GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11692, 29 June 1901, Page 6 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

! GREAT BRITAIN AT THE PARIS EXHIBITION. J The draft report of the Paris' Exhibition Commission has been prepared, says the Athenaeum, by the Duke of Devonshire, who succeeded the -King as chairman of the Commission upon His Majesty's accession to the throne, and it ' is" receiving the signatures of the Commissioners. It is understood that the report will discuss the reasons of the failure of the British section of the exhibition so far as most heads of trade are concerned, and lay down principles which should .guide any future participation in exhibitions on the part of the Old Country. Special attention is likely to be called, we are told, to the unsatisfactory nature of the recognition afforded by foreign Governments to India and the self-governing colonies ; and it may be pointed out that, with their separate budgets and separate commissions, India, the Dominion of Canada, and the Commonwealth of Australia at least are entitled to recognition as Powers apart from the general recognition afforded to the Mother Country, for of the British Empire foreign Governments seem never to have heard. PAINFUL STOUT OF TEN PIANOS. Mr. Henry Davison, of South Hayes, Clapham, complained lately to Mr. Justice Joyce, that lie and his family could not face the music of ten pianos, continually going, within earshot of his Clapham residence. His house is next to a girls' school. At all hours of the day and portions of the night, he said ten girls played different tunes on these pianos. Chopin was blended with the five-finger exercise, and so on. There were happy moments when only three or four pianos were in use, but at other times a violin occasionally swelled the volume of sound. Even on Sundays the pianos were played and hymns were sung. The case was .adjourned. THE NEW FRENCH SUBMARINE, Le Yacht gives further particulars of the new French submersible Sirene, which was launched at Cherbourg on May 4. In appearance she is like a tub, low in the water, rather crushed in, thick forward and tapering away aft. She L.:s a triple expansion vertical engine supplied with steam by a water-tube boiler, and giving her a speed on the surface of from ton to twelve knots. The engine also serves to charge her electric accumulators which drive the- motor when she is submerged. She is of the j\arval type, and has therefore a double liiili, the inside one being shaped like a tube. When she is being, submerged ttie water is introduced between the two hulls. This operation in the Narva! takes twenty minutes. In the Sirene, Espadou, Triton, and j oilnre a modification has been introduced Which it is hoped will considerably reduce this long period of time.' The Si rone has a radius of action on the surface of about five hundred miles. KAISEII'S GIFT TO SA3IOAN CHIEF. j King Mataafa, of Samoa, has just re- ] oeived a unique gift from Emperor William of Germany. It is in the form of a richlyornamented staff or baton, and is the work of Herr Otto Roliloff, a well-known sculptor and engraver. The staff is made of ebony, which is inlaid with silver, and it is crowned with an abundance of horse hair. The upper end is ornamented with engraved laurel leaves, beneath which is a band or ring composed of jewels and other precious stones. In the centre is the imperial crown and immediately under it is the Emperor's monogram. The imperial coat of arms is also engraved on the staff, as well as sertain symbolical figures. Hen- Solf, the German Governor of Samoa, presented this attractive gift to King Mataafa, and the monarch expressed himself as being highly pleased with it. , , , £20 FOR A KISS. A German has just, had to pay lOOdols. for a kiss under peculiar (circumstances. He was sitting in a cafe with a friend in 1896 when the latter daughter came in. She was a. pretty little girl and the gallant German asked for a kiss. The girl refused. The German said if she would give him a kiss he would pay her 500 francs on the day of her majority. The little girl accepted the contract, to which numerous persons present were witnesses, and the momentous kiss took place.' Recently the girl' came '.of age and demanded fulfilment of the contract. The German had cooled down since and refused to pay. Litigation followed, and finally the Court of Appeals sentenced him to pay up, a mere kiss not being an immoral contract, and therefore liable to payment like any other.

HEALING POWER. There are some writers who have what Matthew Arnold called " healing power." .Life has got on our modern nerves, and put hurry into our blood and brains. We have lost the art of quiet and the genius of rest, thanks to the multiplication of cheap magazines and cheap newspapers. The privacy of existence has been abolished. Each man and each woman passes along .in a ceaseless whirl of publicity. Everybody is interested in everybody and everything. Our bewildered thoughts are diffused over a vast area of interests. We cannot escape the tyranny of events, the automacy of incident. The pitiless rain of facts beats eternally on our minds, and the continual effort to receive and retain multitudinous impressions wears out our nerves. We lose our hold on our identity, and become blurred and confused registers of other things. That is why writers with " healing power" are as welcome as they are rare.

KOW BEER IS FLAVOURED. Lord Kelvin's Arsenical Beer Commission were afforded some interesting facts, at their sitting on a recent date, by Mr. Hugh Baird, a Glasgow maltster. Witness said in his works nothing but anthracite coal was used. The malt was exposed to the fumes of the fire, as that was necessary in order to give a particular flavour to the beer desired by the English and Scotch. In Germany the malt was dried by hot air, but the process of brewing was entirely different. He had used peat in his works, but that- did not produce the proper flavour. It was suitable for highly-flavoured whiskies. His malt had been chemically examined, and in only one sample was any trace of* arsenic found, and that was l-350th part of a grain per pound. The same sample was examined by two other chemists, and declared to be perfectly free of the poison. EXTORT OF RUSSIAN BUTTER. Under dates of March 4, 1901, Consul Mahin, of Reichenberg, reports as follows relative to the export of Russian, butter:— Russia has in recent years been creating a large export trade in butter. In 1897, the export amounted to 19,081,030 pounds; in the first ten months of 1900 the export was double that quantity, being 37,729,220 pounds. The principal increase of export is in the butter product of Siberia. Butter trains, equipped with refrigerating apparatus, convey the goods to the ports of export. During the season of 1900, on petition of the association of butter producers and dealers, two special trains of twenty-five cars each were dispatched weekly loaded with butter for the Baltic ports, where, in four months, 400,000 poods (14,428,000 pounds) were delivered. The chief superiority of Russian butter consists in its low price and relatively great " keeping" quality. For these reasons, it is said, many consumers prefer Siberian to other foreign butter. It is also said to be free from adulteration of any sort.

SEEKING GIANTS TO REPOI'ULATE FRANCE. Comte St. Queii de Pierrecourt, whose family dates back to William the Conqueror and who died recently, has bequeathed to the city of Rouen his fortune of 10,000,0001. on the novel condition that the city annually gives a marriage gift of 100,0001 to a couple of giants in order to regenerate the human species. The candidates are to be medically examined and the healthiest couple will be chosen. RAILWAY DEATH ROLL. The huge total of 948 people, weve killed and 5533 injured by railway accidents in the United Kingdom during the nine months ending September 30, 1900. This shows an increase of 85 killed, and 739 injured over the corresponding period of the preceding year. There were also several people killed and injured, not in railway accidents, but on railway property, by falling off station platforms, being struck by barrows, and meeting with other mishaps. Counting all these the total of personal accidents, as reported by the Board of Trade for the nine months, amounted to 996 persons: killed and 14.512 injured. During the same period 34 horses, eight donkeys, 38 beasts and cows, 36 sheep, two dogs, and one deer were' run over and killed, while two horses and one cow were killed.