GENERAL SEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13497, 25 May 1907, Page 4 (Supplement)

GENERAL SEWS.

MUSICAL HONOURS FOR ZOLA. There ' was nd singing at the funeral of M. and Mine. Berthelot, . the reason being thai 'the choir of the Paris Conservatoire did not 5 know any appropriate piece, and they had no time to prepare one; but orders have been issued by the Minister of Fine Arts that the choir is to study airs suit- ' able to all kinds of' public events." ' Most probably the translation'of Zola's ashes to the Pantheon will be the first occasion on which the choir will be required. «'NO HAT BRIGADE" IN PARIS. The "no hat brigade," which is not yet dead* has sent missionaries over to Paris. I met several Englishmen hatless (says the "Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph), but otherwise the prkk of perfection in their clothes, strolling along the boulevards at ten o'clock in the evening. Of course, Parisians, none ;of whom ever heard of any no ; hat crusade, thought them mad, but did not mind, for, an a matter, of fact, your true Parisian always like?! Englishmen the better for being what he calls " a little mad." Thus they live up to their reputation. LIMITATIONS OF A MILLIONAIRE'S " ( V ~ m GIFT. ■ It is announced that Mr. Rockefeller has : presented the town of Cleveland with his ' summer home, Forest Hill, to be used as J a public park, together with an endowment '• fond of 2,000,000 dollars.' The sale or use 1 of tobacco or liquor is to be for ever barred ' within the park, and dancing. is strictly, for- ' bidden. . No tram lines are to be permitted ! to enter the park. The estate comprises 600 acres, mostly wooded, and there are grand lawns, gravelled drives, and golf links, together with a large mansion, stables, and greenhouses. LUXURIOUS STABLES. i -•■ One of the wonders of the United States ' is Mr. Alfred Vanderbilt's famous racing and , breeding stable, called " The Ring," near : Newport in the State of Rhode Island. Not only are the stables of the finest and most' costly description, but everything has been ' planned and carried out on the most lavish scale in the club rooms, riding school, sleep- ! ing apartments for guests, as well as grooms and attendants. Here his horses are bred • and trained, and here he invites only his ' special friends, who' are horsemen as well, ! to share the pleasure it gives him to dwell' in the midst of the highest class of horses money can buy or produce. ——— ••'."■] CUTS BOTH WAYS. " • An unexpected sequence of the wholesale 1 abolition of railway passes in the United I States 'is the failure of the passenger earn- ; ings of the great railroad systems ,to show < any increase. The high officials of these l railroads agree that the abolition of free i transportation to the public men, editors, clergymen, and other privileged persons lias had a serious effect in cutting salaries. On the other hand, the railways have not been able to decrease their passenger equipment or their cost of transportation, while the ' decrease in passengers carried has resulted ' in a falling-otf in the amount of , money spent ' en route for food, parlour cars, and other con- ] veniehces arid luxuries. ? . > ■'/"};■:], .-'*;. ■:;':Kys''.■■■[ ■•;■'■'"";.■','. '.',•;■ ''■■■-■ ~ . '■ v' '■'■■■■:' i . ; POLICE DOGS FOR PARIS. . j To hunt aown, the innumerable thieves i and vagabonds who haunt the Bois de Bou- < logne, the Commissary of Police" of Neuilly "■ recently imported several dogs from Ghent, . that \towri having long been renowned' for ] its" canine policemen. The dogs have been j taught to' distinguish between the policeman j ana the-royou, and, their training being ( yy .mo# complete, they are ready to clear the j - Bois of mis undesirable occupants. They { recently gave a rehearsal before M. Tanguy, x one of the heads of the Paris Police, who { was so much struck by their performance j that be has recommended M. - Leprtfeto < adopt the employment of dogs as aids to the i police in all the outlying arroiidissemerits. ■ - -_■ ; ; •'"'.-'.