NEWS FROM HEAR AND FAR

Evening Star, Issue 12973, 9 June 1908, Page 3

NEWS FROM HEAR AND FAR

In his latest annual report Dr Brace Smith, the Inspector of Prisons in Ontario, says that the number of prisoners in the gaols of the State is the largest for twenty years, a state of affairs which ho attributed to the fact that Ontario is being made a dumping ground for undesirables. The inspector points out that in every gaol there are prisoners who, have >rdy been a few months in the country, jome of them have spent most of their ives in English prisons, and they have admitted being discharged by English magistrates on the condition "that they emigrated to Canada. Dr Bruce Smith holds that the immigration regulations are radically wrong, and that a system which encourages such people to seek homes in Canada should be changed.—Reute-r.

An old painting, believed to lie an original portrait of Charles 1. by Van Dyck, has been discovered in Vienna by Fran Minna Hoegel, a well-known picture restorer. The whereabouts of the work for the past 250 years is not explained, but it is stated that it was purchased recently in Vienna for a moderate price. Frau Hoegel, who is a high authority on old paintings, says that the coloring of the hair, eyes, and mouth is conclusive prool that the work is original. While tolerably certain that tho painting is a Van Dyck, Fran Hoegel thinks there is a hare possibility that it may be a Rubens.—Reuter. One of the largest "stores" in America recently advertised for " red-haired girls ' to take charge of the luncheon room When asked the reason for this, the manager replied : " Because the red-haired girl is more optimistic, energetic, and adaptable than any other kind of girl. She is generally gifted with a clear complexion, and is always the picture of neatness. No one ever heard of a lazy red-haired girl. She is quick-witted and cheerful, and all men particularly appreciate these qualities."—' Liverpool Post.' The Sunday services of the Kaikorai Baptist Church were held last Sunday in Washer's Hall, Roslyn. The hall has Wn engaged as a temporary meeting place, pending the erection of'the new Baptist Church which is to be erected in Roslyn, and the funds for which are now bemg raised. The Rev. N. A. Davis (pastor) preached at both services to largo congregations. The Rev. .1. T. Hinton assisted at the services. After the evening service a special choral service was conducted. Scarcely a night nassos in Rome without some harmless foot passenger being murdered or assaulted by ruffians, who have organised what the 'Tubuna' calls "the nocturnal reign of terror, established by the teppisti "■—the Italian equivalent of our hooligans. Now it is a soldier brutally assassinated, now it is an Englishman attacked on hi.- way to a bridge party, now it is a married couple waylaid by a band of malefactors. It if easier to meet a hooligan than a policeman, the 'Post* says; nor is it easy to defend oneself, for the outfit of the teppista is not complete without a knife.

On the, 6th April, James Dyson, sixty two. cotton merchant, was sentenced at the Brighter, sessions to fifteen months' hard labor for stealing a carriage and pair, value £2OO. Tt. was stated that at one timo Dyson employed hundreds of hands at Preston, and was very wealthy. Re lost all his money and became "a hotel manager. An officer from Liverpool proved a conviction against Dyson there in 1895 for housebreaking and larceny. Dyson pleaded that he was not responsible for hi.s actions at times, owing to his great, loss of money. He wns at one time worth from £75.000 to £BO,OOO, and shipped large quantities of goods to the East. He was once a member of the Cheshire County Council, chairman of a district conncil, n. pooT-law guardian, lay representative at the Diocesan Conference, and rhnrchwarden.

£or some days past (says the correspondent of a Frankfort paper) the Pera Palace Hotel, in Constantinople, has been surrounded by a force of about forty detectives, whose object is to prevent Isset I'WI Pasha,_ formerly Turkish .Minister ;i> Madrid, from escaping and seeking mfugo in one of the foreign embassies. It appears, adds the Central News, that leeet. Pasha is involved in a serious dispute with the Sultan, and is accused of having written in a dofamatorv manner ngainst the present regime in Turkey while he was holding his diplomatic post in Madrid.

