THE BYSTANDER.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1315, 13 May 1897, Page 13

THE BYSTANDER.

“ When found make a note of. —Capt. Cuttle

In a certain street in Leeds there ia a wall given up So the . bill-sticking

POOR DR NANSEN !

fraternity. While walking down this etreot the other day I noticed among other bills one announcing the

coming of the Moore and Burgeas Min atrels, w.ith a huge grinning “ darkie’s ” head as a centrepiece. Immediately under this was a large, oblong poster, which gave notice of Dr Nansen’s coming lecture. Ait a distance the nigger’a head and the name “ Nansen ’’ were the only portions distinctly seen, and the two bills appeared to be one A rustic who was walking behind mo evidently saw what I saw, for, pointing with a stick to the wall, ho remarked to his companion :—“ Well, Ah 11 bn bio wed ? I niver knew afore as that thcer Dr Nansen were a black ’un ! Ah alius thowt’e were a chap from Norway or Sweden, or a jmewheer that way 1 ” Answers.

In view of the schemes for importing English labourers into the

the COST OF LIVING IN THE TRANS VAAL

Transvaal the expenses of a Natal-born working man in Johannesburg, who could probably live more cheaply than most emigrants from

thjs country, may be interesting. The"household consisted of husband, wife, and child. For the last quarter of 1896 (says the London Daily News) they kept a cartful record of expenditure. Their income for the three months'was £75. Out of that £26 or £2 a week, went in rent, the grocery bill was £ll 8s 61, meat £4 13i , vegetables and fruit £1 10», milk £4 !()■«, and butter and eggs £2 10s. The wife baked her own bread and did her own laundry work. There was no servant, but occasional Kaffir labour averaged 5j a week. Other expenses, consistent with extiemo eoo nomy, brought up the outlay to between £6 and £7 of the income, that being all the margin to meet emergency expenses and to save.

A LETiysR from an Italian officer in Abyssinia to an Italian paper

THE CYCLE IN DARKEST AFRICA.

epoaks of the impression made by his appearance on a bicyc'e among ihe children of nature. He nays that while riding with a white

fUg attached to the steering gear towards the lino of the Abyssinians, the outposts and picket-guards were so utteily surprised that they forgot all about asking him what errand ho came on Accord in 4to the Cycle, he calmi_\ descended when reaching the post, and demanded to be shown to the head-quar tors of ltaa Mangasha. lie was shown the direction, and, . accompanied by two Abyssinian horsohiqn, continued on his way. They rode at.his side in mute admiration When they, arrived at tli« camp of Ras the latter that a in rase tiger of/the had come on a horse sent to hinb ( Jiy heaven. The wily . chief, iu»t quite so,gqllible as the rodt ot his troops, was ci>tfaitlci;ably amused, nod requested the to give an exhibition of ri'dim^,q^i v l(he wheel, which the latter gladly.-A fter looking at the different evolutions-of the. wheel for u tim<», the R \s,alio wed ; .the messenger to return, but au-wer to the message he .'brought*'.-}

Dick highwaynpan, once laid a :wagef;th>i-ho>..w6.uld'.; rob

the thun-Puke of .Portland /Within his own park of Bui . Strode, in the£county* of Bucks; IThis daring feat he accomplished - ’^itH-com piete - BUccjMs;<;atthqugk :;the jDuke

tjeckVl 7 . HIGHWAY:; MAN -1 ■ »ukeu~. ..

wa«Cafcr ttiiijr time attended- by i several-ser* ranM.oni' boriebackU :TheDuke j ust d riVenintbhU; pa>k»when Turpin, hastily rode? up tbithe carriage; holding in one hand what appeared to be a roll: of paper, with which he wared the attendants aside. They, supposing that he was the bearer of some Royal .message, fell back, and allowed the bold robber to approach the carriage. Putting his hand in, he levelled the roll of paper at the Duke, who perceived on the instant the muzzle of a pistol peeping from the package. “Your watch or your life Ibis very moment!” said Turpin quietly ; and the Duke g'Vo up his watch without a moment’s hesitation. Turpin received it with alow bow, as if he were acknowledging the Duke’s answer to some important dispatch. Then wheeling about, he saluted the attendants gravely, and dashing through the park gates, was well upon tho road before the Duke gave orders to follow him.

It is stated that two actors in a company

playing at a Bristol theatre quarrelled over a lady, and decided to resort to arms, pistols being the selected weapons. The pistols wore loaded with blank cartridges.

A “ THEATRICAL " DUEL.

