MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 401, 8 December 1874, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Hawlce's Bay Telegraph rotates that one of Mr Purvis Russell's shepherds found a woman lying in the woolshed. He at once went and told his wife, and she went to the shed and took the woman into her house ; aud, after giving her some refreshment, began to question her as to who and what she was, and where she was going. The woman carried a bundle, and, on being asked what it contained, gave an evasive reply. This excited suspicion on the shepherd's part, and he sent for the police, who, on arrival, got the following particulars : — She was a Scandinavian, and had been at service in several places, during which time she became acquainted with a man who, by a promise to marry b»r, seduced her, and afterwards refused to fulfil his promise, and she was going to her friends in the Imhto bo confined. Sue got to Waipukurau, intending to go on by coach ; but, before tho coach arrived, her labour came on and she went into % plantation and lay down. She then became unconscious, during which time the child was born. On recovering herself, she found the child dead and cold 5 she then tied it up in a towel, and went into the woolshed, where she was found as above stated. She further states, that she intended taking the babe to the bush, and to tell Mr Friburg all about it, and seek his advice. However her plans were frustrated. An inquest wa3 held in the woolshed on the body of the child, when, after hearing her story and the medical evidence, a verdict of Died from exposure was returned. An rfforfc will be made to malco the father pay the expenses : meantime the public at Waipukurau have r isjd a little money for tho relief of the woman. The noble and highly aristocratic sport of horse-racing, as it was onco considered in England, is in a decidedly bad way. "The Thanes fly from it." It is yet fresh in our memories that Sir Joseph Hawley, one of the most spirited and honourable patrons that ever gave countenance and active co-operation to " frho turf," sold off his stud ; and now we have another sad defection, which will bring sorrow to the bookmakers and the betting world. " The Marquis of Exeter," says the Times of the 4th August, "intimates his intention of withdrawing his subscription from the Stamford races after tho season of 187-i, and of devoting the stand and course to more useful purposes for tho future." The ground of this determination is (as one may collect from the article of which tho above-quoted words form part) that horse-racing in England has, from tho various causes set forth, degenerated into a mere medium for gambling and demoralisation, and that tho old pica about tho improvement of the breed of hones is at an end. Railways are said to bo accountable for much of the decline, as enabling speculative turf men to move " dark horses" about, the country at pleasure, and thus to discourage the mero local efforts, once common among farmers and other breeders, to raise fine stock for the local races. " Queen's plates" are proclaimed a farco, and are said to be doomed. There can be no doubt that racing of late years lias become a sport of which gentlemen are rather shy. The " horsey men" of the day are »ot remarkable either for refinement, education, elegance of manners and speocb, or ovcu for honesty. Their betting shops, studded throughout every large town in tho country, are accountable for many n robbed till, and for ninny a delimiting clerk. Thus tho turf has becomo a much more vicious thing than was the old lottery. Society is awake to the evil, and the Legislature is compelled to notice it. Ie the same impression of tho Times which contains the account of the Marquis of Exeter's secession, is a report of some " betting prosecutions at Birmingham," which shows, as most of such reports do, that the turf is now supported in England by a very equivocal stylo of patrons. " The book-makers," of course, take a deep intorest \n tho whole subject, and under recent enactments aro being rapidly made much less happy than thoy were a few years back. ' ' ' *

The "Intelligent" Compositor: This is Max Adr'.u-'a dedication to his new book, Out of tho Hurly Burly : "My original intention wa9 to dedicate this book to the friend o-f my boyhood, Azan bon G-lios, the Imaum of Muscat, in memory of the happy days when together we played matbles in tlie Oman desert, and, ducked each other in the Persian Ghilf, and tortured inoffensive cats on the Island of Kifhm. But I have changed my mind ; I hare resolved to dedicate the book to a humorist wh6 faas had too little famo, to the most delicious, because the m st unconscious humorist, to that widely scattered and multitudinous comedian who may be expressed in the concrete as the ' intelligent compositor.' To bi9 faculty of perpetrating felicitous absurdities I am indebted for ' laughter that is worth a hundred groans.' It was ho who, putting into type an article of mine which contained the injunction 'Do nut cast your pearls before swine,' transformed the phrase into, ' Do not cart your pills before sunrise." It was he who caused me to quote the poet's inquiry ro that I propounded to the world the appalling conundrum, 'Where are the dead, the varnished dead?' And it was his glorious tendency to make the sublime convulsively ridiculous that rejected a line in a poem of mine which declared that a ' comet swept o'er the heavens with its trailing skirts,' and substituted the idea that a ' count slept in a haymow in a tiavelling skirt. 