PROVINCIAL AND GENERAL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 183, 10 August 1871, Page 6

PROVINCIAL AND GENERAL.

A. contemporaiy contrasting the present bankrnptcy law with the customs which prevailed in olden times, writes: — " The law- of debtor and creditor, even now, is in a far from satisfactory condition; but a bankrupt has at least some chance left him to begin the world afresh and retrieve his past misfortunes. Our forefathers would seem, however, to have treated the defaulting bankrupt in nvery summary fashion, when we read that " Alexander Thompson, embroiderer, was executed at Tyburn for not surrendering himself pursuant to notice given in the " London Gazette," after being declared a bankrupt." Air William Eggers gives a very interesting discriptian of the throne of the German Empire. We extract the following from the letter : — " The throne is above 800 years old, and was the 'Idiserstuhr of the German emperors of S.txon descent. It was preserved in the cathedral of the ancient free town of Goslar, on the Hartz Mountains, till that old church was demolished in the year 1820, and its monastic and art treasures and other antiquities dispersed aud sold. As a remarkable and almost prophetic incident was this ancient Imp 'ril seit acquired by a member of the Prussian royal family, Prince Charles, who has presented it now to Emperor William. The undarpurt and seat of this throne are sculptured in ston^jthe back and arm rests are wrought in iron in a most artistic manner, in the style of the early Gothic art epoch of the eleventh century."

The Pope is stated to be suffering fr.>m droji.sy, and it; was yen^rullv feared in ftuine tiat his milady wouM have a fatal termination. Prin«*e SUisinondo Ciigi, the official guardian of t!ie Conclave, has been called to the Vatican, and installed there to wait t course of events. It was rumoured, however, fiat the couclave of cardinals would meet iv Malta whenever called upon to elect a successor to the reigning Pontiff. Pio Nono was elected on the 16th of June, 1846 ; and it is a remarkable fact that no Pope of Rome his ever occupied the papal see for trie full term of h've-and-tweuty years. Two have filled it for tweiuy-one years, two for twenty-two, and threo for twenty-three years each. In April last Pio Nono only wanted two months to complete the full term of a quarter of a century. On the 2Lst of April — which people did not omit to notice was the anniversary of the foundation of the city— Prince Pallancini-Rospi-•jliosi was formally installed as Ci\il Pontiff or Syndic of Rome, amidst great festivities.

Tbe Melbourne " Argus " says : — Fresii evidences continues to come to light of the way iv which our prodigally endowed " charities " are demoralising the public. At the last committee meeting of the Benevolent Asylum, attention was called to the conduct of an inmate named Watson and her husband, who were ound out exchanging the eggs they received as medical comforts outside the asylum. These worthies, it was stated, were in the habit of being indulged with vviskey, porter, butter, milk, and eggs, because they required a nourishing diet. At the same time, there was brought under the notice of the committee the case of a blind inmate named Little, who has beeu supported by the public in that institution for the last three or four years. It is now stated that his wife is the owner of a 'farm of l£o acres at Dandenong, and also posses a couple of cottages at Oakleigh.

The Jackson (Term.) "Whig," of the 15th April, says: — We learn that between Sobby and Crainsville, on what is called Piney, in M'Nairy County, a strange and frightful being l ias been observed for several weeks. He is said to be seven feet high, and possessed of great muscular power, i« eyes are unusually large, and fiery red ; his hair hangs iv a tangled and matted mass of jet below his waist, and hia beard reaches . below his middle. His entire body is covered i with hair, and his whole aspect is most frightful. He shuns the sight of men, but approaches with wild and I horrid screams of delight every woman who is unaccompanied by a man. He sometimes, with great caution, approaches houses ; and should he see a man he runs away with astounding swiftness, leaping the tallest fences with the ease of a deer, defying alike the pursuit of men and dogs. He has frightened several women by attempting to carry them off, as well as by his fyorrid aspect, and the whole country •around -Sobby is in consternation. The citizens are now scouring the woodf, and are determined either to ' |ill or drive off the monster. '.•• A splandid illustration of Div Dar. winV theory, has turnsd up in Vienna. ;: TWe is b girl there, aged thirteen, a native of Palermo, Tiifirese Gam!>ardella, who is literally mvereJ with- . -.air bo thickly that the Vieiuia paper* pronouuee . her akin more like a fur ijtliaa anything else. T ; ie famous Julia ia- described" aa perfeHly jj&nooth compared with the new claimant to celebrity, whose hairy covering extends from head to foot, even- the forehead — which in similar case» is .said to have been- invariably found "bare — heim* entirely overgrown. The .head cJoiely resembles lhat of a monkey, and several abnormities inthe build of the -body still further complete tbe resemblance. We do not' hear whether the young lady is

"graced with a tail, but the shape of her jaws and teeth, the pliability of her tonsrue — which she can roll up completely in her mouth — her excellent appetite, her restlessness, &-.■., strikingly remiue one of the agile and amusing animals in the Zoological Gardens. Si Fiorina G-ambardella's intellectual capacity is said to correspond with her prepossessing exterior. She is a great favourite with the pub•lic, medical and otherwise, and appears to have achieved a conquest over the photographers, who are quarelling for the honour of taking her likeness. We trust the successful competitor will favour Mr. Darwin with a copy to prefix to the new editors of his book. The Colony of Victoria is taking every means in its power to bring the country under the notice not only of the English public, but also of the peasantry of the Continent of Europe. The Land Act has been translated into German, and sold ac such a price as to secure its extensive circulation in that empire. The population of London enumerated as living at midnight on Sunday, April 2. was 3,251,904 — an increase of $447,815 in ten years. The houses occupied by this enormous mass of people stretch along the banks of the Thames from Woolwich up to Hammersmith, and across its stream from Norwood to Hampstead, over 12 square miles. On an average there are 2,669 persons to a square mile. , A sect has been making progress lately in the neighbourhood of Mount Ararat, Victoria, under the appelation of "New Lights." Th*» adherents claim to he. the only l'ftrflly Christian denomination, and predict the " swift and utter destruction, root and branch," of all the "systems of Apostacy," but more particularly of Wesleyanisiu. Judging from a letter from one of the " Lights," which appears in the "Ararat Advertiser," English grammar and spelling are also "amongst the things the sect dooms to destruction. A miraculous ?ind providential escape of several miners occurred yesterday week at Old Packer's Point, Upper Shotover. It appears Thomas Martin anil his two mates were working in their tunnel claim that day, and had driven into the hill a distance of some forty feet. At about 20 minutes to 12 o'clock they found that their candles were done, in consequence of which they knocked off work and went to dinner. They had no sooner got out of the drive than they were, surprised by the sudden fall of about 200 tons of earth ; so that, by the mere ace'dent of having no more candle, they were saved from a certain terrible death. — "Cromwell Argus." A new mode of suicide has been invented in Illinois. A man filled his mouth with gunpowder, and putting caps between his tseth, chewed them until an explosion took place.