Various

“ Tell one of them that, in a purely foreign hotel, the girl must not be let to sleep in another corridor—on another floor—or away from her own immediate vicinity, and she asks: ‘Why? My daughter is not a baby; she can take care of herself. And what harm should happen to her?’ Tell her that the girl must not wander unaccompanied about the passages, the gardens, the public rooms of the hotel, nor sit apart in corners of the salon talking in whispers with the men, nor lounge on the benches with one favoured individual alone—and she scouts all these precautions as foolish if not insulting. ”

“ We are British, and may do as we like, not being slaves nor wearing wooden shoes like those others, and Britannia ruling the seas—a cross between Neptune and Minerva. We eat and drink and dress and flirt and live independent of the rules by which the people of the country are guided and checked. But if any one does not conform to our ways, he is anathematised, and we wonder how such bad taste is possible with a well-conditioned person! ”

“ He exercises systematically, and cultivates a few special muscles, perhaps those of the shoulder, to the hindrance of the complex muscles of the neck and throat; or perhaps those of the back and groin, as in rowing, to the detriment of chest, muscle, and development; and although his condition is greatly improved, he is apt to become wearied from a lack of physical exhilaration, or a lack of that sweetening of mental enjoyment which gives cycling such a lasting charm. If a man has no heart in his exercise, he will not persist in it long enough to get its finest benefits. ”

“ They wound down the zigzag path together, under the gaunt shadows of the overhanging bamboo clumps, waving weirdly to and fro with the breeze in the feeble moonlight—the strong man slouching along timorously, shaking and starting with terror at every rustle of Nora’s dress against the bracken and the tree ferns; the slight girl erect and fearless, walking a pace or two in front of her faint-hearted escort with proud self-reliance, and never pausing for a single second to cast a cautious glance to right or left among the tangled brushwood. ”

“ Here, feel my hand; you see I’m alive still; you see your people haven’t killed me yet, even if you’ve killed your poor old master.—Martin, tell me, what’s this you’re all saying about Mr Hawthorn having shot Delgado?’
Martin, shaking violently in every limb, turned round and reassured himself slowly that it was really Nora and not her ghost that stood bodily before him. ‘Ha, missy,’ he answered good-humouredly, showing his great row of big white teeth, though still quaking visibly with terror, ‘don’t you be ’fraid; we wouldn’t hurt you, not a man of us. ”

“ An amount of freedom, which is both innocent and recognised here, is held as dangerous and improper there; but few English girls will submit to more personal restraint in Palermo or Madrid than that to which they have been accustomed in Cornwall or Cumberland. And indeed, they often launch out into strange license, and do things in foreign cities which they would not dare to do in their own native towns. They think they are not known; and what does it signify what people say of them?—the honour of the English name not counting. ”

“ A showy triad, dressed in the fluttering fashion dear to the tribe of Jermimer—bows here, ends there—colours which dazzle, and shapes not to be overlooked—they make themselves still more conspicuous by their millinery than nature has already made them by her gift of milkwhite skins and flaxen hair. They make themselves more conspicuous by their manners than by either millinery or colour. ”

“ Besides, they must be very horrid people to think evil when there is none.’ Mothers and chaperons are no more sensitive, no more conformable, than their charges, and quite as resolute to reject any new view and trample under foot any rule of life to which they have not been accustomed. ”

“ They care nothing for sight-seeing, and all for flirting, or what in their vernacular is ‘larking.’ Like their prototype giggling back to ’Arry over the old boat, they look back and laugh and beckon and nod to the young officers who follow them through the streets, thinking that here is sport made to their hand, and that to reject the roasted larks which fall from the sky would be a folly unworthy a rational human being. ”

“ The man who goes through ten hours’ daily mental fret and worry, will in an hour of pleasant road-riding, in the fresh sweet-scented country, throw off all its ill effects, and prepare himself for the effectual accomplishment of another day’s brain-work. The steady and active employment of all the muscles, until they are well heated and healthily tired, clears the blood from the brain, sharpens the appetite, and insures a night’s refreshing sleep. ”

“ They walk about making comments in audible voices, and stepping over the obstructive feet of the kneeling worshippers as unconcernedly as if they were picking their way among so many bales of cotton and wool. Why should they not? When faith and habits clash, are not our own those which we must consider? ”

