CLIPPINGS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1821, 8 March 1884, Page 4

CLIPPINGS.

Thkrk te no better bon mot in literatim 1 than the lcply of a gill who hi'iml her father ctiticised severely across a dinner tale. Tlio careless cutic paused a moment to say, " I hope he is no relative of yours Miss L.," and quick as thought she leplied, with the utmost noneha'a ice, " Only u connection of mother's by marriage." At ii lecent sale of bibles in London thiic was a bundle of odd books in \\ Inch, unspecified by tho auctioneers' catalogue, a little volume of great \alue w .is hid. It was the English Pentateuch (without Genesis) piinted by Tyndale, :it Maibuig, in 1530, and in its oiiginal i. Hiding As tins Pentateuch was printed live jeni->befoie the iiist complete English Bible - Covei dale's of I!ili5 — it is a book of uxtiaoidinary interest and rarity. Mr Quaiituh bought the lot for £200. A.v Amxi;oned Cut.— Fifty miles west of \Yinslow, A.T., is a little station called Cosniuo. It is suddenly lifted into impoitancc fiom its pioximity to a vast canon, once the abode of cliff dwellers, An bom's walk from the station and we stand upon the brink of a chasm so deep that the eye can hardly see its bottom. Actual measurement makes it 2000 ft deep. The width \aiies fiom 200 ft at the bottom to 1500 ft at the top. The sides are <.ohd lock, but in layeis of perhaps oOftin depth, each layer having a piojccting or shelving edge extending f i om Gft to 20ft. It was under the shriving work that the cliff dwelleis bm lt their abodes. On the opposite side from wheic we stood we counted seven tieis of fiiese dwelling's. It is notable that none are lower than 200 feet from the bottom. The canon is irregular in its fuimation, but, honi our stand point, we could count more than 200 of these dwellings, and there can be no doubt that this was a city of many thousand inhabitants To w hat age of the world this race belonged, or the character and nature of the people who built these cities, neither histoiy nor tiadition gives a trace. We made a perilous descent, \ isitmg several tiers of these houses. The fiont and side walls are of solid masonry, and in a state of pood picservation. Doors, tin co feet by IS inches, still remain, show ing that the houses were for the accommodation of a very small race. The opening was small, that it could be quickly floaed by its inmates against any invading enemy. The canon was once, no doubt, filled' to the depth of 100 feet by iininiiii watei, for no houses appear be'ow that kvel. The nppioach and ietio.il of these dwelleis vveic in boats or canoes ■— (JoiH"s|Kind«'nt Ntw Yoik Sun. Poi.ici, ix v Dili. mm \. — A Cape paper tepoits an amusing "situation " in which a police constable at Poit Elizabeth found hmisilf pi iced lecently by a native pnscmei, who had been supplied for the tune being with pi ison garments in place ot his own habiliments, which in any case would have been too scanty foi him co appear in Court in, and which to luiLher complicate matteis, had, for sauitaiy leasons, been burnt by the ptison authonties. Pi ov ing his innocence, the piisoiur was acquitted, left the dock, and was walking l>i isl< 1 v out of the (.'out thouse, when the constable, objecting to S"eing him depart in a suit of convut {.'ley that he had no light to wear, followed the man and demai'ded the clothing. "Take them oft me," <=aid the weaiei. This in a crowded s'r^ct could luudly be done, and a legal difficulty aiose m the mind of a Native constable. He roaldn't aircst the man for stealing clothes he had been oideml by the Government to wear. He couldn't strip the man in the public stieet. The man's own diess, consisting of a wool sack ami two gunny bag^, had been burnt, and he icfu-scd to L'i\c up the (>n\ eminent clothing init.l his own jiMiitve hab 1 in nti woie restoied. So he was eventually allowed to go at large with a good suit of Government fne/e— bioad avow and all — the value of wh ci was lathei more than hu would have earned had he been lit laige, instead of in gaol, foi two diys. TIUCYf.'Li-.S ON NhAWU'EH. SuiVlCi:.