News From All Quarters

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 145, 19 June 1915, Page 15

News From All Quarters

DRINKING HABITS OF TO-DAY. The increase iv the uumber or cases of delirium tremens iv Bermoudsey. particularly among women, was commented upon at a -outhwaik iurjuest. Sidney Herbert Butcher, the master of Bermoudsey Workhouse, said that since the outbreak of the war more cases of delirium tremens had conic to his institution than before, particularly so as regards women. He accounted for that in the fact that the boors wore restricted, and people seemed "to crowd more drink down" iv the short time allowed them

SOLDIER'S WIFE MURDERED. Mrs Lucy Mary Strange, of Magdalen [toad, Oxford, was found dead iv her livlug room. Her skull had been smashed iv. The discovery was '..side l.y the dead woman's sister, M Kdwards. Mrs Strange was found lying on ihe floor. A pair of iron lire-tongs covered with blood was found on the table. lt was ascertained Hit a ni.'in ill whose company Mrs Strange had been the day before left the house about eight o'clock in tho evening. The police at once went in pursuit and at Wheatley. about five miles from Oxford. arrested Alfred Holland (801, formerly employed by the Great Western Hallway. Holland was later charged with wilful niurd' r.

FAMINE IN CHINA. Many persons are starving lo death in the province of Szechurn, china, and despite the decree of President iuau-Shih-Kal contributing _-0.000 for ihe relief of tbe famine sufferers, thousands of persons are subsisting ou herbs aud roots, according to a vote from _. Carltou Baker. American Consul at Cbuug-King, dated March 10. The famine. Mr. Baker staled. Is duo to a drought. He said Ihat the price of rice had doubled. "Some of tbe people are so desperate that they are ea'Ing roots aud bark from trees, and even clay,'' he slid. "Others are killiug themselves lo escape the terrors of starvation. ' Conditions in tbe province rnr.uot become normal until the uext crop is harvested huenext summer, the report stuted.

BABY'S BODY IN BOX. The mother of the dead body which was discovered in a box on a Liverpool tramcar—Margaret Ann .Nelson, domestic servant—was found guiity of wilful murder

hy a Liverpool Coroner's jury, an.l was committed for trial at the Manchester Assizes. Evidence was given lo the effect that a conductor ou au Aigburth tramcar discovered the child's body ia a cardboard box on the rear platform. Xe'.son. who was seated inside the car, vvas pointed out to a policeman as the mother of the child, and sbe told him it was tier baby, and was born two days previously. She was taking it to her s.-ter. lt Is Mated that a towel was twice twisted round the neck of Ihe child. A knot w;rs lied under Ihe chin, and the cud of the towel was i.i the child's mourn. Dr. Sidney Palmer told the Coroner that death

vvas due lo strangulation, and a verdicl of "Wilful murder" was iherefore returned

