NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7782, 30 October 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

A St. Petersburg paper reports that the Czar ma y v - B ' t Berlin next autumn. The ballet of the Paris opera comprises 1027 women, and coats £180,000 a year. l iU The etiquette classes are an important part! of the instruction in girl's schools in Japan. A Russian Count has been arrested in Germany as a spy while sketching an old building. Recently published English records show that there are 725,000 more females than males in England. A Cherbourg paper reports the arrest of several German spies who were travelling disguised as priests. Thrones are cheap in France, Two made for the last Napoleon are now valued at £20 each, and find no takers. The first discovery of petroleum in France was recently made at Ferrand, where a spring sends forth a fine quality of oil. . Over 60,000 people attended the fete recently held in Crystal Palace, London, by the Band of Hope children of England. The Duke of Leinster is about to sell to his tenants a large portion, of bis Killare estates, on partial payments for eighteen years. England has a Dicky Bird Society, composed of 100,000 children, lta aim is to encourage- protection of birds and animals. A St, Petersburg journal demands the expulsion, as spies, of certain Prussian officers who are studying Russian in Moscow, A reward of £100 has been offered in England for the proof of a case of drunken* ness that has . been cured without total abstinence. A graveyard in County Cork haa the following notice over its entrance gate " Only the dead who live in the parish are buried here." The agricultural distress in Germany is 80 great that it is proposed to divide large I estates for planting in the colonies among German peasants. At & meeting of the Cleveland Ironmasters' Association at Middlesborough, it was unanimously agreed to restrict make of pig iron by 20 per cent. Suicides and insanity in Russia have more than doubled during the past ten years, a fact attributed as much to the spread of pessimism as to want. Catherine Statham, a midwife, was re« manded at Birmingham on a charge of causing the death of Ruth Jacques, a married woman, by neglecting her. A memorial cross, erected by the officers and men of the Royal Scots Greys to their comrades who died in the Soudan, has been unveiled i» St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh. For the first time since 1841 the (last year's) annual consumption of tobacco in the British Isles shows a decrease, amounting to about an ounce per head of the population. The total consumption last year was 53,752,000 pounds. Military ballooning has now reached such a stage in Germany that under-officers are being trained in balloon-steering. Two ser* geants have just been awarded certificates attesting their efficiency in this art. Under the postal telegraphic system in England is to say, management by the Government of all telegraph lines—the number of messages sent annually has increased from 9,000,000 in 1870 to 34,000.000 in 18S5. A foreign lady who lost £12,000 at the Monte Carlo gaming tables has committed suicide in a village near Grenoble. This makes the seventy-sixth case of suicide owing to losses at Monte Carlo since the beginning of the season. The schoolmasters at Austria held a meeting at Vienna with a view to prepare a petition for the re-introduction of the rod, which was abolished many years ago. The friends of the rod, however, did not obtain a majority large enough to justify the petition. Her Majesty's ship Dido, which has just returned home from service on the North American and West Indian station, has been ordered to be paid out of commission at Portsmouth, and sold. The Dido is one of the few wooden vessels still in the Royal Navy, The Skibbereen and Schull Railway has been declared open for traffic. The line, which is 15 mile* long, has been constructed at a cost of £58,000. In addition to de veloping the tourist traffic in West Cork the line will be of great service to the fishing industry at Baltimore. General Lew Wallace, recently United States Minister to Turkey, says that the Turks love their children,. are afraid of women, do not get drunk, are the devoutest and politest of peoples, and always brave and heroic. For the ability and character of the present Sultan he has the highest esteem. A telegram from Dijon states that M. Biaujean, editor of the journal La Petit Bourgnignon, was shot dead in his office by M. Gallimardet, an engineer, whose wife bad left him to become M. Beaujean's mistress. The murderer afterwards attempted to commit suicide, but was prevented. Three American horses are to be shipped to Rosa Bonheur. One was bred on the Sun River, in the Rocky Mountains ; another is a wild horse caught on the head waters of the Niobrara, and the third is a mustang from the Brazos River, Texaß. They are designed as specimens of horses used on the American frontier. At the half-yearly meeting of the Lincolnshire District Lodge of Good Templars, held at Spalding, under the presidency of Mr. Malins, the question of " kissing games" was discussed. The delegates strongly disap* proved of the action of the Grand Lodge in prohibiting the indulgence of such games at temperance gatherings. The Bonerwal tribe, on the Punjaub frontier, near Peshawur, whose predatory incursions on British territory were under the consideration of the Government last January, have again made a raid across the frontier. The Government is contemplating the despatch of an expedition to punish the Bonerwaia as soon as the cold weather sets in. At the annual meeting of the Tynesida engineering and shipbuilding firm, R. and W, Hawthorne, Leslie, and Co., the Mayor, who presided, said there had not been a worse year for shipbuilding for many years past. tie thought, therefore, that the dividend of 8 per cent, which was declared in connection with the company was a very satisfactory oneMany of the West Kent fruitgrowers have resolved to forward their produce to London by water instead of by rail, as under the present tariff growers are out of pocket in many cases when forwarding their fruit by rail. It has been arranged to run barges from Sittingbourne to London daily, steam tugs to be used for towing. At a meeting of the Waterford Corporation, the Mayor presiding, the names of Georgestreet, King and Queen-street, and Bareisfordstreet, were changed to Parnell, O'Connell, and Gladstone streets. On the motion to re* name one of the streets Davitt-street, a lively soene took place. When order had been restored it was decided, by 15 votes to two, to take Mr. Davitt's opinion on the subject. One of the oddities of a Parisian journal is this advertisement:—" A factory in Belleville produces within a few days artificial negroes. The metamorphosis, which is entirely harmless, is caused by iodine ; it opens a brilliant future to young men, as black servants, circus negroes, etc., are always in demand. Prices low and payment easy. Curling irons for the manufacture of woolly hair always kept on hand." They tell this story in Boston of Gilbert Stuart, the great painter. He was once met by a lady on the streets of that city, who said to bim that she had just seen his likeness, and had kissed it, because it was so much like him. "And did it kiss you in return?" he asked. "Why, no," was the somewhat startled answer. " Then it was not like me," was Mr. Stuart's answer, but the lady didn't venture to try again, A law just sanctioned by the Governor of the State of Louisiana, which is said to have i been " hithertofore distinguished for its disregard of the sanctions of the civil Sabbath," compels all stores, shops, saloons, and places of public business to dose at midnight Saturday, and remain closed until midnight Sunday, and prohibits the. proprietors from selling or giving away any goods during that periodthe only exception being in the oases of drug stores, book ■tores, bakeries, newspaper offices, and some olassea of shops which serve, in a measure, "a public use. ; A very pressing reform is the compulsory retirement of aged dignitaries and incumbents. Not only is promotion stagnant, but it can hardly be doubted that when a man >'. -reaches .the age of threescore years and ' ten he is not capable of doing his work . thoroughly, unless he be a Mr. Gladstone, ; The law which permits retirement ' upon » Eension of a third of the annual value of the eneflce is rendered almost nugatory by ) being' only permissive. If it were -made I compulsory at the age of seventy or seventy* [ five .the benefit would be felt all round,—; : . Church Renew. . )