CONTINENTAL CRIMES AND SENSATIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 249, 17 October 1908, Page 15

CONTINENTAL CRIMES AND SENSATIONS.

EXTRAORDINARY OUTRAGE IN? AUSTRIA. The foundation-stone of the hospital to ■ be erected at Ischl in memory of the late Empress Elizabeth, which was laid by tie Emperor Francis Joseph on Saturday, August 29, was removed from its setting- thai . night my some person or persons unknown, and the casket placed under the stone, con tainlng the record signed by HI3 Majesty , and the usual memorial coins, was stolen. The value of the coins was 30/. A reward of £40 has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the thieves. BALLOON STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. i Late on Saturday evening, August 29. a gale of wind swept over Saragossa, Spain, and the moorings of a captive balloon were 1 torn asunder. Simultaneously the balloon was struck by lightning, and exploded and ; was blown to atoms. Pieces of burning material fell on some stacks of wood In a sawyer's yard close at hand, and, fanned by the wind, the yard was soon in a blaze. Several trains had to pass through the fire. The premises were destroyed. CURED BY FRIGHT. An invalid who was to go to Lourdes with a pilgrims' train starting from Nancy has, ' the "Telegraph" says, has been spared the trouble of waiting till the end of his journey before being cured. He was being borne on a stretcher to the train, and whilst the men who were carrying him were crossing the rails the stationmaster called out to them 1 to hurry up, as tne express from Metz was coming. The invalid, who, it appears, was treated for paralysis, heard the stationmaster's warning, and was so frightened that he jumped off the stretcher and ran down the platform. He got to his compartment long before his astonished porters. He could not give any explanation of what ! had happened to him. ' SAXON" KING COMPARES WIFE TO MURDERESS. The king of Saxony is the most unpopular European monarch since it became known from what motives he declined to pardon the murderess. Grete Beir. All the judges of the court and the jurors recommended grace, because she evidently -was physically unsound, and only partly responsible for her actions. But the king said: "She is a woman like the one who was my wife. Away with her." This aroused a storm of indignation and contempt. One authority on mind diseases, in discussing Grete Beir's case, writes: "After all, Louise of Tuscany was justified in claiming mitigating circumstances for running away from such a husband." PRECIPICE SUICIDE. A well-dressed, middle-aged Alpinist, whose identity has not yet been discovered, took his life in the mountains, near Geneva, at the beginning of last month, under dramatic circumstances. He was seen by other climbers to ascend the peak known as Plein Peril, above Vey- . rier, near Geneva, and to stand on its , summit, whence there is a sheer drop dowu , a precipice of 300 feet. He took a revolver from his pocket, and ; fired into his mouth, falling down the precii pice. In his pockets were found a gold i chain and watch, in which was inscribed . the name A. Chapelet, £2 In money, and a ' curious photograph- of a yoiing woman on ' her death-bed, dressed in bridal robes aud 1 surounded with flowers. There was also a piece of paper, on which was written in pencil, "God have pity ou mc. I cauuot 1 suffer more. I feel my reason going. It all must end." ! DOG ALPINIST. ' Mont Blanc was climbed by a dog—a ■ young St. Bernard —under remarkable circumstances last montn. The owner of the dog, M. Leopold Tairraz, ' of Cbamonix, recently purchased the animal at Counnayenr, and brought it home over I the Col dv Geant, over 11,000 ft high. A _ week or two later M. Tairraz climbed Mont » Blanc with M. Stephanik, the Russian ; astronomer, and stayed at the Vallot Ob--1 servatory, on the summit. The following 1 evening his dog arrived exhausted and s hungry at the top. , Alpinists and guides ascending and deI cending the Grands Mulcts and Mont Blanc , report that the dog approached them, and, not finding its master, continued its journey upwards witii its nose to the snow as If following the scent of its master. It Is difficult to estimate the time taken ' by the dog to asceud Mont Blanc, but it is calculated to be under fourteen hours. COUNTESS MARRIES PEASANT. An interesting wedding took place on . September 1 before the Civil Registrar at ' t Buda Pesth. Countess Henriette Pongraez, daughter of an aristocratic family, belong- .' ing to the most ancient nobility of Hungary, was married to a peasant named Joh- , ann Ondrasik. The Countess, of course, , had to overcome the determined opposition ' of her family. Her father, seeing that her passion for the young man was unconquerable, wished to place her In a convent. The . Countess, to save herself from this fate, secretly fled from her home and took refuge with her betrothed in a peasant's cottage near the Pongracz estates. The father then petitioned the authorities to place his daughter, who was a minor, in some Buda Pesth educational establishment, and this was ordered by the Courts. The Countess' lawyer appealed against the order to the Home Minister. Meanwhile, Count Pongracz died, and her mother, seeing the futility of opposition, gave her consent to the marriage. The Countess, who is only 17 years of age, has now commenced proceedings against her brother, to whom the Count had left his entire property. She claims half the estate. "APACHE" IN A MOTOR-CAR. Highway robberies have occurred with alarming frequency recently in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, and it was believed that, a large gang of thieves was at work. But It has been discovered that one man, dressed on various occasions as an officer, a motorist, or a priest, or in the garments of the ordinary "apache" or hooligan, is responsible for the series of crimes. Sometimes he hired a motor-car and drovp alone in the evening in the Bois. Leaving the car in an isolated spot, he would track some lonely walker, spring upon him with a revolver, and force him to hand over his money and valuables. On another occasion a woman saw a priest approaching her. She was seized by the throat and robbed of her jewels. Other reports reached the police of thefts by a man in uniform, by a "gentleman" correctly dressed, and by a man in sporting costum. . After lengthy Inquiries, the police wer3 convinced that all the crimes were the work of one man. Last month he was arrested in his home, a comfortable flat at Asnieres. Jewels, purses, and pocket-books stolen from his victims were found, as well as a wardrobe of elaborate disguises. The police have identified the man as a military deserter and a thief who is under sentence of fix months' imprisonment.

