MISCELLANEOUS

Dunstan Times, Issue 497, 27 October 1871, Page 1 (Supplement)

MISCELLANEOUS

Arrests continue in Paris daily* where soi-disanl Communist officers, lay and military, are being constantly picked up. On the 27th of July a covey of 125 were marched from the Prefecture of Police through the town. Amongst others who have lately fallen into the hands of the authorities are two building contractors, both unfortunate men in their way, who probably rue the day they ever engaged with the Commune. The first of these, Abadie, has remained in biding in a furnished apartment in the Quartier St. Germain, under no less a guise than that of a bishop of some remote and possibly un heard-of diocese. He was the contractor who undertook the demolition of the Column in the Place Vendome for 35,000f, on condition that it should fall on Bth May, and who had to return 500f. fine for each of the twelve days that elapsed before he succeeded The other prisoner is Pait, who bought for a compartively small sum the building materials of M. Thier’s house, and who has thus lost money, materials, and now liberty. Another man who has been arrested is one of those who were so far convicted in public opinion of being killed upon a barricade that even his wife went into mourning. Every day the opinion becomes more and more definite that the reported deaths of the chiefs are very frequently but blinds for their easier escape. Yet another arrest has been made, that of a tenor at the Theatre Lyrique, for a somewhat singular crime—for having sung at a con cert at the Tuileries by order of the Hotel de Yille. Telegraphic blunders cause as much annoyance, and oftentimes amusements at home as inNew Zealand, as witness, the following :“ A contemporary, great in Court gossip, relates an anecdote respecting a noble lady ‘ who is young, beautiful, and good.’ During the Army Bill debate her noble husband, who is as proud and fond of her as he should be, was just about to rise and deliver a violent attack upon something or somebody, when a telegram was put into his hands. He read it, turned pale, and quitted the House; called a cab, drove to the Charing-cross Station, went to Dover, and was no more heard of until tho next day, when he returned to his own home, and to his first inquiry wa« told the Countess was in har own room. He hastened to her, and a terrific row ensued, the exact words of which no one knows but themselves At last, however, he burst out: ‘ Then what did you mean by your telegram 1’ ‘ Mean 1 What I said, of course. What are you talking about V ‘Read it for yourself,’ returned the still unappeased husband. She did read : ‘ I flee with Mr. to Dover straight. Pray for me.’ For a moment she was startled, but then burst into a hearty fit of laughter. ‘ More dreadful telegraph people, no wonder you are out of your mind. I telegraphed simply —I tea with Mrs. in Doverstreet to night. Stay for me.’ His lordship was so savage at the laugh he had raised against himself that he was at first inclined to make a Parliamentary question of it, but, listening to more judicious advice, refrained.” Should Women Vote or Darn Stockings'!—A discussion took place in the Church Convention at Dublin on the question of giving women the power to vote at vestries. The Rev. Mr Hicky wished to give the vote to any “female head of a family.” whereupon Sir tVilliara Osborne hoped that his own wife would be excepted, having quite enough to do at home without cantering and trotting off to every diocesan meeting and to every vestry that may be held in the parish o'- the diocese. The argumentum ad hominum is very satisfactory (said Sir William), and I put it in this case in this way: —A man goes home after a hard day’s work and asks where is Mrs A 1 “Oh, sir,” the servant comes to open the door says ‘ she is gone off to attend a preliminary meeting of the Diocesan Synod.'’ (laughter). “ But where are my daughters'!” “ Oh sir, the young ladies have been sitting in the vestry this last three houis.” “ Well I want my dinner.” “ You cannot have it, sir ; the cook is sitting along with the young ladles—(renewed laughter? —and mistress desires me to tell you that her hands are so full of the new church work, that she thinks you had better order a little bit for yourself, o>take it at the club.” (Laughter.) Everything should be in its right place, and a lady or female head of a family is much better at home, sewing on my buttons, if you like, darning my stockings, if you please—(Laughter)—but not neglecting her everyday wholesome useful vocations, (Hear, hear.) After some discussion, the Rev. Dr. Foley said the real secret of the opposition to women voting was a fear of the influence of the clergy ov<t women. He submitted that the influence was moral and intellectual, and that the convention should adopt the motion. The motion was lost, however, by 151 noas to 108 ayes. The Medical Timee and Gazette says that the number of cases of insanity produced by the excesses of the Commune amounts, according to official report, to more than five hundred. The victims are for the most part, mothers, wives, sisters, or intended brides, who saw the objects of their aftectiou violently torn from them, either on a suspicion of reaction or on a eharge of non compliance with the military law.