One of the principals was not let into the secret of the mock character of the duel, and when his opponent fell down by special agreement, he, on the advice of his friends, left the held as quickly as he could. It was stated that the parties drove to Brandon Hill on Saturday morninor iti two cabs, and were accompanied by a master of ceremonies and a sham doctor. The principals were instructed by their seconds, and they wore then requested to choose their weapons, a couple of six*

chambered revolvers being proffered I Having proceeded thus far, the master of the ceremonies counted one, two, and with the “ three " came two loud reports. One of the principals staggered, an i fell face downwards. His second and a sham doctor immediately proceeded to his assistance, and after a pretended examination announced that he had been shot through the lung. The other actor, who, it is alleged, treated the matter seriously, was advised to leave the hill as quickly as possible, and this he did. As soon, however, as his back was turned his fallen opponent rose to his feet, and with his friends drove away in his cab.

The Academy prints for the first time an amusing extract from aletter.

THE BIG BIG d's.

written by the late Wilkie Collins to a London edit- r. j The topic dealt with is j always near the heart of all

editors who cater for the family: “The other alterations [wrote Collins] I cannot consent to make. The ‘ damns ’ (two ‘ damns ’ only, observe, in the whole storj 1 ) mark the characters at very important places in the narrative. The ‘ compromise * which you suggest is simply what they would not say. Ikn w t-f no instances of a writer with any respect for his art or fur himsalf who has ever made the concession which your friends ask of me. My story is not addressed to young people exclusively—it is addressed to readers in general. I. do Hot accept young people as the ultimate court of appeal in English literature. Mr Turling’on [a character in the story in question] must talk like Mr Turlington even though the terrible consequence may be that a boy or two may cry ‘Damn ’ in imitation of him. I refer your friends to Scott and Dickens writers considered immaculate in the nutter of propriety. They will find damn where damn ought to be in the pages of both masters. .In short, L am damned if I take out dimii ! "

Mere is a romantic little story already

-J A woman’s REVENGE.

made f• -r some of America’s delightful writers. A man named Benjamin Shot was a candidate for the office of

Mayor of Kansas City, and after the counting of the votes it was found he had been defeated. The circum. stances under which he was rejected are unu ual. For twelve years Short hid Seen engaged to be married to Miss S-ikie Parsons, a school teacher Li t November, without giving any warning whatever to Miss Parsons that his affections towards her were changing, he suddenly dropped her entirely and married a rich widow. When ho “ ran ” for Mayor Miss Parsons saw her opportunity for revenge, and became his most bitter and active opponent. Women are permitted to vote in municipal elections there, so she appealed to the women of the city to avenge the slight that had boon cist upon her by voting against Short. She made known the circumstances, and Almost every female voter in the place rallied to her cause, and many used all their influence on her behalf. Not a woman voter stayed away who could get to the poll. Some who were ill were brought in carriages. The result (Dalziel tells u c ) was that Miss Parsons had the satisfaction of seeing Short defeated by a tremendous majority.

Indiarubber shares are to be the “boom” cf 1897, and experts declare

AN INDIARUBBER BOOM.

thib Mexico will be the great indiarubb r producing state of the future, not only hecause its Government is the most settled and orderly

of the South or Central American Republics, but because the climate is excellent. So far, the indiarubber industry in Mexico has not been systematically worked. Ac cording to the Minute, however, the best/ rubber plantations there have been secured by one of our most influential group, of City capitalists, who are about to offer them in joint-stock form to English investors. The profits are enormous —something like 400 per centum per annum.

The master of a village school school in Suffolk, whose house adj -ins

THE inspector's MISTAKE.

the school, recently had a pig killed early in the morning, before the scholars arrived. In order that the

carcase might got thoroughly cold before cutting it up, it was placed upon the stool, which happened to be an exact likeness to the ones which are used to carry colliii3, and a clean white cloth was f pread entirely over it. As it appeared as if it would rain, the stool ai d pig were then carried into a shed which adjoins the master’s house, and the door securely fastened. About 9 30 a.m. in walks LI. M. inspector of Schools, on a “surprise visit," as they aro delighted to call it. After thoroughly examining every hole and corner in tho school, ho at last betook himself into the yard to make further invest ig it ions. Seeing the shed adjoining the master's house secure!v fastened, Ins curiosity was at unco aroused, and he made cautiously towards it. On opening the door he was horrified to see what appeared to be an undertaker’s stool, with a corpse on it, covered with a white shroud. Hurrying into the school with a scared look, he panted out to the master : “ Why, Mr W , you’ve got a corpse in your shed." The master, taking in the situation, replied, “ Yes, sir ; he° was killed this morning.” “Dear me,” said the inspector, “ how did it i happen ? " “ Throat cut! ” was the reply. 1

“ Hoirible 1 " said H.M.I. “Who did \ it?" “Mr F , down the road. He 1 does all those sort of jobs about heie»” j “ Has he been arrested ? " was the next : query. “ Arrerted ? What for ?” “ Why, ’j for cutting the man’s throat, of course. The master could keep his countenance no longer, but, nearly bursting to laugh, said, “Tisn’t a man ; it’s a pig. ’ The inspector at once collapsed.

