GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13307, 13 October 1906, Page 4 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

RUSSIA'S NEW PORT ARTHUR. According to u report from .the Amur district, quoted by . the japan Times,'-Russia-is fortifying Harbin, with the intention of making it a second Port Arthur, . ■ - '' ;■ GOLF CADDIES ON" STRIKE! ! " The caddies' at Seascale, Cumberland, have gone on strike," owing to a notice being posted on the golf links stating that their fees would be rcduced from lOd to 9d a round.: 1 : V/'M-V'V WHERE POVERTY IS UNKNOWN. There >s only one lunatic asylum in the Gold Coast Colony, and there are no poorhouses or reformatories. The colony's Blue Book, issued recently, states that poverty in the strict sense of the term is hardly known.. ■ PENNY-IN-THE-SLOT PHRENOLOGY. An American has secured the English patents for a penny-in-the-slot phrenological machine. It consists of a helmet which fits over the subject's head, and is attached to a machine which 'delivers a printed record of the subject's "bumps.'' AMERICAN ELECTION BETS. The'.first freak bet on the' American Presidential' election, of next' year has been, made, by two men at Muuising, in Michigan. Should Mr. Bryan bo elected President Mi-. Mclaughlin, a lending merchant,' will provide Mr.« Duncan 1). Stewart with' clothes for ] the four years he is in office. while'if Mr. Bryan fails Mr. "Stewart will do the same for Mr. McLaughlin. •: LIBEL BY TELEPHONE. - In Vienna the vexed question as to the-, conversations by telephone being libellous, and therefore, actionable, has just been set at ; rest by the supreme and final Court of Appeal, after going through two courts below. The lady cashier, of a bathing establishment had been called up on the telephone, and so soundly rated bv a client that she took action and was awarded 50 crowns as damages. The court above upheld the judgment, and so has the Court of Cassation, which, however, substituted 48 hours' prison for the money damages. ....... . NO GUILLOTINE. : No convict lias been guillotined in Paris fof some years, and the sentences of those condemned to death have been commuted to - imprisonment for life. The reason for this lies in the fact that the law provides that all capital executions shall be held in public, and since the guillotine was. removed from the Place de la Roquette ten years ago no other place has Been found for it. The residents in the neighbourhood "of every place suggested, object to its erection near them. The authorities were lately put in a quandary when a condemned man refused to ask for a commutation of his sentence, and declared that they must put him to death. . , £20,000 CROWN VANISHES. ~A' richly-jewelled crown which cost '£20,000 and was known as the Crown of St. Michael, has disappeared from the Church at Mont St. Michael, Rouen, where it was placed in 1875 by the parishioners, who subscribed to buy it. Several chinches in the neighbourhood, have recently been broken into by burglars, and these are sus- . pected by the priests of having stolen the Crown of St. Michael. On the other hand, it ii rumoured in Paris that.the priests have, invented the burglary and hidden the crown, for when the congregation of the Fathers of ' Mont St. Michael was dissolved the Government liquidator claimed the crown, and th<3 court decided that he had a right to it. ending the appeal which the priests have instituted, the crown has now disappeared, i, • . POLAND AND RUSSIA. We bear so much oi the persecution of the Poles by Russia , especially wlu>n those Poles are Jews, that; jt comes as a suq>Vis6.to hear"} the following statement from two- Polish ! ladies belonging to the ancient faith: — " You are quite wrong in supposing that lie Poles desire separation from Russia. We should like to see a Constitution given to our country,,for so we must call Russia, as we are part of it, but if that were granted we should not like to be separated from it. We are natives of Warsaw, which is a finecity,. and we enjoy life there. The 'troubles of which you read do not really touch Russian Poland, and, moreover, they are exaggerated." i The' two ladies spoke earnestly, litis may not be the general opinion, but it is at least interesting. Are our ideas concerning the oppression of Poland entirely justified? That is the "question which such remarks.arouse in j one's mind."." ' SEARCH FOR A BRIDE. A wedding to which some romance is attached has been solemnised in the parish church cf Pal grave, near Diss. Two or three months since an .Australian, gentleman, Mr. Walter Solomon Reeve, reputed to be wealthy, left the land of his birth for Ens'.SkT.c ostensibly jh the . lookout for a suitable pirtue' He spent about a month in London, b. i. lie could not realise the • objert of his . 'juest. even am'.'iag the vast . population, -jf tjw metropolis. Subsequently he paid ..visit to his aunt, Nurse Bryant, of Palgrave. This lady has h gnnddaugh- ; ter, Nellie Bcyavt, .vho has just reached the age of 17. T'ie Australian kinsman fell in love with her, and, the damsel being " willing," ami her father and. grandmother according their consent, four weeks later the "colonial led his bride to the altar. The. bride and bridegroom have just set sail for their future home in the antipodes. CORROSi /I SUBLIMATE EATER. . There is new'living at Constantinople (according to the South China Post) a very extraordinary character, known throughout that city by the name of "Solyman, the eater of corrosive sublimate," says a quotation, from the Times of 1006. He is now 160 years old, and in bit* youth he accustomed' himself, like all the Turks, to take opium, but after increasing the dose to a great extent, without the wished effect, he adopted the uk; of sublimate, and had taken daily, for upwards of 50 years, 60 grains. He some time since went into the shop of a Turkish .Tew, to whom he was unknown, and asked for a dram of sublimate, which lie diluted in a glass of water and swallowed hi an instant. The apothecary became greatly alarmed lest he should' be accused of poisoning the Turk, but his astonishment •nav be conceived when the next day the Turk 'came again• and asked for a similar dose. Lord Elgin, S. Smith, and several gentlemen" now •in England, continues out century-old authority, have conversed with this extraordinary character, and hav : hemd j him "declare that the happiness lit* Oerivt..' after swallowing that active poise i-'iv greater than he experienced by -any tin • Cleans.:' ; ■ •' "t,!i*. ESPERANTISTS IN LOVE. Not to know F.tperanto in Geneva just I now is to confess one's self outside the in- I tellectual pale. The true Esperantos t look, on the man who know a only English or French or German with the supercilious attitude of the senior classic towards him who does' not know the rudiments of the Greek grammar. ,' The town is Esperanto ; mad. The devotees, of the cult eat Esperanto food;" they smoke Esperanto cigarettes, arid' they drink the Esperantine liqueur which has . been specially concocted and named 'in honour of the language- There ' are' officialtfiscussi'dtfs' "in f, W.i WeiWtoV 1• ' language conducted every day by the congress, and there are Esperanto .plays performed ; ; but-these* have a secondary i interest compared with Zamenhof worship. ! The male Esperantists embarrass Dr. Zamenhof with free beer, but the women - lay their hearts at his feet. He has received various offers of marriage since lie came to Geneva, three of them from wealthy ladies who beg him to marry them and use their wealth for the furtherance of his aims. The trip round the ; lake recently .was a great success. Dr. Zamenhof remained on dock for the first part .of the journey, but the rush to be near him was so great that he was forced to take refuge in a cabin in order that the boat < might sot be upset, -- ...