1 The kind of (alent that is here displayed deserves profound reverence- It is wonderful and awful, and thus I offer it as a token of my marvelling respect." New York journals of a recent date give very lengthy accounts of remarkable escapes of several noted cnmmals frojh the New York State prison : and it would seem from the particulars furnished by these journals that the very greatest difficulty was at first experienced in ascertaining whether the escapes had been effected solely by the ingenuity of the confinees, or, as was generally supposed, at the connivance of the gaol officials. The enquiries sefc on foot eventually revealed that the escapes, for the most part , had evidently been effected with the aid of the officials ; but it was also showed that the prison in question contained a batch of criminals who excelled all others in cunning and ingenuity, and on whom the ordinary restraints of the prison had no effect whatever. The New York Herald, •peaking of the confinees, says : " These gaol-birds are well aware that they have in their midst an artisan whose skill in the subtle manufacture of tools of the most intricate design and the most elaborate workmanship is not surpassed in the western hemisphere. This man, Gustave Kindt, is a convict, now m the prison, serving out a term for robbery. He was sentenced, some eight years ago, for ' cracking ' a watch factory in Brooklyn, and had not been long in the prison when he saturated the stone surrounding the fasten > ing of his cell 'with some powerful acid, and then, by the aid of a jack-screw, made by himself, sprung open hia cell door, and having reached the outer wall, used the same potent screw in bending the bars of the window sufficiently to enable him to escape. He was recaptured some time after, and conveyed back to the prison from which ho had escaped, and since then has been secretly employed in the manufacture of burglars' and other similar desperadoes tools. Kindt, without time, tools, or opportunity, can fashion the most elaborate implements that mechanical ingenuity can conceive— from a sectional 'jemmy' to a cambric needle. In proof of this, he has made out of steel during his incarceration a contrivance, the exterior of which presents the size and appearance of an ordinary darning needle. This article, which is hollow, is made to screw together in parts, like a pencil-ease, and all characterised by the same parts and exquisite workmanship as the outside r eedle which forms the case. This man, who is the lion of bis art, supplied the commands made upon him by his pals in the housebreaking line, and his implements are aignifically described as " reliable." The Pastoral Times relates the following fidelity of ft fi O a . » The scene at Boonoke Station, neor Deniliquin, the other day, when Mr "Webber was lost, was one that probably only takes place in Australia. He, 6ft. high, had left hearty and strong in the morning to place some sheep iv one of the paddocks of the run. which is owned by Messrs Peppin ; he had crossed over two bridges and had deposited the Bheep, when it must have occurred to him that h,e could make a short out of it. Instead of returning by the bridges, be determined to swim his hone, though the rider could not swim. In trying to swim across the narrow creek the horse must have rolled over, and poor Webber was drowned, while tbe borse landed safely. A (tocond) creek now interposed between tbe horse and the homestead, where at night Webber was expected, but not arriving there for the night, young Broughton, one of tbe overseers, started off a messenger to Conargo, to make inquiries, but the missing man had not been there. In theforenoon succeeding the evening of the drowning, the horse which Webber rode was discovered within half a mile or so of the homestead. Th© saddle was wet, and a watertight bag or pouch, on the side of the saddle, was full of water, showing that the horse had recently swum the second creek. Webber's faithful dog, too, had just returned. A caucus was now held, and in a very short time 26 mounted horsemen (the men were either shearers or workers on the station) were off to search for Mr Webber. Thej tracked, the horses steps towards the creek, the dog in their