Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Saturday 15 August 1896, page 298


Jottings by the Way.

A touching story about a barrister who got but one brief during his life is told by Mr. Lucy in the "Strand Magazine" on the authority of a Q.C.

"A letter reached the Q.C. in the hand-writing of an old college friend, telling a pitiful story. The writer had been called to the Bar, hoping some day to land on the judicial bench, even if he did not reach the woolsack. He had no influence and very little money. No business came his way. But he held on through long years, patiently hoping that some day his chance would come. Now he was sick, probably unto death, and he had no money to buy food or medi-cine. A remittance was promptly sent and gratefully acknowledged. At the end,.of. a of.tnig'ht, it. ooourred to the ,Q.C. 'to call. . The ladylike, woman who opened the door, bursting into a passion of'teairs, told him he was too late. Her, hus'banfd had died thiait morning; ' The two' upstairs "tlo a sma/11 front r^aoim.. ;■ On-the bed fay the' foody of a masa.ot i ab,ou't; forty < yeatis o-f 'age,vfully dr.esse!d. : in:-wig;i and < gown. In: his 'right fo'ari'd ;he' 'held :(a •buh'd'le '.'pf : ', foolscap. ' What "is'thtft^^tliey old' friend: whisper ed;-; rTtia.t,';ea'id^^ brief "ihe received'in- the' course of niiie teeh::;y^s^:^alitihg.:■-.;>He* asked■J-,me ■ .to; d'res/sVhjm "jthus r 'laiid' put it in -Vhia'l liahd" when he wfe»is;idead;' V•r ' ■ '■■■■■ -. ::^ ";■'

.'Mr.' Blew, .in ■■■jbh'e " Ooa-cKing' Experi-, ences'f he ; supplies^ to',. V©ally's Mla/gazine," says 'th&'t .tfhe coaches. some-',' •times carried stnaiige passengers. '\ A' Heref ordisfliire ; solicl'tor,. who ' tells the story, formed'onte'of a parity of six who occupied/the inside of .a; night coach to London, one of tihe cornersbeing- :oc cupied by a man lappiarently asleep, with ■JiiS" haiids'foldeid "before^ Jhini,. and his h'aJt. drkwri well down, over.' his face. Although ithe otlher flyepasserigers main faine'd an an|l'mialte'd:' oonversation; the occupant of the corner moved: not, and so they travelled .all night.^ When the coach Stopped: for breakifast in -the morn ing one, of :the party; lnVited^the,silent m/ati 'to^joini -thenij; 'but,-:,n"o reply Vbeing given1, KeV;wa,s!'left tto^his. own;:;.devices, and, :;a*terf brealcfaslt,"'wh'ile tlie -" coacih man was.'swallowiiig'his'' second go of bra'ndy;/the soHcitoferemarked to' hini— " Yoii^lhave'jvput^^ lalpng ,wiitto ia ?:pre^ ctous:'bulkjr-:f^ioiyifi i::vwttii6:'wJll not;?ans;wer when}jsjjolceji'v^o.V^ "■'' I sfhquld wonjder, if ' he7?did;'?' iwa^;:ij7he:'jehu's7 reply^ x-as' he; was/^h||Ag^d^ib^&/:ida^~, ago'foil" horse steall^,\apd^ss^Wi-gdlng;^:up to va ;^s.ur> geon^ ; rl^nd<rtiVi's;Si^,vjf;'-: :i^:h:^j/--:^-\ v- : ■

pa3te>^whiiQfc#'as; \yidely%-<Jircuiated' in the Enrfli^sttips;Which^hayp la tfefjti been In the, ,Qhin»se Vseas',:—";in% th'eoEast there ;. was. no good v . sanitary ptfrojfch-paste that was sure- >to:-cure , and safe' id* use, so our' company, resolved to prepaid, a gjood uatared paste .'and .auccessed.: The emcien'ces ,pf this paste areas; following;.: —Firstly,' to ' strengthen' -arid preserve the nature of the tooth. Secondly,- 'to tight the- tooth" wifeh thiriga'ms. Third ly, to defend a hemonage arisen by frlotrir. Fourthly, to take away the offensive smell of the mouth.',-" Fifthly, to difen'd the purification of tooth and so prevent the carious one.' Any one who uses this paste will certainly dis cover that it is of avery wor drfnl and valuable nature, by his practice. To use this paste, it is.inecessary to vinse the mouth will walir aftr> sabling the tooth carefully by the'brash."-

