GENERAL NEWS.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 4735, 9 October 1886, Page 3

GENERAL NEWS.

Two other members of the unfortunate Ferrari company have died of yellow fever at Rio Janeiro, Mdle Schmidt, a young ballet dancer, from Trieste, and G. Monte, one of the iustrumontalista in the orchestra. This makes 13 who have succumbed to tho terrible malady.

Oood operatic singers appear to be as scarce in Faris as in Australia. M. Vitu, one of tho best musical critics in that city, speaking of the four principals in Don Pasquale, at the Opera Populaire, remarks ■with equal candor and conciseness that " the three younger singerH have scarcely a voice between them, while the fourth has none at all. ''

The position of a j'euiie premier on the American stage is a much more remunerative oue than that of a junior reporter on a Melbourne paper; for, at a recont date, Mr Kyrle Bellew was cruising about the English Channel in his own yawl, and entertaining a party of friends during tho long vacation enjoyed by members of the theatrical profession in the United States.

Herr Josei Kainz, a well-known actor of the Theatre Eoyal, Bavaria, and a great favorite with the late king, has just published a series of letters addressed to him by that monarch. They are full of panegyricß of the person to whom they are addressed, intermingled with criticisms on art and the drama. From a psychological point of view, tho correspondence is said to bo of the greatest interest.

It has been computed by a skilful mariner after taking several observations—that tho new bay steamer Ozone must have covered the distance between Suez and Aden at the rate of 18 knots per hour. It is further aaid (but this must be merely surmise) that Pharoah and all his host came to the surface, but went down again quick when they saw H. F. Jack M'Lean coming along at that tremendous pace,

A Jewish literary and debating society has just been floated in Melbourne. The •worthy president announces that the object of this society is "to teach Jewish youth something about the human race, as well as a horse race." 'Tis a noole end, but it will never be arrived at. Tho young Ikes, and Loos, and Moshers won't interest themselves in any race unless they can open a book on it.—Sydney Bulletin.

After Mr Daly's American company has finished its remarkably successful season in London it will proceed to Paris for the purpose of fulfilling a short engagement at the Vaudeville Theatre in that city If all one hears of it be true it will be able to hold its own in competition wfth tho best companies in France. One of its_ brightest members, Miss Edith Kingdom, is engaged to be married to Mr George Gould, the eldest son of the New York millionaire.

In the dearth of secular subjects for ballets, some French composers are preparone for the Eden Theatre in Paris, which ■will introduce the crucifixion on Mount Calvary. The theme of the ballet will be the Wandering Jew, who is represented by tradition to have scoffed at the Man of Sorrows, and to have been doomed by way of expiation to become a perpetual wandererover the face of the globe. Rubinstein, the illustrious pianist and composer, is also composing a sacied opera, in which the Saviour will be the contral figure, and the crucifixion a leading incident.

A. single regiment of troops with the assistance of a number of military cadets, aocoraplished the work of deposing Alexander. Before proceeding against the Prince, the revolutionists arrested the commander of Alexander's regiment, who was in Slivnit/.a. The Provisional Government seeing that the populace was violently loyal to the deposed Prince, resigned office and liberated the commander, who at once brought his regiment from Siivnitza and disarmed the regiment that had asssisted in the Prince's arrest, and the political leaders who had managed the coup d'etat. ,

' Sister Eulalie, Superioress of the Immaculate Academy at Newport, America, met ■with a shocking death on August 27. She was nearly convalescent from an attack of typhoid fever, and was trying to take some medicine, when the mosquito netting took fire and in a few minutes the bed was a mass of flames. Sister Eulalie sprang out and tried to get into tho hall, but found the door locked, and in her fright she could not find the key. The occupants of the houie went to her assistance, but had to break do\"n the door to reach her, when the me Was extinguished. The unfortunate woman was so badly burned that she died in two hours.

An accident happened on August 11, near Dover, England. A gentleman was seen by one of the coastgaurd, from Cornhill coastguard station, sketching from the edge of the very high cliffs. The man warned him of the danger to which he was exposing Bimßelf, and soon after he packed up his sketching materials. As he was in the act of swinging them on to his shonldera he twisted round, fell backwards, and over the cliff, which at tide point is several hundred feet high. The coastguard, descended immediately, and found the body nearly buried in the sand Life, was extmot. An envelope on the body bore the address, ■f'Charleg Kisbard Wilson, Henungiorc*road, Barnabury, London.;;

' At a final rehearsal of the great spectacular production entitled "Brahma," at tho Eden Theatre in Paris, M. Monti, who plays the tjtlo role had a narrow escape of being Buffocated. One of the features of the perfo'Taance is a funeral pyre, which is lit upon the (stage. The representative of Brahma, •who does not understand a word of French, cried out, "Basta! basta!" enough, enough ; but the supers, who don't understand a word of Italian, took it as an instruction to pile on the combustibles, and, ttnl it iwt beeii for a prompter who knew

something: of the southern tongue.'M. Monti would probably havo been asphyxiated.

