GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12698, 29 October 1904, Page 5 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

ASLEEP 1-0 a 17. VEARS.-> "■■ . Paris, September 7.—The remarkable c&rft • pi. a, woman named Gesihe, who has slept for 17 years, is related m the Math). She was born in/a smalltown in the north of Germany, in 1860, ■ and until seven years old enjoved good health.. "Then she had a fall which hurt: her head. . -,' She. began to have :.' ■-/..'" spells of sleep lasting four months, from which she was aroused, only to relapse into loniper periods of unconsciousness. Finallv '"-, : i m 1836 she fell into a sleep ' which was not broken until a few months -ago," when . she a gam awoke.' in {the full /possession of her senses. bhe remembered! distinctly* facts ■ which happened before her step, and asked ' all about her brothers and sisters as if she hnd been asleep only one" night. She"was. however, too feeble to 'raise, herself,- and had to learn again like a child how to walk. : but; has improved greatly since, and is again quite able fto do -light■ work. ' Her V: j;' i case is exciting great interest in the: medical '-'-■-: world and is being made the subject; of a special investigation by Dr Paul Fares professor at the School : of« PsTchological Studies. ' ; ■-■■.;/'.,; ' , ' '.;•;-. HAUNTED CHATEAU. Paris, September 7.—For the last fort- "" : night there have been mysterious happenings at the Chateau de Taden, near.Dinah, : in Brittany. - A. largo party had been invited there for the shooting season.'On the • : night of- their ■"arrival the guests were aroused from sleep by strange noises,; and ; / when an investigation of the chateau, was made it was.found that the sofas and armchairs had been ripped up, and the clocks, ornaments, and mirrors had: been smashed : to pieces. Similar occurrences have been taking place nightly ever since, in addition V to which quilts and blankets land articles > of clothing in the bedrooms have been* torn "■'■■ to shreds. ~ .■-Most remarkable of all, -the dresses of the lady members of the party are cut and torn on their wearers in bviad daylight, and yet no one is seen to approach them. For the past few days gendarmes have remained on the premises both 1 : day and night- with a view to solving the mystery. Much damage has ; been done, .■" and,: in spite of, the gendarmes' presence, '. the guests are still subjected to'rough ; treat- -. .'. ment at the hands of,their invisible foe. THE MONKS'. BRANDT, Paris, September 13.—The officii.! receiver appointed to manage the estate of the Carthusian monks .-recently expelled from th Grande Chartreuse monastery has decided to continue to distil the famous liqueur.' : A well-known scientist has been, commissioned to analyse the liqueur, aril to inspect and report upon the .distilln;; plant of .the- /monastery. The -i basis Of. the . liqueur is very eld Cognac brandy, of which large quantities have been found in the / distillery. since-, the, expulsion of the monk i, -' The official receiver intended to nuke use of it, but he now hesitates to do so after receiving a letter from the Abbot of the Carthusian Order, in which be says that the brandy is his private property,: and that before leaving the monastery he " dealt with it as bethought fit." It is supposed that the.-monks have rendered the brandy, unfit for drinking by mixing it with various • chemicals.' If the official receiver persists ' in using it very disagreeable results may follow.

