GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 193, 8 December 1876, Page 15

GENERAL NEWS.

Among the many charitable institutions founded by Pius IX. is an asylum, opened by him some years ago, where axe now received about one hundred poor boys. These are instructed in farm work, and some of them are taught the trades of tailors and blacksmiths. The ground on which the asylum stands was purchased by the Pope out of his private funds, and the buildings were erected at his own sole cost. The present Italian Government has lately claimed the right of superintending this establishment, and has actually appointed a day on which it will enter on the management, and take virtual possession of the premises. This arbitrary conduct of the Government has occasioned much sorrow to the Holy father. But it is only another proof of the determination of the Depretis Ministry to show their contempt for the laws of the Guarantees, and to worry and harass the Pope and the Catholics. Marshal MacMahon, in the midst of his duties as a statesman, preserves all the feelings of a soldier. The President of the -Republic received at his table to dinner, recently, a simple sergeantmajor pensioned off. The guests of the Marshal, at first rather puzzled to account for the presence of this stranger, soon learnt that he was no other than M. Baeltz, who was at Petite Pierre in Alsace when that fortress was invested by the German army. He repelled valiantly and successfully the repeated attacks of the enemy, received the cross of the Legion of Honor for his bravery, and obtained a place of collector of taxes in the provinces. The population of the town which he had defended also presented him with a sword of honor. He is now about to marry a young girl of betroth* d °° me to Paris to P urchase P r « sents for his In Italy there is a priest who has never breakfasted before noon, who has always abstained from flesh during Lent, and who has never allowed two hours to pass without spending some time in prayer. This pastor has taken the education of his flock to Heart, has purchased for the use of the parish five adjoining estates, and has provided the church with new and magnificent sacred ornaments. He has never refused alms to the poor. In the offices ot tbe different churches he always sings the last Mass, passing the morning in the confessional, or in saying his office. A certain individual having once cut down some tress for him, he made him taJre them back ; but he afterwards secretly paid the man for his labor in cutting down the timber, and, when his servant man reproached him for this act of kindness, he replied that this man endured more fatigue in half-a-day, than a common laborer does in a whole week ; it is then only just to reward him for it. Tnis worthy ecclesiastic is loved as a father by his parishioners. At the time or the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination, seven of his nephews, all priests like himself, assisted him at the altar. He exercises a most extensive and most affable hospitality. All the religious corporations honor themselves with having one of his disciples at their head. He is happy when he can gather around Him tor recreation, in his own house, the young aspirants to the priesthood. He is of an invariably quiet disposition, gay with everybody, and very zealous in the performance of the duties of his ministry. This model pastor lives in the small parish of Santa Maria della, Valle. near Fosombrone, in perfect health, in spite of his advanced age— he is one hundred and two years old— blessed by God and man. His name is Basilio Michele. Some few days since a number of the Indian graves on the Sbinnecock Eeservation, Long Island, were opened, and the remains of two Indians, were found, together with a curious lot of articles. Among them were wampum enough to make a string about two feet Jong, a stone pestle, glass bottles of peculiar shape, a copper kettle, with iron frame and handle, a gun band, and a Bmall brass box, shaped like the case of an old-fashioned bull's eve, but larger, containing about twenty Roman coins of comparatively modern date, ahout the size of an old shilling piece, on one or two of which the figures 1670 are legible— proving, as do the other articles, that the graves are not as ancient as had been supposed. It is proposed to place the relics in the Museum of the Long Island Historical Society. A letter addressed to the * Spectator 1 on the prosperity of Ireland contains statistics with which we are not disposed to quarrel, but the conclusions of the writer are hardly warrantable. A comparison is made between Ireland in 1841 and Ireland in 1876, and it is argued that because there is a show of decided prosperity, there is all that car hfMJlesired. It is very easy to say that our live stock in '41 was value Sat £21,000,000, and that it is worth £58,500,000 now. Everybody knows that the purchase-power of money is very different, and that in the matter of food it is now only half as valuable as it was in 1841. Beef and mutton and bread have doubled in price — wages have not doubled. We quite concede that there is greater luxury now, if improved food can be called luxury ; but we must protest against the economic theory that because we have more cattle and less people, the country is so much the richer. It would have been impossible for Ireland to recede ; she could not possibly have grown poorer ; and her improvement, such as it is, onl> proves that the race was not willing to perish utterly. To push to its legitimate issue the argument so often refuted, we have only to imagine depopulation proceeded with, and the growth of cattle developed. Such trade as there is would then be killed off, and although the figures concerning stock would be materially altered, the ruin of the country would be none the less complete. The fallacy of modern economists lies in taking up one subject, considering its modifications, and on these basing not a particular but a universal conclusion. There is no doubt Ireland is richer now than in 1841, but we ventnre to say that, having regard to her material resources and the natural quietness of her people, Bhe has less to show for the time than any civilised country in the -world. — * Freeman.' When the French were in Mexico the stage robberies in the vicinity of Monterey became almost as frequent as they are getting to be between here and With the practical commo |

