MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 23 August 1880, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

■ ♦ : The writer of "Specialities" in the Queenslander sajs :- " Australia has no better man, or better writer, than Janifs of Melbourne ; nerertheless, wo owe him a grudge for a sin of omission which con- j strains us to leave his virtues out of nc« eennt for the space of a paragraph. That Essay of bis in the Victorian Eeview on the subject of ' Worry, as a Factor of Disease,' is about the most cold blooded performance we have ever been subjected to. We say • sui-jected to ' advisedly, for to all worried pernsers lite ourselves its frightfully candid exposure of the magazine of dangers which our bodies do but temporarily conceal is in reality a piece of wanton vivisection. In our normal condition of worry we flew to the article, expecting to find some method recommended, by practising which we might be enabled, if not to floor our anxieties, at all events io dodge them. But instead of that, after being told in effect that the structure of our liver is already altered, that we may look out for gout presently, that paralysis of our lower limbs is inevitable, and that we are altogether in a

'parlous state, the essay suddenly suras itself upon in the admonition ' Don't worry. 1 But the matter is even worse than this. Mr Smith has in our case actually contributed a new factor to the disease. Now that we kao«v all the menace with which worry is but too trulj fraught, we are become the victim of anew and extra form of it— namely, the worry of trying not to worry, a con« dition painfully akin to the exaggerated sleeplessness which a sleepless man ex« periences in the mistaken endeavor to de'iberattly and consciously doze off. Ai many others will no doubt be similarly afflicted with this rrfl"X form of the disorder, we propose, in order to give the essayist tbe full credit of it. and also to avoid a somewhat circumlocutious phrase* ology, that the worry of trying not to worry be henceforth known as Smith's Disease. Now, since it is quite plain that the worry of trying not to worry (or worry to the second power) may expand at anj moment into worrying oneself with the worry of trying not to worry (or worry cubed), it is also evident that the transition from oar dear old simple worry to the stage ot it in which the Smithian prescription lands us is but the first step in a series ot appalling expansions which in the— nth ' power would be nothing short of an h with a dash. We rpaily see nothing for it but to worry on till we attain to those ' millions * the owner of which, Mr Smith assures us, ' has nothing left to desire.' To be sure, worry might kill us off long before we got into the seven figures, but not half so fast as would Smith's Disease, which is simp'y a multiple of the orginal disorder. Aa most of our worries arise from real needs, the admonition, ' Don't worry/ is about as useful to the poor man as that admirable receipt which, in order to make a small quantity of silver. We are afraid, to>, that if we fully succeeded in carrying out tbe advice it could only be by transferring the worry to our botcher and baker and candlestick maker— on our account. An employee in a menagerie at Lyons was nearly eaten alive lately by large lions, into whose cage he had entered for the purpose of cleaning fit. The lion tamer, a woman happened ; to be on the spot and rescued the man,' hat not before h t bad been fearfully mutilated. The Timaro Herald of the 12th AugoV, referring to gold mi ng on the West Coast, says :— "Tbe goldmining industry on the West Coast has recently had new Tigor infused into it. From two points— Lake Maponrika in the south, and Seventeen* Mile Beach, north of Greymouth— news of good returns has been received. The former is a new field, of which we have as yet received very little information, bat from which glowing accounts of the dig* gers' prospects are sent, though all the writers agree in deprecating a rush, or the advent of anyone not possessed of a little capital. No doubt a considerable portirn of our floating population, and even men who are in steady employment but who are easily infected with gold ferer, have 8->me thoughts of going ; but they should remember that tbe ground is neoessarily limited in extent, and that the Coast itself contains a large number of men ready to snatch at a chance, and who would be first- on the ground. From the meagre accounts to hand it appears that the working is heavy, and therefore for some time to cbme only men with a little capital will be üble to work successfully. Never* theless a good few men Lave gone over tbe Southern Alps to try their luck. On Tuesday about a score of Chinamen p*S' sed through Timaru, on their way to the new diggings, from Otago. Wellington has not hitherto been spoken of as a goldmining district, but there seems to be some likehood of it assuming that charae* ter. A company is in course of formation to work a reef in the Wairarapa Valley. TbH was prospected eight or ten years *go, but the prospectors abandoned it on the breaking out of the Thames rush. A trial assay o r the stone yielded from 14 dwts to 22Jwts to tbe ton, with some silver. The country is rough, but the stone is said to be very plentiful." Here is a real gem from a recent issue of the London Times. To philosophers and philanthropists of substantial means with no immediate kin. A young gentleman, just nineteen, who feels he has very good natural abilities for a scholar,, philosopher, and statesman, wishes to b • o >me acquainted with some one of tbe above who would adopt him to give him advantage to cultivate himself in a superior manner, and who would subsea quently place him (after due knowledge of his ability and character) in substantial independent circumstances, that he may employ himself in promoting the welfare of his fellow countrymen. Applicant is, thoughtful, conscientious, energetic, pew severing, methodical, modest, and very temperate— Address to arrange for ins terview to H792, Address and Inquiry Office, tbe Times, E.C."