A hotel proprietor of Mantos, near Paris, has just been killed in a

AN EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENT.

most extraordinary manner. Unfo tunately for him, he put his tobacco loose in a packet of his hunting jacket —and in the same pocket he

placed hi 3 cartridges. In some way the powder escaped from a cartridge, and got mixed with the tobacco. Unconscious of this, he filled his pipe and lit it. A moment later the pipe exploded, and a fragment was blown into his eye with such force that it pierced the brain and killed him.

The now cure for lady kleptomaniacs, revealed by. Truth , ’s not

A ‘CURE ’ FOR KLKPTO MANIA.

exactly as Truth puts it. The story, as told by your eccentric contemporary, is that in several of the West Eid establishments, where ladies are detected pilfering,

they are offered the alternative of bemg locked up or being soundly birched, anil it is mentioned that ’>he latter humiliating chastisement has been accepted in two cases. One need not believe these stories. Their publication is the real cure foi kleptomania. Truth has, I believe, been made the medium for advertising to ladies affl c .ed wi'h <his mental e that, on detection, they would be subject to the outrage described. Ot course, no iVesD End tradesman dare engage in such a transaction. It would ruin his business, if it became known. But it is likely enough that the idea has occurred to some enterprising shopwalker to make use of Truth as the scarecrow to friguten off lady pilferers.

Friday, March 18, was the anniversary of a memorable event in the

WHEN THE BANK OF ENGLAND SUSPEND r.D PAYMENT.

history of the Bank of England. A hundred years ago the Bank had to suspend cash payments through the dim in tv ion of g< 11 and the h.avy calls made on the Exchequer by the

of the day to support our allies on the Continent. The panic began by a run on the provincial banks, many of which failed. Then London became alarmed, and the semm in front of the Bank of England was one of wild excitement. There were clamorous demands for cash, and it. is stated that, the cash and bullion sank aa low as £1,272,000. The Government came to the rescue of the directois. A rigid investigation wa-i made, and a report appeared which calmed the fears of th public, for it was found that, after all claims had horn deducted, the Bank possessed j ropers.y of the value of £15,513,690.

Mr Herbert Vivian tells of an attempt to break the bank at Monte

A MONTE carlo SWINDLE.

Carlo, which very nearly succeeded. He writes : Some years ago, when I was there, a number of Italians corrupted a Trente et quar-

ante dealer smuggled in a pack of prepared cards under a note tiny had asked him to change. Then thev staked maximum?, and won some £20,000 before the authorities became suspicious, had the cards counted, and discovered the fraud. Then the dealer was imprisoned, and the Italians were excluded for evjjr from the rooms Far years after I saw one of rhem, j-n ex mistress of Victor Emmanuel, wandering about the gardens and concerts like a peri, shut out from the portals of the hell.

The pay of Senators and members of the

SALARIES OF AMERICAN PUBLIC OFFICIALS.

House of Representatives has been for many years 5,000d0l a year. In 1873 Congress passed a law increasing the pay t) 7,500d0l a year, and making the in • crerso relate to the whole

term <.f the numbers <>f shit (J -iigrcsi, thiiii j isfc expiiing March 3, 1373. A great popular outcry was at mice made, and lhose who had supported the law were denounced as “salaiy grabbers." Iho popular fo -liog was so strong that ill the ensuing January Congress repealed tho law, and restored the old salaries, saving only the increases which the Act gave to .Tu slices of the Supreme Court — from S.oOOdol to 10,500J0l for the Chief Jms tice, aud, fiont 8000dol to 10,000Je] f »• the Associate Justices, and to the P ent from 25,000c10l to 50,000i01. It quite probable that if the members of the Forty-second Congress had not made the increase of salary retroactive, in order to participate in their own generosity, tho ad vanned salaries would ha ve been accepted by tho country w.thout curious protest. — Ladies' Home Journal.

