NEWS IN BRIEF.

Evening Post, Volume XLV, Issue 5, 7 January 1893, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

"Slavery," says the Madagascar News, " prevails all over Madagascar. There is jno limit to it. Families can be sold into i slavery for debt." The French are about to erect a memoriaf tc Micbaux, whom they claim as the inventor of the velocipede, tho progenitor of the cycleA lady, once first favourite of the Sultan of Turkey, lost be* leg by accident. She has now an artificial limb set with jewels worth many thousands of pounds. Tho Cambridge Union, which has altogether 10,000 graduato and undergraduate members, oO of whom are in Parliament, passed the following resolution at its first meeting for the year: — "That in the opinion of this House the result of the late general election is a national disaster." A woman died at Pendleton from a bite in the hand inflicted by another woman, who is charged with manslaughter. Sir John Lubbeck, Bart., M.P., is taking an active interest in arrangements for hold- . iugr a Folk Lore Congress iv America. Two land sharks, who lived by decoying and robbing Bailors on their arrival in East London, were sentenced one to seven and the other to 10 years' penal servitude. In Sheffield there are 111 licensed victuallers, 27 beer-sellers, and 55 shops licensed to sell intoxicants. This is an average of one license to every 254 of the population. A negro woman in New York gave birth recently to her twenty-fifty living child, all single births. She was married at 16, and is only 42 years of ago. An officer was sent to prison for 14 days, without hard labour, at Cambridge, for using obscene language in the streets. Private soldiers are to be provided with ; pocket-handkerchiefs, upon which will bo printed tho drill regulations. The smallest church in the world is at St. Laurence, near Ventnor, Isle of Wight. It has a seating capacity of twelve persons. A railway iobber recently escaped from a New York prison simply by the aid of a bmall tin spoon, with which he pierced the wall. The giraffe is gradually disappearing m certain parts of Africa. Some years ago it was no uncommon thing to see herds of 80, now it is a rarity to see a. herd more than 20 strong. Entomologists, having made a calculation, have come to the conclusion that there are in the world about 9,000,000 species of insects. Paderewski is fa9t getting well from rheumatism. Ho has been able to ait up and will soon be out. Ho will keep all Ma American engagements. Several years ago C. Dann, chief torpedo gunner in "the Victorian Naval Forces, invented an appliance for dropping and picking up Whitehead torpedoes. Admiral Tryon brought this uuder tho notice of the Admiralty, who were bo pleased with the invention that they sent Dann a cheque for £000. In one of the great Paris hospitals out of 83 patients who suffered from opilepsy, 60 were found to be the children of drunken parents. In Japan, If a woman is not married by a certain age, the authorities pick out a man, whom they compel her to marry. This may keep down the old maids, but it increases the number of male suicides. Dr. W. L. Russell, the oldest living graduate of Harvard University, is 93 years ,of age. A few days ago he celebrated Ms j birthday at Barre, Massachusetts, by playI ing croquet with Mb two brothers, very active men of 83 and 85. It is stated that the percentage of re' jections at last year's examination in colour tests of candidates for certificates of competency in the Mercantile Marine was 283, being lower, with one exception, than in any previous year. The military race between Berlin and Vienna led to the death of 26 of the competing horses, and there has been a revulsion of feeling against this cruelty, even on the Continent. ' A man drowned himself near Birmingham. His dog, who accompanied him, returned home and scratched at the door, but as no notice was taken of the animal he returned to the pool and kept watch over the deceased's hat until the body was discovered. " Umbrellas and seasonable goods in great variety, and at moderate prices. Repairs while you wait." For displaying this printed notice in his shop window without the imprimatur of the Censor, an Odessa Jew has been fined three roubles, or two days' imprisonment. Tho Earl of Mountcashel, who is 67 years old, was to have been married in Dublin - Everything was in readiness for the arrival of the party at the church, when a message was received stating that the marriago would not take