MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 26 May 1880, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

says it would be Swtte ttv^ny^fctrt a Ming of satiety and : almost of wepriness has come over Eu- | rope in regard » 0 international exhibii&Wy Tlie np^?*o4 fascinating idea of a rrralry of nations In commerce and the "pursuits of peace, which the world greeted with enthusiasm in 1851 has been not a little discredited in varions ways since Jh,at,tinje. f ffbat |ras,afc first thought to b^ tempj: |f peace r and concord has <=om« to be regarded as only a gigantic medium of advertising.. The aolhnrieties of Go<h* bare made their report for the year 1879 nn the subjeet of cremation. The 6rst body snh, jected to this mode °/ disposaKwas treated on^eTOrßeeemfeVrrWgT since^Ken Bfteen others have been similiarly dealt .with. Tha time reqWd f Or «l, e complete incineration of the bodies is abonf two hours on an average, and it is regarded as a most satisfactory fact (hat not only has ro complaint as to the result be,en made at Gotha but that a number of o' her German towns are preparing to follow in its wake. The people wbo<*s remains were eremated came from all parts of Germany, Dresden, Hanover, Breslan. arid Lipsic bring among the eonfcrihnfcors, while even Tftenna senfe one subject. I> is now ihnaeßt likely that the operation will be considerably extended ?n the Fatherland-, parh'cuJar'y as'the olJecHons which were urged against it have all been proved fo be groundless, and ss litfle , snpersHMon aa to the superior advantages of buvial remains. It is hoped by the promoters of the scheme that in process of time the prejudices which present the introduction of cremation into* England will subside, and that since this new method of " putting the dead out of s*s>hfc"will beadorted in a land where some better method* of disposal than in« terment under ground Is, in their opinion, orgeptly wqinirerf. )r s Aecofdingto lhe.f*Tew I^orlr Snn the United States now boasts the finest pin in'tbe world, an American ifoa'nek in fnot. It is (be erewhile eify of PithoK Pennsylvania^; .once, a^. p|ace coniahnag 2^.060 -w3v#t>i4»A, Wnd no owning tint three families. Its history is a pepuli*!* and sad one. In Jt^§4 " oil was struck" accidentally, and- tnrtiediately all the population of the adjacent districts flocked to the scene. Houses were ereeted, lots apporh'nned, , streets marked out and bwW,* Government offlc%s, establishments, churches, chapfHt theat? e§, o drinking 1 saloons, all grew apace. In a very short time Pitbole bid fair to become one of the most flourishing towns of the Union. Two years pnssed hy. All was goins merrily (orWjard^.when suddenly, tb^ oil, f erased? fl- wing. Then a stampede ensued for places where pefroleura wa% to be found, A way ware! Ahe^popufcee# 4f|d s{ *following them, the officials, unlil three families only remained to plough up the streets and grow wheat where once; the .citizens had disported themselves* In the eyes of the American paper that records' thi3, bnt one satisfaction remains, and it is that happily all the great Q-lasses of political thought in the State,s are still reprej|ented at Pithole, for while one of the remaining rpgidgnj&is a;srejei^aCkefv tiia.ietjoud is a Democrat, and the third a A new insftojment. called theiopopbone has recently been experimented upon and described by Professor Moffon in his res port to the Lighthouse Board of the United States, by which the exact direction of sound giv*n 'hy- 'fogshojras' or^fbgsbelis may be ascertained. The machinery ]s 1 very" simple, and consists of a vertwaf fctS passing through the roof of the d^fl cabinj to the upper ead of "which are tacbed two adjustable reasoaaiors. Bi^H these is a pointer, set at right angles^B the, bait, while,, rubber tubes pass thro^fl the* cabin roof and are connected wi|H pair of ear tubes, fjbe jwhole . apparatW can be turned towards acy direction, and' the result is that any person sitting in the cabin, by turning round until the least sound* was perceptible, would bring the pointer to within ten degrees, or less i than one point of the direction. The espsriments proved that it was easy to ascertain whence fhe sound came from a distance of four