GENERAL ITEMS

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1519, 30 March 1882, Page 4

GENERAL ITEMS

It si better to stand the most pinching poverty than beg—unless you are six and haven't a trump. There is one tiling about a go.it that jiis pleasing to contemplate— they relish -lever.yihing they eat, and they don't have . 'to spend two-thirds of their income on ' "sure cures for dyspepsia. "

"Definition of A Kiss.—Very recently 'alilfinglish paper offered a prize for the best definition of a kiss. Among the 1 c plies were the following :—: — Love's proof impression taken both before And after letters. Oddly, too, the mere The print's repeated the impression's stronger, And the true artist's best effects last longer. She asks for a kiss, and give it I can ; 'Tis the hear of a woman—l is the soul of ;i man. The Orangemen of Melbourne are rebuilding their chief lodge, and on the occasion of laying the foundation-stone invited a number of politicians and clergyman to be present. The former ■\veic as reticent as the latter were indiscreetly talkative. Amongst the clerics was an Evangelical clergyman named Macartney, a son of the Dean of Melbourne. He made a speech in which, after depicting the Catholic Church as " backed up by all the subtleties of Satan andalltheenergiea of hell," he urged his hearers to unite in stemming the power of this dangerous adversary to the true faith. His utterances have produced one of the most bitterlyconducted newspaper controversies which has ever been waged in the ' 'silly season." The Bishop of Melbourne, on the one hand, is urged to unfrock Mr Macaitney without delay ; on the other, he is assured that Mr Macartney's " intense love for never-dying souls is one of the grandest , traits in a character so Christlike as to be almost unmatched in the piosent 'lay." Columns, I may say, piges have been written in denunciation of the religious and political intolerance and aggression of the Romish Church. Beyond easing ,tho mind of the writers, the correspondence can be productive of no good ; and as we are a long way from a general election, its political effect will be slight.—Ecchange. Ix 1844 Professor Moisc laid the first telegraph line between Baltunoie and Washington. To-day there ate 500,000 miles in use in the United States alone. Great Britain uses 114,000 miles of line, Germany has 130,000 miles, and more than 3,000 miles of underground cable ; British India has 30,000 miles ; Fiance, 115,000 miles; Belgium, 15,000 miles; Spain, 25,000 miles; Denmark, 65,000 miles ; and Norway, 10,000 miles, which are used chiefly in the management of her fisheries. The lSmpcror of China has allowed 1,270 miles to be built in that empire during the past year. Persia has 6,000 miles, and Egypt 9,000 miles; Russia has 130,000 miles in use, Australia has 15,000 miles, and New Zealand 10,000 miles. South America, with the exception of a transcontinental line fiom Valparaiso to Buenos Ayres, and a short line between Aspinwall and Panama, has no land lines. There are nearly 10,000 miles of military telegraph lines in the Western territories of the United States, 20,900 miles in Canada, and 7,000 miles in Mexico. Besides land lines, it is estimated that there aie 101,000 nautical miles of submarine, cable now in uso, and new lines are projected. Thk following aie the paitieulais of a most atrocious murder which has just been committed near Mulling.iv :—Three women named Croghan—a widow, 80 years old, and her two daughters—lived alone in a farmhouse about a mile from Mullingar, the workhouse of which town they supplied with milk. Early one morning, while the servant-boy was absent delivering the milk, a- stranger entered the house and fired at the mother, who, with one of her daughter, was preparing breakfast. Tnc shot missed, and the two women lan to the bcdioom, where the second daughter also a\ a-., and fastened the door. The &fcian»ei burst through the door, and filed soveial more shots, killing one of the daughter and dangerously wounding tho other. She now lies in a critical condition in the hospital. Several iwisoih arc assigned for the outrage. One is that a man named Walsh had had a quarrel with Mrs Croghan about the possession of land, and had theeatened hei and her daughteis. Auothci lopoit says that the women were suspccti d of gh ing information to tho

HIbTOKY OK Till; TOMVTO.— A gOOil many years ago .1 man recently ai lived fiomtlie Beimuda Inlands was sent to York County, Pa., jail, for some oflonce. He had with him a few seeds, which lie planted in the rich soil of the jail yard. Befoio the plants which spiang from the seed reached maturity he w.is discharged, and no one knew the name or nature of them. They grew luxumntlj', bearing fruit of a large size and unusual appearance. As this strange fruit ripened, its color changed from gieen to a biilli.vnt red, and became an object of wonder and admiration to all the inmates ol the jail. Just when the fruit was fully matured, the Bermuda prisoner revisited the jail, and asked to see the plant. This request granted, he called for pepper, salt and vincg.ir, and to the horroi of the Lady keeper, commenced to cat of the fruit, which she supposed to be poisonous, with a relish that astonished the beholders. After enjoying the strange repast, lie informed her that the fruit or vegetable was the tomato or love apple, and it would be found wholesome and mitiitous. The seeds of the remaining tomatos were carefully preserved and distributed among the friends and neighbours ol the lady, and thus this now popular esculent was introduced into the ancient and goodly borough of York. For many years thereafter it was cultivated as an ornament rather than for table use, but by degrees its merits began to be more fully understood and appreciated, and there, as elsewhere, it grew into general public favour.

How Butter may be Spoiled.—Good butter may be spoiled in churning. Overchurning ruins the texture and changes the proper waxiness to a disagiceable sticky greasiness. This is the moie easily done in a churn with revolving dashes, which will press the butter against the sides of the churn and squeeze and rub it until it is spoiled. Too long churning spoils the quality by the oxidation of the butter and the premature formation of strong flavoured acids in i(, the full presence of which we call rancidity. It may be spoiled by churning at too high a temperature, by which it is made soft and oily, and of a greasy textuie and flavour. No subsequent treatment can remedy this error. It may be spoiled before the cream reaches the churn by keeping it too long, or what is practically the same, by keeping it in too warm a place ; 50 deg. is about the right temperature if cream is kept a week ; if it is kept at 62 deg. three days are long enough. White specks are produced in butter by overchurning, or by having the cream too sour. Either of these faults produces curd in the milk, and the small flakes of this cannot be washed out of the butter. . Milk from a cow in ill-health, and that is acid when drawn, will produce specky butter. So will the use of salt containing particles of lime, which unite with the butter and form insoluble lime soap. White specks are covered up to a large extent by using good colouring, which is made of oil as the solvent. But this use of a colouring, being to disguise a fault, and to add an undeserved virtue, is worthy of denunciation,—The Farm ami Garden.