GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10425, 24 April 1897, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

THE NEW MERIDIAN. M. Rambaud, French Minister of Pablis Instruction, lately received in priwtffl audience, M. Faye, President of th Q Bureau H des Longitude, accompanied by all it 'W titular members of that institution, Tk'S Bureau des Longitudes strongly the Bill proposing the substitution of th«® Greenwich meridian for the Paris merit S which will shortly come under discussion the Chamber, considering that this tceasur. would only be favourable to the interest of# one people. It would, in the opinion of thill Bureau, bo more just to ask each nation »S3I give up its national meridian, and to choo«. in agreement with other nations so desert land, such as, for example,' TierrlP del Fuego, as an International meridian 'f=

SACUILEGE IN FRANCE. . ,^§| Some mysterious robberies from F,.„„k cathedrals and churches, which weS down to Satanism, are now explained. ThD police aided by the diocesan authority -7 have laid hands upon a metal-workpl named Paul Bondidicr, who has b« travelling over France, and who seom7t«P have been a specialist in sacrilegious theft. "?P Chalices, monstrances, and n yxu i. -Ml been abstracted from the sacristies of Laval Autun, St. Etienne, Mont de Marian ' .A W, Dax. Bondidier's brother in-law in k t k $1 who is also arrested, used to melt down t m'Hi gold and silver and sell it abroad. Unf or t nately, some of the articles we're valuable as ancient work of art, and cannot k! *"• replaced. "

RUSSIAN VILLA3E TRAGEDY. A terrible tragedy has just been enacted & in the village of Litvinovitich, in"' «?'§§§ Tsehernigov province of Southern so'j||£'fg Three or four months ago a peasant ]iri» > there was bitten by a mad dog, 'ay J relatives, instead of obtaining 'prooef medical aid, simply consigned him to th« care of the village magician, who, for aeon, sideration, undertook to exorcise tba'Mi] spirit of the dog. The man was eventual. seiEed with a bad attack of hydrophobic.: and, after biting his wife, rushed throuei - the village, foaming at the mouth and, ; savagely biting the people who came In hit way, with tho exception of those who had ';-. the presence of mind to throw water at him.; $ The other men of the village soon assembled with guns and sticks, and a regular hunt'' for the wretched peasant began. Ho waj finally shot and severely wounded, and 4 then beaten with sticks until he was quite harmless. He died immediately afterwards. 'M The police report on the case states that 30 >1 persons wore bitten by the peasant, most of 41 whom have been removed to Kiel! for 'I treatment on the Pasteur method. The® entrusting of such a case to the village magician, and its terrible consequences, are "I a striking example of the depths ot*i ignorance and superstition in which thi 5 Russian peasantry are at present sunk. ,if TERRIBLE TRAGEDY. A _ telegraphic dispatch from Victoria, 'I Mexico, gives some details of a terrible' 3 tragedy which occurred there. A dance 4? was being held in the public hall of thai > town, when one of the men present wati-l heard to make use of an insulting remark; 3 regarding a woman in the assembly. Th) I insinuation was at once resented by th(.":i lady's friends, and a desperate fight ensued. i; When the smoke of a score or more ol "?5 revolvers cleared, it was found that ten A men lay dead on the floor of the saloon, j! and that fifteen more were fatally injured. This maddened the surviving combatants, who drew their bowie-knives or seized the If handiest clubs, and for two hours pande. £ monium reigned. Finally every man in thl & saloon was more or less wounded. $

