CLIPPINGS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1889, 14 August 1884, Page 4

CLIPPINGS.

Milcii Cows should have a moderate supply of roots, with hay, to keep them up to their full milking properties, if possible, until a supply of rye, winter vetches, and Italian ryegrass comes in. 11 I BAY, Jenkins, can you tell a young, tender chicken frim an old, tough one?" — " Of course lean." -•• Well, how ?"— " By the teeth." — " Chickens have no teeth."—" No, but I have." Envenomed air (s.iysKuskin) is deadlier to the young than the old, and that under man's "progressive" rule women are seldom likely to attain the ngeat which lie ceases to pity them. But thequestion of to-day is not for the crone, but the Imbe. What favors of high destiny has England to promise to her children who have been reared in mephitic fume instead of mountain breeze — who have had for playground heaps of ashes instead of banks of flowers— whose Christmas holidays brought them no memory, whose Easter brought no hope ; and from whose existence of the present an'l the future commerce has filched the earth and science shut the sky! Interesting particulars of the American lead-pencil trade have recently been published. With the improved machinery now in us* 3 , it is possible for ten men to turn out four,, thousand pencils a daj r . The cedar comes from Florida in slabs cut to pencil-length. Four parallel groovei are 3a\vn in each little slab, each groove being destined to hold the lead, or rather graphite. The so-called leads are kept in hot glue, and after being inserted in the grooves are covered over with a thin slab of cedar, also glued ; then the whole is passed through a moulding-machine, and comes out at the other side in the form of four finished pencils. The graphite is mixed with a variable amount of white clay, the greater the proportion of clay the harder the pencil— and is ground with moisture into a paste. The paste is pressed into dies, and is baked at a high temperature. RkFORM in tiik Mauritius. — An important letter (say 3 the European Mail) lias been forwarded by the Right Hon, the Earl of Derby, Secretary of State for the Colonies, to Mr J. Henniker Heatou (delegate to Her Majesty's Government for the reform of the Constitution of Mauritius) informing him that, " as there appears to be a decided feeling in the colony in favour of the introduction of an elective element into the council, Her Majesty's Government would not object to make provision for the election of some of the unofficial members by censtituencies enjoying such a franchise as would include those persons of every lace who would be capable of exercising it with intelligence and lesponsibility." Thus the long agitation has been successful, and the people of Mauritius will enjoy the right of sending their own representatives to the local Parliament or council, which, however, Lord Derby informs Mr Heaton, he does not at present feel disposed to enlarge, as was also requested. There will be great rejoicing in Mauritius over the responsible government that has been granted. The Royal Mint.— The 14th nnnual report of the Deputy Master of the Mint has been issued. The is the first report prepared since the recent re-organisation of the Mint buildings and machinery. The power has now been acquired of coining two metals at the same time, and the Mint has bad no difficulty in meeting the demands made upon it. A coinage of a very large amount of Imperial silver is the only feature of special interest mentioned. The total number of pieces struck at the Mint was 39,119,714, ai against 3,679,292 in 1882, and their value, real or nominal, £2, 775,461 16s 2d. The amount of gold coined during the year consisted only of half-sovereigns of the value of £1,435,223. The amount of gold bullion sent in by the Bank of England for coinage during the year was 1,128,045 ounces, or £4,392,325, and of this amount £3,445,96S consisted of gold coin withdrawn from circulation under the provisions of the Coinage Act as below the least current weight prescribed by law. The silver coin struck during the year amounted to £1,272,025, which is the largest amount coined in any one year since the introduction of the present silver coinage in 1817. The bronze coin issued in 1883 consisted of £27,540 in pence, £9,350 in half-pence, and £2,830 in farthings. The financial results of the operations of the Mint during 1883 were highly satisfactory. On the work of the last 12 years there has been a net profit of £211,810, or an average profit of £17,650 a-year. The Sins of Legislators. —Mr Her« bert Spencer contributes to the Contemporary Review the first portion of a masterly essay on "The sins of Legislators." Starting from the propositions that all governments were originally founded on force, and that the partiallysurviving code of ethics arising in, and proper to a state of war still vitiates governmental action, he proceeds to illustrate the shocking incapacity of legislations for the work which they undertake (this being the inevitable result of the want of that study by which they are morally bound to prepare themselves) by enormous evils which ignorant legislation has produced. He remarks that a druggist's assistant, for mistaking a, malady and administering a wrong medicine, wereby the patient loses his life, is liable to be punished for manslaughter, his ignorance not being accepted in bar of judgment. And yet the stupid, blundering, inexperienced legislator — the consequences of whose acts may be incalculably more disastrous— goes unpunished. Many instances of the enormous mischief effected in thi» way are given, including murder on a very large scale ; and still, it is remarked, the fetish-worship of the Legislature undergoes no diminution. Lampooned as candidates, they are regarded as infallible, omniscient, and omnipotent when they take their seats ; " and," adds Mr Spencer, " judging from the prayers made to them, there is nothing which their wisdom and their power cannot compass."