AMERICAN BARON'S ADVENTURE. There is a lordly manor (says a Brussels letter) to be sold near Alost, Belgium, and as its proprietor spends most of his time in the South of France, the selling of it was entrusted to a bailiff. The other day an American, speaking French very well and , calling himself Baron Henry Jackson, , called on the bailiff with his nephew, , came to terms, aud asted that the pro prietor should be summoned so that the ; sale might be duly effected. The American , and nephew then took up their quarters i in the castle, ordered wines and spirits. ■ horses and carriages, shot over the estates, buying new gnns for the purpose, and bad the whole put down to their account, as i the new proprietors of the castle. Then one day, hearing that the landlord would . arrive next day, the pair disappeared with i a number of light and valuable articles. ' The castle is still to let. DRINK-ING MATADORS EAS"? TRET TO BULL. A bull fight of a most remarkable and ■ revolting description took place at Villa de Ridao, Spain, on September 2. The bull fighters were all amateurs, and, just before ' the contest, they were unwise enough to sit down to a great dinner, at which they ate and drank so liberally that when they entered the ring their unfitness for the : dangerous work before them was painfully evident. Directly afterward a huge Spanish bull . was let loose iv the ring, and, with an 1 alarming bellow, made a mad charge at the fighters. The helpless amateurs, quite unable to flee, fell an easy prey to the onraged bull, and nearly all of them were shockingly gored before the attendants were able to lasso the animal and drag It out of the ring. One of the amateur bull fighters was killed outright, while two were fatally gored, and five others badly Injured. SPANISH COUNTERFEITERS" TRADE IS PROFITABLE. , Coiners seem to have about the most secure and profitable business that exists in Spain. For fifteen yiars they availed themselves of the difference between silver bullion and coined silver, and turned out five-peseta (dollar) pieces that were just as good metal as the State product. AH the issues from 1876 to 18£ M were falsified. The police have never got on the coiners' tracks. Their business reached such volume that the Government intervened, and the Cortes passed a law retiring all the doubtful pleei-s from circulation, and reconverting them into silver ingots to be put on the market 30,000,000 and 40,000,000 dols. on the forged five-peseta pieces. The period from the 10th to the 24th of this month was fixed for the Bank of Spain, its branches and the State tobacco stores to accept good pieces for bad. As for the coiners, they may apparently continue their business until the market is Hooded asnin. CABWOMEN* PROSPER. After an eighteen months' trial, Paris eabwomen have greatly prospered. One ot them, when asked, said that money comes in more plentifully than if she stitchej away at shirts. Ten shillings a day are her average earning during (he busy season, aud from 0/ to 7/ during the slack months. She is up parly, starting at six in the morning, ami finishes about eight In the evening. All day long she gets plenty of motion and fresh air, and the cabmen no longer insult her. At first, she .said, many persons were afraid to hire cabs driven by women, imagining that they did not know'how to drive. Now all that prejudice has died out. It is her firm resolution to drive a cab as long as she lives, which, judging from her healthy complexion, will be lor many a year to come. Two of thp original cab ladies have take;i to driving taxi-motors, and find their calling : thus even more profitable than before. A HORRIBLE CONFESSION. The police at Dorignles, near Lille, Frame, have a peculiar prisoner on their ; hands who has charged himself with tho murder of a number of children, some of the crimes being committed twenty-five years ago and others more recently, and who declared that he gave himself up because he felt an irresistible Impulse to go on murdering more children. lie came to the gendarmerie and said:—■ : I can stand it no longer. I am constantly ' haunted by murderous impulses. I w«— lv i my cellar to-day with oue of my sons, and was suddenly taken with a mad desire to kill him. I was able to resist, and sent ; him out. but he had hardly gone when i ' called another child, but was able again ' to resist. Now I have had enough "of it. ' I am afraid that the desire to murder my ' boys will come back. I want you to keep ' mc from harm by arresting mc. Twenlyflve years ago I murdered a little girl named Leroy, aged 12, whose body was found In the Escrebieus. 