THE EVENING STAR,

Evening Star, Issue 4045, 12 February 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE EVENING STAR,

, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1876

AN OLD HAND. 1 At the Easter Festivals in Borne, one ceremony is the public baptism of a converted Jew, who is dipped bodily into the ancient sarcophagus venerated as Constantine's Font, dedicated to this especial rite. Never has a single year elapsed without furnishing the edifying spectacle and its necessary concomitant—the Jew. But as converts are rare, whilst pious sightseers are punctiliously exacting, a possible defalcation has been provided against by a ludicrous expedient. The newly baptised Jew immediately relapses into Judaism, ready to be re-converted annually—for a consideration—in due time for the festival! He becomes so practised in the ceremonial proceedings of the occasion that he slips alertly into and out of the venerated sarcophagus, doffs and dons his habiliments with the readiness of an eage» and well-trained circus horse which performs his intricate part in the evolutions of an equestrian display before his equerry can utter the word of command. One Roman Jew is said to have thus earned a decent livelihood for twenty consecutive years, much to the honor and glory of Mother Church, whose yearly converts costs her less than L 2,000. A PSYCHOLOGICAL RIDDLE. The ' Neue Freie Presse,' Vienna, reports a most shocking case of juvenile depravity, as having happened in the district of Dobarsburgh, near the village of Trighs. A little boy of twelve years old was playing in a field with two little girls, when one of the latter, named Antonia Durneder, lay down and went to sleep. The boy, whose name was Johann Fraisi, went up to the child and contemplated her for some time, during which a hideous thought arose in his mind. He carefully collected the best materials at hand for a large bonfire, arranged these over the body of the sleeper and set fire to the structure. The flames immediately rose high above the unfortunate child, and when the other girl saw the awful sight she screamed to the young murderer to put out the fire. But J ohann took pleasure in the spectacle, and replied, ' No, let Antonia burn; she will go to the angels.' The wind soon scattered the ashes of the burned child, arid her despairing parents found nothing remaining of her but some calcined bones. The boy is charged with the crime before the district Court of Dobersberg. ■ Meantime, the general feeling on the subject is one of utter bewilderment, as there is no evidence of the existence on the part of the little miscreant of any hatred or ill-will toward his playmate, and he can give no plausible ground whatever for his horrible conduct."