The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-17 00:00:00

SELECT EXTRACTS.

MARCH Or GIN AND BARBER-ISM.—At a barber's shop,
No. 1, Newton-street, Holborn, a shutter is stuck up with
the following inscription chalked upon it :—" Only look
Ileare. A glass of Gin will be give every Saturday and Sun-
day to all Standinge Customers."
LOBSTERS IN NORWAY.—Next to timber, lobsters form
one of the greatest articles of Norwegian export. On the
rocky coast of Christiansand they are found in greater num-
bers than in any other part of the world; and from Bergen,
which lies further to the north, as many as 260,000 pairs have
been exported in one year.—Bremner's Excursions in Den-
mark, Norway, and Sweden.

A FARMER'S WEDDING, NINETY YEARS AGO.—On the

7th of June, 1750, was married at Rothbury, Mr. William
Donkin, a considerable farmer, of Tosson, in the county of
Northumberland, to Miss Eleanore Shotton, an agreeable
young gentlewoman, of the same place. The entertainments
on this occasion were very grand, there being provided no
less than 120 quarters of lamb, 40 quarters of veal, 20 quar-
ters of mutton, a great quantity of beef, 12 hams, with a
suitable number of chickens, which was concluded with
half ankers of brandy, made into puhch, 12 dozens of cider,
and a great many gallons of wine. The company consisted
of 550 ladies and gentlemen, who were diverted with the
music of 25 fiddlers and pipers ; and the evening was spent
with the utmost order and unanimity .-- Sykes' Local Records.

