servants with characters, beautifully written like diplomatic treaties, and offices for wet-nurse* where both nuraes and children are painted, and where red neckerchiefs are given to the pale, yellow ones to the dark complexioned, and yellow ones to the blondes. Next day the paint cracks and falls off, the neckerchief drops, and there remains an old nurse who would be a fortune to an European Barn urn. It is a long and inexhaustible chapter. My intention has been merely to show a corner of the picture, in order that credulous souls who still believe in the faithfulness of French servants may learn to be on their guard — London Times. The following is extracted from a diary' kept by one 0 f tbs officers of H.M.S. Challenger, which is engaged in making deep sea soundings in various parts of tho world : — At Tristan d'Acunha we learnt that two Germans had been living at tho well-named Inaccessible Island, thirty miles south, who had voluntarily exiled themselves with tho hope of obtaining seal skins, but as their provisions were well known to have been long expended, and as from tbeir smoke signals having been discontinued for two months, they were supposed to have perished, the captain decided to go and look after them, so during the night the ship was steamed quietly across the channel. At daylight the following morning the land was closed, but as nothing could be seen but the poor fellows' grass hut, there were many speculations on board as to their fate. The captain, commander, and paymaster landed, and, as the^ neared the shore, our minds were much relieved to see the two would-be Robinson Crusoes running at the utmost speed towards tho boat. 'Soon afterw.ardt they arrived on board, in time for broakfast, nhen they enjoyed a hearty feast. The rejoicings of the poor fellows at their release from captivity may well be imagined. They had been landed on the island nearly two years before, and during the first year had several opportunities to escape by crossing to the island of Tristan d'Acunha, but each time, hoping to obtain seals, they resolved to remain. For the last ten months they had 9een no one, had been totally without external resources, and wholly dependent on the few vegetables they had been able to raise, the wild pigs on the top of the island — the ascent to which was so steep as to be a question of life or death on each attempt — and the penguin eggs, which birds frequent the island in large numbers during the breeding spason. The poor fellows were taken on board, and afterwards landed at the Cape. The following are a few particulars as to the Tichborne trial — To the jury has been paid £2,600 ;to the printers, nearly £4,000. The piosecuting counsel — five in all— have swallowed over £14,000. The defendant's counsel are paid miserably compared with the prosecution. The exact amount is >not known. Some of the witnesses for the prosecution received very large fees— one, £I,< 00; another, £700 ; and a third, £500. They came from Austialia and Chili, and their evidence was deemed necessary. Altogether, the "little bill" on one side alone, when it comes to be added up, must reach close on £150,000. The following ingenious method of hatching fish is said to be practised by the Chinese : — They place a certain quantity of spawn in empty hen's eggs, which aro sealed up •with wax and placed under the sitting hen. After some days they break the eggs and empty the fry into water well warmed by the sun, and there nurse them until they are sufficiently strong to be turned into a lake or river. The New Zealand Acclimatisation Societies might try a similar experiment. Posts, rails, or any other timber, especially if cut or split from young trte«, will last much lcng™r if before it is usid it is soaked in water for a lew days until water-logged, and then thoroughly dried. The reason is this — the water penetrates the pores, and soaks out the albumen and vegetable acid, which would otherwise start the decay, but when driven out of the timber forms a scum on the top of the pond or pool in which the viood is soaking. A vessel of 600 tons has got both of her anchors entangled with the Atlantic Cable, in the gut of the (/anno. The captain has offeied to cut his chains for $4000, or on condition of receiving new anchors and chains and $80 a day demurrage, while he is detained for them, otherwise he ■w ill raise his anchors, which would almost certainly break the cable. The Telegi aph Company will probably at cant his terms.