CLIPPINGS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1828, 25 March 1884, Page 3

CLIPPINGS.

A Sweet Loan.— A debtor, on being sued, acknowledged that he had borrowed the money, but declared that the plaintiff knew at the time that it was a Kathleen Mavourneen loan. " A Kathleen Mavourneen loan?" questioned the court, with a puzzled look. " That's it, your lordship— one of the 'it may be for years, and it may be for ever' sort." Prejudices aie most difficult to eradicate from the heart w hose soil has never been loo&encd or fertilised by education. They grow there firm as weeds among stones. Allow a boy to run at large one year in indolence, and you have laid the foundation whereon will rest his future ruin. Mrs Ramsbottam suggests that, as the Countess of Kent I Princess Beatiice) has gone to Aix-les-Bains to cure rheumatism, the inhabitants should change the name of the place to Ache-les-Bones ; but we think Ache-les-Pains would be more appropmto. Youn'O wite — " I'm always saying something stupid. Mrs Giddigad was here to day, and when she went away she said, ' Now. I've been here three times, and you haven't been to see me once. I shan't come again until you have called on me." And I blundered out, • Thank you !' Wasn't it ridiculous ?" Husband — ' ' Not a bit of it. On the contrary, it was quite apropos. Emilk de Girardin, it is well-known, lived on the most unfriendly teims with l.is second wife. The house was large enough to permit them to dwell entirely separate from each other. One day Madame de Gitardin had an important communication to make to her husband. Taking a small sheet of paper, she wrote — '• The Boudoir to the Libraiy : Would like to go to Switzerland." M. de Gnardin, imitating the conciseness of her style responded :— "The Library to the Boudoir : Go." General Lord Wolsley recently deliveied a lecture to jonng men in London on " Succet-s in Life " In the couise of his lcctuie Ins Loidsbip related an incident in the Egyptian campaign. He said that in the very fiist tight that took place a shell buist among the Life Gnaids, and th" spnit that animated them was aptly show n by a man who was injuied, w ho, when taken up, exclaimed, " I don't care, lam the fiist man of the Bluos wounded since YVateiloo." If the ai my of the Khedive recently destroyed Hi f^oudan had been influenced by feeling like that of the army he was prh ileged to command in Egypt, no such disaster would have occuned, ai.d the gallant leadeis would not have been saciificed by thecowardiceof tho men they commanded. The Soudan had at all times been the home of the slave tiade, and if any part of God's eaith was dyed with human blood it was there. He w is not a piophet, but lie hoped w hatever was the futuie of our dealings with the Soudan or Kirypt, it would be insisted on by the people of this countiy who had been the leadeis in all aiiti slavery movements, that all dealings in flesh and blood should be abolished once and for all.

CorFfcE and J ka. — Perhaps tlie most bulliant add i ess which has yet been duhveiecl at the Parkes Museum since the evening lectuies have been inaugurated was that given by Dr G. Y. Poore on Dec. 6. Sir Henry Thompson occupied the chair, and among the audience were to be seen Di Russell .Reynolds, Mr Berkeley Hill, Professor Hill, Piofesser Cornfield, and other distinguished medical men. The subject chosen by the lecturer was " Coffee and Tea. After stating his belief tint stimulants, both alcoholic and alkaloidal, had their uses ancLthat we ought to be very sure of our ground before we attempt to over ride appetite by dogma— as the Mohammedans had done— Dr Poore proceeded to contrast " coffee wish tea." The cup of cofiee, provided it were genuine, contained moie alkaloidal stimulant than the cup of tea, and owing to the absence of tannin the action ot coffee was more rapid than that of tea. The specific gravity ot a cup of tea was about 1003, that of strong eofiee 1009. and of cafe-au-lait, sweetened, 1035. Tea was more of a pure beverage than coffee, and hence ib was possible to use it as a mere luxury, for it requited scarcely any digestive effort, and did not " cloy" the palate. The danger of excesssive teadrinking lay irainly in the large amount of astringent matter. This was a most potent cause of dyspepsia among women of the seamstress class, who frequently consumed tea which had been boiled. When the system stood in need of a stimulant, there was nothing equal to a enp of stiong coffee; and if it were desired to wean the diunkard from his spii it a teal stimulant must be supplied, and not the sickly, bitter, unwholesome stuff which was called " coffee" in this country. Inoider to make good coffee the beny must be ireeh roasted and ground. There was no difficulty whatevea in loasting coffee, and this ought to be part of the daily routine of every wellregulated household. It was important to use enough coffee ; one and a half to two ounces of coffee to a pint of water made a ti rat-rate be\ erage. Elaborate collee machines for grinding were by no means nerv-saiy. It the coffee required for breakfast weie put into a common earthen ivare jug overnight and cold water pou ted upon it, it nvght be heated to the boiling point in she morning by being allowed to stand in a saucepan of water over the fiie. Violent ebullition was thus avoided, and the aioma was pieseived. Chicoiy and other allied bodies aie in no way substitutes for coffee, for they possess no stimulant properties. Out of ninety samples of ground coffee purchased in London shops, only five were found to be genuine. — London Lancet The Specimen-.— A young man who lives in Philadelphia ventured out alone into the country a few days ago. The young man did not know much about the country, and it seemed quite natutal that he should wish to carry home a mpmento of his trip, a specimen of natural history, He saw hanging from a low bush by the road-side a strange object, veiy much like a small balloon, made of coarse gray paper. This singular thing seemed to be just the specimen lie wanted. He broke off the twig from which the curiosity was suspended, and went to the station. He entered a wellfilled car, placed it in a hat rack, and sank into a seat. The car was warm. The warmth seemed very delightful to the young man, Mho had been out in the cold so loner. In a short time he was in a doze. The car grew warmer. The young man slept. Suddenly the artificial summer atmosphere was rent by an unearthly shriek, and a lady rose convulsively, and just as suddenly fainted. Before the startled passengers had time to discover the cause of the alarm, another lady repeated the performance. A third, who began it in the same manner, would probably have finished it without an change in the programme, had she not received a sudden shock that acted like hartshorn, and saved her from losing consciousness, for just behind her a man began to declaim in a style truly diabolical. And, as it matters were not already bad enough', a baby set up a yell, and would not be comforted. The passengers soon got inco a strange commotion. The men were dancing, and some of them bellow-, ing, the women trembling, fainting and shrieking, children scrambling under the seats and blubbering and whimpering. The young man awoke in amazement. B\>r a moment he thought the people were crazy, and that some of them would do injury to his prehistoric balloon.' Then the conductor burst through' the crowd and stood before the young mad. He did not speak. He leaned over inj front of the young man and opened the window. The young man was surprised.. The conductor seized the prehistoric specimen and threw 'it through the window with all, his strengths *'Im-i pertinence !" shrieked the young man. ' "How dare you touch my , specimen?"! "Your specimen !" roSrjps' ityei cOn4vi9' ! tor. " Whyi -yonfool, *dtn/t yb^ know it's ,*horn.e.Va neat?"