GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14145, 21 August 1909, Page 5 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

RUSSIAN BEGGAR'S MANSION. An old man who was arrested at Moscow, for begging was found to possess a mansion in the most fashionable quarter of the. town. ALUMINIUM COINS NO GOOD. The aluminium coins issued to Nigeria, East Africa, and Uganda during 1906 and 1907 have been found unsuitable for such tropical climates, arid are being replaced by nickel bronze coins. BRITISH WARSHIP AFTER PIRATES. The British sloop Merlin has been engaged on a mysterious quest. She is reported to have been rendering aid to an American citizen who has been captured by pirates off the East Coast of Borneo. . COLOURED ENVELOPES. In order to facilitate the work of post office servants, the Belgian postal authorities propose that correspondents shall in future use red envelopes for all letters to Brussels, yellow for the country, and green for abroad. NEW ALPINE RAILWAY. A new grand Alpine railway over the Hone Tauern Mountains, costing over £12,500,000, was opened recently by the Emperor Francis Joseph. The line shortens the journey between England and the Adriatic by 120 miles. SUICIDE AFTER DIVORCE. Overwhelmed with grief at the success of her action for divorce, Mrs. Delamontanya, of San Francisco, committed suicide in New lork. She obtained a final decree or divorce from her husband, whose second wife she was. She was dining- with Mrs. Margaret Patton, an intimate friend, when a, huge bunch of lilies arrived from her divorced husband, with a note wishing her good luck and happiness. "He's not°suc!i a bad fellow, after all," she murmured, and a few momenta later went into "an adjoining room and shot herself.

INSULT TO KING RESENTED. An Englishman in a-San' Francisco cafe asked the ; band' to play "God Save the King." The conductor retorted with an insult t« His Majesty. Then there was a free fight. Mr. William Hood, of Vancouver, tackled the orchestra single-hand-ed. He knocked the leader down and routed the others, and kicked a hole in this bass drum. Others joined in the fray, and drinking-glasses, chairs, and tables were thrown about, and the place was wrecked. The English party, however, came off victors. ■:,.-- ...■ ~l '. " ' A SECRET RECIPE. < Sir William Ffolkes has been elected president of the King's Lynn Sons of Reffley, a most exclusive social society, which has been in existence for nearly a" century and a-half. The members assemble in their temple in Reffley Woods to transact business and to indulge in old English pastimes. Near the temple is a chalybeate ; spring, the water from which enters largely into the concoction, of a wonderful punch "which is served at the banquet, and of which the recipe has been kept an inviolable secret by each succeeding president for over 100 years. . _'„ : ~' ' .A .'", . LAWSUIT AGAINST THE POPE. Rome, July Three nieces; of the late Bishop Adami have taken preliminary steps to bring an action against the,, Pope and the Holy. See for the restitution" of the estate of their uncle, of which the Holy Sea took possession after the bishop's death. The authorities at the Vatican declare that they hold the bishop's will, in which everything he possessed is left to the Pope, then Cardinal Sarto. The action is likely to prove most sensational, as the sum of money involved is very large, and a number of distinguished personages are implicated. .■-.:-■■•//■■■■■ ■■-' : --s -■ --->-- : -Av RECTOR'S BALANCE-SHEET.

The rector of Drayton, in order to enlighten his parishioners on the subject of his emoluments, ho* printed in his parish magazine a full statement of the official incom© and expenditure of his benefice last year. This shows that his total income was £534, made up of £475 from tithe, £49 from rent of glebe, and* average fees £10. Clerical help cost £170, rates amounted to £60, land tax and cost'of collecting income to £36, mission work expenses to £78, taxes to £20, and £30 ! had to be, provided for dilapidations. The net result was that the rector had £140 left out of his gross income of £534.. . A STRANGE FUNERAL. "There was a serious accident on the flagship Prince of Wales during the recent naval . manoeuvres, one of the boiler-tubes bursting and severely scalding three stokers, one, named Egerton, dying. The funeral of the unfortunate stoker took place under stirring conditions, and the occasion was the subject of signals, posted in the fleet. Admiral Prince Louis of Ba ttenberg told Admiral Curzon Howe that, as thev were straining every nerve to join, hand's with the White Fleet, and had a superior force on their heels, they were not Justified in stopping even a short time to give a more ceremonious funeral. A naval funeral conducted under such conditions, in time : of peace, has probably never before been seen." . . , ; ■ -\ -._. ' .•■..• - INTERRUPTED ROMANCE. A girl whose age is given as 16 disappeared from her home in Preston mysteriously. Her parents obtained their first clue of her whereabouts from a letter written in London and addressed to her mother. One statement in the letter was that she was going to .the theatre on the Monday night, and would see Miss Gertie Millar acting. This information indicated, of course, the Gaiety Theatre. The police were informed, and an officer was despatched to London, who, with the facilities given by the manager, searched the pit and other parts of the house, and ultimately found the girl, who has been restored to her home. GAOL FOR COMPOSER'S WIFE. ■ Rome, July B.Signora Puccini, the wife of the well-known musician who composed "Madama Butterfly" and other operas, has been sentenced by the tribunal at 'Luce! to five months and five days' imprisonment for slander. Early this year she dismissed ' a young chambermaid named Dorietta Manfredi. alleging that the girl had been too familiar with Signor Puccini. The girl was grief-stricken at this- charge, and she eventually committed suicide. Her family brought an action against Signora Puccini", who, in addition to being committed to prison, has been ordered to pay a heavy fine and the costs of the suit. * She will probably appeal against the sentence. 1,

CLEVER DOG ACTORS. Quite the funniest and cleverest-turn by ■,-.''*'' dogs that has been given in London for. years was recently presented at the Palace Theatre by a troupe of four-footed come- ..., dians called Merian's Marvellous Dogs. The hand that stage-manages - the business ■■■'.'■ > is never seen. The dogs perform a little play, giving it all as if they understood ; V; the human motives behind it* First they are seen on the outside of a •country fair booth. One dog is a showman,. another beats a drum, a comic poodle turns the handle of an organ, and a terrier is in the box office. Then up com© the villagers, marching in groups into the tent, the scene . end in a quarrel between • the keeper of the box office and a. customer who presumably has no money. The second scene brings on the play—a story of love, jealousy, and murder, with a score of quaint details and episodes. that evoke roars of laughter. It is a . comical business altogether, very clever, wonderfully stagemanaged, and as nearly 'human as comedians who are only intelligent dogs can make it. ,- ■■■ .■"■: -■:■■■ ■.. "■• '■:'<■ ■ '■;■ :Vv---'v :: :-%'-^vv\; v^v^' ;: :'.^^^ ■>' ■ .;. ■-,;-■■.■ ■^^:.^^ : ;^■v:;::■-■^■.■■;H:;■■x■:•;^^■^^^i^^^SSS