GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13325, 3 November 1906, Page 4 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

STOPPED FOR DINNER. [A fox, which was disturbed at Wiveliscombe, Somerset, by the Devon and Somerset Staghounds, stopped long enough, at a farmhouse to pick up a fat duck, which he carried off. «■

■■"! READY FOR EMERGENCIES. The Planters' Hotel at St. Louis, Missouri, had as a guest recently Mr.; Sybrant Wesselius, a former railway commissioner of Michigan, who is 7ft tall and weighs 21st 61b. An adjustable bed, which is kept stored in a garret for such emergencies, was provided for him. , EGGS A HUNDRED YEARS OLD. ... In felling a large tree some days ago in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, a bird's nest containing four eggs was'discovered enclosed in a hollow near the heart of the trunk. The sap rings showed that nearly a century has elapsed since the eggs were laid, and it was obvious that the hollow -had closed automatically. The eggs were •intact, but slightly faded. THE ART OF -GLOVE-CUTTING. The cutters of the great glove houses 5n Brussels and in France earn even higher wages than the cutters of the most fashionable tailors in London and New York. So difficult is this art of cutting gloves that most-, of the principal cutters are known to the trade by name and by. fame, and the peculiar knives which they use in the business are so highly prized that they are handed down from generation to generation - as heirlooms. EXPENSIVE SPORT. Automobiling is an expensive pastime at best. If the German Government- can carry through the Reichstag a Bill which it has recently introduced the sport will become still more expensive. The Bill .provides that automobilists must pay a life annuity to persons dependent on those who may bo killed by their cars and to persons permanently injured by accidents. The courts are to fix the amount, which is ,to be paid by the owner, whether he was :in the car or not. . • ... , "A MOST ADORABLE BRIGAND." Mine, du Gast, now on a mission from the French Government to Morocco, has agreeable memories of some of the most famous s Moorish brigands, amongst whom she spent several weeks not long ago. Valiente she describes as "a most adorable bandit," and : she '-. has kept ' in constant correspondence f';with the notorious Raisuli. He,, like Vali- /" ente, was most anxious" to' make her queen of rail his possessions. 1 Valiente already had" 36 wives, but, as he told Mme. du Gast, "A word from thee, and I abandon ; them all." She seemed to hesitate, .so he 'added,' "or wilt thou that I have them all "sacrificed" before' thine eyes, or, better still, * wilt thou they remain thy slaves for life?" At which offer the whole 36 of them fell, as '■' one woman at the feet of Mme. du Gast and implored her to stay and rule over :' them. „Y ; v :- '.'■' '■ ■■

: WALKING ON HIS v HEAD. . \ ... .; i "'• Patrons of the Paris music-halls are being; entertained just . now by a performer • with a brand-new feat. , v . ; He is a young man, a Dane, of ,23 j years, J who walks, jumps, and even runs on his head .'without using his hands in any way. . Simply di- : vesting himself of \ his coat he ) ties a little round cushion on the top of his head, fas--1 tening the straps ..under his chin. u Then, ■with a graceful movement, he lands oh. his head with his feet pointing skyward. v. The performer does not: walk in the ordinary .'cense of the word; -j he hops about upside down. T In Vienna recently he gave a street 'exhibition, walking a distance of three ."blocks without taking ' a rest. In a Paris newspaper office he, stood ron Ibis head on ; ,'a" table and jtfmped head first to the ground, C; -winding up the | performance by _ hopping ! bead first down a flight of stairs as quickly I" and easily as the ordinary man walks. STRANGE HIDING PLACE. J ,! r The Leipzig Tageblatt's Berlin correspondent, ,in a biography of. a recently-de-ceased professor who; had a lifetime connection with the Berlin Royal Library, tells l an amusing ';story, of the■ recovery ;of a lost volume. The correspondent on one occasion , wished to _ consult an expensive, and somewhat rare ■ book of reference, entitled " De r Architectura," by Vitruv, *-a famous. standard work published in 1840. His application slip was returned to him, marked "■Not in section 1835-1840. • Try 18401845>" An exhaustive search was made, but with no result. In the course of time .the valuable .work was looked for, with much patient labour, in all the ; sections up to 1875, but its ; whereabouts remained a complete mystery. Meanwhile the.. profes- "" sor in question died, and his successor occupied his privileged chair, in the readingroom. On lifting the cushion from the chair—lo, and=behold! the missing volume. For 30 years the.; learned gentleman had V daily sat on it. and its strange hiding place .had never been suspected. ' ' ■' THE FIREMEN'S PET. One of the most remarkable pets the men of the London Fire Brigade have ever had ""' is a magnificent . sulphur-crested cockatoo, ":-. which has its quarters at Pratt-street Fire • Station, Kentishtown. •■ " Cocky" is reputed • to be over 80 years old, but there are none of the .weaknesses of age about him. He v can fly like a pigeon, and may often be observed on the tower of the fire station looking around as though the place belonged to him. He is a splendid talker, and generally ~ inquires of - any stranger entering the sta- ,! tion-yard, "Hi! who are yon? Now then, speak up!'' When the engines and appliances are being cleaned "Cocky" is ; usually an interested spectator, and now and again sidles up to one of the firemen as •if . inspecting the work. Then, as if it doss not please him, he shouts out, "I'll renort you ! I'll• report you! Now then, hurry up! Hurry up!" ;;••; He manifests great excitement when the engines are turned out in response to a fire call, and on one " or two occasions has flown on to a steamer and been carried to the scene of action and back, giving no signs of alarm at the noise • or the crowd, and never attempting to leave his perch by the driver. - All over the neighbourhood " Cocky" is well; known," and 'is a source- of perennial delight to the youngsters, with whom he is on the best terms, and always ready to exhibit to them his many accomplishment!*. DEATH VALLEY. '_■;- Travellers in California would be well ad- . vised ,to keep away , from Death ; Valley. There is. little doubt that it has mineral riches, but there is equally little doubt that it is a dangerous place for human beings. It was announced in the American papers only a few weeks ago that the bodies of two young prospectors had been found in the valley. Lost in this hottest and driest area known, they had perished of thirst. p5 In the old gold-seeking days, the . valley 'claimed many a victim from the fortune- »..■■. hunters who crossed the country. Death Valley covers an area of about 500 square miles. It is a deep cut in the plains. At the bottom of it is a salt flat, strong in "salt and alkaline compounds. This murderous region demanded its first recorded - human toll in 1849,' when 68 out of 70 • Mormon emigrants, who wandered into the ; trap, ! gave up their lives. The story of their sufferings is too horrible to repeat. '•'"' The. valley has gold and; other valuable metals and: minerals. - There are beds of borax, nitre, soda, and salt. It is. a trea-sure-box, but Death holds the key. In its - precincts more persons have ; perished than in any similar area, save that of the great battle-fields. Thirst is ,not the j only dan<>er; deadly vapours and poisonous dusts .-'. rise to suffocate the unwary. A strange fact is that into this ylace -of death two ' people once went in se rch of life. ' A husband and wife, both threatened with con-' ; sumption and in search of a, dry climate, wandered into the valley. Finding a spring in a little canon, they put up a cabin and lived for seven years in the very midst of the ;; -shunned .spot. Then .the wife died, and .;"..■.i Fie: husband went mad of grief and loneliness. . ,