ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2099, 19 December 1885, Page 4

ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

T'HWrE Vicron N \l'om?on has received n leg tcy of 100,003 fi.uics, left liua by tin widow of an Import « 1 1 - 1, fu-ictionary. King Oscar >>f Swed mi li if boon Sm some years un^ajjfd m uiitim,' .1 !iMt.»i'il iun!,, dealing with European e\onts bi-twoi u 1 ■><>•> and LS72. It is to be published m this Ttio enormous sum of 837.5,000,000 hi^ been oxponded in rebuilding and emh«llish in? L'aris since the yoir IS.">2. Tho new City Hall cost S'W.OOO.OOO, an-1 540,000,(KK) has boon expended in fonr parks. Among tho audience at ono of Nils-ton's recent concerts in Sweden was ono of the gre.it singor's brothers, an honest peasant who hid novor left his native pltee, and ntnvf Iwfore had heard hi* sifter si»g. Tho St. Pctersbuig nvdicvl pvp-is stidthat in a convention at Ljl> din, in tinKharkov Government, HiUiia, there annow livintr two nuns, whoso rospeciivo ages are known, on reliable authorfty, to bo 100 and 112. Of seven young men who graduated from an Kwtern college, a few years ago, four are touching school, one is editing a no tv>paper, ono has been elected to Congress and ono is a curvo pitchor for .i professional bine-ball club. Shfop raisers of Tennessee are d'ngusted with thn failure of tho people to pass a dog law, and aro c mtomplating going out of tho bu-anoss. With 303,000 nhcop to protect from the ravages of 500,003 dogs they find tint fi^ht rather unequal. Tho substitution of nntnrnl gas for coal is pi oceoding rapidly at Pitt.sburg, Pa. At present over 1, .100 dwelling houses, Ob" glass factouos, 31 rolling mills, and 45 other industual establishments aro boing supplied, and from 8,000 to 10,000 tons of coal aro daily displaced. A rein irk.vblo judicial decision, tho first pronounced on tho subject, his bien delivered at Bergamo, to tho effect tint a man can legally leave orders for tho cremation of hii body, that the executor ontrusted with this part of tho testa montiry dispositions is bound to obey them, and can legally enforce obedience against tho relatives. A new industry in Italy in the manufacture of grapeneed oil, which in used for purpoHeß of 'llnminfttion. The extraction is principally effected at Modcna. It ha* alto long been used for similar purpose* in (»ermany and tho Levant. Thiity-threo pounds of soed will yirld about thirteen quarts of oil, or about 18 percent. A curious public; house is among tho latent attractions in Pam It is called La Taverno dv B.igne. Tho walls aro hung with paintings representing tho horrors of convict life, interspersed with portraits of notorious Communist*. All tho waiters aie dieted in con wet uniform, and wear the chains and boulcts (jf the regular forcit. The landlord is Oitoyen Ma\nne Lisbmine, ono of tho leadent of tho insurrection of IK7I. A (lennan traveller in Africa, who witnessed a cannibal fea t of tho I'auhins tribe, s,iys the young women who participated wero tho most ravenous and gluttonoiH. Ttvy ate incredible quantities of (1 -sh, and at the eloso of tho fenst carried off all tho bones that had not been picked clean. Hunger was not the m<>ti\e, for they feed every d.iy on autolopc and white boar. They prefor tho flcal) of n white peiMMi to that of a negio. Tho ex-fjiioen Isal)ella, mother of Alfonso XII., King of Spun, has completed her fifty-fifth year, having been bom on Oct. 10, 1830. <}»oon Isabella was proclaimed <2«ecn „f Spam on the death of her father, Ferdinand Vlf., 1833, when not three ye.irs old, and was mauied on hei sixteenth birthday to Don Fr.incUco d'Assi/,. Sho was exiled in (September, 1808, and two yearn later hhe formally ab dicated in favour ot her won, tho prohuut ruler of Spain. The Roumelian Insurrection was not all boor and skittles. Tho postmaster, named Thondornff, seems not to have been let into tho secret of the revolt, and w hen tho new commander, Major Kaitcho, pi evented him with an ortlcr for his arrest, he drew his revolvor upon the Major, who fell, mortally wounded. Two Bulgarian officers killed Theodoroff on tho spot. His body was carried away on a tumbril and buned outsido tho town. A public funeral was given to Major Itaitcho, who has been replaced by Major Lnbomski. — Vanity Fair. In 158") the potato was tir-t brought into Crormany. Tho first seed potdtoos in S.vxony were a present in 1591 from tho Landgravo of Hesse to the Elector of Saxony. In lf>47 they wore grown a-s cxoticH in gardens at Leipzisr. Swednli soldiers brought them