OLLA PODRIDA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 779, 4 February 1887, Page 6

OLLA PODRIDA.

A SAVAGE BIRD

A remarkable account of an attack by an eagle was. telegraphed from °h l cago_ last DeDecember to a San Francisco paper .It says.The Times’ Minneapolis special of Dfeoemberß aavs • W. F. Carr and Samuel Chute, engaged in surveying near this city, were atfacked this afternoon by a lar i e “BjeThe bird dropped down, knocked Chutes cap from his head, and assailed him with „„L- fnrv. The man caught up a crowbar, aniCSpQ&i moment defended himself in the nrSiiffifenibat, calling for his companion. up, the savage bird turned upon him by the leg, thre.y him downSSftre his trousers, and sinking his talon-liSi) the fatty part of his leg, inflicted aseriouTwound. The bird then mounted to the body of the unfortunate man and seemed determined to bear him away but others came up and by their united efforts the bird was captured and securely pinion . It was found that its wings measured nine feet ten inches from tip to tip, and his talous were over four inches long.

THE LANGUAGE OF THE GLOVE. There is always something new under the sun and now it is the glove language, to be used by young people who desire to carry on l conversation without the chaperon or others knowing its meaning. of it as given by an exchange . ies is.said, bv dropping one glove from the right hand into the P left. ‘No ’ by rolling both gloves in the right hand. If you want to say you have become rather indifferent, you take the right hand glove half off. If a gentleman may follow the lady or come and pay her a visit, she strikes her left arm with her glove. ‘I should so much like to be with you, dear, is said by smoothing and polishing slowly and nicely both gloves. If you wish to ask if you are still loved, you put on, finger by finger, half the left-hand glove. To say the thread-bare, old and yet ever new I love thee.’ you let both gloves f*U. on a sudden and together, from the right hand to the left one. To show people he or that foppish old governor ’ is watching you, you twist delicately the glove fingers round your thumb. If you are in a quarrelling mood you make a neat and long cross with both gloves and lay it on your lap. And so on. PAPER-MAXNG IN TONQUIN. The principal material used in the manufacture of paper used in Tonqmn is the paper tree, which grows in abundance on the mountains in the environs of Sontay. lhe dried bark is macerated and then rubbed up in mortars, so as to reduce it to a fine pulp, the latter being extended with a certain nuantitv of water, in order to form a clear paste, which is sized with an infusion made from the shavings of the gomao tree. The paper is manufactured sheet by sheet, by means of delicate bamboo screens which the operators alternately din into the paste and take out therewith a thin sheet of paper, which is deposited upon a board. At the end of the day these sheets are put into a press in order to extract the moisture from them, and are then dried by placing them, one by one, upon a hot masonry wall, after which they are put up in packages and trimmed Each operative makes 1000 sheets a day. The thickness of the paper depends on the’ consistency of the paste, and at one establishment as many as 80,000 sheets are capable of being produced daily. RAILWAY UPPER, MIDDLE, AND LOWER CLASSES. The continuous decline of the first and second class traffic will probably before long force on a revolution in railway management A year auo statistics were published showing that 90*8 of all the passengers m Great Britain travelled third class It is already evident that a considerable further increase in the percentage has taken.place since then. The Great Northern chairman mentions that on his line it has risen from 89'5 to 91 per cent; while the Great Western chairman congratulates his shareholders that, though the number of third-class passengers had risen nearly half 3 million, the first and second only show a falling off of 60 000. Among other principal lines, the percentage on the Lancashire and Yorkshire is 92.3, cn the Midland 95, and on the North Eastern 96'5. Even on the North Western, which has always had a first and second-claas traffic considerably larger than its neighbors, it is now about S9’s. Managers are hardly likely, in the face of these figures, to continue to run two classes of carriages for about one-twelfth of the whole travelling public Of the two courses open to them, abolition of second-class carriages and a sweeping reduction of first and second-class faros, they are more likely to choose the former The exnerience of the Midland Company shows that fares can be brought down to a very low point without falling the first class carriages. That there is such a point, however, will be evident to everyone who remembers how crowded the second class carriages are in Germany, afar poorer and less luxurious country than England. i:

THE INDIAN RAILWAY SYSTEMSome idea of the value and importance of the Indian railway system, with its connected steamer services, may be gathered from the fabt that the capital sunk m these undertakings is estimated at £161,917,800. Of this large sum the Government have spent directly £82,255,391. The capital outlay of guaranteed companies, stands at £7l 032,838, and that of the * assisted ’ companies at £3,808,232. Native States—the principal in this respect being Mysore and Hyderabad—are responsible for an outlay cf £4.821,379 on lines within their territories. When the construction of railways in India was first mooted there were some who warned the projectors that caste prejudices would prevent the natives from using them ; hut it is an astonishing fact that last year Indian railways carried no fewer than 80 834 779 passengers, who paid for their fares £5,538,126. In 1884 the number of passengers was 73.815,119, and their freight was valued at £5,070,754. The chief income of most railways, however, is derived from its goods traffic, and in this respect the In-

dian lines yield more than double the receipts obtained from passengers. No less than 18,925,385 tons of goods were carried, the receipts from which amounted to £11,915,375. Both the tonnage transported and the return show au increase over the figures of the previous year, which was credited with a goods traffic of 1G,CG3,007 tons, and receipts therefrom amounting to L 10,565,941. Colonies and India.

SUBMARINE NAVIGATION. - The success of Prof. Tuck's torpedo boat Peacemaker has solved the problem of submarine navigation and encourages her inventor to believe that he can yet build large submarine steamers fitted up to cross the Straits of Dover and other tempestuous channels, thus insuring perfectly qeiet passage across, as twenty feet below the surface wave motion ceases. He claims that, to avoid the horrors of seasickness, the great majority of passengers would prefer the route under water in a powerful steamer, with luxuriously upholstered saloons and cabins brilliantly lit with electric lights, to the present steamers, with the inseparable accompaniment of seasickness. MAN. What a queer combination of cheek and perversity, . ~ Insolence, pride, gab, impudence, vanity, Jealousy, hate, scorn, baseness, insanity, Honor, truth, wisdom, virtue, urbanity, Is that whimsical biped called man ! Who can fathom the depths of hia innate depravity? To-day tie’s all gaiety, to-morrow all gravity ; For blowing his own horn lie lias a propensity, . - Even under clouds of singular density, O ! mystical clay-bank called man ! He can be the source of beastly brutality, Be modest and meek, or indulge in hilarity, Don airs and graces of saintly totality, Or equal the devil iu daring rascality, This curious enigma called man. —Boston Record. GERMAN FOLICY IN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. Frederick the Great, as is well known, once said tnat if he were King of France he would take care that not a single cannon shot was fired in Europe without his will. Frederick was not only a great king, but lie was also a mighty mocker, and he certainly would have had no objection to France taking his political hint literally. Napoleon 111, too, actually sought to play the role indicated by Frederick the Great, and it is known what fruits he reaped from trying to do so. Now, again, moreover, from various sides attempts are being made to saddle Germany with the office of European arbiter, in accordance with Frederick’s programme for France. But in no quarter is this offer so energetically repelled as by the responsible director of German policy. It is not in the power, as it is not the duty, of Germany to dictate laws to Europe, and force us into tho midst of all European quarrels. We do not, therefore, need to be free with our judgment as to the doings of the other States. . But our political duty consists in accurately recognizing and sharply defining our vital interests, and in resisting every temptation to pursue a policy of adventure, like that of Napoleon lll.—National Zeitung of Berlin. A HORRIBLE CRIME. Among our recent English exchanges we found the following account, scarcely credible, of deliberate matricide. It came from France, a country prominent for atrocities of the kind A shocking case of murder has been tried thi3 week before the assizes of the Loire et Cher, France. A widow, named Lebon, 70 years old, who was living with a married daughter named Thomas, suddenly died, and her eons, in making the legal declaration of her death, averred that she had fallen into thejfire while alone in the house. Suspicion was, however, aroused, as it was notorious that Madame Lebon had been badly treated by her relatives. She had a small sum in savings, amounting to about £32, and her daughter and son-in-law, as well as her two sons, did their best to obtain possession of the money. They first endeavored to get her into an asylum for the insane ; failing in this, they tried to bring about her death by brutal treatment, and finally burned her alive. Her two sons confessed to the gendarmes after a child, who had witnessed it, had given his testimony. The child in question, a boy of eight, son of one of the accused persons, gave a most realistic account of * the teriible scene. ‘While we were at dinner,’ he said, ‘ mamma cried out all at once, “We must get rid of the old hag.” Then my Uncle Alexandre went to grandmamma’s bed and seized her by the head ; my Uncle Alexis took her by the legs, and the two carried her to the fire which had been kindled by papa and mamma. My grandmamma cried a good deal at first, but by degrees her voice grew weaker, until I heard no more.’ When the gendarmes arrived in the place they found nothing but the carbonised head, legs, and thighs of the victim. Around the head and on the face were the incinerated remains of the woman's right arm and hand, which seemed to have been used in a last effort to protect the face from the scorching flames. The unfortunate woman was left burning for hours, her murderers looking on. Her son-in-law actually pressed her down amid the flames by stamping on her with his wooden shoes, and his wife supplied him with straw from the bed, which he ignited and fed the faggots therewith. The chemical expert who examined the remains said some mineral oil had also been thrown on the body to accelerate combustion, it appears that the two sons, having assisted in the burning of their mother, went to the priest after they had given notice of the death at the mayor s office. They asked to be confessed, but as the priest had no time he blessed for them, at their own request, a scapular, or riband of the Virgin Mary,-which they divided and wore. They returned to the priest after a few moments, and he had to hear their confession of the murder. The same cur 6 also heard the confession of the victim’s daughter in the evening, but he was of course, unable

to make the perpetrators of tho deed known to justice, and could only inflict heavy penances. The Court of Assize sentenced the woman Thomas and her husband to death, and the two brothers to penal servitude.

The curious observation that friction fails to produce heat in mefcalsunder the influence of magnets is now being discussed. Metals so effected have been turned in a lathe quite Raw mutton can be safely eaten, according to M. Chatin of Paris, since it never contains parasites, at least in dangerous amount. It is a safer raw food, therefore, than beef or pork. . Dr Finlay, a physiologist living m the West Indies, reports that the germs of yellow fever and other contagious diseases are carried by mosquitoes, and the rapid spread of such calamities is thus accounted for—m his opinion. „ , , . . , In Birmingham, England, power is to be distributed by compressed air. It will be sent through mains at a pressure of fortyfive pounds to the square inch, and is intended to take the place of steam for driving engines. , , , . Dr Zeiss’ microscopes and lenses and implements for microscopic research have made his name great among medical and scientific men. He resides in Jena, and lately put into its box, with his own hands, the ten thousandth instrument he has made. . Down draughts in chimneys may be obviated by a number of grooved rings placed over each other with spaces between, and made of metal or clay. The grooves are so shaped than when the wind strikes them it is so deflected that it draws air up tne chimFollowing the example of French astron omers, Herr von Gothard, Director of the Observatory oE Hereny, in Hungary, has succeeded in revealing by photography, the existence of a star of the eighth or ninth magnitude, which hitherto could not be seen even with the best telescope.