CLIPPINGS FROM OUR MAIL FILES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1823, 13 March 1884, Page 3

CLIPPINGS FROM OUR MAIL FILES.

A curious aiticle miqlit beuiitten on the immunity fi oni wounds in action of some gene i tils, and the ill-foi liuic of Others in beoo-mng the billet for a bullet. No commander was e\ei moie forwaul in the Jiiilitin<f line than Sheridan, yet he neser got a «ciateli. Skobelcil, who many a time went at it with his own good swoul, and in his white coat and on his white chaigcr headed evciy charge with a lecHessness that men called madness had a& complete an immunity as if lie had carried the charmed life th.it his soldieis aseiihc, and was wounded only in the quiet trenches by a chance bullet fired into the air a mile away. "Wellington vias but once hit, the bullet that canied away his boot-heel scaice ga\e him a contusion. Grant was never struck ; no more was Nanoleon. Of Sir Ne\ ille Chamberlain again, one of the most distinguished officers ot the Indian army, the saying goes that he never went into action without receiving a wound, and the gallant old man has been fighting pretty steadily ever since the first Afghan war. And Sit 1 Archibald Maclain used to laughingly say that he was full of 1 , leaden bullets, and he believed that he gould give an account of twenty lodgers. Bazaine was a man to whom fortune was not stingy in the matter of wounds. At Borny there came to him the leaden remainder that he was mortal, through the it was but a gentle hint. The 'fragment of a shell hit him on the left , shoulder, but it had been well spent, i.'and because of the protection of the * epaulette gave him but a contusion, from which he had pain for several days, especially when on horseback. — Court Journal. Arabi writes to a friend in England : , "Egypt has nothing to hope from the * Turks, who have destroyed her in the f.past. England hos taken all the re- * sponsibility on her shoulders for Egypt's

futuie, ami Egyptians w ill look to her aceoidmgly. 1 shall wait patiently until I can be of use toJEgypt. I think the Soudan should be given up to the Mahrii, who would piobibly hold it as a vasal)." Lord and Lady Hose berry will icturn to England from Australia- eaily in March. They have abandoned their onginal intention of going back through America, but will return diiect by Egypt. Kdmund Yates is busy writing his autobiography. It will not, however, be published for some months. It is also said that an)ther autobiography, which will also excite wide inteiest, is in couise of preparation — that of Mr Sala. E\eiy one lias seen Swedish matches ami wondeied at the quaint insci iption on the top of the box: " Tjnd stick or, tanda acten s\af\el och fosfot." Few, howe\er. aie their who when tiavelling in Sweden, in the home of the tand stickois, have the fjoids locks and fiis for a day, and tiaee the match baclc to its souicc, and \el it would moie than lepay a dcij^ sojourn at Jonkopmg to \iiit the factory whence pioeeeds not a small pait of the light of the woild. The latest novelty, onl}' at woik foi about a month, is anenoimous engine, which daily pi oduces one million boxes of Swedish matches The wondeiful machine leceives the law material, namely, blocks of wood, at one end, and aftei awhile, gives up at the other the matches neatly ai ranged in their boxc, u\id\ to be despati h(ldh (1 d to the utteiinost ends ot the woid The wood, which m in the eouise of last Summei was In ought over to Jonkoping to be made into matche«, filled 20stcameis and 8 sailing vessels —Fall Mall Budget. A coiiespondent wiites fiom Panama : " The effect of the cutting of the new canal has been most inaiked on the inhabitants of this countiy. Tin owing oft' their apathy, they seem to ha\e acqiiiicd much of the enterpi isu of the illustnous engineer. Old mines have been ie-opened and woiked with moie or less success, and it is confidently expected that the cutting ot the canal will disclose new and vciy nch ones. Another indnstiy, the peail fisheiy, is being most eneigetieally worked, and with gieat success. A monstci peail was found the othci day, w hich livals in bi/e most of tlie hUtoiie ones. It is named the ' Ltsseps,' and takes its place amongst the lamest know n to the woild. I Ijllic\c it lias been sent to Mi Benson, of Lud irate Hill, London. Tiado has icceived a wondeiful impetus, and the couutiy owes much to the enterpi using Ftenchman " — Vanity