The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-15 00:00:00

A Ladlefull of " Punch,"

THE EARTHQUAKE was felt in many parts of London.
Old Beery, the churchwarden, declaring that when he
came out of the Marquis of Granby the pavement bit him
on the nose, and that his street door w,ouldn't let him get
his latch-key in.
GEORGINA—" Why, what's the matter with my little
Poppet ?" LITTLE POPPET—" Oh, Aunty dear, Walter
can't find his stumps, so he is making a wicket of my best
doll I"

BLACK AND WHITE.—The King of Dahomey is ex-
pected at St. Petersburg on a visit to the Emperor of
Russia. After a short sojourn with Alexander the Second,
his sable majesty will proceed to Wilna, and stay some time
with General Mouravieff in order to witness the butcheries
which are going on in Poland.

QUESTION FOR THE CLERK OF ST. BRIDE'S.—Why is a
very stout bridesmaid like a first-rate bottle of claret?—
Because she's all body and bouquet.

A SATISFACTORY EXPERIMENT was made last
week with Mr. Curtis's apparatus in the Charger
gunboat at Sheerness. The principle is difficult to describe
in our space, but the purpose is to facilitate steering and
turning the vessel, and this it accomplishes with neatly the
same celerity as the double screw, completing the circle in
little more than two minutes in the space of the vessel's
length. It does not, however, possess the advantages of
the double screw, on account of its exposure to injury by
the rudder or sternposts being struck, which, in this re •
spect, are no better protected than the present screw. There-
fore, however successfully it may be applied to existing
ships, it is not calculated to interrupt the steps now
taken to bring that important improvement into operation.
PREPARING FOR INDIA.—Those who had never
made the journey before, appeared to expect that
their Indian experiences would commence as soon as they
left Southampton, By much reading of guide-books they
their minds into a state which rendered it impos-
sible to call their lunch anything but tiffin, or their cigars
anything but cheroots ; and I believe that but for the ruth-
less prohibition of the cold weather they would already have
began to don their white clothing, of which they had, with
a prudence quite unnecessary, kept out a supply for impos-
sible contingencies. By talking to the old Indians on board
—who gave themselves airs of superiority—they had actually
picked up whole phrases of Hindustanee in the first few
days, which they aired remorselessly, to the confusion of
appropriateness and the bewilderment of comprehension.
They bought Government Manillas (made in the Minories)
of the stewards, by way of training, and realised in the begin-
ning a no uncommon end,by making themselves thoroughly
sick of the country b which they were bound.—Dickens's
All the Year Round."

PROGNOSTICS OF THE WEATHER.—OId expe-
rience lays down sundry wise saws. When the
stars look larger than ordinary, it is a sign of change of
weather. Very bright or double rainbows indicate long-
continued rain; the same when the rain smokes as it falls
on the ground. Lightning in winter is a sign of coming
snow, wind, or tempest. Bats flying about in unusual
numbers announce that the next day will be warm and
fine. Flies bite sharper and tease you more before a tem-
pest. When the gnats dance in the setting sunshine, some
hold it a sign of fine weather to-morrow, while sceptics de-
clare it is only a sign of fine weather to-day. If it rains on
the 3d of May, there will be no walnuts ; if on the loth of
June, no grapes. Plenty of snow precedes an abundant
year; plenty of rain, the contrary. A rainy autumn spoils
the wine of that year, and threatens a poor crop of
wheat next year. A fine autumn is mostly followed
by a windy winter; a wet spring and summer by a fine
autumn. On the other hand, when the autumn is fine, the
following spring is apt to be rainy,—" London •Society"
for October.
A DANGEROUS PLAYTHING.—A lad dwelling
with his parents in one of some cottages known as
Radmore, near Portsmouth, a few days since found an
eight-inch spherical shell on some of the adjacent mud
lands of the harbour; after considerable labour he managed
to deposit it in the garden plot in front of his home. On
Saturday, about 4 p.m., the lad's father being absent from
home "shrimping," the former determined to try if his
prize was a loaded shell, and if so, to let it off. A train of
powder was quickly laid to the half-filled fuse aperture in
the shell, and the lad, at the other end of the small garden,
fired the train. The shell exploded with a terrific roar. The
inmates of the other cottages rushed out of doors in a state
of terror. Scarcely a pane of glass was left unbroken, while
doors and window-sashes were shaken from their fastenings.
The cause of the mischief was found lying in the garden,
bleeding and burnt by the fire from the explosion, but,
strangety enough, untouched by any of the fragments of
the shell itself, which were thrown upwards, and some
pieces fell at an immense distance. A baker's boy, passing
with his handcart of bread in a lane at the back of the cot-
tage, was thrown down by the force of the explosion, and
found himself suddenly scrambling among his loaves on the
ground. The poor boy who fired the shell was conveyed
to the Landport Hospital, where his injuries were attended
to, and hopes are given of his speedy convalescence.
PLANTING TREES IN TOWNS.—Iu the first place,
it should be seen that the plants, trees, and shrubs
be moved with care. Tho trees should be moved from the
nursery with as much mould as possible about their roots,
and fresh soil should be at hand to fill the holes with, and
some care should be taken that this is let in among the
fibrous roots, pressed down firmly, and well watered, re-
peating the watering occasionally till the plants are started,
and then freely using the hose over their tops at times. I
believe the best time to plant trees in town is the latter and
of February, if possible ; they then get nicely set tied, and
start as soon as the growing weather commences. The
principal causes injurious to the vitality of plants with which
cultivators of gardens in large towns have to contend with
are the evaporation of the juices of the plants by the extreme
droughts of summer, and by carbonic influences, occasion-
ing shrinking of I he vessels and consequent disease, as they
miss those salutary dews so essential to vegetation, and
which are seldom experienced in towns. To compen-
sate for this as much as possible, a good washing with
the hose about once a fortnight over the trees and shrubs
will clean off the soot and feed the plants, and an occa-
sional watering from a water-pot rose will prove of great
service to the flower department,-IWie;erd's Gardener's
fflogagine.