1 was not suspected. I escaped to Spain, where I worked in two glass factories. Seven years ago my murderous impulse returned, and 1 strangled two girls, one aged 12 and the other 14. 1 cut oil the head of one of them, and threw it into tho sea. I am afraid of doing the same thing again. The man seems to be otherwise perfectly sane and talks very reasonably. The truth is that the children whom he mentions have ieally been murdered, and the criminal has , in no case been discovered. In one instance < the father of one of the girls was suspected, and was released from prison only lifter a long investigation. i AMERICAN LADY'S DRESS AND , TRAVEL RECORD. Mrs McAllister, a wealthy business woman, of Miami, Florida, is just back from Europe, having had "a perfectly lovely time" with one small dress suit-case. Thu fact that she could "do" Europe with just one gown is proving a matter of absorbing interest to American newspaper readers, who are being deluged with details as to how she accomplished the feat. "All I took with mc," she airily explains, , "was one pair of shoes, three pairs of stockings, three pairs of gloves, one brilliantine skirt, six blouses, one brown silk Eton suit, six handkerchiefs, six collars, two nightdresses, oue raincoat, one small hat, and one veil. I wanted to see Europe without' being compelled to spend hours In changing dresses or arguing with inquisitive Customs officers. My companions laughed at mc at first, but later on they admitted that I was blazing the trail for the comfort of women travelling abroad. I did England, France, Holland, and Switzerland. I climbed Mount Blanc, aud had to purchase a heavy Scottish plaid sklrr, which, with the raincoat, kept mc warm. I climbed to the crater of Vesuvius, and ' was carried by two peasants so near that > my shoes smoked. Upon my return to the '■ hotel I found that my dress was scorched '■ in several places." Mrs McAllister said this without a smile. : "At Naples I bought a new gowu, and gave the old one to a innid nt the hotel." ' Custom officials looked iv amazement at the manifest made out by this lady. It I consisted of one ice axe, with which she ' had crossed more than one Swiss glacier. TChile scores of other women fumed aud fussed as the inspectors ruthlessly emptied : their trunks, valises, and Gladstone bags, Mrs McAllister was the flrst to leave the ■' dock, and .escaped with a 'triumphant ' [ smile. ~

ROMANTIC MARRIAGE. WIDOW OF CHICAGO MILLIONAIRE. WEDS PEER'S GRANDSON. Quite a romantic marriage took place at the Westminster Registry Office, London, on Thursday, August 28th, when Mrs Marshall Field, the widow of the late Marshall Field, jun., of. Chicago, was united to Mr Maldvviii Drummond, grandson to Lord Mnncaster. The ceremony was performed in tha presence of Mrs Field's two sons and the Duke of Westminster and Mr Craig Wadeworth, of the American Embassy. Mrs Marshall Field is a daughter-in-law of the Jjnnshali Field who left an estate worth over £30,000,000 when he died iv January, IGOC. Her hnsband, the only son of the millionaire, had died a few months previously, so that the great bulk of the fortune was left to Mrs Marshall Field's threo children — two boys and a Bid. Tne peculiar feature o£ Marshall Field's will is the provision that the entire estate shall lie kept intact until Marshall Field (the oldest of tho millionaire's grandchila-re-nl, now aged fourteen, reaches the age of fifty. if Marshall dies without is3ue his brother Henry will inherit at fifty. When Marshall reaches twenty-five he will receive £100,000, and the same amouni at thirty, thirty-live, and forty. Henry wil! receive four payments of £60,000 In the same manner. The accumulated income of the estate will also be divided among the beneficiaries between the ages of thirty-five and forty-five. When Marshall reaches the age of fifty the trustees will give him his share of the estate, and Henry (who is now eleven) will receive his portion at the same time. If both grandsons die without children before the final division, the entire estate goes to Gwendolen, now six years old. Th° American papers spenk of young Marshall Field as the "richest boy on earth." His grandfather, who founded this great fortune, began life as a farmer's boy, and aftemards worked ac a clerk in a dry gooas store. lie became a partner with Mr Levi Leiter (the late Lady Curzon's father), and afterwards bought out the business. He owned the largest stores In the world. Ills daughter, Mis David Beatty, who is residfit. in London, received £1,600,000 by the will.