General Intelligence.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 48, 10 June 1875, Page 3

General Intelligence.

i." - > «.'."' * r ■*■ ■f" '^^«?^•yi^^!2^sgtei^^^f^^J^;^^^^i-•Jt.*■'.^'••^\. *■ : "zy.-c; *-v.-*r • I -3Cherl)^adnou^|t, the-ne^'virpnclad; mdmtorf was succysfuily-lauhehed-from' Pembroke Dock recently. She is 343 feet long and 8000 indicated horse pow^r. per estimated speed, is 14. knots. She will carry four 35-ton guns and five 24-pound howitzers. The christening was performed by Lady Alice Wood, Lady Mordaunt is now, according to the London correspondent of the ' Manchester Guardian,' , and has been for some time, an inmate of Dr Tutete private, asylum at . Hammersmith, and her insanity has taken such a violent form that strong precautionary methods have to be adopted in order to prevent her destroying her' clothing. Austria" and, above all, Hungary have of late become a recruiting ground for.horses for all .the armies on the Continent. Italy, Germany, ' Turkey*- and last year even Spain, imported them in large numbers. From Hungary alone some 150,000 were exported last year, excellent light cavalry, horses ; while from Austria, and especially Bohemia, half as many more stronger animals were taken away. Cambridge, in so far as it is a mathematical University pure an^ simple, has no part in the general life '--of the nation. Genius is, of course, an exception tb every rule ; "and here and there we have a man with a strong mathematical bent, who takes a high Wrangler's degree as a matter, of coarse, and 'afterwards becomes a judge, or a great physician, or a Cabinet Minister.- Such instances, however, are few and far between ; and, as a rule, the man who seriously thinks of being Senior Wrangler had better make' up his mind to -finally fix his ambition in life on that point.- — ' Examiner.' General Garibaldi has written a letter to Mr James Gordon Bennett, of the - New York Herald,' thanking him for the assistance given by that journal to the scheme for the improvement of the Tiber. In a note accompanying the letter Garibaldi says: — ■'" Tell your fellow-citizens- that I am proud to be one ot them, and that whatever may be done by the generous people of the New World, and by our Italians residing there, will always merit the gratitude of all, because the Rome of the future ought to be the cradle of the brotherhood of the peoples.-' From a catalogue published by M. Otto Lorenz, we see that 754 periodicals are published in Paris. Theology can boast of about 53 ; law, 63 ; geography and history, 10-; amusing literature, 56 ; public instruction and education, 25 ; literature, philosophy, ■philology, ethnography, and bibliography, 53 ; ; painting, 11; photography, 2; architecture, 8 ; music, 17; theatres, 8 ; fashion, 61 ; technology, 78 ; medicine and chemistry, 69; other sciences', 47 ; military matters and the navy, 23; agriculture, 18 ; and horsemanship, 12. There are 19 miscellaneous journals, 37 daily .political papers, and 11 political reviews. — 'Athenaeum/ A national conference was held in Dublin City Hall to consider the best means of celebrating O-Connell centenary on August 6th. The Lord Mayor, who presided, said that though the statue by the late Mr Foley could not be ready this year, the programme had been arranged for the celebration of the hundredth birthday of the Liberator by a grand procession, a banquet, and religious ceremonials, in which it was expected that Roman Catholic prelates from Germany, Italy, the West and East, would attend. Resolutions were adopted appointing a committee for directing measures for a national subscription and the arrangement of details. Some rather startling proofs of the progress of Ritualism in London and the suburbs may be gathered from "Mackeson's Guide." It appears from the data. given by this publication that Eucharistic vestments are now worn in 36 churches against 30 in 1874, incense is burnt in 17 churches against 14 last year, and alter candles for ceremonial purposes in 53 as against 3Q churches. Considering that the year is yet young, and that Easter is the period usually ohosen for the adoption of Eucharistic vestments or other indications of " advanced " views by clergymen disposed to make the change, the increase noted at'present probably bears little ■comparison to that which 1875 is destined to witness, .at least up to the fateful month of July, wlien the Act for the Regulation of Public Worship comes into force. The birth and death, of a miraculous child is reported from Saarlouis. The mother had just been confined, the midwife was holding' forth garrulously on ;the " blessed little creature," and the friends were cong-ratulating the father, on his luck, when somebody asked what time it was. Judge of the surprise of all on hearing* . the new-1-orn babe reply distinctly, •- Two o'clock !" 'But this was nothing to what followed. The company were looking on the infant with speechless wonder and dis7may, when it opened its eyes and said, .-" I have been sent into the world to ;tell you that 1875 will be a good year, jbut that 1876 '-will bezryeaviof . bleed." j Having uttered this prophecy, it turned ion its side and expired; aged half-an-ihour. The good people of Saarjouis, awe are told, have been quite'' upset by jthe miraculous utterance of the preco- ; cious phTophet.

