GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14235, 4 December 1909, Page 5 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

GERMAN POSTAL PUZZLE. Addressed simply with a lady's portrait and the name Alt-Boxhagen (a suburb of Berlin), a postcard reached its destination after three days. JOKE THAT COST A LIFE. A Toulon workman named Broquier went out shooting in the woods. For a joke he hid behind the foliage and imitated the cry of a bird. Another hunter at once fired at the spot whence the sound came, and killed Broquier. DINOSAURI IN GERMANY. For several months past workers in a clay pit at Halberstadt have been turning up bones of prehistoric animals, which as a- result of examination are shown to be the remains of Dinosauri. They are the first to be discovered in Germany. THE DEPTH OF POVERTY. When the- inquest on a girl was opened at the Shoreditch Coroner's Court the mother failed to appear. She appeared at the adjourned inquest, and explained that her previous absence was due to the fact that she had absolutely no clothes to wear. " I have borrowed these I am wearing from a neighbour," she added. " She is now waiting- at my house for them." TRAINS INFESTED WITH SNAKES. The railway station of Bragulia, Servia, is so infested with snakes that special precautions are taken while the trains stop to prevent the reptiles entering the compartments. An English lady coming up from Constantinople was appalled to find a small snake coiled round the handle of her traveling, bag. A search resulted in the discovery of several others among the passengers' rugs.

BAD TEETH CAUSE LOCKJAW. . .. Lockjaw caused through neglect of teeth was said to be the probable cause of the death of Mrs. Lucy Lamb, on whom an inquest was held at Southwark., Lockjaw set in after she had been pricked by a nail in her foot, but it was stated that her teeth were septic, and had not been cared for, and a doctor said it was likely the teeth were responsible for the lockjaw, as the wound on the foot was a slight, one. BABY LOSES ITS VOTE. . A curious mistake was made in the printed list of claimants for votes in North Kensington. A canvasser who called at a house had been given the name of a baby instead of .the tenant, the young woman who answered the knock at the door being under the impression that the canvasser was a vaccination officer. It was agreed at the Revision Court that the child's father, whohad a different • Christian name, was entitled to a vote. HEADLESS BODY MYSTERY: The St. Petersburg correspondent of the Berliner Zeitung telegraphs that a mysterious murder has taken place in the Russian capital which has all the appear-, ance of an act of revenge on the part of the revolutionary party. The name of the victim is Ferdoroff, who occupied a luxurious apartment, and was apparently a man of means. There are grounds for believing that. Fedoroff was a police spy and wormed himself into the confidence of, active revolutionists in order to. betray them to the police. The revolutionists discovered his treachery and sentenced him to death for. betraying them.-''Hiss head was severed from. the trunk, „ and then scalped, but not a single article was I missing from the apartment. WAR KITE ACCIDENT. While a number of officers were being instructed in the management of war kites outside the war balloon factory at Aldershot one of them met with a serious accident which,.may have, very . grave consequences. Each officer,.in turn took a seat in the car and made an ascent up the cable carried by the kites to an altitude' of five hundred feet. . When Lieutenant Talbot Crosbie, of the Royal Garrison Artillery, went up he let the clutch go too soon on making a descent, with,the result that the car ran down .the cable at a terrific rate and landed with a crash. The occupant was thrown out, and sustained very serious internal injuries: He was at once removed to the Connaught Hospital, where he lies in a precarious condition.

CHICAGO'S "RED LIGHTS." The slum quarter of Chicago, known as the "Red Light" district,, was recently the scene of one of the most remarkable outbursts ever known in the western city, which is familiar enough with sensations. Gipsy" Smith, the well-known English evangelist, began a tour of the district. It was a torchlight procession,.with 3000 followers, accompanied by several . bands. Crowds of loafers and hooligans of the" worst type were attracted, to the roadside. Men and women left the ranks to plead with the onlookers. "Gipsy" Smith marched on in front preaching loudly. The effect was astonishing. Man after man joined the procession. In half an hour the 3000 had increased to 10,000. Women and girla fell in, many of them sobbing and weeping. In an hour there were 20,000 people in line, singing, praying, shouting, or weeping.

SIR E. SHACKLETON'S TOUR. A colossal tour was begun by Sir E. Shackleton en November 1, when he appeared at it'i Queen's Hall. All the principal towns and cities in the United Kingdom and the chief capitals of Europe, will be visited. Then will follow a visit to the United States, where lectures in at least thirty of the chief cities will be delivered. In travelling between the towns at which h,e is lecturing, including his American visit. Sir E. Shackleton will cover .over 20,000 miles. He will address more than 200,000 people. His lectures, if he spoke continuously, would extend over seven days sixteen hours thirty minutes, and he will utter more than 1,200,000 words. One week alone, from December 10 to December 17, would be enough, for most public speakers. On the 10th he will lecture in Bedford in tfae afternoon and Windsor in the evening; 11th, at Leamington and at Malvern ; 13th, at Belfast; 14th, at Dublin; 15th, at Cork; and 17th, at Birmingham.

OPERATION ON A HEN IN HOSPITAL An unorthodox patient has been tended at the London Hospital, "Polly/' the pet , hen of two little East End children, having had its leg set by one of the medical staff, to the unbounded gratitude of its youthful owners. "Polly" is one of a Plymouth. Rock brood of four -which have been scratching for a precarious existence in an apology for a back garden in a street off the Mile End Road. "Polly," who was ' the pet of the family, caught her leg in the fence, and broke it. The patient was wrapped up in an apron and conveyed to, the hospital. The doorkeeper shook his head, and explained with a considerable <- degree of sarcasm that the hospital was riot a "fowl run." The children—brother and - sister—were turning away when one of • . the house surgeons who was going off duty, learning the nature of their visit, invited them inside and proceeded to set the "broken limb. "Polly" is not yet able to dig for v. 4 worms, but is doing as, well as could bir expected. Although this is the. first time ,: that a chicken has been a patient at the ' London Hospital, one of the 'officials; says that it is by no means infrequent for dogs ; and other domestic pets to be taken there. They are sometimes treated* by any of the "Al?;, medical staff who Happen to be off duty, but are generally passed on to a veterinary . hospital. ' '"'*,' . ...-.;<■,-•....-■■■•.:-;,'h-:--;v.'..'i-;.;-;;-: .^.-i;^' :^; . *.■>':•;■. :-a-U. . Ik-:- ■ ■ '.„ '. : * r - -