CONTRADICTION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 803, 25 June 1881, Page 4

CONTRADICTION.

[To the Editorot the Wairarapa Daily.] Sir—l was surprised to read in your paper of the 21st inst. that I am going to leave this district in two months. Never hare I made this intimation, and I am astonished that such n false statement has been nude to you. On the contrary—far from leaving the district, I have made special arrangements to meet all liabilities SB soon as possible Though the erection of five churches (some of them very costly) have put me, in those bad times, in'rather pressing pecuniary difficulties, vet with the help of God and the aid of generous people; I will soon master all difficulties. They are but a scrap compared with those already surmounted. I am more than certain that whilst there are over a .thousand Catholics in the Wairarapa they would not see their priest in difficulties, at least for 8 long timer /Certainty I shall not leave the distriot while there, is a poony unpaid. : . I shall feel grateful in. your contradiot;ing the faUe ; rurnbn:-%, ; )''^; "■*■'<■ U ■,:,;;:■: >-^ > ;.lam}&o.#,: v K.'_, "vv- '

AGONY UNDERGONE'by me CZAR'S ' -.'tuv MURDERERS.?''/ 3K:/, ■,;'.• '•'According to it ': Russakoff.and !jalib6ff, : tlill ; lullers'ofHHe ; Czar, haVebecn.'mercilessly put to death i ■in tlie pfesenfoffiGeneral Loris Melikofr j RusliakorFra^ : teriesf and'forcea bjr theSritblerable agony he suffered to answer "the. questionsnut .to ; hihu" Pftrk;;Behjamiri ) '..the u )'cien)tjscjei- : , pertl'said recently, | j , criminals wjth; electricity.'js not /original with the Russians,.',lt,is. a BritishjnV.enf' tion, and was first suggested, about five, years ago, by an English mechanical journal, in commenting-upon theexecu- • tion o( criminals by :electrioshock-,-instead of by hanging. .'The''English'writer wanted to do away with'the';catp' ; nine tails, which is administered in ' garroters : arid other 'criminals ;'bf cerjain , 1 classes, arid use the electric battery, as,lie ; ] somewhat grimly expressed it, so.as to'pro.-. duce absolutely indescribable torture fun-" accompanied by wounds or even bruises), thrilling through every miscreants.' '-There was an 'American -inveri- ' tor who had a design- for inflicting this ; species' of punishment.: He fitted brackets . of iron on the aims.and -thighs of the criminal, and placed in them wetsponges.' When connected with a current, of electricity,the shock would by this system pass through the legs and;shoulders, and, avpid the vital parts of the body,' The torture inflicted by electricity is of two kirids-by contraction of the "musoles''at rapidly recurring intervals and by burning with sparks. The tortures" of old days, when not done; by fire or compression, were the straining and tearing asunder- of museles. Of this kind were the scavenger's- daughter, and the cages of Louis XIV. in wliiob a man could not. stand-, up.;. orj lie down. The electric -shock exactly reverses these conditions. It, produces an enormous rapid contraction in'the body of the muscles at very short intervals. .The degree of pain produced is about the same. The force of the electricity ;has i; to be nicely graded'; a-too .powerful shock would numb or kill' a man'. The other • method is by condensing'a number of intermittent sparks on the flesh. This; burns'the skin, arid at the same time produces contractions of the miiscles, If put: • to the side of the jaw it would make every. toothache." A distinguished surgeon of; i whom questions wore asked concerning the machine said: " The best way to ex-: plain it-is to give you actual experience; : then you will know exactly how it feels, 1 Here is a-Faradic induction coil. -Now,; ' let me place this electrode ito your hand. fc There." "Oh 1" exclaimed the inquirer, [ a tingling, thrilling sensation ran through every., finger, and his hand closed in an 1 involuntary grasp. "Does it hurt?" asked ', tlie doctor. "A little." "Well, we'll • try again. Now, you Bee, I pull this' tube further out. I again touch it to your hand and——" " Whoop!" shouted the victim'; "take it away I" The feeling was as if the hand was crashed in a'vyce. . Every nerve ached 'and' trembled with ,'. pain. "That hurt, did it? Why, that's i nothing. -Here is something of a very • different sort." He fastened to one' wire i a small wet sponge, and to the other wire i somethiug like a paint brush, with the brush part made of fine ,wiro. He put j the sponge in the visitor's hand, and then 1 touched the back of the hands with the e. wiro brush. The pain was unbearable; 1 The surface of the skin was scorched and 1 the muscles of the hands were contracted C in a violent manner. " That is called the 1 electric scourge," said the doctor. "If it was dark you could sec sparks fly from 1 each wire, Imagine the effects if the ;, electricity were ten times more powerful." i " Could any man bear that torture ?" "I s think not; any man would confess mider h it, but it is a question what confidence r could be placed in such a confession. A e man would confess anything to escape the !. agony." -'What could you compare the y pain to ?" "It would be the same as i, burning alive." "Would it injure the if man?" "No—not unless the pain drove '- him insane. If the battery was too poweri. ful it would kill him at. once. Applitd y to some parts of the body the scourge if hurts more than on other parts."

