News From All Quarters

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 31, 5 February 1916, Page 15

News From All Quarters

EX-SOLDIER COMMITS BIGAMY. At Inverness Alex. Stewart, an exSoldier from Kutherglen, was sent to pdson for three months for committing bigamy. Arising out of the charge, James Denoon, father of the girl whom Stewart bigamousiy married, was charged with Inducing or attempting to induce Stewart to commit bigamy. It was urged for the defence that Stewart denied he had been previously married, that the woman who claimed to be his wife was a widow, and that he represented himself as her spouse to enable her to receive separation allowance. Denoon was found "Not guilty." I BERLIN PEACE RIOTS. The recent violent peace riots In Berlinmore violent than reports at the time showed—were organised not by the leaders of the Socialist party, but by men who were disgusted by the timidity and inactivity of those leaders. It was a few

minutes 'before eight o'clock on the evening of November 30, while the first sittiug I of tbe new session of the Reichstag was still taking place, that a huge crowd collected suddenly as though by magic on the Schlossplatz, the large open space in front of the Imperial- Palace. After shouting "We want peace" and "Hoch Liebneeht" (the only Socialist Deputy who has agitated openly and boldly against the war), a procession was formed to march down Cnter-den-Linden to the Wilhelmstrasse, which contains the Chancellery and the Government offices, and to the Reichstag, a little farther on. Opposite the Opera I >uee a short halt was made, the crowd sang a verse of the "Marseillaise,*' and gave cheers' for the international proletariat. Meanwhile the isolated policemen on duty had given the alarm by telephone, and hy the time the head of the procession reached the corner of the Xeustadtische Kirehstrasse a squadron of mounted police came riding up the Linden at full tilt from the direction of the Brandenburg Gate. The procession at first halted Irresolutely, aud then to avoid being ridden down -by the police, who were brandishing their swords very fiercely, turned ran, but soon rallied and stood their ground in the Linden ■between the Friedrlchstrasse and the Schlossplatz. In front of the Cafe Bauer the "Marseillaise" was sung again, and on the other side of the street opposite the Cafe Victoria the crowd sang the German song of labour. Then the mounted police charged repeatedly, belabouring the people with the blunt edge of their swords, until the bulk of the crowd had been driven into the side streets, their direct retreat having been cut off by another force of police which had been hurried up from the Alexanderplatz to surround the Kaiser's palace. The spectators at the windows of the Cafe Bauer and at other -buildings along the Linden witnessed the vigorous police attacks on the crowd, and in particular heard how the officer commanding the mounted gendarmes urged his men to use their swords with effect. "Slash at them,'' he shouted, as he set the example at the head of his troops. In one of the pauses in the struggle the voice of a woman was heard: "Our husbands must bleed at the front, and here they want to slaughter the wives." A score of women or thereabouts who had received sword wounds were removed. ambulances, and about. ,90 men aud women were arrested.

CINEMA LURE FOR GIRLS. "Cinema Acting.—"Well known manager and producer requires a few ladies and gentlemen of refinement, without experience, to prepare for cinema. Salary earned, from one guinea upwards per day."' This advertisement was read at the Old Bailey, London, when a remarkable story of a married man's conduct towards a number of young women was unfolded. The prisoner was George Glcnville, aged 35, described as a manager, who pleaded guilty to indictments charging him with six assaults. Mr Curtis Bennett, who prosecuted, said the prisoner occupied offices in. Oxford Street, from which he advertised as quoted above. By that means he got into communication with young women, from each of whom he obtained three guineas as a fee for teaching. He gave the girls a part to learn, but they all had the part. (Laughter.) The parts the girls bad to learn were simply rubbish, and the prisoner assaulted them. When any of tlie girls complained they were told they were not suitable for the work. To one girl who objected to his conduct he said, "If you are going to be so cold as that you will never get on In the profession." From one young woman tbe prisoner obtained £100, saying he required it to complete the building, of a theatre at Shoreham. The prisoner told another girl that "she was breaking his beai-L" He also said, "I love you, and wonld leave the woman I am living with because she is an invalid." The Common Serjeant: "There was a system of getting girls to come to his office, and then he tried to «corrupt them. Detective-Sergeant Squires stated that there was a previous conviction against the prisoner foe obtaining money from girls by means of a. bogus theatrical agency. Considerably more than 50 complaints had been received by the police. The Common Serjeant said that no sentence he could pass would be an adequate one. The prisoner had decoyed girls into the office. He added, "I pass ou you the maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment with hard labour. It is quite inadequate to meet the case." LESS VODKA, LESS CRIME. " Law-breaking- has decreased everywhere." This statement gives the note of a report, which has been prepared in Russia with regard to the effect of vodka prohibition upon the peasant population, and Is dealt with at length by Professor J. Y. •Simpson in the " Contemporary Review." This report Is the result of the answers given by GOO correspondents in different districts of the government to questions put to them officially. " The part devoted to the effects of vodka prohibition," says the professor, " opens with the' statement that this measure was really, the last link in a chain of measures, Government and other, that had been instituted in connection with the struggle with drink. The results of drinking were so bad that it had come to be generally realised that sooner or later the whole question must be faced. The war simply fixed the time. Society and Government alike saw that when the war called for sacrifices on the part of the people they j must be helped in every way to retain their Ijiower and energy, and that the Government I also must fail into line in surrendering Its .drink profits."

In most cases it was reported that tlie peasants were working better and more intensively, that the efficiency of labour was higher, and that pay was higher because of temperance. " Before prohibition," a judge reported, " there were 30 to 50 cases every month. in the district court: now there are none. Tbe whole report, in fact, shows that the absence of drinking facilities has had remarkably beneficial effects upon the life of the peasant community.

