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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



are liable to suffer from being in the vicinity 

 of paint. You have confessed your fault nobly. 

 You have now only to beg pardon where you 

 first offended; and learn wisdom by experience, 

 for the future.] 



Affection " to" Animals, and Affection "in" 

 Animals. — We have a pet canary, " Tiny Tim" 

 by name. "When we approach him, he receives 

 us with extended wings, flies round the cage, 

 apparently very angry ; and pecks at our fingers. 

 Is this affection, or is it anger ? Do pray tell 

 us, Mr. Editor, for it is a " vexed question." 

 You are rather severe upon pet dogs we see. We 

 have one; such a sweetly affectionate creature! 

 But we never let it '■ kiss our faces," of course. 

 You do not object, we apprehend, to our petting 

 our dog; but to the " excess of fondness." Is it 

 not so? — Your devoted admirers, — Hannah and 

 Mart, North Devon. 



[Beyond all dispute, your canary " loves " you 

 with much affection. What he does is quite in 

 play — not in anger. He is as delighted as you 

 are, to have " a game." Encourage this fondness 

 for animals, by all means, dear Mademoiselles. 

 As for your little dog, — do not let your affection 

 for him diminish in the smallest degree. Our 

 remarks were not intended for you, but for 

 " certain people " whose fancies are depraved, 

 and whose tastes are disgusting. The innocent 

 must kindly bear with us, whilst our anathemas 

 fall heavily upon the guilty. Did we not speak 

 plainly, we could hardly expect to effect any 

 reformation. " Some people" must be shamed 

 out of their dirty practices.] 



NEW REGULATION OF TIME. 



Electricity is making rapid strides; and 

 bids fair, at no distant day, to supersede every 

 other agency, where despatch is an object. Its 

 last application is, to the regulation of time ; and 

 it is now not only possible to have correct time 

 all over the country at one and the same minute, 

 but it may be regarded as done. The object at 

 present in view is to distribute and to correct 

 mean Greenwich time, in London and over the 

 country, at one o'clock. 



The ball which surmounts the Eoyal Obser- 

 vatory at Greenwich Park, has long been an 

 object of interest to visitors, who have often 

 watched with interest its descent, as the clock 

 gave the first stroke of one ; thereby telling the 

 seagoing men in the river the exact state of the 

 chronometers which were to become their guides 

 over the faithless waters. Such a ball has been 

 raised, on a pole upon the dome of the Electric 

 Telegraph Company's West End station, No. 

 448, Strand, opposite Hungerford Market; and 

 at one each day is to drop, by electric action, 

 simultaneously with that at Greenwich — both 

 balls being, in fact, liberated by the same hand ; 

 and, falling on a cushion at the base of the pole, 

 is to communicate standard time along all the 

 telegraphic wires of the country. At the same 

 instant, the bells will ring out "one" at the most 

 distant places— Hull, Holyhead, Aberdeen, Har- 

 wich, and Devonport. The great metropolitan 

 clocks, such as the Horse Guards, the Exchange, 

 and the New Palace, are to be regulated on the 



new principle. Some of the railway companies 

 also propose to avail themselves of these means 

 to obtain an exact uniformity of time. 



The ball itself is a remarkable object, being 

 nearly six feet high and sixteen in circumference, 

 and could with ease accommodate three people 

 inside. It is formed of zinc, painted red — so 

 that it may be better seen in contrast with a light 

 sky — with a broad white belt round its dia- 

 meter, making it look like a " great globe," or 

 representation of a ringed Saturn. The shaft is 

 continued a few feet above the ball, and at the 

 extremity is a bright gilded weather vane, with 

 " E. T. C." on the arms, being the initials of 

 the " Electric Telegraph Company." 



To make the nature of the mechanism gene- 

 rally comprehensible, we may remark, that the 

 apparatus is provided with an air cylinder, in 

 connection with the telegraphic wires between 

 London and Greenwich ; and that when the ball 

 at Greenwich falls, an instantaneous shock of 

 electricity will be communicated along them: 

 this acting on an electrical trigger con- 

 nected with the ball in the Strand, will cause it 

 to fall simultaneously with that at Greenwich. A 

 uniformity of time all over the country, is a 

 desideratum we all have long felt. The want of 

 it has been oftentimes attended by serious in- 

 convenience. This is now rectified. We expect 

 soon, to be enabled to " fly." 



PARTICULAR PEOPLE. 



BY AN EMANCIPATED VISITOR. 



Reader ! did'st ever live with a par- 

 ticular lady ? one possessed, not simply with 

 the spirit, but the demon of tidiness ? who 

 will give you a good two hours' lecture 

 upon the sin of an untied shoe-string, and 

 raise a hurricane about your ears on the 

 enormity of a fractured glove ? who will be 

 struck speechless at the sight of a pin, in- 

 stead of a string ; or set a whole house in an 

 uproar, on finding a book on the table 

 instead of in the book-case ? Those who 

 have had the misfortune to meet with such 

 a person, will know how to sympathise 

 with me. . 



Gentle Reader ! I have passed two whole 

 months with a particular lady. I had often 

 received very pressing invitations to visit 

 an old schoolfellow, who is settled in a snug 

 parsonage about fifty miles from town ; but 

 something or other was continually occur- 

 ring to prevent me from availing myself of 

 them. " Man never is, but always to be 

 1 blessed /' " Accordingly (I shall never 

 forget, if I live to the age of old Parr), 

 having a few spare weeks at my disposal, I 

 set out for my chum's residence. He re- 

 ceived me with his wonted cordiality ; but I 

 fancied he looked a little more care-worn 

 than a man of thirty might have been ex- 

 pected to look, married as he is to the 

 woman of his choice, and in the possession 



