HOME AND FOREIGN.

New Zealand Mail, 20 August 1902, Page 14

HOME AND FOREIGN.

AN AMUSING CASE. A police official has just had a very knotty point to settle, although the case, far from being serious, was amusiny enough in all conscience. One evening (says a Paris correspondent) a cab was standing near a brasserie in the Latin Quarter, and the driver, who had descended from the coach-box, was chatting with a friend, when suddenly a young woman bounded out of the house, and springing on to the vehicle, seized the reins, whipped up the horse, and departed at a smart trot.. The professional Jelm did not appear to be disconcerted in the least. Instead of starting off in pursuit, he quietly awaited the sequel with a placid smile, and his patience was rewarded, as five minutes afterwards the girl returned with the cab none the worse for wear, and very proud of her achievement. She had alighted, and was walking off, when the cabman put in an application for his fare. The young woman did not, however, view the matter in this light, and protested, whereupon the Jehu appealed to a policeman, who, considerably puzzled, ended by conducting the parties to the station.

Hero the cabman pleaded his case all over again. The girl, he maintained, having taken a drive in his vehicle, must pay for it, while she, on her side 7 argued that she had simply been playing an innocent trick. The official was much perplexed. There was, so far as he was aware, no precedent to serve as a guide to his decision, for fair strangers are not in the habit of climbing on to cabs aijjj driving away with them. Something, at any rate, had to he said or don®, and presently he had a happy thought. “Look here,” he remarked to the cabman, who was growing excited, “I am quite willing to compel this lady to pay you, but you were not with your vehicle, and if you insist I must draw up a report against you.” The driver, however, stuck to liis guns. “1 am prepared,” ho replied, “to pay the line, but I must, have my faro.” “And) I,” retorted the girl, “will gladly pay the faro if he has to settle the fine.” She suited the action to tho word, and then the report was indited by the official, who is very proud of a decision which has made him something of a celebrity to-day. A DECEIVED HUSBAND. An application at the South London Police Court on the part of a man living in Clapton, revealed the following extraordinary story : —For some time, said the applicant, his wife had led lum to believe that she shortly expected to become a mother. When he returned home from work on May 21 he found his wife in bed with a baby. His landlady, however, told him that during the day a well-dressed man and woman had called upon his wife, bringing an infant and leaving without it. The man accused his wife of deceiving him, but she indignantly referred him to a local medical man whom she stated had attended her. The doctor, however, denied all knowledge of the matter, and when tlic man returned homo from ills visit he found that liis wife had disappeared, leaving the child behind. The police and the Guardians were informed, and the child, which was apparently about four weeks old, was taken to the workhouse. The police and the Guardians were taking steps to trace the wife and her mysterious visitors, and the application was made in order that publicity might be given to the matter m the_ hope that the parents would voluntarily como forward. A part of the child's clothing was marked with the name “Burton.” ANARCHISTS AT NEW JERSEY. The New York “Herald” says that the authorities at Paterson, New Jersey, have discovered an anarchist plot to assassinato the leading millowners and to wreck tho mills by dynamite. The outrages were to have been carried out on tho of tlio 3rd of July. At a secret meeting to consider details it is said that the proposal to murder the masters was acclaimed, and several of those present volunteered to undertake tho task. The authorities have taken the necessary measures to deal with the plot.

TRAGEDY NEAR NEWCASTLE. At Wallsend, near Newcastle, recently a man named H. R. Stobie, living in David street, was discovered in ins house .shot dead, and his wife shot in the hack. The woman was conveyed to tho infirmary, whore she lies m a critical condition. It would seem that the case is one of attempted murder and suicide. The deceased man, Henry Robert Stobie and his wife, Elizabeth, nad lived apart, and it was in hope of effecting a reconciliation that he went from Newcastle t 6 Wallsend. In this, however, he proved unsuccessful. Mrs Stobie lived with her aunt, who went out, leaving Mr and Mrs Stobie together. During her absence tho man snot his wife in the back with a revolver, and men discharged the weapon into his own mouth, kiihng himself instantly. The injured woman was taken to tho Newcastle Infirmary,

where she lies in a critical condition. Deceased was a property owner of considerable means, and at the last Newcastle Assizes was called upon to pay heavy damages for having slandered a woman who was on friendly terms with his wife. Letters were produced on that occasion in which Stobie made references to his wife, w r hich were characterised by the Judge as disgraceful.

ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, SUICIDE,

At the Finsbury Borough Coroner’s Court Dr. Danford Thomas held an inquiry the other day into the cause of death of Henry Keath, aged 65, an outfitter’s manager. The evidence showed that the deceased, who had been for upwards of 25 years manager of Clarke’s Clothing Establishment, Pentonville road, had for some time been very nmcli depressed and under the illusion that someone was shadowing him. Ho shot himself in his bed‘-room. Edward Clarke said deceased knew that he would have to go, as witness was about to relinquish his business. Deceased was in receipt of £4 per week and commission some years ago. hut lately had been reduced to £2. The Coroner read a letter written by the deceased on the day of his death, addressed to his wife—"My dear Amy and' all, —Mr Clarke has discharged me, as I was ill. He said vnat he would allow me 10s a week for four weeks.” Mr Clarke stated that deceased had not received notice, and the Coroner remarked that probably this was one of his delusions. A verdict was returned of suicide -while of unsound mind. ELECTRIC CAR ACCIDENT. A serious collision between an electrio tramear and a waggonette, filled with passengers, occurred at Newcastle recently. The waggonette party were returning from a day in the country, and the vehicle was proceeding at a smart pace. The electric car was travelling in a direction at right angles to the conveyance. The driver of the car was tunable to brake the car owing to the rails being in a slippery condition. The car dashed into the waggonette, cutting it in two parts. The front part was dragged down the street by the affrighted horses. All the passengers were thrown out. Twelve of them were conveyed to tfTe infirmary, suffering from injuries of a more or less serious character.

“UNIQUE IN THE HISTORY OF

NATIONS.”

In one respect the official paper containing the terms of the Boer surrender is unique in the history of nations, it looks not like a State paper, but like a business circular. It will take its place in the archives of tho War Office or some other Department stamped in every line with the habits of the 20th century. A State paper typewritten! The thing would have been inconceivable a few years ago. There is no parchment, no elaborate penmanship by official scribes. The military typewriter was called in; the terms of surrender were set forth in the printed type; and beneath the typewriting the signatures wore written. These signatures were examined with interest as the paper passed from hand to hand. Those of the Boer leaders appear on the left side of the paper; on, the right are tho two signatures of Lord Kitchener and Lord Milner. Schalk Burger signed first for the Boers with something of an elaborate flourish; right against his name is the broad, incisive line of the quill below “Kitchener of Khartoum,” a line which seems to express the intense satisfaction of the moment. All the Boers sign in the manner of men accustomed to the pen, except De la Key, whose signature is cramped and shaky, not in the least suggestive of his character as a military leader.

KAISER'S PROMISE TO THE GIRLS OF CREFELD.

, During his tour in the Rhenish industrial district the Kaiser was extremely pleased at seeing so many signs of progress. He was in high good humour when at the close of his Crefeld visit he thanked the maids of honour for their attendance (says tho “Leader’s” correspondent). He complimenteu them on their graceful figures, spoke of tho charming Crefeld faces, and asked if the lieutenants often danced with them. When the ladies replied that Crefeid possessed no lieutenants, the Kaiser laughed heartily, and said. “Then 1 must send you some.” As ne was leaving he added—“l will keep my word.” Next day the Chief Burgomaster of Crefeld received tho following telegram from Lieut.-General Von Bissing, commander of tho 7th Army Corps:—“By order of His Majesty tho Kaiser and King, Crefeld is to receive a garrison. Kincllv forward proposals for the accommodation of a hussar regiment in the town.”

