GENERAL SUMMARY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XII, Issue 2458, 11 September 1891, Page 2

GENERAL SUMMARY.

Patti has signed a contract for a farewell tour in America. I The Cunard Co, have contracted for a j steamer to do 20 knots at sea, reducing the voynge to five days and a half. Several colonels in the British army have applied to the War Office to suppress the circulation of socialistic literature among soldiers. The vicinity of the chapel of Knock, ! co., Mayo, Ireland, was crowded on Sunday, August 16, with thousands of invalids, afflicted with all forms of disease, awaiting the jurative blessing of the Holy Virgin. Miss McMaster, a Scotch sportswoman and a dead shot, is about to be espoused by the Marquis of Ailsa. She is portionless. Mrs Frink Shelion, the American female explorer of Africa, was so much injured physically by her trip that she lies very low in health. Her doctors say she will be an invalid for the rest of her life, Cardinal Manning made public on August 16 a letter denouncing raffles, church fairs, lotteries, and all games of chance ostensibly intended to benefit the finances of the cdurch, Henry Irving has recovered the use of his voice by an operation on hia throat. MRu«sian Jews are arriving at London, Liverpool, Glasgow and other British ports, and will start by different lines for the U.S.A. Those who left Hamburg during the week ending August 28 will not be landed all at one place, but will be divided np among leading American ports, so that they may not attract too much attention and opposition. Lady Caithness by virtue of her millions and her enthusiasm succeeds Madame Blavotsky as bii»h priestess of the theosophical movement, or esoteric Buddhism, as some call it. Lord Sali.bury refused the Grand Prussian Order of the Black Eagle offered him ly the Emperor of Germany during his recent visit. ■ A. considerable number of Welsh tin plate workers propose leaving England for America. They will net* be under' contract, in order to avoid the law fori bidding the. importation of contracted alien | labor. Mr Morley, speaking at Leamington, on August 3, .said if the Liberals:dropped Home Rule as their foremost plank it would lead to the greatest split the party had ever known. He predicted that Mr Balfour's Local ■ Government Bill would be an irretrievable step towards Home ; Rule, and would mean. the suicide of Unionism. Wells Bros, take a large and well equipped circus and menagerie down from San Francisco to the Australian colonies by the Monowai next month. Carl Sherra, a mining expert from the colonies, drowned himself at San Francisco. Roman Catholic nuns . and sisters of charity have been certificated to read in the public schools in Texas, the AttorneyGeneral of the state holding that there in nothing in' the constitution to prevent them. Leprosy.has been developed-in New Orleans. The. subject, a white woman, named Mary Bolt, died there an August 16. There are half a dozen other cases reported in the city. ; . ■A couple married at Denver, Cal., on August 16, took a billoon excursion for ther bridal trip, under the direction of Professor King. They had reached an attitude 8000 feet when the balloon suddenly collapsed a shot earthward like a plummet for nearly a mile, when the folds ot sUk suddenly expended and the Remainder of the descent was comparatively gentle. The balloon alighted in a cornfield near the town, Its tenants were unconscious, and remained in that condition several hours. Cholera made its appearance in Ohio on August 12, Henry Hilton and daughter were stricken down when at Springfield. The physicians pronounce the disease to be of the true Asiatic .type. Frank Melbourne, the so called Australian "Rain King", is an exploded phenomenon. . Twice before have his efforts been unsuccessful, and on August 10th, at Canton, Ohio, his third failure shook the faith of the people in him ' below par. Instead of raining the heat, from an unclouded sun became almost untearable. "He may be able to produce rain in Australia," writes a sneering reporter, "but hits machine is of no avail in Ohio." The following" story- was wired from Berlin and printed in some of the Paris papers on August 1 :—The Kaiser is physically and morally succumbing to the morphine habit, and has been put on strict regimen by Dr LenthorlcL His allowance of morphine has been stopped, and he has been put on a limited amount of mild " bier de Nuremberg " as his only stimulant. His mania, according to report, broke out the first time at sea. He got wildly drunk and assumed command of the yacht. He took the vessel at her maximum speed out into the open ocean, and cause*? every flag on board to be displayed, and'ordered repeated salvoes with the yacht's guns, while the band played vigorously. Sucli scenes were kept up all night, the Kaiser in the meantime changing his uniform, and wearing in succession those of German, English, and Italian admirals. In the course of a drunken row he struck Lieutenant- Schroder, who immediately went below and blew out his brains, as he considered himself irretrievably dishonored. Some sailors, who revolted it the Imperial caprices, were unmercifully flogged and put in irons. Next morning the Kaiser, renewing his mad " drunk," was thrown, as if accidentally, from the bridge of the vessel to the deck, his feet being badly injured by the fall. A Park paper, which is not given t© sensationalism, prints on August 16 the following, as confirmed, by umjuestionefl

*uthprHy : <* *' Qn the night following the departure of the Imperial yacht from England, the crew were beaten to quaiters, aiid were Bwpnked to find the'quarterdeck brilliantly illuminated, and an altar being erected on deck, bearing the Old and New Testaments.! The Kaiser stood by it, wearing a white chasuble, with a crossier in his hand, and a black and white mitre on his head. He read the most warlike, passages from the Testaments, and invited the crew to respond. He then preached a long sermon on the duties of sovereigns to their people. The whole service lasted from 11 o'clock at night till 2 o'clock in the morning. The ciew.were then piped bplow. At 5 o'clock in the morning the Kaiser appeared, on the bridge-in the uniform of a high admiral, looking extremely haggard, and addressing .the commander said—"Sir, retire to your cabin, I shall take charge." The commander replied, "Sir, permit me to observe that we are in a dangerous passage, and it is advisable for your Majesty's safety as well as that of the crew, that a sailor remain in charge." The Emperor responded, " Never mind, God will inspire me. The commander bowed and retired. The second officer remaining, the Emperor angrily bade him retire also. The officer respectfully protesting, the Emperor said : "You resist? Wretched creature, you trouble the spirit of God that is within me. This is the vengeance of God upon you "—dealing the officer a heavy blow en the cheek. The officer turned crimson but remained passive, until the Emperor seized him by the throat and tried to throw him overboard. In the struggle that followed the Emperor fell and broke his kneecap. He howled with pain, and his eyes protruded from their sockets. He foamed at the mouth, and swore terribly, displaying symptoms of madness. The officers, after consultation, carried him into a cabin, nobody being admitted excepting the doctor, Empress, and the. men necessary to restrain him till his leg was bandaged, and he was encased in a straight-jacket. The crisis lasted three days.