Miscellaneous.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 179, 8 December 1868, Page 3

Miscellaneous.

« The papers announce that the last section of the great lint* of rail from Paris to the' Mediterranean, which is to connect the French frontier with Italy, will be open to the public on the s ;h October froui Nice to Monaco. Tbe Friend of India notices a rather mournful breakdown of a native of sterling worth. The Hon. Prosunno Coomar Tagoro — a man distinguished by a depth of attain ments rarely to be met with among natives — the associate of Europeans, the benefactor of colleges and charitable institutions, the patron of Oriental literature — at his death was found to liave bequeathe;! estates yielding an annual income of 16,000 rupees for the service of his family idol. An inhabitant of Granchet (Taan et Garonne) sold his wife and horse lately fur £8. The following were the terms of the sale: — The price to be paid in two payments. The price of the horse is £6, of the wife £2. The wife to retain his bridle. The notary of the place having refused to be connected with the affair, the partiea entered a cabaret anl drew the contract themselves, which is signed by four witnessc**. )( At a late meeting of Paris workmen, M. Gagne, an advocate, declared that only one remedy exists for the famine which prevails in Algeria, namely, cannibalism, nothing else. This gentleman proposes that persons of a philanthropic spirit should give themselves up for the good of uil. He himself wished to become the first victim ; and he stated that he had taken the train to proceed to Algeria and offer himself to the starving Arabs. But, having gone as far as Cbarenton, he beg^n to think that the representatives of the nation ought to make the first sacufices, and he accordingly wrote to the various deputies, but they have not yet returned any answer. At a banquet ju*t given at St Remy (Bouches-du Ithone), a bottle of wine of the year 1472 was presented by Baron lirisse, the well-known gastronomist, who was one of the guests. According to the account of thia relic given by the donor, 300 nobles from Swabia, Bavaria, Switzerland, and other countries accepted, in 1576, an invitation to some archery fetes at Stv«_burg. The vintage of the first-named year was then held in higb veneratio:!. and a certain quantity of the produce w s procured for the cup of honour handed to the illustrious strangers. A por tion remained, and was consigned to the cellars of tbe hospital to be preserved, and has since been carefully trca____*d_____—_

certain delicate points." The suit itself supplies an illustration of one of these " delicate points." The Marquis de Galiffet, a wellknown member of the French Jockey Club, had two accounts with his goldsmith, Mr Harry Emmanuel. In one was entered the jewellery supplied to his wife, and in the other the jewellery which, in the significant words of Gmlignani, " was not supplied to his wife," but presumably to some other person or persons. The Marquis paid his wife's bill, but seems to have felt some reluctance to commit himself in regard to the other account. The Court, however, decided against him, and he had to pay for all the goods delivered on his behalf, whether at home or elsewhere.— Patf Mall Gazette. The "own correspondent-*' of the Times at Athens, dilating upon the decadence of Greece, observes that nowadays a cart cannot pass along the road from Pylos to Sparta where a carriage could travel in the days of Homer, and that a mule now climbs with difficulty over rocks through which Pyrrhus led a train of elephants. Even vegetation has withered ar.d decayed. Mountains once covered with forests are now bare rocks. Water is sought for in v«in in the channels of streams immortalised in song. The oak tree has disappeared, nnd the foreßts of chestnut are yearly diminishing in extent. The quantity of valonia is decreasing, and the fruit of thejchestnut trees has already degenerated to such a degree as to be a mere ball of fibre. The apples of Lombotiua, once an article of export, are now almost unfit for sale in the domestic market. The best land remains uncultivated., because it requires an expenditure of capital to drain it in winter, to irrigate it in summer, and to clear it from weeds and grapes, the roots of which form Gordian knots three feet below the surface of the soil . The vegetable earth that enabled ancient Greece to support millions where thousands now starve bus been washed into the sea or formed into marvellous swamps since the terraces by which it was supported on the mountains' sides have been allowed to crumble into decay.