GENERAL NEWS.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1874, 5 January 1875, Page 3

GENERAL NEWS.

A monument to Mendelssohn ai; Leipsio is spoken of.

A paper is to be started in London, to be published daily, in French.

In Boston a hearse without lanterns is considered very old-fashioned."

There is said to be a wonderful, girl in Ohio, who, when blindfolded, can tell color? by touch.

"Vjaltham, Vermont, has reached the hlgfpt point of happiness. It has no tax levy and no paupers.

The Alta California says that the cost of living in San Francisco is higher than in any other American city, except New York. , . ' .\) During the recent deep sea soundings in the Pacific, a depth of 4,655 fathoms, nearly 51miles, was found off the coast, of Japan. ... , ■ The press announces that the construction of the outer girdle of forts for the defence of Paris will he commenced early, and will give emplopmerit-to nearly 2,000 men.

Mr Foster, the new Judge of the United Stales District Court of Kansas, has astonished the lawyers of that region by requiring them not to smoke or wear their hats in Court.

The Nile is now higher.than it has been for twenty years, and fears are entertained that the sluices will not be able to carry off the flood, 'Should disaster not occur, the crops will be enormous.

The Church of St. Peter is the largest and most magnificent structure ever yet erected for religious purposes. It is 780 feet long and 520 feet wide. The height of the interior pillars is 180 feet, and thtf height of the top of the cross is 518. Its erection occupied 111 years, and it cost £12,000,000.

It is stated that the British Government has been for som® time in correspondence with foreign Powers on the subject of international regulations as to collisions at sea. Proposals have been submitted by England which will probably result in the ' calling of an international conference, > .-,

The negroes at-Trentonj Tennessee, having come to the determination to exterminate the wbite population, have organised an armed force for that purpose. A number of .them have, however, been arrested by the whites, and sixteen of the ringleaders were immediately " Lynched," S ..■ . ■,'■:.,..■.;•. • -.- ■ ■

It is alleged with respect to a railroad in Arkansas, that, in order to realise the State aid, the Company built a sec-, tion of 10 miles, drew the bonds thereon, took Tip the rails and relaid them on tho next section, and drew another instalment of bonds, and so on, till its whole quota of bonds had been drawn, and no road built.

There is a revival of religious intolerance in Turkey. At Pera long forgotten ordinances prohibiting the residence of Christians in the Turkish quarter have been revived,!; It is in contemplation^tq make YbussbuSF Izzeddm, the Sultan's son, Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish army. The sten is said to be preliminary to his proclamation as heir to the throne;

An extraordinary sitting of the Geographical Society has been held at Vienna, at which a letter was read from the President of the Royal Geographical "Society of Londdn, -placing Messrs^ Pey&r. and Weyprecht in the first rank of Arctic explorers. A second Austrian Exploring Expidition is being* prepared at Vienna to start next summer./ .The object of the expedition is to ascertain if the hewlydiscorered Franz Joseph; Land is a .continent or an island.

Bbedatoby CHiCKS.r—Try Max Ade- ; ler's method. He describes it as follows : «•—" We. had a good deal of trouble last summer with Pitman's chickens; as fast as we planted anything in our little^garden, those ckickens of Pitman's would creep through the fence, scratch out the seed, fill up, and go home., When the radish bed had been ravished in this manner for the fifth time we complained to Pitman He was hot disposed to interfere. ' Adder/ he said, 'II tell you it does 'em good ; and it does them beds good to be raked over by chickens, If I have radishes, give me ckickens to scratch around them and eat up the worms. Eadishes that haven't been scratched ain't worth a cent.' Then we climbed over the fence with the determination to take the law in our own hands. We procured half a peck of corn and two dozen small .fish-hooks. Fasten? iD^the Hooks each to a grain of corrij we xjiidp'wire to each ? hopk. ; .Then we scafcte^d the whole of the corn on the radish bed, and fixed the ends /of the wires to the biggest sky - rocket we could get. The rocket stood in a frame about ten. yards away^from'the hooks. That, very morning Pitman's . chickens came 6v«r, arid instantly began to devour the oorn. ; We were xeady, and as soon as it was evident that tlie hooks were all swallowed, we applied a match to that rocket. It is regarded. as probable that no barn-yard-fqwls that, have.;, existed since the day^of Noah ever proceeded towards the azure vaults of heaven with sucli rapidity as theyidid. ;A-fizzI f a ejaculatory cackles, a puff of smoke, and Pitman's roosters i and - chickens were swishing around among the celestial constellations without their feathers, and in a-ame doubt; respecting the stability of earthly things. Pitman never knew what became of his fowls ; but when we read in tl|ie paper next day that 24 underdone chickens, with fish-hooks in their craws, had been rained down by a hurricane .in New. Jersey, we felt certain that that s^y»rocket had done its duty." Geneealiy Efficacious.—" A good way to restore a man apparently dr«wned,'! says one who has tried it, "is to first dry him thoroughly inside and out, and then clap a speaking-trumpet to his ear and inform him that his mother-in-law ;s aead." ' ■■■■ ' ■ • , . ■'

