Uropian Miscellans.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 254, 27 March 1860, Page 4

Uropian Miscellans.

"Where all the toys come from?" is a question which a paper in Once a Week thus answers:-—The vast majority are made at Grunhainscher, in Saxony. The glass comes from Bohemia. The bottles and cups are so fragile that the poor workman has to labor in a confined and vitiated atmosphere which cuts him off at 35 years of age. All articles that contain any metal are the produce of Nuremberg and the surrounding district. This old city has'always been one of the chief centres of German metal work. The workers in gold and silver of the place have long been; famous,-and their iron-work is unique. This specialty has now decended to toys. iHere all toy printing-presses, with their types, are manufactured; magic-lanterns; ■ magnetic toys, such as duoks and fish, that -are attracted by the magnet; mechanical toys; such' as running -mice, and conjuring tricky also come from Nuremberg. The old city-is pre-eminent in all kinds of toy diablerie. Here science puts on the conjuror's' jacket, and we have a manifestation of the Germanesque spirit of which their Albert Durer was the embodiment; * The more solidarticles which attract boyhood, such as boxes of bricks, buildings, &c, of plain wood come from Grunhainscher, in Saxony. The Londoners alone "are capable of making the finest and most expressive dolls. The French, clever as they are, cannot touch us here. Some of the higher class English dolls are perfect models; the eyes are full of expression, and the hair is set on like nature itself. The faces are originally moulded in clay, and the wax is put on in successive layers. The highest class of workmen alone are capable of this kind of work. The beauty of Grecian sculpture is ascribed to the fine natural form which their artists had to copy. Possible we owe to the beauty of our women, in a like manner, our superiority in dolls, which now rank almost as works of art*

The wife of Mr. J; H. Gurney, M.P. for King's Lynn, has eloped with one ot the family domestics. The lady has a fortune in her own right, of £500,000. .Proceedings haVe been commenced with a view to % . ■'■■■ ■" .■ > a divorce. . ' : •<

Nearly £400 has been subscribed for the statue to Dr. Isaac "Watts;"' in the public park at Southampton, Dr. Watts' native town. Mr. Lucas, the sculptor j has commenced the statue, which will be above life-size, and, with the pedestal, ; will stand nearly 20 feet high. About £200 more is required to be subscribed by the public.

As a horse-tamer, ?i Mr. Barnett has just entered the lists with Mr. Rarey. He undertakes to prove that the American system of horse-taming is neither new or true, but had been tried and had failed long before Mr. Rarey thought of adopting it. Mr. Barnett alleges that all horse-breakers know the Rarey method of throwing a horse, and practise .it in particular cases, but that they have no confidencel in it for general purposes, believing that the horse soon forgets his fall, and relapses into all his former bad habits. Several horses were experimented on at a recent exhibition in an open space adjoining the 1 Eyre ' Arms. Mr. Barnett, was fairly, successful in throwing them without the aid df the .surcingle, although certainly not so expeditiously ! as Mr. Rarey. He subsequently displayed some first-rate horsemanship in riding vicious animals, and leaping: them over: five-barred gates. Iq this ;part< of the 'exhibition he proved very satisfactorily that ; throwing does not quite tame a horse, inasmuch as having mounted one.immediately after the operation, the animal made the' first strehu-" ous efforts to throw him,' and would have done so but for his great skill and courage. Having thus proved that he could throw a horse Rarey fashion; and also that the fall did not always frighten the animal, Mr. Barnett called upon several persons present, and who stated that they had had horses operated upon by Mr. Rarey, to give their opinions, when one or two of them stated positively that the horses had derived no benefit from the operation but were' now as vicious as ever. .

The Canadian Mws, says that another Arctic expedition "is preparing to start next spring. Dr. LI. Hayes, the surgeon of the Kane expedition, will be at the head of it, and it will be entirely sustained by the scientific associations of the United States, who have entered into it with great interest. The leading object will be to complete the explorations commenced by Dr. Kane, and settle the question of the open T?olar Sea and the other scientific problems connected with it. The French Geographical Society and other eminent societies have expressed a wish to contribute to the funds for this expedition, but there is an ambition to make it exclusively American. required is only 30,000 dollars. As there is no reason for* following the course of former explorations again, Dr. Hayes proposes to put rapidly up the Kennedy Channel and directly on towards the pole with as little delay as possible."

