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Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 24, 27 April 1870, Page 7

The estate of Alexander M'Kenzio, squatter, of Reedy Creek, must be very profitable to assignee, creditors, and Insolvent Court, inasmuch as the total amount of assets amount to £l, while the debts are £4230.

The King of Burmah intends to present each of the 750 Fathers of the Council with a pastoral cross, enriched with gems. That of the Pope is reported to bo an Oriental masterpiece. The crosses will be transmitted through the Propaganda, which is daily expecting their arrival. An amusing story is related of a contemporary which is rather given to “ sensational” lines on its posters as a means of attracting purchasers. A certain noble lord having in the course of a recent speech remarked that the conduct of the Bishop of Oxford in regard to some public event was not decent, a poster issued with an edition of the newspaper referred to, bore, in prominent letters, the inscription, “O’ i r of Indecency agiinst the 3L>bop

A Peasant Capitalist in Russia,

A correspondent of the Manchester £xaminer, writing from Moscow, tolls the following strange story :—• 'Che present year appears to bo one of strange discoveries in Russia. The unmasking of the impostor Robber, on tiio western frontier, was speedily followed by the detection of the chief of the Celibate Brotherhood of Morshansk, which in its turn was succeeded by fresh discoveries of a similar nature in various parts of the soutli-castern provinces of Russia; and now these are supplemented (as we learn from one of the Moscow daily papers) by an occurrence which, in any country but Russia, would pass- for a plagiarism from the most improbable part of Dumas’ Count of Monte Christo. In a small vill ago near the town of Poltava live a couple named Sidorolf, resident for many years in the same place, and at present considerably on the wrong side of lifty. As far as can be ascertained, they have always lived in precisely the same fashion as their peasant neighbours, from, whom they are in no way distinguished. Neither husband nor wife can read or write. On a fine raoruing in the latter part of last month, the cashier of a Government office in Poltava was surprised by the entrance of a man and wpman—no other, in fact, than our elderly friends above mentioned—clothed in ordinary sheepskin frocks, which bulged out over the breast as if covering a bundle. The pair came timidly up to the official’s desk, and the following conversation took place : —Peasant: Good morning, father ; is it here they change the old bank notes for new ones ’ —Clerk : Yes, we can give give you some of the new issue if you like. How much money have you got ?—Peasant: How much ? Ah, my father, that is just what I cannot tell you, for I d'o not know myself.—Clerk (laughing) ; Well, but you can make a guess, surely. Three roubles, or live, or ten ?—-Peasant: No, more than that. My wife and I have been counting the notes all dav, and we have not got to the end jet !—Clerk : Well, let me see them.—Each of the two strange applicants heaped upon the table an enormous pile of tattered greasy bank notes, many of which appeared to be of considerable antiquity. The experienced eye' of the cashier saw at a glance that the sura was a very lar."s one, and he called in several of his colleagues to assist him in counting it. Under the hands of these practised reckoners, the task which had occupied the slow-fingered peasant for a whole day was speedily completed, and the sum total set down at 86.000 roubles, or nearly £12,000. This unexpected discovery naturally made a great noise in the town, and of course was not long in reaching the ears of the police, who not unreasonably saw some ground for suspicion in the possession by an illiterate peasant of a sum which in many parts of Russia would be accounted a considerable fortune. Sideroff was accordingly called up and examined, but to very little purpose. To all interrogations on tlie subject of his wealth, and the way in which he had become possessed of it, he replied persistently, “ My grandfather saved it, and I saved it.” On being asked why ho had not made some use of this treasure—which, indeed, would have sufficed .to gratify any wish which a Russian peasant is at all capable of forming—he replied, very characteristically, “ What was I to .do? We are peasants, and live like peasants; the money’s been there long enough, and there it may stay.” Nothing being discovered which could in any way confirm their suspicions, the authorities dismissed the capitalist in sheepskin, who returned home as if nothing had happened. The next day, however, he presented himself to the astonished eyes of the cashier, whose thoughts had naturally run upon him a good deal during th« last twentyfour hours. Peasant—Good morning to you, father ; do me one more little favour, if you please. Clerk—Why, what now, brother ? Have you got another batch of bank notes for ns, or did we count the last notes wrong? Peasant—No, it’s not that. I only wanted to know whether you change gold here as well as notes. Clerk—Geitainly, we change gold too. How much have, yen got ? Peasant—Two chests full. In fact, the entire sum possessed by this illiterate labourer amounts to at least 190.000 roubles, or £26,000. Russia is often called a strange country ; and it may well be thought so, when wo duel therein common field labourers possessing nearly £30,000 in hard cash, and, with all this wealth, still living on black bread and cabbage soup, dressing in dirty sheepskin, and passing their lives in a stifling hut, crawling with vermin, and measuring about 12ft. by Bft. Such a sum, put out at fairinterest, would have put the owner in possession of a princely fortune by this time ; but the great principle of making money is one which the illiterate peasant has yet to learn.