— We have heaid a good deal lately about e\peiiments v. Inch have been made with tiicycles foi luggige tiansit pm posts, the machine in question being the " ('airier,*' v Inch has been lvcently intioduced by Mcssis Singer and Co. We waie at the woiUs of this film, and had the pleas'iic of inspecting five ot these very serviceable- looking constructions, which w etc just going ollby i ail. They were all painted alike, blight vei million, and w vie fitted with spi ings, on which were hung stiong eanying tnys or sheet iron, whilst a double sot steeling gear was also added, as well as a rod and safety wheel beneith the bisket, to support it should the rider leave his seat. The whole of the five were built to special order, as new machines foi the propnetois of the Evening Standard, and it speaks volumes for the efficiency of the " Carrier" when we say that this order is the outcome of months of expeiiment with a sample machine supplied by Messrs Singei,whoat fiiat sent one of their own men with it, the results being so surpiNing to the intending customers that they, deeming the man an expert, thought it nn unfair test, and plaoed one of their own men in charge, only to find the results even better still, and after a number of tiwls in di-liveiing papers against their own horses and vms, they decided on cfiving the order the big cycle malting fnm have just executed, as a preliminary one for still moie extended trials, the tiistoiKS lioa ing proved fully satisfactory. We have an idea that the moy c made by the Evening Stand ird will prove eventually to be dm starting point of a great innovation in the usages of commercial life, and that it only lemains for the efficacy of the new idea to be practically pioved for the tiaiiipoit ot the lighter or less bulky goods from shop to customer to become the rule rather than th<> exception of England.— Cyclist, Dec. 12. The Mooh'hUiKTiiu w. — The hypothesis of evolution is extensively held, as is well known, by modern natuiahsts; but those who hold it do not all adopt that theory of " natural selection" which is connected with the name of the late Mr Dai w in. It is only to those who do adopt it that the following ob>ei rations apply. How far the biologists of this school will iceeut the calculation of an antagonist I do not know ; but Mr Mivait. in his work on the " Genesis of Species," considers that 2,500,030,000 years aie required, on this hypothesis for the evolution of speciesas now existing, since the first oiigin of life on the <-arth. Professor Ball, (fiom whom Mr. G. H. Darwin does not materially diffei ) puts the probable date of the birth of the moon at 30,000,000 \ ears ago at the least ; so we may, for argument's sake, allowed to have been 60 or 80 million of years back. But that is not the date which Professor Ball supposes for the firot commencement of life. Ages must have i oiled on while the soft and viscuous surface of the earth was lai&ed into great tidal waves by the moon before the formation of solid land and liquid water and consequently before the daw nof organic life. Whata chasm there is between this calculation and the 2,500,000,000 of yeais said to be required for natural selection need not be pointed out. If the one theory be true, the other is plainly not so.— Month. Ove Shilling. — Francis J. Shortts' Popular Art Union.— Ten first-class Oil Paintings by celebrated artist:.. 5000 tickets at Is. The prizes are magnificent and costly. Country subscribers sending stamps or otherwise will ha\etickets by return post. Enclose stamped envelope for reply.— Fkancis J. Shouit, 140, Quren-stroet, Auckland — fAwvi.] Rvrs and Mice.— lf you wish to de stroy thorn £ct a packet of Hill's Magic Vermin Xii I i'R in packets, 6d, Od, and Is, to be obt lined of all storekeepers, or from T. B. Hn L by enclosing an c\tia stamp. Like in the Basn— Then and Now. — It is generally supposed that in the bush we have to put up with many discomforts and privations in the shape of food. Formerly it was so, but now, thanks to T. B. Hill, who has himself dwelt in the bush, if food does consist chiefly of tinned meats his Colonial Sauce gives to tnem a most delectable flavour, making them as well of the plainest food most enjoyable, and instead as hard biscuits and indigestible damper his Improvbd Colonial Baking Powder makes the very best bread, scones, cakes,' /and pastry* far superior and more wholesome! than y/east or caven, Sold by all storekeeper* Who can ob« t m it from any gwetagt iq AncWfiad,,