THE QUEEN AS A MATCHMAKER. Lord Palmeraton had been a poor man in his younger days; had learned some bitter lessons and lost many illusions, A friend of mine called upon him by appointment and found ho was out, a sudden summons to the palace being the reason of his inability to keep hia engagement. A servant explained that my lord would probably be back in an hour. " Very well," said the visitor, who was on intimate terms with Palmerston," I'll wait. Meantime (it was about luncheon time), I'll fnke a glass of sherry and a biscuit." Tho servant looked rather confused, and ended by stammering out that neither sherry nor bieouits were to betad in the house. The fact was,, his lordship kept the key of the cupboard. Cellar there was evidently none, Palmeratou came back, by and by, and was laughably informed of the incident. He observed, in a rather dry tone," I should think I did keep the key of the oupboard." Ultimately his fortunes mended, and he was already comparatively rich when the Queen politely but firmly commanded him, to get married. Lord Melbourne was aeonfinned widower, and if the Foreign Secretary continued a bachelor there would soon be a serious difficulty about the reception of'the ambassadresses. " May it please your Majesty," said Lord Palmerston, "I shoilldonly he too happy to marry if I knew any one.who would have me." The Queen' graciously replied that there would he no difficulty on that head, W that if it were necessary she would take it upon bereelf to find a lady both ready and willing. So Lady Cowper was sent for from Home to reign for thirty years over London society. It is said, by the way, that this lady'decided that her husband was to be Prime Minister long before the idea occurred to himself. It was a very happy match—indeed, a love match. Those who knew Lord Palmerston best sometimes fancied that they detected the traces of a gi-eat sorrow carefully concealed from all men. As his coffin was lowered into his last restingplaco in Westminster Abbey on that cold autumn day of 1865, a gentleman stepped forward and flung a ring, with two or; three other trinkets, into the' open grave.

EATEN BY RATS. : A Kansas gentleman named'McGpwan has been eaten by rata while in a.dru.nken stupor. We never suspected rats of beiug fastidious in their diet, but with this our. last grain of respect for the rodent ,tribe vanishes. The animal that would eat. a drunken Kansas colonel (of course he:,was a colonel) need nevor try to borrow a dollar in this office. At-;the same time the' deceased McGowan's fato,suggests many grave thoughts. For instance,'.what trouble there'll be about gatherhgup trie M'Gowan fragments. Yon see, parts of poor Mac may be caught in a rat-trap, and then be eaten My- a ! cat,' whoimay in turn be converted into the best pork sausages, which may' subsequently ieiVa for the dinner' of some' lovely 'woman,iinto whose corporeal being seme portion of the -MjjGpwau, essence/'must'' 1 necessarily' be absorliejd|i after' which-but the subject erowa :pamftiily ; _nijxe(h J,!.^^!!'' a tV j.. 1 ;;Mrs ma'nhe'itec^lM^ r i /Villi(/■Hlr(a'/A^fca3^ , . ) : !d>'Jllfilti