MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS

Southland Times, Issue 1093, 20 January 1869, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS

Suicide of a Russian Nobleman. — A very tragical event has occurred at St. Petersburg. Captain R — , an English traveller, was quietly sitting at a small table in the gardens of " Ishir's Mineral Waters Establishment " the Creuiorne of St. Petersburg, when he suddenly felt himself bonneted from behind. Turning round, and feeling himself insulted by a man he had never seen before, the captain retaliated by knocking off the hat of his assailant, when the latter at once rushed on him, and was about to inflict some heavy blows, when a well-planted facer from the Englishman sent him flying across tables and chairs. The lookerson now interfered to prevent a continuation of the fight, but the stranger, who appeared to be much excited by what he had drunk, tried hard to get at the cap- J tain, vowing that he must either kill him or commit suicide. Both alternatives were, however, for the moment staved off, for the police took away the Englishman, who was followed by a large crowd eager to give evidence in his favor ; while the Baron de B— ., the originator of the fracas, was led off to a secluded apartment, from which he managed^ to escape, whilst the Englishman was being examined at the police-station. Sad to tell, the wretched young man got into liis carriage, and driving over Stroganoff bridge, over one of the principal branches of the Neva, threw himself into the rapid stream, and was seen no more. The story is in everybody's mouth, but no one throws the slightest blame on Captain R — ., who only defended himself against au assailant maddened with drink. The unfortunate baron, only twenty-seven years of age, was from Courland, and was well known in society. Three Wives accused op Poisoning theib Husbands. — Three women are at present in custody at Marseilles ou the charge of phoning their husbands, iv order to be a> c to get married to other men with whom they were on terms of improper m mi y. A few days ago the examining magistrate, accompanied by the procureur imperial aud medical men from tlie hospitals, went to the cemetery, aud proceeded to the exhumation of the bodies '.v. +he presence of the accused. One of th£ latter, thirty -five years of age?, Tv'fee-u. she saw the corpse of her late partuer, who died ia January last, showed signs of great emotion ; the second, about forty- five, a widow since May, exhibited great coolness ; whilst the third, a youug person of about twenty, whose husband died only a month back, was iv extreme agitation. The intestines and viscera of the deceased were handed over for analytical examination. The prisoners are said to have obtained the means of committing their crimes from an herbalist, who is also iv prison. The exceptional gravity of the affair has created an iutense sensation in the neighborhood, and a vast crowd was present at the burial ground when the bodies were taken up. Gamblers at Baden-Baden. — At the present moment there are three very bold female gamblers at Baden. One is the Russian Princess who plays several hours every day at rouge et noir and sometimes makes what in our money would be many hundreds, and at others goes away empty. She wins calmly enough, but when luck is agamst her looks anxious. The second is the wife of an Italian ex-minister, who is well-known both as au authoress and politician. She patronises roulette, and at every turn of the wheel her money passes on the board. She is a good gambler — smirking when she wius, and smirking when she loses. She dresses as splendidly as any of the dames of Paris. The other night she excited a flutter among the ladies assembled in the salons of the ' Conversation' by appearing in a robe flaming red with an exaggerated train which dragged its slow length along the floor. But the greatest of the feminine players is the Leonie Leblanc. "When she is at the rouge et noir table a larger crowd than usual is collected to witness her opera, tion. The stake she generally risk is 6,000 francs (£240), which is the maximum allowed. A GtEOlogist Sold. — A.n eminent geologist paid a visit to the Stretton Hills a short time since for the purpose of procuring specimens. Slowly wending his way from Stretton, he rapidly accumulated in his bag specimens of stones which so much delight the geological heart. Ou arriving at Bishops Castle he had got together a load almost sufficient to break the back of a donkey. The day beiug exceedingly hot, he determined to leave them in charge of some trusty person to take them next morning to the station. This he accordingly did, aud the sweet native youth to whom he entrusted his valuable specimens promised to take care of them. Next morning, accordingly, laden with the bag, he set out for the station. The weather was fearfully hot, and the bag correspondingly heavy. After resting several times it occurred to the lad to see what was in the bag to cause it to be so heavy. Einding it to be nothing but stones, he thought the geologist was merely playing a trick with him. Why should he carry stones four miles to the station when there were heaps of stones within four yards of it ? He would be even with the gentleman. He would emp y out the stones where he stood, and carry the bag nearly to the ! railway station, and then refill it with I stones. This luminous idea he iustantly carried out. The delight of the geologist ou inspecting his treasure when he arrived at home may be better imagined than described. Captain Semmes has made arrangements with a Baltimore firm for the publication of his narrative of his cruises in the Sumter and .Alabama. It will contain 750 pages and pictorial representations of American ships destroyed by him.

Koasted Doxket. — Everybody who has eaten roast donkey has pronounced it excellent. In flavcr it is said to resemble turkey, though the color is considerably darker. The accomplished gourmet is aware what animal it is that contributes most largely to the composition of the best sausages in the world — the Lyons sausages. The animal in question is a very clean feeder, cheap, hardy, subsists easily at little cost, and it seems within possibility that donkeys may be reared on the poorest commons not only as beasts of burden for the use of the poor, but as a luxurious addition to the banquets of the rich ; and since France, Austria, Russia, Belgium, Denmark, and other countries have taken to hippophagy, the donkey may be expected, at au early period, to make a successful invasion of the United Kingdom in a new I character. A Lady. Voter. — In Leeds a Quaker lady appeared in person to substantiate her claim to vote. Mr T. Campbell Foster, the presiding barrister, seized the occasion to make a long and most ungallant speech. "If entitled to a vote for members," he argued, " why should not ladies 1 c entitled to sit as members? Further, |if members of Parliament, why rnuht they not be in the Ministry? Why might a lady not be the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the Prime Minister? But supposing all this to have taken place, looking at the matter in the light of com non sense, he could not but think that it would be turning our laws and our Constitution, and everything that belonged to it, into something like ridicule; if, for instauce, it was announced upon the eve of our lady Chancellor of the Exchequer bringingforth herfinancial statement, that she had just been confined of a boy, or that the Prime Minister was unable to answer some important question, because at the momenc she was in the lobby nursiug her baby. Further, as a lady wished to be treated like a man, he should fine her 10s. for making a frivolous claim. The Quakeress was quick to rebuke this levity, but had to submit. The Electric Light. — The employment of the electric light, both for lighthouses and for vessels, is obtaining in France the serious attention it merits. Long experience in the lighthouses of La Heve having proved the excellence of the light for lighthouses, it is now on the eve of being applied at Cape Gris-Nez. For vessels, the new light was first tried in Prince Napoleon's yacht, the Prince Jerome, and is now permanently adopted therein. Not long since it was introduced on board the Herione, an iron ship of the Imperial navy, and will, in all probability, remain there. And now the French Transatlantic Company is about to apply it in its steamships. Experiments with it have just been made at Havre on board the S. Laurent, they have perfectly succeeded. The Austrian Government has approved the light in a frigate, and the Russian Government is on"the point of adopting it in the lighthouses of Odessa.