F,u\. Sit Fi.aneis Sindfoid will shoitly re siL'ii his jiost a^ Pel minent Si >'i etui \ to the Education Dep.utincnl Hj has now bjen foi ty \eais in the public ss t >i \ ice. and is entitled to letne on a pen-ion. It is not impiobable that Matthew Arnold will be his successor 111 this good buith, w hi( h is w oi th L'2,o )0 a ,\ e.u . The total amount of public monov won b\ l'vit;lish lacc'ioisjs dm ing last season is, avoiding to Bell's Life S_> 0t f ),-140 It is 1 \the.i giatifyuig to nome that tin wight foi age 1 aces furnished thelaigest puipo)'i"ii ot tins, 'Ihe handi 1 aps ((line next with ,'5lO, while the selling uves only pioiluccd s!J")B,G7O. Undci the beading ot ■' TIIO Aniencin Vihc 'J liumphaut ' the Ameucin Expoitoi icmuLs • "Whoa we take into consideration the unpoi tancu of the mdo to the Fiench nation, and the feaiful losses caused by the phjlloxeia, we can foi m some idea of the enthusiasm which is seizing hold of the \ imcultuust in that countiy, as it is becoming moie apparent eveiy day that the \lllc is phylloxcia pi oof, and tli.it thiough its agency the vineyaids of Fiance will be. lchabilitated. Our Consul at Boideaux tian^nuts, an aiticle fioin the leading journal of the Giionde, the gieat wme piodueing disti let, giving the opinions of the leading \inicultuiists on this all impoitant subject to Fiance. With the execution of the usual class of gtowleis in such cases, pessimists who hug disaster and will see no lemedy, the geneial testimony goes to show that the Ameiican vines ate the tine agents with which to fight the tenible phylloxeia. We congratulate Fiance on this \entable " olive blanch"' which Aineuca oflei 3 to her ontstietched hand, and hope that it is the sign that the ia\ages 01 the phylloxeia aie abating, and that her \llleyaids and lit 1 \iiiienl tin ists will fill the land with piospeiity as of old " Tin: Biitibh labour inaiket, as lcpoited bj the London Laboin ]S T ews, is still unsettled by numerous tiadt s disputes. Ln the iion manuf ictuiing distiicts low pi ices continued, and in places tuinaces \HMe blown out. Colbeis weio unsettled md demanding mci eased wages. Building continued \eiy biisk in London and the piovinccs. Railway building and public woiks constiuction weie busk, for m hieh theie is a good demand for labour inallpaits of England. The boot and shoe maiuifactuiing distiicts lemained in shoit woik ; in some localities many persons were unemployed. In vaiious of the textile manifactniing distiicts theie was plenty ol woik on specialties, while in othei towns, such as Nottingham and Leieestei, woik was not plentiful. The silk weavers at Coventry had caught the sti ike fe\ei, and many aie idle in consequence. A newspaper states that fiom fleshly fallen snow, the poets' symbol of absolute purity, a Swiss nneio scopist, Floegel, has obta'iied In ing fu>oiiaand algae, bacilli and miciocci, mite*, diatoms, and gieat liumbeis of fungi spoies, also h'bies of wood, mouseliciiih, pieces of biittei (ly win^s, skin of the Lit \cu of injects, cotton fibies. pieces of glass epidei mis-, pollen giaius, lye and petals fiom, giains of qu u t/, minute pieces of loofing tiL's. and bits of 11 on and coal. What aie wo to do now for something to exemplify the meaning of the woid puiity It looks, as though we might be compelled to fall back upon the iecoi'l of Ben Butlei's political and social life. -Laiamie Boomeiang. A \or\<r lady lecently addiessed a letter to Mr Kusiuu on the subject of .11 fc ti aining. She is devious of becoming a'i aitist;and, wishing to ha\e some good ad\ ice on the subject, thought she could do no bcttei than apply to so able an authonty in ait matters The leply was chaiacteiistic and somewhat disappointing. The gieat critic, without giving hflp ds to the light way of progressing in the aiiluous path she h.itl cl Ojen for her self, told her— "lt would be better for her to Mnte less, and to cultivate a iiooil and beautiful handw liting, as no one w ho wiote as she did could make a good aitist." It took five people to decipher the hieioglyphics in which Mr Rii&kin had clothed these fe.v Mord*, and the young lady is haull) to be blamed in her resolution of having this very cuiims production fiamed and hung in her studio. — ovet0 vet land Mail. The Consen ative press of Berlin, Germany, bitterly attacks the memory of Herr Lasker. A Gigantic BriLDixft. — Facts about the Produce Exchange building, now being erectfd in