TWICE WRONGLY CONVICTED.! I It Is officially announced that His j Majesty, on the rocommendatiou of the illome Secretary, has been pleased to grant to Mrs. Mary Johuson a free pardon lv respect of ber convictions at Surrey .Sessions on the loth October, 1012, and Ist July, 1013, upon charges of sending threatening letters. The Treasury have suuctloned payment of £000 to Mrs. | Johnson. who suffered two terms of I Imprisonment for offences of which she has | now been proved to be innocent. The i Press Association says:—Mrs. Johnson was twie. sentenced lv connection with the sending of threatening letters to persons re.-ldl.iß at Redhill. and on beiup charged a I bird time the jury stopped tho case. : One nf the witnesses lv tbe case was subse- I quently charged with the offence, and sen- I tenced to eighteen months' hard labour. ) Mrs. Johnson served two terms of imprison j incut—one of si.v months and oue of twelve months. LORD BYRON AND GREECE. April 10 was the anniversary of Lord Byron's death at Mlssolonghi in ls_l. As | is the custom each year, the only memorial of the poet Iv London, the statue behind! Ap.-lev House, was richly decorated with' lilies and rose?, the flowers for which. 11l j his "Hours of Idleness." Byron expre'sod i Mich a decided preference. Among the blossoms were .several tributes In verse.: and lo oue magnificent wreath was attached -a scroll bearing the bitter Hue from "Chiltle Harold":- \ "Ah! Greece! they love thee least who! During the moruing a number of per-j sous, mainly members of tho Greek colony iv ILondou. assembled before the statue, and listened to an address from M. ! Auastase E. Bati.tatos. one of the volunteers of lSflfi. who lost his rigut arm in ! that campaign. He dc.dared that there] was but one path for Cree-e to-day. Sell-] interest, duty, honour, and gratitude ail pointed the same way. lie daily prayed I nnd he knew his friends there prayed with, him. that they would speedily bear that! their dear country hail emancipated herself from the foreign influence thai had be-j numbed her so long, and had entered that' path with vigour and resolution. j MISS MARIE LLOYD LIBELLED.! Miss Marie Lloyd, whose full name is Matilda Alice Victoria Dillon, was the plaintiff in a libel action which came before Mr Justice -cruitou tlic other week. The defendants were the Charing Cross Cinematograph Theatre and Mr 11. IT. Baruet, the manager of the theatre. Mr Douglas Hogg, for the plaiutiff, said the defendant's theatre, while Miss Lloyd vvas abroad, exhibited an the Strand, outside the theatre, a life-size picture of the plaintiff, -with 'the words above aud below the picture, ".white slave traffic." It was now explained that there were two exhibitions going on at the theatre, one of a professional performance by the plaintiff, and the other a film illustrating episodes in the white slave 'traffic. The result was that plalntifE was deluged with letters, some from indignant champions, and some from scurrilous enemies. Both defendants unreservedly apologised and admitted that the charge was an entire mistake, aud absolutely unfounded. They said that some person In their employ had chosen tn put the two advertisements iv juxtaposition l without their knowledge and authority, j Mr •Fatl-.'k Hastings, for the theatre, said they were pleased to bo able to recompense Miss Marie .Lloyd, and to express the fullest regret and apologise for the annoyance which they had causes her. eventually, a settlement was arrived at under which »."_ jjp-tntlfl; ™a9--.***_"_y*. £JOQ *•* ■»,.

THE WORLD'S GREATEST AQUEDUCT. Water from the Apennines was distritinted in .April last for the first time to tho provinces of Burl, Foggia, and Lece. -trough rhe Apulia aqueduct, th" lamest in tho .world, which vvas begin: In I'.iu.'i. More than 2. 000,00(1 -persons iv Italy are now assured of a supply, fresh from niouii tain streams, brought through 13T.j miles of pipe. Fur the construction of 1.1..• aqueduct, the cosi of vvhi.-h it is esiiliiat"-! at S.'l-.0n0.0n0. 4000 workmen have been engaged nearly ten year?. KILLED BY A FRIENDS CAR. A sad ending to a husband's .pleasure trip vvas related in tho Coroner's Court al I'olcgal" (Sussex). Becoming alarmed at the prolonged absence of her husband, »hi> bad gone out with a friend. Mr William Wood, for a ride in tho latter's cax, Mrs Sarah Kuiily Core, the wife of a I'olegate nurseryman, -wen: to tbe friend's house to make some inquiries. On her way homo, after failing to meet her __sband. she was knocked dow-u in the dark and killed by the very car fromi which her husband bad just previously alighted at. his own bouse. At The-i_quest._ verdki. of "Accidental death" was returned..

TRAGEDY AT GLASGOW-.*;' J'rivate David Wilson, of the- oth HIS*" land Light Infantry, appeared in u_ifori— at tlie Glasgow relive Court, aud was detained on the charge of haviDg caused bis wife's death by fracturing her skull with. a sweeping-brush. It was stated that tho accused went lo the police, crying. "Oh, police, come and see my wife! She cannot speak 1" A constable went to the couple's single apartment aud found Mrs Wdlson lyiug dead ou the floor. There was blood nn her head and face, aud a small pool bad formed on the floor. Accused is about _v years old, and his wife was 22. Shortly before the tragedy Wilson was seen by the police in au adjoining street looking for his wife. The couple buried a child during Wilson's present furlough.