A curious question of law and fact has just been decided in Paris. On the pedestal of the statue recently erected in that city in honor of Alexandre Duman, the elder, is inscribed tho title of the Tony do Ncslc as one of his most famous dramatic productions, whereas the first draft of the drama was from tho pen of a certain Gaillardot. The manager to whom it was offered found it unactable, and placed it in the hands of Dumns, who transformed it into a remarkably effective piece. As originally played, it was announced as tho joint production of MM. and Gailhirdefc. Tho latter is deiid, and his widow has demanded that her husband's name .shall he associated _with that of Dumas as one of the authors of tho drama.

An inquest was hold in London on August Hon tho body of Edward Newnvui, aged 12. John Moore, a little boy, said that he went with the deceased to bathe in tho river at Fulham, Ho could swim a little, and he went out towards a steamboat that was going in the direction of Putney. Th 9 swell occasioned by the bout caused his companion to sink. Ho rose several times, but the people on board mado no effort to rescue him. A man who swam from the shore to rescue the lad got into a sandhole and was drowned ; while another man had a narrow escape Nothing , was seen of tho deceased until his body was recovered floating off Billingsgate Market. A juror snid ho was at a loss to understand how a boat load of Englishmen could have the heart to pass a poor drowning boy and make no effort to rescue him. He had never heard of such heartless conduct.

The TCov. Henry "Ward Boecher has boon astonishing his friends in Kngland by his preternatural activity of mind and body. Although he is 73 he" gets through as much work in a day as a man of 37. No mat tur at what hour he goes to bed he is up with the lark, and as fresh as a daisy. The Rev. Dr. Parker, whose guest he is, describes his energy as overwhelming. "The other morning," he writes, "he went out before 10 o'clock, did some shopping, went to the Royal Academy and looked over the pictures, drove away in a cab somo four miles to lunch, and talked all tho afternoon ; then went to tho Mansion-house in the city of London, and dined with the Lord Mayor ; found his way bick to my house a little beforo midnisrht, and by 6 o'clock the next morning he was busy at hie dcsk —not in anj T dishevelled and outworn way, a doubledup and exhausted old man, but looking as fresh as the morning."

A curiou< case is occupying the attention of the Ainstgericht at Berlin. At the first representation ol " Lorele'y" at the German Theatre, a lawyer named H. bought of R., a personal friend, a place which tho latter had taken in the front row of the stalls ; but finding he could not very well see what was taking place on the stage, he sued the vendor for the price of the ticket. Before deciding on thp plaint, the judge visited the theatre himself, occupied the seat in question, found it to be budly placed both for seeing and hearing, and gave judgment for the plaintiff. The defendant has taken the matter to a hisrher Court, and if he fails to reverse the decision, will proceed against the management. Should the judgment be confirmed, it is anticipated that theatrical managers will bo compelled to guarantee every person paying for admission a place from which he can both nee and hear the performance.

A dispatch from St. Petersburg s iys a passenger steamer plying on the Volga between Astrakhan and Saratov, the capital of the provinco of Saratov, in Russia, was burned on August 24 and 200 lives were lost. The fire was caused by the fall of a ganglump in the saloon. The woodwork was ignited, and all efforts to quench the flames were unavailing. The passengers, all of whom were in bed at the time the fire broke out, rushed to the deck as soon as the alarm was given, and many of them, panicstricken, sprang overboard. The captain ordered the vessel to be run ashoro. This was done, but while the. bow became imbedded in the bank the stern remained in deep water, and tho passengers were still obliged to swim ashore. Many persons lost their lives by being struck by tables and chairs thrown from the vessel to aid the struggling swimmers in the water. Owing to the failure to stop the engines the water was churned up by the wheels, rendering more difficult the task of the rescuers who put out from shore to save the drowning passengers.

