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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume III, Issue 141, 25 September 1863, Page 6 (Supplement)

Photography and Murder, —Mr. Warner, a London photographer, in a letter to the Photographic News, says:—“ On the 15th instant, alter reading an account of the murder of the young woman, Emma Jackson, in St. Giles’s, I addressed a letter to Derective-offlcor James P. Thomson, informing him that. ‘ if the eye of a murdered person bo photographed within a certain time after death, upon the retina will befoundthelast thing that appeared before them, and that in the present case the features of the murderers would most likely be found thereon.’ I exemplified my statement by the fact of my haring, four years ago, taken a negative of the eye of a calf a few hours after death, and upon a microscopic examination of the same, I found depicted thereon the lines of the pavement on the slaughter-house floor. This negative is unfortunately broken, and the pieces lost. I enclose you Mr. Thompson’s reply, together with his permission to make any use I please of it. The subject is of too great importance and interest to be passed heedlessly by, because, if the fact were known through the length and breadth of the land, it would, in my estimation tend materially to decrease that most horrible of all crimes, murder. In reply to the letter spoken pf, Detective Thomson wrote: —‘The secret you convey in your letter—photographing the eyes of a murdered person—is one of the greatest importance, but unfortunately, it is unavailing in this instance, for various reasons, three of which I will give you. 1. Life bad been extinct some fortyhours prior to my seeing the body of Emma Jackpon. 2. The eyes were closed. 3. A post mortem examination has been made, and she has been buried, shell cofiu, since Monday last.’ In con- • versing with an eminent oculist some four years ago upon this subject, I learned that unless the eyes were photographed within twenty-four hours after death, no result would be obtaiaed, the object transfixed thereon vanishing in the same manner as an undeveloped negative photograph exposed to light. I did not, therefore, resort to this expedient”

Suicide made Easy. —One of tho men of a distinguished regiment, when quartered in the Mediterranean, attempted to commit suicide by cutting his throat; he, however injured himself. The officer commanded the regiment, fearing that the example might be followed, assembled all the men on parade, and, after commenting upon what had been done, desired, that if any man present was anxious to cut his throat, he was to fall out to front, and say so, and the surgeon would show him the proper way of doing it, but that the time of the doctors was much'to valuable to be taken up by attending to men who had purposely woundp I themselves. I need hardly remark that the gallant officer’s suggestion was not embraced, and no more suicides were committed.

Music is indebted to tho letter M not only in its name, but in tl.e names of its greatest masters, Mpzart, Mendelssohn, Meyur’jeer, Mehnl, Mercadonte, Macfarren, Marliani, Mori, Marschner, Mayer, and others of less note, ancient and modern. Indeed, eo necessary is this Idler to the prt, that without it music would make usic (vou ««*)• , .

General Rosencranz, in his report on tho battle of Murfreesboro’, calculates that, out of 20,000 cannon shots fired by the Federate, but 728 reached Hie enemy, and that, out of 2,000,000 of rifle shots, but 13,832 reached their intended destination.

The —The London Times office employs 370 persons, every branch and department being managed with the most systematic precision and discipline. The paper has now a daily circulation of 65,000 copies, requiring eleven tons of paper per day. The paper used is of linen. The large cylinder on which the paper is printed turns out eight papers every second and a half, or, allowing for stoppages, about 12,500 per hour—equal to 1000 every four minutes. After the typo is set up for the day’s paper, stereotype copies arc made of it, in order to supply forms from which to print a sufficient issue for tho day. No papers are issued to subscribers direct from tho ollice, they being supplied by the newsmen.

An Irish officer, not very conversant in law term 3 was lately tried for an alleged assault. As the jury wore coming to be sworn, the judge addressing the major, told him, that if there was any amongst them to whom he bad any objection, that was the time to challenge them. “ 1 thank your lordship,” said the gallant prisoner, “ but, with your lordship’s permission, I’ll defer that ceremony till after nay trial, and if they don’t acquit me, by tho piper of Leinster, I’ll challenge every mother’s son of them, and have ’em out too,”

The Largest City in the World.—A very erroneous idea is indulged in by many people in relation to the largest city in the world, many asserting that London, or, as it is frequently termed, the Great Metropolis, is far superior both in size and number of inhabitants. But such is not tho case. Jcddo, the capital of Japan, is, without exception, the largest and most populous city in the world. It contains the vast number of 1,000,000 dwellings, and 5,000,000 of human souls. Many of the streets are nineteen Japan serls in length, which is equivalent to twenty-two English miles.

A New Method of Shoplifting. —A lady (?) has displayed a new method of shoplifting. * She went into one of the great silk mercers’ on the Boulevard des Italiens and, going up to a sheepishlooking young man behind the counter, told him she had the misfortune to drop her garter, and that in consequence, her stocking was falling over her foot; she requested him to accommodate her with a piece of tape, and allow her to put it on behind the counter. The young man blushing crimson, instantly gave her the tape, and, in the most respectful manner, vacated the dark side of the counter, and left the lady, who at once helped herself to a silk dross, which she tied under her crinoline with the tape. She then came forward and thanked the civil shopman, and vanished. When the man returned to Ills quarters ho found the dress gone, and instantly knew ho'had been robbed, but to late—the garterless lady was out of sight.

