NEWS BY MAIL

Gisborne Times, Volume LIX, Issue 9572, 25 July 1923, Page 3

NEWS BY MAIL

BRIEF! •An amusing story concerning Mr Joseph 11. Choate, at one time American Ambassador in London, is told by his biographer, Mr T. G. Strong. It appears that one day, while practising as a lawyer in Boston, he was proceeding to court with a large package of papers contained in the traditional green bag used by the American Bar. Presently an enterprising son of Israel sidled up alongside him and, pointing to the bag, inquired: “Old clothesr” “No," replied Choate, “a new suit."

KILLED BY r A JEST. When the custom of keeping professional fools or jesters was at its height, there lived one Gonella, jester to Borso, Duke of Ferrara. Many stories, possessing more or less liumar, are void of him, but his death was /eally dramatic. He somewhat offended his'master, and the duke ordered him to be beheaded, but privately directed the executioner not to use- the axe, but to let fall a single drop of water on the culprit’s neck. Gonella was led to the scaffold, all the gloomy preparatlon-i were made. Lie was blindfolded and made to lay his head on the block. The executioner, from a phial, let "fall a drop of water on Gonelhv’s neck. Then, amid shouts and laughter, the jester, silent now, was bidden to rise and thank the duke for his clemency. But Gonella never moved. Ho was dead — killed by his master’s jest.

! QUEEN'S SHOPGIRL GUEST. Mile. Claire Legue, tlie pretty niece of. a Cannes antique dealer, who was the guest of the Xing and Queen of Italy for a month at the Quirinal, is at home again. She lias retaken her placo behind the shop counter, unchanged by her stay at the palace and unspoiled by the Royal favours showered on her. The Queen herself was staying- at the Villa Savoia, but on the day of the wedding of Princess Yolanda she sent a Court coach to bring Claire to the ceremony, and she : was presented to the King, the Princess and her sisters, and to the bride- : groom, Count Calvi Rergolo. .After the j ceremony she was among the select: few I admitted to present their congratula- ' lions to the Princess and the Count. 1 .Before she left Rome, the Queen affeci tionately kissed her and gave her a j necklace of 241) pearls and a sprig of orange leaf from the bridal robe, and, ■ saying good-bye, added: “I shall always

• be interested in you, and shall not fail ; to c-ali on you again when I am in ; Cannes. | FATHER STOPS WEDDING. | The objection of a father to Iris son’s i marriage led to a stormy scene in a j West London registry office recently. A youth of eighteen had given notice of marriage, and had promised io obtain his father’s consent. His bride was only seventeen, but consent in her case had been obtained. The father refused his permission, and was wait- ■ ing at the registry office when the : young couple arrived for the ceremony, j The registrar informed them that the marriage could not take place, and the bride burst into tears and pleaded with . the father to alter his decision. lie replied that his son was not in a pusiI lion to support himself, let alone a • wife. "When lie is older," the l'ather ; added, “and is in a more established 1 position, 1 will give my consent, but 1 1 am now acting in your interest, as well ! as his." The bride, however, consider- : ed that it was not in her interest, and ; saying that she loved the hoy. began ! to argue with the father. The Leone I was terminated by the registrar refusj ing to marry the couple, whereupon, ; still arguing, the party 1 oft the office.

A CHEQUERED CAREER. “Birched by a bishop, i-ont down by the great Jowiif. and prayed over by the Lord Chancellor”—Dial is the Minima ry of his early life, given by Earl Russell, the gran'lson of Lord. Jehu Russell, one of the most prominent of the Whig statesmen of the Victorian era. He writes of Lis first wife, who has been dead for some years, with some bitterness. He obtained a divorce from her in Nevada and brought Lis second wife back to England, whore, however, the divorce was. not valid. Jn consequence he was tried for bigamy by his peers in the House of Lords and sentenced to three months in the first division. Earl Russell says that ten years after he served his sentence Mr Asquila obtained for him “a free pardon under the Great Seal.”

WOMAN AI ONE AMENDE R’S 1000 PER CENT.

A woman money fender who charged Id a week interest on every shilling, and then doubled this amount if it were not paid promptly, appeared at Greenwich Police Court recently. She was Mrs Mary Hills, the wife of a costermonger, of Power’s Place. Peckham. and was charged with failing to register as a moneylender. Her charges, said a .solicitor, worked out at from .300 to 1000 per cent, per annum. One woman who borrowed £l(s had paid £SO in interest, and when she was owing £7 it was agreed that she should, pay no more interest, but should repay Hie principal by instalments of ]o.s a week. “T didn’t think I was doing wrong in being a friend to people," Airs Hills fold the magistrate. She was fined £lO, with £5 5s costs.

FORK HANDLES IN WOMAN'S STOMACH.

No fewer than nixty-one foreign bodies were taken from the stomach of Caroline Wilmoth a single woman inmate of the Hampton Institution, during the course of one operation. This amazing fact was disclosed b.v Dr William Tices Thomas at the inquest on Miss AVilmott. Dr Thomas raid that, after the operation, Miss AAThnott was again operated on at the Royal Hospital. Sheffield, in December. 11*12. when two darning needles, one small needle, and a safety pin were removed. Later an open safety pin came out at the back of her right thigh. Dr Cecil Hubert Gostwyek raid he made a post mortem examination, and found two handles of table fork's in ti e dead woman’s intestines, but the cause of death was an abscess on the brain. A verdict of death from natural causes was returned. »