MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume VIII, Issue 460, 29 April 1875, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

The young witfow of Captain Dudden, of the La Plata, which \^eiit down in the Bay of Biscay, has at length been informed of the death of her husband, and the circumstances under which it occurred. She appears to haye had an indefinite suspicion of evil for some time, arising from the interest with which persons who passed her house at Charlton seemed to regard it, and she had been exceedingly anxious, especially since the birth of her child, to hear if her husband's vessel had been spoken with. Her medical attendant, T>v Fegan, having pronounced her sufficiently recovered to sustain the shock, it was resolved to communicate the sad news, and on her I expressing a determination to make inquiries at the shipping office^ the news was broken to her as gently ,as possible by ©r'Fegan. She bore it as well as could be expected, and although in the deepest dis- , tress, does not appear to have suffered in health. Sir T. Chambers moved (for the seventh time) the second reading of his bill to legalise marriage with a 1 deceased wif^p sister, lie contended that the religious element had qesi eliminated by general consent, and thkfr such were not contrary to Levitical la\T, .acbording to the latest discoveries of Oriental scholars. An amendment to read the bill , a second time that da} six months was moved by j Mr A. Mills, chiefly on the ground that such marriages were not only forbidden by law, but, if tolerated would lead to en-dWs confusion and revolutionise the domestic life of the nation. Speakin<* as a Jew Mr Serjeant Simon gave a warm support to the bill, which he said. -was not to make a change in the marriage law, but to restore the law to the condition in which it stood before the passing of Lord Lyndhurst's Act in 1835. Such marriages were not unfrequent among the religious persuasion to which he belonged, as they were regarded not only as natural, but as seemly and most desirable. On a division the House rejected the bill by 171 to 142, or a majority of 2fr\ A rouiahWe elopement has just taken place in Waterforcf. A widow lady, whose late husband was colonel of an infantry regiment, and who owns Considerable laired property in Dorsetshire, is said to have eloped w^th a handsome sub-constable named Teienc<w\furfl»y. The lady, who has turned 4:-', has i:7(Xta-vear. Murphy is in his 23rd year. T^ widow iV connected with the hidiest families Tit Waterford. - v An amiable citizen of Burlington called to see another, who was dangerously ill. Attracted by a festive pair sir boots in the room of the invalid, the vi^kor tried them on, when, turuing to the sick wpki with rouvh sympathy, he remarked ; "Supposing the wortt to happen, Til take "these boot 1 ?,"

