The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-03-21
FOREIGN MISCELLANY

In the village of Celles, in France situated upon
the banks of the Loire, is a small inn entirely so-
lated from any other habitatiOn, and good quar-
ter of mile from the town. The proprietor Of the
inn, and OF the field which extends before it. after
having made useless attempts to prevent the iaving
OF railway his house offered at last to under
take h1mset at his own expense the necessary work
OF digging up the earth and making the embank-
ment upon his ground. The ior his persist
ent efforts, although not at first understood, WERE
however, soon brought to light. No sooner was
the spade put to the earth than the orkmen dis
covered first dead BODY then second third
and finally one at the foot of everv tree growingin
the field. This startling discovery that revealed
all at once many crimes, raised the public voice
and provoked investigation; the innkeeper
upon whom rested old suspicious, and old stories Of
travellers having suddenly disappeared, fegned
great lndignation and at once denounced his accu-
sers But his daughter, who had hung herself
few months beore.wthout any apparent cause; the
strange rapidity of his fortune; the many efforts
made to prevent the construction of the road
through the fatal field; the condition of the bodies
discovered, some evidently quite recently buried
and bearing upon them the proofs of the crime
committed; all these circumstances combined to
lead to the immediate arrest of the innkeeper and
his family. 1t appears that for than thirty
years the more common sort Of travellers, and eS-
peclally peders, in the habit of stopping at
this inn, attracted to it by the chcapness of the
price; and they had then, it would seem, been as
sassinated in the night and espoiled Of their mo
nev. 1t is truly an atrociOus discovery, and one
which has excited the greatest horror and fear
throughout the neighborhood.-Traa from,
Il Eco P Ealia.
Guido Reni's ''Madonna'' has been restored to
the church from which it was stolen in 1855. The
Pope had promised II coo crowns for its recovery
The painting was found in London, where it was
offered for sale to Messrs Merghi and Bassi by a
stranger. 1t was sent back to Bologna but not
until after the Pope had lost that CITY, so that the
1000 crowns ought to be paid by N. Farin
In hurricane on the 9th ult., in the South of
France, railway train which left Perpignan for
ar m nnnn ntpng ngrtV,c htth ,-,.1y,.
near Salce. The passenger carriages, with the ex-
cepton of one, were thrown into a deep raYire
but nobody killed. Twenty persons were
wounded, but none dangerously. All the electric
telegraph posts and wires on the line were swept
away by the wind.
Recent eXperimentsi in Germany show that when
the thickness OF ice is an inch and a halt, it will
just bear the weight of a single man: when three
inches and half it will bear detachmcns OF infant
ry with their ranks rather wide apart; five and
one-tifth inches will bear IL Founders; eight inches
will bear a Founders; and thickness Of II inches
will bear almost any weight.
An English traveller describes the amazeme Mt
with which wild Arab chief watched in q tent
near Cairo, the photographing of the Great Sphinx.
When the features of the sculpture were revealed
on the glass, the Arab turned to his companion,
and pointing at the photographer, exclaimed: Gle
is the eldest son of Satan.'
SUBSTITUTE FOR CorToN.-The annual report of
the Secretary of State on Foreign Commerce for
1859, contains despatch from +. S. Claxton, our
economical
use in Russia of a tibrOus plant substitute for
cotton in the manufacture OF cloths. This
plant, whose botanical name is Asclepids Comuti,
he states, is said to be a native of Canada to grow
wild and without cultivation, and, after undergoing
process, as yet secret, to be in every way suit
able for manufacturing purposes. The sample of
the cloth which have seen, and of which a Speci-
men is promised me, compared tavorably with cot
ton goods, Nos. so to 60 ''picks'' to the inch.
1t is represented as a hardy plant withstanding
well the climate of this latitude, and is propagatad
from a seed sown in May and maturing in Septem-
Der; it is then cut and dried in the open air, or wa
terrotted, like hemp. to be afterwards broken and
| husked in the same manner.
Its subsequent treatment is the secret of the in
ventOr, who has the sole privilege in Russia Tor ten
years. which he has disposed of at a large price,
and which he proposes securing by patent in Eng
land and France. The estimate put upon the value
of this process for the United States is extravagant
considering the price of cotton and its probable
depreciation, in case all tha; is claimed for the
invention is realized. | think the secret may be
purchased by little management for two or two
thousand five hundred roubles.
The inventor admits thar to manufacture wholly
from this material will involve some changes in the
"speeders and apinners," but asserts that mixed in
equal proportions with ordinary cotton change
will be necessary. He estimates the COST all labor,
&C., included, at four copecks per ID one hun
dred copecks equals roube, one rouble seventy
five cents.