New York, will be of interest. The foundation is built upon 15,034 piles; there are 109,796 feet of yellow pine capping timber, 17,530 square feet of base stone and 04,732 squaie feet of building stone. The building fronts 307 feet on Broadway and Whitehall street, 1 59 feet on Stone Street, 150 feet on Beaver street, and 300 feet on New street. The tower at the southeast corner of the building is 48 feet equare ; the height of main building from sidewalk to base of tower, 120 feet; height from sidewalk to top of the tower, 225 feet ; and height from the oidewalk to the top of flag-pole, 306 feet. The size of the main room of the building is 220 by 145 feet, and the height 47i feet. > The number of square feet of foundation of the main building is 44,754, of the tower 2,725 feet, and terraco 4,128 feet, making a total of 51,607 square feet. The building and land will bave cost $3,000,000 when completed. At a lecenfc meeting of the London Tramways Company it was stated that the net income for the half year was #28,009. They had cam<s 22,300,000

passengers in the course of the six months. The report was adopted, aud the dividend alt( ad y recommended was declared. Tni: marriage of Mdlle. Croizette with the wealthy banker, M. Stern, a nephew of the Rothschilds, was celebrated recently at the Hotel de Ville. There was no lehgious cere-mom , each of the con1 1 acting pai ties remaining faithful to his or her religious belief, whate\er that may ha\ e been. The losses by fire in the United States in JS-vJ exceeded §100,000,000, of which sum $40,000,000 are attributed to mceiidiausm. Ev idently, the Queen's new book is not to beat success. No copies of the work which is to be published have been ghen away to anybody, and it is not likely to app"ar for sonic time to come. In reality, how oxer, it is to be a soit of tnbute to the memoiy of John Biown, of whom theie will be moic than one portrait, and a coiusideiablo amount of it will be devoted to a histoty of his life, and the icasotibfor lu^ gradual rise in Royal favour will be explained. In the pi hate dining room at Windsor Castle theie is a pen ti ait of her Majesty, by Angeli It has been for many years the laughing of aitists and visitors, who were competent judges, but was especially adnmed by the Queen, who aftei wauls employed Angeli to paint the poi trait of Lord Beaconsfield. Recently the Queen lias presented a poi trait of herself to the National Poiti ait gallery, and this " by an amateur," the amateur being the Piincess Beatrice. A Boston member of the Zoological Soiiety (not caged) says : "I once had a cat whoalwajs snt up at the dinnertable with me, and had his napkin tound his neck and his plate and some fish. He used his paw, of course, but he Mas very paitiuilai, and behaved with extraordinary decoium. When he had finished his fish I sometimes gave him a piece of mine. One day he was not to be tound when the dmnci bel! lang, so we commenced without him. Just as the plates weie put ai on ml for the enticjs piT-s came lushing upstans, and spuing into hisehaii with two mice in his mouth. Befoie he could be stopped he dropped a mouse on his own plate nnd then one on mine. He divided his dinner with me as 1 hul divided mine with him " The Roumanian Gov ci nment has decided on foi tiling a collection of samples of linpoitcd goods. This is intended to seive as a guide foi the Customs officials and to piotect mei chants from possible enoibin calculating the duty. At the end of October a lai»o quantity had been got together, but much lcmained to be (lone before the collection was complete. —Engineering A letter horn Xice siys : " The season hcio has not, as yet, been a vei y successful one. The hotels ai c not full, and there au> a gieat many villas and apaitments uiilul The Nieois aie too greedy ; people v\ ill not bland being obliged to tike an apu tun nt foi -six months when they only w mt it foi two oi thiee weeks. Theie h.ive been a eood many lecjptions and dame-. The best have been on the Ameiioin fligship Lancistci, at Villeti ,nJie Admnal and Mis. Bildwiu give a leception and dance eveiy Tlunsda\ afteinoon, and they and the ofliceis of the ship managed things admiiably. Captain Pottei is the liandsoinst mm that was ( vci seen, and if the officers only fight as v\ ell a* tluy dance, we should have to look out for oui selves if we weie at war with the United States. It was quite a pleasure to look at them