John Chlinaman "'lh'as been making: ilMngra liyely ait C?lermonlt. Says the /.'.CRefalc.-ppiwns .TelegriamV :—" The police madeva'smart cap'turel.oifj-dhe'Ah 'Powh oii;,-Wednesday-iovenilnig ~ last about = 9^30 p^loclj.'- vlt^appeaiis i ihiaJt A.G[pnstable 'Rlley was ..cVlix fa^^ •dl%k:;'corher,'iia'nidv noticed iin ■aTyobi^lnal^ .•.t»Wing.f.;.-'!a::- 'Hin .,-:' fr6m:: the Celestial. - - The official • i«telligertce "was •irrar\ed)ia;tely jon.;!lJh^ alent,; and -ihe.icpn sliabl'e :calied on .'tjlie. black to surrender •tfhe tin,. -which- • was v found to -cointain oplluim1. ' Charley,*' (the abojrig'inal ' re f6rrad ,'to, did 'so,'and • a xwrnmoition aiptong lUhe. CMnese'"was-'then apparent. The unstable took inithe^iituatidh1 at'a glance, and prbcee'ded to take out a ;\y)arr<ant for Ah Potwrn's .-arresit. The necess'lty of d'oltig it'hla was eyllldenced]by thefadt that when Riley a-efturried a few minutes laiter All Pow!h had Ms two hordes .harnessed 'to a itfap, and prepara t'tons for a Jhurried departure .were well aJdvaTDced. ' Thus w'ltMn Ihalf-an-hour from, the ..selling ,of., Ibhe opilum the lieath'eai'Ohi'iVe'e w>as isafe'ly locked up in a cell a f .the • police station."

Here then is! ■Uhie ■denouement :-r" Ah Piowih "was. toriougiht' before 't|he'court on •Thursday morning, ; charged with a breadh -of the Poisons Act; It trans pired Vfchalt the - afooriigtoal had. paid ; 10a. far 7'the MnT of. wfoiat.* Wie- Chinee-.main tlained wasi only''dhar'coal,. but what,-the bench and thep^licetiediaed to beopium -^anid--c(haro"oalv :;^ie;-:'Tnlos»tv-.-astoniß!hl ing> fetaiture 'of•'.?the' Cfiae-;w.as:'tlhe 'remark of •Bfett''(HDaxitels ■ :^'6owiiftev^heni:' 'jvith ' a ;!£SmTle ,tJh^fcvOT^voWldfllke^ ■Mi>'i .^v^^x^^laiiied^hß/^niatter :iri^hia way: -. VMe sell I'Ohiarley''1; cshaTcoal,; hoif opium.' 'First '.time' me iniy oouhtryihen smoke opiuini' *hen :we;sell: 'im clliar cavA.: All same my countrymen use .'im tea alionig'a CJhlriia fli-st,' «then! sell ''im' 'bo y<ou s along'a Queenslam'dj'' •--To the smile •thajt ; was passed; pound' fromvtlhe benclh tlo *he oom't oa<derly All Howh made his coiitrtbult'ioh, _ ; artd Brelt. Harte's lines were once more .exemplified—, ','• . 'Tihat for "ways ithat are" dark,."' • ' Awd for. tricks tftilat are vain, The heathen Chinee is peculiar.' " This is decddedlyplie'asanti

