GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9711, 5 January 1895, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

HIS HEART IN THE WKONO PLACE.

An extraordinary case comes from Vienna where a man who died recently is said to hare had his heart on the right side, and almost all of whose internal organs— liver, and intestines—were found to bo opposite to their usual place. : . The deceased, whose name was Adolph Schlesinger, nevertheless never felt any inconvenience from this cause. Having some years ago accidentally learned of the unusual arrangement of his internal economy, he offered to sell his body to the British Museum for the immediate payment of a good round sum, bub the offer was declined, The cause of his death was consumption. IN PKAISE OF THE COLONIAL EGO. Mr. J. Troubridge Oritchell writes to the Standard 44 1 enjoyed tor breakfast the other morning an egg imported from Australia—a sample of a consignment eent from the pushing colony of Victoria. The egg was sound and sweet, equal to the fresh egg which costs us 2hd at this season of the year. I claim a niche"in the Standard to record this. When fresh eggs come to us from far-distant Australia, we may make up our minds that our colonial cousins are in earnest in their determination to have their share in supplying the food wants of Great Britain. I hold that it is a standing disgrace to our rural population that font millions sterling should be paid away for our yearly egg bill (is ib that the cottager and farmer are negligent in overlooking this industry, or is the system of distribution to blame?); but, if we must import the wholesome, necessary egg, by all means let us have ib from our own people in the colonies." SECRET MURDER SOCIETY. The series of extraordinary murders ia Denver have (according to Dalziel) led to gome discoveries on the part of the police which are of a remarkable character. The police are positive in their declaration that the crimes are the work of the secret society known as the "Chevaliers d'Amour,* and they assert that they have discovered that it has branches in London and Paris. They further maintain that they are in possession of clues which show elearlv tha London connection of the society. With regard to the murder of the Japanese girl, Rita Cyama, the third victim, it is reported that, although no arrests hare been made, one of the most prominent men of the city is suspected of being implicated in the outrage, if he is nob the actual mur« derer. A YOUTHFUL JAPANESE HERO. Among the minor incidents of the naval battle off the Yalu River, there is one that should not go unrecorded. In a party told off to bring up ammunition for one of the guns of the Tingyuen was a new recruit, a lad of fifteen or sixteen, shipped, probably, as a comparatively useless article on shore. During the progress of the fight a shell fell among the party while at work, killing one man and scattering the rest, who did not immediately return to their posts, except the boy. He remained calm and collected amidst the uproar and the flying splinters. The gun he served was badly in want of ammunition, but be was not strong enough to carry the heavy box. Seeing a European officer passing, he drew him by the coat towards the box, and by signs raada known to him the urgent need of the gun being supplied and his inability alone to carry the ammunition, Together they lifted and carried the box to the gun, which was thus able to continue its working. The example of the youthful " powder-monkey" brought his comrades to a sense of their duty, and their work wanb on to the close of the battle. THE LONDON TIMES. The London Evening News of November 30 says:—Wt have good reason to believe the conductors .or the Times are seriously contemplating the reduction of ths price of the paper from 3d to Id. W« understand that arrangements are now being made to give effect to this purpose early in the new year, and althoagh the utmost secrecy has been observed in the Times office with regard to the proposal— indeed, this paragraph will come as news to many members of the Times staff—the statement may be taken as a reliable one. Such a change on the part of the great journal issued daily from i'rinting-hous* Square may have a tremendous effect upon the newspaper enterprise of London, and the announcement now made by the Evening News will not bring joy to the heart of the proprietors of the other big London morning dailies."

A HEAVY SEA. Some weeks ago the heaviest sea that has been known for years prevailed in the English Channel. At Kynance, Cornwall, the sea swept over the top of Asparagus Island —a phenomenon unknown for the last 18 years. Great difficulty was experienced in effecting the relief" at the Loneships Lighthouse, near Land's End. The two men going to the lighthouse were hoisted on to the rock by means of the rope and windlass, which are used when the sea is high, although both they and the beat's crew were thoroughly drenched in the operation. On embarking, the men who had to be taken ashore, one of them—a supernumerary lightkeeper, named Jacksonslipped his foothold in the rope, and fell into the boiling surf. He was, fortunately, able to swim, and was dragged on board the boat well nigh exhausted and terribly frightened.

HORNED SCREAMERS " AT THE zoo. Among the more uncommon and recently acquired inmates of the London Zoo are * pair of that exceedingly remarkable bird, the " horned screamer." One of the two birds, presumably the male, has a horn just in the middle of his forehead, which is wanting in the heii. There has never at any time been a pair of these fowls in the Zoo, so that the use of the horn is a problem which is at present unsolved. It seems to be too feeble to be used by the male for the purpose of correcting his mate or disputing her possession, were there any chance of rivalry. It must, therefore, be supposed that this horn—a single one, be it observed —has been, so to speak, implanted by the hen. All vagaries in the way of mala adornment are apt to be put down to the caprices of the female bird. A horned bird is, however, one of the most remarkable products of female selection, if it really is due to that stimulus. A TERRIBLE ADVENTURE. Herr Hageubeck, the dealer in wild beasts, tells how he came near losing his life one afternoon at Hamburg, at the hands, or rather at the tail of an alligator. Ib was on this wise: The good people ab Dusseldorf have a Zoological Garden which gives the city authorities not a little trouble to maintain. Many of their beasts die, and they are constantly sending to roe for others. One day there came an order for twelve alligators. In shipping alligators, says Herr Hagenbeck, we sometimes pack them in long boxes, heads and tails. So I got my assistants around me, laid out the boxes, and then set to work to haul the alligators out of the great tank where were sixteen large ones lately received from Florida. The tail of one of them lay partly out upon the curb of the tank. I seized hold of it, and with a quick turn, drew the alligator bodily out on i.he flagstones, then made a jump to catch him by the leg and turn him on his back. But the reptile suddenly assumed the offensive, and before my hand closed on his flipper, his tail caught me so tremendous a blow that I was actually lifted off my lea's and hurled ten feet into the very middle of the tank. I stuck, doubled up, on hands and toes, in three or four feet of muddy water, and in the midst of a snarl of alligators. As I fell among them, they all appeared to make a dash at once, their jaws cracking like so many flax-brakes! My eyes wore full o 1 spatters and mud; but it seemed to me that half a dozen of the brutes were snapping at once, and my men on the bank afterwards confirmed this conjecture. My feet had no sooner found the bottom than I bounded out of the pool, almost as quickly as I entered it. Ido not think I was in th« tank for more than three seconds ; but those who saw the affair declared that not less than six of the alligators dashed at me, as I fell. It is likely in their scurry, that they tumbled against each other and that I owed my escape wholly or in part to thsif headlong eagerness ; for if even one of them had succeeded in seizing me by an arm or leg I should hardly have got out alive. I sustained a particularly ugly, livid bruise along the right femur, probably from the alligator's tail. It was wonderful that) my leg was not broken by the blow.