MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume VIII, Issue 443, 20 March 1875, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Titnaru Heratd publishes an interesting ar tide on the observance of Valentine's . Day, anc concludes as follows :—": — " Now-a-days ' Valentines are either mere toys for the gratification of children, or else coarse weapons with which very thoughtless Jtfr very low people annoy each other. We cannot imagine anyone with a grain of sense or spirit sending a purchased picture or printed verses, through the post, as a genuine love missive ; and the cases in which that is done must be very rare indeed. As a means of pleasing children, and exciting their curiosity, the distribution of Valentines is a very harmless Custom, and may well be encouraged. We cannot find terms, however, severe enough to properly designate the cowardly practice of sending, anonymously, ill-natured or improper . caricatures for the purpose of giving pain. We haye known the most cruel insults conveyed to helpJ^s people by this means ; and many a grudge wj&ich fear prevents the open expression <*of, is wreaked with safety by posting an offensi\ Valentine. It is a blackguardly, sneaking, indecent custom ; and any man who would be guiltfjcof it, after reflecting a minute on its baseness, deserves to be horsewhipped. That the practice we allude to however, is only too common, is manifest from the enormous number of nasty Valentines that are exposed for sale in the shops* Whether the good Bense and right feeling which generally form the substratuir, of English character, will eventually suppress it, we cannot say ; but we think the law might be turned in many worse directions than that of forbidding the sale of publications avowedly intended to do harm." The food on which our children are fed is worth any amount of consideration ; it is not that they depend upon it for physical health alone, but that their mental capacity must in the end suffer, by having too much, too little, or improper food given to them. We have heard it asserted on the best 'medical authority, that an insufficiency of nourishment during childhood does not always have the effect upon the physical growth which might so naturally be expected, but that it impoverishes the brain power, and gives us the dull intellect of the farm laborer, whose thought and intelligence is generally most difficult to awaken. If it be true that this density of comprehension is owing to bad and insufficient feeding, ho~v vital becomes the necessity for choosing and preparing with care and judgment the diet of our little ones, if we wish to raise up a generation of intellectual men and women. What happier or more beautiful sight can be had than children rich in all the blessings of perfect health. According to the Sporting Gazette, the Lord Chamberlain recently complained that the religious feelings of the audiences at the Charing Cross Theatre were needlessly and wantonly shocked by certain allusions to Mr Spurgeoa ; whereupon Miss Lydia Thompson took the bull by horns, and wrote to Mr Spurgeon as follows :—": — " Charing Cross Theatre. Rev Sir, — In the extravaganza, " Blue Beard," now playing at this theatre, the hero ( enacted by myself) gives a card bearing ycnjr name to Blue Beard, adding we 'always like to look upon the Surrey side.' This announcement is invariably received with great applause; but, in deference to ydur position, I write to ask if you have anp objection to the use of your name. If so, I- will withdraw it at once. — Yours respectfully, Lydia Thompson. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon." To this letter Miss Thompson duly received the following reply : — " Madam — Mr Spurgeon duly received your courteous note, and would have replied, but has been suffering from an attack of illness. Mr Spurgeon desires me to say that, you having had the politeness to inform him of the little incident, he is quite content to leave tho matter in your hands. — Yours respectfully, Charles Blackshaw. Miss Lydia Thompson." The " Forbes Times " relates that the following happened not a thousand miles from the Forbes Court-house. Two Justices were on the Bench, and as a red-nosed feminine beauty mounted the wit-ness-box to give evidence, the senior Magistrate looked at her and — sniffed. Turning to his judicial brother, he observed, " Don't you perceive an odour of alcohol being wafted from the direction of the witness V " I do," replied his brother, " perceive a very perceptible odour." Whereupon the senior J.P., calling to an officer of the Court, said, " Constable, smell the witness." Nothing lacking in the required obedience, the constable went and stood directly under the witness-box, and lifting up his hirsute visage to its occupant, said, " Brathe on me now." With a charming readiness to oblige, the frail creature leaned full in the face of the officer, and ejaculated a very audible ppew.h — ew. "" Agin," '. said the constable, and again was the farce repeated. " Well," said the Bench to the man in blue, "do you observe anything ?" Faith, thin, your worships I can discern jist the tint of port wine on her," and the case was proceeded with. The analogy between rum and religion has been discussed, but has never been practically determined, ■ and now in England comes up the recondite .relation 1 of tithes and beer. The " Manchester Examiner " informs us that it is the recognized custom in North Wales for the rector's agent to give the far- , mers and other tithe-payers, when they settle their ( dues, tickets for beer, which are convertible into malt liquor at any inn in the neighborhood. The tract it appears, is governed by the amount of the tithe paid. In a certain parish a crown gets a halfpint ticket; ten shillings a pint but then £10 or disentitles the payer to no more than three quarts at • the rector's expense. The holder .however, isn't » allowed to drink his whole allowance at once, for the publican will open account with him and permit him to swig out the rector's by instalments. It is an understood thing we suppose, that the beer should be stout and good, for the honor of the Church, which should be called Sfc. Andrew's, and have XXX for its mysterical symbol. x In Queen Victoria's crown there are 1,363 bril- i liant diamonds, 1,2 76 rose diamonds, and 147 table diamonds, 1 large ruby, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 4 small rubies, and 217 pearls — a total of 3,186 precious stones. A strange item of news is given by a late New York Herald. It reads :— 'Twenty barrels entered as ' salt meat,' • nnd ' Australian beef were leized at Portsmouth England, i on the 23rd October, and in each barrel was found the I corpse of a full-grown negro. They reached England from the United States, and were intended for dissection in London ; but who sent them and where did the sender get ' them?' If this is the sort of ' Australian beef that occasionally finds its way to England, there is no wonder why it should not be altogether popular. • Some residents of Creswick/ observes the Avoca Mail, c are agitating to have the name of Slaughteryard hill, - where many of the Burgesses reside, altered to one more euphonious. If settlement should extend very greatly in this district, we may also have occasion for a change in ur local nomenclature. ' IVyingpan Flat,' ♦ Dead Horse . ,lly,' 'Linger and Die,' and 'Strip me Naked,' are reely the places to have one's English letters addressed .