The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-03-22
eeneraI Items.


Documents sent to Congress show that the gov
eminent psid s22s, 230 for kilograms to and from
the Pacific asst since the completion OF the line
and that the expense Of the trip OF the Miantono
nah TO Europe was Sill 1867, being simply the or
cinaIy expense as cruiser. 31ea
The flute is OF great antiquity. In tomb near
the Great Pyramid, built more than four thousand
years ago, il the representation Of concert Of
vocal and instrumental music. where two harps
pipe, flute and several voices were introduced.
In Nantes. France. not long ago, farmer was
found hanged by his Preside. Suspicion fell upon
his wife; she was arrested, and, when questioned
by the magistrate, made the following confession:
well, in faith, there's not much to be told. Co
ing home last night, / found my husband by the
side OF the fireplace, trying TO hang HIMSELF the
rope was already round his throat. As he had
already told every one that he was determined to
hang himself, / endeavored to assist him by pass
ing the other end of the rope over a rafter. and
pulling as hard as 1 could until he was suspended
in the air." Judge-"You confess. then, that You
sirangled your husband!" Eyes, q little, but not
quite, because he pulled the rope also. Besides,
knew the poor man was tired of his life. was
well aware should be arrested; but before you
send me to prison, beg you will let me attend my
poor husbands funeral" The unfeeling Judge re-
fused the poor widows request. ff
The Paris exhibition buildings have been sold to
a company Of contractors and builders for $780,
600. In this sale the glass was not included, as
il did not belong TO the imperial commission. The
buildings cost s2,40o,O00, half of which was paid
by the country and the other half by the city OF
Paris. A private company, in consideration of
the receipts Of admission, obligated themselves
to spend some 81 600, to beautfy and adorn
the grounds and, in a word, make the building
worthy of the cause TO which ii was appropriated.
This company realized considerable sum from
the enterprise. The influx of foreign gold. to-
gether with many other international, scientific
ard social advantages derived from the great ex-
hbition, has more than fully compensated France
for her expenditure.
In Berlin, at the new House OF Commons of the
North German Parliament, there has recently been
constructed new ventilating apparatus, which,
upon completion, was tested in q curious way.
The three hundred workmen who had been en-.
gagged on the building were provided with cigars
and being shut up in the hall, were told to puff
away. At the end of three hours the therm0me-
ter had risen only one degree, ana the stmos
phere, IL is said, was comparatively pure, not
withstanding the amount Of tobacco that had been
tmoked.
at Adelaide, in Australia, there is an exporter
of Australian birds, who is said to have on hand
at the present time IS goo pairs of she'll parrots,
1000 pairs cockatoo parrots, 1000 pairs of zebra
fnches, besides white cockatoos, magpies, and
Port Lincoln parrots-altogether near 100000
birds 5000 birds are marked as sold. The 10000
shell parrots are the crop OF 1867.
In France, il is stated, that an employee Of one
Of the leading railways has invented an amalga-
nation of coal and other combustbe Materials
of use in the form of bricks, which, it is sad Is
calculated TO effect great saving in the cost of
the fuel necessary for generating steam. 1t burns
with intense heat, and for a long time. and is to
be extensively employed on the Orleans railway
line, where some very satisfactory experiments
have been made with this material. The com
pound is called "hriguettes bordelaises.v
Mr.. Bateman, who recently helped the people
of Glasgow to fresh stream for its water tubes,
is advising the Londoners TO build q grand ee-
cd ulf ah hnrrlA run mil
over the fiat ground of England In Wales. and
bring eastward mountain river for the use of the
capital. Chemistry which must at no distant day
abolish coal as means of fuel, will yet enabled
men, cheaply and conveniently, to defecate any
sort of river waterinto sufficient purity for all the
purposes Of life, and so do away with the neces-
sty OF expensive aquedects and, in a great mea-
sure, OF city reservoirs.
The fur supply is somewhat in danger. The
Montreal newspapers state that the buffalo robe
catch in British North America the present
son Is TO great extent failure. The buffalo
have nearly all been driven from the British hant-
ing grounds, and q variety of reasons are given
for this fact the most general one being that the
Sioux are anxious to have them on the sonth side
Of Missouri for sustenance in the event of another
summers campaign against the Americans. The
buffalo catch, 1t is said, will not average more
than one half as much as last year, and will be
principally the robes of the bull buffalo. The
other prairie furs will be less abundant than last
year, the wolves having, to a great extent. fol-
lowed the buffalo in their wauderings. Prairie
fires having destroyed the field mice. only small
crop Of the skins of the prairie dog and red fox is
looked for. The bears will furnish many skins
as usual and otter, beaver. badger aud skunk will
average as before. Muskrats are more plentiful
than last year. This is the report from British
North America. os
The latest published list of taxable incomes
shows that the city of New York returns as heavy
a tax as Maine, New Hampshire, Vernon and
Massachusetts,, more than six times as much as
Rhode Island, three times as much as Boston or
Philadelphia, and eighteen per cent. more than
the whole of Pennsylvania.
A method has recently been devised of render
ing floors practically fre.proof, by laying hollow
square tiles in bed of plaster, between the
bists. and filing the spaces all around and above
them with plaster, so that the floors, when laid,
shall be in contact with the latter allowing no va
cant space. A fire on such q floor could not
spread, or be communicated 10 room below.