sense for which the French are distinguished when, they go about killing people, the French General at Monterey devised a plan 'that worked like a charm. He picked oat half a dozen of his smallest Zouaves and dressed them up as females, and put them on the Btage. Each unprotected female had a short breech-loading carbine concealed under his pettipants, and they covered their demure faces by veils. Of course the robbers surrounded the stage, and the ladies, with an excess of feminine modesty, climbed out of the vehicle and fell in line with the rest of the passengers, when of a sudden an epidemic broke out among those Mexican patriots, for each lady, on an average, destroyed about three of them, and the reßt lost all taste for female society and went away disgusted. The ladies returned to town in high glee, but for a long time the Mexican bandits entertained such a lofty veneration for the gentler sex that an old bonnet and a shawl displayed conspicuously in a stage secured its immunity from interruption. — • San Antonio Herald.' The faculty of remaining in the -water for a greater or leas period of time, which has been enjoyed by mankind ever since the existence of the element itself, seems likely to be extended to fire, in the event of a fire-proof dress, the invention of a Swedish officer, Captain Ahlstrom, and which has come triumphant out of every trial, proving ultimately successful. At a recent experiment in Silesia, four heaps, consisting- of logs of wood, were arranged in the form of a square, well covered with shavings and saturated with petroleum. They were then set light to, and speedily became a mass of flames. Into this fiery furnace, the glowing heat of which kept the spectators at a respectful distance, stepped Captain Ahlstroni, clad in his fire-proof dress. He moved freely about in the restricted space — some four feet square — formed by the heaps, leaning from time to time quite unconcernedly againat the blazing piles, and,finally, taking his seat upon one of the heaps, glowing with intense heat, he reclined there with as much nonchalance as though it had been a sofa. He remained thirty minutes in the flames without suffering in the smallest degree from the heat. Next day an experiment was made in the Hohenzollern mine, with, the view of seeing whether the apparatus would avail in the event of an explosion of fire-damp or any analogous accident. The principal of the gymnasium, who volunteered to test it personally, descended into a space which had been shut off from, the rest of the mine and filled with gas, and remained there for twenty minutes without experiencing the slightest inconvenience from the poisonous atmosphere. Captain Ahlstrom has sold his invention to Prussia for 50,000 marks. Chief among the attractions in the Kansas State building, or in that part of it reserved for Colorado, is a ladylike woman of less than the ordinary stature and comparatively slight physical development, known as Mrs. Maxwell, the Eocky Mountain huntress. This lady is reported to have killed, with her own hands, 500 wild animals, and specimens of these stuffed by herself, have been forwarded to the Colorado display, and they are now on exhibition. Among these are several large bisons, a number of deer, 1 including the red deer, a pair of Rocky Mountain sheep, a ferocious puma, a number of wild cats, two elk, three bears — grizzly, cinnaI mon, and black — a wolverine, said to be the most dangerous animal iin the West ; many varieties of rabbit, including the rare cony rabbit found only on mountain peaks, above the timber line, and many specimens of marmot squirrel, mountain rats, a black-footed ferrit, &c. The last mentioned animal is a rare specimen, the one owned by the Smithsonian Institute being the only other one known to have been shot and preserved. The collection also includes a family of prairie dogs, owls and snakes, which the huntress has often seen in the same burrow, and to these are added cases of birds, water fowl, snakes, &c, besides two exhibitions of live prairie dogs and rattle-snakes, the entire display of over 300 animals being very artistically arranged. The ' Univers ' says :— "The Servians have met another misfortune, which they little expected. Victor Hugo has published a manifesto in their behalf, in which the ex- poet heaps up all the in- , sanities of which everybody knows he has become so prodigal," The 'Fxangais' says: — "Servia is doomed to bad luck. Having been beaten by the Turks, it is now defended by Victor Hugo. "We will not stop to point out all the stupifying metaphors which have become the foundation of the apocalyptic style of the senator for the Seine. But it is really sad that unfortunate Servia should be afflicted with friends like Citoyen Victor Hugo. On whom does her fate depend ? On the chiefs of the European Powers — that is to say, on three Emperors, a Queen, several Kings, and one Republican President. Are these chiefs likely to listen to the appeal of an advocate who at the same time preaches the extermination of their thrones ? Victor Hugo has lost an excellent opportunity of remaining silent." Socialism and Republicanism are* flourishing in Italy. The Democratic Association of Ferrara has addressed a letter to various illustrious patriots and deputies proposing a meeting in Bologna in September next, to be attended by representatives from the Democratic Associations of Emilia, Komagna, the Marches, Lombardy, and Venice, for the purpose of coming to an understanding amongst themselves concerning the best mode of turning the expected elections to the advantage of the Democrats, and of issuing a programme -which will be agreeable to all sections of the Democratic party, and which will assure the good of the nation and the triumph of liberty.—' Tablet.' I have heard a clever diplomatist say of the three last sovereigns of Constantinople that Abdul»Azis was a madman, Murad a fool, and Abdul-Haniid — the reigning creature — both a fool and a madman. If this be so there will be more depositions, and sharp scissors will begin to look up at Sheffield, and the dynasty of Osman will be gradually used up to make way for the Duke of Edinburgh, the Czar's son-in-law, and the new Constantinopolitau empire.—Cor. 'Freeman's Journal. 1