The- New Woman -carif startle ; pebple whenv- she likes. '/ttThe* Batliurst •>'Free Press", says : :—Bathurst wasY favoured on Saturday evening with a visit from two females of the new woman orderi and tlie larrikins, and street loungers were furnished for a time .wifh ah exhibi tion which thoy considereia very enter- . taining. The visitors "arrived together by the-tourist train rfrom Sydney, -having 'for..companions the orthodox brandy flask, packets of cigarettes, and walking' sticks. They were dressed in / short-: skirted garments, with "natty" gaiters on their walking .limbs, and as they paraded the streets with gentle wreaths of smoke issuing from1 between their pearly teeth, twirling their sticks in true tourist fashion, they became -the centre of attraction. As boys follow the organ grinder ■ with -■ the riionkey,, so they fol lowed' these rare uripetticpated curiosi ties, until the sensation created became even too great for the! sensation creators^ and they: wfere -forced 'to^' seek Shelter• from,; the : ; gaping r multitude iin:.,- a -cab; -T4^y^^tur^e4,.tf?oSy,dney /;i SAOi} ! aaft«J'i '.':jii.,.

The tick .again. Mr. J. W. Brodie, in spector of. "stbck;. was the utifortunate • participant ; in a very unpleasant but amusing,.adye"nture at - "their Aberdeen meat work's -last week (says "ther Mus wellbrobk;" "Chronicle.") ;Fr dm • repbrts' to; hand'; it;iappears ;that Mr,.; Brodie y?as in"j attendanceiat the works;" and the cbri yersatibh^inaturally^ -turned; '<:■ to ;the .all-" absorbing;'topic; of 'the ; day—the• "tickV plague. ; V /The discusslbn became"a" little : ' animated; and :the question; wafc'.' asked -of ■■: the ihspeptor wh^thfer^hii^had'i seen" ;a.i; tick. •' He^^ replied .in • thp-ami'matlve, fa'hd : produced some, of the. parasites, adhered to a.piece of bullqckMiidei/" :«''' fWen^you^re a nice .man;v Jack, for- carrying; such things about with youi'',; remarked one of the gentlemen ; present. '£V<";.Qh. I they're • dipped," replied 'j^ck.yc Splash ! And Jack was hauled but of> a.' large pickle vat into !which he had d. -" Well,. they're" dipped. ■ and' pickled' now right enoughi" replied the genial manager .of the works aftel* the salt-, brine had been removed: from the Inspectors eyes. The works artist was onthe spptj.and a life-: size sketch of „the , inspector ,as he; emerged from the pickle vat, it is said, now adorns the wall of the compartment.

The"' Peak Downs""Telegram"- has its tilt at "the : tick inspector. It says :— At a certain trucking-yard not more than 300 miles from Clermont a drover was in charge of.<a;'mob, of,cattle. The Stock Inspector ; came i.albng; and ; ;in:• a tone of voice peculiar to himself blurted but, " I say, there, where's your way bill ?" No answer\for a minute ;;then the drover "quietly took his ;pipe- between his- fingers- and replied; " Have hone." "Where 'iS it ?'' queried Mr. Inspector. " Dbwn theVstreet,?' .was the " Weli/'-cpntiriued the former',.," I'nvsup po'sedtb see your .way bill,.:ahd;, to inspect those gory bullocks before they came to town ; but I'll give you a pass for the crimson lot I have something better on iboard. Ta-ta." ■•.• Ana away the Queensland Stock Inspector rode. This is a sample-of. the work accomplished by the men appointed to detect ticks in cattle.