An Extraordinary Lecture at the Tabernacle —A novel entertainment was provided, a few evenings ago, by Mr. Spurgeon, at his tabernacle. The programme which had been issued proved attractive enough, and the doors were thronged by an eager crowd. There were to be seen ladies in Eastern costume, a black servant, or eunuch, to attend upon them, a number of whirling and howling dervishes, some doukoy-boys of Egypt, and a quantity of dead stock, such as the hands and feet of Egyptian ladies, silk bonnets, stomachers, ladies’ girdles, and other similar curiosities. The whole was to bo introduced by a traveller from the East, of the name of Gadsby. The entrance of a procession of deacons and elders did not awaken enthusiasm. The black eunuch, the dervishes, and the donkey-boys were much more to the taste of the audience; while the persons who represented women in Eastern costume were greeted with shouts of la lighter, renewed again and again, when the audience saw Mr. Spurgeon surveying the group with a broad grin on his countenance. The stride of Eastern ladies, their height, and their general demeanour, gave rise to a suspicion that they were not women at all, and long before the lecture was over there were many murmurs that they were only “ men dressed up.” Mr. Spurgeon advanced to the front, and said they had better begin their exorcises, as they always did, with prayer. Directly this was over, the black man, who appeared to think that a little of that serious work would go a great way, waved before a muffled lady a huge fan, andtbeaudienee relaxed the rigidity of their countenances produced by tho pastor's exercise. Then Mr. Spurgeon sot down by the side of the ladies, and laughed heartily at intervals at the fair creatures and their obsequious servant. A thin man, who eyed the troupe as a manager eyes his company when on the stage, proved to be Mr. Gaclsb} - . He made the audience, particularly the ladies, laugh over anecdotes of men who had got divorced from their wives, and of others who had “licked ” their spouses. This was Mr. Gadsby’s own expression, and the women present seemed to know what it meant perfectly. This attention to the ladies’ tastes was one great feature of the lecture. The other was tho pains taken to satisfy Jany scruples that might be left in the minds of pastor or deacons by quoting passages of Scripture in “ illustration ” of the performances of the Merry Andrews in the rear. One after the other the muffled ladies were turned round for inspection, amid the roars of the audience. One, whose eye was only exposed, exemplified the passage, “Thou hast ravished me with one of thy eyes,” and so with others. It was not till the lady wearing the horn came forward that tho delight of the audience reached its climax. Mr. Gadsby, as his best “illustration,” said that the horn was only an exaggeration of a lady’s bonnet in the present day ; and, to prove it, he put one with a high peak on his head, and strutted about tho platform. The audience fairly shouted with laughter, and it seemed as if Mr. Spurgeon himself would never leave off. He clapped his hands with intense glee, and was evidently quite satisfied with tho efforts of the new man. Tho extraordinary exhibition was concluded as it had been begun by the reverend pastor with prayer. —Saturday Review.

A Hoese Stout, —The following horse story (says JVil Jets' Spirit of the Times) is well known td-be ti\«e ; —Judge C! lost a two-year old colt, arid offered a- reward-to any.one who would return the same. The animal’s disappearance-was inost unaccountable. Clairvoyance was called in to aid its recovery. The “ sleeper ” said that it had been stolen and sold in a neighbouring town; but search convinced the judge that this was a “ mistake.” Sis weeks had elapsed in fruitless efforts to find the lost animal. The adjacent towns wore scoured to no purpose, and even the telegraph printer could find no clue to its whereabouts. One morning while the judge was doing his morning’s walk, what was his surprise to find the head of his lost colt protruding out from the straw stack that the men had made who were threshing six weeks before, lie had come to feed at the stack, and while there was covered up by the accumulating straw. He was merely skin and bone, and had lived that time on nothing but what ho could get inside the stack. Notwithstanding this severe ordeal, the colt lived and made a good horse. Autilleet Shield. —Among the latest inventions approved by Captain IJahlgron, and now being tested, is an artillery shield for protecting the cannoniers. It is made of boiler iron, and so fixed on springs as to recoil from the force of a ball or a shell without being perforated. On being shotted, the gun is discharged in the orifice, and then run back sufficiently to allow of the artillerist’s reloading without going in front of the shield. Should it prove a success, it is to be introduced in the navy also. The inventor, Capt. Emerson, of the sth Wisconsin Volunteers, is now in this city for the purpose of securing his discharge from the regiment, in order to devote his entire attention to the manufacture of the shield. —New Yorlc Times.