to six m : les. One of the most daring swindles ever hea'rß of was perpetrated not long ago upon a welKknown London Bank. About 2 p.m. a well appointed bronghain, with coachman and servant correctly dressed — cockades on their hats, breeches, fophodtf, &c. ~snd an earl's coronet upon the harness, drew up at the door of the establishment in question. The servant was seen to get off the box, go to the window of thevehicK touch his hat, and receive from one of the inmates a piece of paper, which he took mto the Bank. It proved to he a cheqne for £410, signed by fhe Earl of Blank, and pavable to self oaf berer. The no' leman in qnestion having always a large balance at the Bank, fhe servant or groom was merely asked how he would take it, when he produced a slip of paper on wliieh was written — ' £10 in gold, the rest in £50 notes.' The cheqae was paid at once, and the man took bis departure, A couple of hours later, when the balance for the day vras being made up, one of the clerks remarked he had read in the papera the Earl of Blank was cruising in his yacht. This caused the manager to send round to bis lordship's town house, when he learned that the peer in question had not been in town for nearly a month. To make a long story short, the cheque was

found to be a forgery, although thasignature was an Bdm : rabte imitation of the earl's; anjj^ t)|fgßbf'q/ie was evidently ttW» from^c^ne-hoofc which Eft I heen giyen to bis lordship. Eurther lea* quirjr showed (hat within 20. minutes of the cheque being paioFb^y the IwafiP W»a notes had been ehaflged at the Bank ofEngland. -%.„ The New York Journal of Coraraerca says .— ' That veteran organisation, tha Atlantic Mutual Insurance Oompaoy, afe the head of the marine underwriters in the United States, and one of the best in the world, is out in the current issue ' witß Its annual staFeTxyrat. T/he total marine premiums oa polieie? issued foe the last year amount to 5..371.048 dollars, 49 eents., of which were marked off 3> -^S;ieraßlti?rW¥es^. The fcssespai.i during the year amount to 1,524.331 dollars 40 cpnfs. TKf assets on hand foot-up 12,437,739 dollar? 51 cents., a .sufficient guarantee against all contingencies whatever. The usual interest j will be paid February 3d on a'l out* standing certificates! and 5p per eeut. besides on the entire outstanding princK pal o c 1876. The scrip dividend on tha last year's business is 40 per cent, which/ is 10 per cent, above the sate, for thft ; year.' , Speaking reeeh'lv at OhristrtJinrfch tip* on the Education qiestion, Mr Rollestna, . said : — We hav.& yet ?o realise what i* realised in America and among the. Con* nnental nations of Europe, that primary „; education is only a small portion of a really national plia {that to put if on lo*f grounds the mere acquisition of the three R's will leave us sadly behind in the raee of the world. It was notorious in the. Paris Exhibition that our manufactures, compared unfavorably with those of . nations who afforded higher technical and industrial instruction to their 'people. , ' Finally, we hare to realise tb,afc by nation*! : education we meafl that it is to be pa : 4 ! j for by the people at large, oat of-fands, 'raised by general taxation, in the satna manner that oar judicial, military, and other, departments are maintained. "-&> England/' Professor Max Muller asks, ' and I would add are the British colonies ' "poorer than Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, or Italy £ If all these, ) countries tax themselves to tke utmost for eompol-ory gratuitous education, is England to say 1 cannot afford it P - « . ■• There is no reason," he contioes, " why your national education should not be as j much ahead of that of Grermaay ss the education of Germany is of that of China., You have money, peace, yon haTa public spirit and you have what i\ best of all, a practical religion, I mean you, ' still do a thing, however nmen you M&g dislike it, because you believe it is tha will of Godl- Well then invest yotuf money, untilise your peace, rou?e youfc * " public spirit, and convince the world thai one half, three*fourths, nine-tenths of •tfeil practical religion is educationnational education, compulsory, and it may be erafqitons education.'*