FINED FOR TREATING HIS WIFE. At Bristol a man was fined the minimum of 9/ for treating his wife to intoxicating liquor. The magistrates decided that a technical offence only had been committed, but pointed out that if the justices laid it down that a man could pay for liquor for his wife, tbe licensee would be landed in the further difficulty of having to satisfy himself that the lady in the man's company was his wife. The case was stated to be the first of its kind in the country. CAPTURE OF KITCHENER. A writer in "London Opinion" says: The greatest excitement exists in smart circles over the rumour that Lord Kitchener has found time, among his other little occupations, to engage in courting, and that the most sensational of all the war wedI dings ia about to happen. I don't know i whether it's true, but I do know it is widely believed; and there is a triumphant note in the tones of the fair sex as the? retail this choice morsel ot gossip about the man who was believed to be absolutely proof against matrimony, and who used to select his subordinates, on the ground of efficiency, always from the bachelor ranks. The lady with whose name Lord Kitchener's is being coupled as his future bride is the widow of an earl who used to occupy one of the most coveted positions under the British Crown. DESERTER'S REMARKABLE FRAUDS. A man named John Digby Palmer, aged -. belonging to East Dulwich, was sentenced to IS months' imprisonment at Lewes for perpetrating a remarkabl* series of frauds. He was ln the Navy for some years. a nd, after deserting four times, joined the Army. He again deserted and went to Brighton, where he posed as Sir John Bennet, and subsequently as a clergyman. At Hove he gave his name as Sir Walter Palmer, and said he had been gassed at the front and had only three months to live, and as he had to be in the open air as much as possible he hired a motor car. He afterwards posed as Lord Loughboro, with an income of £6,000, and, according to another of his stories, he was Viscount Wolmer, and had been with Scott to the Pole. A long list of frauds included masquerading as a lieutenant at Chatham. PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS IN PALESTINE. The American Consul at Jerusalem reports that the invasion of locusts' from v>\nlch that country suffered last year has been the worst within the memory of the present generation. "As far as the eye could reach the fields were covered by the locusts, and even the street in front of the ' American Consulate had the appearance, the movement of the green and .black mass, of a flowing river." * Olive groves, orchards, vineyards, market gardens, and most summer crops appear to have been completely devastated. Early in the year the Turkish authorities appointed a Commission to light the locusts, .with Dr. Aaron Aaronsohn, director ol ithe Jewish Agricultural -Experiment Station as High Commissioner. An order was issued requiring e-rery male inhabitant between the ages of 05 and 60 to collect 44 .pounds of locusts or pay an exemption fee of one Turkish .ponnd (IS/-). These and other vigorous measures proved, bowe-rer, to he of little avail.

"MARY" OBLIGES. *' The tourists, previous to .being shown over the ruins of the historic castle, had cheerfully paid their sixpences. - Finally (says the " 'Pail •Mall Gazette ") they were requested to enrol their names in the hook in order, it was explained, that the noble owner of the property might see who had visited it One of the ladies took up the pen and wrote " Mary." " Oh! that won't do at all," remarked the custodian; " you must sign your name in full lite all the others"—Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Robinson, etc. "But is that absolutely necessary?" asked ">Mary," to the -surprise of' the little group. "It is, ma'am. It is the rule here," was the answer. So the lady smilingly complied, and the custodian read: "Mary, Queen of England." For a few moments he stood as one petrifies - !.— then murmured a humble apology. "Mary," however, gently soothed him, and slipped something into his palm and said*. "-Now you will he able to recognise the King when you see him."

DRUGS £8 AN OUNCE. Some of the most important drugs have become so scarce that doctors are greatly handicapped, especially as it is difficult to find substitutes for some of them (remarks the "Daily Mail"). This scarcity has resulted in exceptionally high prices. Atropine is 3d and 4d a grain (£6. to £S an ounce), while eserine (poisonous alkaloid) is worth more. Both these drugs are indispensable in ophthalmic surgery. The scarcity of atropine is due to the dearth of Belladonna, the raw material from which it is extracted, which is 'Obtained from Central Europe. Phenacetin, a popular headache and neuralgia remedy, is now twenty-two times the price charged before the war. Aspirin, another very popular drug, is now twenty times dearer than it was in ISI4. Salicylic acid and salicylate of soda, remedies for rheumatism, are worth eighteen times their pre-war piice. QUEEN ALEXANDRA AS A WAITRESS. Qneen Alexandra arrived unexpectedly the other day at the refreshment buffet for soldiers and sailors at London Bridge station. She took her turn for an hour and ahalf, and on leaving asked to be allowed to come again. The soldiers generally called her "Missis," and one gave her-a florin to put into the collecting-box. But the best of all Queen Alexandra's customers was the Kentish farmer. He arrived at the station to take a traiu when Queen Alexandra was serving, and was evidently neither a soldier nor sailor, and was distinctly not in uniform. But he had never seen Her Majesty before, and, approaching one of the other waitresses, he asked if, supposing he gave a little money to tlr-> cause, the Queen would give him a cup of coffee with her own hand. Queen Alexandra readily consented. So the Kentish farmer had his coffee, and then, going inside the 'buffet, wrote a cheque for £5. Then he took his train to Kent, and the next thing heard from blm was in the form of another cheque for £50, being money which he had raised in subscriptions among his neighbours. A few days ago he appeared with £25. more, and a declaration that he was not going to rest till he had made his contribution up to a round £100