NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9325, 30 March 1889, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

In 1888 302 vessels, * nearly all steel, wears built on the Clyde. 1 In Russia, where blinders are never used, on horses, a shying horse is almost unknown. Over three thousand Paris wine merchants are now disfranchised for selling adulterated

liquor. English people bought over six hundred thousand barrels American apples, last)

yehr. , It is stated that there are 4000 pledged abstainers among the 14,000 cabmen in London. The Czar of Russia wears a ring in which is embedded what purports to bo a piece «£ the true cross. f?

A sort of epidemic of husband-poisoning has again broken out in the province -cl Slavonia, Austria. Ib is proposed to establish n home for German invalids at San Remoas a memorial

of Emperor Frederick. % Herr Richter, the Liberal leader in the German Parliament, moat strenuously reprobates attacks upon the Jews. A London paper says there are still twenty-three islands in the Pacific Ocean which no nation has set up a claim to. After several trials, it has at length been decided to use the electric light at Windsor Castle. The machinery at the palace is now in working order. The Jews' free school at Spitalfields, England, is said to be the largest school in the world. It numbers 3500 pupils—22so boys,and 1250 girls. «« The death is announced of another of those who took part in the "Charge of the Light Brigade" at Balaclava Cooper, of Heath End, Farnham, formerly in the Ist Royal Dragoons. A large Russian bear escaped from a menagerie in the Westminster Bridge Road, and rushed for the garden of an unoccupied house in Stangate-street. It took six strong men to overcome the animal.

The spread of leprosy in India has convinced the natives that it is contagious. India has about one hundred and thirty-five thousand of the sufferers, and the list is

swelling sit a tremendous rate. The proposed syndicate for working the whole of the slate quarries in North Wales has fallen through, owing to the refusal of some of the proprietors of the quarries to be parties to the arrangement. There is on exhibition in London the biggest cheese of the period. It weighs 53,055 pounds, and "was made from the milk of 4260 cows. Its strength and walking power have not yet been gauged. A man named Thomas Slade, whilst drink- - ing a glass of spirits in a public-house near Crewkerne, Somerset, the other day, accidentally swallowed the sugar crusher which he was using in his glass, and died shortly after in great agony. Mr. William Arrol, of Glasgow, the contractor for the Forth Bridge, is reported to have received the contract for a series of

bridges that are to span at different points the Manchester Ship Canal. The bridges will be constructed of steel.

The household of the Emperor of China is (says Truth) to consist of five hundred persons, including'thirty fan-bearers, thirty umbrella-bearers, thirty physicians and surgeons, seventy-five astrologers, seven chief cooks, and sixty priests. The Marquis of Lome, son-in-law of Queen Victoria, is the latest recruit to the bicyclists, and his wife, Princess Louise, is also the possessor of asafet.y machine, and contemplates accompanying her husband on some of his early morning spins. ■ The ancient and beautiful gothic church of Hanmer, Flintshire, 460 years old, noted for its exquisite oak ceiling and pulpit, and its magnificent stained glass windows, was, a few days ago, destroyed by fire, the damage being estimated at £30,000. The Paris Figaro states that two of the professors belonging to the Pasture institution have succeeded in separating a generative microbe of diphtheria, and that the discovery of a vaccine virus as a preventative against) diphtheria is now only a matter of time. The designs (says the Standard New York correspondent) have been approved of a vessel which will sink in the water when she intends to fight, thus defending herself with three feet of water. When speed is desired or economy of coal, hor freeboard can be readily restored. According to a New York telegram, the German inventor named Schneider, who has occupied himself for some months with the problem of perpetual motion, has just shot and mortally wounded a woman who refused to advance him funds for models, and then blew out his own brains.

Hazel eyes denote musical ability and grace of person. Nine-tenths of the army and navy officers have blue eyes. Genuine violet eyes are seen in some babies, but am rare in women. There are fifty different sorts of grey eyes at least. Blue-grey eye« are said to indicate a kindly heart. Englishmen are now seeking to invest) their surplus capital in American breweries. The success of the joint stock plan, upon which so many English brewers are conduct- - ing operations, appears to have suggested the scheme of the introduction of similar v methods in America, and breweries in seve- ' ral large cities have already been bought up. Matthew Conlon, of JDrumsotten, near Armagh, has been committed for trial on u charge of murdering his brother. Th« prisoner put forward a very ingenious possibly true—defence. He says that the deceased had knocked him down, and was killing him, when a bull came and struck his brother with its head, thus inflicting the fatal injuries. % " The King's Daughters" is the somewhat mysterious name of an organisation in. America, which now numbers 50,000 members, bound together by no other pledge than that of faithful service in life to the principles of. Him whom as Christians they regard as the Great Master. It was founded by Mrs. Margaret Bottome and nine other New York ladies.

The ugly granite building at the corner of Newgate-street is to be pulled down, and the old prison, with all its traditions, will soon be a thing of the past. Before the gaol is finally removed, the Daily Chronicle suggests that it should be opened for public inspection, a small fee being > charged for admittance, and the proceeds handed to «';ha Prisoners' Aid Society. A young man named Pratt, employed at a warehouse in Mortimer-street, in the West End, London, was found hang;, ing in one of the rooms of the warehouse, life being quite extinct. Whei, the mother of the young fellow was told oi his end, she exclaimed that she had dream/ of his hanging himself. The young fellow had not been home all night. Mr. Charles Studd, the famous cricketer*, himself describes his present method of lii'a in China : —"Hero is our Salvation troupe, in Lungan-fu, five against 20,000 in toe town alone, to say nothing of eight large towns within a radius of forty miles. I beat the big drum, Stanley Smith the gong, a native gentleman the cymbals, and two natives carry the banners." Admiral Sir E. Commerell, of Portsmouth.deplores the deterioration in the physiq^ of the Royal Navy stokers so much bq that ho has sent a strong recommendation to the Admiralty on the question. He suggests, as a remedy, that an effort should be made to recruit the ranks of the stokers from the rural districts, instead of from the large towns. Here is a chance for distressed agriculturisjis. The wife of Mr. E. Harrington, M. P., is greatly concerned at the loss of her husband's moustache in prison. Writing from Tralee to a friend, Mrs. Harrington says the people there are "very indignant at the outrage. She adds, "but even Balfour could not remove the roots of it, so that one as good will grow again. And lam sure a moustache never had so many kind friends sympathetically watching its growth as that one will have.

A Belgrade correspondent records an interesting incident during a dinner given at the palace by the Crown Prince of Servia to the officers of the battalion which he commands. One of the officers asked the Crown Prince to propose a toast. The boy, who is twelve years old, without hesitation proposed the toast of his dearly-beloved mother. The officers were painfully embarrassed, but after a short pause they all drank the health of " Their Crown Prince's Mother," without calling her " Queen." ■ The Bordeaux counterpart of " Jack the Ripper" has been run to earth. He murdered a woman and then tried to burn her body. Ho was hunted across the Landes like a wild beast by gendarmes, and' by peasants armed with flails, reapinghooks, and scythes. He was arrested at) Saint Symphorien, and made a desperate effort to escape from his captors but a, gendarme fired twice, hitting him in the> neck and arm. The murderer is a man named Aguez, and when caught he looked like an ourang-outftog, SO ..topg .were .Ilia