ATTENTION OF THE WRYNECK TO A PARTICULAR RE-
TREAT.--II wished, last spring, to obtain the eggs of the
wryneck to place in my cabinet, and accordingly watched
very closely a pair that had resorted to a garden in this vil-
lage for the purpose of incubation ; I soon ascertained, that
they had selected a hole in an old decayed apple tree for
that purpose, the entrance to which was so small as not to
admit my hand. The tree being hollow and decayed at the
bottom near the ground, I was enabled to reach the nest by
putting my arm upwards, and I found, on withdrawing the
nest, that the underneath part of it was composed of moss,
hair, &c., having every appearance of an old nest of the red-
start's of preceding summer ; which I suspect was the
case : the upper part was made of dried roots. The nest did
not contain any eggs, and I returned it by thrusting it up in
the inside of the tree. On passing by the same tree in about
a week afterwards, my attention was arrested by observing
one of the birds leaving the hole, upon which I gently with-
drew the nest, and was much gratified at finding it contain
five most beautiful glossy eggs, the shells of which were per-
fectly white, and so transparent that the yolks shone through,
giving them a delicate pink colour, but which is lost in the
blowing. I replaced the nest, and visited it during the en-
suing week, and was induced, out of curiosity, to examine it
again, when, to toy astonishment, I found the birds had not
deserted the hole, she having laid six more eggs since. I
took these away, and was obliged to keep them, as I was
only able to replace the nest by again thrusting it up in the
inside of the tree as before, which I did. I again visited the
spot in the following week, and found that they had still per-
tinaceously adhered to their domicile, having further laid
four more eggs. I repeated the experiment ; but, not having
an opportunity of visiting the tree until ten days afterwards,
I thought at the time that the nest was abandoned, and was
not undeceived until I had again withdrawn the nest, having
the precaution of endeavouring to frighten the old bird
off, sho,da on the nest, which I found was the case :
she suffered me to pull the nest to the Is
..ottorn of the tree be-
fore she attempted to escape ; there were seven eggs which
were slightly sat upon. What appears to me extraordinary
is, that the bird should suffer her nest to be disturbed five
times, and the eggs (amounting altogether to twenty-one) to
be taken away at four different periods within the month
before she finally abandoned the spot she had selected.—
Yarrell's History of British Birds.
WILLIAM IV. A SUITOR TO A PRINCESS OF DENMARK.
—That there is a kind of court feeling against us we do not
seek to deny. It is as old as Queen Matilda's time, and still
shews itself in many little ways. Among other proofs of it,
we heard the following :—King William IV. when Duke of
Clarence, sued for the hand of a princess of Denmark ; and
in the first instance, employed Mr. now Sir Augustus Foster,
then minister at this court, to open this delicate negociation.
For a time all promised favourably for the princely suitor.
Her royal parents left the princess to choose for herself,—
wishing for, though not actively promoting, a match so desi-
rable. But the early antipathies of the Danish maiden were
too strong, backed especially, as they were, by the yet more
bitter enmity of an old nurse, who thought it a duty to adopt
the prepossessions of her superiors to the most exaggerated
degree. Assuring her, and, from early instilled prejudice,
firmly believing, that the English were all bad husbands,
brutes without affection and without feeling, she confirmed
her young mistress so strongly in the belief, to which she was
already half inclined, that she peremptorily rejected an offer
which would have made her Queen of England.—Bremner's
Excursions..
THE MIRAGE.—We find in the Spectateur de Dijon the
following statement and remarks :—" The mirage, that ma-
gical phenomenon of light, which, according to natural
philosophers, has never hitherto been witnessed but under
the burning sky of Egypt, is reproduced on the banks of the
Saiine in its full magnificence. The valley of that river, in
the environs of Auxone, spreads into a vast level plain. The
town is built on the border of the stream, on a slight emi-
nence, which, when the overflow of the Saiine covers the
meadows, presents the appearance of a tongue of land stretch-
ing out into the midst of the waters. On a warm summer's
day, when there is no breath of wind, and the layers of air
which rest upon the ground, unmoved by currents,.are mo-
tionless, the spectator, standing in the midst of the prairie
to the northward of Auxone, and looking towards the town,
is witness to a magnificent spectacle. In the distance the
arid soil has disappeared ; a vast extent of water spreads out
before him ; the town rises as it were out of the midst of a
lake, which reflects the houses and trees upon its banks, as
distinctly as if they were indeed repeated on the surface OLP,
tranquil sheet of water. Yet this phenonienon of the mirage,-
which has been repeated daily since the earth was lighted by
the sun, was never observed or described before the year
1797." Monge was 'the first person who gave any scientific
eXplanation of it. Forming a part of the expedition to Egypt,
he was, for the moment, the dupe of the illusion whick de-
-teived the entire army ; but it was only for 'it moment; -and
he speedily detected the causes of his error. When the
ground is intensely heated by the sun, and the weather calm.,
experience proves that the lower strata of air are dilatetr'by
the heat of the earth,. and that, commencing frOm .a certain
height, they are less dense in proportion as they app,roach
the soil. In that case, it happens that the rays of light pass-
ing from objects placed above the horizon towards the earth,
having to traverse layers of air of different densities, are re-
fracted, and that, finally, presenting themselves very oblique
ly to enter into a new stratum, they fail to pen&rateiti: and
are reflected. Then, if a spectator be so placed as to receive
at once the rays of light which proceed from objects 'directly
opposite to himself, and those which, passing from the same
objects towards the ground, are reflected, he will see both
the objects them Selves; and their images reversed beneath"
them.- Now, if the same spectator be placed in the midst of
a plain, so level and 'extensive that those rays, projected from
that portion of the sky which touches the horizon in the di-
rection of the groiind, present theinselves to the expanded
strata of air 'in a direction so oblique to their surface that
those rays are reflected, then the spectator in question will
see on the earth the image of the sky ; and this image it is
which has to his eyes the perfect aspect of a sheet of limpid
water."

AN ACCOMPLISHED PAROQUET.—Ou returning to the
Serai, I found the nuwaub's bird-catcher in waiting, to make
his salaam. His highness patronises all artists of this des--
cription, and delights in the exhibition of their skill. Fight-
ing rams, buffaloes, and even exasperated birds, form the
usual amusement of this dissipated prince, before the closing
in of evening introduces his taifahs, musicians, and players.
The bird-catcher brought a cage full of fighting partridges,
and a little paroquet of very finished education. As we de-
sired to see what really were the accomplishments of the
little bird, and whether the feathered tribes ofJunagarh were
addicted to gambling, and played dominoes and piquet as well
as those of Germany, I 'begged the exhibitor to afford us a
proof of his pupil's skill. Placing the paroquet upon the
cross-perch of a small stand, the bird-catcher offered him a
. .

-
rod, with a wick attached to either end. This the bird
grasped in the middle with his beak, and suffered the wicks
to be lighted, closing his eyes, during the process, to avoid
the glare. Holding the rod firmly, he began to turn hi's head
slowly from side to side, as if to ascertain the correctness of
the balance. At length, quickening the motion, he twirled
the rod so rapidly that its form became lost to the eye, and
nothing was distinguishable but a circle of revolving light
playing round the head of the bird. It was cleverly done;
but the man assured me, that a month's practicmwas suffici-
ent to perfect any parrot of moderate capacity. I have never
before seen so mischievous a little creature-as a paroquet de-,
serving to be classed with either the educated or the industri-
ous working
.classes ; their gay plumage, their clamorous
voices, and the gay sunny life these little plunderers lead
among the richest fruit-trees of the country, mark them as
the most luxurious idlers of the feathered tribe.—Mrs. Pos-
tern's Western India.