<* the destruction of wooden railway-sleepers, laid in pall;\st. in spite of attempts to preserve tho wood by *nj<vtin«r sulphate of copier. His oxpcrimonta iend to «how that the actnn of this metallic salt on the ligneous tissue produces a compound which is flot absolutely insoluble in pure water, and is soluble to a notablo extent in water charged with carbonic acid. After having laid for some time near the iron mils, the wood was found to contain a considerable proportion of iron, whilst away from tho neighbourhood of the rails the carbonate of lime derived from tKfe ballast took the place of copper gait ; and although tlie lime compound is not in itself a aSptic agent, it yet acts prejudicially by remo\ing the\i>reservativo medium. From these results it appeVrs that the wood thus prepared is far from being a durable material for construction of a permanent way. The following has been translated from a French journal by the correspondent of the Talbot "Leider :" — Paris, Bth November. A remarkable funeral took place the other day. An American dwarf^who called himself ' Commodore Nutt,' who died her^ a lew days ago, was taken to his last vesting place, the chief mo'irners being the members of the American show in which he had been exhibiting^ First came tho giant, a little over 7ft. high (the celebrated Chang) ; next the travelling agent of ' Commodore Nutt ;' then ai> American of the name of Gibbs, and known as ' The Skeleton ;' after which a woman with three arms ; and last, but not least, four trained dogs, tho intimate friends of the ' Commodore,' who would not appear in public without them. All the mourners weie deeply affected, especially the giant. After the funeral a great crowd had gathered outside the churchyard, and the police, fearing a disturbance, hired cabs and persuaded the mourners to drive singly and unobserved to their homes." A new kind of mustard -plaster has been invented which promises to be superior to the old-fashioned sort. It is known as the Omphalic mustard-plaster, and the mustard is laid on sheets of a thin fabric in spots of about the size of sixpence, so that any desired number can be applied. It is only necessary to dip in water and lay the plaster on where desired. It is claimed that the best way of applying this>qpunter irritant, as its effects are a copy of the res\fth of natural efforts which generally appear as . spots or pustules — a rather fanciful idea. The other, claim is better — that the skin is irritated only^u pishes, and that the process of irritation can be cjbntinued longer without unpleasant results in consequence of patches of undisturbed skin being left to execute the healing process. This method of making plaster has also been applied in the Omphalic fly-blister. They tell a strange story of a Paris watchmaker for true, and if true, is a striking instance of the power of the imagination over the human frame : Frederick Steibmann had worked at a watch twenty years. It was a new movement, new works, and his own invention. He perfected and set it a-going. He imagined that his soul had passed from his body into that watch, and said : "When that watch stops I shall die." It had been running a long time, and Steibnvann was very particular about winding it re gularly. The idea that his life had become subordinated to the watch grew stronger. One day lately the watch showed signs of irregularity. It ran first too fast and then too slow. Steibmann became very ill. He did not send for a doctor, but for a watchmaker, to see what could be done for the watch. The watchmaker knew nothing about that particular watch, and could not prescribe for it. The watch stopped and sure enough Steibmann was dead- " A rather amusing story," says Colonel Stuart, in his I?eminiscc7ices oj a Soldier? was told me some time ago by an old lady who had an ancient servant that had lived with her for many years, named Ann Brady. One day Ann came in to her mistress in the parlor crying, ' Now ain't I the unfortunate woman. Och, what will Ido at all, at all?' ' ghat's the matter, Ann V said the mistress. • Qch, ma'am,' replied Ann, l the postman's outside and he's got a letter for me from purgatory, and I know its from my old, mother, whose been there these, ten years, an' its about me not paying for the masses I said I would. Ochone ! but I am the unfortunaie woman.' On her mistress going out she found the postman in a fit of laughter, with a letter directed to ' Ann Brady,' ixovv the ' Dead Letter Office.' Nothing could induco H%r to touch it, the ' dead ' to her meaning purgatory, and nothing else, and the mistress was obliged to open the letter for her, and found it was oriel Ann had written to a nephew in Clare, but as -he had gone to America the letter had consequently been retnrned." A method of preserving grapes for a long time, even fram one autumn until the next summer, has come into extensive use. The grapes are kept on the vines as long as possible— in France, where this device originated, to the end of .. October or beginning of November, Before the Brsft frosts appear they are cut, leaving a portion of the stem of about two or three knots below the bunch and two above it. The section of the upper end is then to be covered with wax, to prevent the. evaporation of the liquids contained in the pores of the wood ; and after carefully removing all the un sound grapes, the lower end of the stem in a small elongated bottle filled with water, naving a small quantity of wood charcoal in the bottom. <In the " Tagblatt," of Vienna, is pubjished a singular telegram from London, stating that Prince Louis Napoleon and his mother, the Empress Eugenie, have contracted with several English hankers a loan of three and a-half millions sterling, that Queen Victoria gave it a moral guarantee, and that the affair was conducted by; the«financial agent of the Prince of Wales. •„ The Bishop of , who is spiritual, though demure enough, was lately entering a room at Lady -t 's party. Two ladies, rather too abundantly decollet6es, were in the doorway, and scarcely seemed inclined to open the passage. His l&dship cast down his eyes and pressed forward, whip^^ne ladies drew aside their skirts. " The fact is, my lord," said one, " the milliners will put such a quantity of material into our skirts, that really " il There is nothing left for what you call the body," said the Bishop. The Duke of Norfolk is said to be about becoming a priest. The " Rock " finds the following extraordinary announcement in the Mst number of ■"Cbristianisme Au XlXme Siecle : — "The chief of the Catholic portion of the English aristocracy, the Duke of Norfolk, with the hereditary title of Premier Peer and Grand Marshal of England, is about to take orders and join the congregation of the oratory of St Philip of Neri at I&onipton. The duke is twenty-seven years of age. His pro- ! perty will go to his brother, who will soon attain his majority." Two curious flowers are described by the " Hor ticulturist." One is a black lily, of Santa Clara, California, with three large blossoms, each 9 inches long, and perfectly black outside of the green petals, other, a native of Constantinople, presents^ perfect humming bird. The breast, of a bright emerald green, and the throat, head, beak, and eyes, are a perfect imitation of those parts in the humming bird. The hinder part of the body /and tbSrtwo outstretched wings are of a bright rose coloux^ one might almost say flesh colour. Cure for Cabbage Blight — A correspondent of ' the " Canterbury Press " writes that he has found a complete cure for blight on cabbage. • By boiling elder leaves, and pouring the water on the plants, a cure will be-effect«d. He says he can guarantee it, as he has trie 4 M successfully for some time. / 1

sensation there by their ' practice ot in c>» a. em- " btirpviso parties." A surprise party may be briefly described as follows : — A lady invites a number of her friends to meet at her house at a certain hour on the ovoning of New Year's Day. Instead of entertaining them herself, she leads them off to the house of some friends of hers, who, of course, has not been expecting a sudden irruption of festive individuals ; but, however (annoyed she may be at the intrusion, she is obliged forthwith to go and array herself in her most gorgeous apparel, and act the hostess to her self-bidden guests. While she is decking herself out, the guests invade every room in the house, and make themselves much more than at homo. The evening is usually spent in copious drinking and boisterous dancing. A lady related apropos of American dancing, that at an American party in Paris she onco saw a highly original " pas de deux " executed by a newly married couple. The climax consisted in the bridegroom crawling under the piano, and the bride pulling him out again by ' the heels, and dragging him about the floor in that dignified position. Paris papers appear to look upon Americans in their city as semi-civilised savages, who are trying to pick up French manners, but find their own stick to them as pertinaciously as the hue of an Ethiopian's skin. Certainly the Paris journals are to be excused for their belief. A noble lord lately took in a city lady to dinner. She expatiated on the completeness of her countryvilla — the flowers, greenhouses, or what she called " ot-ouses." She added, "In fact, we eat our little all every day." Thinking that was a figurative way of saying that she lived expensively, the noble lord smiled, and asked, Was not that a little imprudent ? The equivoque continued for some moments, the lady, it seems, meaning, "We heat our little hall every day."