MISCELLANEOUS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume 1, Issue 41, 21 November 1868, Page 6

MISCELLANEOUS.

• iA-MEM^rtED MtUDUK-rrA sad case of attempted murder occurred in Leicester lately. - A man named John Scampton, who has been twice an irC^ate,/of ijiinatic asylum, has lately be'en'tinder the care of /keeper, living apart from his wife, who, with her child, has" resided with "hetf-father, Mr. Parr, ,135 Tapper Brunswick Street. During Monday mbrhm^, Scampton contrived to^ elude, £he vigilance, pt hia Keeper, 1 antfVent to the- home of ISr. P^rr, where he,, was refused admittande. He went away, and' returned about half-past twelve o'clock, and Mr. Parr went to the door in answer to hia knock. Seeing who it was, Mr. Parr tried to close the door, hut Scampton placed his foot against it, and managed to keep it a- little way open. He then put one arm through the aperture, having a six-barrelled revolver in his hand, and fired five of the barrels off in rapid succession. One of the bullets passed through Mr. parr's left arm, 'and broke it in two places. Another struck Scampton's own child, a littlo girl three years o£' age,, and passed through her skull. 'Traces of the other bullets were found- on the walls and doors in the passage; one of them struck the wall, rebounded, and then passed through the hack door into the yard. Three bullets were found in the passage, and one just outside the front door. Inspector Clamp and Policeconstable Buxton, of the Bow police force, happened to be a short distanco off, and, hearing the reports of firearms, hastened to the spot and found the man Scampton walking about in front of the house muttering to himself that he was prepared to meet his God. and his Judge. He was then taken to •the police station, when he was searched, and a bullet-mould, a nipple-drawer, some caps and powder, and a Bible and Prayer Book were found on him. It is not, expected that Mr. Parr, who is upwards of seventy years of age, is mortally wounded, but the child is in .imminent danger, and its life is despaired of. Suicide op a Bussian Babon under Peculia.ii Qircumstauces. — The St. Petersburg correspondent of the "Standard " writes :—": — " In a previous letter I gave, a short account of , the gardens known as Isler's, or the Mineral Waters; a' kind of inferior Cremorne, on one of the islands to the north of St. Petersburg. "Well, a few days ago this disreputable resort was the scene of a fracas which has had a miserable ending. To begin at the beginning, you must know that an English gentleman, recently arrived at St. Petersburg on the Queen's service, was quietly seated at a table when his hat was suddenly knocked over his eyes from behind by a stranger whom he had never seen before. The Englishman turned round, and, thinking his aggressor must be drunk, retaliated in the same fashion, and bonneted the other, but committed no further act of violence. The stranger, greatly irritated at fbis not unnatural issue to bis utterly unprovoked assault, now lost his temper completely, and attacked the captain tooth and nail, who, strik. ing out in self-defence, knocked his antagonist over amongst the chairs, tables, and garcons. The police at once interfered, and the Englishman waa led off to the station to explain his conduct; the other, too, was taken fhto custody, but contrived, to make' his escape, called his carriage, and drove at full speed to the Strogonoff Bridge, which is built across one of the arms of the Neva. There he stopped, got down, and deliberately jumped into the stream, which is there very rapid, and was quickly carried away. The poor fellow is said to jhave been intoxicated at the time, and to have committed suicide in this extraordinary way from a sudden . and overwhelming feeling of shame at having received a blow in the sight of his friends at a public- place pf entertainment, though the chastisement he received was undoubtedly brought .about by his own folly alone. The English gentleman could not well have acted otherwise than he did. The deceased, by name Baron de Braiiken, was. quite young, about twenty-seven Tears of age, and was well known in the society of this capital." Professor Whitney mentions, in a paper upon word-making, that people in America talk of putting on " a pair of rubbers/* because-, when caoutchouc was firsjfc introduced, they could find no better use for it than the rubbing out of pencil marks, But overshoes of this material are not universally called "rubbers" in Philadelphia. With reference to the mature of the substance of which they are made, they are called "gums." \- Philadelphia gentleman and his, wife coming to spend the evening at a house where they were very much at home, he entered the parlour, alone; «nd to the question, "Why, where isTSmilyB 1 * answered, "On, Emily fa' outside, cleaning her gums upon the mat*; " whereupon there was" a '" momentary look of astonishment, , and then •£ peal ofjtaughter. Which is WhicK ?-^? A certain soft citor, well known to frequenters of the Pelice Court,** says the BaUarat Courier," appeared in a vagrancy case .brought a short time, since before the Police Magistrate. He announced^ ■ that he appeared for the^defence, add- * ing *2so; 5 Wte tfleadtaiilty, your Wor- / ship.' Mr. Clisrold—" Which of you? Do youpleiad jointly 'or severallvV *' y