INTERESTING EXTRACTS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1417, 26 November 1886, Page 2

INTERESTING EXTRACTS.

SPURIOUS JEWELS

A Paris ji.ieler has iat-ly been sentenced to tiX monih’a imprisonment foi bleaching yellow Cape diamonds white and relbng them I as pare white diamonds. Pearls, on the contrary, have been made black by dipping them into ritrate of silver.

THE HARVEST IN SCOTLAND. Now (hit the harvest is just about finished in Scotland, an eatima a has been prepared of tr e values of c-real and root cri ts. Thr total value • f the harvest of 1886 is set down ;st £23 040 123, Fat sum re; resetting the standing crops. Turnips are averaged at £B, and p : tatoea at £ls imperial acre. REPORTKH F JUDGE. A week or two ago a Melbourne District Court met ial went up 10 the reporter’s b 'X aud said to one of the eosibes : “His Honor desires ms to ftite that be la very moeh dusitkfied w ch the report which appeared in your paper this morning-” “ Te’l His Honor,” said tho reporter in a voice 1 ul rn mh to be heard all over, the court that ‘J am very much disattefied with the judgment ha gave yea’erday.” His Honor snorted. GE'E-AL GRAST’d MONGMENT. New York is busy discutsiag designs for a monument to be erso ed to the lets General Grant. Out < f twelve already submitted, one is mode entirely of glaai. It is in tho form of time cy’indr cal temples, one within the o.her, the topmost point surmounted by a silver angel; while the in- erniost ttmp’e woo’d contain a brnrzj aiUuto of the General. Others a e of larger dime-'sloas and c st, the m jet expensive being reckoned at £40,000. THE ARMY OF FRANCE. The following are the latest figures of the string! hof the French army. They are taken from the book, “ Avaut laßvai le,” which was published recently by the “ Patriotic L- ague,” and has been a sort of nn' d-ya’ wonder in Paris. There are rightoen corps d’armeo, comprising 450 batiallions of infantry, 153 squadrons o : calv-tery, and 321 bateriea. T>e to si Iff ctive fores is said to be: Ofli ■or», 18 738; men, 671,?93; hordes, 200,092 ; guns, 1 945 ; carriages, 33 754. APT FIOaL BUTTER. Mr Hudson, the big<eso hot erman in London, describes buttorine as “ hea t’ y, tsa y. and t,u r tious,” rn ‘ dfo’.arrs that rhe of such articles upon the ma-kat “ has be-m 11 keep the price of butter down f urps! co or fivepeoce a pound at least.” He adds that “the competition if bu- terine has been very aivareiy felt by producers of the lower class of Irish batter, foe this reason, tint the genuine art'ola inferior in apoearaai-e and in taste to the manufactured." A SWIFT TORPEDO-BOAT. We seem (asya Truth ) to nave got one torpedo-boat, at any ra f e which is a phenomenon ia speed—ffir the present, lb is vessel, which has just been built by Messrs Thomycroft, did an experimental run the other day from Portsmouth to Bournemouth pier, a dis ance cf thlrtyaix miles. On the run oat, with a good tide, she did the first twenty-four miles in the hour, aud the whole distance in an hoar and thirty eight minutes. The return j turnav against the tide and with a strong head-wind, wss done in an hour and fifty a x minutes. For a sea-trip this beats anything hitherto accomplished. MASTER AND MAN. The following story is told cf tbe Individual who has long officiated as the gardener at the Preudeutal mansln at Washington, President Cleveland had heard rumors that the gardener was drunk and uncivil to visitors at the White House, so one bright morning ha summoned him into his presence to receive his d'smissal. “Jemmy,” said the President, “ I hear bid stories about you. It is asid von are consUctly drunk and uncivil to'vis t irs." Jemmy was puzzed for s p--ply. At last he said. “Mr President, bedad I hear much worse stories about you, but do you think I believe them I No, by the powers, I know they are all lies. ages of famous ladies. Le Figaro has the following :— A very indiscreet contjmporsry has published a tsble setting forth the ages of the moat fam'us i .dies of ‘ho period, many of whom, wo are pretty certain, will not feel fiatt-red by this at:ent on. We are thus informed t'.at our oivine Harah (Bernhardt) Is 42 years ol Rosa Bonhenr. 63; \l>s> Braddon. th« cel brat d novelist, 43; the ex k'moreat Eug uie, 60;. Christina jlsson and Adelina Patti. 43; Outdo, 45; Mrs B'ssnr. 3-1: and the redoubtable Mrs Wei on, 48. And what of the “faded Jenny Lind, 64; Pauline Lucca, 46; Arabella Goddard, 47; the genUe Florence Nk>h ingalj, 66. The eldest of these surviving celebrities is Marlrmc de Gssparin, who is 77 years of age.