THE CIGARETTE HABIT. Dr. Seymour Taylor favours the pipe- In moderation, but condemns the cigarette. "The cigarette habit.'' he says, "is a pernicious one. . . The pipe-smoker is satisfied with one pipe, or perhaps two .pipes, ami . :en he puts the bowl aside. But the cigarette-smoker is like the dram-drinker who is never intoxicated to outward appearances, but stiil goes on drinking, or. rather, s ..iking. 'This man dies in middle age from the effects of alcohol on his liver or some other organ. And I have observed Ilia; the cases of -tobacco heart which _ Lave nii't with have not been among the pipe and cigar smokers, but In the cigarette votaries. Dr. Taylor states on the authority nf an oculist of high repute that cigarette Miioking is a fertile source of tobaoco blindness. The habit of inhalation he characterises as "distinctly injurious."

A DEMENTED SOLDIER. William James Ayres, a gunner iv the -oval Held Artillery, was charged at West London Police Court with attempting to murder hi. wife. Detective-Inspector Ball :-aid the woman was not in a very serious condition. He took Ayres from the hospital to Hammersmith Police Statiou, where, on lacing charged, he uiade no reply. He was then charged with attempting to commit suicide, aud agaiu made no reply. Ayres and two jagged wounds on the head above the right ear. and his wife had one wouud lust above the lobe of the ear on the left side of the neck, one behind the ear, and one above the ear on the head. She also .had two wounds on the hand. "Is this man ir. his right mind?" asked Air. FordUam. "He has been absent from his regiment since Tuesday morning. He came away without leave, and be has not been out of the house since." Prisoner was remanded. STEAMER DESTROYED BY FIRE The story of the destruction of the West Africa mail steamer Dakar was told at Plymouth by the crew who arrived home :Yom Forcados. The liner steaaned from Liverpool to Sierra Leone with mails and passengers, and twice on the voyage there was cause for alarm, as fire developed in the l.uukers. and the smoke penetrated to the deck. It was only ou arrival in port at Forcados. however, that the matter became very serious. In a day or two after iinival ihe Are got altogether out of control, hut by then all tho passengers were ashore and a great deal of cargo bad been discharged. The tire gradually spread aft. and in tbe end the ship became a blaze from stem to stern. Tor three days the liner burnt until ber plates were wbite hot. and Hie crew had to abandon ber. Some of the lifeboats were only lowered lv the waLer when there appeared no chance of the crew escaping from what was nothing more or less than a burning furnace. At last tbe decks burst, and the Dakar was completely destroyed by tire, all efforts being powerless to save the steamer.

TRAGEDY OF A BROKEN ENGAGEMENT. Curequiiod love was the cause of . • tragedy which was. investigated by the -tiriihani (1-ieksl Coroner. The inquest toiated to Mr. John Campbell, a Scottish fanner, who took poison iv the woods after trying to shoot Miss Dorothy Hector, a London lady, who accompanied him. Mr. Thomas -ou.las. a farmer trlend of Campbell, said tip- latter was formerly engaged 1., Miss Hector, but the engagement was broken off a year ago because, he believed, of the lady's views- on the suffrage question. Miss Hector told the coroner that since her engagement vvas broken off she had fallen in love wit—, another man. At Campbell's request she met him In London, and they went to I'uruham Beeches. Ho asked her if she would kiss him and when she declined be pointed a revolver at her. She screamed and seized his hand, .and be asked her forgiveness. Shortly afterwards he left her. aud was found unconscious from the effects of poison. A policeman Bald the safety catch of the rev elver had lammed, and this was why the weapon did not explode. This had probably saved Miss Hector's life. The coroner read a letter to his brothet- found iv Campbell's pocket. It ran:—"Dorothy and I had nnother quarrel. I did not know lill now I vvas so fond of her. 1 cannot live without her. I am -, :SIng this step. I am absolutely mad. l'lcase forgive mc bringing this trouble on you. l'.ury mc in London, as I don't want to disgrace my obi father and mother. Don't put up a tombstone for mc. as I want t.. be :■ gotten." (l'l a postcard fouud re: Mr. Campbell were the words, "We ay.- love " Dr. Wiluiot said death was due to poisoning by prussio ..id. Tho Jury returned a -rerdict of "Suicide duriug_l«B»po«wy i_eauitj-,'" —~ *--• -*xT !