The St. Johns herald., 1888-02-02
Odds and Ends.

the other day on the snowfall in the
 mountains, which led up to the sub- ject of rainfall, I will venture to give a few figures, which may inter est some people. Our rainfall here is probably about 12 or 15 inches.
 1 don't know the recorded measure
 ment. but it certainly can't be over 20 inches. How little this is you
 will see. Europe is not wet coun- try the average rainfall no greater than in our States. Yet the follow ing extraordinary single showers incredible, were they not recorded facts-have occurred there. At Toyeuse in France SLY inches fell in p hours; at Geneva 30 inches fell in 24 hours; at Gibraltar B inches in 26 hours. On the hills above Bombay, Tn India, on one occasion 24 inches fell in 10 hours and in the Kassai Hills, Assam, 30 inches fell on each of five success sive days!! Prodigious The an nual rainfall at San Francisco is 21 inches; at Sitka, Alaska. S5 inches; in Louisiana, 52; Florida. 63 Iowa, B; Missouri, 3S, etc.
 The wettest place in the world is Cherra Punji, in the Kassai Hills, Assam, in the immediate neighbor- hood of which p!ace-within fifty miles-I managed to exist for four whole years. There the average an- nual rainfall is 525 inches. Ye Gods !! or rather, ye irrigators In one particular year the fall was $40 inches, if I remember Tight ; certain ly it was over 500. Seventy feet of water :! and all this fell during only six months, the wet (yes, wet) sea son of the year. One would think the natives there would be clean that they couldn't help being clean but no, they are the dirtiest peo- pie under the sun-or clouds.
 Our rapidly growing social ten dency-witness the late dancing "wave"-would seem to threaten the evolution of what Carlyle calls the "clothes-wearing man, the man whose trade, office and existence consist in the wearing of clothes" In ether words, the masher. Mash CTS have existed from all time. Ju- Illus Caesar set the fashion of wear ing earrings before confined to women. Disraeli's curled and scent ed ringlets afforded amusement to his political friends. Last century dandies were very choice in their oaths, specially dainty in shoe buckles, blazed with jewelry. and wore powder and patches. Butler in his "Hudibras" called those of his time fopdoddles:
 "wnere sturdy ouscne.s broke your nodd.e,
 And handled you like FopGodd.e."
 They have since gone under various names, such as Jack Puddings, Co., rinthians, Bloods, Bucks, Macaro- nies, up to Dudes and Chippies. Masher itself IS derived from the Gaelic maise, elegant or handsome. there are none amongst us, so there is yet time for a protective tariff. Faintly connected with this subject is the question-Who was the belle of the ball? My own choice would be the girl in the B., we'll. the Beautiful dress. B might stand for blue, black, brown, etc, and it doesn't do to fool with hor- nets nests.
 Did it ever strike you that nose ology. is most interesting study? A large nose is said to denote strength ofcharacter; the npturned, retrouesse nose, frivolous, yield ing mind the proboscis, without any definite shape weak and ill- balanced intellect, and yet Thomas Moore says:
 'In vain we fondly strive to trace
 The seuE sreasetien in the face: