STEPFATHER'S MAD ACT.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 205, 27 August 1912, Page 11

STEPFATHER'S MAD ACT.

gLAYS HIS STEP-DATJGHTER. A SUICIDE AGREEMENT. SAN FRANCISCO, August 23. Charles Cirrenfirlil. a resident of Venice, California, has confessed to having murdered his eijjh-t-.year-old stepdairgh'te'- , The man declares tliat his diced was yjg result of a suicide pat-u He is not insane, but ha> been labouring Tiiuier a terrible strain. The agreement between jrimself and the child was suggested long B M, i on iwcouii't of the treatment they roceiv«l from his '»ife. First they decided to jump oiT till' pier, but tlicrre were too many poopli , about; so then ther took a room in a house. In his confession Greenfield «ays: "1 thought to cut her throat and then end my own life, but niter I had killed her I lost my nerve, and could. not kill myself." WHEN THE TITANIC SANK. THE SIGNALS OF DISTRESS. LONDON, August 23. Captaan Lord, formerly in command I of tlie stoamer GiJiforoJaii, whose failore to go to the assistance of tlu- Titanic | after the latter vessel's signals af distress had b«in observed aboard his ship ffXLs so strongly criticised, has issued a Jong statement in defence of his condwt- ■ He explains that his second officer informed him that the vessel they had seen steamed away after havim; fired imhite rockets for over an hour. Captain lx>rd declares that signals uphieh -were made to this ship by means of the Morse code were ignored, and that the vessel moved eijrht miles between oar and. two o'clock on the morning of April 15, ■■whereas -the Titanic did not move after midnight. NAT GOODWIN HURT. , y DtTMPEI> BY BREAKERS. LOS ANGELES, August 23. Nat Goodwin, actor and "marital expert,' has been badh* injured at Huenenie, a small town en -the coast of California, through being dashed "by the breakers on to some rocks while trying to land from a dinghy. The actor-manager was accompanied by Marjorie Morel and, leading rady of Ihs company, •who had a letter far an Indian who was camped alorrg the coast. They travelled to the place in a litinch, and then Goodwin wanted the captain to ran into the beach, bat the latter refused on account erf the. breakers. Goodwin then impulsively seized the letter, jumped' into a dinghy, and rawed for the short. His craft, however, was upset in the breakers, and- he vms dashed on the rocks. He was rescued quickly, but paralysis of the lim-ba and spine developed. His condition aitexmrda improved. NEW YORK MURDER. MEN WHO ARE WASTED. NEW YORK, August 23. It is rumoured that Lieut. Becker, fee police officer who stands charged «fth complicity in the murder of Herman Rosenthal, is sfbout ready ±o make l fall confession. The grafting gangs are reported to ■Dβ mising money for the defence of those who have been arrested in connection loth the crime. Four detectives are now searching 3lefclnLe.iL, Massachusetts, for the men who seat a postcard to "Bridgie" Webber. The card, which beirs the Methuen postmark, ran as folio " Dear Pal,— Will do the best we can. We aTe all right.—Your paJs, L. and G." Webber saye that the -writing is that d "Lefty" Lotrie, and the other send-er represented by the letter "G" is thought to be "Gyp the Blood." The latter is known to have relatives in iMctflTTKyn'» District-Attorney Whitman offers a reward of 1,000 dollars for these men. dead or alive. He stated yesterday that he does not want to start the trial Until both are captured. TORPEDO WARFARE. BRITISH SHIPS , ARMAMENT. LONDON, August 22. . The torpedo armament of the new British warships to be increased. With the exception of the Dreadnought and the three ships of the Invincible type, each of which has five torpedo tubes, all the ships of the Dreadnought class will have three, and the battle cruisers two tubes. It is proposed to provide all ships of the 1911 programme with five tubes. The destroyers are also to have the number of their torpedo tubes increased from two to four. In the German navy the Dreadnoughts carry six and the battle-cruisera four torpedo tubes. The fear of war between Britain and Germany, and the increasing number of wrests in both countries of persons suspected of espionage, have inflamed public opinion. That Germany is watching every movement of the British War Office is proved conclusively by the revelations made during the late trial in Edinburgh of Carl Greaves on the charge of having been found in unlawful poa--6eaßion of official secrets. "BAD TASTE." THE MIKADO'S FUNERAL. PAKIS, August 23. . A Japanese financier in Paris declares wat the presence of Mr. P. C. Knox, American Secretary of State, at the ■Mikado's funeral will be regarded by the Japanese, the highest and the lowest "ike, as exceedingly bad taste. *k^ 6 shall feel," he went on to say, that Mr. Knox has come to our country en business, and that he is working the •toflar doctrine. We regard our Emperor jnth veneration, and the presence of any "ashless clement at the coming sacred "tee will be an impertinence. Mr. Knox may assure us of America's inendship, but we do not need to be IMwfct what we well know."