■■ 'i - ' ' - -i & HUSBAND WHO CAN'T PLAY AT i ■; • ■ POKER., ,'- ' • Flora Miller, of Kokomo, Indiana, has , filed-a suit for divorce because her husband , is su;ch a bad poker player and yet a persis- j tent gambler. *n consequence he loses .all j . the • money which should go to household ] expenses. Here, in official language, is ,a i * paragraph, from the -divorce petition,:— " The defendant was an inveterate but un- < successful gambler. He- was not possessed of , sufficient judgment to estimate the commer- , cial'value of a pair of deuces, and he had , been -known. to hazard heavily. and persis- ' : tefitly: onan-ace full when he had notified j that'his, adversary was", in open, notorious, < and undisputed possession of two pairs of < queens."- - ■ , i ' <]•:,. -'■: "-,■. ', .':'': ■-'•■:■■.■.■■ ;".-,>v.-" -; ] telephone GIRL'S unlucky ] -. • -.'■;;, yawn.- ■ /,;;-;:;:, .. _' : A girl, a .night telephone operator in an > office in Cleveland, Ohio, was so sleepy when < .on duty the other night that she began ' yawning; One extra large yawn dislocated her jaw. It was at two a.m. The few i people who called up. the exchange could J render no help to the girl, who could only < make a few squeaky notes with her voice, < arid she could, therefore, also, not call for ; help. At 6. a.m. the janitor of the building ■ arrived and, opened the. door. The telephone ' girl handed him a slip of paper, on which ,she had written the facts of the case. The janitor escorted her to a hospital, where she secured the* first relief in four hours from her agony. :'. ... WOMEN IN AMERICA. ] Three recent items affecting the status of women: in -America are recorded:— 1. In ■ Colorado a woman sat on a jury, with no 1 unusual results except that the judge and i attorneys did not easily remember that! "Gentlemen and lady of ; the- jury";! was I -now the'correct form of address. 2- A bill 1 has been introduced into the Missouri Legis- : latere providing that".'■ hereafter it shall be i unlawful 'for any woman, either 'married or i single, to purchase for herself, .to receive ] ' or in any way procure for her own use or i benefit more than two hats, each to cost not < more than one i dollar and 98 cents, ofterier i than every 12 months." 3. Over-indulgence i ■:'. in' ice-cream has been recognised by the ] South Dakota courts as a sufficient ground i for divorce. ' . ' ~', i .■;.;*■,- '■ '- ':- ■ ■ i ■ '.'. .-.■■■ -: i A WOMAN WITHOUT A MEMORY. ' A curious case of loss of memory is re- ' ported from Portishead, on the Somerset ' coast, near Bristol. A woman, aged about ' forty-five, and well-dressed, was found re- ' cently in the principal street of Portishead. i As she was unable to give any account of ' herself, "and only remembered that her name ! was Ellen, the police removed her to the ; workhouse. There, after being questioned, ' she said she was the widow of David '• ■ Thomas, who took her to South Africa, ' where he died. Slie came home -to see relatives, and arriving at Liverpool she stayed with a sister, but where she could riot say. -All she remembered was being at some railway station fwhere someone took her purse to get her': ticket. When found at Portishead, the woman had only an empty purse, which she said was not hers. TRAMCAR "HELD UP.".: , A strange story, of the "holding up" of en electric tramway-car in Glasgow was told, when two brothers, one a seaman, - were charged with, assault and intimidation by " pointing a revolver. It is alleged that one night two men, who, it is stated, were the worse for drink, were refused admission to a tramcar at Maryhill, and in the course of a struggle the seaman produced' a revolver and levelled it at the head of the conductor. In fear of his life, the latter blew his whistle, which brought the driver of the car to his assistance, when he also was threatened with the weapon. The two assailants then decamped, and for some time managed to evade pprsuit, but/were eventudiscovered hiding in an ashpit, and after a violent-struggle, in the course^ of which a police constable was injured/both' were pvercome and taken into custody, - i