GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14109, 10 July 1909, Page 5 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

QUEEN'S JEWELS LOST. A stboxg-bo'k containing £10,000 worth" of jewels belonging to the Queen of Siara was sent out to her from London, but a cable from Bangkok said the box had arrived empty. Scotland Yard is on the alert. -„" WROTE WITH PEN IN HIS TEETH. Prof. Dr. Karl Lohmeyer, of Konigsberg, has died at Dantzig at; the age of v 77. . He was born without arms, but at • - the university he turned the pages of books ,''.,.'' with his mouth, and could sign his name : ■ firmly with a pen held between his teeth. ' 45,000 TREES TO BE PLANTED. The King's Commissioners of Woods and ' Forests have just placed Orders for 45,000 _: t _> trees to be planted on the estate purchased ■'" more than a year ago in Argyllshire. This is the first order in connection with the j: State scheme of afforestation in the West - Highlands. The contracts have been given to a nursery firm in Elgin. .

BURIED TREASURES AT POMPEII. Archaeological explorations near Pompeii '-! have resulted in the discovery of a large Roman villa, containing pictures which are believed to be Roman masterpieces, some fine sculptures, ■■■ and chests filled with gold and silver. The Government has ordered the suspension of, the work of exploration, and troops have been sent to guard the discovery. ;';"" ; ;'-: : .\' '

SPANISH CHURCH DISASTER.

A terrible disaster has occurred in the ; church belonging to the Spanish monas- ; . tery of Del Gil. During the progress of f;;. a special service a gallery containing 200 }j <| | singers -collapsed upon the congregation ' , below. The church was crowded 'at the time, and a fearful panic ensued. Seven bodies were extricated from the wreckage, 35; persons were dangerously injured, whilst 50 others received injuries of a less serious nature. A DIVORCE RECORD. ,Los Angeles county, in California, has established a divorce record for the first five months of 1909. ; The figures - indicate ':. that one divorce has been granted since , j January 1 for every four marriages cele brated. This is an increase over the rati* during j 1908, when it was one to six, it; ; San Francisco one to, seven, and in tin whole of the United" States one to, 12. Fom hundred. and sixty interlocutory and 202 ; final vdecrees has been granted .at - Los ; Angeles in five months of the present year. , .

DOG'S 10,000 MILES JOURNEY..-' ' V Dr. A. M. Stein, the explorer, speaking ; at' the anniversary dinner of ! the Royal Geographical Society at the Hotel Metro- - pole, said ; that his terrier Dash- had accompanied .him upon an expedition -of 10,000 miles. : My little terrier Dash," he said, " has done as y good service as I have.'. He was paying the penalty which all paid, returning to civilisation—-he - was kept in quarantine: i But in a, week ; 5 he would be released. 4 Of all his com- > panions the terrier was closest to his heart ■■}- and had a valuable geographical experience. .

KILLED BY MOSQUITOS. The British steamer Veraston reached Now York;; recently "with- four men left of the crew of 22 with whom, she put to sea at the end of January. The .vessel steamed up the Madeira River, a tributary '. of the Amazon/, and -was attacked M by ; m<*>- >« quitos, whose- bites caused "* malignant - • ■ malaria.- Three''meri' died'on-the' returnt-' voyage, and'ls'others-were left in'hospital - at Trinidad "and Kihgetbri, * Jamaica', y. WM , < :: - latter port was reached with the greatest'- " difficulty, the ship being practically dis- • abled by the illness of the whole of her'-" crew. , .. . ~

ANARCHIST AS GAOLER. Much excitement, had been caused in : Sweden, ,by the discovery that one of the ; gaolers at the Carlscrona prison is ; an anarchist. He attempted to facilitate the escape of the anarchist Rosberg by smuggling* in a saw, with which the J prisoner : cut one of his chains. Rosberg is the man who tried to blow up with. dynamite ':■ ■ the hulk "' Amalthea, on which British labourers 'were lodged J during y the dock -: strike at Malmo. iHe was ■■-: to make a dash 1 for liberty while being transported to the prison- at.; Stockholm,, where lie was to undergo a life sentence. Rosberg's attempt to escape failed, and the anarchist gaoler was arrested. NEW "D. S. WINDELL." A daring fraud, apparently modelled 01 ■>.•> the "D. S. Windell" coup has been operated at Liverpool on the -Post Office Savings Bank, i The Post Office Bank regula- ; tions permit a depositor ■■': to s withdraw '. sums up' to a; sovereign without notice •from any post office in the country. A man with a genuine account : s in ;?London it is* stated, ; obtained about 30 deposit books, copied entries in them from his •"■ genuine book, imitated the post office stamps, and presenting them the same day at various post offices in ? Liverpool, ' obtained a sovereign from each. A num- " ber of taxi-cabs were engaged, each driver being dismissed after two : or ; three visits ; ' in order that no suspicion might Jbe aroused. A WONDERFUL RIVER. , In one respect the river Udong may claim "i to be the most remarkable in the world. For from ' December to June' it flows south-east into the',.' Mekong, while for the rest of the year it flows north-west into the Great Lake. This curious river ,' is some 60 miles long, and connects the ' Mekong with the Great Lake, which serves ; as a reservoir for its surplus waters. Pnont " Penh, the-capital of Cambodia, lies at the junction, of the two rivers. During the latter half of the year the-< Mekong, is in * >. t flood, and its waters stand above the * level of the Great Lake. The Udong then carries off the surplus waters to the reservoir. When the flood subsides the water ' in the lake, now at a higher level, drains ; off through the Udong into the Mekong.

DARING TRAIN ROBBERY. A sensational train robbery was perpetrated within a mile of t Omaha city: limits at ; midnight recently, when 'four : masked bandits, at the point of " their re- >. volvers, held up the east-bound Overland (Limited) express, "on? the Union Pacific ';£•£ line, securing seven sacks filled with valu- fh. able redstered mail. The robbers, who ( were Tiding in the ; baggage car, climbed into the tender at midnight, and compel- ; led the engine-driver Ito stop the/ train % in a deep cutting. They then forced the ' post-office clerks to hand them out the mail pouches. A fueilade of shots was- <- kept up meanwhile to intimidate the pas- ;S sengers. The bandits escaped unmolested. A sheriff's posse started in pursuit of - them within half an hour.

BETRAYED BY LOVE. A daring Portuguese smuggler chief has just been taken by the police at Antequera, under circumstances that read; more ':; K\ like romance than reality. The man was -. _, named Rodriquez, and his raids were con- - '-, ducte I on such a reckless scale that a Government reward of the equivalent of £100 , was offered for his capture. The king of smugglers only laughed at this, and went - openly, every day to the village to visit the beautiful girl he loved. Although the ■■>■ girl returned his passion, the" course of J true love was not to run smoothly. Her • father communicated with the authorities,' and as the joyous smuggler was Hearing the home of his loved one a strong force of civil guards suddenly appeared. Though taken by surprise, Rodriquez defended himself valiantly. Pulling out . a revolver,. ho shot one of the guards dead and wounded two others. However, he was overpowered and carried him off in a -dead condition. . iL . '. .V