“ The manufacturer will give the preference to home-grown fibre provided that it is equal in all respects to the foreign. We can scarcely hope to compete successfully with Holland and Belgium, as flax-culture has been brought to great perfection there; but we can produce a fibre much superior to Russian, and if we can produce it cheap enough, can beat Russia out of the market. The average price of Irish flax in 1885 was about fifty-two pounds per ton; the yield per acre, where properly treated, would be from five to six hundredweight on an average. ”

“ We deride the costly political efforts made by young nations struggling to obtain a place in European councils; but we have not a word of praise for the patience with which the people bear their heavy burden of taxation, that their country may be great with the great, and strong with the strong. ”

“ One of the birds most commonly ‘telegraphed’ with us, both in its spring and autumn ‘flittings,’ is the Landrail (Crex pratensis) , or perhaps better known as the Corncrake; indeed, in the spring migration I have known of its presence among us through this means, some time before its well-known call-note was heard; although, occasionally, individual birds stay all the winter with us. Lately, a new line of wires has been put across a common near us, to join others on one of the great north roads. ”

“ A tired feeling in any one part of the body is generally occasioned by a weakness caused by former disuse of the muscles located there, and this disappears as the rider becomes habituated to the new motions of the wheel. With an experienced cyclist, the sensation of fatigue does not develop itself prominently in any one part of the body, but is so evenly adjusted as to be hardly noticeable. ”

“ Erect riding is more graceful, it develops the chest, and adds an exercise to the muscles of the throat and chest that rowing does not.
The exposure to out-of-door air, the constant employment of the mind by the delight of changing scenery or agreeable companionship, add their contribution, and make cycling, to those who have tried practically every other sport, the most enjoyable, healthful, useful exercise ever known. ”

“ Any difficulty that might exist in this country with regard to the preparation of the fibre for market might be met by farmers in a district banding together to provide the requisite machines, which can now be had cheaper and better than before.
If flax-culture is profitable in Ireland, it can be made so in Britain; and if only half of the eighty-three thousand tons annually imported could be grown at home, a large sum would be kept in the country which now goes to enrich the foreigner. ”

“ When one of these people, after a year of sick-headache and dyspepsia, comes to realise that healthy nerves cannot exist without general physical health and activity, he joins a gymnasium, strains his long-unused muscles on bars and ropes, or by lifting heavy weights. The result usually is that the muscles, so long unaccustomed to use, cannot withstand the sudden strain imposed upon them, and the would-be athlete retires with some severe or perhaps fatal injury. ”

“ The once fertile district is covered with a layer of mud and ashes, so that those who have survived the terrible ordeal have starvation and ruin before them. One minor effect of the disaster will be regretted all the world over by those who have visited or have read of the wondrous scenery of New Zealand. ”

“ I’ve got to go and fetch the doctor now to save him; and you’ve got to come with me and take care of me.’
‘Oh, darling,’ Marian interrupted nervously, ‘you mustn’t go alone amongst all these angry, excited negroes with nobody but him. Don’t, don’t; I’ll gladly go with you!’
‘Do as I tell you!’ Nora cried in a tone of authority, with a firm stamp of her petulant little foot. ‘You ought to be with him. You mustn’t leave him.—That’s right, dear.—Now, then, Martin!’
‘I ’fraid, missy.’
‘Afraid! Nonsense. You’re a pack of cowards. Am I afraid? and I’m a woman! You ought to be ashamed of yourself. ”

“ The city of Hernosand, in Sweden, can boast of being the first place in Europe where the streets are lighted entirely by electricity to the exclusion of gas. It has the advantage of plenty of natural water-power for driving the electric engines, so that the new lights can actually be produced at a cheaper rate than the old ones.
Although many investors have burnt their fingers—metaphorically, we mean—over the electric-lighting{557} question in this country, it seems to be becoming a profitable form of investment in America. ”

“ Instead, the Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) often makes use of the wires as a post of observation, mice being very plentiful as a rule along railway sides; and in winter they often come out of their holes to feed on the horse-refuse on the highways. Wild-ducks also escape, as far as my knowledge goes, and we might naturally expect to see them occasionally; but that may be accounted for by their flying too high in their passage from coast to coast or to inland feeding-grounds.
Of the orthodox bird, as Sydney Smith called the Pheasant, it is in some places a very common victim. ”

“ A wire-fence was put across a very good grouse-moor in Cumberland, dividing the fell into two allotments. For some time after this was done, dead or dying birds were picked up daily, until it was well known that whoever was first along the fence was sure of a grouse-pie. It was amusing to see the different stratagems employed by the shepherds and others to get along the fence without seeming to do so. Indeed, I have seen two farmers meet at the ‘Townfoot,’ and after a short gossip, separate, going in different directions and away from the fell ”