Twenty Yeaes Ago.—The discovery of a skeleton close to the beich at Tilba Tilba recalls a melancholy and almost forgotten circumstance that took place twenty years ago. Old residents will remember that three men, who were prospecting in the neighborhood of Drome* dary about the time of the original gold fever, camped close to the beach at Tilba, and in the night one of the party, William Roberts by name, started to look for the horses, but never returned. Search parties were organised, and the bush scoured for miles round, and a small lake close by was drained. After nearly. three weeks the (|uest was given up, and the missing man's mates went their way. A few days since Mr Hobbs, riding near the beach at TilbalTilbat^discovered tfys skelfetgn Mf a human being, !the; bones '• bteactfed * and/ crumbling when touched, which had been left bare through the recent gales blowing away the sand, and the appearance of the skeleton favors the supposition that the mystery that has the r un : fortunate pan's Tate fpr tyfekty y^ars is cleared upl In sbnWfar away hotrie the missing man has been mourned, and perhaps forgotten, as a sacrifice to the Australian gold fever.—South. Standard.

Love's Young Dbeam. —At the Opera on Saturday- night, a (rather i alnusing scene was to be witnessed in that very unromantic part of the house the gallery. A youth and a young maiden were seated inclose proximity to each other, which proximity as the Opera proceeded became still closer. Whether tjhe dulce ; t strains of the music had anything to do with it, we are not prepared to.;say, but certainly the young lady gradually, to the intense amusement of, all, allowed her head ;to sink upon the young fellow's bosom; while he, obliviousto alLbufcthe languid glances of his charmer; encircled her waist with a warm .clasp of his,arm., pPhe Jun was greatly heightened bjr the bonduefc of a young fellow seated immediately behind them, who went through a pantomine descriptive of ardent passion, and at one time the spectators ot this strange scene were fairly convulsed. At length,* however, the mirth got so boisterous as to recall the pair to a sense of where they were, and"with a sudden jerk they struggled into a bolt upright position, and attempted to look utterly unconscious—a proceedingi it is unnecessary.'- to/t say? which was quite futile.—Bendigo Independent, 7th December.

" William, look up : te?l us, William, who made you; do you know?" William, who was considered a fool, screwing his face and looking thoughtful and somewhat bewildered, , : slowly answered," Moses, I s'pose." "Thatwill do." "JN Tow," sajd Counsellor Gray, addressing the Court, " the witness says he s'poses Moses made him. This certainly is an intelligent answer, for it shows that. he has some faint idea of Scripture, but I submit that it is not sufficient to justify his being sworn as a witness qualified to give testimony." "Mr Judge," says the fool, " may I_ax the lawyer a question?" "Certainly," says the judge; " ask him any question you please.'' " Wai, then, Mr Lawyer, who'd yott; s'pose. madetyoiM?/^ r .Counsellor Gray, imitating the witness, " Aaron, I s'pose." After the mirth had subsided, the witness exblaimed, "Wai, now, we do read in the.Good Book that Aaron once made a calf; but who'd thought, the tarnal critter had got in here ? " Verdict for the fool. Dr. Jones, the.principal ofHarewood College, has discovered, and has proved at Deyonport Dockyard and at God stone, that an immersion of timber in a solution ;6f tungstate of soda renders it entirely hardens it, preserves it from dry-rot, and restores it, even if rotten. ELEVATioNfoi? iWoMiN.--" The elevation of woman P " exclaimed my Lord Tom Noddy, as he was driving home from Ascot. " Aw —if a fella wants to see—aw —woman elevated, he should see 'em at the waces—aw—after a good lunch." •*-]?unch. When does tho sea remind of widow, hood ?—When you weeds upon it.