GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12213, 7 March 1903, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

• ' '• A. CHILDLESS MILLIONAIRE, • An American millionaire, and . his wji*» being childless, wrote to a foundling school ■ expressing a wish to adopt a boy or . girt/ . , ; Tlie director, finding it difficult to make the selection, sent twelve boys and twelve " girls, with the request that the millionaire should make his own choice. The husband■ and wife found it no easv matter -to mala up their minds. The children were mist I hospitably entertained, and, when niwlif ' : F'came on, were all put to bed. Next dav the millionaire and his wife decided to adoiA the whole twenty-four. A MYSTERIOUS ANIMAL. The Kulu correspondent of a Lahore paper writes thus of a mysterious wild beast that v is haunting the neighbourhood:" The as yet unidentified animal in the south-west & part of the valley keeps on breaking open, V ' cowsheds and killing cattle, and a party of Roll ilia sepoys have been sent from Mundi ' with orders to shoot it. Its latest iniquity was to drag the carcase of a bullock all round" v the precincts of a temple and eat it on the. very temple steps. The natives declare that when attacked by dogs, it gets rid of its : A assailants in a very ingenious manner by pelting them with pieces of beef, and while 'I the dogs, who are generally naif-starved, are jenjoying this most unexpected and extremely welcome supper it makes good its escape. • Woodcutters state that on more than one occasion they have come across an entirely foSnew kind of beast in the junglesa- verv > % large bear, head, body, and hindquarters 1 black, chest, forelegs, and belly brown, like a red bear. If this be true it looks like a crossbred between the black ant brown ■ bears, a hybrid I never heard of before. Another woodman's story that he saw this half-caste attacked simultaneously by two black bears, both of which it killed"by knocking them over the edge of the kliud*!

GREAT FRENCH DOCTORS. Great French doctors who ask high fees - x are more elastic in their terms than their London brethren of equal professional rank. A sliding-scale is sanctioned by the Courtsof Law which, in judging suits for the reduction of medical fees, consider the standing of the doctor and the wealth and social standing of the patient. They think a doctor justified in asking twice as much more of a person living in fine style in the Champs Elysees than of one who is only fairly well off, and resides, say, in the Chausee d'Antin: The great doctors are approached by letter. They give the addresses of the writers to an inquiry agent, who finds out what their probable yearly income is, as shown bv house rent and other items of expenditure. If the person wanting advice is not rich he . is told at the end of the consultation that he may give a third, or a half, or even • three-fourths less than the usual fee. Some wealthy person, who lives in a showy style, will make up for this. 1 have known a great French doctor only ask for the cost of the cab in which he drove to see an unlucky artist. I have also known of one who asked 13,000fr. for cutting off the leg of a wealthy American who died "cured" soon after the operation. The same doctor would have operated for perhaps IOOOfr. on a shopkeep-, er.Paris correspondent, Truth. WHEN THE ARCHBISHOP HAD HIS HAIR CUT. An anecdote illustrating the strictly regulated way in which the late Archbishop of Canterbury portioned out his time is told by a Devonshire correspondent of the Outlook :' • —"Temple when in Exeter always insisted on having bis hair cut at eight p.m., and never varied the time for fifteen years. It ' was part of his iron rule of life; foi. it fitted into the few moments he gave himself for digestion before the busy pen started afresh. On one occasion his hair-cutter had been summoned for a Saturday before Monday Bank Holiday. To enjoy his holiday he had arranged to leave Exeter by the halfpast seven train. He went to the palace hoping to induce the bishop to change his time. The butler advanced to the bishop, who was descending the stairs into the hall. " The hair-cutter is come, my lord." "Eight 1 o'clock," replied the bishop. The butler came back. But the hair-cutter had a holiday in jeopardy, and it braced him to face Temple himself. He stated his reasons and asked if he might wait on his lordship.at..-, once. "Eight o'clock on Tuesday," the c ; r bishop replied and passed on. .V