7~XTire, Jbrok^7- eu^in" the 7Ajdyo > rates Library,. Sinfi^f r^>v'@4^M^(^S > r-^^. valuable 'collection, 10^000 volumes were destroyed.' v ' - A calamitous ffood . is reported from Pensylvania. Portions of railway "and some factories were submerged, and telegraph "stations were destroyed. About 15,000 operatives are rendered homeless. Mr Anthony Trollope spent a fortnight in Ceylon. He visited the principle coffee districts, and was the guest ot his Excellency Governor Gregory at the Mountain Sanatorium, J>ie\vram Ellia, when the Tynkham sports were being held. He leaves for Australia by the mail. Mr' Trollope has been reading up about 'v Ceylon; and closely observing the evidence of its prosperity. The" annual rate of mortality per 1000, according to the most recent weekly return, in Calcutta was 31, Bombay 36, Madras 43, Paris 29, Brussels 31, Amsterdam 39, Rotterdam 42, the Hague 39, Copenhagen 35, Christiania 24> Berlin 34,. -Hamburgh 37, Breslau 32, Vienna 33, Rome 45, Naples 44, Turin 37, Alexandria 39, Brooklyn 23, and Philadelphia 24. The St. Peters Vurg 'Golos' says that the Turkish Government, terrified by the rumor of a secret understanding between Servia, Roumania, and Greece, is actively assisting the Jesuits in converting the Bulgarians to Roman Catholicism. The Jesuits, with the help of the Polish emigrants abounding in Turkey, are believed' to have already converted some hundred thousand Bulgarians, Agencies for convertion have been opened in all the larger towns of the province. Archbishop Manning is the eighth Englishman who has been advanced to the ratt&->of a. Cardinal since the Reformation. His predecessors in that honor have been Bishop Fisher (who, however, never actually received the ;hat designed for him), Cardinal Pole. 'Cardinal Howard, Cardinal Allen, Cardinal Acton, Cardinal Weld, and Cardinal Wiseman, Dr|, Manning'fr.inimeJdiate predecessor in the (titularMArchibishopric of Westminster. A '. The Chinese occasionally betray a ifiendish ingenuity in their mode of ; committing capital crimes. Recently lone of the native newspapers in Shanghai reported that the body of a woman jhad been found, crucified on a shutter :or doorway, floating in the river outiside Woosung. The head of a man ; was attached to the waist of the wo- ; man's body, and both were taken to the i district city of Paoshan. The circumstances of this crime have not been discovered:, but it is conjectured that the poor crucified wretch had been faithless, and that this revolting revenge had been taken by the injured husband and ' : his friends. Hundreds of people recently assembled near Aider-shot, to witness a cricket match between 22 woman, married and single. The married included- one ; old woman of 60 years ,of age, who, | while batting, received, a. severe, blow on the face with the ball,, and had te retire . rather precipitately. On the unmarried side 13 runs (the highest) were scored iin oneinnings ; one woman made twelve for the other side. At a former match, this being the return, one woman scored over 40 runs. The annual return by the Marine Department of the Board of Trade of the numbers of persons who left the United Kingdom in the year 187 i has been issued^ by the Board of Trade. The total number was 241,014 in 1874, against 310,612 in 1873. Of these ! 116,490 were English, 20,286 Scotch, 60,496 Irish, 38,465 foreigners, and 5277 not distinguished. There went to the United States 56,388 English, 9250 Scotch, 48,136 Irish, 30,185 foreigners, and 4202 not distinguished ; to the North American Colonies 15,224 English, 2766 Scotch, 2738 Irish, 4704 foreigners, and 18 not distinguished; to the Australian Colonies, 36,555 English, 7050 Scotch, 8976 Irish, 1322 foreigners, and 55 not distinguished ; to all other places 8323 English, 1220 Scotch, 646 Irish, 2254 foreigners, and 1002 not distinguished. Of the total number of passengers in 1874, 39,251 were cabin, and 201,763 steerage, but the returns do not distinguish between bona fide settlers and ordinary travellers. Mr Alfred Austin sends the following