“ Willis has explained everything, and your letters are correctly understood now. My wife is sorry that she did not take in the right meaning of the one which fell into her hands; Nellie appreciates your desire to forewarn her against any stupid gossip that fool Cousin John might spread; Mrs John thinks it was kind of you to wish to put her husband right, and he has got a lesson which he will not forget in a hurry. But she regards the whole affair as a good joke. You see, all is well; so come away at once and complete the party.’
‘I am delighted; but please do excuse me, Squire. ”

“ The gas employed is chlorine, and the battery cells have to be hermetically sealed, for chlorine is, as every dabbler in chemical experiments knows, a most suffocating and corrosive gas. In practice, this primary battery is connected with an accumulator or secondary battery, so that the electricity generated by it is stored for subsequent use. The invention represents a convenient means of producing the electric light on a small scale for domestic use, where gas-engines and dynamo-machines are not considered desirable additions to the household arrangements. ”

“ We, who go on a visit of a few weeks, know so much better what is good for us than the natives of the place, who have had the experience of a lifetime and the traditions of centuries to guide them! We laugh at their precautions, and refuse to be ‘coddled.’ Hence, we go straight into the jaws of danger, and then wonder that we are bitten. ”

“ If it were possible to get authentic statistics of all the different species and numbers of birds ‘telegraphed,’ we should have a mass of information which no doubt would greatly assist our ornithologists in their study of the migration of the feathered tribes. This, I am afraid, is impossible, as birds mostly fall during the hours of darkness or semi-light; and there are others, both quadrupeds and birds, which have the advantage of the genus homo in hunting propensities, and who are at work before he is out of bed. They are not in search of information ”

“ When warned by experienced compatriots, they treat the warning as envy of their enjoyment. When advised by the handsome general who takes his own share of the cake, liberally, they treat his advice as jealousy of the younger men; and so, following their own course, they become the town’s talk, the shame of the English colony, the indignation of their hotel companions, and the standing marvel of the whole native population. They put, too, a stone in the hand of the reactionary and exclusive ”

“ He silently took his place as the special attendant of Miss Euphemia, who received his attentions as graciously as if the incident of the morning had not occurred. He was peculiarly fortunate in being the finder of most of her stolen valuables, which won him additional favour. Nearly everything was found, and a further search was to be made in the morning. So, everybody retired to rest that night with feelings of thankfulness for having had such a singular escape from heavy loss. ”

“ The advantages of a fine physical form are under-estimated by a large class of people, who have a half-defined impression that any considerable addition to the muscles and general physique must be at the expense of the mental qualities. ”

“ In the gentle swinging motion above the wheel, there is nothing to disturb the muscular or nervous system once accustomed to it; indeed, it is the experience of most cyclists that the motion is at first tranquillising to the nerves, and eventually becomes a refreshing stimulus. ”

“ OCCASIONAL NOTES. FLAX-CULTURE.
The depressed condition of agriculture, consequent on the low prices obtainable for all kinds of produce, has led the British farmer to turn his attention to the growth of crops hitherto neglected or unthought of. This is exemplified by the interest now taken in the cultivation of tobacco and the inquiries being made regarding it, with a view to its wholesale production in England. ”

“ The truth is that such complete physical inertness has the effect of clogging the action of the blood, of retaining the impurities of the system, and of eventually bringing about a host of small nervous disorders that induce in turn mental anxiety—the worst possible drain upon the nervous organisation. ”

“ In a smaller matter than this, we show the same want of conformity. We go to a theatre in full dress where the ladies of the place go in bonnets, and to the opera in ulsters and travel-worn hats where the élite are in their diamonds and plumes. ”

“ While for some time this slaughter of grouse went on, another fellow put in his appearance, this time with four legs, and made a track by the side of the fence to replenish his larder; and Mr Stoat had even the temerity to dispute the claim in one instance with the two-legged hunter. But the grouse in time got to know the dangers of the fence, and now the victims, like angels’ visits, are few and far between.
The ‘vermin,’ as weasels and stoats are generally called, have often a regular track beneath the wires, for the purpose of looking for dead and wounded birds. ”

“ As we have before had occasion to remind our readers, the price of gas in this country averages about half what it does in New York, and this fact alone would account for the more flourishing state of transatlantic electric lighting Companies. ”