NEWS ITEMS.

. (From our iatest:Exohakge3.) ■ Strange Story. •♦The fltrarigeßt test of will power and endu- aiice ever 1 made,"; said E. I).' Gbrsauia of the City of Mexico,; at the Soutbern, >( wn9 in Mexico, the ohar>actors bei»?g a Mexican gitl and ari American man. They- were lovers, aiad' thy girl's parents refused their L consent t;> tire-union, insisting that she should marry a Wealthy MexicatK suitor. ! At the f uggestion of the girl, th l ey"agre3d ; to die together, and, to' test ' 4xc t trcngth and endurance of each bthers love, 1 i th'ey^ ch^si ? a°; means of kuicW* arilike.tthy I ' ever of beftfr^/: : Fqod and'^ruit were placsa pn^a iible in the cen're.of s room, bconpied by b >Jh, the girl haviog es^ oape'd from ber h^me, bat being unwilling to elope wi h her lover. It was agreed that they should stwva to idea h with plenty before them, and should eithf r succumb to natare and partake of the food, then b.th'were released from, the bo&d of death,- but there s^onid b» aa everksiing separation. For 12 days th<y endured the pang 4 of hui-ger without a murmut or ja thought of wavtring from their purpose to die together. The twelfth day 'the father of the girl discovered ber whereabouts, and, breaking the door, |tbey were, carried oa>, too faint to ji-tand 'alone. It took t'emteverai days to recover their strength, and wheo tbfcy did tbey wei c married; This is a t;ue sai-ment, and the American is living with Lis Mexican wife to-day."— 1 St. Louis Globe Democrat.' An ExperimentA southern Calif ornian pft per tells Of a curious experiment by a vigneron there, in fatter, ing hogs on gta^es. He enclosed the pig 3in a few acres of hio vineya.d and left them to pick folr themselves. His experience ia that the animals fatten wt 11 en giapes, and do not oonsume an excageive quantity of them either. La-t year he fattened 100 hogs on t!ie s c nd crop of giapea growing on 60 acces, au average of iwo hogs per acr . The x'mn required to 'atfien them was 60 days and they giked on th 3 average 1001 b each We h.ve known of a single i&s anca in which a he g was fattened on grapes io Victoria, iha bacon had a most peculiar flavor, very pleasant to the taste, but qnite different; to that of ordinary bacon. Miscellaneous. : The Crown Prince of Siam U among tbo boy authors of the worlJ, He has written stveral stories for the English cbildnn'e magazines, and oar. write fluently in three European languages. Saiurday's Aucklacd • Star ' says tbat a requisition is being sigat d in Oaehnnva asking Mrs Yates and the Oooncillois to res gu. Wk (N. Z. • Times 'j regret to bave to record the death of Mies Alice Hes er Holmes, eldest daughter of Mr B. T. Holmes, of Masterton. Misa Holmes, says the Masterton ' Times,' has b en seriously ill for some time past, her complaint eventually turning to consumptioo. At an early ege Mi&s Hoimes showed marked proficiency in painting, and was seat to England to enable her t j attend couth KeDsk'gtoD, whrj she passed wrh hijh honoors after !wo years' study. On returning to the Colony Miss Holmes obtained the position of Mi tres* of the Mast.riciii hrdiicb of iha School of deeign, and H^^i ( sted by (he litv W. E. and Mcs Paige, did seme exocllttt work As showing' 1 the risky na.ure of firming the Oamara ' Mail ' gives the case of a bankrupt examioed last week. The nu fortunate man stated tbat when he was married three and a-half years ago, and went on to his land, he bad nearly £500 in cash. He had also earned £180 by contracting. All this had disappeared, and his statement showed a considerable dtficieacy besides. His rent, 7s 6d per acre, amounted to about £98 per aanam. We (N. Z. 'lim s ') unierd'and that eight Maoris of the Napier dis rict, who' hive been converted to Mormonism, nave made preparations to leave by the fcao Francisco mail s earner this week, en route for Utah. One of the party is Ihaka Whanga. one of the principal land-owners in the Mania Peninsula. ' A fatal shooting accident occurred atNeweted, a suburb of Lannceston the other evening, Two boys named Atkioson (son of the Anglican clergy" mau at Boandale) and Morton Douglas were etayiog with a relative. Atkinson having read in the newspapers bbout prowlers infesting iarmyards, was going to take a pea rifle to bed, and not knowing that it had been loaded by his brother, Douglas play/v ]y threatened Atkinson wi'h the .-ifle, which wsnr eff, the charge entering nis ear aud going through his brain. Atkinson's death was instantaneous. A people's palace, which baa cost £6,000, has been provided by the Midland Jttaiiway Company (Englaad) for the use of tueir employe. s at Derby. It is now 48 years Bince lie employees of the same company iaaugurated their first literary institute in the same city. Well done, company t James Montgomery Bailey, known all over tho English: speaking world as the ' Danbnry Newsman,' died in Danbury on March the 4th, at the early age of 53. Be commenced the issue (jf the • Danbury News J in 1870, and his qnaint and original humor soon made him and His paper famous. We learn from the ArDerican ' Publish era' Weekly 'that Mr Bailey^faad dove no literary work for some yeat s. ' A Paris beggar h\s been living very comfortably by bauging himß elf. He Would choose a tree near where young CQildran were playing, string himself up, and groan to attraot attention so ithatf tliejr wool^ ,tun,. for .help. He would be pot down and ■restored, and a Utter in hie pocket would explain his at empted euicide J by°a : s atement of liiar^deetitiitibri f; ]He l^ew '"'jiow :'. to ; aHach tbe noose bo as to avoid etrangttlatiop.r , ,-. ■.tx^.c. *■■ '■■-. :-u'/ >: -z^: 1 |^As : a religiqus procession was proceeding in the other day:.; 'a jtlrnnkea >aljbr Jfifed a tol o a t ; ttte fijgate of the Virgin whcli was being carried. The^mi^li wair^ajresttd^ and V BY SPECIAL APFOINTMBNr am* Bo«p»'Makerf to h&BfiJeaiy the Queen

