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Temuka Leader, Issue 2091, 28 August 1890, Page 3

Torture in Hungary.—An act ot ornel torture of a prisoner by the local magistrate of Reezkeve, in Hungary, has just beau brought to light, the victim being a journeyman joiner, who was charged with the theft of 100 florins. The man refusing toadrait his ga it, the magistrate had him hung tip: by his, legs, in which position he was subjected to brutal treatment/ He was then kept in prison for six months, dnriag the whole of which tiibe he was cruelly maltreated, until the case ; accidentally; came to the knowledge.of ,thq public prosecutor, who was on a tour of inspection in.the district. He at once Instituted an inqu ry, when it

was conclusively pro red that the man was innocent of the' charge brought against him. 1 '! , Population of America.—The United States census returns are, a New 1 York despatch says,, considered very disappointing. “According to the Census Bureau there are only 64£ million inhabitants, whereas for five years past we have been boastfully taking about over 65 millions. Thare is a disposition in some quarters to .throw the blame upon General Porter, chief of the depnitment, a rabid Republican journalist. He sanctioned (ho insertion of offensive questions n the census papers, and it is believed that many icitizeuß, in sheer disgust, set there wits to jworks to evade the numerators altogether', or sent in wrong returns. But, after all, a total of millions, an 'increase in 10 years of 14 millions, is a good enough. show for the average joitizen.” - r i A Brutal,Husband.—A terrible story iof brutality by a.husband towards his wife has been told at the Metropolitan

quarter (sessions in oyqoey, oeiaro ouago iM’Farlaned, in connection with a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm brought j'lgainet /nmes O'Neil. It w*e shown that lon the night following her confinement he had beaten hia wife almost out of recognition, had forced her to fly from the house to a neighbour's, from whom he had 'driven her back again, and then, during ithe night, in addition to threatening to murder her had beaten her head and face’ ulmoat to u pulp. I- His Honor characterised the case as one of ihe moat dreadful !he had ever heard of or tried, and he rrIgretted with pain that ho conld not b) law impose » penalty two or three limes jus severe. The prisoner was sentenced to five years’ penal servitude. Privileges of a Senator. —The following is doubtless overdrawn, but there :ia thin hn said : While America has

more revenue th-Jii it knows what to do Iwlth, nations which starve-their senators 'find their means of paying their way very jliraitedAmerican oenatora and eoogressimen enjoy a large number of profitable privileges. A recent official return shows that the senators, in addition to a salary of £IOOO a year, and £26 for stationery and papers, most of which is drawn in cash, and mileage, which la a good deal more than their travelling expenses, and for each one a. private secretary, who is often the senator’s son or son-in-law, and in one case hia wife, have their boots blacked at the public expense, provide themselves with hair, fingep-nail, shoe, and clothes brushes, cologne, bay rum, and hair tonic, beside fancy soaps and quinine pills, without paying for them out of their own pockets. Languages of the World.— lt is computed by a correspondent of The Times that at the opening of the present century there were about 21,000,000 peop'o who spoke the English tongue. The French speaking people at that tune numbered

about 31,500,000, and the German exceeded 30,000,000. The Kuss : an tongue was spoken by nearly 31,000.000, and the Spanish by more than 26,000,000,. Even theltalian had ihret-fnurlha as l>rge a constitutency as the English, and ihe Portuguese three*a : ghth«. This aggregate population has now grown to 400,000,000, of which the English speaking people number close upon 125,000,000. From 13 per cent, we have advanced to 31 per cent. The French ; speech is now used by people, the German by about 70.000. the Spanish by 40,000,000, the Russian by 70,000,000, the Italian by about 20,000,00, and the Portuguese by about 13,000,000. The English language is now used hy nearly twice as many people as any of the others, and this relative growth is almost sure to continue. North America alone will soon have 100.000. of English speaking people, while lh»re are 40,000,000 in great Britain and Ireland. In South Africa and India also the language is vastly extending.