GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5319, 13 April 1878, Page 1 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

The Si. Petersburg Nctes publishes a poem on the subject of a' tradition said to 1"cherished by the inhabitants of Sophia. When the Turks eut red that city upwards of four centuries aso numbers of the inhabitants took refuge in the churches, and especially in the cathedral, where, however, the Turks continued to cut them down. The bishop remained praying at the altar, where the Turks, unwilling to disturb him, bricked him up. The people of Sophia believed, aud according to the poet, continue to believe, that the good bishop did not die in his narrow place of confinement. It was written in the decrees Of Providence that he i,should stay there until a Christian array camn to deliver him, 1 when the wall which enclosed him having been pulled down, he would walk: out as well as ever. The time for liberating him is now declared to have arrived, since the Russians have entered tlic town. Sophia is the ancient Ulfia Serdria of the Romans. It was the seat of , a convent in the year 311. Entirely rebuilt by the Emperor Justinian, it was conquered in 80b by the Bulgarians, who gave it the name of Triaditsa. In the time of the Crusades the Christians called it Stralitz or Stervitz. In 1382 Sophia fell into the hands of the Turks, and since 1431 no Christian soldiers had entered the town until, on the 3rd of January, it was occupied by the Russians.

In the New York Times we find the following remarks on the position of affairs in Europe :—“ Let us now briefly sum up the whole position. . . . . Russia will not hesitate to accept the gauntlet if thrown down by England, as victory has blinded her to her own state. Internally she is rotten to the core ; her finances are at the lowest ebb, while two-thirds of her population are ripe for rebellion. England, on the other band, is stronger than ■ ever she was before; her people are united, and will respond to a call to arms like one man. It will be a sorry day for the Bear when he meets the Lion. . . .

England needs not the assistance of Austria, France, or any other nation, to drub Russia ; and instead of there being any foundation for the statements so often circulated, not only on tbe Continent, but in England itself, that the latter is looked upon with contempt, the fact is that every eye in Europe is upon her, and that her movements are watched with more interest than those of any other Power.”

Headers of Mr. Bates’ charming “Naturalist on the River Amazon” will recollect his account of the great bird-eating spider of Brazil, and the incredulity with which his statements were at first received. It is not, however, necessary to go to Brazil to find a bird-catching—if not bird-eating—spider, as many bushmen can testify who have found finches and other small songsters ensnared in the toils of the great white epeira that spans the glades of the forest with its web, anchored with glutinous cables of a strength and tenacity which the most firmly planted “ cabbpge-troc" or “Panama” has sometimes been Unable to resist. A remarkable instance of the exploits of this or some similar spider was witnessed (says the Maryborough Chronicle) by Mr. N. 13. N. Tooth lately. Passing the primary school on his way home from town, his attention was drawn to two swallows that were fluttering about the balcony of the building in a state of apparent consternation, and seemed unable to get away. The building was untenauted at the time, but Mr. Tooth managed to find his way in through an unlocked door, and bn reaching the balcony found that the birds had got entangled in some of the strands of an immense spider’s web, which had wound themselves several times round their wings, and prevented their flying more than a couple of yards out from the balcony. Under the eaves sat the monster artificer, waiting for the struggles of the affrighted captives to subside, so that it, might proceed, to, repair the portions they had broken, or perhaps with ulterior views of a i-ahtu d'kirowkllr ati na/iinl. Mr. Tooth, with some little diffi-, cvlty, managed to unwind u<s sticky-cord that; secured the birds, and the latter, with a chirrup of gratitude, flew on their way rejoicing.. They were, he says, still young, but quite strong on the wing, and their detention was evidently nut due to weakness.