Mr John Usher, of Norton, who has

AN OPPONENT OF MR GLADSTONE.

been demonstratinghis generosity to Edinburgh by 7 giving £8,009 towards the foundation of a Chair of Public Health in Edinburgh University, is the gentleman who provoked Mr Gladstone

into the most dramatic outburst of his political experience. The venerable

statesman had been talking at Corsforphine during his last Midlothian campaign, and at the close of his speech was vigorously heckled by Mr Usher. Mr Gladstone, becoming exasperated at the pertinacity of hia opponent, turned upon him and cried, “ 1 am responsible for the understanding that the Almighty has be?n pleased to lodge in this skull of mine, but 1 am not responsible for the understanding that the Almighty has been pleased to lodge in that skull of yours."

THE landing of the Seaforth Highlanders at Crete recently seems to

THE HIGHLANDERS IN <3rete.

have caused something of a sensation among the islanders. The natives were, of course, much struck by the kilt, which so closely resem-

bles’their own garb, and they have dubbed the Highlanders “ The English Zebeks." Toe Seaforohs, the Standard correspondent tells us, paraded at about eleven, and marched off to the barracks in great style, with bagpipes playing and drums beating. Their smart appearance seems also to have evoked the undisguised admiration of all the foreign critics who had gathered on the quay to watch their arrival, “while the glorious weather showed off everything to the fullest advantage." It looks as if the Highlanders were likely to be at home in Crete.

The African Methodists of Illinois are

A LINC -LN MEMORIAL CHURCH.

about to build a church at Springfield in memory of Abraham Lincoln. It will be named the Lincoln Me- * morial Church, and will cost

£16,000 There will be three memorial windows. The centre one will bo dedicated to .Line In, and the two smaller to Frederick Douglas and John Brown. What may be regarded as the moat interesting feature will be the memorial room, in which are to be kept Slavery relics of every description—pictures of all the great Abolition leaders, an auction block, the rope which was used in the hanging of John Brown, and whatever else can be gathered.

At the time the forgeries on the Bank of Englaud were announced the

FIFTY FORGED NOTES.

officials had impounded 37 forged £2O notes. They now have 50 of these notes

in their possession, represeni ing £I,OOO, of which the public have, so far, been swindled by the forgers. The Bank officials view the situation with great anxiety. Some of the experts in tho Bank itself (says the Daily Mail) failed to distinguish certain of the notes when shown to them.

Amongst the queen ants captured in and around Bulawayo, for which

QUEEN ANTS FROM BULAWAYO.

a prize of half a crown is paid by the Sanitary Board, have been some specimens measuring four and a half inches, and “ as thick as a

man’s thumb.’’ This, South Africa very naturally thinks, is past a joke. “ One might well ask, if a thousand ants of ordinary South African size, say eight or ten to the inch, devour a pot of jam in four hours, how many queen ants, four and a half inches long, and as thick as a man’s thumb, does it take to perform the same feat, and in what time ? One dreads to speculate upon such a query !" King ants have apparently no market value, and are not paid for.

It would £eem that suicides and murders

SUICIDES AND MURDERS.

are largely on the increase in the United States. One of the Chicago papers publishes some startling figures on the subject. Taking

1890 and 1896, the figures are : 1890. 1896. Suicides ... 2640 ... 6520 Murders ... 4290 ... 10,652 Of more than 10,000 murderers, only 122 suffered the penalty of death. Ninetynine murderers out of every hundred go uncharged, and the crime has increased 250 per cent, in the past six years.

“The Shah at Rome" is the title of an interesting article in the

THE SHAH ANOJUS CROWN.

April English Illustrated , by Mr J. Foster Fraser. It would eecm that tho Shah realised sooner than most

potentates the truth of tho saying, “ Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” The e-nonatiuii ceremony took place on a vciy but day, anti as soon as Iris Majesty could escape he hastened off to his private rooms. Someone found him ten minutes afterwards sitting iu a di aught, and in his shirt-sleeves, on some ..i.-ps in the corridor, the crown still on !. a head, though pushed somewhat awry. YuJr Majesty will be ill if you sit i.i.cre," was said. “Oh, I am so warm ; and this thing," he answered, taking off the crown and pitching it on one side, “is so heavy ; I hope 1 shall never have to put it on again."

The lib aYe prol CO >mo, c,o it u.'.ed t<< he said, had a summary way of

SOMETHING OF A SOCIALIST.

getting rid of disgraced Ministers, but the inflicting of pain, or the exercise of

despotic power to injure anyone bodily, is antagonistic to tho present Shah’s desires. Indeed, Mr Fraser thinks he might almost go so far as to say he is something of a Socialist. Some time ago a gang of hill-robbers were captured and taken before him to receive sentence that their heads be chopped off.

| He inquired into their case, and found , they had been leading a hard and perilous j life. “ Poor men," he observed, “ I i suppose they robbed because they wanted ! something to eat ” ; and then he ordered I their release.