ARMY OFFICER AND MONEY-

LENDER,

A motion was made before Mr Justice Buckley, in London, in an action of Mackenzie v. Higgins, which asued for an application to restrain the defendant, a money-lender, from parting or dealing with two hills of £IOOO each accepted by the plaintiff, a lieutenant in tho Guards, attached to the Fin-

castle’s Horse in South Africa, under the will of bis grandfather, Sir James Thomson Mackenzie. Plaintiff became entitled at 24 years of age to considerable estates in Scotland and elsewhere, the personal estates being worth half a million sterling ana he became associated with the Lyric Trusts Syndicate, -which carried on small theatrical ventures, managed by a Captain Elliott. The plaintiff was then in receipt of only £ISOO a year, and he was introduced tef Higgins, and, not always having cash, money was advanced, and the bills in question were given. He was not able to pay instalments which were due, and he negotiated for a further advance of £12,000 on the security of his life interest in the estates of his grandfather and a life policy for £20,000. This transaction was not, however, carried out, but what was due on the tw'o hills was £BOO. Defendant wh6 had obtained judgment in Scotland on one bill, was said to have paid £1782 on the plaintiff’s behalf, and he desired to nave £2500 paid into Court to abide the result of the action.

After some discussion, the defendant undertook to lodge in Court the two bills on plaintiff paying £ISOO into Court within ten days, and the result was that Mr Justice Buckley made no order on the motion, except that the costs were to be costs in the action.

TERRIBLE TRAGEDY IN EDINBURGH.

A most deplorable affair has occurred within the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, Mr Ivison Macadam, the well-known lecturer in chemistry, being foully murdered in his laboratory, and one of his students. James Rae Forbes, so severely wounded by the same assailant that he died about four hours after admission to the Royal Infirmary. The news of the tragedy created the utmost excitement in the immediate neighbourhood of the College, and crowds of people gathered round the institution anxious to glean details of the terrible crime. From the statements of eye-witnesses the deed seems to have been coolly performed, the murderer taking deliberate and deadly aim at his victims with a rifle, and 1-hen quietly surrendering his weapon and ammunition, and allowing himself to he taken in charge. Tho laboratory is situated on the ground floor of the building to the rear of the College museum, and is a large room equipped with benches and apparatus in the centre and along the walls. At the south-east end Mr Ivison Macadam was standing at a bench and a few feet away from him was Ins brother, Mr Stevenson Macadam, who was talking to him.* Two or three students were also in the laboratory engaged in various occupations. Tho laboratory porter, David M'Clinton, was seen to enter the front door carrying a rifle and an ammunition bag over his back. Neither of the brothers thought anything of this fact at the time. M'Clinton is an old soldier, having served 21 years in the Highland Light Infantry, besides being a Volunteer in the Queen’s- Brigade and a wellknown marksman. It was quite customary for him to bring Ins rifle with him to the laboratory, so that after liis work he might proceed to the shooting range at Hunter’s Bog without being under the necessity of going home. No further attention was paid to him, until a few minutes afterwards those in the room were startled by the sharp report of a rifle shot. This was followed Ry another, and both unfortunately took effect on Mr Ivison Macadam, who was standing working with liis hack to the man. Death must have been instantaneous, and all that the wounded man was able to utter before lie fell in a pool of blood was a loud shout. Some of the young students made a rush from the room in their fright. M‘Clinton had not finished with his nefarious work, however, and as a student, named James Kirkcaldy, made for a door he again deliberately fired. Oil this occasion he missed his mark. The other victim of the terrible tragedy appeared on the scene at this time, and as soon as he-emerged from the doorway at the north-east M'Clinton again took aim and discharged two cartridges at Forbes. One bullet lodged in the groin, and it was seen that he had been seriously wounded, the femoral artery being cut. Mr Stevenson Macadam again had a ltucky escape, he being only a few feet away from where Forbes was standing. With admirable presence of mind, and realising the terriblG nature of the crimes that were being perpetrated, Mr Macadam began to reason with the man whom ho at first thought must be ini sane. M'Clinton’s reply showed that he u as quite collected-, and it gives colour to the supposition that the crime must have been premeditated. “I won’t shoot you if you don’t interfere ” was the effect of his reply. Mr Macadam continued to talk to the man, and at last asked him to give up liis rifle, saymg, “lou have done plenty of damage now, surely. Give me your rifle and get some work done.” Much to Mr Macadam s relief and surprise, the man quietly came forward and handed him his rifle. Remembering that the magazine of tho weapon, which was an ordmay service Lee-Metford rifle, was still loaded, M'Clinton took it hack and emptied out the cartridges. Thereafter he gave up rifle, and bag. He seemed quite pleased with himself, saying lm knew the consequences, and it is alleged

