HERE AND THERE.

Evening Star, Issue 11278, 27 June 1900, Page 3

HERE AND THERE.

DadeviHe, in the State of Alabama (U.S.A.), on May 5, a political convention ended m bloodshed, the champions of William Vaughan, District Attorney, and Julian Bingham, Collector of Internal Revenuescandidates for the State chairmanship of the Republican party, being implicated; Charles King and bis brother, Neil King, Bingham champions, were on one side, and J. T. Howie on the other.. Fiiteen shots were fired. Neil King was shot in the abdomen, and cannot survive. 'The difficulty occurred on the Courthouse Square, and the ■ mayor thereupon- ordered both factions to move. The Bingham faction went to a ** negro schoolkouse, and the Vaughan faction to a vacant warehouse. Both factions nominated A. H. Millstead, of Talladega, for Congress, but named rival 'delegations to the National Convention. Howie was placed under a £250 bond. The proceedings were only a repetition of previous occurrences in the present Republican campaign.

An electric and automobile enthusiast, a very wealthy man, is said to be building himself a wonderful house, in which almost everything will be done by electricity. One of the new features of this up-to-date home will be an automobile room, and in addition there will be arrangements for lighting, heating, cooking, washing, ironing, drring clothes, ventilation, electric fans, elevator, sewing machines, bells, fire alarm, lephone, phonographs, and kinetoscopes, all by electricity. The laundry will be equipped with"electricity. There will be a room for drying clothes, with coils of wire, like huge radiators, at each side. It, wH only be necessary to touch a button and turn on the heat, and the clothes will be qtllcklv dried. The ironing will be done by electric irons. In the kitchen will be appliances fir cooking bv electricity. / It is the plan of the owner to have motors connecting with sewing machines, pumps,'and with the elevator, which will be in the tower. Sliou'cl amusement be desired, it can be furnished by, kinetoscopes and phonographs. •

Mr J. M. Bacon, who with his daughter made a lofty balloon ascent to observe a meteor shower, tells some interesting things about the sounds that reached their ears. At the height of 5,000 ft the ringing of horses' feet on a hard road could be heard. At 4,000 ft the. splashing sound, made by duc,ks in a pond was audible. The barking of dogs and the crowine of cocks could be heard at 7,000 ft or 8,000 ft.; These sounds penetrated through a white floor of cloud which hid the earth from sight. In the perfect silence of the air around the balloon they were startled by what seemed stealthy footsteps close at hand. Investigation showed that this sound was caused bv the stretehing of the ropes and the yielding of the silk as the balloon continued to expand.

A story which comes across the channel tells how an ingenious Parisian cyclist conceived the idea of utilising his bicvele for (lie smuq-trlimr of spirits into Paris without the usual disbursement of octroi dues. He. went twice a day for a ride in the J3ois. There, ■■<>■ a'point beyond the barriers, he deflated his tyres and filled them with brandy. By making only two journeys per day lie was able, it is believed, to make an income of 10,000fr (£416) a year. In an. unlucky moment, however, his confederates became dissatisfied with their earnings by smuggling. They not only smuggled tlie'brandv, but stole it from a distillery into the bargain. The theft was detected, and they are now all in durance vile.

I There was another almost unprecedented '■ scene at the Bank of England on the payr. :nt of the instalment of the war loan dtie on April 9. An enormous number of original allotments have, of course, changed hands, but holders simply thronged the precincts of the Old Lady of Threadneedle street from nine in the morning till nearly five in the afternoon (the office being kept ; i-iien an hour later for their convenience) on the day in question. The payments of tho instalments were received in the great dividend pay'office, where some fifty clerks stood shoulder to shoulder inside the counter. The rush was of a most extraordinary character, rivalling that for the front row oi the pit at Drury lane on a Boxing Night. The crowd extended from the pay desks to the entrance of the building, aaid a surging mass filled the courtyard. It was difficult for the officials to force a path through eager holders of the loa.n, and more than one fisticuff encounter took place between the rival holders of "khakis-' anxious to take up their scrip." Most of the payments were made by cheque, but an enormous amount was brought in bank notes, and (despite the risk of so vast a crowd) a good many individuals, several women among the number, brought bags containing a considerable quantity of gold. This rush in connection with the issue of the war loan will be long remembered both by the public and the officials of the Bank of England.

An important and interesting discovery of has just been made at Bosco Reale, near Naples, where for some-time past excavations have been slowly going on in the grounds of a_ villa, called "Voula, belonging to the Do Priseo family. A huge peristyle and four large chambers have l>eeu discovered, on the walls of which arc some twenty frescs of large dimensions, rich coloring, and of a design hitherto unequalled in any brought to light in the Pompeii district. Most of the figures are full-sized, and more carefully executed than any hitherto known. One is probably a portrait of Epicurus, another represents two young female figures reclining on large cushions fit a banquet, A third fresco represents a woman, richly clad, playing a lyre; while a fourth is an exquisitely-designed representation of a gladiator seated by.the side of a female figure. Rich mural decorations, fresh in color and perfect in drawing, cover the parts of the walls not occupied bv the main frescos. Unfortunately for students of art, it is feared that exposure to the air and the light will cause these magnificent paintings to fade as quickly as those at Pompeii and in the Naples Museum. Every effort is being made to preserve them as long as pos sible, but lovers of art are taking advantage of the opportunity to see so unrivalled an example of pre-Christian mural decoration before it fades.