dancing. '1 lie leceptions have now come to an end, as the Admnal has left fur Rome." The leetuies which have been delivered by Mr Mathew Arnold, dmiii£» his stay in Amenca, will be published directly on his letiun to Enirland ; and in the Autumn we may look for a volume in which will bo iccoided his "Impiessions" of the United States and their inhabitants. Mr Wendell Holmes will probably go to England, in the couise of this year, w ltli the object of debv ciing a seiies of lectmes. The Times stated that a "Life"' of "Geoige Eliot"' had not yet appeared, and might never be foi thcoming. As " George Elliot" has only been dead three yeais, few people vvil consideil that theie has been any undue delay inpie-p-uinghei biomarhy. Theie is reason to believ e shat her •' Life and Correspondence," by lier husband, Mr. Cioss, will be published in the couise of this year. It is said the Queen has decided to close the looms at Windsor Castle which weieocupied by John Blown during the last few yea is of his life ;and they aie to I c Kept peimanently shut up, as a soit of tribute to the njpmoiy of "the Highlander." It is indended to place a large hi ass plate in his sitting room, which will bear an insciiption, lecording his virtues and deploring his loss. — Truth. The purchase byAldennan Sir Andrew Barclay Walker of the Osmaston Manor estate in Dei byshiie includes the whole of the decoiations in the mansion, including the oak and chestnut carvings and all the fin nitute and decorative objects, estimated to bo worth many thousand of pounds. The estate compiises about 3,i ( 0 acies, and nearly all old pastuie, ienov\ned for it 5 ! milk-producing and che(se-malung quality, and produces an annual income of more than £6,000 per annum, without estimating the value of the. mansion (which is stated to have been built by the ancestor of the late owner at a cost of upwaids of £200,000). siuioundings, the woods and planta'ions in hand, and the spotting. — Couit Journal. The London Court Journal has this to of Piiucc Albeit: Piince Albort Victor of Wales lias just entered upon his twenty-fust yen, so that it is possible Paihimeiit will before veiy long have to consider the question of a separate establishment for his Royal Highness. In such a case the Legislature would be w holly una-si.s ted by precedents directly in point. Never yet in our histoiy has the eldest son of a Piince of Wales come of ago dining bis father's lifoiime and befoie his fathei'a accession to the ♦ hi one. Eiedeiic, son of George 11., who went ncaiest to doing so, was twenty yeni-» and a few months old when, iv 17-27, the latter became king. It would, however, be misleading to compare the status of Piince Albert Victor with that of his ancestor, who never sot foot in Enghuid till a year and a-half after he had succeeded to the position of heir-" apparent to the Crown. Prince Fredrick, indeed, received the Garter in his tenth yeai, and a peerage (with the title of Duke of Edinburgh) in his twentieth ; but scarcely any other official cognizance was taken of his existance as an English piince. No eldest son of a Prince of Wales, being such, has married, and theie is only one instance of a marriage being contracted by the daughter of a Prince of Wales. Mutatis mutandis, it is to be presumed that the case of the Princes Charlotte would have most weight with Parliament in the event of its being applied to for a provision for Prince Albeit Victor. It may be added that annuities have been granted more than once in the present reign to the children of a younger son of an English Sovereign.

Sukfacf manuring is especially effective on sandy soils, and a light dressing yearly is far more beneficial than heavy coatings once in three or four years. But the best results on sandy soils is when they are dressed with a compost of manure and clayey muck. When soil is strong enough to produce any other crop, sorrel is kept in the back ground. When land is so run out that nothing else will grow, sorrel •will soon cover the ground. It delights in a poor, light and dry soil. Mr George Robertson, the wellknown Australian publisher, has been appointed publisher of the People's Edition of the Works of the* Victoria Philosophical Institute of London. Mr J. S. Buckland has received t instructions to sell the balance of the drapery, clothing and household furniture of Mr K. Mcponaid on the premises, Hamilton, on Saturday next, commencing at 19 a,m,