that he stated he was glad he wal “even now with Macadam.” Whatever he the exact reason which induced M'Clinton to shoot his employer, their is no doubt that for some time he bore Mr Macadam a grudge. He was a man of a dour disposition, a capital worker and had been regularly employed' in the College since January, 1897. Previously he had been a labourer in Milton House Works. Nothing is known whatever against his character. He is an Irishman, resides at 31, Windsor street, is married, but has no family. The police who were telephoned for, soon arrived on the scene, and Chief-Constable Ross had M'Clinton arrested.

The medical men who rushed to the laboratory found Mr Ivison Macadam quite dead. An additional feature cf sadness to the affair is that he wag dressed in his [uniform of Brigade-Major prepared to leave Edinburgn that afternoon in command of the Volunteer contingent who were to have done duty in London,.streets on Coronation Day. A MONTE CARLO EXPERIENCE. A good tale is told concerning Mr Rufus Isaacs, K.C. Like many ocner hard-working professional men he, a short time ago, paid a short visit to Monte Carlo, and while there, of course found his way into the Casino. Unable to withstand the temptation, even if he ever had any intention of doing so which is doubtful, the famous K.u!' soon began to indulge in a little gamble on his own account. Fortune favoured the brave, and a small hut rapidly growing pile of notes and cash cheered Mr Isaacs in liis play. After a tune, however, the heat of the room, combined no doubt with the excitement of winning a large sum, began to tell even on 0116 [used to the prevailing conditions in the Law Courts, and Mr Isaacs, gathering up his winnings, which by this time amounted to £7OO, strolled into the grounds. Thrusting the notes securely into his pocket, Mr Isaacs dropped into a comfortable seat and fainted. In a short while, without having excited any notice, the famous. K.C. came to, and, doubtless to cheer himself, put his hand into his pocket to feel his notes. Pocket after pocket was searched, however, without any notes being brought to light. In vain Mr Isaacs looked under and about the seat. Then the horrible truth forced itself upon him. His notes had been stolen during his short fainting fit. Needlesg to say, adds “The W r eek-End,” Mr Isaacs never recovered his £7OO, even if ho ever tried, which, knowing the futility of such an attempt, is, to say the least, not probable.

STRANGE ADVENTURE WITH GREEK BRIGANDS.

