Varieties.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 404, 4 February 1904, Page 7

Varieties.

A CURIOUS'FUNERAL; 3*Wte GIPSY funeral held in an Alarkian fjTCtf?) village' shows how tenaciously xMb the tribes still olinsr to pang customs, The corpse was shrouded in a garment with two pockets, each con- - taming a twenty franc piece, a bottle oE wme was laid on the right side of the deceased person, and a package of beans on the left, a bean also being placed in , his mouth. Wax tapera were burnt -round the ocffin, which wad subsequently carried round the graveyard insolemn procession. <*'■s. J;p FtSaiNG AND~MA.RBIA.GE. The Buoceea of the English herring fishing had a remarkable effect on the matrimonal market. One- Sunday thebanns of no fewer than 23 fisher couples .were published ia Buckle parish church. Bas Satire.'On the previous Sunday the number was sixteen. At other.fishing £ hamlets along the northeast coast of Scotland the success of the fishing resulted in a large number of weddings. A REMARKABLE DEFENCE. . v A novel defence was raised at Oawestry (England) last month by a laborer, who was charged with stealing a pullet from a fowl house. The dead pullet was identified by the prosecutor, and even the boot prints corresponded with defendant's boots. The prosecutor admitted feeding his fow)s with meal and com only, Defendant declared that the pullet was his, and that barley would be found in its crop. The crop was opened and barley was found inside. The defendant -was thereupon discharged.

LUNATIC'S MEA.L. At an inquest held at the Essex lunatic aßyluia, Brentwood, on 20th April, on a patient twenty je&TB of age, who had been in the asylum for six years, it was stated that the deceased was addicted to sating rubbish, and on 17th April an attendant, found him devouring grass and weeds in the airing court. He died from cardiac syncope, due to a stomach distended with grass and vegetable matter, and to the presence of giaai in the air passages. Dr. George Amsden, medical superintendent, said there had never before been a similar case in the asylum. A verdict of ' Daath from cardiac syncope' was returned. A MOSOOW~MIRiCIiE. The 'Zalt* publishes the following remarkable story of a wonder that occurred at Moscow. > -•Kfttsj A merchant's widow demanded the payment of a debt of J62500 which her huaband had lent his partner. The partner came to see the widow and assured her that he had already repaid the money daring her husband's lifetime, The widow refused to believe him, whereupon the partner knelt in front of a picture" of the Virgin Mary hanging in the room, and swore a solemn oath that he had repaid the money to her husband. Scarcely had he uttered the oath when Mb right arm, which he had stretched up towards heaven, beoame paralysed. Several weeks have elapßed since this occurrence, but the perjurer's right arm hangs helpless at his side, and the doctors say that he has lost the use of it permanently.

A THEILLING EESCUE, Passengers-aboard the Lake Megaatic, of the Elder Dampster line, bound from Nova Scotia for Bristol, reports a thrilling rescue of .the crew of the Grenada, a steel screw steamer of 2158 tons, belonging to the Trinidad Shipping and Trading Company. The Grenada was flying signals of distress when sighted, and waß in a terrible plight. Masts had gone, the steamer was full of water, and the men were famished and exhausted, and rendered helpless by the cold. Tremendous Beas swept ovet the vessel, and made the work of approaching her one of the greatest difficulty. There was, however, no lack of volunteers, although the rescue of the crew seemed almost hopeless, and was accompanied by extreme P eril - «♦• A boat'B crew put out, and were at once almost engulfed in the waves. But the men battled on brarely for two hours, their boat in the meantime being converted into a gleaming shell of ice, Many times it appeared quite impossible to get near the stricken steamer, lna boat was flung yards high on the crest of . great waves, and the waterlogged steamer dangerously, threatemng4o splinter tbe little frczsn craft on the alightest toucn. At last some of the Megantio's men got aboard, and the crew were taken off. A.a the rescuers returned to the MiganUc with the helpless Beamenihey wore wildly cheered by the passengers.