GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10133, 16 May 1896, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

iiiDY H. Somerset's libel action. The London Evening News is informed that Lady Henry Somerset is determined to prosecute the action for libel which she has

instituted against the Pall Mall Gaaette. Mr/Astor's organ, it will be remembered did not spare Lady Henry la Its criticisms

of her efforts to rpscue Jane Cakebread. In

commenting upon the announcement .than

Cakebread had been announced insane, the

Pall Mall observed that Lady Henry Soraer.

set would drive anyone mad. This is the

specific libel complained of, for which £5000

is claimed as damage?. Lady Henry Somer-,.|« set has been induced to persevere with the/; action more out of the consideration for tho I; interest of the charitable institution under.'f whose care Jane Cakebroad was placed than* [■■: for any personal reasons. In the first in- ~ stance she instructed her solicitors, AlegsrC''?: Day and Russell, to write to Mr. Astor'forei a withdrawal of the statement complained "% of, pointing out that the charity was likely. -;',. to suffer considerable financial loss. Ncr '{• apology was, however, made. The stats-;-ment of claim has been delivered, and the; J defence, which promises to be of a eensa:.\ '% tional character, will be filed soon. A goodly. V; number of eminent lawyers are concerned '"■■ irtthecase. Mr. H. H. Asquith, Q.C., M.P.*, '■] will act as leading counsel for Mr. Astor, •: and Sir Edward Clarke, Q.C., M.P., Mr; > E. H. Carson, Q.C.. M P., and Mr. Arthur- .< Pollen have been briefed in the interests/of 1 . Lady Henry Somerset. ";-!■■ ■ ". ROOSP ASIA ON HORSEBACK. Prince Constantino Wiasemsky hasVjuat: . completed a journey lasting two years and ■•., a-half which lias been not less interesting , from a scientific point of view than fertile . -.J in incidents, for he has been round Asia on ...' horseback, covering a distance of 26,575 miles, vi'iting in turn Siberia, Mongolia; | the whole of China from north to south and" from east to west, 'fongking, Anam, Cochin China, Cambodia, the Alois country, Siam;. the Laos, Barman, Manipur, Assam, India,, Kashmir, Thibet, Turkestan, Bokhara, and Persia, returning to Russia by the Caucasus; In the course of his travels ho was attacked ' four times by wild people and twice wounded in the shoulder and the leg, while, but for a lucky escape from captivity, he would probably have been killed by a tribe of fanatici : . in Thibet. After having been delayed by floods in Siam, where he contracted malarial fever, he nearly died from thirst in the desert of Gobi, where all his horses perished, and • he did part of his journey on other animals," riding oxen in Cambodia, and doing over ,' 600 miles on elephants in Siam, while in. .. Thibet he bestrode the yaks, or mountain! \ cattle, which travel where horses cannot go. l When he could not get a horse he travelled .. on foot, taking copious notes upon the":, usages and dress of the natives, and visiting;; ■;; several Buddhist monasteries in India, S where he claims to have discovered the ■ , secretof the fakirs. Prince Wiasemsky had ;: i already ridden round the Mediterranean;' ''; from France to Egypt and thence into; '. ; Afrjca, and he dined with Gordon Pasha a/: *. few weeks before the capture of Khartoum, i Prince Wiasemsky, who says that he lost;-* all the twelve horses which he took out, is ?j residing at Rome to recuperate his strength',' ■;", as he is suffering very much from the fatigue .' of bis last journey. -if'

HORBIBLK STORY OF CANNIBALISM. "'<\.-,\ \S A despatch to New York from Wheeling, West Virginia, states that a remarkable discovery has been made there regarding - -; - thefate of four men who mysteriously dis--' appeared thirty-two years ago. The men •<• were John Swing, of Liverpool, Joseph'' ■'£ Obney, of Manchester, and two Americans, % ■ named Benjamin Ayres and Thomas Ankel-,' ]'■'$ eon. While the recesses of an abandoned coal mine were being explored recently y 9-i four human skeletons were found. On' was sitting in an almost upright position { ' against the rock, while on the ground beside it was a bottle containing a note scribbled - ! V