In a recent lecture, upon his experience in Arctic life, Dr. Rae said:—-"On the journey I saw a very curious instance of the sagacity of the Arctic fox. Conscious that I was aiming at him, he tucked his tail under his legs, cocked up his ears^ and endeavored to look as like a hare as possible (which is an' animal comparatively worthlessi) Another factf of this kind occurred to me whilst being detained at a particular place, where bur favorite amusement was trapping wild animals* Our mode of doing this was with a spring gon, connected with a .bait,..''.which ,when touched produced the> explosion. One instance showed us that a fox, either from obseipva* tion of a companion's fate, or from hard earned experience, had gone up to the gun, bit off the cord connected with the bait; and the danger being averted, went and

ate the meat in undisturbed comfort. And it is a common occurrence for a fox to make a trench up to the bait, seize it and permit the charge to pass over his head." On the 7th of January *>he colossal marble statue of the late General Sir Charles Napier, at St. Paul's Cathedral, was uncovered. The statue is placed close to the north entrance. The general is represented in a standing position, with a burst cannon for the support of the statue.,. The dress is the ordinary undress of an officer, but the figure has a military cloak depending from the shoulders. On the breast is the handsome star which the deceased received for his exploits in India. His left hand rests upon his sword, and his right hand holds a scroll of paper. The figure is beautifully executed in the purest Carrara marble. ; Newstead Abbey, around which so many historical associations crowd, but which is most generally known from the fact that it once formed the noble heritage of"Childe fiarold," will in a few days, owing to the death of Colonel Wildman, fall under the hammer of the auctioneer. The Church of Rome omits no opportunity of regaining possession of those rich estates that once constituted the patrimonies of the various religious fraternities scattered over England, and she will no doubt be found among the most active competitors at the sale. ■ 'The three Trench Princes, the Due d'Alencon, the Due de Penthievre, and the Prince de Conde, have commenced their studies at the High School of Edinburgh, and have been enrolled as regular pupils in Dr. Schmitz's senior class.

On the evening of Sunday, January 1, the special Sunday evening services at St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, and Exeterhall, which have beenso warmly encouraged by the Bishop of London, were resumed, and will continue probably until the middle of the year. It is said that the Keys. Messrs. Fothergill and Wormal, two curates of the parish of Knightsbridge, have seceded from the Church of England, one from St. Paul's and the other from St. Barnabas, and that they have been received into the Church of Rome.

' The merchants who lately forwarded an address to Lord John Russell, calling at ls tention to the outrages to which British subjects in Mexico are subjected, have received an answer.. Lord John Russell expresses himself as fully sensible of the difficulties under which British trade in Mexico is now carried on, and alludes to the anomalous position of Mexican affairs as proved by the fact that whilst England and France were recognised one party as the vitual head of the state, the United States have recognised another. His lordship states that endeavors,are being made to bring about a common understanding between England, France, and the United States upon this point.- Meanwhile the British consular and other agents have instructions to afford every protection in their power to British interests. St. Matthew's Church, Bethnal-green, was destroyed by fire on Dec. 19. The loss i5'4510,000. The cause of the fire is not ascertained. The registers belonging to the Church were saved.

