MISCELLANEOUS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 265, 27 October 1874, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

A Califorriian Journal says that the demand for the seeds of the Eucalyptus globulus (the gum tree) is unprecedented. Half a miHk>rt,'trees:';wero.sold last season in';this the nurserymen predict.that the demand during the Ensuing season will cover 3,000500 trees: A very large number'bf the other sort of gum trees are sold for. brh'amentaL purposes, many of them being more desirable .for such purposes than the blue gum.. There.are 27 varieties of the. Australian;, gum grown jmthis vicinity. Some of them are equal in every quality which constitutes a good shade.tree, to .any tree grown upon this coast. The seed of the blue gum/is now~ retailing rfor about three dollars an ounce.. ; Thereare abput three thousand seeds in 9.11 ounce. ~ .._,., V The New York Times says :—Cremation seems to have made some progress in this city when a society makes up such an exact schedule as that furnished by a German organisation. According to the programme, the subject for ■ cremation is,: to be lowered through an altar, and returned in ashes suitable .for the urn in, exactly an hour and a half. The work is to be done by machinery —tno mortal hand touching the subject." The hot-air blast used is to be lOOOdeg. Fahrenheit ; from 250 to 450 .pounds of coal oil will be required, and .the total cost is to be eight dollars. We are glad to be informed that this business-like transaction is to be so cheap, and that it will, nevertheless, be conducted with due respect for the feelings of the relatives and friends." A New York paper tells of a Vermont bachelor whio one day set the table in his lonely abode with plates for himself and an imaginary wife and five children. Be then sat down to dine, and as often as he helped himself to food he put the same quantity on each "of the other plates, and" surveyed the prospect, at the same time computing the cost. He is still a bachelor. The other day John Rosebury, a hawker, aged 105 years, of Leeds, applied at the Halifax borough police office for the purpose of having his., pedlar's certificate endorsed. He was born at, Whitby on the 30th of April, 1769, and has lived in Leeds since 1793, the year in. which his father died at the age of 98 years. In addition to his father and his wife, he has buried at .Leeds seventeen sons and five daughters. His wife died on the 20th April, 1869, at. the age of 99. He followed every one of them to the grave., The eldest of his children died at the age of 81, on November 5, 1872 ; and the youngest' at the,age of twelve. His present residence is at Leeds. • He has a surprising memory. For four years he lost the use of both eyes, but the sight of one has returned. He never travels by coach or rail, but walks all his journeys.—Leeds paper., -The Singleton.correspondent of the Maitland Mercury reports the marriage of five sisters in a family in that district to five brothers of another family. He says :—" A young, man named Bailey lately married a Miss. Fernance, at.Singleton. Taken by itself this announcement would probably interest the readers of the Mercury as much as a statement that something had occurred in some outlandish country about which nobody would care a straw. But when we state that four brothers of the bridegroom were previously married to four sisters of the bride, the matter assumes a very different aspect. _ Five brothers married to five sisters! We. believe that. such ,a. thing stands unexampled in the history of the Australian Colonies^—perhaps in the whole civilised world." The Sari Francisco Examiner gives the following account of the wonderful performances of the trotting mare Goldsmith Maid :—At Mystic Park, Boston, on September 2nd, Goldsmith Maid surpassed her previous achievements, doing a mile in 2.14 and thus beating her record of 2.14f. The scene at the park was brilliant in the extreme, an immense crowd being present, and the wildest enthusiasm displayed. The Maid was driven by Budd-Doble, accompanied by the running mare Jennie. She was first jogged around the jtrack in 2.19k and then the real trial began. : She went off like a flash, took the quarter in the half in 1.06£; and came down tho homestretch like a tornado, rushing under [the ■sirein 3.-14:, amidst greai applause.