MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 472, 9 February 1850, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge hat promised tht sum of £2000 towards the establishment of* theological institution in Colombo, for which purpose the Bishop of Ceylon bai paid £2,000 out of his own, pocket for purchasing a site for tht

building, and has also promised to devote £200 • year from his income during bis episcopate. Some curious investigations have been for some time carried on in the Gut of Gibraltar, by M. Cuupveut-des-Bois. He has discovered the existence of a superficial current, flowing from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean, and of a deep under-current flowing from the Mediterranean into the ocean. „, He has also ascertained that between these tiro currents there exists a bed of water which it in perfect repose.

The Failure of the Grand Land Scheme of Ma. O'Connor. — At the last county court for Northampton final judgment was given in the long-pending case, Gubbins v. O'Connor. Some months since, it will probably be remembered, an action was brought against the defendant as promoter of the " grand land scheme," for expenses incurred, the scheme being a failure. The defendant relied for a defence on the fact that the whole system was in contravention of the Jaw, tnd that "no ttoney paid could be recovered back, unless there had been actual fraud, which was denied by him ; and he urged that he had acted in perfect good faith, and with* ont deriving any pecuniary benefit or advantage. A verdict was given against defendant, who applied for a new trial ; and after hearing arguments, his Honor now said that the position taken by defendant was untenable. Much stress had been laid upon the grandeur and benevolence of defendant's scheme, the perfect good faith with which all the proceeding had been conducted and total absence of all pecuniary benefit to defendant ; but defendant had been endeavouring to carry out a scheme against a statute with reference to such undertakings. As to the good faith between the plaintiff and defendant, as to the expenditure of the money, his Honor said that those who attempted in defiance of law to carry out schemes, however grand and benevolent, against the law, must do so at their own risk. There were a multitude ot difficulties and embarrassments besetting the scheme and all connected with it until placed on a footing recognized aud sanctioned by the laws of the land. Defendant could not get rid of the liabilities which attached to him as promoter of the scheme, and he (his Honor) saw no reason to alter the decision hebaJ first come to. Defendant was then ordered to pay the amount without further delay. — Leeds Mercury, Ist September.

. More Poisonings. — -There- livecLal^Pjitb a m&sriV and bis wife, named Henry and CbafloLte Marcbant. They were well to do in the world in every respect. The man was in the receipt of good wages, and the woman increased the common stock by occasionally selling fruit in the market. They had been married seven or eight years, had one child living, and were both in the prime of life, and well respected by their neighbours. On Saturday, the 31st March, Henry March ant left his work in his usual health and spirits, and went home to his tea. In the middle of the following night he was taken violently ill, and continued so throughout the next day. He contrived, however, on Monday, to stagger to his accustomed place of work, but was so obviously unfit for bis duties that he was was led home again. On that evening medical aid was at length called in, his wife having previously objected to it, in deference, as she herself asserted, to her husband's ,pwn prejudices. When the surgeon came, she an swered the first inquiries by stating that her husband had injured himself by lilting heavy stones, »nd that he had been disordered in consequence for some weeks. Prescriptions were accordingly given and medicine was sent, but the wife took upon herself to withhold it, on account, as she said, of the patient's continued vomiting. The symptoms therefore went on unabated, and at length, on Saturday the 7th of April, the poor man expired. On Friday the 13th he was buried; on that same day his widow procured a 'license, 'and on Monday, the 16th, she was married to a man named Harris. A combination of this sudden union with other circumstances having' excited some suspicions, the body on the 28th of April was disinterred and examined, but as the patient had been attended for presumed irritation of the stomach, and such disorder was clearly visible on the first opening of the body, the investigation was not at that moment pushed to the detection of any deleterious substance. The result, however, of a subsequent inquest was the submission of the entire contents of the stomach to chemical analysis, and the skilful science of Mr. Herapath soon ascertained tne presence of poison. No lew than two grains and a half of solid arsenic, together with one grain in solution, were discovered in the stomach, while husks of pearl barley and tea leaves indicated at the same moment the vehicle by which the poison bad been administered. '• Still, it was difficult tp i uspect the wife of the crime ! for, although suicide was put out of the question by the facts of the case, yet so perfectly uodis-