i "There is no one project now before the jpublid," says the City Press, "equal in enterprise and promise of usefulness to that of Mr. Bell, for the conversion of that serpentine ditch, called the Regent's Canal, into a railway. We should anticipate for it a more enduring and increasing success than for any line of route that could be devised in or about the boundaries of the great metropolis. It is time we got coals from the Thames Haven to the populous places that line the course of the canal at a quicker speed than a mile an hour; time that so great a via afforded facilities for passenger transit, instead of being a succession of cul de sacs, the slowest road in the universe, and the most prolific iri< impeding toll-bars. It has served its purpose, has been a grand agent in helping to belt the great town with dependent villages that lie scattered along the line of destructive malaria; It is time its foul waters were drained away, its locks abolished, and the slope on which water will not lie without being dammed up, opened to the iron horse which goes bravely uphill with its ponderous draught of men and merchandise." In and around London there are nearly 5000 blind persons, all more or less, struggling against their dire affliction. Of' this number it is assumed, on good authority, that 100 are in affluent circumstances, 400 subsist upon the bounty of their friends, about 1000 drag on a poor, but independent existence, by working at a trade, selling a few baskets and matches,, or by playing on some musical instrument in the street or at public-houses. The remainder are: utterly destitute, just saved from starvation by begging from door to door, recipients of the benefits of the several public charities: for the. blind in London,.or inmates of the-workhouse. We take these statistics from a letter addressed to. the Times -by Mr. E. C. Johnson, urging a public subscription on behalf of the blind poor. •■■•■■ . ' The expediency of laying tramways along the principal traffic routes of the city having been frequently brought under the consideration of the Commissioners of Sewers, r Mr. Hay wood, their engineer and surveyor, was directed to report upon' the subject. Mr: Hay wood has reported accordingly. He recommends a trial of Mr. Redman's i cast-iron tramway in one or two thoroughfares.. Experience has proved, he says* that the h ardest granites are not hard enough for the purppse, :, ' •'-.-.■ The itev. G. M. Nelson,; of Boddicott- . Grange, near Banbury, a retired clergyman of thfl Church of England, has committed suicide by * shooting himself through the head with a pistol. No cause has been assigned for the act, except that he has, for Mftie time past, been in; a 1 somewhat desponding state of mind.. , v ."...•. r r*rJ-won porters and the station-master at

the; Wolverhampton station of the GreatWestern Railway met with terrible accidents a few days ago. One fell on the line and was killed by a passing engine and tender. The station-master fell between the platform and the line under a carriage. It is supposed that he will die. The' third was engaged in detaching an engine from a train, when he was thrown down and dreadfully crushed. Afire, involving the loss of four lives and injury to several persons, occurred on the 23rd December in Little George-street, Westminster. ,-Jt so happened that the fire broke out in the lower part of the house. Mrs. Bilson first 4hrew her child out of the window, and then .-jumped out herself, falling on the spikes. Two women and a child were coming down stairs, when they broke under them. The servant leaped from the roof 20 feet down upon the back premises of Serjeant Wrangham. Miss Chapman, Mrs. Chapman, her child, and Henry Bilson were burnt to death. The house was burnt down.

It is not so long since the case of the Bradford lozengers attracted a large share of public attention. -Another story of the like kind has just occurred in the neighborhood of Clifton. A confectioner at Redland exposed for sale on his counter a tray of Bath buns. A parcel of schoolboys from a Clifton school rushed into the shop with pence in their pockets and set to work upon the buns. They were soon'down. Within half-an-hour after eating the buns they were seized with a horrible sickness, and other symptoms of irritant poison. Emetics were thrown in, and other means adopted to clear the stomachs of the children of the dainties they had swallowed, and in all the cases save one relief was soon obtained. The one case was that of a greedy boy who had either possessed more pence or less self-restraint than his fejlows, for he had actually made" away with three of these dangerous delicacies. He remained writhing in agony for a number of hours, and fell into a state of collapse. Nor was these the only cases; a publican named May had also eaten some of the buns and likewise suffered horrid tortures. When he got better he went to the magistrates for advice and assistance, but they told him, as he had not been poisoned outright, he had not any case; if he had been dead he might have had his remedy. Numbers were affected in a similar way,.for the confectioner seems to have driven a thriving bun-trade. The end of it was that some of the buns were sent to Dr. Frederick Griffin, of the Bristol School of Chemistry, for analysis, and it was found that the coloring matter in them was pure orpiment or yellow sulphide of arsenic, in the proportion of six grains to each bun. What had taken place was this:—Two doors off the confectioner lived a chemist. The confectioner went to the chemist and said, " Give me some coloring matter." The chemist replied, " Yes, I will; here it is;" but he gave him some poison by mistake, and wrote upon it "Chrome yellow" (chromate of lead), though it proved, on analysis, to be yellow arsenic, As Dr. Griffin very properly says, the druggist must have known very well that his neighbor was a baker and a pastrycook, and therefore must have been well aware of the purpose for which the poison was wanted. The confectioner wished to impart a rich, luscious appearance to his buns. .

A murder took place a few evenings ago at Some boiler-makers belonging to the Portsmouth Dockyard met with some of the Tipperary Militia. A quarrel commenced ; from words they came to blows, and aj jarful struggle ensued, which resulted in one of the boiler-makers being stabbed through the heart, and two others most dangerously wounded. The perpetrators of the act are still at large.

