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New Zealand Mail, Issue 16, 13 May 1871, Page 5

Ages of Men of the Time. The “Journal de Bruxelles” gives the following interesting statistics of the ages of present eminent men; —M. Thiers is 74 years of age, and succeeds to an Emperor aged 63. The King of Prussia is the same age as Thiers. Von Moltke is 70, Von Roon 68, and Bismark 57 only. Prince Gortschakoff is 71. Lord Russell is nearly 80: Mr Disraeli, 66 j Mr Gladstone, 63; Guizot, 80; De Remusat, 74; Bt. Marc Girardin, 70 ; Dufaure, 73 ; V. Hugo, 69; Cremieux, 75; and Jules Favre, 62. The Due de Nemours is 57 years old; the Prince de Joinville, 53; the Due d’Amaule, 49; and the Comte de Chambord, 51. Gambetta is only 32, and the Comte de Paris, 33. Jules Simon is aged 57; Lord Granville, 56; and Louis Blanc, 58.

Native Theobies of Earthquakes. There are various theories of the cause of earthquakes. By a Surat paper we are informed that the uneducated Hindoos there “ believe that when the world becomes sinful, the ‘ Shes Nag’ (a kind of serpent), on which the world stands, turns its aide, and hence such shock* of earthquakes are felt.” A correspondent at Gowhatty, in Assam, mentions another popular notion: —“ At about 11 p.m. on Friday the 27th, we were rudely roused from sleep by a heavy shock of earthquake. It seemed afe if a giant had jumped on my bungalow. Hence the belief among the natives in Assam that earthquakes are caused by the periodical leap of mountain gods from one mountain to another.”—"Bombay Gazette,” ■> February 11.