letter, which he dates from the " Plains of Shinar," to the < Pall Mall Gazette ': — " You ask me a question in the name of those whom you not inaptly call ■ c perfunctory reviewers,' as -to the real inner meaning of ' The Tower of Babel,' concerning which they seem to be much exercised in their minds. Here is the answer: — Arau, the Apostle of Force and Materialism, is, as a matter oi :course, the ''Pall Mall Gazette '; Eber, iSidon, Karah, Peleg, the exponents of various vulgar or transcendental opinions, are equally obviously the * Fortnightly,' • Spectator,' « Guardian,' < Tablet/ - Saturday Review,' ' Examiner,' :and 'Nonconformist' Each has its infallible prescription for storming .heaven or regulating es-rth, and what a clatter you make among you ? AfraeT ■and Noema are any two loving and- ; seeing ■ souls .' ; who contemplate ..with: sublime indifference your . endless controversies', your Babel of tongues, and your common .confusion. _Ypu siiy. •people expected '■ to -find in ' Tbk T6wW j jof Babel' a, -sturdy satire. Are you .quite sure, O perfunctory reviewers, jyou have not got one?, r * ; .•■*, Quid ridetis ? " ' Be vehis omnibus fabulajnarratur.'"

; Quite a no^y^swmb^efis'n^^bn foot .in,. Melbourne, .r r s%i' r^^. , jro^A-r.an.4 : Country,^ in the ' shape qf sixpences^ which have all the appearance of half- ; sovereigns; A would-be prepetrator of of this fraud was detected, and has revealed tbe following strange facts: — '■ If a clean sixpence is put ' into the mouth while smoking a pipe, it will^in the course of an hour or so, acquire { ' a golden tinge, which by gaslight [is easily mistaken for the genuine article.'* The tram-road of Van Etten, Kaiser, and Co., manufacturers of rough and dressed pine, lumber and lath, at Pinconning Bay, county Mich., is eleven miles long, and is thus described by the firm : " There are, first, logs laid crosswise, about five or six feet apart. The logs are from 12 to 16 feet in lenght. Then gains are cut in the logs' ■.and': flattened timber laid in' these gains; this prevents the road from spreading. Our rails are of hard maple. Before spiking the rails down we put. ties across the stringers, notching the stringer enough to let the tie down even. j-viththe top of it, and spike the tie fast before the rail is laid on. The ties are of 2-inch hemlock plank, from 6 -to 12 inches wide; this prevents the stringer from rolling. We /would re-. commend any one who wishes to build a road on the above system to build it as straight as possible. We havo some curves in our road, and we have been obliged to dispense with wooden rails on the curves, and lay down iron-. We Operate our road with locomotive power* ;Cost of bulding, without rolling stock is about. L4OO per mile, The strin gers lare made from hard wood, flattened on two sides to 10 inches in thickness. ! The * Spectator ' writes : — " Mr Sanikey's main power is in his. solo-singing, jwhich is full r of sweetness, and genuing , jtenderness of tone. On Tuesday night jhis singing" of :the' hymn, -'Jesus qfiNajzereth passeth by,' and on Wednesday, lat Exeter Hall, of that on ' The Lost [Sheep/ especially the feeling with jwhich he sang, * Out in the desert Ha. jheard its cry, sick and helpless ready, to die,' were remarkable, were distinguised :by a delicacy and serenity of expression that could hardly be to much admired." : ;The - Saturday Review' says of the same performances:*-^'' The quality of jMr Sankey's voice and his style of singing are questions of taste on which there, will be. great difierence. of. opinion,' There can be no doubf, however,, that \ his art is of a. trickey kind, and aims at producing effect by sudden alternations between high and low. His, favourite, note is one in the back of his throat, . with which he pours forth a prolonged" and hallow O ! O ! O ! something between a howl and wail; which malr.es one think of a melodious costermonger crying his cabbages. Whether it is pure art or not, it appears to be agreeable to the majority of the audience, and it may be thought that that is enough."