CONTINENTAL SENSATIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 191, 12 August 1911, Page 17

CONTINENTAL SENSATIONS.

SCHOOLMASTER'S FORTUNE. An unexpected windfall has made a hitherto poor schoolmaster of Santenay, In the Department of the Saone-et-Lolr9, France, a wealthy man. A rich relative who recently died, havlnp no other heirs, left him a fortune of 2,000,000 franca (£S0,000). The schoolmaster, though naturally delighted, did not Immediately quit his village school, but decided to finish the scholastic year at the old seaoolhouse before he went away to enjoy his wealth. He has also stated that he will make * present of 1000 francs to the poor of tM village, and also provide for three free bed* at the local hospital. In addition to tula, he wi'l distribute 200,000 francs to distant relatives of the deceased who had been left out in the will. DISTRESSING RUSSIAN TRAGEDV. A terrible tragedy is reported from th« village of Poboyanka. in the Akkerman district. Five children who were playing at home In the absence of their parents climbed Into a huge iron 6afe with a maa< sive lid held tip by a prop of wood. One of the children must have accidentally, knocked the prop away, for the lid fell, and.-owing to the automatic catch, became immovable from the inside. The parents, on their return, were alnrined at the disappearance of the children, and searched for them In every likely place, but in vain. It was only after a long delay that thej thought of the safe. When they opened It they fount! the dead bodies of the children, all or whom had been suffocated. ROMANCE OF A CLERK AND HIS LANDLADY. A law clerk in Vienna, whe earned 8/3 m week on which to keep himself while ha pursued his university studies, found himself recently in debt to hte landlady, write* a Vienna correspondent, to the extent ot £B. Being a man of honourable inclinations, and loth to defraud the woman oC her money, and having no resources of any ; kind with which to meet the debt, he offer, ed himself to the landlady as a husband In full settlement of aU he owed. The landlady, who is no longer in the first bloom ©B youth, accepted the offer, and the couple were married amid the rejoicings at thai other lodgers. RIDDLES " BURGLAR " s ONLt! A MANIKIN. Mons. Leon Bergnlolle, a commercial traveller, living In the Rue Monge, Paris, whose wife is a dressmaker, had a somewhat unpleasant experience;. He returned from a journey, and, after ringing several times, opened the door. of his apartment: with his latch key. He saw a tall figure in the hall. He called out a couple of times "Who is there?" Receiving no reply, and convinced; that he was in the presence of a burglar, he drew his revolver and fired. The figure, however, did not move, and the terrified commercial traveller emptied all the chambers of his revolver. This seemed to have no effect on the supposed burglar, but roused the whole house. Half a dozen policemen were soon on the scene, and Mons. Bergnlolle was arrested. When a light was brought It was found that the figure In question, was a manikin bought by his wife a few days before, clothed in a dress she had just made for a customer.

As Mons. Bergniolle had carefully fired six bullets through it, the commercial value of tbe garment was probably somewhat deteriorated. SUICIDE BOMAKCE. Mile. Jeanne Gariel, a girl who played a prominent role in the Human case, committed suicide early on the morning of June 25 in Paris in dramatic circumstances. M. Hamon was the chief accountant ot the Foreign Office, and is now under arrest on a charge of having embezzled large sums of official money. The reason for Mile. Cartel's suicide is probably to be found In the events of her last meeting with M. Hamon, which took place on June 14 in the room of the magistrate in charge of tbe case. M. Hamon then declared in her presence that he had epent £20,000 on Mlie. Gariel in the two years lie bad known her.

•■I don't regret a penny of it," lie sold sadly. "I loved mademoiselle, and I would have given her millions if I bad been able to." At this confession of love Kile, Gariel brake down completely, but on becoming calmer she disputed the estimate drawn up. by her lover of the money spent on her. She volunteered to return a ring which. M. Hamon had ordered for her at a cost of £4OO, and which had not been paid for. Mile. Garters seeming disregard for nee lover's devotion as manifested at that interview was unfavourably commented upon In the Press. Since the meeting she became nervous and uneasy, and sought to forget her wories in a round of gaiety in Montmartre. Returning home about four o'clock on the Sunday morning with a friend, aba went into tbe bedroom while her friend remained in the sitting-room. There was • report and a moment after the girl stagger* ed into the room. She fell dead In her frJend'e arms, having shot herself in the heart with a revolver.

ALPINE TRAGEDY RECAXXEDc A broken alpenstock bearing the carved name, "Dr. J. Bean, Baltimore," foae Jos* been found by a Chnnronlx guide in the Ice of the Glacier des Bossons, which "flows'' down direct from the summit of Mont Blanc to the valley ol Chamonlx, and <Jhe find recalls the most terrible accident in Alpine bistcry, when eleven climbers perished on *he summit of the great white mountain In volent snowstorms which lasted a week. In September, 1870, Rev. G. McCorktndale, of Glasgow, and two Americans, Dr. J. Bean, of Baltimore, end Mr. .Randall (both elderly men, and with little experience of .the Alps), «t out from Chamoni* with eight guides, and safely reached the summit in doubtful weather. Hardly had the descent commenced when the snowstorm started, and not one of the eleven climbers were seen again alive. U, strong force of guMes some day. later found the oodles of five victims, inrfnomg fl»e clergyman and Dr Bean, but the other six were never tfound, having most oTobably *a!!en *"**» crevasses. It is now thought, owing to the discovery of the ■broken alpenstock, that the -bodies ot the ' six climbers, wiho have -been burled in theU tomb of ice for the last forty-one yean, have reached the end of the g!aclei, which travels at the rate of about 500 ft a year, and are not far from the surface of the ice at the Up of the Chamonlx Valley. The longest period of time that a glacier, or ice river, has retained ±ts dead in Alpine records has been forty-one years, the vie- vttms being Dr. Hamel and his guides, who perished on Mont Blanc in 1820, and whose bodies were found In the Bossons Glacier In isei, as well preserved In the ice •■ on ithe day of their death. The ffnklee at | Chamonlx are on the look vat for *ne el* bodies.