A CURATE AS A GAS-WORKER. The curate of St. Mary's Church, Don* caster, accepted a curious challenge by the workmen employed at the Doncaster Gasworks. He had been, at the works and invited the men to attend a special service in the evening, but they replied that they were too tired after their day's work, and added that if he worked, which they said he never did, he would not go to evening services. Thereupon he offered to do a day's work with any of them, and the other day, attired lin cricketing costume, he took his place with , the other men at the gasworks, and worked _ from half-past six o'clock in the morning, until half-past frfur in the afternoon, with an interval for dinner, which was brought tr~ him by the vicar, the Rev. T. Collett; who also brought oranges for the other workmen. A VEILED LADY AND A STRANGE MARRIAGE.

A strange story is told in Vienna of Baron Hellbach, Ph.D., who died of good living after being one year out of the poorhouse. Having lost his fortune and being unable to make a living, the baron-doctor was sent' to the poorhouse eleven years ago, but left its squalid quarters in December last to marry an unknown woman, said to be a Russian Princess. Before the ceremony the bride conferred a life pension of 500 florins a month on Hellbach on his signing papers promising not to address his wife during the ceremony, nor to try to see her face, nor touch her. The lady wanted his name only and came heavily veiled, attended only by a legal representative. The pension was regularly paid, and Baron Hellbach promptly ate and drank himself to death. He was buried as befits a great aristocrat, the cost being borne by the unknown widow. It is asserted that only Emperor Francis Joseph has the key to-her identity. '

THE KING'S PRIZE ESSAYS. The Lancet lately printed in full thre< essays which recently gained prizes in connection with the King's Sanatorium. These will no doubt attract considerable attention, especially among medical men, and deservedly so for they are important as presenting in brief the sum of modern knowledge in its application to the prevention of "a terrible and widespread disease." In a leader on the subject our contemporary says: — " The King's sanatorium . . . will convince all thoughtful persons that the means of prophylaxis against tuberculosis are in no way different from those against other diseases. Pure air. sunlight, pure water, good food, and a healthy environment could, if procurable in a great city, banish most diseases or cause them to be as rare in this country as are leprosy, plague, and cholera." Sound doctrine, no doubt. But the "if" is, of course, all-important. It may be noted, however, in this connection, that the bulky report of the London County Council's Mecjical Officer of Health, just issued, shows that, in the metropolis at all events, persistent and manifold efforts are being made in some of the directions indicated.

£150,000 FOR THE POOR. The late Mr. John McGregor, of the firm of Messrs. J. McGregor and Co., timber merchants, Rangoon, and a native of Glasgow-, has left r. sum estimated at £150,000 to be divided equally betwen the poor of Glasgow and Rangoon. The clause of the will under which the bequest is made is as follows : —"On the death of my wife I desire that whatever remains of the two-thirds sligre (her portions of my estate) shall be divided equally between Glasgow, my birthpllajce, and Rangoon, where I made my money, for the benefit of the poor. Tb~ money shall not on any account, be guen to any religious bodies or societies, but entrusted for distribution to the Glasgow magistrates and the Rangoon municipality.' The testator's widow is at present residing in Glasgow.

APE THAT MAY MAKE SPEECHES. Another wonderful "ape-man," which 'is said to even surpass in intelligence the uncomfortable human chimpanzee which was the attraction of the Aquarium's last days, will soon arrive in London. Esau is the name of ■ this prodigy, and he will make • his first bow to a metropolitan audience at ; the London Pavilion. ' Esau, who has the ; reputation of being able to do everything but talk, has evinced a strong desire to make after-dinner speeches, and his owner has consulted some eminent German surgeons with a view to a slight operation, which may . , actually make this possible. Clothes his mania, and he is particularly fast |dl °" ' ! about the "set" of his dress suit. AP° trait of Esau appeared in the Express wards the end of November last* ..