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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1084, 2 August 1871, Page 2

On Lis way homewards on May 26, the Paris correspondent of the Times met many parties of prisoners, a great many of them well-dressed men, with silverhefdvid walking sticks and patent leather boots. There was one group defiling dowu the Rue de la Paix that was of peculiar interest, calling down even a greater amount of curses and hisses than usually accompanies their progress. It consisted of some twenty or thirty girls, well dressed and pretty, shopwomen of a sewing machine establishment, who were accused of having inveigled a company of soldiers within their doors, and, after dallying with them like Judiths, of having poisoned them all in wine. The young ladies tripped along surrounded by a cordon of guards, smiling on the crowd that was execrating them, and marching gaily to the Place Vendome, where they probably were shot. Near the Pare Monceau, Paris, the Times' correspondent witnessed a melancholy episode. A husband and wife were seized and ordered to march forward towards the Place Vendome, a distance of a mile and a half. They were both of them invalids and unable to walk so far. The woman sat down on the kerbstone and declined to move a step, in spite of her husband's entreaties that she would try. She persisted in her refusal, and they both knelt down together, begging the gendarmes who accompanied them to shoot them at once, if shot they were to be. Twenty revolvers were fired, but they still breathed, and it was only at the second discharge that they finally sank down dead. The gendarmes then rode away, leaving the bodies as they had fallen. The Communists set to work in three distinct ways to burn down Paris. In the palaces and public offices which they commanded, they disposed at regular intervals, sometimes bottles, sometimes pots of petroleum. When the vessels of petroleum were arranged at proper distances, one of them would be overturned and ignited j the flames would rapidly spread, and the whole building would soon be past saving, 'j'here was a second method adopted for the destruction of private When it became neces-

sary to retire from a particular barricaae, the insurgents tore to pieces the beds which formed part of the barricades, took the tow out of the beds, dipped it in petroleum, and loaded their guns with it. Then they fired tow into the windows of the houses. Still a third method : men and women were going about Paris with bottles of petroleum in their pockets, or hid about their dresses. They threw these bottles down into the ground floors of every dwelling they could get at. If there was no room for the bottle to get through, the neck of the bottle could get into certain air holes which belong to the construction of French houses ; the liquid would be poured in, and a lighted match would be sent in after it. In this way very many private houses were set in flames ; and many hundreds of women were taken in the act all day—some of them shot upon the spot. They have a steam shovel on the Mississippi Central Railroad which takes from the solid bank of earth and loads a train of eighteen dump cars in thirty-nine minutes, carrying out about seventy-five yards of dirt. There are iu the dominion of Canada over twenty lines of railway at present in operation. Their aggregate length is 2,679 miles. Six other lines are in course of construction, having an aggregate length of 920 miles. In addition to these there are other lines contemplated, so that —not considering the projected Pacific is likely that in about 2 years' time there will be at least 4,000 miles of railway in operation. Up to this time the railways of Canada have cost about $165,000,000. The total receipts of la«t year, of 15 of the priucipal lines, were about $14,000,000. The prolonged illness of Prince Ernest of Saxe : Coburg has given rise to speculation in the duchies of Coburg and Gotha as to his probable successor. " The presumptive heir," says a correspondent of the Volkszeitung, "is Prince Alfred of England, now 27 years old. Some time ago he made several brief visits to Coburg, where he has a new palace, and some empty stables, but he has since adopted the naval career, and is at this moment cruising with an English squadron in the Indian°Ocean. Pie is a total stranger to the affairs of the duchies ; he appears to be more at home in the Indian Archipelago than in Coburg and Gotha, and does not show much ambitiou to play the part of a small German prince. Queen Victoria has two other and younger sons, Arthur and Leopold, who have also learned German. They might replace their brother on the throne of the duchies, unless indeed, England should prefer to renounce their hereditary rights in favor of the German Emperor. This would be the most sensible course, and anyhow it must come to that sooner or later." A remarkable instance of self-poisoning (says the Melbourne Argus) occurred at Brighton on the sth July. An enginefitter named John Bentinck, about 25 years ojd, was to have been married at 11 o'clock on that day, but a few minutes after the appointed time he approached the house, fell down at the door, and was found to be suffering from the effects of strychnine. He told Mr Casey, who was called, that he had taken a small quantity —only a grain—of strychnine when coming from Melbourne to Brighton in the train, but appeared very anxious to recover, and seemed to regret his extremely rash act. He died in a couple of hours, though the stomach pump and other remedies were applied. lie said he could not keep his promise, and apparently had wished to break off the marriage, but not to kill himself. He was not iu good circumstances, but there seemed no other motive for a wish not to fulfil his engagement. There was no evidence of insanity. A Halifax gentleman was sadly deluded at a fair the other day. He offered a young lady ten dollars for a curl from her head. His surprise may be imagined when the young lady promptly cut it off and gave it to him with a smile. His further indignation may be imagined when he learned that the entire covering cost only three dollars. Thus is trusting man ever deceived by appearances. As a drier to mix with coal-tar, the best and cheapest ingredient is gasoline. It will dry as soon as applied, leaving a fine glossy surface similar to varnish. It may be used either on iron, wood, or stone, and it is also a good and durable paint for tiu roofs, and most durable when applied ja the lieat of the dus\