MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS

Wellington Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 1960, 22 September 1863, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS

A Russian General's .Amenities. — The ' Times' correspond en tat Paris says.- -A letter from - Cracow of tbe 9th inst states tli nt among tbe Russian officers remarkable for their cruelty is * General Count Toll. Having been appointed, * to guard the railway, lie arrogates to himself the ri<jht of life and death over all the inltabi- ! tants of the districts through which the railway passes. Having lately occupied the town of ! Ostrow, in the distiict of Ostroleuka, with two 1 companies infantry aud 100 Cossacks, he searched all the houses, and threatened the women ■ and children that if they were discovered to * '' bold communication with the insurgents they 1 should be flogged to death. He sent for a ' wealthy Israelite named Beruk, and safd to him 1 " You are the owner of a house in this town?" 1 " Yes," replied Berck. "Is there not a Tailor 1 living in that house?" "Yes." "How is he employed ?" screamed tbe General, clinching his fists at the same time. "He lives by his labour." " You are a liar ;he makes uniforms for the insurgents." " I have not seen him, and I cannot tell anything affout that." "Well," replied the General, "to teach you to know henceforth wbat yonr tenants are doing you shall receire 200 lashes." The General's decree was punctually executed by the Cossacks, and the unfortunate Berck died two hours afterwards. The General set out the following day ' for the town of Brok, and on his passage he commanded that the State forests should be set J on fire. By his command 750 acres of fullgrown timber were consumed. The insurrection is very active in the distiict of Ostrolenka, 1 although the insurgents have lost there some of ' tlieir most valiant chiefs, and among- them Mystkowski, Fincinski, Ostastszewski, and Podbielski, who weie all killed at the battle of JMalkinia. In the last engagement whicii took place in that district Col. Frytche, the successor of Mystkowski, was likewise killed. The insurgents in the district of Ojjteoieuka have since been reinforced, and they afe again ready for action uuder fresh leaders. Tho women who were imprisoned at Warsaw for singing- religious hymns to the national air have been set at liberty, after having been flogged. A Miser's Career. — The extraordinary circumstances connected with the death of an old miser named Crepiu, which took place on the llth August, 1858, in Lyons, are still undoubtedly fresh in the recollection of many of our readers. Crepin was an old bonhomme, from whom nobody would have withheld a penny in the streets if he had asked for it, and wbo, if it had been offered, would certainly not have refused it. Having retired from business with about 100,000 f., which he had accumulated in the space of a few year:;, thanks to lucky aud certain speculations of every description, he raised that sum to a fortune considerably exceeding a million. But lhe groat source of his riches was his sordid avarice, which even iuUuvvJ Lim iv irai UUWII DIIIS posted up on the streets in order to write his receipts upon the back, instead of making use of stamps, as the law exacts ; and yet these receipts represented the rent of several houses wliicli brought him in a decent income. Dressed in a coat wliich a supurb burnish of grease and diil rendered proof against all weathers, and his head sheltered from sun and rain by a hat that outlived the storm of the first revolution, one would have taken him for a fugitive pauper But eveiy one residing in his quarter knew that he was the millionaire Crepin, possessing supurb mansions in the best quarteis of Lyons, the rent of which he made hit tenants pay nine months in advance, while a'l were expelied — lhe clause was inserted in tlie agreement in every case*- who required any repairs to he done. But the deity who caused ihe destruction of Troy also cause that of pere Crepin ; not that tbe wronged and artful deity ever succeeded in loosening his purse-strings, but he gifted a cunning woman with charms sufficient to induce Crepin tv live with her and her husband, and that woman eventually managed so completely to wind him round her finger that in his will he made her his heiress. Finding, however, tbat he did not die soon enough, she had recourse to poison in order to hasten the opening of the will, which made her twice a millionaire. The indiscretion of an accomplice, who did not think himself sufficiently well paid, let the public know the horrible -crime committed upon the person of the deceased, and all the turpitude which had preceded it. Since the Dumollard case the public has not been so impressed by any judicial drama, and it is the tribunal of Lyons which has the honor of finally condemning the guilty trio, namely, the man Favre and his wife-- (the inheritors of Old Crepiu's great fortune) — the woman to 12 years, and thehu&band — a very old man — to Aye years hard labor, and the accomplice, Claude Chozcl, aiso to 12 years. After the tiial the propel ly was of course sequestered. But ou the day the verdict was given the heiis of Crepin commenced proceedings in the civil court to have the will revoked, and M. Pollaky is now conducting the inquiries on their behalf as next of kin of old Crepin in England with a view to support these proceedings in the Justice Civile (Common Pleas) which is about to give its decision on the aflair of old Crepin, by application en declaration d'indignite made by the legitimate heirs of the late Mr Crepin against the convict Favre, according to the provisions of tho article 727 of the Code Napoleon, at the First Chamber of the Tribunal Civile of Lyons. American Ikon-clads. — In the engagement at Charleston three types of iron-clads were represented — the Monitors, with their laminated armour; the Keokuk, witb her sandwich armour of iron and wood ; and tiie high sided Ironsides with her solid plate. The Monitors received little damage, the Keokuk was pierced through and through, as if it had been pasteboard, and the plates of the Ironsides were cracked. The Ironsides, however, \yas about twice the distance of the Monitors from the forts. — American Paper. Health or the Body should be Preserved. — Good men should be attentive to their health, and keep the body as much as possible the fit medium of mind. A man inny be a good performer, but what can he do with a disordered instilment ? The inhabitant may have good eyes but how can he see accurately through a soiled window ? Keep therefore the glass clean, and the organ in tune. We do not wisli you to be fanciful — to live in the shop of an apothecary — or have a medical student always in attendance. But he soberly and prudently attentive to the budy. Rise early. Take proper exercise. Observe and avoid whatever disagrees with your system. Never overburden nature. Be moderate in your eating" and drinking— l the boand slays more than the sword \—Jay