Little sympathy will bo felt, for the wealthy freshman, an ostentatious " bounder.'' who was lately " ragged " by the students of New York University for wearing too loud clothes, driving tip to the University in a magnificent motor car with a liveried servant in attendance, and generally "comporting himself in an arrogant way" towards his seniors. The sentence, which was duly executed, was a ducking in the college pond. 'After escaping from the pond, with the new suit of gorgeous pattern utterly ruined, the freshman rushed to the Chancellor with a complaint of the indignity inflicted upon him. Afterwards he arrived at the University accompanied by his father and a large force of armed detectives, and threatened to shoot any student who attempted to exclude him from the University. The Chancellor held a solemn inquisition into the affair, and suspended the ringleaders. A general strike followed, and the class rooms are for one solitary freshman.

" Patriotism,'" apparently, is cultivated in the United States to some purpose. Some may even say It ceases to he a virtue. M. Godard, the French competitor in the New York to Paris motor race, arrived in San Francisco on the 25th March, a few hours after the American car. A Press telegram reports: He bitterly complains of patriotic farmers hindering his progress. Staying at a hotel, a criminal choked the crack-box with sand, and he had to await the arrival of new parts. Then the tyres were stabbed, tools stolen, clothing misappropriated, and when any aid was required exorbitant charges were made. Refusals to pay extortionate prices resulted in the police "holding Godard's car until the money was exacted. He placed his car on the railway train at Ogden, for which he does not think he is disqualified. The most sensational part of Godard's allegations are that he has photographs signed by a mayor of an Indiana town showing the American car travelling on a freight train, and at other stages being assisted by other power than its own. It has been said of Napoleon I. that he was "all star and destiny." One of his peculiar fads was his regard for tho letter M, which he considered especiallv ominous for good or evil. A compilation of the facta in the M case shows good reason for both him and Napoleon UL considering it a red or black letter, according to circumstances. To begin with, Marboauf was the first to recognise military genius in the "Little Corporal." Marengo was the first battle won by Napoleon, and Melas made room for him in Italy. Mortier was his most trusted general, Moreau betrayed him, and Murat was first martyr to "his cause. Marie Louise shared his It.guest fortunes; Moscow was the abyss of ruin into which he fell. Metternich vanquished him in the field of diplomacy. Six of his marshals—Massena, Mortier, Marmont, Macdonald, Murat, and Moncay—besides twenty-six of his generals of divisions, had m M as the initial of their last names. Murat, Duke of Bassano, was his most trusted counsellor. His first battle was t hat of Montenotte; his last Mont Jean, by which name Waterloo is known in French history. He won the battles of Milefcimo, Mondovi, Montmirail, and Monterean. Then came the storming of Montmartre. Milan was the first enemy' 6 capital and Moscow the last. He lost Egypt through Menon, and employed Miellis" to take Pope Pius prisoner. Mallet conspired against him, Murat was the first to desert him, then Marmont. Three of his Ministers had M initials—Maret, Montalivet, and Mallieu; his first chamberlain was Montesquieu. He surrendered to Captain Maitland. His companions .at St. Helena.were Montholon and Marchand. An _ exciting boating experience befell Captain W. Ross, of the schooner Ysabel, which returned to Auckland on Saturday last after an island cruise. Captain Ross,

two native women passemgera, and four 1 members of the crew of the vessel put off from the f-bare in the ship's large boat, being fully loaded with copra. The boat was pretty deep in the water, and one of the ■women standing up to wave an adieu to friends on shore the boat capsized, throwing (he occupants into the water. The accident was 6een from the Ysabel, which was anchored about a mile distant, but there was not a email boat left on the vessel, eo that the party in the water, who were clinging to the upturned boat, were left practically to their own resources. Captain Ross succeeded in divesting himself of his boots, and with one of the Natives belonging to the crew struck out fot the sohooner. Tho water- was not rough, but thero was a s&rong current, and they made little headway. Eventually a couple of Manila ropes dropped over from the schooner and allowed to drift down on tho current reached them, and by this means they wore hauled on board the schooner. One of the natives subsequently carried this rope to the party remaining on the boat, and both the boat and occupants, who had been in tho water for two hours, were rescued, but the cargo of copra was lost. The party were much exhausted when rescued, but soon revived. The highest totals to date in connection with the Lincoln College egg-laying competition are :—T. Kennedy (Silver Wyandottes), 255; 'New Zealand Poultry Journal' Institute (White Leghorns), 134; A. Padman, Adelaide (White Leghorns), 179; W. A. Nixon (White Leghorns), 187; Drury and Rose (White Leghorns), 172.