" Ou'tis," Avho has a special column in the Syd-ney " Daily Telegraph," thus lets 'himself out on the Premier of South Australia:—"Mr. Kingston, the Sau!th Australian Premier, has contributed so largely to the harmless gaiety of nations toy "brightening up the local papers -with vivaciously virulent speeches and lucid ldtters to reptile editors that prima facie It might seem impossible for him .to beat his own magnificent records. The other day, however, he -went one or more beitter in >a letter replying to *the

' epistolary ruffianism' of a leading lawyer, whom (he calte ' a poor pi'tifuj plagiarist' and a ' forensic cq-mpound of squid and skunk,' °<and in dealing with whom he finds necessary ' a temporary, removal of 'tfhe literary gloves.' "

•.jaaylngtyared his hands, Mr. Kingston elegantly (pictures r, "his ■ oipjponen t as a rapcal,1 suggests that he is" a rival !p£ the father-of lies;-arid' blazes'into this vigorous desbripitlon' of him at a recent banquet:—'•"A death's head-"at the wed ding feast. A gruesome ghoul, wl^h lips reeking wiOh- mendacity-<ari& foetid with jmaflice, -prostiltuting ■ public bpportunity ■to poison -with malignant aplte every drop and dreg of the fes'ttve cup which he 'hypocriticiaUy pretended to drain to (the good health of tolls ifrlend and guest. Who can 'do-utot that- t/he wretched breast of this; Bible-reader by political profes sion, and evil speaker and slanderer by persan'al practice, wias then consumed by the hell llres of haJte-^and so it has ever been since my denunciation of his Pascaliity—'W'hence' else have proceeded hisl'-' reiterated' rancoroua revillngs on eveiv co'riceivable opportunity ? "His denial of. the nio'tlye' whidH inspires Wis every relation with the Ministry simply proves that as ;there Is no iialsehood too altrqclous for MlnisterlaJl.hurt, so there ■is:;ri'6 depth ofr mendacity to which' he Will; not 'descend1 to -mask his mi'seTfaible'malice.".<;■'. ■ • • '- '

• The'^bld;i'st6i^\ v;''--Av'.'iwrlter' In '" Rey holds's,"-H'lieVdemocratic :• organ of .the .jwprldV say^t:—' •' Qhe ; gets sick' of the loud^iputhe^;:ne!e^di6-wells^ wantinga;to moke every:thlng>freißi;-at theexipense mn* labour of those who wprk.r In conversa tion with a well-known; Sbcialist's wife recently she Informed;; me 'that her hus 'band—'whP, by the wayi hardly ever works—was,,advocating1 eight "hours * a day labouiI,^but he generally came" home and grumbled' if he: found his wife did not work eighteen hours''a'day."

It is difficult to believe that, In this city- of Brlsibane, sweating has free course. In" one of bur suburbs last week some of-the members bf a local' benevolent society .found an accom plished, refined; woman* just keeping bpdy^andisoui-tbgrether-sewing,?!Qhicts~at 2^d; apiece.' ;She Oiad-'two^tilidreri de perident' tipbn/her, and by working with out intermission. "she 'could, manage to complete a dozen shirts per dayi There was no time, however, for the ordinary ameni tie's lof - life; She could ho t spare ■a-mpmerit. for househpld duties. The house'was cleaned out once a week, and the children were kept from starving ; but'it'was one long, "stitch, stitch, Stitch" to make''the pitiful half r a-crpWn day by day.. "Tom Hood might have written his "Song of the Shirt" in Brlsr bane with perfect truth; The facts could not -have been sterner in London, and our. trying winter1 has added woe to woe. .

When the 'kind gentlemen of .our large, warehouses, who give out !this work; are. remonstrated they .call. for a basin of water, as Pilate did, and wash their hands.. . :T.he blood:pf/thesel women can-:, hot be laid at their; dbbr. 'Although the shirtsi•■'•ma'3r•■"'tie■'^/'reti^ea'L■■iat"2s^:■^a/^e>ach that- Is all in the way of. business ,-;.■'. and If "the :^of sweated 'garments^'m'ake':fiLt profits ;thiit Bihiply allows fat subscriptions" tp\ chari table '■'■ bbj ects^name in fullp^and is • again . a matter of •business.. One poor woman pleaded ■fpr; a little":consideration'; but: the shirt man/yery■sympathy tically: said>;''. "My good-woDiari,! we 'do' hbt.vask -you to" sew thesis'- shirts..' . liejave -them by .all •"-, mearis.<;; We .can.'■••-ge't-i; plenty j.who;. are. only: top glad of the;^ork:"' Human life1 at such'hands^^ is a commodity; worth: so' much a -yard;; and-theitQaahlng of- the; Greats Master is -to "-them ,on •ttierSabtiath;'iut:Vlmppsslble of applica tion ;oh';week;daysV. !;• . M

