BRITISH AND FOREIGN NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 626, 1 October 1909, Page 8

BRITISH AND FOREIGN NEWS.

• INTERESTING . ITEMS BY MAIL. ' _ A ' FATAL PANIC. London,. August 21.' A panic, which'resulted-in tho death of ono child' and injuries to'eight otheVs, occurred St Victoria Hall, Southsea, in which a kine : matograph entertainment was in progress bofore an audionoe largely composed . of children, ,who were . admitted ' to the, gallery' on payment of ono penny. When the second film was being shown an electric wire fused, causing, the film to snap ' and ignite. There w.as no real .danger,'for the operator at once subdued the outbreak with a'blanket and a .bucket'of water'at hand, but the cry of'fire being raised, tho children rushed towards tho exit; In the .stampede" the' side rail of the banister'gave way, and. a number, of children were precipitated, into the corridor. The' little ones rushed pell-mell for the staircase, which speedily became wedged with a solid, mass right'to the doorway. 'Momen- 1 tarily the pressure; from behind became greateT. The agonised cries of ■ the. .children attracted spectators' from .a cricket .match .in progress opposite .the' hall, -and by., main, force the children .were dragged, from .the congested passage. Many were almost unconscious, arid were medically treated, in the roadway. Eight little ones it ' was found to send to tho hospital, where two cases had to be detained. The was cleared in a quarter, of an hour, when the .lifeless'. body, of a' boy was found in the corridor. The. panic .fortunately was. confined to the gallery, the adults in the area of the hall, having been reassured by the attendants, while, the prompt 'action bf. the band in striking up a popular air also had a-reassuring effect. • The manager of' the ball, interviewed, said that the occurrence was 'due entirely to tho alarm of fire being raised by women. The hall could.be cleared in the.ordinary way. in three minutes, but the panic rendered the systematic emptying of the building impossible. The attendants did all in theirpower to prevent a stampede, but so far as the gallery was concerncd, without'effect. • HEROIC LADY M.A. Great .Blasket-Island, which lies : off the: frestern . coast, of County' Kerry, was the sceno of a distressing, bathing tragedy, in which a young lady arid a youth'sacrificed their lives in trying; to save'the/life of the boy's sister.- : • . Hiss Eileen. Nicolls, M.A.," aged twenty-four,* of Dublin, daughter of Mr. Archibald .Nicolls, secretary of,the Loan I'und Board of Ireland;, was bathing in the sea with Miss Kate Crohan,' a local resident, when the latter got'into difficulties. Miss Nicolls at once swam ,to.her assistance! and with splendid heroism made repeated efforts to bring her to. the shore, until she herself became exhausted a'nd'sank. Miss Crohan's brother. DonoUgh, a youth of eighteen, arrived on the scene, and in his clothes and boots swam out to'the rescue. But he, too, sank and was drowned. An islander named Pat Kearney e.ventrially succeeded in reaching - Miss Crohan and keeping her afloat until a boat picked l thorn up. The bodies of Miss Nicolls and the youth were" subsequently recovered. ' •... RAILWAY STATISTICS, According to a return' the total amount of railway capital returned as paid-up.at the .close of 1908 in the United' Kingdom was 41,310,000,800. .. •■ ■■ : ;~. .v-'' . The . average. rate of dividend .on ordinary capital, was 2.99 per cent., and on preferential capital-8.42 per cent., against 3.31 and .3,48 respectively in the, preceding year. . . The receipts from passenger stock were some ■4700,000.-less than in 1907. v. Tho receipts- from goods traffic fell off by over two and- a quarter million pounds/' . V The total number'.of passengers carried, exclusive of • season ticket nolders was ■000; an .' increase 0f'.18,634,000.:- ■/ ; , ' 'The passengers conveyed-by the "tube" railways of the metropolis- increased from 130,000, 000 in 1907 to. 161,000,000 last-year. : » The gross receipt's of the companies 'in-1908' .amounted' to 4119,891,000, and- the working expenditure ..to ~£76,408,000. The net receipts therelore amounted to 443,486,000, against'444,94o,ooo in the previous year, i •' -- ' - , ' ' Tho total length 'of running. track was 39,-: 316 miles, and of-sidings 14,353 miles. ' ' MIDNIGHT MOTOR HUN. - : Mdlle. Fcrnaixie, sitting at a cafe table on the Place de la Kepublique,.in a Paris, was not averse from adventures,' 1 but' she", got more than she bargained; for.- A man, described as elegant, who . looked thirty and. interesting, drove, up ,in a taxi-cab, which he kept -waiting, and sat down, beside her.' She had. never met him before, but lie said he was a "man of letters and'wrote tragedies."- Would .she. 'come.with him.for a,drive? 'She',Would, with' pleasure,, add got into the.'cab. The ..tragic dramatist sat on tho'box beside tho chauffeur. It was' not very sociable, buti the drive; in the hot night'was pleasant, and; the'pace, fast.'- "It. became faster, and faster,' and-,tKe" car tore, out,of .Paris.. !.; The-'lady.-,-.began- to! think this was.'. too much of an. adventure, and-called out. The i dramatist answered only by ordering the chauffeur to drive to, Corbeil, forty-' miles fromParis. The.adventurous'lady, for whom this was altogether too much incident-for a night, shrieked hnd scrcamed to unheeding' populations, as the car dashed through lages. The dramatist then, climbfed.. down from the box to the seat by. her side,'.'drew a revolver, pointed it'at her, and said, "If you utter a word you are a dead woman,"'in the orthodox' stylo !of melodrama. • ■ ' .< . . ' ' Just-before fivo :in the morning the car stopped at Corbeil. , The lady leapt out and Tan;, / The..man -o'f letters ran after her,, still waving his revolver. • She biirst into a baker's shop, which was just; opening. .At that mom-, ent a .police inspector up early happened' to pass." "Savo mo; "he wants- to kill me!" 6h« cried, and fell into'his arms. The dramatist comiiig up--with:'his revolver, the inspector closed with'him, got his'.wcapon from him; andwith' the help' of bystanders,', secured him, and - carried' him off lo'.the police'"sta'ti(ih. " There .tho strange man of' .letters said; "I did not want to kill her. at - all. I only wanted' a nfcw sensational scenfe for tho drama I am writing." ' MME; ADA, CEOSSLEY'S -AUSTRALIAN., ;• EXPERIENCES. . • Mme.' Ada Crossley, >.tlio eminent contralto,, has just returned to London from a lengthy tour in Australia—her native land. "I haye been .70,000 milts' in eleven- months, 'and . sang 1 at'about one. hundred' and ■ fifteen concerts', "she said. ~.: , 'V "On'more' than a hundred occasions I have had mayoral receptions, but the warmest of all was given me in- Yarram, which is the nearest town, to:' The Jack Land/- the farm, on which ' I was'born'.' Here I was 1 received by a; troop.: of. rose-crowned children, who' strewed flowers in front>o£- me as..they-sang 'Honie, -Sweet. Home.' ..I'recognised many of those",iu front of me at the-concert .as-the friends of my youth,'- and' at the conclusion.,l had to shake hands 4000 times.: '.- "Musical-taste has greatly advanced in Australia, ' especially,' in the large ' towns, where olasSical numbers of-the programme met with special favour, but in the outlying districts the old favourite songs were still in great.request. lam pleased ;to say-that it is contemplated to have a musical festival in Sydney next year on English linesr-the first which has ever been held in-Australia/;' •'