GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8062, 1 October 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

A PARIS MISER'S HOARD.

An old man of seventy, named Eugene; Dertizot, who occupied a garret at 10, Hue de Broaats, Paris, died suddenly the othermorning. The police commissary who waaj called, in was leaving the wretched room, after throwing a glance around, when he* accidentally overturned an old table, the drawer of which fell out, and with it a stream. <>£ JNapoleona, amounting, a? it turned cut, to £4000. A further and close search in :hei garret led to the discovery of hotea am 1 securities representing i'3'3 000 more. Th, old miser was never known to receive any one, and is supposed to leave no heir.

THIS GREAT TIDAL WAVE IS THE ATLANTIC.

Further particulars are at hand respecting the Umbria'a encounter with a great wave in the Atlantic. When the wave was seen approaching, the officer on the bridge, forty feet above the water-line, was unable to see over it. A description of the occurrence by an eye-witness is sent by the ■New York correspondent of the Daily News. " The look-out," he says, "saw the wave coming, and the course of the vessel was altered so that she met it obliquely, while che speed of the engines was slackened. As I taw the huge wave is looked l.k.e a black mass of water with while waveii on the top, and it rolled higher and higher as it neared the vessel. Ween it struck her she shivered from stern to stern, and the combing of the wave fell with the weight of tons on the deck. The wood cover of the forward hatch was splintered in pieces, while the water poured in torrents in the hold, but the bulkheads were closed. The bridge was broken, and the iron stanchions were twisted with enormous force, while the turtle back was fattened by the tremendous weight of tha water. There was aleo a panic among tne passengers, most of whom were sleeping in their bertos. When the force of the wave was felt they thought the ship was going to the bottom, and many in their nightclotiie3 rushed into the main dinmgroom. Uf course the danger was passed, as the wave rolled by, and the excitement subsided. RUSSIA. Russia is not nearly as much stronger than England, even in material resources, as .Napoleon was. fler force, magnificent as it is is an instrument of war nothing compared tc the Grande Armee. her Government, power* iul anil unscrupulous as it may be, does cot surpass Napoleon's,either in unscrupuiousnesi or power. Un the other hand, it is faced by a new Power which Napoleon never had to meet—the coalesced etreugth ot Central Europe, with its million of drilled men actually present ia barracks, commanded by generals of whom some at least have no rivals, and armed witii what we fear the most destructive implement of war yet placed in soldiers' bands, it is the rifle, not the cannon, winch kills thousands, and the power of the rifle since the last war has at least; been tripled.—Spectator. DARING .SWIM BY A LADY. Miss Florence Alacnaghton, of Rnnkerry House, Bushmills, north of Ireland, has just performed a swimming feat under very peculiar circumstances. Seeking to persuade a local fisherman to become temperate, the latter promised so to do, provided that Miss Macnaghton undertook to swim the. bay between hlackruck and Port Bailantrae, » distance of about one mile. The young lady accepted the challenge, and accomplished the undertaking in thirty-nine minutes, with tne result that the fisherman donned the blue ribbon. A woman's appeal foe male attire. Madame de Valsayre, a well-known Pari* sian lady, has addressed the following petition to the French Chamber of Deputies — "Messieurs, —In all the accidents of human life, whether on sea or land, woman, in consequence of the dress she is obliged to wear, La predestined to become a victim. Tho catastrophes, fatal or otherwise, which re« suit from this cause are of daily occurrence. Tee mere thought of the unfortunate beinga thus prevented (rom escaping from the flames of the Opera (Jomique must suffice to prove that it is not only urgent, but also logical and "human, to abolish the old routine law which prohibits women from wearing masculine attire. This sort of costume, whatever may be said to the contrary, is just as deCent as the present fashion of female gar* ment. It; has also the advantage of being more healthy. In the name of those who are not slaves to frivolity or luxury, I humbly pray you to pass a law enacting full and entire liberty in the matter of women's dress. Such a law would benefit thousands, and do no harm to anybody." PUEPAKING FOR WAR. The Epoch tells where there is profit in war in the following : —lt is commonly supposed that the only persons who are eager for war are officers who are anxious to win fame fori higher rank. That women should ever derive an advantage from war and the preparations for war does cot really occur to tae imagination. Yet there is a firm in Berlin that employs 200 girls that would be thrown out of employment if war preparations should cease. They manufacture little

bundles of antiseptic dressing material, with which all German soldiers are to be

supplied in future, so that they may be able to drees their wounds in the absence of a surgeon. Fifteen thousand of these packages are made every day. As the work calls for the greatest cleanliness, the girls are all dressed in white linen cloaks, and are strictly forbidden to bring victuals or any* thing else in the room where they work. THE COLONIAL GIRL. The physique of the, colonial girl varies very much. She is tall, as a rule, like the colonial youth. In Australia itself she is accused of lacking complexion, and the charge is more or less true ; as alio is the assertion that she matures earlier and "goes off" earlier than the .English girl. Bat the Victorian girl is decidedly good-looking. The New Zealand girl has a far better complexion than the Australian, and is fresher and more healthy, perhaps; for the climate is milder. She resembles the English girl much more than does the Australian, and her develop- ! ment keeps pace with the formor. Bat Tasmania is said to be the home of beauty, and is certainly seems to have more than its share of fair maidens. It is not at all uncommon for the Melbourniau to run across to the little island for the purpose of enjoying a well-earned holiday and picking up" a wife. But when all is said and done, neither in complexion, beauty, nor " staying power" does the Australian or the New Zsalander or the Tasmanian surpass the daughters of the mother country.—st. James' Gazette, HARRY OF MONMOUTH. An interesting commemoration of the 500 th birthday of King Henry V. of England popularly designated "Harry of Monmouth" —took place recently at Monmouth. The belis of St. Mary's Church, which were brought by that King from France, were rang throughout the day. The Mayor, the Lord - Lieutenant of the county (the Duke of Beaufort), and a large party assembled to lunch. The room in which the luncheon was given was hung with portraits of the soldier King and pictures representing events in his career. Before the company rose the following telecraui was received from the Queen : —" The Queen is interested to hear that you are celebrating the 500 th anniversary of Henry of Monmouth."—JPofSON BY. High holiday was kept in the town all day, and public sports were held, concluding with a picturesque torchlight pro* cession. TilE LAW or LIBEL. The Bill to amend the law of libel, which has just been printed by order of the House of Commons, propones to effect several useful and necessary changes. Sir Algernon Borthwick is in charge of it, and the name of Mr. John Morley is also on its back. Some months sgu the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court ot Justice decided that under the Newspaper Libel Act o. ISSI the report of a public meeting was cot privileged, if anything reported to the disadvantage of an individual were net a matter of public interest. The Bill removes this absurdity, and provides that any report of a public meeting shall be privileged if made without actual malice, unless the defendant has refused to insert an explanation or contradiction, In a recent case the victim of what was no doubt a serious libel recovered compensation many times over from various journals which had inadvertently copied the original misstatement against him. Ihe Bill provides against this abuse by making the recovery of previous damages evidence in reduction of a further claim. The proprietors of newspapers are often unfairly harassed by plaintiffs without means, who bring speculative actions, and cannot pay the costs. A clause in the Bill meets this difficulty by providing that security may be required. Further clauses enact that in a criminal prosecution for libel the defendant cannot be convicted without affirmative evidence that ha was privy to the publication, and that any person charged may be called on his own behalf*