into Western (Jermany about the conclusion of tho tliuty years' war. In 1717 they wore rointroduced into Saxony from Brabant, and within twenty-fivo yoari they began to be regularly cultivcitcd, their uj<o boinif much developed in tho famine period of 1770-71. In the year IKB2 over 9,000,000 acrea were given up to the cultivation of potatoes in Germany, tho produce ainonnting to 23,000,000 tons. Ten yoars ago a standard car load on all first cl.ns railroads was 20,000 pounds, tho weight of tho car being 20,.j00 lbs. In 1881 tho load on moHt roads had increased to 40,000 pounds ; but tho weight of the car had increased to only 22,000 pounds. The master car builders of tho Pennsylvania road have now adopted cars to carry (10,000 pounds, \yhilo the weight of tho c irs will bo very little increased. Instead of hauling ono nound of car to ono pound of freight, nearly three pounds of freight can now bo hauled for ono pound of car. The subHitution of stoel for iron r»iln has nude tho chango poaiiblo. Tho condition of affairs makes it |M>s*ih]o for tho raihoads to cirry freights at tho low rates they receive and yet nnko a small prolit. -IndiiHttial World. There area great many stories of Lord TonnysonK peculiar Rrulfnoss of manner. On ono occasion ho was at a dinner-pnrty, and Homebody offered him a mmdwich. Ho wan laboriously munching this when the himtciw rushed up to him with anxious inquiries about his health and entertainment. "Thank you, madam," ho Maid. "I am eating a sandwich. Aro your naudwiehcH usually made of old boots !" Another timo ho was asked to read ono of his jMicms at * home whore there was a party of young girls. He blankly refused. "I nliaii't !" ho said. Pre-ontly ho noticed that ono of tho girls was so deeply disappointed tji.it tho tears stood in her eyes. Jfe laid his hand on her shoulder and «,nd, " Would yon like to hear ino read ?" " ( )h, yes !" sho oxclaimcl. " Then I will. Peoplo say I am very gruff, and they are right, but I will read to you." And he took tho book and delighted ever) body by reading for a long time. —Court Journal. A Scotch cobbler, described briefly .is a "notorious off under." ha-< passed his life in a certain " Auld Licht " villago without Iwmg converted. t Lately a Foifar magis triite Hontwnced htm to a fine of (V2\ cents, or twenty-four hours irii[>riHonrn«iifc. " If he choso tho latter he, would bo taken to a gaol at Perth. The cobbler communed with himself. "Then I'll go to Poith," ho said ; "I have business in tho town at any rate." An official conveyed him by train to Perth ; and u hen tlie prisonui leached tho gaol he n;iid ho would mow pay tho fine. Tho governor found that ho would have to tako it. "And now," s ml tho cobbler, I w\int my fare home," The governor demurred, made inquiries, nnd discovered that there wns no alternative ; the piisoner mu»t bo wnt at tho public expenso to tho place he had been brought from. So our cinny cobbler got the ('»7', oeiits which repierenft 'I his fate, did lih l)iiHiiie«s and went home tiimnph.iiit -~> tenfM and a railway nd<- tho bettei for his offence. A dozen years jigo nn Antwci]) lailoi bought for a franc a dirty little pictme which had belonged to a doctor then recently deceased. Tho tailor hung the picture upon tho wall, but did not think it i worth tho cost of cleaning, and nobody fonnd it vciy ,'ittractive. A little while ngo, hovvovor, nn artist happened to see it, and induced tho owner to lend it to him to clean. No sooner was the first coat of dirt removed than there was seen in one of the comets the Kignatnro, "Pietro Paulo Heiibcnt, Kill." The jjictuio leprexents (Jim tt blessing the world, and i« said to bo in excellent preservation. Tho t.nlor has alrcidy received sever.al good offen for bin picture, but ho is waiting until a rich Amciican "comei along."— Court Circu lar. At a recent pnblic demonstration, held at Poitlaw, County Watorford, vvheio a cci tain Michael Hickcy was donouncod for v\ icting a working man, a Miss Margaret Shtchan camo forward, and, the papers Hay, in a few elofjuent words proposed tho following resolution : "That wo, tho young gills of Watcrford, Tipporary, and Kil kenny, resolve and promise' this day, before this vast multitude, to troat with j ocoin and contempt nny matrimonial pio poxala from Mich.iel Hickey, :w a punish inent for his high-toned hostility to the labourer, liurke, and his young and helpless family of seven." The lesolution founr 1 a seconder in the person of Miss Sullivan, and it was carried with acclnmation. Bachelor*, bewura !