A STRANGE ROMANCE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 800, 17 August 1877, Page 4

A STRANGE ROMANCE.

A London correspondent writes : ■“ Haska,” which has'caused so much excitement in Lincoln’s Inn and Westminster—a good deal more, by the way, than in Drury Lane—has quite a romance in connection with it. Mr E. L. Blanchard tells the story. He says the lady professionally known as Madame Mendoze Rita is Miss Catherine Lula Campbell, who is closly related to a distinguished Scotch family. She received an education worthy ■of her birth and her expectations. She passed her early years in India, and while there became entitled to large territorial possessions. She was thus rendered very rich, and she was personally very beautiful. Suddenly she broke away from her relations, and was seized with an uncontrollable longing for the stage. She came to England about seven years ago, and appeared at the Gravesend and some small provincial theatres, under the title of “ The Princess ofGeorgie.” She acted as Lady Macbeth at the Queen’s Theatre, and Charing Cross, as Zuleika. She purchased forLIOO not only the right to play ‘Haska,’ but also bought about 20 plays besides, including one by Col. Alfred Bate Richards, late editor of the Morning Advertiser. As soon as she had acquired a large collection of original pieces, and a magnificent theat - rical wardrobe, and seemed on the way to dramatic success, she took a sudden but rooted aversion to th e stage. She has now left it, and keeps pretty much to her charming villa residence in the western suburbs of London. In a late issue of the Western Star the following advertisement appears :—“Wanted, a Blaguard to Canvass and run down the Opposition Candidate’s Character. Must be a man who quarrels with all his neighbors.” yEgles says : —“ The money obtained by Government for the whole of the land upon which Melbourne stands was under L 750, 000. No wI am told that there are business sites in Melbourne which would bring, under the hammer, L 200,000 an acre. If rfc’iis be accurate, there can be no better test of the increase in the value of metropolitan property. Soma clever calculator may estimate the present value of the area of Melbourne. ” A fatal accident of a strange nature •occurred in Cuba street, Wellington, on July 27. A young man named Samuel Duck left his parents’ home, where he resides, at six o’clock to go to his daily work. Shortly before seven, when his parents rose, they found the front door open, and, on on going to shut it, found the body of their son lying on the threshold quite lifeless. There were several bruises and a cut on the head, and from the marks on the ground and on the door still it was evident that in going out without noticing the frost, his ■ foot must have slipped, causing him to fall and to bring his head into violent contact with the door-step, thus causing death. The deceased was not subject to fits, and was very sober and industrious. H’s age was about thirty years, and ho was unmarried. We (Adelaide Evening Journal) have bci n : shewn by Mr Lewis James, of North Adelaide, a very simple and apparently effective appliance for keeping down all unpleasant odours in places of accommodation. The apparatus would be equally effective for the ordinary cesspit or for earthclosets. The seat moves slightly on a hinge placed at the back, and when down opens the trap, which turns to one side, leaving the '.passage perfectly clear, and on the weight •being taken off it closes again tightly. By ■ making the lid of the trap slightly convex ■ dry earth might be laid upon it, which would be shot down each time the seat was sot in motion. We understand that medical gentlemen have expressed their approval of the invention, and that the Government Architect has also given his opinion that it is an improvement on the plans hitherto •adopted for the purpose. Credit.—Among the witty aphorisms upon this unsafe topic are Lord Alvanlcy’s description of a man who “ muddled away his fortune in paying his tradesmen’s bills;” Lord Orford’s definition of timber, “ An excrescence on the face of the earth, placed there by Providence for the payment of debts and Pelhams argument that it is respectable to be arrested, because it shows that the party once had credit.