The Sh -.hhas an exceedingly small harem for an Eastern monarch.

THE shah's HAREM.

There are not above sixty ladies, and he has four sons and twenty-three daughters.

As every Persian name is supposed to signify Borue quality—Maza-fer-ed-Din means Victorious of the Faith —the ladies of the harem have all sorts of felicitous titles, such a 3 Amin-i-Akdaa (Trusted of the Sovereign), Munir-es-Sultaneh (Grandeur of the Empire), j ififat ed-Dowleh (Chastity of the Kingdom), and Ani3-ed'Dowleh (Companion of the King). The only occasion any of the Shah’s wives are to be seen is in the streets of Teheran when they pass in carriages. When the ladies go out driving, they are preceded by a gang of j faras\es % who caper ahead on their horses shouting, “Go and hide yourselves 1” And all men have to scamper up side streets or bo thrashed.

At the time of the Russo-Turkish war th«

turkey's ARMY STRENGTH.

fighting s'rength of the Saltan’s army wa3 752,000, bub when peace was proclaimed this number had

dwindled by death and dosertion to a disorganised remnant of only 120,000 men of all arms. Since then extraordinary efforts have been made to keep up the strength, and in 1896 the active army (the nizam ) had reached 180,000, including 292 battalions of infantry, 202 squadrons of cavalry, 165 field batteries, 46 mountain batteries, 15 horse batteries, 31 companiesof engineers, and 1338 guns, besides 132 companies of garrison artillery. The entire strength at time of war is now about 700,000, composed of the above, with, the, addition of the twelvo army corps of’the Landwehr ( redifs ) and the Landsfurm ( mustajiz ). Every Moslem between twenty and forty years of age is liable for military service.

Numerically speaking, Greece’s army is

GREECE’S ARMY* STRENGTH.

very small when compared with that of Turkey, and no appreciable effort seems to have been made in recent years to increase its size.

The number of men under arms in 1889 was only 24,076, consisting of 16,136 infantry, 4877 cavalry, and 3063 artillery and engineers, while at the present time the figures are 26,645 officers and men, or an increaso in eight years of little more than 2500. This force, however, is readily increased in time of need to 100,000, and this number can also be largely augmented by the addition of the militia and reserves. The conditions of service are similar in, Greece to those of Turkey, all able-bodied men being liable to serve for nineteen years.

A Jew named Peuzner of Mohilev was

A CRUEL OUTRAGE.

charged with using impudent expressions towards a Russian pritst. Had no*' Peuzner been a Jew, the clergyman would Have been

entiil d to summon the guilty party before a Court of Law, where he would, have had an opportunity of proving his charge and to obtain a condign ' punishment of the offender, as by Law provided. But, Peuzner beiwg a Jew, the insulted priest probably wished to display special magnanimity, and abstained from g. ii.g to law, but merely reported it to the governor. M. Dembovetsky, the “must humane and enlightened ” Governor of Mohilev, ordered Peuzner fifty strokes of the birch-rod, to be inflicted in instalments, owing to the weak state ef Peuzner’s health. The district - commissary Solovetsky, however, who carried out the sentence of the humane governor, found that fifty strokes were not enough for Peuzner, and gave him fifty strokes more on hia own behalf. This doubled number of strokes proved too much for Peuzner, who fell ill after tho ordeal and finally succumbed. —Jewish Chronicle.

An interesting story of President K-uger U told by a correspondent. • f

“OOM RAUL AND IIER M A. I KST V.

" the Diamond Fields Advertiser, of Kimberley. Bays Iho correspondent :In 1884 J happened to be re-

turning to South Africa iu the same ship with President Kruger, General Smit, and the Rov. S. J. du Toit, who had been to England in connection with tho Transvaal Convention. Like most ships’ companies, we had our ontc-i fcainment, and, of course, at its close, “God Save the Queen" was sung. President Kruger and the “General" at once rose and uncovered their heads, as did everybody else except the Rev. S. J. du Toit and six or seven Hollanders whom the reverend gentleman was taking out to tho Transvaal to ifil official positions. These gentlemen—ahem ! —ostentatiously put on their hats and walked out of the saloon. Immediately tho concert was over there wa3, you may be sure, a “ row," and a deputation, of which I formed a member, waited on the captain and asked that Mr Du Toit and his friends might be called upon to apologise. They did eventually apologise. “ Oom Paul" was greatly offended at their behaviour, saying that it was not his habit to insult . the flag ho happened to be living or travelling under.