turbedand comfortable had been the married life of the parties, and so utterly were all ordinary motives thought wanting which could have prompted the deed, that conjecture was left quite at fault. It was presently ascertained, however, that the story about the deceased having ruptured himself by over-exer-tion at his work was wholly without foundation ; and it became evident on further inquiry, that it was scarcely possible for any food or medicine to have been administered to him without the cognizance of his wife, as she alone had attended him throughout his illness. The case accordingly was more carefully investigated, and the result was the establishment, to the satisfaction of a jury, of the following incredible facts. In the market ! place the woman had met with the man Harris, who was no less than seventy years of i age, and who was possessed of some little property. He had made overtures to her, either jokingly or otherwise, and had remarked what a fine thing it would be for her if she were a widow. In pursuance of this suggestion she resolved to become one, althougn'sbe was already'well married, wetttb do in the world, and without the slightest complaint against her husband. She executed her resolution by giving him arsenic in his tea as he came home from his work, facilitated the operation of the poison by denying him the medicines sent for his relief, kept him lingering for seven days in protracted agony, and at last terminated his sufferings by administering a large dose of the deadly drug. Such, it is clear, must have been her course of proceeding, for Mr. Herapatb pronounced that the poison detected in the stomach must have been given in a solid state, and not more 1 than twenty-four hours previous to death. Considering the several circumstances of this case, and that no insanity was pleaded on behalf of the prisoner, we really think it must be taken as one of the most monstrous upon record. We have read of women tacrificing aged husbands for younger paramours, and being led from one criminality 10 another by accumulated motives of covetousness or passion. But in this case there were neither jealousy nor revenge at work ; there was no impulse of unlawful love or deadly hate, nor any sufficient or credible motive on the score of worldly gain. The woman was wellmatched, well-housed, and well cared for, and yet, for the chance, to all appearance, of marrying a stranger of more than twice her own years, she goes home and deliberately spends a week in killing her husband by a frightfu death. — Times. - < . - -

" Red" Baptisms. — The journal de Tmlouse says :—": — " Some time ago we reported a strange baptism which took place at Clavisson. The pastor of the place allowed the new born child, who was baptised by the name of Ledru Rollin, to be presented in the sacred edifice clothed in red, and wearing the Phrygian cap. This tolerance, which the pastor called prudent, has always borne its fruits. Names more significant than that of Ledru Rollin have been given to other infants : one, for instance, has been baptized Barbes. We imagined that, henceforth, all the new-born babes of Clatisson would belong from the cradle, to the crest of the Red Mountain, when, to cur great surprise, a slight reactionary movement was manifested. One of the last children presented for baptism aspired to the name of General Cavaignac. Actuated by a tardy indignation at the part to which he bad been condemned for some weeks, the pastor refused his assent, and obliged the parents to seek another name out of the political calendar.

Civil Liberty undkr a Republic. — La Republigue announces the discharge from the prison of La Force of 28 individuals, who were detained there since the insurrectionary movement of the 13th of June. Amongst them is M. Charles Expilly, a sub-editor of -La Republique, who says he suffered imprisonment during 56 days for having cried " Vive la Constitution /"

lonian Islands. — An extraordinary Corfu Gazette publishes an account of serious outbreaks at Cephalonia, and a proclamation of marshal law in the Island by the Lord High Commissioner. It appears that a party of insurgents wounded a police sergeant and killed a constable, and drove the police from their stations into the district of Scala. They also surrounded the hour e of a gentlemen who had offended them by giving some information of their designs, and burned him alive with one of his servants. The destroyed another house and threatened many other /parties. ' The movements were gradually spreading. Between 300 and 400 men, including many foreigners, were in arms, compelling others to join by threats and violence. Later intelligence states that the accounts were somewhat exaggerated, and that tranquillity had been restored. — Scotsman, Sept 12th. At a private meeting under the fiat issued against E. T. Delafield, Mr. Fen, the treasurer of' the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden', was examined, as was also Mr. Cha»