A young German, named Benard Moncriff, a linguist, committed suicide ,in Liverpool lately by taking chloroform. It appears that he had suffered from great depression of spirits in consequence of want of employment. A melancholy accident has taken place in the river Jersey. On December 30 a large number of men who were employed on board of a ship anchored in the middle of the river' were desirous of going on shore. With this view they entered a boat, but a strong breeze blowing at the time the boat unfortunately capsized, and upwards of 20 lives were sacrificed. ! ' The other day a fine young woman, 19 years of age, committed suicide by leaping down a coalpit near Wolverhampton. , She had called at a cottage occupied by an aged couple close to the pit apparently very much agitated. Pulling a handkerchief from her neck she said, " Give this to Jack, for I shall never see. him again." She then ran to the pit-mouth, and climbing over the fence surrounding it, cast herself headlong down the shaft, which has been disused for some time, and is upwards of 90 yards deep. The poor girl performed the act in a paroxysm of jealousy, owing to -her lover having taken another young woman to a dance.

; Mr. James Trafford, silk manufacturer of Leek, straying through ignorance of his way into a street at Leeds inhabited by the criminal classes, was severely beaten and robbed. Several persons, men and women, ;are in custody, and have been committed for trial.

The neighborhood of Galne, was, on De-^ cember 30, visited by one of the most destructive storms ever witnessed. It appears to have been a regular tornado, having a motion, and progressing at a rapid rate. Among other places, at Blacklarid-park, belonging to Mr. Marshall Hall, the destruction of property was immense. Part of the roof of. the lodge. was blown away. Hundreds of trees are; lying on the ground, and it is a remarkable fact that trees 8 feet and 10 feet in circumference were snapped asunder like matchwood; while others,: especially the heavy-topped

firs, 30 feet in length, were blown out of a (plantation across the turn-pike road, and into an adjoining field. - ; The Roman Catholic primate of all Ireland (Dr. Dixon) has addressed a letter to the Catholics of Drogheda, in which he attacks with great energy the Emperor-Napoleon's letter to the Pope. He says :^-" O i how. all good Catholics over the world must be horror-struck on reading that letter in the Moniteurl You will admit with me that the appropriate residence for its author would be the prison of Ham, rather than the palace of the Tuileries. How I pity the chivalrous French nation lying prostrate under the feet of such a ruler.

The Leader newspaper has changed its form, and assumed the tone and character of a*magazine, called The Leader and Saturday Analyst. It now consists'entirely of original articles, analysing the current events in politics, literature, science, and the fine arts, somewhat after the plan of the Saturday Review. . A well-known German writer, M. Rudolf Gottschall, has published a new Life of Napoleon 111., from what are once more stated to be "secret sources." He calls the French emperor a "Robespierre on horseback," and. draws a lengthened parallel betwen him and Tiberius. ■

More than 10 editions, of 5000 copies each, of the pamphlet ."Le Pape et le Congress" were sold in Paris within a week. It has since run through six editions more; and there is now a rumor in Paris of a second pamphlet from the same pen. In the train of this famous publication have since followed a number of bookstand brochures on the same subject. ,

