GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8472, 24 January 1891, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

A THOUSAND YEAE3 OLD.

Iv a field (not far from. Austerlitz * depth of about eight feet, the skeleton nt * tali, powerful man has been discover i lying with the skull towards the west TV Daily ftews "Vienna correspondent te\? us that under the left arm was found sword almost a yard long, with Mo n , a having had the hilt covered with wood * T ? the neighbourhood were found bones t animals, flint stones, and fragments °i earthenware. A naturalist who has Pot the skeleton thinks it has lain in the pan? for over a thousand years. It will be moved from its present position to & ' museum. ' a

MORE CLERICAL CONVERSIONS TO ROME Clerical conversions to the Roman Cathol' Church seem to become more frequent (writ ! a correspondent) the longer the decision ? the Lincoln case is deferred. Two furthe instances are to hand in the persons of th Rev. R. P. Camm, M.A. (Keble Collet Oxford), and the Rev. J. E. C. Fowne M.A., Oxon., who have just been received into the Catholic (Communion. Mr. c amu was one of the most hard-working cer , attached to the St. Agnes' Church, Keif nington Park, where the Bishop of Lincoln often preaches when in town, and i,u Fownes has been for many years connected with St. Mary Woolnoth, in the city.

AN EPITAPH. Robert Louis Stevenson's self-chosen epi tapb :— y Under the wide and starry sky Dig the grave and let me lie: Glad diil I live, anil gladly die, And I laid me down with a will. This he the verse ye grave for me: ' Here he lies where he longed to be ; Home is the sailor, home from the sea And the hunter is home from the bill, A WAR PROBLEM. A terrible doubt hangs over the operation of ramming, or striking the broadside of one ship with the beak of another, which it is predicted, will be a feature of future naval war. This manoeuvre, it is obvious, could only be performed at the very highest rate of speed. Equally certain is ib that the rammed ship would be sunk in a momentbut what of the rammer ? Could anyone confidently predict that she would not fol. low her prey to the green depths, or at best remain afloat so crippled as to be an easy conquest to any foe ? HORRIBLE MURDER OF A WIFE. QUEBEC, Nov. 27.—A terrible case of wife murder took place on Tuesday in the Islj aux Coudres. A farmer named Painehand a year ago quarrelled with his young wife and left her and went to live in Vermont! On Monday last he returned here, and said he wished to forgive his wife. Her parents who were delighted at the prospect of reconciliation, gave a party on Tuesday evening in honour of the reunion. During the evening Painchaud and his wife withdrew, and as they did not return, the guests became alarmed, and made search for them. Thev found the body of the wife on the floor in the room to which they had retired, her head, which had been cut off, standing in a wash-basin. The weapon the murderer had employed was a butcher's knife. The cause of the act is said to be jealousy. Painchaud has escaped. A MONKEY THIEF. Monkeys, it appears, if properly trained make very clever thieves. For instance, in in a case recently heard before a police court at San Francisco, the lively little monkey which, with its owner, appeared to answer the charge of robbery, had distinguished itself in the profession to such a degree that its proprietor had grown relatively rich bv its thefts. The animal was trained to camon its operations in the streets. A lady came forward to state how, on a certain day, she was horrified to find a monkey perched on her shoulder, and before she had recovered from her fright, her gold watch and chain were in the monkey's grasp, and the little thief had disappeared. Another lady while walking along the streets, had a valuable diamond torn from one of her ears, and before the bystanders could start in pursuit of the four-footed rascal it had fairly vanished. However, on a recent thieving expedition after it had purloined a handsome brooch' under the very eyes of two policemen, the monkey was caught just as it had crept under the loosely-fitting greatcoat of an individual strolling leisurely down the street. So, tor the time being, it will no longer have to exercise the calling of thief, its owner being sentenced to pass a certain period in prison. PRINTING A NEWSPAPER WITH A STEAM ROAD ROLLER. An incident occurred on November 22 which showed a fertility of resource worthy of the Arizona Kicker. It appears that, owing to an accident at the gasworks, the town of Middleborough was wholly deprived of gas for all purposes. This did not reach the ears of the manager of the Northeastern Daily Gazette (the machinery for printing which is driven by gas power) until ten o'clock ; but a novel idea was evolved and promptly acted upon. A gang of workmen was hastily obtained from neighbouring works, and heavy iron plates were laid in the yard adjoining the printing - room, through the wall of which a large aperture was made. A ton steam road roller was then got into position, shored, and rapidly geared, and one hour only after the usual time of starting, the powerful " Marinoni" steam printing machine began work, the issue of 64,000 copies being produced without a single hitch in the unique manner described. A REGIMENTAL BEAR. " Lizzie," the bear belonging to the 17th Lancers (" Death or Glory" Boys), now stationed at Shorncliffe camp, is giving her keepers a great deal of trouble. She made her escape from camp lately. The event caused much excitement in the neighbourhood. A party of Lancers at once set out in search, and a hot chase ensued. The bear ultimately secreted herself in some new buildings at Cheriton village, about two miles from the camp, where she was captured. AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT. A singular experiment, the Chronicie tells us, recently took place in Palestine to test the accuracy of Dr. Colenso's statement that the people of Israel assembled in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim could not hear the curses and blessi ings delivered from the heights above them. ! A party, it appears, was travelling in the neighbourhood of these mountains, and two Scotchmen ascended Mount Ebal and two Welshmen Mount Gerizim, while the res: of the party remained in the valley. One of the Scotchmen read the curses, and from the opposite mountain a Welshman read the blessings. Both were easily heard below, where the party added the amen?. Both readers were perched upon natural platforms near the summit. shakespere's birthplace. The Gazette of November 14 contains notice of an intention to apply to Parliament, in the ensuing session, for an Act to incorporate a body of trustees, under the style of " The Trustees and Guardians o Shakespere's Birthplace." To them will be transferred the house in Henley-street, and other property now vested in the cotporation of Stratford-upon-Avon, together with the Shakesperian Library atia Museum, and certain funds now in the hands of the trustees of the Library ana Museum. The new body is to be authorised, when the opportunity may arise, to purchase Ann Hathaway's cottage, and Mar) Arden's house at Wilmcote. THE DOGS OF SYRIA. Mrs. Burton gives some curious fac» about dog life in Syria and other Eastern countries. Dogs exist there by hundreds and thousands, without owners or care, an are a kind of community by themselves Each one belongs to a particular quarter 0 the city, and is not allowed to live elsewhere. She treated them kindly and tea them, while the inhabitants beat and stone" them, and in gratitude they undertook escort her and defend her from harmWhen she went out to walk, a dog always met her, as if appointed by the whole cornmunity, accompanied her to the border his boundary, and passed her over to on belonging to that quarter, who did the saw thing in his turn. Each dog wagged m tail, as if bidding good-bye, when his won* .was done. She says, also, she has often, » the quiet night, heard a dog come barl from the foot of the mountains. Meew°» the dogs on the border of the village, U»« would be quiet for a few minutes, then general barking in concert; then one & would start for the middle of the viuagf. with a similar result there ; then a sing, dog again for the farthest side of the v lage, followed by a general barking the** "Whatever the canine news is, . sbe^ e( } "in about twenty minutes it P' round to all the dogs in Damascus.