pel,-,solicitor to \sr. Beale« with whom the bankrupt had been counected in business. The following extracts from the books may not be uninteresting to our readers : — Madame Alboni received £4000 ; the artists' engagements for the season amounted to £26,000, the rent £6000,. band £7000 ; weekly expenae«* ft g*s, chorus, &c, £13,800; incidental expenses £3000 — being an expenl diture of £55,800 sixty-six nights, or £845 per night.

A Runaway Boy Raising the Wind. — My standing possessed of only thret halfpence in the world (and I am sure I wonder how they cime to be left in my pocket on Sa- | turday night!) troubled me none the lsss because I went on. I began to picture to my- | self, as a scrap of newspaper intelligence, my being found dead in a day or two, nnder some hedge ; and I trudged on miserably, though as fast as I could, until I happened to pass a little shop, where it was written up that ladies' and gentlemen's wardrobes were bought, and that the best price was given for rags, bones, and kitchen-stuff. The master of this shop was sitting at' the door "in his shirt sleeves, smoking ; and as there were a great many coats and pairs of trousers dangling from the low ceiling, and only two feeble candles burning inside to show what they were, I fancied that he looked like a man of « revengeful disposition, who had bung all his enemies, and was enjoying himself. My late experience with Mr. and Mrs. Micawber suggested to me that here might be the means of keeping off the wolf from the door for a | little while. I went up the next bye-street, | took off my waistcoat, rolled it neatly under my arm, and came back to the shop door. " If you please, sir," I said, " I am to sell .this for a fair price." Mr. Dolloby — Dolloby was the name over the shop door, at least — took the waistcoat, stood his pipe on its end against the door-post, went into the shop, followed by me, snuffed the two candles with his fingers, spread the waistcoat on the counter, and looked at it there, held it up against the light, and ultimately said : " What do you call a price, now, for this here little weskit?" *J Oh ! you know best, sir," I returned, Modestly. " I can't be buyer and seller, too," said Mr. Dolloby. " Put a price on this here little wesket." " Would eighteen pence be" — I hinted after some hesitation. Mr. Dolloby rolled it up again, and gave it me back. •' I should rob my family," said he, " if I was jo offer ninepence for.it." This was a disagreeeable way of putting the business; Because it fmposed upon me, a jperfect stran- , ger, the unpleasantness of asking Mr. TsdV ; loby to rob his family on my account. My circumstances being so very pressing, however, I said I would take ninepence for it, if he pleased. Mr. Dolloby, not without some grumbling, gave ninepence. I wished him j good night, and walked out of the shop, the richer by that sum, and the poorer by a waistcoat. But when I buttoned my jacket that was not much.- Dickens' s David Copperfield. The only class of men in the world who are not in the habit of disparaging their neighbours are the Assessors of Taxes ; for it is well known they never underrate any one in the ('lightest degree.

Division of Labour. — The number of 'workmen employed to finish an article of 'chinaware is almost incredible. A single cup is said, from the kneading of the paste, to pass through seventy hands, before it is ready for sale; each individual in its progress doing as little as he possibly can for the remuneration he receives. The Chinese decorate the exterior of their dwellings, ' and , their pleasure grounds, with enormous pieces,' of porcelain, both in the shape of vases and figures ; these are formed each in several pieces, and each piece or portion in a mould. The paste is first well pressed into moulds, which are then placed before a fire for a short . time, to detach the figures from their moulds ; the various portions are then united and cemented together, the joints aie carefully smoothed off by the chisel, and are varnished and painted over, after which they are imperceptible. The designs traced upon their porcelain or china are far superior to any European colouring. The division of labour in embellishing and painting their chinaware is equal to that employed in the formation of it; one traces figures, and another flowers, a third paints the figures, and a fourth the flowers ; in fact, there is an artist for delineating and another for painting each particular object ; each goes on in one beaten track, without the least conception of or attempt at ; improvement, or introducing new ideas into ' their designs ; and thus the same designs and figures are accurately copied by the artists of the;" present' day, which were in use in the days of Confucius. — Sirr's China and the Chinese. I

