NEWS IN BRIEF.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1843, 19 November 1897, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

The following amusing' paragraph appeal in the Ladies’ Notes colujnn <jf the ‘ Illustrated London News ’ of August 28:—“ Among the many novel regulations in New Zealand that perhaps might be copied here with advantage, it appears i that there is one which requires every person who desires to keep an animal to nold a license to do so, which may be withdrawal in case of misuse, or endorsed exactly? as a publican’s or a cabdriver’s license in this country. The license is issued in the first instance as a matter of course to every applicant, but is endorsed or cancelled on the complaint of any person if cause is shown before the potty sessions, and the jury in such cases is composed half of men and half of women, all of whom are free from any convictions for ill-treatment of animals.” An interesting comparison of the yearly cost of some of the main items used in the four chief hospitals of the colony was read (says the ‘Post’) by the chairman of the Wellington Hospital Trustees. The total amounts spent in the hospitals were as follow :—Wines—Dunedin. £145; Christchurch, £142 ; Wellington, £173 ; Auckland, £55. Water—Dunedin, £l5O ; Christchurch, nil; Wellington, £247; Auckland, £l9B. Food —Dunedin, £1,814; Christchurch, £2,047; Wellington, £3,081; Auckland, £2,275. Surgery and Dispensary—Dunedin, £1,240 ; Christchurch, £1.200; Wellington, £906; Auckland, £857. Salaries Dunedin, £2,166; Christchurch, £3,138; Wellington, £3,256; Auckland, £2,988. Total number of patients (roughly)—Dunedin, 700 ; Christchurch, 1,100; Wellington, 1,100; Auckland, 1,100. Daily cost of patients—Dunedin, 4s Hd ; Christchurch, 4s lOd; Wellington, 3s 6id ; Auckland, 4s As the chairman remarked, in Wellington they give their patients more wine, more water, and more food than in the other hospitals* while they physic them less than in the southern cities, and pay the largest amount of salary, while the daily cost of the patients is the lightest in the four cities. It will be remembered that some time ago it was suggested that a refrigerating hulk should be established by New Zealand freezing companies at Cape Town, to act as a storage and distributing depot for periodical cargoes of frozen mutton from this colony. The suggestion was not taken up with any spirit and nothing came.of it. Judging from a letter published in the ‘ Queenslander ’ it would appear that New Zealand had lost a splendid opportunity. The-writer states that the prices for meat in South Africa are abnormally high, the butchering trade being in the hands cf a monopolist, and that on imported meat there is a duty of 24 per lb. He, however, asserts that if frcz3n meat can be laid down in London (twice the distance that Cape Town is from Australia) at 3d per lb, it could be landed at Cape Town, duty paid, at from 4d to per lb. Sold at 64 or 6id, the writer was convinced (owing to the "cry being raised for it) that a big business could be done. Advertisements were, at the time in question, appearing in the Cape Town papers saying that, a shipment of frozen mutton was daily expected, and Would be sold at 7'*4 per lb. Cape Town, Port East London, and Johannesburg are suggested as suitable places for the establishment of branch depots for frozen meat. At the latter place beef, at the time of writing, was, on account of the prevalence of rinderpest, selling at 2s and 2s 6d per ,Ib. A clergyman named Hinshaw was convicted in Indiana two years ago, upon circumstantial evidence, of murdering his wife, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He has lately been exonerated by the confession of a convict in Michigan, who has named the real criminals, with all the details of the affair. The occasional dreadful disadvantages of capital punishment are impressively illustrated by the disclosure. Kirby, the ex-detective, is doing duty as prison librarian in Wellington Gaol. It is stated on reliable authority that three notorious criminals who received sentence through Kirby’s instrumentality premeditated an attack upon him. The object of their vengeance was discovered, and the result was that Kirby was appointed to the position of librarian.—* Hastings Standard.’ A'Russian inventor has constructed an apparatus which is to enable people buried alive to communicate with the outer world should they awake from their trance in the grave. The invention consists in the main of a button on the inside of the coffin, situated immediately over the breast of the apparently dead person. If the unfortunate person comes to life and begins to breathe the first action of the body is the expansion of the chest; this presses the button upward, and an alarm bell is set going in the office of the superintendent of the cemetery. At Ribeauvilfe, = in France, the captain of the local fire brigade recently became a happy father. With one accord the brave firemen sacrificed the hirsute adornments which were their glory to fill a velvet cushion, and this unique gift was duly placed in the baby’s cradle, with a diploma of honorary membership of the corps. A shocking case of cruelty to a child is reported in the Sydney newspapers. At the Narrandera Police Court, on the 22nd ult., R. A. Thomas, manager of the local branch of the A.J.S. Rank, was charged by the police with having, between May and October, wilfully ill-treated Sarah Blakely, a girl ten years old, under bis care, causing bodily suffering. The accused had engaged all the available local counsel at Narandera. The public employed counsel from Wagga to assist the police. The medical and other evidence showed that the child was in a shocking condition. Her head, limbs, back, and abdomen were covered with wales, scars, and bruises. The child stated that she had been flogged with a green hide riding whip, kicked, punched, and kept under a Cold shower bath for fifteen minutes at a time. The courthouse was besieged by an excited crowd during the hearing. The defendant was fined £25 and costs. If some humble individual had been charged with some trivial offence against property, the Qhances are that he would have got six month’s “ hard.” The largest cannon in the world was taken by the British when India was conquered. The cannon was cast about-the year 1500, and was the work of a chief namedCbuleby Koomy Khan, of Ahmednugger. The inside of the gun is fitted up with seats, and is a favorite place for the British officers to go for a quiet noonday sleep. • ■ According to general belief •in business circles in the -United States, Mr Carnegie, the millionaire ironmaster of Pittsburg, baa resolved to act on the advice of his ooetpr and retire from business. He is about no sell his ironworks to Mr Rockfeller, of Standard Oil fame. Apropos of the Rookfellers, there are two brothers. The Standard Oil magnate is said to be worth a matter of sixty million dollars ; the other \ has to be content with a pittance of £160,000 « a year. ..■ . ; * * The Premier on Thursday told a deputation from the Salvation Army , authorities that £1,500 would be put on the Estimates for rescue work, and that a part of the vote would be placed at the disposal of the Army. Mr Scddon said he was grateful to the Army for the splendid work tney'did in connection with the neglected and criminal classes. He particularly thanked the deputation for their valuable information re juvenile crime. . Edinburgh has 22,000 cows, while Dublin comes next with 11,000, and London stands third with a cow population of 8,000. Glasgow has but 2,000 oows,