ITEMS FROM PARIS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1799, 6 October 1888, Page 2

ITEMS FROM PARIS.

Paths, July 80. BEAUTIEUL TAPESTRIES, The Gobelin factory is actively engaged in the manufacture of the tapestries which are to appear in the French fine art section at the Exhibition of 1889. They a;e 28 in number. These are intended to decorate the Elysea ; they represent groups of flowers, after Galand, Eight rural scenes are for the decoration of the Luxemburg, and three, representing manuscripts, books, and letters, science and art, symbolised by three female figures, are for the National Library. THE QUEEN OP SERVIA Queen Nathalie of Bervia arrived in the French Capital by the Orient Express at 5 45 p.ra. of the 16th inst. (J uly). There was something pathetic in her forctd attempt to smile as she walked along the platform between two commissioners of police with Princess Ghikha, at whose residence, in the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, Her Majesty subsequently alighted. The E'igaro pronounces her the most beautiful Sovereign in Europe, and one who, even in her domestic misfortunes, shows herself every inch a Queen, BALLOON EXPERIMENT. An interesting experiment was made at 'I oulon the other day, with the object of demonstrating the utility of a captive balloon in observing from a considerable height the movements of an enemy’s fleet, A naval officer seated in the car of the balloon was in telephonic communication with the frigate Indomptable, to the commander of which he signalled, as if in actual warfare, all that he could observe from his elevated position. a senator’s will. A singular suit was dealt with the other day by the First Chamber of the Civil Tribunal of the Seine. The executors of M. Leblond, Senator, who was Counsellor at the Court of Cassation, were sued by Mme. Danet de la Noe, his mother, who sought to prove that his will was invalid on the ground that he was insane at the time that he made it. The tribunal, however, held that there was no ground for examining this plea, inasmuch as the deceased sat at the Court until his death, SHOOTING 1 “BOURGEOIS.” An anarchist named Douce, at Rheims, vowed that he would avenge himself for his supposed wrongs by shooting the first bourgeois that he might encounter. He discharged his revolver at a wine merchant named Dalins, wounding him in the head, He exulted at the ill-founded idea that his shot proved fatal. In the end an indulgent jury found him guilty, under extenuating circumstances, and set aside the view of the prosecution that he had acted with premeditation! He was sentenced to twelve years’ hard labor. AWFUL DRAMA IN PARIS, A terrible tragedy was enacted in Paris the other day, when a little boy, named Slauzade, residing with his parents at the Rue de Bercy, and aged eight, murdered his younger brother of six, and then committed suicide. For a long time past he had shown an unaccountable hatred for his little victim. He appears to have secreted a razor all night in bed. On rising in the morning he inflicted terrible gashes in his younger brother’s stomach, and then cut his own throat. His mother, a widow, cohabited with a hard-working blacksmith, and she had made arrangements to separate the children. DEAF AND NOT DUMB. A banquet to two hundred deaf and dumb men and women bas taken place at St. Maude, near Paris. Several speeches were made which were eagerly followed, if not listened to, and very much applauded. Perhaps this needs an explanation, The term deaf and dumb has become a misnomer.

a Children born deaf are now no longer dumb, as they were necessarily of old. They are now taught by ingenious methods to understand and imitate the motions of the lips in ordinary speech. The Abbe de I’ Epee is said to have originated the system whereby those born deaf and dumb are put into communion with the rest of mankind. His school was placed under the patronage of the nation by an Act of July 18, 1791. THE NEW FEENCH EIFIB. ’ In an experimental competition between the Lebel and Gras rifles, conducted in the presence of M. Carnot at the School of St. Cyr, the squad of 50 men armed with the former, in the space of 32 seconds fired 160 more cartridges than their competitors with the Gras. Moreover, notwithstanding the unsatisfactory conditions of firing resulting from the use of the repeating system, the percentage of Lebel shots striking the target was double that attained by the Gras. COSTLY PEESENTS. Amongst the presents forwarded , to Princess Letitia by the Empress Eugenie is a fan of great value, the centre of which is ornamented with the first dra.wmg ever executed by the . Prince Imperial. This represents a pavilion in Count de Montijo’s garden.. i'he sides of the fan are ornamented* with precious stones. SUICIDES. Statistics, both in Paris and London,, show that the \ greatest number of suicides occur in the finest months of the year, viz., May and July, and especially in the latter. The fact may give rise to various theories on the law of contrasts, inasmuch as one' might suppose that the dreary month* of winter would compare unfavorably with the summer. Women appear to be far more vivacious and less pessimist than men. Suicides are far less frequent in old age than in the prime of life, and widowers left with children happily constitute only one-sixteenth of the total number. Of the cause* of self-destruction, penury, stands lowest in the official record; remorse of conscience or fear of punishment, or of physical suffering stands highest, followed closely by cases of drunkenness, disappointed love and family troubles. Death by hanging is chiefly resorted to, but cases of drowning are almost as prominent.—Correspondent Ashburton Guardian.