Li Hung Chang's;-yisi;t : :t6 England ' ought to' give the • humorist:?ah/, opening or t:wo. T We can' imagihe the ; great v Chinaman bowing before tiie statue of General. Gordon,, for. instance, while in imagination the .wellTi^ojmed. onlooker goes back tb-the" daysi /when "the irate Englishman was thirsting-for the Celes tial's blood; If we remeniber right ; Gor don had promised to spare the lives of certain people.'.whom ; the astute./official wished to be destroyed., In/ good faith . then' the captives were handed over for safe custody ;■•'• but to the inexpressible horror of'the strdightforwaird; foreigner they ware: slaughtered^put of hand. We siispect that torture was a preliminary. However, as sobn- as. Gordon heard of the treachery' he, started to call upon Li Hung Chang—with a reyoiyer. Could he have caught the wretch-he would" have shot him in his tracks, and only regretted that the opportunity was de nied'-him; ■'' •. ■ .•

But^liiigbt =wbrd( of-Gordon's, rage, and retired;'■".'•"■No..;,word -pf' his whereabouts couldvybe^btainedjs!fftm;^anybody;;:vahd the inceiised Westernei^vhad' to accept the hint-in regard-;to2the sword of high placed Celestials. Doubtless the Flowery Lander in this instance -tllbiight tie was doing his.duty. Gordon's, methods were incomprehensible to, him in certain par ticular's, and,to; save trouble he adopted Queen" Elizabeth's intellectual way out of a difficulty—he lied. That was but part of his training, aiuTwas instinctive. We believe that Li Hung Chang really admired Gordon,' all the same ; and in deed- it would be difficult to understand how anybody with his ability and states manship could hate ; the man who did so much for China. The wreath- upon Gor dons tomb is no doubt a perfectly genu ine tribute of esteem and veneration, although the two men were in deadly, opposition on many points.

A. recent readable little -book entitled " Swift in Ireland" quotes a story of De Quincey. The. celebrated opium eater had some fun out of the ,

; coach -prpsented; by George'vin., •wjth 'aii ißnglisli ?driverjnto the-.Bmperor .p^iqhina. On arrival. at Pekin the ques ition of- questionsf-was-rrWhere shall'the Son of Heaven-sit..?. After mature de-.-.it, was t. decided \ that) the >'}box aea.t'i w.aa^nearest:■:.the;: moon.; rand since t theihammeiv.cloth was a: thingiof,beauty .and a 'jby.'jfpr. ,eyer, .the Emperor was (hoißted',jup, ohf,the>box; amidija blare, of trumpets iwltlv a •; State•'official ; on..;each side.; But ' ; ,the English' 'coachiiiariprp 'testea^:; Where was 'he ] to Hsit ,?"';How :cbuld•■.'he > ;driye;?! So'with a-growl at-.the 'man's • disloyalty, the - Indignant -etiiriese ■opened the -Jdoor of the coach ;&nd "bundled him | inside !> ;', i ►

We noticed the other day the passing of a great heat wave over Australia (says the "Madras Times"), and it is evident that the same wave has of late been favouring India, Burma, and Bri-tish North Borneo. In Bengal, at seventy-eight out of 130 meteorological stations there has lately been a maxi-mum temperature of over 100deg., and even Lower Bengal, intersected by rivers, is feeling the weather in the drying up of its normal water supply at this time of year. The heat is re-ported as abnormal even in the hills. In the Punjab the temperature is from 8deg. to 10deg. above the normal, and the highest reading reported is 109deg,, which is quite unusual for the time of the year. It would seem from all this that this is to be a year of great trial inregard to the summer ; that there is probably some connection between this heat wave and the famine that has be-gun to prevail in parts, and which we have noticed; and that there is evidently some connection in the meteorological conditions of Australia, Burma, India, and Borneo, as was pointed out by a writer in the Sydney Quarterly Maga-zine nearly fifteen years ago.