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAD. '-'§j On arrival of the Australian steamei i Warrimoo at Victoria, British Columbia, :?; the captain reported the picking up of a'l bottle at sea. It was seaworn and con- if tained a message, written on paper yellow and discoloured with age, saying the ship i Mohawk had sprung a leak and the crew $ were taking to the boats. The messagt concluded, " God help .John Franklin.' The Mohawk belonged to Troon, Ayrshire,*® and was lost 16 years ago. Franklin watvf the mate. This is the first actual intima- * tion of her loss. BEES GETTING DRONK. It would appear that the desire for in- '§] toxicants is not peculiar to the human race. $ The Journal of Botany contains an account J of the drunken habits of certain kinds el I bumble-bees. The honey produced by th( I crowded heads of flowers of certain of till composite proves to have attractions s{ '£ great as to overcome the immature moral : sense of these insects. The bees, aftei' sipping the honey, roll on their backs, kicking wildly, and appear quite helpless, 1 Most of them are only too anxious to repeal - the debauch, but some show signs of ; "remorse and disgust." One specimen was enclosed in a small glass case with a plentiful supply of the flowers. On re- ; covering from its orgies, it carefully avoided the flowers as it crawled about. It is well -i.; known the bees and wasps intoxicate them'"'! selves by devouring wild fruit, and beekeepers have said that bees which acquirc ■ this habit never return to their legitimate ' business of honey-gathering.

AN OCEAN' RACK ENDED. The British ship Cromartyshire hat : arrived at Queenstown from San Francisco. She has thus won the great ocean race in 'J which she, the Puritan, Ross-shire, and Queen Margaret were engaged. All four j ships left San Francisco on November 21 last at the same hour, the Cromartyshire '! and Queen Margaret being bound to ■$ Queenstown, the Puritan to Hull, and the ,5 Koss-ehira to London. Tho tugs having let them go simultaneously outside San Francisco bar all canvas was spread, and soon after they lost sight of each other. ;-■& The Cromartyshire saw the Queen Margaret iSf next morning, but thenceforward sighted none of the other ships engaged in the race. . § She reached Queenstown in exactly 101 p days. She is a three-masted ship; all the i others are four masted. There has been 0 extensive betting on the result. WORRIED TO DEATH BY MONEY-LENDERS. •:'%¥ Some extraordinary disclosures wen made at the inquest at Kenilworth on thl- : S body of Dr. \\ ytiter, coroner for Mid-War- ' wickshire. Tho deputy-coroner (Mr, ' Ansell) remarked that with one solitary exception the inquiry was unprecedented • in English history. Dr. Wyliter was the' : '' second coroner only who had committed ja suicide. The evidence disclosed that f; deceased some time ago became involved with money-lenders. He got deeper and &V deeper into the mire, ami had to seil all bis|fi pictures and plate and curios. These did jynot realise sufficient to free him from bis vis creditors, and ha borrowed sums of monefc from one loan office to pay the interest which had accumulated at another. He was to have filed his petition in bankruptcy,'jl but on the Tuesday one money-lender pal in an execution for i large sum, and the V, next day another office did exactly the same, • | also for a large sum. Driven to his wits' 'i. end, the unfortunate docter, too ill to leave''| his bed, wrote out a prescription for himself, ;it and sent it. round to the chemist'.'. It was •;«

for an ounce of pruasic acid. Half of this he drank, and of course died instantly, v His housekeeper stated that a day or two before Dr. Wynter had confided to her that ' his trouble was more than lie could bear, t and that he had prayed to God to take him, ; but He would not. He said lie ha'l a great horror of suicide, and did not know what to .J do. The jury returned a verdict of "Suicide while of unsound mind " PRESIDENT CLEVELAND AM) HIS WIFE. Dalziel's New York correspondent says." • —It is stated with the utmost confidence that President Cleveland and his wife have i amicably arranged to separate when the ■ Presidential term expires, and that Mr. Cleveland will never live with his wife , again. They lived apart, in the White House during tho whole of last year. In • fact, they decided to separate in 1895, but i wore persuaded by mutual friends to wait : until the close of the Presidential term, " owing to the terrible exposure which would Si ensue. At that time, .Mrs. Cleveland . i declared that the President had struck her, knocked her down, and acted arrogantly ; towards her. It is explained that these domestic differences were the reason why ji Mrs. Cleveland has given no receptionss| during the past year, and why she absented Vherself from the White Houso, and whenever President Cleveland whs compelled to g receive, refused to appe.ir with him. Authorities for these statements are Mr. Lamout, Mr, Egglestoii, Mrs. Cleveland 1 !' i mother, and also her most intimate friend

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