place. A fireman attended a theatre in Bolton. A fire broke out at a mill, and his wife rushed to the theatre aud shouted to her husband that there was a fire. The audience, thinking the building was on fire, rose in a body, but the mistake was quickly explained. The Kaiser William has forbidden the German Ambassador at Pekin to marry an American lady on the ground that German diplomatists, from the nature of their calling, are debarred from marrying women of another nationality. A Bill will shortly be introduced in tlu> French Chamber of Deputies for levying a military tax on all foreigners resident in France at tho rate of 4 per cent, on income or salary. There are no undertakers in Japan. When a person dies it is tho custom of his nearest relatives to put him in a coffin and bury him ; and tho mourning docs not begin until after burial. Nathaniel Brown, a coloured man, of Baltimore, recently wagered that he would drink three pints of whisky. Ho died in tho attempt to win Ms bet. The elephant's sense of smell is so delicate that when in a wild state it can scent an enemy at a distance of 1000 yards, and the nerves of its trunk are so sensitive that the smallest substance can be discovered and picked up by it. It is the fashion in New York to give a forget-nu-not luncheon to a bride before her wedding. Tho table is decorated with forget-me-nots, and all present, male and female, ornament themselves with the flower. Articles of jewellery a la forget-me-not, with a dewdrop in the centre oF the enamel, are often given in return by the bride to be. The total expenditure on dock works by the Mersey Dock and Harbour Board has> been 20J millions sterling. An international Postage Stamp Exhibition has been opened in Paris. A third of the exhibitors are English. Women to-day are two inches taller, on an average, than they were twenty-five years ago. The cause is found in tho change of the embroidery needle for tho tennis racket, oar, and the gymnastic apparatus of the school and college. The business men of Liverpool are alarmed by the prospect of the transfer of the Inman steamship landing-place at Southampton, and by rumours that the Cunard and White Star steamers will also withdraw from Liverpool, and by tho threatened competition of Milford and Bristol as British ports for the Transatlantic steamship trade. Potato disease prevails to a serious exteut in some districts in England, moi-o especially in Kent, Surrey, aud Sussex. ¦ The Duke of York is studying in Germany under a professor, and on his return will take charge of the O&borne. The coffin in which the late Earl of Essex was buried recently at Watford was made 12 years ago, and was designed by the deceased nobleman himself. Tt was of plain pine wood, with open trellis lid, the body being hidden from view by sprigs of yew, cypress, and rosemary. There has just died at MietoMsko one Herr Weudt, in his 100 th year. A born Pomeranian, he took part iv the war of freedom against Napoleon, and had both his eyes shot out. Herr Wendt bore his sorrow to the day of his death with forti* tude and resignation. Vassar, the women's college in America, possesses what is known as a pin-money fund. Some New Yorkors not long ago guvo to it a sum to be used exclusively for pleasure. Every year there are girls whose brains have gained them free scholarships, but who havo to depend on tUeir darning baskets for money to cover thoir incidental expenses. The parties which are constantly made up for lecture*, concerts, operas, readings, field sports, aud country excursions would be out of theii reach were they not able to draw on the pin money fund for expenses, and nobody but tho ''Lady of Vassar " and the treasurer is any the wiser. According to the Washington Herald Mary Anderson is this year 33 years of age, Sarah Borahardt 48, Mrs, Langtry A'l, Jlrae. Modjeska 48, Christine Nilssou 49, Adolina Patti 49, Mario Rozo 46, Ellen Torry 44. Miunio Hauk 39, and Mrs. W. 11. Kendal i:j. A London magistrate ruled that a husband cannot be made liable for his wife failing to take out a license for a dog wMch belonged to her. Tho offence, it was stated, was a criminal one, and no man j was answerable for tho criminal acts of his. ! wife. j A diver went down to patch a hole in ! tho i-ide of a vessel nt Cardiff. Ho re- | moved a plug, and the indraupht of the j water was Bo'gieat that it drew his arm in | the hole, holding him in that position for ¦ two hours, until the assistance of another ' diver could be procured.