MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 4, 18 April 1877, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

The Augusta Chtvn'ele relails.tho fol* lowing incident shoeing the effects of tobacco upon a rat :-<• Yesterday one of the young ladi«* in a fern% lira* on, Green street no».io-d a large ntettmß a couple of cigs v whiek Wb«a ihrown info a spi-^vi »n the tall of be* kowe. Sbe m» »v nid tft dialotb hww and let him eat nutii he bad Misbe4 them. Shot- It a;*. erwards she mentwned the circo3i*t«T»"c? ° het . yonajjer brother, and he w >nt o th« spittoon, and fining; the rat insi<!« siiook him out. Ih» animal attem;:f3d «o run, bat wm •£ drunk from t!w tobacco that he coaldnl navigate. He would st«ger a few 8«ep» and then fall dm In &«J J««k« «*^ conditioß there wa« no diffidalty m put* ting an end to him." The Paris correspondent of ths Irish Times tells the foßowing strange atoryr-* The evidence of a triple enrne, wfc'oh lias remained unprorcn for over two oentunes, has been brou^hi to light. In Um » eoowe of the demolitions «**»«t*»^ SL.Sf prolongation of the Boa^.^i some ™kmea cameupon three tkel^ottj buried unde? the foundations which J»A served for several w"*"^"]*""* Two of the skeletons. of tall stature ; the other wasrt*t of* woman. «^thejine» wewfogjd e«j rings wd other articleaofgwellery,«jd a gold coin bearing *?•. ieW - *js2*J were instituted, and tons are supposed to ** *<mjim The Marchioness was executed in 1676» just 200 years ago. The Taranaki Herald aensiWy re» marks—The OouatJ Gouneila were brougt'wtoMistincebj the Oov crnmeat with a view to lightening the Rovemiag exoenses of the country, but if we are to iudce by the advertisements that are a»>pearing all o«er the country for engineers, surveyors, valuators, coUeetors, cterka.