comp«ny, running from one to another, looking unutterable things in hi« 'fidelity. On, on they went, until they arrived within half ft mile or so of the fatal spot, when the dog broke away howling, making straight for the water; he then plunged in, and swam round the place where bis. master lay dead in 15ft. of water, Thirteen shearers now took off their clothes and dived for the body, the dog among them the most active. The moment that they relaxed their efforts be seemed to be seized with new life, plunged again and again into the water, ducked and dived, crying bitterly. At length they gave up the search, while they sent off to the station for a boat and draghooks. After ten minutes' operation with these, tbe body was recovered. The dog, faithful to the last, when his master's dead body lay for a few minutes stretched on the bank, clung to the corpse. The properties of the human brain are marvellous ■ays a writer to the Southern Mercury. Some mencan play a doeen games of chess all at once, and win them too, without seeing one of the boards. It has been lecorded of a statesmen that he will play a difficult hand at whist, correct a proof sheet, write an article, order supper no mean accomplishment that by itself, be it observed, for this man), and have an eye to side bets and the momentousquestion of drinks — all at one and the same time. Others again hare been - known to keep several secretaries writing like mad to their calm dictation. In all these cases observers wonder, and then leave off wondering, unable to penetrate the mystery, I have got a step further — strolling into a certain editorial sanctum, less than a million of miles from this favored city, w hich one day is to be the Queen of tbe Universe, I found the genius of the place discharging the duties of his office. Surrounded by " devils," he was addressing them in appropriate terms, while, ap the same time, a paper before him wai receiving attention from his pen. As the pen was flying — and the " detils," tot, for that matter — 1 noticed a shadow on that editor's nose. That shadow grew and darkened. When it eventually became quite black, I ventured to inform the owner of the noso that there was a smear of ink upon it. He was not discomposed. He applied his finger to the spot, and then examined it carefully. "Ah," said he, "another leading article fo*cing its way from the brain." This incident, properly followed up, may throw much light on the various chanmels into which men simultaneously drive their brains. A good story, and a true one, of an effectual cure in Wan* ganui has just leaked out. It appears that some time ago a young lady took ill, and sent for the doctor, who pronounced her case a serious one, and told her he would send her pills, which she must take with the utmost regularity. Accordingly this iEsculapius despatched bis disciple with the pills. The messenger, however, was fond of a game of billiards, and could not resist the temptation of going into one of the billiard rooms and playing a game, When he finished, he found, to his chagrin, tkat the pills had disappeared from the place in which he had put them. It would never do to go back and get another box, as that would necesaitate a confession of the delay, so he hit upon a plan that turned out to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. He want to his mother, got spine bread, and rolled it into pills, giving these another roll in flour. He then took them to his master's patient, pleased to get out of the difficulty for the timo. When the doctor next visited his patient he asked whether the pills had done any good, and was at once assured that she felfc "ever so much better." We have not learnt whaX wero the thoughts of tho young manufacturer of the pills, but it will not be difficult to guess them.— Napier Telegraph. It appears that even inanimato French metal made an obstinate display of patriotism, at all events, we are told that tho Prussians, in the intoxication of victory decided that the first gun captured from the enemy should go to found an Imperial bell for the cathedral of Cologne, but th» bronze has hitherto resisted, " as posscsicd of a French soul," and has rebelled against the decrees of William I. The thrco first attempts to cast tho bell failed entirely, and on the fourth trial, though the bell in itself was a success, cauio. out minus tho Imperial crown, the symbol of German unity. The French chroniclers also assure us that the tone of tho bell has always been defective and that it produres strange sounds, which resemble sighs Pnd groans. A disciple of Heine is said to have written to a friend in Paris on this, rather startling demonstration, saying, " Can it be that French guns, like the sacred vessels of the temple, aro fatal to those who profano them ? One thing is certain ; the tale of this refractory bell has sent a shudder through uneasy and dreamy Germany."