LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 237, 3 September 1884, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Borough Council will hold its final; meeting this evening. , There hasnearly been 48 hour'of ss'teady and heavy rain, and heavy floods may be looked for. The rainfall was quite exceptional. The nomination for candidates for No. 3 Ward will take place to-morrow at Mr Linton's office. The French. mechanics who- recently visited the United States, to see if emigration were desirable, have gone back 'convinced that France is a better place for the workmen than, the United States. They say that rents are too high, the educational Bystem defective, that liberty runs into license, and the workman is "ground" down by the employer. At the burial of Dr Strain, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Edinburgh,^ a pageant was- witnessed sach as Scotlafrd, ha 4 never seen since the Reformation, i There were 150 Priests, and the . multitude of Franpiscans, Benedictines, Redemptorists, Ninoentiaqs ascolytes, and nuns: made a picture that was irresistibly suggestive of some mediaeval days. A child, while walking through an art gallery with her mother, was attracted by a statue of Minerva, .". Who is that?" Saidrßfter ""My'tttiiajlthat is Minerva, the goddess of wisdom." "Why didn't they make her husband, too ?" " Because she had none, my child." " That was because she was wise, wasn't it, mamma ?" was the artless reply. The enormous number of u3es to which electicity may be pnt received another illustration recently at the Court Opera at Vienna, where by the simple expedient of suspending tiny incandescent lamps by fine swinging wires, the effect was produced of swarms of fireflies flitting about a tropical forest. By switches the current is turned off and on at the pleasure of the operator, and the effect, as the artificial fireflies flash and dance m mid-air is said to have been electrical m other than a literal sense." In a field fronting his manse Dr. Gilleßpie erected a haudsome sundial. His cows^ by rubbing against it, having menaced its overthrow, he instructed the village joiner to enclose it with a timber fence. The order was executed, and a note of cost hauded m. It ran thus : — " For railing m the deil, 55." Wondrfully cheap said the Professor. " I am paid considerably more for railing him m, and have not succeeded yet.". Ladies m Nice are now using parasols composed eutirely of natural flowers, iso that their sunshades resemble uothihg so much as gigantic bouquets stuck on sticks. .The stalks of the flowers. are woven together so as to form a network of bloom,* the inside being lined with silk. Qne parasol is made entirely of violets, with a : bordering of jessamine; another of jeraniums, white and red m rows,' fringed with maidenhair fern ; another of pansies, and so on. When the flowers fade, the parasol has to bo. made up again, generally at intervals of two days. The Queen's new book is to be translated into Gaelic, and the work has been entrusted by Her Majesty to Mrs Mary Mackellar, the Gaelic poetess. The Hawkes Bay Herald says that the scheme for providing a new theatre for Napier is said to be well under weigh, and to comprise the erection m Tenny-son-street of a magnificent pile of buildings, to include several shops, a large public hall for meetings, &c, and a wellappointed theatre designed m accordance with the best modern improvements. The projected block of buildings is estimated to cost about £7000. Colonel Percy Berger is one of the most popular criminal lawyers m Austin, say the Texas Si/tings. One day re* cently the Colonel's little boy Tommy was asked by his Sunday School teacher : ' — " Tommy, the man who is good m this world goes to heaven, ' now what 1 becomes of the bad men who disobey 1 the laws of God. 1 " " Papa clears them,' was the reply. A new rope made from the crystallised fibres of abestos has been perfected, having a diameter of an inch and a half, and a breaking strength of one ton. It is reported to have been made specially for fire escape purposes, fire brigades, and for other means of escape from fire. Asbestos, as is well-known, is unaffected by heat, and a rope composed of such a material wjjl prove a great advantage. A friend is onp whp ljkes another. Asa man ascends the ladder pf success., at, every rung out pops a new friend, True . friends, however, are not got by wealth, ' or prosperousness, and a man of; sense generally can determine from his acquaintances those who really love him for himself. And it a successful man has the hardihood nowadays to start Out thus and determine his friends, he may be surprised to learn how much flattery, how much hollow cringing and dollars and cents figure on the credit and debit Bides of his friendship account,

John Wilsher, a Berkshire farm servant, died .it the ago of 84, after service m the same family for 66 years. On his small pay he brought up a large family, who are all douig well. His cottage was a picture of cleanliness and neatness, and was theSsame as that m which bis parents lived, also servants of the same family. Sage, that simple little plant, is most valuable, its qualities are universal, and too. numerous to mention. It lengthens life, it £i ves health, strength, and beauty. Sage also forms one of the beet dentifriceß I can mention, and because it is so simple and common very few use it ; j still I again repeat that sage leaves are the healthiest things possible, and if you will but rub your teeth regularly night and morning with them you will never need a toothbrush, powder, or wash, they will thoroughly cleanse your teeth, and keep ' them not only healthy but white ; for depend upon it sage is invaluable for every purpose, as teeth, eyes, breath and memory all bensfit by it, therefore wo should nevor bo without it. A Scotch clergyman .at Ayr a few days ago, prayed : " O Lord bless the Established Church and Free Church, and the United Presbyterian Church, and all other churches — Thou knowest the various nicknames, Lord, by which they are called — bless thorn all 1" Don't judge a man by the coat he wears ; God made one and the tailor the other. Don't judge him by his family, for Cain belonged to a good family. Don't judg» a man by his failure m life, for many a man fails because he .is too honest to succeed. Doft't judge a man by the house he lives m, for the lizard and the rat often inhabit the grander structure. When a man dies, they who survive ask what property he has left behind ; the angel who bends over the dying man asks what good deeds he has sent before him. A new profession has been established m New York. It is that of dusting the bric-a-brac and objects of " bigotry and virtue " m the drawingroom of the wealthy. The work is performed by professional dusters iti the shape of deft-handed women, who go from house to house, provided with instruments of different sizes and shapes, to remove the dust from all manner of decorative ornaments. For 138 positions on the Victorian railways there were 2,000 candidates. The Commissioners held an examination previous to making the appointments, which is a better way than depending upon political influence, but of what use is a knowledge of geography to assist a man m cleaning a cattle truck out. Charters Towers, Queensland, has a | population of 5000. It has 400 known reefs, and its goldfield is 50 miles long by 20 to 35 miles broad. During last year there were crushed from it 47.151 tons of stones for 72,3970z. of gold, • North Queensland has now six rich goldfields, Ravens wood, the Cape River, Woolga, Hodgkinson, Etheridge, and the Palmer. Mr Michael Davitt is engaged upon a book which will be shortly completed, and which will deal with social rather than political questions, the material having been drawn from his prison experiences. It desciibes his prisou life and experience, and embodies his views on the convict system m general.