MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume VIII, Issue 448, 1 April 1875, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

Jerusalem does not appear at present to be a "•happy home." A wrsespondent of the (l Levant Herald/ writing m>m, thai city, complains of the unaccountable clemency of the Judges in the criminal courts, and states th'%t although mare than one hundred murders have been committed within the past twelve months, not one of the niuvdererk has been punished. An ex-employee of the Custom-honae, named Said, has lately tafcea advantage of this state of things to perpetrate the following; act of atrocity : — A young, lady of Bethlehem, nevrly married, was walking alone ia a vineyard near that village, when she was met by Said with a knife in his hand. Said, who is an impulsive character, having put out her eyes and sliced off her ears, unnierei1 fully cut off her head and then, took to light, carrying off as * memento of ibe deceased every article of >abie he could fins on her body. In the l meantime some children, having witnessed thin | hasty proceeding from a. distance,. guve notice of the4l affair. The operation of the law was swift, for the* 1 mudir of Bethlehem at once imprisoned the artless infants, and also the master of the vineyard. This action on the part of the mudir did not, however, meet wiih the approval of the Governor of Jerusalem, who caused the prisoners to be released. Said is still at large, and there is no immediate prospect of his capture, as nobody knows what has become of him, bmt the police think that " thoy have a clue.* If this really- is tbe surmise of the Bethlehem police, it is only fair to admit that in astuteness they are firlly equal to the most active and intelligent officers of out own police* One of the Paris correspondents of * London journal relates the follQwing qtory : — A curious and amusing trial is likely to cpnie off here one of these days. A respectable English gentleman, of middle age, was lately over here, en garcon> for a short time, . and fell so deeply in love with one of our most captivating actresses that he vowed himself ready to lay a share of his fortune at her feet — his hand was already tjie property of a wife he had left behind in London. The lady had a strong attachment for a diamond necklace that had pleased her fancy, and hinted as much to tbe amorous Briton, who at once went off to the Rue de la Paix to the shop of a celebrated jeweller, where tho brilliants were exhibited. He inquired the price, but" the sum asked being 20,000f, he told the actress that he could not possibly go higher than 12,000f or 14, 000f at the outside. Resolved to be possessed of the necklace, the lady repaired to the. jeweller and got hint to agree to sell it for 14,©00f to her friend, and to send her the bill for the remaining 6000f. She then told her admirer that if he would only bargain a Kttle he would be able to obtain the diamonds for 14,000f. The gentleman acted on this suggestion, did bargain, and got the necklace for the price in question. But in leaving the shop, who should he run against but a most intimate friend, whom he at once acquainted with his good fortune, and to whom he showed the bargain. The friend preached him a sound sermon on his conduct, and succeeded in producing such an impression that Mr — — , instead of bringing the jewels to the charming actress, packed them up in his portmanteau, and started by the Calais mail that evening to bring them to his wife. The bill for the 6,000 francs was of course presented the actress, whodeclines to pay it ; her English admirer, who is not remarkable for delicacy of feeling, refuses to disgorge the diamonds— with which, by tk« way, his wife is delighted, little knowing, poor woman, the whole of their story — and so altogether there aro ample materials for a " very pretty " action at law, in which just sufficient of the salt of scandal will be certain to leak out. . Baranetzky, of the Observatory at Kieff, has investigated the periodioity of the bleeding of certain plants and its cause. Hofmeister was the first who recognised that this phenomena was one very widely obterved among forest trees, and the daily and annual periods of this flow of sap have been examined into by several persons. Among , the newer results arrived at by Baranetzky, it may be mentioned that he has been able to show that the daily variations of temperature bad bijt littjeto do with the flow of sap; the latter being as deSBM in trees nrotected Ircm temperature variations, by being inclosed in the hot-houses of the botamfcal gardens, as in the trees of the open air. The variations are perfectly regular, attaining their maxima and minima on the same day and at th#«^ same hoars, and seem to him to indicate that the influence of temperature on the periodicity of the bleeding iB>i 8> a t least by certain plants, not direct «i».I imtn<. ( ?intA Unt nf Q.mli a i.utiir* ihat if at. fir«*