Chinese guide-books and grammars continue to appear in considerable numbers in France. The last few weeks have brought forth a " Grammaire Mandarine," by M. A. Bazin, professor of Chinese at the Paris School of Oriental languages; a " Manuel Pratique de la Langue Chinoise," by M. L. Rochet; and a new edition of the "Dictiorinaire, Chinois, Francais et Latin," compiled by M. De Guignes,, by order of the Emperor Napoleon I. The songs of Thomas Hood have just been produced in a German dress. The translator is M. Herman Harrys. Another translation from the English, that of Prescott's " History of the Reign of Philip IL," has been published in Paris. • ; A number of members of the Irish constabulary of all ranks have been ordered to proceed to Hythe to undergo a course of musketry instruction. It is announced, without any circumlocution, that a Government circular has reached Cork authorising the formation of a volunteer corps, to be composed of the civil servants in the employment of the Crown, such as Custom-house, Excise, and Post-office officials. It is added that invita-r tions havebeengiven to parties in public employment, such as those of telegraph and railway companies and banks, either to i associate themselves in a corps, or, if not j sufficiently numerous, to join such a body as might be formed by the civil servants. The Belfast Northern Whig remarks that the commercial capital of Ireland was conspicuous for drunkenness of the most flagrant description on December 25 and 26. Never had more drunken creatures been seen at large, and no fewer, than 62 cases had to be disposed of on the morning of the 26th. This says little for the vaunted efficacy of the revival movement. o ... The liberal electors of the county Londonderry have presented ,a; purse of nearly £2000 to their late member, Mr S. M. Greer.,' 'V-, " \';;..^ .\r' ; '"::. ; . The parish church of St. Andrew's, called the Round Church, one of the finest of the old historic parish churches of Dublin, was completely burned down on Sunday, January 8. The catastrophe is attributed to the overheating of the flues in the gallery. The building, which was perfectly round, was.remarkable for the peculiarity of its internal arrangements. There had. been worship in it in the morning, and the people had barely left when the fire broke out. So rapid were its ravages that in less than an hour and a-half the? magnificent roof fell in with a frightful crash, sending a terrific burst of flames upwards. Ere another hour passed the centre 'woodwork of the structure was consumed, and when the engines arrived their only duty was to plajr upon the walls to prevent them from splitting. The church had just been repaired, £8000 will hardly cover the damage done. < A riot lately took place at Colchester camp between some of the City, of Dublin and Donegal Militia on the one hand and some of the privates of the 6th and 56th Regiments on the other. Fists and bludgeons were unsparingly used on both sides, and before a strong picqu'et despatched to quell the disturbance could reach the scene of action, two men belonging to the 56th Regiment were seriously .hurt. :: ... ~"•■ ■..' Mr. Rennie; the engineer, while crossing the Blackfriars-road, on his way home, was knocked down by the horses of a, coal waggon, both wheels passing over his legs, dreadfully lacerating *them. He lay for some time in a very precarious state; but is now recovering.

Small Bonnets and Hats.—-The eyes are unsheltered from sun and wind, and the most important region of the head is exposed by the bonnets which Englishwomen are so weak as to wear in imitation of the French. Again, the doctors have their painful tale to tell of neuralgic pains in the face and head, which abound beyond all prior experience, of complaints in the eyes, and ad the consequences that might be anticpated from the practise of lodging the bonnet on the nape of the neck, and leaving all the forepart of the skull exposed. Why the bonnet is worn at all is the mystery. A veil, white or black, would be considered an absurdity as a substitute for a bonnet in a climate,like ours; but it

would be actually more serviceable than the handful r.of; flimsy; decorations now usurping the place of the useful, cheap, and pretty straw bonnet, which suits all ages in its large variety. There, are the'hats, to be sure, which young ladies wear so becomingly. • They are hardly simple enough in form for a permanence, but they are substantially uneceptibnabje fqr youthful wearers. Their advantages unfortunately tempt elderly ladies to put them on; but the class of mistaken wearers of hats is not a very large one, and we may let them pass. In praising the haY however, lam thinking of the sort that has a brim. The new and brimless invention is nearly as bad as the bonnet for use, while more fan-r tastic. A chimney-pot hat, with a tall upright plume* may possibly suit a volunteer rifle corps or a regiment of Amazons rehearsing for the opera, but it is not very English in taste.— Miss Martineau in " Once a Week" ~ * '.

Mental Power of thh Bull Terrier. —-A well-known black-and-tan terrier, which lately resided at Margate, and was named Prinde, was accustomed to make his own purchases of biscuit as often as he could obtain the gift of a halfpenny for that.purpose. On several occasions the baker whom he honored with his custom, thought to put him off by, giving him a burnt biscuit in exchange for his halfpenny. The dog was very much aggrieved at this inequitable treatment, but at the time could find no opportunity of showing his resentment. However, when tie next received an eleemosynary halfpenny, he wended his way to the baker's as usual, with the coin between his teeth, and waited to be served. As soon as the baker proffered him a biscuit, Prince drew up his lips, so as to exhibit the halfpenny, and then walked coolly out of the shop, transferring his custom to another member of the same trade who lived on the opposite side of the road. — Routledge'a Illustrated Natural History, bythe Rev. J. (r. wood. ■■:.:.