NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 86, 19 December 1874, Page 7

NEWS IN BRIEF.

" A History of the Great Irish Famine of 1847," by the Rev. John O'Rorke, will shortly be published at home.

The ' Cork Examiner ' states that the first act of Brook Richard Brasier, Esq., of Ballyellis, Mallow, on coming of age, was to give to the Very Rev. Dr. Downes, P.P., rent free for ever, a beautiful site for a new church to his Catholic tenantry in the town of Mallow.

The manufacture of carpets in Philadelphia is annually greater than in any other city hi the world. The net stamp duty on " playing cards," in the year ending 31st of March last, was £12,528.

Scotland has a grant of £20,500 a year for the training of teachers; England and Wales, .£95,000; while to favored Ireland the mxgnificent sum of J6500 is allotted. The Armenian peasantry about Mount Ararat believe that the world rests upon a large ox, which, being irritated by a large fly, tosses its head, and thus causes earthquakes.

Fearful stories are going about concerning the Thames, which famous stream is showing a strong disposition to " dry xq>." Between Teddington Lock and Richmond Bridge the steady subsidence of the water has caused great alarm ; the present highwater mark is lower than the low-water mark of 1872 ; and in places about Eel Pie Island, where river steamers passed freely last April, there is scarcely depth enough for four-oared gigs and the lightest skiffs when the tide is low. Advices from Strasburg lead to the belief that Germany does not mean to confine her attention to the Jesuits, for the Christian Brothers have been ordered by the German authorities to quit Alsace-Lorraine.

It is reported that Sir Charles Dilke, M.P. for Chelsea, has sent the dead body of his wife to Vienna for cremation. The report created quite a sensation. It is rumored that the Dowager Queen of Bavaria is about to embrace Catholicism. It is estimated that every trout caught in the Thames has cost the votaries of the art more than us weight in gold, so scarce has this description of fish become, A Tai Ping Chinese rebel chief, who has been travelling about the country since the capture of Nanking, in 1854, was taken re ceritly near Amoz. He refused to perform the "Ko Tow " before the Viceroy, and was summarily condemned and executed about five days ago by the humane process of slicing to pieces, a punishment which the unhappy man is said to have borne with remarkable fortitude. In Britany there is said to prevail a curious matrimonal custom. On certain fete days the young ladies appear in red petticoats, with white or yellow borders round them. The number denotes the portion the father is willing to give his daughter. Each white band, representing silver, betokens one hundred francs of rent ; and each yellow band denotes gold, and stands for a thousand francs a year, Thus a young farmer who sees a face that pleases him, has only to glance at the trhnmings of the petticoat to learn in an instant what amount accompanies the wearer. A feat in swimming was performed lately which is believed to be without parallel in England. Mr Drinkwuter, of Trinity College, Cambridge, diving into the river there, swam under water a distance of eighty-three yards, and was immersed for one minute seven seconds. Upon emerging, he appeared little the worse for the exertion. Under the French military system, merit is recognised before money, and brains before birth or station. There are at the present time 314 generals of division and of brigade in the French army/ of whom 80 have risen from the ranks. Since September, 1870, 139 colonels have been appointed brigadiers, , In Italy the finest violin strings are made by soaking silkworms in vinegar for a short time to soften them, when they may be pulled out to almost any desired length and fineness j they are then sometimes slighly twisted. There are rumors of complications having arisen between Germany and Russia. The King of Ashantee is to be deposed. Half of the capital city has been destroyed by fire. . In a case heard at the Guildhall, before Alderman Besley, in which a sempstress sued her employer for 14s. 9d., for -work and labor done, it was adduced in evidence that Ixer remuneration for each pair of trousers was at the rate of seven farthings. The Archbishop of Tuam is truly an extraordinary man. He is now eighty-two years of age, and will in another year be in the fiftieth year of his episcopate. Yet he is as active in the performance of his sacred functions as if he were but forty or fifty. For three weeks of late he has been continuously on a Confirmation tour, travelling through the wildest regions of the west — often in a boat across the Corrib and other lakes — examining minutely and at length the children presented to him, about 2000 in all, and then saying Mass and preaching long sermons, cliiefly in Irish. And, after all his labors, he is said to be in robust health and in the best spirits !