MISCELLANEOUS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 271, 6 March 1877, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

lajowr is tun was socially observed in Pari* fey the usual interchange of eongrattrfatory good wishes, and the display of ■ome singularly ingenious and significant toy* in the shops of deaters in such trifles. There voir, it scorns, a brisk traffic in ** political puppets," »nl> -«w«, of all kinds. Some of them represented Russians ami Turk* fastened to* the samo-string ; a knot ma pulled, ami in a moment tho Muscovite wa* astride the Moslem's shoulders. Others were so arrange*! that by touching a string a Prussian cuirassier dealt a blow on the helmet of a Russian soldier, white an English: officer, ut scarlet uniform, standing next in succession, whirled a Turk round in one hand and a Cossack in the other. A certain toy, catted the "Eastern Question,"" was largely in request,, constructed as follows:.—"A confused n tmtter ©* ring* haa,' round a steel crescent j how is order to be evolved out of chaos -.1 Every effort produce* a new entanglemen*. At fast the toy-sothr, whe*is in the secret of the puzzle, divides the crescent into several pieces, anil the vinga spontaneously arrange themselves. WIS«»V m AMB.UJOA. •According tt> the American journals, great sufitoing has been caused to the poor and destitute of .New York by the intensely Cold weather that has prevail! It is stated that the nunu-er of men oat of employment is at present as high as 6<>,€>oQ, representing; an aggregate of 260,000 human beings without mean* of support beyond those- furnished by the various public and private e'uu'iths. Owing to- the want of appropriations this year, the most that can bo- done for theso by the authorities is to furois i then* w-ita a meat for the day.. T.ie Board of Apportionment now has a resolution h f.>r> it authorising the expenditure of slOt>,o©<-> for out-door relief, but it is doubtful whether it witt be adopted unless pu'die fressnre is brought to -bear in its fiv-our. n the meantime many are going without proper clothing, looking for tWI, and nuable to get even the Utile fuel necessary to keep the ti inperaturw of fi!n>ir nvso:"able apartments above tho fav<:ng poiu'. A KOVG.L N(\MK. In the last Home papers there, is the record of a marriage, in which tie bride Zealand young laity) bear* tho terrific Christian namu of " Svwz ateina." This is certainty eo iiplimjnting tme'a country at the grievous expense of ou/s offspring, to whom it must bo ad Burden through life to bj braiuL-d with such a fearsome name. TBB'EQ'CAU.EJiW IS TOK ARtiTIC KSPnotTtON*. Albeit it may displease S*i r VVduvd Law son, and disconcert att Arctic sailor, who has been tutting stories to sympathising teetotallers, it ; s right (says " At-l.ua" of the M'o'rfd) that it should bo know.-* that the few water drinkers- in t!v crews of t ie Alert and; Discovery were found totally unfit for their work when fiey got into the pofar latitudes. Tney did not sutf. r from scurvy, it is true, for the s'mpte reason that they had to be left with taeship*,, being q;uite rme<ytal to bearing tFie fatigue of "the stedgitig partits. Alcohol is an absolute necessity for the support of health in those hyperborean regions, as the official testimony in the IJiuj .Book will show. The tast thing the men invariably took before entering into their sacks for sleep was a stiff glass of rum. A NEW YORK SCAJft»At. Society in New York has been much excited over an action for breach of promise brought by a young woman natutd Martineaagainst Senor I>et Vatle, a wealthy Cuban gentleman. The evidence was very contradictory. The- ptatntitf and family who were in very narrow circumstances swore that after a short acquaintance which began through Miss- Martinez falling in the street, injuring her ankle, and being seen into a carriage by the defendant, he offered tier marriage, gave her an engaged ring, installed her in his house as governess, and then took advantage of her position. The defendant, ntt the other hand, swore, after the ankle incident, he made an appointment for the next day ;. that she-then told him a long story about her poverty and the-crrttdty of her' Stepfather ; that he agreed to take lessons from her in lingtish, afterwards installed her in his house as housekeeper and the governess of his children, ami denied that there had ever been any tender relation between them. But white the girt was-obliged to admit that there was a "great deal of the adventuress in her composition, the gentleman made out toi> much of a good Samaritan to meet with ready credit from the jury, who did not believe that a middle-aged man would take a young girt to a restaurant of equivocal reputation merely to learn English from her, and so they gave her a verdict of fifty dollars as i« ■ solatium for tier damaged reputation, which was just one-thousandth part of what she had demanded. As a specimen of a certain sort of New York the Martinet-E>el Valle trial is very curious. STJt-Kf/r TUK-E-PIASTtW!-. The Invercargitt Town Council has had under its consideration the advtsabit.ty of planting trees along the* sides of the footpaths, but has come to the conclusion that the ratepayers are not unanimous enough in their demand for this onward st*-p. T*M» SouthUmd Timvn is much exercised at this decision, and winds np an article on the svibject as follows :—" But perhaps the Council cannot b; blamed much for acting in accordance with the views of the majority of their constituents, even though that opinion should; be an ignorant one. Possibly some enterprising individuals may try the experiment e-f street tree,planting; in frott of their own ptics of lousiness. The drapers, who suiier perihaps more than Ray other tradesmen from rain, and storms, and who pay most tttenfi'ott to external appearances, would find it worth while to try it."