GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9307, 16 September 1893, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

A STEAMER BURNED ON THE VOLGA. Particulars have been received ab Si, Petersburg from Moscow of the burning near Romanovoßorissoglebsk of the steamer Alphonse Zevecke. The vessel left Rybinsk with a cargo consisting, among other goods of 43 bales of wadding, which were so badly packed that the covers became unfastened and owing, it is believed, to the carelessness of some person while smoking, caught fire. It might have been possible to save ab least all the crew and passengers if an error in steering had not caused the boat to run aground while she was making for the nearest landing-stage. Owing to this mi«. take the Alphonse Zevecke was completely enveloped in flames before anyone could escape. The only persons who were saved were those in the bows, who jumped overboard, and aided by the shallowness of the water ab that point succeeded in reaching the bank. The great majority of the passengers in the other parts of the vessel were so panic-stricken that they were nearly all drowned, either through their inability to swim, or owing to their being drawn under by the current, and being struck by the screws, which continued to revolve. The peasants from tha neighbouring village displayed great inhumanity, refusing to rescue those in the water without the pay. ment of sums varying from 100 to 400 roubles. One of them even refused to accept a silver watch, declaring that it was not enough. The exact number of the victims is not yet known, but it is believed to be over fifty. MUTILATION OF THE TEETH. Dr. Magitot, of Paris, has published an interesting account of the mutilation of the teeth practised by various savage tribes. One variety, which is chiefly met with on the coasts of Africa and the west coast of iNew Guinea, consists of the breaking of a portion of the incisor by means of a knife and a piece of wood, and is performed between the ages of 20 and 25. The custom of extracting the two central incisors is found in both hemispheres According to Zerate, ib has been practised in Peru from time immemorial, where it is inflicted on conquered tribes as a sign of slavery. In Africa ib has been observed, on the Congo, among the Hottentots and the Batoxas. The mutilation by filing has, for its exclusive centre, the Malayan Archipelago, whence ib has spread to the adjoining islands. It is a religious act, which is celebrated with great festivities ab the age of puberty, but only by the Mahommedans. The degree and character of this filing vary with the habits of the family or caste. The operation is performed by an expert, the "Tukang pangur" (filer), by means of a chisel, three bricks, two files, a small saw, and a pair of cutting nippers, the instruments being rubbed with arsenic and lemon juice before being used. A CLERGYMAN HORSEWHIPPED. The Waterford correspondent of the Fieeman's Journal says that an incident of an extraordinary character, which has caused great excitement, has occurred in Waterford city. An English clergyman, who is the son-in-law of a gentleman residing, outside Waterford, went on a visib to the family of the latter. As he was walking through Barronstraud-streeb with his father-in-law he was accosted by a wellknown magistrate and a leading Catholic, who turned on the parson and gave him a vigorous beating with a whip. It is stated that before he proceeded to extremes he asked for, but did not receive, what he considered a sufficient apology. KILLED IN THE ALPS. mountaineering accident happened recently to a young Englishman named Jones, who missed his footing and fell from a considerable height while ascending Mount Catogne, near Orsieres, in the Valais. The deceased, who was only 22 years of age, started that morning to go up the mountain wish four other tourists, and as the ascent is in no way a dangerous one, it is supposed that Mr. Jones must have made his way to some perilous position lying away from the ordinary path. COMING TO LIFE AT THE GRAVESIDE. A most extraordinary case of resuscitation is just reported from the British colony of Lagos, where an old woman came to life when she was ab the cemetery, about to be buried. The mourners had assembled at; the cemetery, and, in accordance with the Mahommedp.n rale, the body was lifted from the coffin to be buried, when several distinct coughs were given by the supposed corpse. The woman was at once released from the clothes which bound her, and, to the surprise of those present, sat uprighb and opened her eyes. Some gruel was then procured, of which she partook with evident relish. She said that during her state of inanition she received a warning that she was to proceed to her own country in the interior and die there, and she was making preparations to obey this supernatural command. EXPLOSION IN A LONDON SEWER. Two men employed by the Chelsea Vestry recently descended a sewer for the purpose of clearing away an obstruction. After proceeding for some distance underground they came upon a heap of rubbish in the centre of the drain, and having placed their lighted lamp on the bottom of tha sewer, one of the men commenced removing the heap with a spade. Scarcely had he touched the deposit when a loud explosion ensued, and both men were knocked down and enveloped in flames. Recovering their presence of mind, they battled their way through the flames to the man-hole by which they descended, and fortunately regained the surface, where they fell on the pavement in an exhausted state. Assistance was speedily rendered, and the men, who were both considerably burned and otherwise seriously injured, were conveyed to their homes, where they were medically attended. The authorities of the Chelsea Vestry are investigating the cause of the explosion, which is variously attributed either to some explosive product having gob into the sewer from the adjacent gas-works or from some large dyeing establishment, of which there are two in the immediate vicinity. "GOING TO SLEEP" IN AFRICA. News has reached Lagos of the death of the King of Ibadan. The Ibadan people had been engaged in civil war for soma years, bub Sir Gilbert Carter, the Governor of Lagos, recently visited them and induced the contending parties to lay down their arms and return to their villages. Balogun Ajai had been governing the country while the army was on active service, bub on the return of tho chiefs a dispute arose between Balogun Ajai and the son of the late king. The former was accused of having ruled with an unduly despotic sway, and of having sold many of the people as slaves. As a result, he was asked "to go to sleep, 11 which, according to native custom, meanb that he should take his own life. Being apparently satisfied that resistance simply meanb death in another form, the chief committed suicide by taking poison. AN OFFICER BURNED TO DEATH. The firemen of the Victoria-street station ab Westminster were recently summoned to Grosvenor Mansions, tenements of residential flats, situate at 82, Victoria-street, Westminster. On the ground floor Captain Seymour Spencer-Smith, a retired captain in the Royal ISiavy, a bachelor, resided, and in the back bedroom hewasdiscovered.much burned aboub the arms, legs, and stomach. He was quite dead, and had evidently been so for some time. He was aboub sixty years of age, and returned home the previous evening from a visit. He then went to his rooms, and was apparently in good spirits. l Aboub 10 o'clock the housekeeper knocked ab the captain's bedroom door, which was then shut, and obtained no answer. On the following morning, going to his apartments she found the bedroom door open and the ' room full of smoke. Upon Mr. Tollyfield, the chief officer ab the Westminster Fire Station, examining the premises ib was found that all the linen bedclothes were burnt, bub the blankets were only charred. ■ On the floor beside the dead captain was a candlestick, and on the bed lay the extinguisher. Behind the door were hanging a hab and jackeb belonging to the captain, bub only the collar of the jackeb was remaining, and thab was still smouldering. The fire otherwise had expended itselr. The cause of the fire is ab present a mystery, bub ib is thoughb that Captain SpencerSmith musb have fallen asleep, eibher reading or smoking, and thab he awoke and haa endeavoured to extinguish the flames, and thab while so doing the smoke stupefied him and he was aftorwards suffocated. He had evidently been in bed, his ' watch being found under his pillow, the sheeting below the pillow nob being burned. /