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Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2352, 6 August 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Pope has sent the Queen one of the most splendid pieces of mosaic ever seen, as a Jubilee gift. Anoui four hundred telephones in Cincinnati were burned out by lightning daring a recent storm. “There is more pleasure in giving than in receiving,” was a proverb that a mother was trying to instil into a youthful mind. 11 How about castor oil ? ” was the answer she got.—Carl Pretzel’s Weekly. Why is a clipper ship like a handkerchief ? Because it goes round the Horn and receives many a hard blow.

A Patriotic Manifestation.— A funny story has been related in Paris of an adventure that has befallen a young recruit at Strasburg. As he was being examined by the military surgeons before entering tbs ranks it was found that nearly the, whole of the body was tattoed over with the words “ Viva la France.” The startled medicos twined and twisted the youth about, and discovered that there was only one exception to the inscriptions with which the Alsatian had, adorned himself, and this consisted of an equally brief sentence expressive of the utmost contempt for the Prussians. The individual on whom the art of the tatooer had been thus lavishly practised has been condemned as a first installment to six month’s imprisonment, which will give him ample leisure for reflecting on the egregious folly of which he had been guilty. But it is to be feared, that when he at last rejoins his regiment, his troubles will be by no means at an end, unless, indeed, the military authorities arrive at the conclusion, that a man who has deliberately made such a ridiculous spectacle of himself, and who has, moreover, labelled himself with a treasonable cry, is unworthy to don the Kaiser’s uniform. At any rate, the Alsatian recruit has now become acquainted with the fact—if he was not aware of it before—that German officers are the last people in the world with whom it is prudent to trifle, and that if he intended his little exhibition as a joke, it could not fail to be utterly lost on those for whose amusement it was destined. Worst of all, the marks can never be obliterated, as wiser if not sadder men have—after indulging in their youth in this stupid practice—learnt to their coat.