The following is, according to Truth, the apportionment of the spoils of office to peers and peers' sons:—Lord Salisbury, £5000 per annum; Lord Halsbury, £10,000 ; Lord Aehboiirne, £SOOO ; Lord Cranbrook, £2000 ; Lord Iddesleigh, £5000 ; tho Hon. E. Stanhope, £5000 ; Lord Randolph Churchill, £5000 ; Lord George Hamilton, £?>OOO ; Lord John Manners, £2000; Sir R. Cross (with a peerage), £5000 ; the Hon. F. Stanley, £5000 ; Lord Londonderry, £20,000 ; Lord Dunraven, £2000 ; the Hon. W. Brodrick, £1200 ; tho Hon. H. Northcote, £1200 ; Lord Charles Beresford, £^.200; Lord Lathom, £2000; Dulco of Portland, £2500 ; Lord Mount-Edgcumbe, £2000; Lord Arthur Hill, £1000; Lord Lewisham, £1000 ; Lord Follrstone, £1000 ; Lord Ouslow, £700 ; Lord Limerick, £1000 ; Lord Henniker, £700; Lord Hopetoun, £700 ; Lord Elphinstonc, £700 ; Lord Dβ jßos, £700 ; Earl "Waldoerave, £700 ; Lord Boaucluunp, £1000 ; Lord Harris, £2000 ; Hon. S. Herbert. £l:i00 ; Lord Coventry, £1700; Tiord Barrington, £1200 ; Lord Kintorc, £1000. Total, £11,000 to peers and sons of peers. Besides this the Durhess of Bucclouch receives £500 as Mistress of the Robes and eight peeresses £500 each as Ladies of the Bedchamber. These salaries, says Mr Labonuhere, would give £50 per annum to 2722 persons who are not peers or sous of peers*.

A singular story appears in one of the French military paper*;, and, if tho details are correct, it is not surprising that the incidents should have excited something like a sensation at the French War Office. It is stated that a gentleman at Nevers, the other day, shot a pigeon, and found its wings stamped with the Imperial arms of Germany, while attached to them was a quill with a cipher despatch. The pigeon and despatch were, it is said, sent to the French War Office and enquiries being made, appear to confirm the belief that the Germans have established pigeon stations on French territory, and that messages are even now exchanged between the stations and tho military staff at Berlin. Should these statements prove true, they may well oausß both uneasiness and anger in Iranco. It is a very strong step to organise rngeon stations, with a view to invasion, in a country with which peaceful relations prevail. It is certain that this system was, previous to the war of 1871, carried on in France by Gorman officers to an extraordinary extent, and that the invading army was far better acquainted with every road and by-way, and with every particular of the country, than their defenders. But this establishment of pigeon posts in a friendly country, for the purpose of giving- assistance to any invading army, would certainly seem to be an indefensible step, and one which the French have a right to resent.

Hitherto (says tho Lyttelton Times) cats have not been amarketnble commodity, and, consequently, they have been without anystated value, but now Mr Acton-Adams has become a purchaser they will probablj have a market value. This will be a special boon to one class of the community at least, namely, greyhound owners'and trainers. The suburbs of Christchurch literally swarm with cats, and it ia an impossibility to prevent 'their destruction by ggeyhquncls occasionally. When such a thing happens, it invariably turns out that the slaughtered feline is a prijo-taker at the cat show, and the value is appraised at from £5 upwards. The amount of penetration exhibited by greyhouuds in those matters is extraordinary. They never kill anything but a prize animal. Some time ago a brace of greyhounds killed a cock on the road a mile or two out of the city. He was a venerable veteran, with but one eyo. His legs were knotted like an ancient oak, and four drooping feathers were all that was loft of his once gorgeous tail. The owner appeared' on the sceno, and made a great hubbub, assessing the value of the bird at £2. The owner of the dogs demurred at the charge, and somewhat unfeelingly referred to the defunct a? "an old rooster." " Old rooster, you call hini ; why he'ain't two ; year old yet!" replied the grief-stricken proprietor. "What makes him so valuable?" queried tho greyhound man ; "he's only a common dung-hill." "Common dunghill P indeed ! Why ho took first prize in the show three years iv nuceeimioH !"

The tithe-rent riots in North Wales have assumed a serious aspect. It is a quarrel between the people and the Established Church. Nine-tenths of tho people of Wales are Nonconformists and are bitterly opposed to the Church of England, yet at least one thousand clergymen of tho Church of England have thoir livings there. The present disturbances ariso from the refusal of the whole community of farmers at Llanarmon to pay this year's tithe rent unless the rector of the parish, Rev. Evan Evans, makes reductions of 25 per cent. This he declined to do, whereupon the fanners told him that ho would have to get his money tho best way lie could. Evans hired a lawyer to distrain for his tithes. Three bailiffs from Chester went over to eeize tho property of the revolting , farmers, wheroupon the latter armed themselves and drove the bailiffs off. Evana and his wife were compelled to flee, and those people who had paid the tithes were serenaded with a beating of tin pans every night by the furious mob. The bailiffs having failed, Mr Whaley, an auctioneer, was employed to go out to Llanarmon and sell the property of the farmers who had refused to pay. He arrived with the clerk of the rector's solicitor. In the meantime hundreds of colliers from tho neighboring mines marched up in a body to. assist, the farmers. As the solicitor's clerk went to enter the yard of a man named Such, he was struck by a collier and knocked down, and afterward escorted back home. The auction waa not held, and VVhaley returned to Chester, empty-handed.' ' ' ■ ;