Phillip's FikE Annihilator. — On Friday last a number of very interesting experiments were made at the London Gas Works, Vanxhall, with this ingenious and remark- ; able invenCioru These were preceded by an

explanation from Mr. Phillip* of the manner in which he was led to the discWery, *nd of the principles upou which its success depends* He stated that while watching a volcanic eruption in the Mediterranean, he observed that the huge column of water which was discharged from the crater did not extinguish the flame which accompanied it, while the smoke of a brushwood fire swept by the wind put out another brushwood fire near it. He exemplified the little power of water in extinguishing flame by several very simple experiments, and he then introduced the " fire annihilator," and at once put out very large fires fed with most combustible materials. The extraordinary speed, ease, and certainty with which the iuvention acted, in all the trials to which it was put, excited the warm admira* tion of many gentlemen of high scientific attainments who were present ; and there can be little doubt that the •* patent fire annihilator" is a very valuable addition to the discoveries of the age. In construction and application it has the great advantage of being extremely simple, being quite portable and capable of being,placed where it would be most accessible in cape of emergency* The gases .which it evolves, and which are found, so efficacious in extinguishing flame, are produced from a compound of charcoal, nitre, and gyp* sum, which again is ignited by breaking a glass bottle containing sulphuric acid. The acid drops upon chlorate of potass and sugar, and instantly a large body of vapour is evolved with great force from a tube connected with the copper or metal chamber in wbpch the whole materials are enclosed. This vapour extinguishes flames with a rapidity which is truly marvellous, and by it Mr. fhiißps appears to have arrived at the simplest atioNnQ»t certain means of effecting a large saving the immense annual loss of property and life by fire in this country. That loss is calculated to amount in property to £2,000,000. A company has, we understand, taken up the invention, and we have no doubt that it will soon supersede the long rows of buckets, filled with water, with which the corridors of our public buildings are now so often garnished.

A Member of the Pork Aristocracy, Cincinnati, Ohio, — " I fell into couversation with an intelligent, well-dressed pasienger, who, as we sailed by the town, of Utica, in Indiana, remarked that it was too near the large city of Louisville to thrive greatly ; and in speculating on the future prospects of the West, he said that by the census of 1840 it was proved that the. Atlantic s.tates had about nine millions and a half of inhabitants, ■while the states lying to the. west :of the mountains, and between the great lakes and the Oulf of Mexico, numbered about six millions four hundred thousand. Now it is believed that the census of 1850 will show the whole country to have changed its centre to the west of the mountains, and, under a system of universal suffrage, the centre of population becomes the centre of political power. After having been much interested with the information which I gained from this companion, although occasionally struck with' hi» violation of the rules of ordinary good manners, I was trying to divine to what class in society he might belong, when he began to enlarge on the number of hogs killed last year in Cincinnati, which exceeded all former seasons, amounting to 300,000, and to describe to me how the streets, in killing time, were blocked up with barrels of salt pork for exportation, so that it was not easy to pass in a carriage. He then asked me abruptly, >' How many hogs do you think I r ki)led- last season ?' Imagining that he might be a farmer, I said,. 3oo. He exclaimed, ' 18,000, and all of them despatched in thirty-five days !' He next began to boast that one of his men could eviscerate more hogs in one .day than any other hand in Kentucky} and, placing hiufself iv the attitude of his favorite executioner, he gave me such a minute-des-cription of his mode of operating, and dwelt upon it with so 7 much zest, as to make me feel satisfied that, as Thomas Diafoirus, in the ' Malade Imaginaire,' proposed to treat his mistress with a ' dissection,' so this member of the ' pork aristocracy ' of the west would never doubt that such feats of professional dexterity as he loved to dilate upon must command the admiratiou of all men who have the slightest feeling for superior artistic skill."~-Str C. Lyell. '■