HAWKING BY Moron-am. V Pabjs, September 13.-— latest society fad is hawking, in motor-cars— strange mingling .of the Middle Ages ;' and the ' twentieth century. This novel form of sport has been inaugurated by a number of young - Parisians of Wealth and fashion, who have been spending the summer season hear . Dieppe. • The first meet was held on fcc-p- ' tember 1, the date of the opening of the shooting season. Each sportsman drove tip hi his motor-car with his hawk perched on, his thickly-gloved hand. On reaching the covert in the Valley of the Don the hawkers left their cars, and the beaters then setto. work. : As the ; partridges and pheasants rose the hawks were flown after them, the honours of the day resting with the owns! . of the bird which provided the finest flight.. Hares and rabbits were hunted down with - goshawks, which fly lover and kill tfer quarry with their talons., Dogs have to be used in this case 'to recover the game, ,is the birds are very ferocious, and tear the hares and rabbits to pieces if 'eft ai-ms. f Hawking meets are now held ever* ■ weftfc, , and hawking parties are a rec'-il-ir thing at the ■:■ chateaux -in the neighbourhood of -' Dieppe. - - A NEW AUTOHOJiIXE EACE,' / The feeling that the Gordon Bennett race V has tended to the development of "speed machines" rather than of motor-tars of practical utility has led the Automobile Clrb to adopt Mr. C. Johnson's motion, "That, in order to ascertain what are the best conditions for a form of racing intended to promote the improvement of ,touring - cars rather than the construction of can? suitable only r for racing at high speeds, ihs'Cl;;b " Committee, after.consultation with the con.mittees concerned, forthwith- take steps to obtain permission for the running of such a' race in the Isle of Man or elsewhere next autumn (1905), and announce to makers that ; the conditions will he those which were settied prior to the Gordon Bennett rat', of tins year." v ' .NEW CRIME CURE. r '*' , ■ INDiANA.roj-is, Sentember 14.—At the Juvenile Court held here on May ? aispecial order was passed permitting an operation on an. incorrigibly criminal boy n--e«l 15 ~ ' years, named Jesse Beard, in consideration of his, mother's statement that I? had in- ' jured his head when he was three years < Id. At the hospital the doctors discovered a,concave portion of the skull.where it should have been convex, and removed three pieces of bone, under which were thick »ron- !u. The operation immediatelv resul beet in .ho ; rapid recovery of the boy's physical, mental, and moral health. He has been discharged as cured, and entered the high school to-dav. TWO BIILES A JilNPl'E. Chicago, September 11.— Pneymiiia Tube Company, with a capital of £1,000,000. has opened its 18in pneumatic tube for , package freight from here to Milwaukee. The distance of oightly milts, is covered in 40 minutes, including intermediate stations, the speed being, two m."ks a minute. The result is a success. There are also smaller '

tubes in Chicago for local -urposes. On account of the cheapness of their working these tabes can compete oil favourable terms with the railways and the post office. HOWIE, rxxasT ATOSTT.K. New York, September 11.~-Bo,*;. ; paper, "Leaves of Helling," announces that |. the prophet" is divinely authorised to pro- ' mote himself on September 18 First Apostle, 1 with power-to appoint eleven ethers- This is in accordance with I. Cor. xii. 28, which . says, "God hath net some in the ohm b. ! first apostles, secondarily, prophets, thirdly -' teachers, after that miracles,'then gifts, ,->' '' '„ healing, help??, governments, diversities of tongues." This is Bowie's second promo-:. tion, the first being from teacher to prophet. ,: His followers greatly appreciate the newhonour which ha has conferred upon himself ; - and his sect. . , , - " FELT, INTO MOLTEN- V.StXL. A disaster almost witibyt a ,paraU«l.ou - : reea-ade ooenrrod at- the Clartoce Iron- " works MiddJeskoiigh, wheu Wa,^ before the eyes of their comrades, who were . before tie eyes ci their ooninuks, who m power eos ? help them. ■ A «*•* of more ■ than twenty men were removing what is known a, the "bell" of, the "toce when suddenly sou.o of the material at the tot, slipped. There was a cry of horror from ■ •toymen, and; at the same, momenta James ' I Gallagher ana. Alexander Scott fell headlonp intothe .-fleethmg mass--of molten iron, da*& '&% ana limestone in the furnace. A third main was. injured by a piece of flying metal, .1 id .' .: , was taken to the hospital, The awes-inn* , workmen stood helpless within - few feet. ' of the fiery tomb of their comrade. Xiey 1 would willingly havi been lowered ■ in*" . I the furnace, 'but it memt certain deat«n for the temperature was SCO degrees, «*» moreover it was too late to save fche B.OR alive. A fear ~ose that the bod*- **»? , be utterly c 0,., rf. and a n \V : despatched to a £; £™J? • . read the committal prayers .ow " £ -J^Jg; He obeyed ■$%s&*& &: , he arrived a ***£?'$ ,? r ™ p li ß , irons. ■//, Jhe7 wet nnftiit «J boa* l 0 il Both the. S£ &V?» - b»t ft cited i!.e : ■ ,-; «£*, and had , been -employed at th 1 ". Clarence works for soma time. The man-' j SS!f to ironworks stated that the men ■ could not have suffered, for "a more ym.a.\ -loss death could hardly be imagined. - .j ." .■■■' .-■