GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12853, 29 April 1905, Page 5 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

PREHISTORIC " KJOKKEN-MODOIXi;."

This curious name is now generally applied to the shell heaps which in Denmark seem to be the refuse of food prepare by the aboriginal tribes. In the laiigrage of that country it means "kitchen rehire," and has been adopted as the name for shell heaps "which are found the world tv. er. I;i the town of Damariscotta, Me., and scattered irregularly along the river of th: same name for a distance of some twelve miles to the sea, there are many of these nliei) heaps, some of which are of gigantic size. It has been estimated that the largest contains 45,000,000 cubic feet and lime enough to till 10,000,000 ordinary casks. These figures give but a slight idea of the extent of these heaps. By means of a small boat one can approach the shell heaps through a narrow creek. This creek flows at the base of the largest mound, and in several places has considerably undermined it. For nearly a mile the banks of the creek are almost entirely built of the c-hell deposits. It is as if the shell had been dumped— we would now dump such refuse—over the bank till the accumulation had largely encroached upon the river bed. From the base of the largest one may look up over a white, almost perpendicular, exposure of oyster shells to a height of twenty-live feet. At a) point some thirty feet back an excavation Las been made to a depth of some thirty feet without reaching subsoil. Hero and there upon the deposits largo trees have grown, flourished and decayed, and in one place roots nearly as large as a, man's body are exposed where the shell mass has been penetrated to a considerable depth. The shells are of o speei;s of oyster not to be found anywhere- around. They air thinner than the oysters now found at the mouths of tidal rivers, and come of them are of enormous size, measuring eleven inches across. LADY MISSIONARY'S VIVID STORY OF FLIGHT. Miss A. T. Blown, an American missionary, gives a vivid account of an escape from the Bakuba' tribe on the lvassai River, in the Upper Congo, who revolted owing to the alleged disrespectful treatment of their chief by the authorities. "We were going about our work as usual," she writes, " when suddenly we heard a peculiar cry in the distance, the full import of which the natives alone understood. It was the cry of death. Soon a man came running to us presenting a branch dipped in blood, saying that one of our people had Lorn shot by a Bakuba arrow. The women anil children near the mission soon took refuge in my compound. The men, divided into squads, were stationed all round the mission. There was fierce lighting for several hours. Some women, brought to us from" the traders' post, were cruelly cut to pieces. Then night came down. Packing ourselves in the house and verandahs, and extinguishing the lights, wo sat quiet in the darkness, not expecting to see another rising sun. But dawn came without fighting and then next day arrived, when, accompanied by Mr. Ivdmiston arid ■ the soldiers, the children and I left Ibauj for Leubo. Women and children, numbering about. 500, followed. It was a pathetic scene. Children, four, five, and six years old were bearing burdens, and running to keep pace as we marched at, full speed. Finally we reached safety, and high nerve tension found relief in tears." bobberies IX trains. Several robberies from passengers travelling on the express trains to Paris from the Riviera have occurred lately, and the British Embassy at the French" capital are investigating three. A wealthy English lady, whose name is given as Mrs." Behorms, of Princes Gate, Loudon, has reported to the Paris police the theft of a dressingease, containing jewels and other valuables of the vaCue of £1500. The lady left Cannes with her two daughters on her wav back to London. At Marseilles all three left their sleeping compartment to go to the buffet.. They returned to their carriage just before the train left. 11 was some time afterwards before the ladies noticed that? the bag had disappeared. The bag was of brown leather, with silver mounts, and contained, besides valuable brushes, etc.. jewels worth £700. cheques to the value of £600, and gold and notes to the amount of £120. Lady Wynford, widow of the third Baron Wynford, has also been a victim of what appears to be the same gang. In her easa the facts are as follows:—She left Cannes in company with a lady frieud by the nine o'clock morning express, and on arriving at Paris went to the Regina Hotel. When her maid unpacked one of Lady Wynford's trunks she found that someone had ransacked it. The contents had evidently been well searched, and a dressing-case broken open. From this three diamond and ruby rings, valued at £300, had been abstracted. Considerable skill had been used in carrying out the robbery, as the trunk, although corded, bore no traces that it had been opened or interfered with in any way. he trunk belonging to Lady Wynford's maid, it was afterwards found, had also been opened and searched, but nothing was taken. LIVE SHELL BROKEN* UP BY WORKMEN". A shell, believed to be spent, which was bought to be broken up by George Wray, a marine store dealer, exploded with terrific force in his shop at BirKdale, Southport. Three workmen were breaking up the shell, which had been picked up off Formby, believing it to be harmless. One of the men applied a match to a black cube, which he had extracted from the shell, when it exploded. The windows of the room were blown out. A fragment of the shell tore through the wall, and fell beside the driver of a lorry 20 or 30 feet away. The windows of a cottage 50 yards distant were blown in, and many panes of glass in other houses near were shattered. It was at first thought that the men who struck the shell had been killed, but it was found they sustained nothing worse than a shock. Their escape is regarded as miraculous. The force of the explosion was so great that many people thought an earthquake had occurred, and rushed from their houses in great alarm.

OFFICER WHIKLEI) TO DEATH JJY HAWSER. The home-coming of tho seagoing cadets' training cruiser I sis from the West Indies was associated with a deplorable fatality. The 3sis anchored in Plymouth Sound preparatory to taking lip her moorings in the Hamoaze. It was while engaged in weighing anchor before proceeding up stream that a pin in tho upper deck capstan, which was hoisting the anchor, broke in two. In consequence tho control of the capstan was lost, and the wire hawser rapidly paid oat. First-class Petty Officer Henry Kilvert, who was regulating the hawser as it wound round the capstan, became entangled, and was whirled around at a terrific pace by the unwinding hawser. One of his arm's was torn off. and ho received other dreadful injuries. When lie was picked up lie was literally a mangled corpse; Several other men were injured through being struck by the flying oils of the hawser, and Ableseamen Sidney Ware and Walter Staddoii 1 were found to have suffered t>o severely that it was deemed expedient to remove them to the Royal Naval Hospital. Ware sustained a compound fracture of the arm and several body bruises, while Staddon was found to be suffering from concussion and internal injuries. The remaining injured men we retreated in the Isis' sick bay. Petty-officer Kilvert, who belonged to Devonport, leaves a widow and two children. it was the initial cruise of the Isis as attached to the Particular Service Squadron, introduced by Lord Selborne under the new naval regime last Christmas.

HAULED Br A LIONESS. ■ v^llfl Captain Williams, an American liontamer, has had a narrow escape from. being killed by a" lioness at a menagerie at Peter- 'Jffjfl borough. The menagerie wan crowded with "i>j country folk, who gazed with astonishment ;'|j| while Captain Williams entered cage after - ! &ff| cage and put the animals through their performances. At, last he came to the cage ■ in which was Vixen, which was described "'{ on the bills as " untamable," and which was said to have killed a trainer at New Brighton last Whitsuntide. The animal snapped ~\®§j and snarled when Captain Williams trico' 1 to enter her cage. He made two or thici » '.j unsuccessful atempfc, but- at length he got |p|s inside. When his performance was finished he turned to leave ('if cage, but as soon ;us, bfc put his hand on the door Vixen threw'" • herself upon him and seized his left arm ri '-."y'l Iter jaws. The audience were paralysed " §||j|| with terror, 'but the menagerie attendants ■ lushed up, and drove the lioness off with ' feijj pitchforks and red-hot: irons. Captain Wilv. Will hams' arm was badly mauled