There is a story of a Yankee clockmaker's ingenuity that
1 have not seen in print. He made a circuit, having a hun-
dred clocks when he started; they were all very bad, which
he knew ; but by " soft sawder and human natur," as Sam
Slick says, he contrived to sell ninety-nine of them, and re-
serve the last for his intended " ruse." He went to the
house where he had sold the first clock, and said, " Well,
now, how does your clock go? very well, I guess." The
answer was as he anticipated. "No, very bad." " Indeed!
Well, I've found it out at last. You see, I had one clock,
which was I know a bad one, and I said to my boy, ' You'll
put that clock aside, for it won't do to sell such an article.'
Well, the boy didn't mind, and left the clock with the others ;
and I found out afterwards that it had been sold somewhere.
Mad I was, I can tell you, for I'm not a little particular about
my credit; so I have asked here and there, everywhere al-
most, how my clocks went, and they all said, ' they actually
regulated the sun.' But I was determined to find out who
had the bad clock, and I am most particular glad that I have
done it at last. Now you see I have but one clock left, a
very superior article, worth a matter of ten dollars more than
the others, and I must give it you in change, and I'll only
charge,yon five dollars difference, as you have been annoyed
with the had. article." The man who had the bad clock
thought it better to pay five dollars more to have a good one ;
so the exchange was made, and then the Yankee, proceeding
with the clock, returned to the next house. "Well, now,
how does your clock go ? very well, I guess." The same
answer—the same story repeated—and another five dollars
received in exchange. And thus did he go round, exchanging
clock for clock, until he had received an extra five dollars for
every one which he had sold.—Captain Marryat's America.
A FAR-OFF SOUTHERNER.—AIthough some of the towns
have, as I have pointed out, effected a great reformation, the
state of society in' general in these states is still most lamen-
table, and there is little or no security for life and property ;
and, what is to be muds deplored, the evil extends to other
states, which otherwise, would much sooner become civi-

lized. This arises from the southern habits of migrating to
the other states during the unhealthy months. For the rest
.of the year they remain on their properties, living, perhaps,
in a miserable log-house, and almost in a state of nature,
laying up dollars, and attending carefully to their business.
But as soon as the autumn comes it is the time for holyday ;
they dress themselves in their best clothes, and set off to
amuse themselves, spend their money, and pass for gentle-
men. Their resorts are chiefly the states of. Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and Ohio ;' where the Springs, Cincinnati, Louisville,
'and other towns, are crowded with them : they pass their
time in constant revelling, many of them being seldom free
from the effects of liquor ; and I must say that I never, in
my life, heard such awful swearing as many of them are
guilty of. Every sentence is commenced with some . tre-
mendous oath, which really horrifies you ; in, fact, although
in the dress of gentlemen, in no other point can they lay any
pretensions to the title. Of course lam now speaking of
the mass : there are many exceptions ; but even these go
with the stream, and make no efforts to resist it. Content
with not practising these vices themselves, !bey have not the
courage to protest against them in others.--7Coplain Mar-
ryat's Diary in America.
YANKEE LOGIC.—A Yankee went.into the bar of an inn
in a country town. •" Pray, what's the price of a pint of
shrub?" " Half ft dollar," was the reply of the man at the
bar. " Well, then, give it me." The shrub was poured
out, when the bell rang for dinner. "Is that your dinner
bell ?" "Yes." " What may you charge for dinner ?"
" Half a dollar." " Well, then, I think I had better not
take the shrub, but have some dinner instead." This was
consented to: The Yankee went in, sat down to his dinner„
and when it was over, was going out of the door Yv.ithiitit
paying. " Massa," said the negro waiter, "you not:.paid•
for your dinner." " I know that ; I took the dinner instead_
of the shrub." " But, massa, you not pay for the shrub."
" Well, I did not have the shrub, did I, you niggar ?" said'
the Yankee, walking away. The negro scratched his bead:
be knew that something was'wrong, as he had got.:ne o:coriey ;
but he could not make it out until the Yankee was =out of
sight.—Captain Marryat. - .

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