on a piece of paper, and consisting of the W'-h following passages t—" November 2,1863.- ,- Should this ever reach the world, let it be known that we are prisoners here, owing, to the caving-in of the mine. Our food and ;'V\ water are gone. This is about the eighth day of our imprisonment. November 4.— ••»;!'"'• Ewing and Ankelson have jusb killed Ayres ■.";s■: and are eating him. I have already eaten afs bootleg. The oil in our lamp is getting "J. scarce, and the air is foul, November 6,— Ewing has just killed Ankelson, and has ■.'■' cat off his feet and is eating them. He if dancing around with a drawn knife like a "■'■" maniac. November 7.— am alone with the ;■ dead. I had to kill Ewing in self-defence. :.'• ■ I have just finished eating the other bootleg. .;. lam going to enclose this note in a flask tc ■' preserve it, if possible, so that my fate may J be known.— Obkey." The men's ■*; disappearance is well remembered by old' residents of Wheeling, and was finally given up as an insoluble mystery. The then'. British Consul made inquiries, but was able ■;" to learn nothing.

FIGHT BETWBEN BOARS AND A BOA,

A New York correspondent says A■';.£''. remarkable fight between a boa-constrictor thirteen feet in length and two wild boars ■■. occurred the other day. They had been .. ; , ■ placed in the storage place for animalf ■'.'.. destined for the collection in Central Park, ? -' The boa managed to escape from his box, ■'": and slid between the bars of a largo cage containing two Texas boars. The men it charge of the animals heard the boars making a fearful noise, and on running to the spot found the Snake had already coiled '< itself round one of them, and was slowly .'■■ squeezing to, while the other boar, in a state of great excitement, was snapping at the snake's head. The men attacked the constrictor with iron bars to induce it to release its captive, but could make no impression upon it. The snake kept its head high in the air with its tongue darting rapidly ir and out as it watched its assailants, its muscles meanwhile tightening round the body of its prisoner. The other boar fought bravely forthe rescue of its companion, and succeeded in wounding the serpent in many places. Tho constrictor suddenly assumed the offensive, for, rapidly uncoiling itself from the first boar, it twisted itself round the body of the one which had been attacking it. While the beast was plunging and struggling to release itself the snake lowered its bead. The boar made a last plunge, and seized the serpent's head in its jaws and crushed it flat. Then the coils loosened, and the attendants dragged the dead body out of the cage. The two boars fell exhausted to the floor, and lay there for nearly an hour hardly able to do more than breathe.

WASTING AMMUNITION'. A book just published, entitled " Cam paigning in South Africa and Egypt," by Major-General Molyneaux, shows how tin Boers learn to shoot well. The author says:—"One day, when the General had cone to Newcastle, I was asked by a friendly Boer to come out shooting on the morrow; there were a lot of buck, he said, on the ■ Elandsberg, north-east of us. Next morn,ing, accordingly, I took a riSe and a bag of cartridges, and attended by Hoot ami two horses set out, for the place. When I met "■. my friend he said: 'What have you gob .'. that bag; your dinner!' ' No,' I answered, ■.?■. 'cartridges;' whereat he roared with laughter. * You Englishmen must be very .. rich; they cost sixpence apiece here. '"'" | Where are yours ?' I asked, not seeing the ; : joke. 'In this,' he said, tapping his double- '. barrelled rifle. • You don't intend to shoot % much.' * Two springbuck are as much as I "' : can carry.' ' Suppose you miss t 'Nobody '- ; ' : misses when a cartridge casts sixpence.' •'. That was the conversation, and ib taught, me much; it may perhaps teach us all why '.! we were beaten by the Boers in 1881. The :;. Boer does hot waste his ammunition. He ' will aim and, take down his rifle a dozen times, until lie is satisfied that he is going to get something for his caytr idge. An Englishman shoots for sport, the Boer only '' for the pot." A HOME CARLO INCIDENT. Straws show which way the wind blows, "'• and the following incident is significant ol French feeling. When the Casino closes at half-past eleven those of the visitors wh< - don't want to goto bed return to the Caft Riche, where a good Hungarian band playi up to midnight. The other evening th« band had been playing several national airs, whereupon Mr. Cox, well known in racing circles, asked them to play "God Save the Queen!" The conductor at first reused, paying be was afraid of a row. However, on Mr, Cox persisting, he com' ; menced the first bar, when such a tumuli arose that he was obliged to stop. Thi majority of visitors there, this, year are Garloans*' At the Casino, also, this year the;: have erased the English concert from the Jh% of international concerts.

NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. 'Hfs\