General News.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4649, 28 November 1883, Page 2

General News.

In a hut oa a narrow street in-the French village of Auberne-en-Boyans lives a woman whose age is declared on evidence which The London Lancet rccepts as authentic to be 123 years. Her. marriage certificate shows that she waa married one hundred years ago last, January. She has no infirmities except slight deafness, and she is comparatively erect. She bad a " cantiniere " under the First Empire and lost two sons in the wars. She is supported entirely on the alms of visitors who come from great distances to see her, and in her householdwork she is assisted by her neighbors; She lives almost exclusively on soup mide"' with bread and containing a little wine or brandy. ADr Bonne, who practices in the neighborhood, says that she is never ill. Moreover, she is not one of the pro* digies who thrive in spite of dirt and neglect, bat is of scrupulously clean habits. _ '. ; '■'.■'.. -, ; t ; Tho following letter describing a simple seed-testing apparatus appeared in a ~ recent number of the V Mark f LaejflT) Express "': "As seed time is 'again* ap*"" proaching, the importance of thoroughly testing the germinating powers of all seep, \ cannot be too strongly impressed oh farmers. For several years I have devoted'?a considerable amount of time in .inquiry ! into the best mode of testing the growth of seeds, and have the honor of submitting to all interested an apparatus which", foe efficiency, cost, and attention required, has excelled my most sanguine expectations.. Get, three ordinary flowerpot saueeri of unglazed day; let two of them be, 0f.'.'0ap.,... size, the other about three inches less in diameter. Put the small one inside.qne,,pf. the .larger ones, fill the space betWeeii with water, spread the seeds to be tested evenly over the bottom of the smaller one, invert the remaining larger one over the J top of the small one, place anywhere in a..|. gentle heat—say, the parlour mantlepiece —and the thing is complete. As long as the outer saucer is kept filled with water, the .clay being porous, the inner one is always-^ moist,; but never wet; and the\re|juisiteS I of quick germination being present, viz. : heat, moisture, and darkness, a few days? suffice for the sprouting of even our most £- tardy seeds, when the percentage of good 1 and bad can be very easily _ ascertained., , I# A dilapidated man walked i n fp a PUtsburg shoe store a few days ago, and said that he'desired to make a purchase. ""H|sf|/ need of a new outfit was apparent, but his v coarse, soiled and ragged clothes, and general air of decay, forbade the supposU tibn that he could or would pay for a fine - article.. But he contemptuously rejected :■; the clerk's first offers, and finally accepted an excellent pair of hand made shoes. When he had ascertained, the .price, he drew from a bundle of various articles— r - held together by a bandana handkerchief —a cigar box, and quietly operiing^it, . disclosed to the clerk's astonished gaze about 15,000 dollars in bills and coin. .After some adroit questioning' I ;he explained that he had wandered •<■ away from his father's farm many years ago, and had drifted around ■• the country without gathering any moss, until finally, not long ago he " struck it rich " in a western mine, and" - had made a fortune, of which the contents, of the cigar box were only a, small part He was on his way home' to see his parents, and, in order to make their con-

steruation aad his own amusement complete, he proposed to appear before them. in a poverty-stricken guise,' and notdU-> vulge his real condition until he .had enjoyed their tears and welcome andjympathy. Then he intended to complete the melodrama by setting it up for the old folks in gorgeous style, and the new shoes were for use in the transformation scene. - —" Pittsburg Post." A "Basking " shark 31ft long, 20ft in circumference, with a mouth 4ft long; and with a weight of fire tons is now;exhibiting in Melbourne. It took two lorries to cop Fey the monster. . . : ' ;> - "I trust you are patting a few pennies -' aside in your savings bank," said a fond father to his son, who was beginning to ' earn money by doing errands and odd jobs. "Not any, pa. Ever since I saw yon shaking out a dime from it I hare regarded it as a blind pool."—Boston Globe. ; ■. " Bough on Rats."—Clears out rats, mice roaobea, flies, ants, bed-bugs, beetles, iriieoti' skunks, ja-jk-rabbitsi gopher*. Druggiite* Moßei, Mom & Co., Sydney, Qeneral Ageoti,