*WM«WV aecreteriea, and a host of jjther offleitils at high salaries, it looks as it vWf itfended to spend the whole of thair revenitpa in manifrpmrnt. This kind of wnrti ran no* co on for more than • year. And t'» ir lir«t miMi^l ha'ance•h««t will, wp b?i7e no d«ii ! <». brine- fhe ttemWro <o Oi«*i sj-nsf "omeof t|)»«p liberal mind (1 ''o« ciU no d^it'.-i tttMgtfe that they will l»e :■!••'». m fly to the General Gn^n- -err fo ;•♦»;;<•?' i ;1 •;,..:» diltreas, b«i*, if -***■ Bin M» ti ->f, tin. Ministry will refer t -em biek do th? -;,».». p*y«r», whi>, wbpn *<itsy flid ti.ey h BT e to paj, those high salaries out of their pockets, will decidedly feel inclined to xifllc At it, and then a spirit of economy will at once set in, nnft a change take place which will be for ths benefit of the «oantry at large. The Me\bonrne Argm says that, it hns , neea decided to me freestone from Spring Bay, Tasmanh, for the facings of i the new law court*, and the tender of Messrs Pearson »nd Downie, for the erection of the buildings, for £239,438, has been accepted. The foundations, which are of bluestone, have already been laid. The new law courts, when completed, will be the handsomest as well a* the most imposing public buildion in the cifcy of Melbourne. Ihe style adop'ed is modern Italian, the most conspienons feature of the buildings being fto immense dome rising from the centre of the block. The buildings will form a sqaare, having a depth of over 100 yardg. Provision has bepn made for e?ght courts, each of which will have its own suite of rooms. Ample accommodation has also been provided for the library, which will be a large circular room with small consultation rooms grouped around it. It will be lighted by means of the dome, and when fitted up will contain every convenience for supplying books to the Courts which radiate from it. The following particulars concerning Messrs Cooper and Bailey.s circus and menagerie are from the Sydney Morning Herald .— " The Pacific M-S.S. City of Sydney brought over from America the largest combination circus and menagerie that has yet visited this colony. To give an idea of the strength of the company it may be stated that the troupe numbers about 60, comprising Mr Robinson, the reputed champion rider of the world, the Satsuma Royal Troupe of Japanese, and several ladies and gentlemen of great skill in the various parts of the entertainment in which they' perform. There are also fifteen horses, six elephants, five dromedaries, one camel, two lions, one lioness, and three cuba about six weeks , old, a pair of tigers, a gazelle, two wart hogs, two sea lions, a young hippopotamus a cinnamon brown bear from the Rocky Mountains, one sacred bull of India, one . camelopard, standing 16ft in height, and a colony of about 20 monkeys, including a ?ig.tailed ape and a dog-faced baboon, here are a few other animals. The proprietary were obliged when shipping the animals to leave one elephant in America, as there was not room for it to •tand 'tween dorks on board the steamer, it being 18ft 6in in height. The largest elephant brough over stands about 12fr. Due regard was had to the comfort of the animals during their ocean voyage, and we «™ eM to l^arn that no serious loss has S>e«»n incurred, more than the death of a <•<*<*;■*«■ ff i».'>fjW« and a pony. 'Clio [ lion« and ike** ii»v* beon trained by Professor G. W. Th >mi>son. who iuis tansht 'hem a nnmbfr of tricks. The hippopotarans is* a yours -n'mpi, Ixjing i only about 15 svio^ihs old, its ct'^i-ial habitat being »!v W'>- Tt "<» so.ne Sre And a half feet in Nn.-jUi, and ;>bo<ir, two feet six inches in h'isbt. T!;^ unrel ' organ grinder* will vr>w >■»«■#■*. with serious ooposition from he<- -i H .-<•>• and Bailey.s steom rhnn, tvl«-b is both n novelty and n imHo ;;'•.-. #-^m a hasty glance it w*M wpetrio h a - constructed ( upon the fo! fvipar ?. in '•:'»": -At one end of a •-"£■ --r '>■ > : <-> '•(•■: ;;« Uiieh steam i« ?w« - :*.!. --:-" ,-v. *\!]ter side of , the box i« a ;«' — •'' ■>:■ fwuisiles similar !<• - - •* -.nh^is ?nd railway *ws* v«, *'-'*' ■"> c •"• -A->ft a little large? ■'«- '■< <»■■ >'•. •-••>' rß.-.^Vj? t from r -'■••?> ■ - %-,■, <■.-.:?, a •-•«•• to <bwe iii«fc or ; -n ;•«■- '"•"■ ' "' ■■-'* ■:';■"■■■ a -ni\j about 12 in:.'Lfis 'i .:-'<' '- ■ ; t: 'i to tue Bottom of en.cih ;>f ;>■ -s? V .^'-« is a metal wire connee'itiE *' *.*j'9sri\ s ; ..»il»r r to a piunoforte Iseyhy, •"., &ud a* tha whistles an? <»r-.?-'i *o -". «* i'?s ttitch, it : s obvious thn ! 'he ;■■■■■■;■■■? gf the keys produce's th?* m--rV-." I The By J .^y :.. " : ->g H r:^ thns dewribes M*;"'; y ■■•;•. ? ',i tuo 5 School of i> »:- ' '- - - -?'?nipnt ' from pugilisiu M". M. s^ .!»■. ftesms, 1 devoted himsel? 1 to « ■■"?- i^ ! -et(» p .ioa of the great works o""'''^.< ' .«?• jm ."■;-. In these stndies he '>■•» o - itt^s; " roprabiy received einewlfio, ;»:u^ " Is rt ??-,^in that in them 'nia »r -a -I ..■* Mm every advantage. • '» va.^ng ''enp» peered in sptpsi r-sa™«' > y < « — H. f —»^3 ■trnggliog with ' ! i<» X/io,?, '.be Quoittbrower, the A Y^-m hrvned nt tnunder, Ajax defying f c Yshtdngl S»mson carrying away the rt-«t«>« o* 1 Gaza, the Anoient and M^ern Figbtiw^ Gladiator. and the Dying Gia^iator. liminary action is first i'epresenfed, and then the pose is given, no that the actor givet himself, extra labour in studying these preliminaries and working them up to the climax. For, instance, in the Dying Gladiator— , which is perhaps the besfc of all the representation? — Mi*, M?ce not only gives the four positions whnb the gladiator in the combat assumes, but also adds the by-play (if the Mprwion may be used) leading «p to each position. At first this will be considered by mnny to detract from the pose itself; ana no doubt it has that effect especially, •> • the attitude is not sufficiently long , •v>ieived to tnske it truly effective % \n\>, at rhe same time, it rcoßt be a.-Jnv'tted f >hat it shows considerable sfco^y, ■* ..-id "» f b'» mast b« ftdded that ).'!>«•■* r , ■, . forced or strained in the way ; : * .i ■-. Mie preliminaries are n>iy-->">vl ' a gladiator fights, (,:?», mi^, n»»r* rants before he sinks on his si.°, v „ich he *' c pose; he recovers h msei'' »"-' 0 " his enemy once more befr>m -y^ .'rni'i'i utterly deserts him, ami !••=» <«• .-t fo *•'■■*» -o more, which is the fin*! «- v ■•-:■*. ' " 1S ! /•* quoted simply as ar. "? :.np ;■ ■•' wbH »li. Mace apparently think)* is »!«p m » f effective method of <k> ic.'uz 'he ft -s it) . which he appears, and fi-o»a that, p- 1 '»• <>f view they are unqaestbnabiy r^ndecsd 'o a powerful manner. Xc mar ba dJad that each presentation wa? ro> dfe>. '*ith great applause, and that Mr. Mars tss twice called before the curtain »t the conclusion."

' A straiige cast* of murder, which shows i the fatal effect of siwerstit on<« lite-atife 1 on weak minds, has jast co.se her..rt lUe i assize* of the HaDte-Savoie, It appeared from the evidence th - ', ,•„ Palm Sunday last a widow named Jordan called on her i sister-in-law during resoers nnd asl»e<l ■ h^r fo come and help her to find a pwee "f money she said she had lost in the hayl«>fr. The sister-in-law ennsected to do »'», at» d »he couple proct-ede Ito search lor the missing money. A few minute*. h-?^ftrp«, bad hardly elapse! when the wifW Jordan, taking adranMijo of the o of her sister-in-law as she * o >jt"i down to look under a heap of rood, suddenly dealt her * ferrf- I blow ow ihe back of the hoad with a heavy log. Jordan then knelt on her no* ccm- . plefely smashe 1 her skull to pieces with a large stone. Having committed the ronrdcr, the widow proceed to the house of a neighbor, and showing her hands, red with the blood of her victim, oxclaimed, "I have Killed Prancoise; the demon v.ill not trouble her any more ; you will find her body in the loft." She then went to the police* station and made the same statement. Jordan is 49 years of age, and of a superstitious turn of mind. She denied that she had premeditated the crime. She said she believed in ghosts, and spirits, and had killed her sister-in-law to evoke the demon. The medical testimony proved that the prisoner's mind had bepn upset by reading books on witchcraft and the like, and that she was not responsible for her acts. The jury brought in a verdict of not guilty, and she was acquitted, '