A child 14 months oM, named Johnson, at JReedj Marßh, near Dplo^aine, I^^WftDja.^lwtei^piayiiig ,'m 'a^yard, {eilsqh'aimail } projeotingiroin^^eoQ of woodl ■ The nail enterisd thus chiM*e Iskall tt'E'd death ;Wfts' eMost , instant | ■tap l eb^.. ",.,;''■ ' '.'".- ' '..•■ ' • :: ' ',■'[' :■■_-■■.:•• - ; Mes^JE.- Gibson, a jonng niarried woman, of Bjdneyv oDrnplained of feel-; log 1 uh'wei 1 , and retired to fier' room; and y hp| herself. i -i jGreXt indignation is felt among the jKcn'piors and art dealers at Warsaw 'ovtr a recent rescript of the police of Ithat oi y. The guardians of the. peace, iiii pbtdience to orders ft ooiHt Petersjburg. Visited all the stores and stuuios land destroyed ail: the busts of the Polisn heroes, Tbaddeus Kosciußkpo and'Joaef Powniatowasti, which they cotild fird. Ail sonj^tors in the city ;Were. obliged to send a written comjmttnicatidn to the city officials promising not to make bus^s or statnes of tha two men in the fntnre. This is end way Russia has adopted of trying to suppress the Polish na iota! spiri\ Is is noli probab'e, however, that k will accomplish its purpose, The J)ttie boy had come in with hi* clothes torn, his hair full of dust, aud his /ace bearing unmistakable marks of a severe conflict. ' Oh, Willie ! Willie. !' exclaimfd iiis niotber, • you have disobejed mo again. How ofan have I told yon not to play with that wicked >tapleford boy ?' • Mamma ' said Willie, wiping the blood from hi* toae, I do I I. oir as if I had be*n playing with aDybody T ' Dußira the trial of a oaee in Londoii recently it was elicited that dealers in eggs frequency sell tLe baol oneß to conftc iooerrf, who vs 9 them in making candy, Fobtt ratives or l ri/gera ' an they ar-j termed, were sentenced at Johan-ne-burg to reed ve 10 lashes wiih tue • cat ' for the offence oi walking on the footpath, the same as colonists. The major of Per smouth estimates that the decision of the Home Office to close Portsmouth convict prison as a penal establishment represents a loss of £16,000 a y<ar to the trade of that borough. A crusade against ihj practice of selling intrtductions at the Court of St Jarnea by women of title haa been inatiga'ed. Hereafter it is said, officials will public y cancel all pre&tntaiiocs for wLich money ia Imowu to ha*e bjen received bj the women who etiind sponsor. A South Australian black boy dn seeing c egtaph wires for (lip first time, exclaimed : ' Wbite pfeller (> djective) fool. Why, bullock he go under them C wires." He thought it w^s a fence. I AN.&pple hon view at Palmerston £ontb weighinp 33 ounces. Six thoroughbred hordes were recently told in Queensland, at an average of £i 6^ 31 each A Frenchman, M Kardy, is allfged to have invented a sounding tube so sensative that irom the number of its recorded vibrations the percentage of fcul air in a io.m may be determined. IS immediate app!io*uon is for ih* detection of fire-damp iv mines, so tLat when its presence becomes dangerous the miners may have sonorous warning. A bbilliant assemblage, including many members of the tibllenio Boyal f&miiy, and the foreign Diplomatic body in Athens, gathered on March 29 at the French Archaeological School at Athens to hear tLe firbt performance of the Greek Hymn to Apollo, the masie and words of which, engraved on a marble Blab, were discovered laet autumn iv the (xca*atk>ns oi Delphi. Tha director of the school firtt gave a lecture upon the imporia- cc of this unique find, a d the h)mn was then bung for the first time to a modern audience, alter being buried in the earth for upwards of two thousand years, A recent London sensation is Arniotisi a girl of marvellous skill, fine face, and trim figure, who, af er carrying a tab c, a barrtl, and two chairs in her mouth ronnd Ihe Btage, astonishei spectttcrsby bearing roand the barrel in the tame way with firat ona man and then two astride it. Rugby School was recently the scene of an mterebiug ceremony, when the Bishop of London unveiled por.raits of Arthur Hugh Olough, the pott, and Tom Hughes, author oi II Tom Brown's > chool Days." A 6ydney telegram to the Melbourne • Argua ' ttates that J. J. Miiltr, theatrical printer, of Melbourne, has seized the property of Fillis' Oirous for a debt of £628, and Hndeon has now claimed the goods under a bill of sale. i>n ioterpleader ac.ion will ensue. Inorbdibi/b as it may seem, the Holland (Lancashire) County Council re cently passed a by-Uw which would have made the placing of cricket or football in pub io placee — including a park or recreation ground — aa otfenc9 punifchable by a fine, Thongh this was pointed out, the Cou c:l persisted in its resolution ; but the Home Office has, of course, intimated that sucb a by-law cannot be sanctioned, and it is now to be modified.