The Steam Gunboat for the Waikato. —We learn by the Prince Alfred that this gunboat was to ru - > her trial trip on the 27til, two days after the Prince Alfred left. It will be some time before she leaves for New Zealand—two or three weeks, it is understood. The vessel is very long for her height above water, and is altogether much larger than the name gunboat would imply, and she attracts a great deal of attention. Wreck op the “Prince Alfred.” —The p.s. Prince Alfreds was wrecked on the Wanganui bar, on the tiOth utt, she having gi-ounded there on the passage outwards. The vessel had ultimately to be abandoned, as the heavy sea washed her still further shore, and rendered any attempt to get her oif hopeless. The crew got off easily, and a number of the cattle, with which she was loaded were also landed. The w reck of this vessel, with her sails, anchors, cables, &e., was afterwards sold by Messrs. Gudgeon & Co., and realised £535. Explorations op the West Coast. —The Olago Daily Times of 15th August, says : —The complete exploration of the West Coast of the Middle Island will probably be accomplished during the ensuing summer. There ore several parlies at present engaged in ascertaining the easiest route from Nelson to the coal and gold fields on the West Coast of that province, and already settlement has commenced in the vicinity of the Hirer Grey, and at other available places. The Canterbury Government are making even - effort to open the country on the West; the result of recent explorations having established the existence of considerable areas of land suitable for settlement, besides very valuable coal deposits. A depot has already been established by the Canterbury Government on the West Coast, and a road* is in course of formation to within a comparatively easy distance of the sea, and a line of electric telegraph will shortly be constructed thither. A fresh exploring expedition is now being organised for the thorough survey of the West Coast of Canterbury, under the leadership of Mr. Pain, an experienced surveyor, who will also bo accompanied by Mr. Sullivan, the gentleman who acted as special reporter for this journal to the first expedition under Dr. Hector in this province. The expedition will commence operations from Jackson's Pay, where Hr. Hector penetrated in the subsequent expedition to that locality, and extend its travels northward, making a survey of the coast to the distance often miles inland. Extraordinary Discovery in an Australian Ship. —A very remarkable discovery has just been made in one of Messrs. Green’s ships recently arrived in the port of London from Australia. The ship, the llesult , from Melbourne, was being overhauled a day oi* two ago in the London docks, when the skeleton of a man was found standing upright. He was dressed, but ail his flesh had dried up on his bones, and his clothes therefore hung loosely about him. On searching him a sum of in silver was found in bis pocket but no other property of any kind. It is supposed that the man had not got the means to pay for bis passage, and secreted himself in some part of the vessel, and was either suffocated, or that in consequence of the manner in which the cargo was packed, he found it impossible to escape from his place of confinement.— Manchester Examiner. A chicken fancier is trying to get up a new race of pullets by crossing weather-cocks witli Shanghai hens. Wc shall watch his success with much interest. This is a progressive age. Pope-walks will be made to trot.

Scene.—Commercial Room. —lncipient Commercial to'Crusty Old Traveller : —“ You're always in thcfasbiou I sec. Last time I had t lie pleasure of seeing you, Mauve was tho prevailing colour, and your nose was Mauve. Now Magenta is all the go, and it’s changed to Magenta.— Punch. Great Feat. —An astonishing feat recently came off at Thomastown Park near Athlone, the seat of Thomas Nagleton, Ksq., witnessed by a number of gentlemen, visitors of his daring the Athlone steeple-chases. The after-dinner conversation turning upon tho relative merits of walljumping hunters, a gentleman presort, Mr. Joseph North, aged sixty-five years, undertook to produce at eleven o’clock on Friday night a horse which should carry him over the park wall, five feet in height, built of limestone and mortar, coped and and dashed, for a bet of £25, which (wonderful to relate) he accomplished in most gallant style, without laying any iron on it! He was an old bay horse called Peter Simple, aged twenty-three years and had been for many years one of his sporting master’s favourite hunters. —Sportiny Gazette..

Value op a Racing Stud.—Lord Stamford's hunting stud was sold recently at Quorn. With but one exception (Harkaway) the sale was an unreserved one. Eighty horses realised :15,000 guineas. Harkaway was bought in, the. reserved price, which was 1,000 guineas, not being bid. The highest price paid for a single horse during the day was 520 guineas, which was given by Mr. Cartwright for the magnificent chestnut gelding, the I’ilot.

Our Secret Power Discovered.—One of tho representatives of the Continental press at tho International Exhibition, after wondering where the secret power of the British nation lies, traces it to their ravenous stomachs ‘ Deprive,’ says he, ‘an Englishman of his appetite, that enables him to digest bleeding meat or highly-spiced rounds of beef, and you deprive him of all incentive to action if he be of Saxon race, for the decendants of the Normans are yet greedy of power. Ho does not care for society—he lias no ambition to please - —his indiflereuce to glory is so great as to become contemptuous—and lie scorns the artistic Drench and Italians as dilettanti, so insensible is he to the fine arts. He is without a spice of gallautry in his composition, for the most beautiful' women in the world arc grossly neglected for the club, the billiard-room, or the ring. Hunger is his great stimulant to activity, and a gigantic appetite pushes on this extraordinary people to xecute the most gigantic enterprises.’ I 1 rcderick the Great was always very fond of disputation ; but as be generally terminated tho discussion by collaring bis antagonist and kicking his shins, few of his guests were disposed to enter into the arena against him. One day,. when ho was even more disposed for an argument, he asked one ol his suite why he did not venture to give his opinion on some particular question. “It is impossible, your majesty,’ was the reply, “ to express an opinion before a sovereign who has such very strong convictions, and who wears very strong boots."