Balloon Bombardments. — A Vienna journal, the Soldaten Freur.d, publishes a letter from the artillery officer at Uchatius, who first proposed to subdue Venice by ballooning, - From this it appears that the operations were suspended 1 for want of a proper vessel exclusively,- adapted to thw mode of warfare, as it became evident,. after a few experiments had been made, that as the wind blows nine times out of ten from the sea, the balloon inflation must be conducted on board ship. This was the case on July the 15 tb, when two balloons, armed with shrapnels, ascended from the deck of the Volcano, warsteamer, and attained a distance of 3,500 fathoms in the direction of Venice ; and, ex-

actly at the moment calculated upon, that is, "ftt'ih'e expiration of twetfty- three minutes, the 1 eiplbsi'o'n took place. The captain of the • Ehsish c brig Frolic, and other persons at 'Venice, iare said to testify to the extreme terror and the moral effect produced on the inhabitants. A stop was put to further exhib itions of this kind by the necessity of the Volcano going into docks to undergo repairs, ivhlch the writer regrets the more as the currents of wind were for a long time favourable to' his schemes. He adds that one thing is established beyond all doubt, viz., that bombs and other projectiles can be thrown from balloons at a distance of 5,000 fathoms, always provided the wind be favourable.

Value of American Slaves. — The value of men enslaved in the United States, has been estimated by an American senator at 1,000,000,000 dollars ; or in sterling, about £200,000,000.— Leeds Mercury, * What, Mr. Speaker, what shall I say to my constituents ?' exclaimed a wrathful member of Congress, on the passage of a bill to which he was utterly opposed. * What shall I say ?' he repeated ; but found it impossible to get beyond the interrogatory. * Tell them, repled the waggish speaker, 'that you tried to make a speech, but could'nt.'

Justice in California. — Oar own correspondent furnishes us with a very amusing batch of legal intelligence from this quarter, and we can only regret that there is not more of the otium cum. dig. at the diggings. The /most^ effective and most respectable of the Calif ornian tribunals is the little court of conscience which is held in every man's breast ; bnt there are attempts at sittings in banco by a functionary who sits on a bank with a revolving blunderbuss in his hand to enforce his decrees, and who, by the aid of a few slugs, corrects a tendency to sluggishness in obeying his edicts. The criterion for ascertaining which is the superior, and which the inferior court, consists in* a trial of strength between the respective judges, who usually fight it out, and if, the representative of equity proves his superiority over the common law dignitary by getting him down, it is held at once that equity is the court above, because common law is uudermtst. There is no such thing in California as a puny judge, because if he happens to be puny he gets rapidly pitched out of 'office' by some, not perhaps more learned, but bigger brother pitching into him. Refractory suitors find their heads in Chancery after the old pugilistic fashion, and when there is anything for the court to peruse and settle, it proceeds to peruse the state of facts and settle the party in fault, by administering a regular j settler in accordance with that species of law ' commonly known as Xiynch, which is at the fingers' ends of the Americans in general. Most of the proceedings instead of being in -black and white are in black and blue, which are quite as effective on a primd facie view of the case, and the replication de injurid is of very common occurrence. The judge after laying down the law proceeds to lay down those who set themselves up against its authority, and the contumacious are invariably afforded an opportunity of becoming thoroughly well grounded in their knowledge of the power of Californian justice. One of the judges, it is said, uses a sort of hammer, for the purpose of hammering it into parties who will not recognize the forca of his decisions at the first view, but he seldom has the trouble of a new trial. — Punch.