NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7824, 18 December 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

M. x>9 Lbsskps says the FanamasCanal will be finished in three years. . ~, h ., ;\ Jate operatives at Dundee, Scotland, have asked a 5 per cent, increase of wages. Barns' "Highland Mary" is to have • monument on Castle Hill, Danoon, Scotland* China will send a high official to notify the Pope that the Emperor has attained hi* The Alantio steamers are about to expert inent with bricks of petrolem for fael instead of coal. ' ' . ... '. ' "., M. Ledrain, a Hehrew scholar, has |o|ft published the first volume of a new transla* tion of the Bible in French. \ ~.. A largely-attended meeting of citizen* held at Edinburgh, decided that the Free I4b« raries Act should be adopted in that city. Fifteen hundred olemargarine stamps were issued in one day recently in New York, and the number was insufficient to supply the 6 The sale of Lord Lonsdaie's hunters at* tracted a large company to TatteraaH't. Fourteen animals sold at an average of 253 eU Mr. a R. C. * Serpell, J.P., died suddenly aft a meeting of the Plymouth Chamber Of Commerce, after epeaklng on the Peae* Society's principle. It is rumoured that one of the finest aftef on the Thames embankment has been secured for the proposed new Wesleyan Csuteuarj* Hall and Miseion House. , A novelty at an English agricultural show was tomatoes grown out of doors. The tautl condition in that country is raising the frptt; n ereen houses or under glass. ~ .•. I new rifle has been invented in Franco which is said to surpass all the breeoh-loao> ine inventions of the day. The French army will use It, and wonders are predicted. Two shorthorn bulls, a cow and a natter,, have been purchased from the Queens farnn at Windsor, and have left for the. United. States, where they are to be used for breett* Ing purposes. _ ...' , Tha manufaoturersof small arms atHartford, Conn., are reported to have received foreiga orders for the manufacture of small arms, Turkey and France are reported to hav« ciren large orders. Mr. J. B. Lawee, tlie eminent agriculturist! of Rothamsted, has written si letter on the probable results of the wheat crop, which he estimates at 29i bushels per acre throughout) the United Kingdom. Dynamite has had a use in poaohing on an extensive scale in Scotland. Hundreds Ot salmon in the river at Aberdeen were found Boatiog on the surface of the water, being killed by dynamite cartridges. A woman named Skinner was sorting rags" at Messrs. Johnston's paper mills, St. Mary Cray, when she found a lady's drese improver containing a number of French coins ana postal notes amounting in value to £40. At Glasgow Circuit court, Lord CafgbJll asked a juryman named Halliday to take off bis hat in cburt. Halliday refused to do so, and said te would not nnlese when he wan worshipping God. He was then ordered oufc of court. M. Maurice Bernhardt, the son of Mdme. Sarah Bernhardt, the actress, fought a duel with swords at Paris, with M. Langlois, «n artist, who exhibited a painting caricaturing Mdme. Bernhardt. M. Langloia wan wounded. At Birmingham, William Oram and Elu» Thompson were committed for- trial <- en charges of coining. Nearly 200 base coias« and a battery and other articles requisite in the manufacture of base coins, were found Iα their house. Having in view the recent massacres Of Roman Catholics In Tonquin, and fearing further excesses on the part of the native population, the Vatican has addressed itself anew to the French Government, asking for aid and counsel. , The German War Office has decided that all sub-officers must learn telegraphy. Oie hundred officers selected from the Berlin garrison and 100 from the garrisons at Straiburg and Metz have accordingly begun • course of tuition. A girl named Maggie Dickie has just died at Irvine through an accident she met with while playing at lawn tennis a month a£O. She had fallen on her side, and a lead pencil in her pocket penetrated the thigh, oaueiig injuries which terminated fatally. M. Pasteur has informed the Paris Acs* demy of Sciences that he has treated during the past year 2490 persons who had bean bitten by animals, and out of this number only ten had died. Seventeen hundred and twentyrsix of the patients were French. . A telegram from Srinagar, Cashmere, states that a severe and prolonged earthquake was felt there on the morning of October 20. A number of brilliant meteors Were observed at the time, and continued until sunrise. Great alarm prevailed among the Inhabitants October 21 being the anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar, the old three-decker Victory, Nelson's historic flagship, which lies in Portsmouth Harbour, displayed laurels at the top of each mast, while the spot where the renowned Admiral fell was covered with a wreath.

English bee-keepers have made » crusadt against wasps, and an enormous number oC queen wasps hare been killed. A large number of flies has followed the partial extermination of the wasps, and some people are complaining that a plague of flies ie worae tban a scarcity of honey. A railway signalman in England, having been sent to gaol for six months because of a» blunder in Betting signals made by him, thu Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants have protested against the sentence, holdinjj that the system prescribed is so complicated that errors are unavoidable.

The Roguea , Gallery of New York hat) found au historian in Inspector Barnes. Hi-i haa compiled a large volume dealing with " The Professional Criminals of the United States." The chroniole will be illustrated by 250 heliotype portraits of atrocious criminals taken directly from the life. The English Commissioners of Forests are planting extensively on the Crown property of the Isle of Man. About four millions of trees have been planted on mountain lane! during the last three years, and the work has proved so successful that it has been decided to extend the number of tree* annually. The new Enfield rifle has been finally re« jected by the English Army authorities, became it is thought to be too oomplioalisd for service. It will be used, however, pending the selection of another weapon. From 1000 to 1500 workmen must be discharged from the Government factory at Enfield ott account of this decision. The owner of a large estate In Soottand was to have had most of his farms thrown on his hands next month, as the present tenants were going to take advantage of breaks in their leases to throw them up; bat the pro* prietor having wisely offered t> revaluation, the leases have just beea renewed at • red action of frem 30 to 45 per cent. The bodies of two girls, each aged about 18 years, were found In Witton Brook, near Birmingham. The girls were tied together round the waists, and attao'ied to the breatt of one of thorn was a letter addressed to her mother, on which was written, "Good'bye for ever." It is believed that the girls committed suicide, and unrequited love is assigned as the cause. ' ■ At Chester market lately farmers were offering to sell ten hampers of sound potatoes for £1. Each hamper contains 1121bs, so that at Is per hamper the price is well within 41b a penny. The farmers are complaining that at this price it scarcely pays to dig the potatoes. But against the lowest price on record may be set an enormous crop absolutely free from disease. A farmer, named James Davenport, 70 years of age, residing at Hulme, VValfield, near Congleton, Cheshire, is in custody, charged with shooting a lad, aged 16, named Poole. Davenport caught the fad getting, bis fruit one Sunday, ana, having ordered him off several times without avail, he fetched .'a loaded gun, and fired in the direction of the lad. A portion of the charge entered Poole'a aide.

An extraordinary incident is reported from the Forest of Dean. While a train j was running from Longhope to Grangecourt, » distance of three miles, the wife of a noncommissioned officer stationed in Dublin, gave birth to a child. , There were with her in the compartment— third-claw one—one or two females. Dr. Hearne happened to bo at Grangeoourt station at the time, and he proceeded with i the woman to Gloucester where her parents reside. •! - i'l " ~* i The Dean of Westminster havi™ r«oeiv«d from ; the secretaries of <fehree ProtMttnt societies a joint protest agtinst wrmittinir the Roman u CathoHo pilßrimagefte^wSf. minster Abbeyon the feitival of EdtSa the Confeeeor, ha. replied that no IP ernilsSn had been given been given for any exception* eervloe on the day in qoeetloD, aud &»* ke could not discourage any vwltor to the abbey from offering private prayer, or queatioo'lhoajv at devotion as to the nature and *> ' their natition*,