MISCELLANEOUS EXTEACTS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXI, Issue 2343, 3 April 1866, Page 6

MISCELLANEOUS EXTEACTS.

4,732,200 gallons of milk arc annually consumed by the population of London. Tho Americans have given us a new word. They head their accounts of railway accidents ominously, " Viatricide," in tho New York papers. A now University Club is talked of in London, to be open to the members of tho Universities of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Its title is to bo " The Universities Union Club." A sum of £120 has been collected for the purpose of erecting a monument to Tom Sayers. The Marquis of Caermarthen's and the Hon. Qt. B. Bruco's names appear in the list for £5 each. Sir Robert Peel, having declined a peerage, ha 8 been made a Grand Cross of the Order of tho Bath. 121,046 emigrants sailed from the Mersey last, year, against 125,415 in 1864. ] G-o to Japan (says the New York Sun,) you can buy a first-class house for $30, and live com- . fortably iji it for 2c. a day. Servants charge 50c. j a month, and a horse and groom may bo had for the same time for §1 50 c. According to the Conrriev des Bias Unis, Brigham Young, the President of tho Mormon Community, has 185 wive? ; Silas Roeder, his second in command, 129 ; Jeromiah Stern, 111 ; Job Billison, 93 ; Julius Hoffman, 92 ; Grideon Ruffin, 8-1' ; and Habaknk Oroatzy, 81. Young lias had 245 children, of whom 213 are living. A letter was found a few days ago in' one of the post-office boxes in Vienna addressed to "The Infant Jesus in Heaven, to bo given to St. Peter." It contained the prayer of a child to have a great number of presents at Christmas. . In Iho colony of Victoria there were, on tho 30th of Juno last, .in a population estimated at 616,fiG3, 17,918 depositors in savings-banks, and the aggregate amount due to them was £719,100. The oldest reigning monarch in the world at the present time is the Landgrave of Honibour?, aged 82. The next oldest are the Pope, aged 72, and tho King of Prussia, aged 68. Tho youngest sovereigns aye the Emperor of China, aged 11, and tho King of Greece, aged 20. A company lins been organised in Sau Francisco with a capital of $30,000,000, to construct a railway of 720 miles in length, from that city to tho California State line, thoro to connect with the contemplated road to tho Mississipi River. A school was recently opened near Zanesville, Ohio, where burglary, pocket-picking, tricks in gambling, counterfeiting, &c, woro actually taught Quite a class of young boys had been organised when the existence of the " institution" was at once discovered and terminated. Aimy Reductions. — The Arm// and Navtj Gazelle of Saturday contains an announcement of two compnnies of each battalion of the Lino will be reduced in the ensuing year. Wo have reason to believe that our military contemporary's statement is exaggerated, or at least premature., All that is yet talked of U the reduction of two companies in oach of the battalions sorving^in tho United Kingdom, and hot more than 50 regiments would bo affected by this step. Indeed, we have reason to think that tho whole question of military reductions is :is yet only under tho consideration of the Government, although naturally, upon a subject of such deep consequence to the army, much professional gossip is afloat upon the course which may be adopted. — Globe. The Death of Lord Edward St. Matte. — We take from the Times of India, an account of the melancholy death of Lord Edward St. Maur, of which wo had previously hoard by telegraph. On the l'H.h of December, Lord Edward, with Mr. Shaw Steward, collector of Canara, and some other gentlemen, was engaged in bison stalking, but being in a .jungly district, the party could .(Ot keep close together. Lord E. St. Maur came unexpectedly across a bear, ut which ho fired his pistol, lodging the contents in the breast of the animal. It then attacked him, when drawing a sheathed, stalking-knifo, his lordship thrust it into the bear, inflicting a mortal wound. In tho scuflle, however they had both approached a precipice, over which they fell together. Here the beaters came up and relieved Lord Edward from his dangerous position, tho bear leaving as they approached. He was carried to tho top of tho hill, (about 2000 ft. high) and placed in a temporary shed. He was taken next morning to Yallapoor, but the doctors did not arrive till late the following day. He had been attended, however, by a native hospital assistant, and tho medical gentlemen on their arrival, found that every possible care had been bestowed on him. .The patient appeared at first to bo gradually improving, but on tho 18th an unfavorable change was noticed, and it was found necessary to amputate tho left leg above tho knee. The operation was successfully performed, and a subsequent examination of the limb showed that the doctors were not wrong in their decision. After sinking gradually ibi- some time, Lord Edward died shortly after two o'clock* on (he morning of the 20th. Tho bear it seenia, had been mortally wounded, for it was found dead a day or two after the occurrence. Tho two Shikarees who were with Lord Edward, state that ho showed great presence of mind, courage, and skill in the J encounter. New Yokjc. — We are still, says a New York letter, in the midst of tho highest of high prices. A small house in any decent locality, with not over four bedrooms, cannot be procured in New York to-day for less than £300 a year. Labour is three dols. a day , beof is soiling at Is. Gd. a ! pound, and everything else in proportion. A decent overcoat costs £20. The tendency since the closo of the war ha^bcen, on the whole, upward, instead, as people expected, downward, parti}' owing tv the steady and increasing pressure of taxation, and the scarcity of labour, but above all to the continued swelling of the volume of the currency caused by the weekly issue of fresh paper by the National Banks. Gold remains perfectly steady — one of the most, singular yhunomoiiiv of the period, "because, if it is the superabundance of paper which is affecting prices why should not the price of gold go yip as well as the price of beef ? Thoro is, however, unquestionably an immense deal of speculation based upon the increase of tho currency. In tho West, it has gone to enormous lengths in brcadstiiffs, and so forth, though there are just vow symptoms of a breakdown. Mr. M'Culloch's report caused some indication of a panic amongst the grain and provision dealers in the West. Should' Congress take any decided measures for a contraction of the currency this winter, as no doubt it will, it would aecellcrato the decline, but then the con- i traction itself can scarcely make itself felt, no j mat tor what is done, for a year to come. Rather Personal. — A well-known Yankee I criminal lawyer, who prides himself upon his skill in cross-examining a witness, had an oddlooking genius upon whom to operate. The witness was a shoemaker. " You say, sir, that the prisoner is a thief?" "Yes, sir, cause, why she j confessed it." " And you also swear she bound shoes for you subsequent to the confession ?"' " I do, sir." " Then " — giving a sagacious look at the Court — " we tiro to understand that you employ dishonest people to work for you, even after j their rascalities are known ?" '' Of course ; how else could I get assistance from a lawyer ?" i A Pompous Judo-is Takkn Down — A certain judge was reprimanding an attorney for bringing j small suits into court, and remarked that it would : have been much bettor for all parties had ho persuaded his clients to leave their cases lo tho arbitration of two or three honest mon. " Please your honor," retortod the lawyer, " wo do not i choose to trouble honest men with them."