GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9307, 9 March 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

VON BOLOW AT IT AGAR.'. That most fiery of pianists and of nr v ' tral conductors, Dr. Hans von St* has been pointing his batol ?ft« old friend Rubinstein, to wbo<s « n * Symphony he has taken a sudden dhKfc 0 After directing at a rehearsal the «ix m ments of Rubinstein's symphony!ST indeed "vast and illimitable" ff , > ocean, Dr. von Bulow, according to" a he unfrequent custom of his, addressed to T members ot the orchestra some diSarL 6 remarks on the work they had i, "t I g playing, and ended by saying »A. Jvm n k a like this can be properly dealt with onfr a conductor with long hair " m yb J Bulow wears his hair short On r v OO the report of Dr. von Billow's little ? nT ■" Rubinstein wrote from St Petersburg m? , paper which had published it, exnre«i 6 his surprise that in the midst of h'ii 1,3 tant and numerous occupations the leirVS doctor should have found time to nW the length of his (Rubinstein's) hair V also inquired affectionately after the tenirfl? of Dr. von Billow's ears ; wishing in If ticular to know whether they had arc!**' since the evening, when, after heart Rubinstein's opera of " Nero " for the fi 1* time, he shook the composer warmly by [h hand and even embraced him. FATAL OCCURRENCE IN A BOTCHER'g SHOp Dr. Danford Thomas held an inquest '- the St. Marylebone Coroner's Court a f days ago, on the body of William Warre Edwards, age 06, a draper, of Circus Road St. John's Wood. On the evening of th 17th ult. he entered the shop of \f- pJ" ding, pork-butcher, 232, Belsize-road Kil burn, desiring to buy some meat' \f Redding reached down a long loin of nort" placed it on a bench, and asked what r "' he would like. While dividing the loin M Redding placed his hand under that portion' overhanging: the bench to prevent it fallino on the floor ; in doing so his sharp knife cut Mr Edwards' hand He went to a chemist', and had it dressed. Getting worse Mr Wilby, surgeon, attended, and found two incised-wounds in the left, hand, evidently done by one stroke of the knife. The head became inflamed, pus formed, the tendon* of the wrist became affected ; an operation was performed ; he wus attended bv Sir Andrew Clarke and other specialists • pyjemia set in, andhediedon the Sunday. A certificate was given, but, being irregular an inquest was necessary. The jury" exonerated Mr. Redding from blame, and re turned a verdict of " Accidental death." MADKESS IK A CAT'S TAIL. A woman named Mary Ann Proudly \ras charged at Bootle lately with cruelly treating a cat by cutting off its tail. Mr* Fletcher, of 10, Aber-street, said that on New Year's Day the defendant borrowed a hatchet from her. She then went into her room and deliberately chopped the cat's tail off. Next morning the defendant told the witness that she had cut the cat's tail off to prevent the cat from going mad. Alderman Howard : And is that the way to prevent cats going mad ? The defendant There is a worm in a cat's tail that goes up into its brain and drives it mad. Alderman Keep : The sooner it is known that cutting off a cat's tail will not cure madness the better. You will have to pay a tine of 40s and costs, or go to gaol for a month. SIR WILLIAM m'CORMAC. Sir William M'Cormac, under whose care has fallen the gallant young Atkin, victim of the burglar's "shot," is not only one of the greatest, but is actually the biggest of English surgeons. He stands 6ft 2in in his stockinged feet, and is burly to boot. He has (writes the London correspondent of the Liverpool Daily Post) seen a great deal of the world, aud gathered his supreme mastery of gunshot wounds on the battlefield. Apart from that speciality, a few of his feats in surgery seem to the lay mind to partake rather of the character of miracles than of ordinary processes. Some things which he has done in the way of combatting malformation, whether arising out of accident or dating from birth, are almost incredible. With a touch as gentle as a woman's and a hand as powerful as a lion's paw, he is gifted with a combination of nicety and strength that makes one of hi; most difficult operations a certainty of success. THE NITRATE INDUSTRY. This industry gives promise to be a great one, as is shown by the number of new companies which are being formed to acquire and work nitrate fields. The Mil Nitrate Company, Limited, has issued its prospectus, with a capital of £150,000 in £5 shares, and is to acquire grounds in Taltal, Chili. The £5 shares of the Lautaro Company, another very recent formation, are quoted as a substantial premium (3-3£). Colonel North's genius for company-pro-motion has taken yet another, line. The Nitrates Provision Supply , Company, Limited, is a company formed principally to supply provisions, stores, etc., to the important Nitrate Oricinas, situate in the province of Tarapaca, in the Republic oi Chili, and to the city of Iquique and other towns on the West Coast of South America. The capital is £200,000 in 40,000 shares of £5 each. The Nitrate King has just formed yet another new company, the San Donato Nitrate Company, Limited, the success of which is so assured, having Colonel North's name at the back of it, that the shares have been quoted at a high premium on the Stock Exchange.

HORSE CHOKED BY A TOAD. An extraordinary story comes from Newbury, in Berkshire. A local paper relate: that " Mr. Willis, of North Farm, had a valuable carfc colt that had for a long time suffered very much from difficulty of breathing, and had been attended by Mr. Wilkin = F.R.C.V.S., who did all he could for the animal, even going to the extent of performing an operation on the throat to relieve the breathing ; but all to no purpose, and the horse's suifering increased so much that it was most pitable to see it Mr. Willis determined therefore to put an end. to its misery by having the animal shot, which was accordingly done. Mr. Pavier cut up the carcass, and, severing the necfe at the shoulders, to the astonishment ot those present, a fairly-sized toad was observed to crawl out from the opening in the windpipe, and the extraordinary cause ot the poor animal's suffering became at once apparent. The toad was "almost red when extricated, but it has now assumed more it's natural colour. It is now in possession of Mr. Wilkins. KILLED BY DRINK AT 103. A Paris "character" has just died. His name was Drouin, he was an old sailor, and had a small pension as a former petty officer. He would have been 103 had he lived till next May. On M. CherreiuU 100 th birthday, Drouin went to call on mm as a fellow centenarian, and hinted tnac it would give him much pleasure to dna* his health in a bumper of wire. M. L" reuil was astonished afc this, becauß? o ascribes his great age to his having fl 1 ?- ° been a temperance man. Drouitj tod "■} that fresh air and not letting trouble upon one's mind were the true deien * against death. He took a bottle of day, and sometimes more. He made a of money, for, besides vending his b wares at the Madeline Church, he used the evening to get food for nothing by hibiting rats, which he trained to play trie > in low restaurants. Afew evenings ago, ai dinkincr more than was good for Q ' Drouin had a fall, by which his brain **■ inj tired, and he died without, having covered consciousness. WINE TO POT THE FIRE OCXA Rhineland newspaper chronicles a - of wine which would find favour v ith o Wilfrid Lawson. Wine has doubtless DM the cause of many a conflagration, duo employment of it to extinguish a nre something of a novelty. The case occur™ a few days before Christmas at the .*»"", Kreuznach, which is scarcely less »«ot to its wines than to its renewed water* its prosperity. A fire broke out in one ° the inns and laid hold of a building ni «-nica fifty-two butts of wine were storea. there was no possibility of saving he *m - the wooden vessels having already cau* fire and the liquor pouring out in streaj the firemen thought that it might a* *» utilised. A ditch was dug in "J bouring garden, and was quicklj fa»«» wine to the brim. The firemen, hose to the noblo liquid and tit-* « its upon the flames. It sems to havea work excellently, but the heated wine were so mtensel) po' the firemen could scarcely endure and came to the conclusion (i sage and the Kadieal baronet, that