MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1536, 3 June 1885, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

• Tbe ancient sport ef hawking (says the correspondent of a contemporary) has been revived on Salisbury Plain. In am old enough to remember when it was earned on in Berkshire en that portion oi the Hsley Downs which has since been so reach used as a training ground for racehorses. Anything more picturesque than the hawks with their bells aud jesses, on the framework carried by the falconer, is not to ha imagined ; the eager stare of the noble birds when their anoovered eyes are roving tbe sky for an object of pursuit, their swiftness of flight when they preeeiv-e it, and their docility in returning to the " lore, torn a charming spectacle. It is, however, a dangerous amaseoient, because the sportsmen, as they ride, most necessarily keep their eyes in the air and many a tumble over the mts and roads have I seen in consequence. As the heron was not to be found on the downs, the hemble rook had to take its place ; and instead of the v lore " which in heraldry is described as " two | wings joined with the Hue to the end j of which is attached a ring" — the fali coner nsed a dead pigeon. I Mr Selden, Superintendent of the 1 Baltimore and Ohio Telegraph Co., t whose headquarters are at the Central Company's building at Baltimore, is ' tbe inventor and patentee of a Bextuplfx instrument, which has Keen adopted by the Baltimore and Ohio : Company. The instruments have been set up, and, after thorough tests, tb* ! local Superintendent, Mr Stewart, : reports that they work admirably. Three messages can be sent gimultan- ; eously front each end of a single wire. : ami every wojx) comes dtstinetly. The- , sextnplez will be nsed between Balti j more and Washington as soon as the i new quarters of the Telegraph Cotn- : pany in Washington are complete, and | its use will be extended in other direcj tions. Mr Selden, it is stated, worked ; out his invention while he was a | telegraph superintendent in the West. i An electrician says that it was a matter for netice among that class that Mr j Thomas A. Edison had recently published a letter on telegraphy, in which i he says that the limit ef improvement has abont been reached, and there remains probably nothing further to be done except te /iiseover a sextaplex instrument that will transmit six messages simultaneously ewr a single ; wire. Mr Edison enlarges at length \ upon the sextuplex principle.. Mr ; Selden 'a invetfion is claimed to have j passed beyond tb#> field ef experiment, ; and has been accepted as an established j adjunct to their telegraph department by the Baltimore and Ohio Cosspany. Sir William Thomson's idea of ose> ■ | fully employing the water power ef I the Niegara Fall for the purpose «f ganerating electricity by 'dynamo machines has, according to " Engineering," been realised. In the mill ef Quimby and Co., magneto-eiectrieai Machines are driven by the force of waters, which supply the electricity for a large number of' telephones, mauy of them being in Buffalo, twantyfive miles distant. A good story is told of to Irishmaft who had a contract for «inkiug a well but did his work so bad that the aides fell in. Pat was, however, equal to the occasion. He took off his Mat and bat, placed them on top, and then climbed np a tree. Some passers-by believing him to have been buried beneath the debris, teok off their coats and worked vigorously for his recovery. When the well was cleaned out Pat leisurely descended from his high eminence, and in his blandest tones . said " Bedad. I'm very much obliged to you gentlemen.' 4 The Chinese Government have a summary method of dealing with those army or navy officers who failed in their operations against tbe Freeeh. The " North Chin* Herald " state* that a decree recently pnMished in Pekin punishes the following officers who had commands during the recent war:— Chang P'eilun is sentenced to service on the military pest*roads in Mongolia, and Ho Juchang, director of the Foo Chow Arseual and late Minister to Tokin, shares his (ate. Ho Ching, ex-Vicnroy of Mm eke, and Chan j ChaoFung are te be summarily degraded, but, by a Special Act of Grace, are not to be handed over to tlie lion id. lining Cbaochun leseS hi* yellow rnii'is j.iuket, and Fang ll»u.t. i::n ut'e i»t \ ung, cr '* iwav«/*

Rfbang Chens, captain of the Yang wu, 'it sentenced to b« beheaded after the Autura Assizes, while Tao Tsung-t »n* and Yang Chang-ehun, Viceroy of Mtn- <*•, who recommended Chang Peilun to the throne, receive thfi Imperial «n SU r«. Chang Chen* seems to bar© been rather severely treated, as ke fought his ship bravely against the enemy's w>rp«do boats, and it was only aftor repeated night attacks that the French succeeded in sinking h-r. Chinese offieialdo.n, however, seems to b* in a bad way generally, and the severe example that has been made of soaie wrong-doers may have a salutary effect. Another decree recently issued in Pekin has reference to the conduct of Ch'en Shih, an «-*-j«dge, whose conduct has not been such as befits his high office, thongh, as is usual in China, he has been engaged in military duties. "He was aecavd of displaying the qualities of extravagance, avarice and arrogance during his conduct in military matters at Nanking. No proofs of fraud aginst Ch'en Shih during hi* tenure of office aa chief controller of the forces at Naaking, or in ; bin administration of paplic funds cmild He discovered, Vmt it was ascertained th*t while Ch'en Shin was stationed at Woosung he was in th«.ha»>it of visiting Shanghai and frequenting the hmises of il!-fai«9 in that place. The decree morally remarks that a high officer in emnniand of troapi is under special obligation to give his whole attention to the business of the force under his central, and in surreptitiously frequenting houses of ill- fame and feasting there, Ch'en Shih has sullied the honor of the official same, aad it is, therefore, eoramandod that hn be corainited to the Board for the determination of a severe form of penalty. Bishop Barry, of Sydney, speaking at th« annual meeting of the Church of England Temperance Society, explained why, unlike many of the clergy, he had been unahle to join thu ]jocal Option League. H« said that lie wonld gladly have joined tbe League as Local Option as vice presi* dent when*sk«d if an arrangement had been made by which the licenses of all public-houses should not be renewed after a certain time. He failed to see that those who ba*» invested their money and capital in tiny bmiu«ss or traffic, provided it was a lawful «ne, should by sudden restrictive legislation be stripped of their money in an improper manner' " Decline or max." — Nervous Weakness, Dyspepsia, Impotence, Sexual Debility, cured by " Wells' Health Renewer." Druggists Kempthorne, ProHser k Co., Agents, Christchurch. It fs irnpoMihle to remain long sick or *»nt of health where American Co.'a Hup . Bitters are used. See another