which causes it. By introducing an artificial I temperature rariation, this idea was brougnt to a , severe test, and it waa shown that the temperature j had really but little to do with -, the flow of sap, hlthough it would be hasty' to conclude that it had no influence whatever. It is only in the case of great temperature variations (for instance, a change of 20dg Fahr.) that the normal rate of flow of sap is sensibly disturbed. This morning Judge McKean ordered, in accordance with his decision of yesterday in the cause of Ann Elizabeth Young v. Brigham doling, to the effect that within ten days from the service of a copy of the order against the defendant made last evening, Briglmm Young shall $*y to counsel for plaintiff $3000 attorney's* -Can, and within twenty days pay to p'aintiff $9500, accumulated alimony at the rate of $500 per month from the date of the tiling of the plaintiff's petition for alimony and divorce, $500 on the iOth March, and on the first day of each succeeding month thereafter during the pending of the cause, defendant's counsel excepted to the order of the Court. The trial jury for the December term was discharged to-day. No Mormon indicated during the last six months has been tried. — Salt I ake, February 26. Justice in California is so swift that it sometimes overtakes culprits even before the actual commission of the crinies which entitle them to that designation. The " San Francisco Call " report* the seveie punishment inflicted on certain Chinamen for offences they are likely to commit. It was reported the o<tber day that some ore had been stolen from a gold mine in Sierra County in that State. A number of Chinamen, who live in the neighborhood, were suspected of the crime " on general principals.," The miners therefore resolved that justice should take its course, and accordingly set fire to the huts of the Chinamen. Ihe huts were all ablaze, the Chiuese were skipping around, and the fun was at its height, when a miner came running up on the scene of conflagration, out of breath, to announce that the thieves had - been discovered and captured. Some of the mob were at this junctnre weak enough to suggest the extinction of the fires ; but a prominent miner named Joe Warren, argued with great force, that if the Chinese had not stolen the ore there was no doubt that they would steal something ia time, and that the fire had therefore better go on. This view of the case was accepted by the majority, so the exercises were continued, and the Chinese Ixarned out completely. The following is the conclusion of a long and elaborate argument by Herr Reich in the celebrated Arnim case ;—"; — " To. sum up, the accused has been proved to have in the month of May, 1874, and at Berlin, purposely removed thirteen official papers, such papers being at the time of removal deposited in a place officially destined for their keeping. This constitutes an offence against clause 133 of the German criminal -code. In meting out punishment the high position and responsibility of the accused, as well as the serious import of the papers and the danger <& their becoming known to unfit persons, wer-e so many aggravating circumstances. On the other band, the surrender of these dcs" patches -om June 28, 1874, and the traditional care" lessness or diplomatic agents in dealing with papers* as proved by the receipt of December 21, 1873, are, circumstances extenuating, though not annulling the guilt incurred. The surrender of the despatches, though by it the missing documents were restored, v* hs only a reparation of damage done, and whatever the careless habits of the Diplomatic Body, illegal acts are not legalized by their repetition. In addition to this it had to be considered whether the imprisonment undergone by the accused in the preliminary stages of the proceedings was to be deducted from the penalty. Taking all this into mature consideration the court did not find itself in a. position to adhere to the view pre. vailing, when the proceedings were opened. The court on the contrary, thought it their duty to judge tlie case entirely from the aspect it assumed during the oral and public trial of the accused. In the name of the King I decide that' the accused Harry, Count yon Arnim, his . German Majesty's Ambassador en despofisibihtie, is not guilty of embezzling documents or violating the duties of his office, but that he is guilty of an offence against public order, that he' be punished with three months' imprisonment— one month of which is to be deducted in consideration of his having undergone imprisonment in the preliminary stages of the proceedings. ' He is also to bear the costs. This is done to sustain right and equity." It is stated that the accused will appeal against the decision. The case is not expected to come on again for two or three months, and in the meantime the Count remains at liberty on bail to the amount of 100,000 thalers (about £15,000). The London correspondent of the Belfast (Ireland) " News Letter," states: — The indisposition under which Mr Disraeli suffers, and which has caused so much anxiety among his friends, is of a very peculiar description, It is, I am informed, gout in the k lungs. The proximity of the seat of the disease to the heart, of course, increased the gravity of the symptoms. Last session it was observed, for the first time, that the Premier occasionally suffered from gout, sometimes in the feet and sometimes in the hands. But during the lifetime of Lord Palmerston the House was so accustomed to see the Premier "hora de combat" fora few days, that no one thought anything about it. But when Mr. Disraeli was observed wearing a cloth shoe and carrying a stick, everyone seemed to think that a valuable life might possibly be in jeopardy. The chronic pallor of Mr Disraeli's face, and the pained expression which he assumes when ill, make it difficult for him to conceal any indisposition under which he may labour- He is, I understand, in cipital spirits, notwithstanding his gout, and speaks hopefully of .his recovery.