Eady, the;j giant; of the ; Australian team, hasI;'lieen;»^^writing to ,a,friend. in , Hbbarti": and'; here is a slice of,;;hls ; letter :^The,wickets;h'ere^.-ieis'a^rileiiare far w-prse than.'•"bur ;worst:.' :!practice; wickets; at: Hobar.t',; and when .chaps like .Mold"' ttichardwri.^bcjc^pbidA^^'Hi^st, arid a^f e^mpre-of :-them ;^^^ downi "arid, -they'.coriie ,;whlzzing".-pasti ■your eyes arid ears" like',a canriori.Vsho't, I can promise you it is not all "peer arid, skittles" playing.^ Thank.goodness, we pay: them tbapk,;ln- their own coin. When we played Yorkshire in oheffi|>ld, •Jpnes . was' lclcldrig, up, and the . '.cfowd started :sirigirig out to talce him off. So he ..went''.off, and I started. The crowd cheered when, they saw Jones go off; but my' first Jiall hit 'the "batsrrian in the chest; arid, the next warmed, him up again,, and the crowd did hot know ■w-hat-^tp; make of; it. „ The. batsman turned rburidTtp .tlfe; wicketrkeepe'r,, and said,' " This" "cove's just' as bad . as tdther." They.speak .very broad there, and. it is funny; to hear .them ; say ,their " beoirip" /'and', " cborn Ijark.";;; ,1 ihaving a great'"tiime; but riot frprii a cricket point, of view, for; I "have; "■■■ lprig since branded riiyself asi^fraud^al th'ough,' urifprtunately,, one ,oo s two, j.,'p£ oflr cracks" Have ,not . anything; to', boast of''so''far.',:' :.-V("u '.■'■■■!■,.,- ; "•.' '.. ■' ""'■"'.■ '^P'nrri

Thei only :really,suc<jessf^ul, campaign , that has ever been, waged against pirates in the China Seas <writes van ex-attache in-.' I( th'e New' York■:■.".Tribune") -c waiß by •the, ''.captain; of an, old American'man-bf ■ r ;SHe;"was^little, better than a^ tug --bne of,; those ; .old-fashioried wooden ships with a: largenumber of; gims, .hiit with .-'no y.speied. ;wh^^9ev.er. The cap tain,' knowing','that he -could Jiieyer/SUCr./ ,ceed .ifi ;catchihg. up with the junks_be fore they; reached land,: was wont; to' use ruse. ;;He"wJ6uld' haye : ;the-sides, of his ship covered'with, tarpaulin; painted. ■In such a mariner as" tb,malke them -re semble those of, some merchantman; Then- : lie ,would /slacken, all the/. ropes, halyards,; and rigging; a'p; as to give the ship! a very slqyenly. aspect, arid'would then drift .along.with no one on .deck, bo. as t;o;cbnyey Ithe impression that no watch' was JbeirigJ kept.; Tlievpirates,;.bfr. cours^, would .think .thatj/th'eyT had- "an; easy>;prey witKlri,?,;.their ;;;grasp j'. and scores of' junks, each' nibre frlglitful-.: looking than the others, would be seen gliding-etealthily brit rapidly:, out- frprii shore. When they; were, within about.a hundred yards of the' cruiser,, but j; hot befpre,', the word' would be given by the captain." The tarpaulins would go .up like the curtain of a theatre, and, before, the piraltes had time .to recover from" their surprise or to port their helms, they would, be raked by "an "entire .broad side of guns,1 jwhich..would send three quarters of their number to the, bpttpm, arid disable the remainder. ''