GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8414, 15 November 1890, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

THE SADIES' DUEL. 1 Two ladies, whose names are well known in certain Parisian circles, went down to the Wood of Meudon with the intention of fighting a duel. One of them is a Parisian, and the other is said to be an American, who has settled there. The quarrel arose out of an affair of love. They assaulted each other the previous evening on tho street, and hence the resort to the pleasant suburb of Meudon. They were to fight with swords, but just as thoy were proparing to begin the combat, a gendarme, going his rounds, appeared unexpectedly on the scene, and seeing what was taking place, interposed the authority of the law between the duellists, ordering them to accompany him to the police station. The superintendent heard what the ladies had to say, and then gave them a severe lecturs on their conduct, advising them strongly to make up their quarrel and become friends again. Ho afterwards dismissed them, but, according to the Paris correspondent of the Telegraph, kept the sword? with which they had intended to avenge their injured honour. THE LARGEST CHEQUE EVER DRAWN. A minor controversy has arisen about tho largest cheque" that ever was written. It was announced that to tho cheque drawn the other day by the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Company 011 the London and County Bank for £1,'250, belongs the distinction. It was at the .same timo stated that one drawn by Vanderbilb for £700,000 had hitherto headed the list. The statement, however, is inaccurate (says the Bullionist)'. At least four of tho London clearing banks have paid cheques for considerably over two millions on more than one occasion. A few years ago the Manchester Ship Canal Company, when buying out the Bridge water trustees, drew one cheque for a million and three-quarters on Glyn and Co., and this document can still bo seen at the offices of tho Ship Canal Company, Dean Gate, Manchester, where it is framed as a curiosity. A cheque for an enormous amount passed through the "house" in 1879 or 1880. The amount was upwards of three millions and a quarter, and was in settlement of an arbitration award. A MONSTER TIECE OF GRANITE. The Bodwell Granite Company, Vinalhaven, Maine, recently quarried a shaft of granite which is the largest piece of stone ever quarried anywhere, and, if erected, will be the highest, largest, and heaviest single pieca of solid stone standirg, or that ever stood, so fur as any record can be found. In height it considerably exceeds any of-the Egyptian obelisks. The tallest of these, which was brought from Heliopolis to Alexandria by the Emperor Constantino, and afterwards taken to Rome, where it is still standing, is 105 feet 7 inches high, while this shaft is 115 feet long, l(j feet square at the base, and weighs 85(3 tons. It is understood that the company quarried this immense monolith on its own account, not having an order for anything of the kind, and it is suggested that it would be a fitting contribution from Maine for tho monument to be erected in honour of General Grant. A REMARKABLE GATHERING. A gathering of an unusual nature took place at the palace of the Bishop of Lichfield on September 29. The Bishop issued invitations to about one hundred of the Nonconformist Ministers in his diocese to lunch with him at Bishopstowd, the occasion being Michaelmas Day. About seventy accepted tho invitation. The Bishop intimated that there was no intention of discussing questions which separated Nonconformists from the Church, or of considering tho subject of home reunion. The proceedings were of a semi-private and social character. There was, however, ii devotional meeting, in which several of th(. ministers took part, and in which tho spiritual welfare of the diocese was prayed for, irrespective of sects. The whole party were conducted over the cathedral, and some of them stayed to the evening service. SENSIBLE VEGETARIANISM. Referring to the recent Vegetarian Congress, the British Medical Journal says :— Those who counsel the working-man to diet himself 011 nuts, apples, figs, and tomatoes may be disregarded as inconsequent faddists. But even the exaggeration of the alimentary value of green vegetables, of pulses, and leguminous vegetables is useful in face of tho ignorant neglect with which they are treated by the working-woman and the average bourgeois. A self-respecting and educated cook will make them play a large—and often the larger—part in the breakfast, lunch, and dinner, especially during the summer season, when they abound ; but they are much less used by the " plain cook" of the middle classes, or the small housewife, than they should be. Vegetarian cookery books are among the most useful innovations in the literature of th« kitchen, and the growth of the vegetarian restaurant is an index of the utilisation of the garden, far too little understood as yet by the cottager or artisan. There is no reason why any person who chooses should not become a vegetarian ; few whe are not physically strong and activelyemployed in outdoor work are likely to remain so. JEWS GOING TO JERUSa. It is said that the promulgation if the recent anti-Semitic laws in Russia are having a very unexpected effect. Long ago it was prophesied that one day the Jew should return to the land of his fathers and inhabit it. In modern times there has often been a movement to that end, and often has the question of the ultimate return of the Jews to Palestine been made the subject of discussion. The action of the Russian Emperor is, it appears, serving its end in fulfilment of prophecy. Hundreds of families of Russian Jews arc arranging to migrate to Jerusalem when they shall be obliged to leave the land of their choice. Will they rebuild the city in all its ancient splendour, with its beautiful gates, its magnificent streets, its temples? It may be ; and yet the new Jerusalem will very likely partake strongly of the modern ana will give us little of the flavour of the ancient city whose fame will never bo quenched. VIVISECTION. London, October 8, IS9o.—Tho opponents of vivisection, the Daily News' correspondent in Vienna telegraphs, will bo disgusted to hear of an experiment which took place in a hospital there yesterday. A little dog was made insensible, fastened to a board, and when his heart had been laid bare an instrument called an episcopo was applied, which threw a magnified picture of the dog's heart on the wall opposite, revealing to the eyes of all preset every movement of the heart. The experiment lasted half an hour and, according tc the professor, was a successful demonstration of the movements of tho living heart, and is therefore of the greatest value to students of medicine. AN EXPERIMENT. An extraordinary story is telegraphed from St. Petersburg. It is probable no romancer has ever imagined a more dramatic incident. A young professor of medicine, Koucharsky by name, closed a lecture on poisonous acids to a class in tho laboratory of the university by pouring into a glass some drops of one of the poisons, saying as ho drank them : "In two minutes you are going to see a man die before your eyes. Gentlemen, I bid you farewell." The students rushed up and tried to administer an antidote, but it was powerless. At the expiration of the time ho had fixed Koucharsky was a corpse. Thero is great excitement at St. Petersburg over this tragic incident. It is generally believed tho professor had gone suddenly mad, for 110 motive for the act, so far as is known, existed. He leaves a wife, of whom ho was very fond, and two little children. He will be buried with great pomp at the expense of tho State. AN OFFENDED PRIMA DONNA. There was a storm in a teapot afc the Grand Opera in Paris a few nights ago, which is causing a good deal of gossip in musical circles. Tho prima donna, after the applause which followed one of the principal songs in " Romt'io et Juliette," prepared to repeat her triumph, but the conductor of the orchestra, M. Vianesi, did not give her thechance, and went on with the music according to the score. This much offended the lady, who made some remarks to him in a stage whisper, and when she gottoher dressing-room began to takeoffher role costume, declaring she would not sing any more that night. By dine of much Eersuasion the manager was able to assuage pr wrath, and the opera ended in triumph.