GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9229, 17 June 1893, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

A SNAKE STORY. A writer in an English paper tells the following snako story:—Talking of snakes reminds me of a lively incident in which I figured once when I was travelling in Queensland. I had laid me down under the shade of a gum tree one hot afternoon and happened to doze off. When I awoke my first feeling was that there was something very cold all down one of my legs, and looking down I saw to my annoyance the tail-half of a great snake sticking out of my trouser-leg. His snakeshlp had evidently thought he was crawling into a log. As you may imagine, I began to feel somewhat embarrassed, as if I moved or hurt him he was sure to bite me, and he belonged to one of the most poisonous species in Australia. What to do? as our French friends say. Well, keeping as cool as I could under the circumstances, I threw open my clothes at the top, and than quietly wriggled my leg slightly. The reptile crawled along slowly and after a little while, which seemed to be hours, his head showed along by my vend pocket. Watching a favourable opportunity 1 grabbed him by the neck, and, pulling him out, broke his back for him with one quick jerk. He was 7ft Sin long, and a fierce-looking brute. BHAMPOOICD WITH SULPHURIC ACID. A shampoo with sulphuric acid is a terrible experience, A tradesman living in Paris has suffered it. Going into a hairdresser's in his neighbourhood he asked to have his head shampooed. " Make the water warm," he said, " as I have a bud cold." Tho operator sent his little girl into tho kitchen to fetch a saucepan from the stove. Tho saucepan was brought, and some of the contents were poured over the customer's head. Instantly he set up a yell that could bo hoard in the next street. To his horror the hairdresser found he hail been using diluted sulphuric acid. His wife had made a mistake and put the fluid in the saucepan. Fortunately, the customer's eyes wore uninjured, but he had to be driven home. ATTKMPT TO STEAL THE ASHES OF COLUMBUS. According to tho Chicago Herald, an unsuccessful attempt has been made to steal the ashes of Columbus, which are placed in a small urn, 3in by Sin, enclosed in a glass case bound with gold at the Convent in Jackson Park. The janitor, whose attention was arrested by a noise in a room where the ashes were, saw the door open, and a man walking away from the pedestal on which the urn stands. The glass case was open and the urn was missing, and the janitor saw the man putting it in his pocket. lie at once shouted, " Drop that 1" and sprang towards tho man, who rushed to the door. The janitor closed with him, and the men rolled over and over upon the floor. Eventually the man made his escape, bub the janitor succeeded in recovering the urn. UNDERSIZED PARISIANS. A French physician, M. Delthie, has been trying to find out why Parisians are undersized. He urges upon them the necessity of obtaining a regular supply of milk from tho country, on the ground that the alimentation of stabled cows, though ib often results in a more abundant supply of milk, is greatly to the detriment of its mineralisation. He attributes the continued decadence of Parisians as regards stature to the bad system of infant feeding in vogue, and specially to the deficiency of the milk diet. Parisian mothers, it seems, rarely Buckle their own children, being either too grand, or, in humble ranks of life, too busy. Ho considers infants are thrown upon solid diet too early, or nourished with poor Parisian milk deficient in food value. He concludes :—" In my numerous observations of the antecedents of children afflicted with affections of the osseous tissue, white swellings, etc., I have noticed that in the immense majority of these cases these patients had been victims of bad nourishment atari early age—either bad nurses or insufficient milk food, or milk diet discontinued too soon—whence insufficiency of phosphates for the development of the osseous tissue," A HUMAN WILL. Tho Mexican papers tell of a miser named Monecke, who recently died. His relatives were unwilling that his body should be interred, as he had tattooed his will over his chest with some red pigment instead of using pen and ink. The court decreed that the remarkable " human document" should be copied, and the representation duly attested in the presence of witnesses. This was done, and the court has pronounced tho queer will genuine. ANIMALS AND SMOKING. In the Berlin Zoological Gardens, Professor Baul Meyorheim, a painter of animal life, has been trying the effects of tho fragrant weed on various donizens of the gardens, with results as novel as they are undoubtedly amusing. Chief among the subjects of his experiments was the brown bear. He declares that the "common brown bears" are genuine enthusiasts for tobacco. " When 1 puff ray cigar-smoke into their cage," he remarks, " they rush to the front, rubbing their noses and backs against the bars through which the smoke has penetrated," The professor, with some temerity, once experimented on the lion. The creature was asleep, and this was the moment selected for puffing a volume of tobacco smoke in his face. Did he at once wake up with a savage growl, lash his tail, and, springing at the bar, shake the massive iron Not at all. He awoke and "stood on his legs," which seems a natural enough attitude to adopt, and " sneezed powerfully." Then he quietly lay down on his side and " elevated his nose for a second dose." It may be news to some to hear that goats, stags, and llamas all devour tobacco with remarkable satisfaction. SILVER AND SLAVERY. That silver should be on important factor in the suppression of the slavo trade is a circumstance of a remarkable nature. But such is the contention of merchant* in Lagos. A Government proposal was niariu to prohibit the importation of silver into the British colony of Lagos, when a meeting of merchants was held to protest against it. It was stated that the natives were abandoning their old system of currency, viz., cowrie shells, and had adopted that of the English silver coin. This was also doing away with the barter system, and instead of receiving rum and gin in exchange for their trade they were taking silver. Silver was also taking the place of slaves amongst the natives of tho interior, who, instead of receiving so nany slaves for goods bartered, exchanged silver coin. It was thought that this wholesome desire would be an important factor in the suppression of the slav trade. PURITY OP LONDON 'WATER. Much has been heard of the impure condition of London water, but the report of experts on the composition and quality of the water supplied during a recent month ought to prove agreeable reading to waterdrinkers of the Metropolis. Though the more or less flooded state of the rivers during a large portion of the month had a prejudicial influence on the supply, more especially in respecb to the degroe of freedom from colour-tint, it did not affoob the proportion of organic matter present in the water to any such extent as to bring it into appreciable excess over the low winter average prevailing during the previous two months. Moreover, the mean ratio of organic nitrogen to organic carbon, or 21'6 to 100, was low, and indicative so far of the preponderating vegetable nature of the actually small proportion of organic matter present in the supply. Of the total 168 samples of water examined two only wars recorded as deficient in brightness, the remainder, despite the flooded state of the rivers, being found to be clean, bright, and well filtered. "darkest ENGLAND" fund. Few persons will be surprised to hoar that "General" Booth's "Darkest I'ng land" scheme is in the throes of a life-and death crisis, and all for the want of money. The "General" has not been able to get tho subscribers to the original capital to continue to contribute to the working expenses. Bub a great effoib is to be made to again arouse public interest in the undertaking, a national movement having been resolved upon for the purpose of obtaining a guarantee of £30,000 a year for three years, which, as stated by the " General, is necessary to carry on the work. A paid agent is to visit the large industrial centres of England to stir up financial sympathy. London is to be specially looked after by the staff of the Salvation Army, led by "General" Booth. GIGANTIC! LAND SWINDLE. . A gigantic land swindle has been worsted in Oklahama. Negroes are arriving at Guthrie, the principal town in the State, in great numbers, with worthless land certincates, sold them for lOdoh. eaoh by a swindler, who disposed of an immense number of them to blacks in Alabama, Tennessee, aud Mississippi some months ago.