Interesting Items.
The number of Bibles printed during last year in England alone amounted to nearly four millions.
A Birds' Nest in a Railway Truck.—A water wagtail's nest, containing four eggs, was found at Norbiton Station amongst some coal in a truck which arrived from Derbyshire, a few weeks ago. The old birds had evidently come too, for they were seen flying about the station.
The death is announced of Mr. Norman Macdonald, of Big Bras Dor, Cape Breton, at the reputed age of 110 years. It is stated that he was a survivor from Waterloo. He was a man of great activity and endurance, and up to about two years ago was able to work on his farm at Cape Breton.
A Quiet Rebuke.—An old minister one Sunday, at the close of the sermon, gave notice to the congregation that in the course of the week he expected to go on a mission to the heathen. One of the deacons, in great agitation, exclaimed, "Why, my dear sir, you have never told us one word of this before! What shall we do?" "Oh, brother," said the parson, "I don't expect to go out of town."
There are more beggars in London this year than I ever remember before—female beggars, crossing sweeper beggars, and singing beggars. And no wonder, if many of them earn as much as one of the fraternity who was before a suburban magistrate recently. This man confessed to earning 5s., 10s., and 15s., and on one occasion as much as £1 1s. 6d. He has earned his living by begging for thirty years, and made a very good living too. He was sent to prison for fourteen days, and when out will doubtless resume his lucrative profession.
A Clerical Miser.—The Rev. John Trueman, of Daventry, possessed an income of about four hundred pounds per annum clear; and, by his self-denying management of it, he contrived to amass fifty thousand pounds. There were few things too mean for him to do in order to save money. He would steal turnips out of the fields as he passed along, on the pretence of visiting the farmhouses, and then beg bits of bacon to boil with them from the good wives in the parish. Sometimes he would quarter himself, without any invitation, in a farmhouse, and in the room in which he slept, he has been known to pull the worsted out of the corners of the blankets, and take it away with him, in order to darn his stockings.
In India we have a few peculiarities because of the great heat. Our houses are, generally speaking, on the open ground, no upstair rooms, and the doors are left wide open. There was an English mother who had the habit, when probably half asleep, of handing out her baby before daybreak to the ayah, to administer to its wants and cares. One morning, this poor mother, all but asleep, felt, as she thought, the cold touch of the ayah (the native nurse), and handed out the baby; but it was a wolf that was there. We are asleep, my friends. That mother lost her reason when the dear little infant was thus destroyed; but in our sleep and in our slumber we lose one child after another by handing them over to Rome—to the wolf that destroys them. Oh, let us awake!—W. Ayerst, M.A.
Steel Lace.—A new branch of industry is going to revolutionize the lace trade. A New York dealer in laces is exhibiting a specimen of lace of an extremely delicate pattern, and so light that it can almost be blown away by a breath of air. This lace is made of steel rolled as fine as the point of a cambric needle. It is not woven, but stamped out of a sheet of low grade steel, so that it should not be too brittle. It was turned out of a small Pittsburgh mill, and sent to the dealer to show what could be done in that line. In the course of time other patterns will be made—heavier, perhaps, but certainly more tenacious than this piece. There is said to be no question as to its durability, and its cheapness would make it the most saleable of all laces in the market. It may create a revolution in the lace market, if rust can be guarded against.—Iron.
Sulphur for Sore Throats.—The value of sulphur in throat difficulties is but little known among families, though most physicians prescribe it in some form. An ordinary sore throat will be relieved by a gargle of sulphur and water—one tablespoonful to a glass of water, and use frequently. In every family the flour of sulphur should be always kept ready for use, and at the appearance of irritation or cankered spots, a gargle should be given, or the powder blown through a paper tube directly into the throat. At different times we have seen the throat trouble relieved in a few hours by the simple use of this valuable remedy. A sore throat is no trivial thing, and no time should be lost in the matter. If, after discovering it in a child, it does not improve in a few hours' time after the use of sulphur, a reliable physician should be called in without further delay.