TRIBUTES TO MONTENEGRO.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXII, Issue 8383, 11 October 1912, Page 6

TRIBUTES TO MONTENEGRO.

"Ariel," in the Dunedin "Star," re rails some interesting ■ tributes to th< proud record of freedom which is th< ,l)oast of Montenegro. ,'. On several occa sions the Turkish armies have exceede* 100,000 men, while the Montenegrinsmen, women, and children—did not ex ■ceed 50,000. Yet the 10,000 or 12,00 i heroic mountaineers, by strategy, dar ing, and good shooting, slew thei 20,p00 of the enemy, and scatter?' them in'headlong flight.. Mr Gladston (in the second number of the " Mim teenth Century ") said the Swiss fight for liberty were not to be compare with these. ■"..". Montenegi'o fought wit' a yaloiir that -rivalled,;if it did not sui pass, Tnermopylaa and Marathon; wit ■ iiumbera, and resources :far inferioi against a foe br«ave'r and far; more, tei rible." He/laments .that they have/ha no Scott:or Byron to tell theirl amasin story to the world as it ought to b told. .Tennyson's tribute in thcsam issue of ■" the "Nineteenth Century " i quoted:-— . TKey'.rose to where-their sovran eagl sails, They kept their faith, their froodoir on the height, , Chaste, frugal, savage, armed by da and nighfc ■Against the Turk, whose "inroad n< where scales Their headlong passes but'his footsto fails; And red with blood' the Crescent reel from fight ■ Before their dauntless hundreds i prone flight By thousands down the crags ai>.< through the vales. O smallest among peoples! rough rock throne Of freedom! warriors beating bacl - the swarm Of Turkish Islam for five hundrec years. Great Tsernogora! never since thin< own Black ridges drew the cloud anc brake the stornx Has breathed a raco of mightiei mountaineers. THE BIOGRAPH. The Dickens novels on the cinematograph are a promise of relief from tin ordinary and rather poor American and other stuff. An English cinematograph company has determined to do for England what other big firms have done for France. We are no longer to rely on France and America for our interesting cinematograph films, and the company mentioned is already at work at Walton-on-Thames producing British scenes for British eyes. They have a large numbor of actors engaged in giving realistic representations of varied subjects, but the principal feature is to be a series of Dickens films. ''Oliver Twist" has been made, and "Nicholas Nickleby" is being rehearsed. If there is danger in the life of a cinematograph actor thero is also humour. At Waterloo Station the other day a young couple were taking ji tearful leave of each other. The lady stood on the platform and hung round the neck of her male friend, who leaned out of a compartment window, while they both wailed "good-bye" betive-en sobs that wrung the hearts of the other passengers in the compartment. They thought it was a newly-married pair, who had be-en forced by cruel •circumstances to leave each other at the conclusion of the marriage ceremony, and one old lady was reduced to tears as she gazed on the loving couple. When tho train started and tbo " bridegroom " tore himself free, he turned to.j his fellow passengers, who wore full of sympathy. The old lady whispered words of cheer. " Oh, it's all right," replied the actor, who was tbe pale' "■bridegroom," "this i.s only a cinematograph scene. Th<v operator- was taking the picture out ou tJw platform." SUBSTITUTE FOR MOUTH. A cable in one of tho Australian papers a few days ago stated that a man in France had had his stomach removed, as tho result of an operation for some internal complaint, part of ;he intestines being made to take its )lace. Apropos of this, one of the Sydney papers recalls the case of an extraordinary individual who lived at 3endigo (Vie.) a. few years ago.- He lad'not lost his stomach, but he was lardly less remarkable for all that. fVhen on_ a ;i bender," ho had groped lis way in the dark for something to uencii his thirst. .What ho found was litric. acid, and although ho discovered v's mistake before, lie had swallowed lu> fiery stuff, bis mouth was so ovorely burned that from that i.iiglit c was.unable to use it in tho ordinary •ay. A surgoan fitted a 'silver tnbo

into his stomach, and through this he was obliged to absorb all the solids and liquids necessary to sustain life. Whether or not he found it easier to live on liquids, he certainly showed a decided preference for that form of nourishment. When anyone shouted him a pint of beer he would' undo one brace, expose the top of the tube just under his lower rib; nod a cheery "Good luck, mate!" and pour ifc in. , His capacity for pints was not stated, but the beer used to have the same effect as intoxicants swallowed in the i ordinary way—it went to his head and [ muddled him. Although he could not . be charged with drunkenness, aa he 1 often was, it could never be said that . he had been drinking. However, no x lawyer ever raised that point on his behalf, and he did his occasional seven 5 days as cheerfully as circumstances - would permit. A few months after his } case was made public he died 'in a eounf try hospital.