MISCELLANEOUS.

Grey River Argus, Volume IV, Issue 270, 5 October 1867, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Bombay Government is said to havt received the intelligence of the death . pf one, if not two of the British captives in Abyssinia before they were liberated, The Abolition of Imprisonment for Another dreadful case of burning to death has again occurred under circumptances very ' similar to the deplorable accident by which the Archduchess Mathilde lost her life. The Countess Thurn,- - nee Palffy Dann, had on the. afternoon of the 16th June accompanied her husband, ■ with many friends, to take possession of a. new estate at Sorgendorf, in Carinthia. Jn the evening the Countess wrote a letter , and lighted a candle, throwing the match' behind .her, In a few moments she was inflames. Her husband, who was near, succeeded at last in extinguishing , the fire by wrapping her round with a carpet ; but it was too late. The countess lingered for a, week, and died after much suffering. Cquht.Thurn was severely burnt himself jn endeavoring to save his wife. The canonisation ceremony and the centenary of St. Peter- and St. Paul were celebrated at Rome on Saturday, June 29, with great splendour. Five hundred prelates —t cardinals, archbishops, and bishops— attended the Popß in St. Peter's, which was filled by 5Q,0Q0 persons. The ■ Neapolitan royal family and the whole of the diplomatic body occupied s,eats. round the choir. Everything passed off in perfect order. The interior decorations and illuminations of St. Peter's alone proved a failure. At 9 o'clock some drapery paught fire at the extremity of the right / aisle of the cathedral while some wax tapers "were being lighted. The flames - spread to the ornamental hangings in the immediate vicinity, which were instantly ' destroyed. The multitude assembled in the cathedral became alarmed, and a rush to the doors had commenced, when' the. firemen arrived and " succeeded in extin- ' guishing the flames a minute or two before the Pope entered the building. Some illsecured lustres fell to the grouud, and caused slight hurts to several persons. v There has just been completed and put j - in running order at the Government print-. ing-office in Washington, one of the mos.t wonderful pieces of mechanism in the shape of. -a printing press that has ever been exhibited. The press is of the Bullock patent, and as a_n exhibition of some of its powers we will mention:— The press will print in one hour 20,000 sheets of 64 pages of document matter. While doing this, it feeds itself, the paper being, in rolls, wets the paper, cuts the . sheets, folds them, ajid, by a dial connected to the press, keeps tally of the -number of sheets printed, Only two. men ; are required to ha,ve entire control of the press, thus doing away with the necessity of persons to supply it with sheets (or, as they are called, feeders). The invention ■- is certainly a wonderful one, and has been . -visited by a large number of persons,-who 'could not realise the power and utility of • -^he machine. .