M. Stravalopoulos, a young man who was captured recently by brigands, has returned to Athens. He states that as he was about to go on beard his yacht at Eghion he was accosted by a -■abi'y-dressed young man, who Kept him in conversation while four other men crept up behind him and seized him - and gagged him. They then carried him off to the mountains, to which they wero accompanied by the fashionable young man, who turned out to be a notorious brigand chief named Panopoulos. M. Stravalopoulos was taken to a large cavern or grotto very comfortably furnished, where the brigands compelled him to write to his father, a rich banker, for a ranisom of £4OOO in gold. His captors gave him plenty of food and wines, and even insisted on his saying his prayers twice a clay. They also made him read various improving books, of which there was a large supply in the grotto. Oil the arrival of the money, it was conveyed to a monastery in the mountains, where one of the monks counted it, and handed it over to the robbers. A great feast was held the same evening in the grotto, and the brigands, becoming intoxicated, the prisoner made his escape, and reached the railway after a journey of five hours on foot. He returned to the grotto as soon as a force of police could' be got together, hut the brigands had all decamped. SHOCKING WIFE MURDER. Patrick MacDonald, forge labourer, killed his wife with a chopper in her bed-room, at Newcastle-under-Lyme recently. MacDonald his wife, it seems, had only been married nine months, but had lived unhappily, and the deceased woman was to have applied to the Magistrate for a separation order. After the deed the man walked about tlio streets, and an nine o’clock gave himself up to the police. On the latter visiting tho house, they found the unfortunate woman lying in a pool of blood. PLEASURES OF MOTORING. In the Paris-Vienna motor race the Hon. C. S. Rolls lost control over liis car, which knocked a tree. Mr Rolls and his chaffeur were violently thrown to the ground, without, however, sustaining any serious injury. M. Gabriel, while trying to pass a level crossing in the same district, ran against a barrier and badly damaged his car, being consequently compelled to abandon the race. It is rumoured that two persons were run over, one of them a woman, who is said to have beeß seriously injured.

-EXTRAORDINW STORY FROM

At Southwark, London several men w „e charged with attempting to Wacicmail "a foreign prince, a member of a famous European rciguiug house, one of the royal guests tor the Coron«vt:nn. The names of the sutlers ana the prosecutor cud not. appear on the ordinary charge-sheet of the to which the Court reporters K access. It seems that • the young evince left the residence allotted to h m the other night and dined at a fashionable hotel. After dinner ho met several strangers, m whose company he .rent to a public-house in Southwark, and it was there that the startling denouement took place, wmch resulted in the whole party being handed over to the Dolice. At the Police Court, the sittiim Magistrate, Mr Cecil M. Chapman “cleared the Court for the trial of “a case of great importance affecting the foreign relations of the couutiy in which one of the royal guests were concerned, and which must not be reported.” ’ AMERICAN CATASTROPHES. A trestle bridge on the South Carolina Railroad, near Shelby, 250 feet long and 75 feet wide, collapsed just as a passenger train was crossing. The en-gine-driver, feolin-g the bridge giving way, opened the throttle valve and dashed on at full speed in the hope of getting the train over before the final collapse. His prompt action saved the greater part of the train. All the train reached the other side safely except one passenger car and four goods waggons, which were wrecked. One passenger was killed and four seriously injured. Two of the injured are not expected to live. An armed mob entered a mine near Wiliiamstown, West Virginia, and ordered 25 men who were working there to leave. The miners refused, whereupon the mob threw dynamite down the shaft. By the explosion thus caused, five men were killed. As the survivors came out, the strikers fired on them, and injured many. STRIKE RIOTS IN THE STATES. Further rioting lias occurred at Paterson, New Jersey, in connection with the strike of siik weavers. A number of the mills have been closed, the employees being afraid of violence at the hands of the strikers if they continjue work.

The strike has extended to the mills at Union Hill, New Jersey, where a riotous mob, principally Italians, attacked the police. The Fire Brigade turned out to assist the police, and quietened the mob with streams of water from the fire-engines. The Mayor has suspended the Chief of Police, and has taken personal command of the police force. In an address to the police ho instructed them to be more aggressive. A number of extra constables have been sworn in.

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN FRANCE. •

Recently published statistics show that marriages are decreasing' and divorces increasing in France, and, above all, in Paris. The diminution in the number of marriages is accounted for m various ways, such as the overcrowding of the professions, the increased struggle for life, and the small interest now obtainable for invested capital. With regard to the lessening of revenue, it is certain that “dots” are much smaller than they lused to be. A thousand pounds is now accounted quite a lespectable amount. And “contributions” continue to augment. Bur., whatever the reason, the fact of z, serious shrinkage in marriage remains. For the whole of France there are 632 marriages fewer than the previous year; at the same tune the divorces have risen by 235 a total diminution of two per cent. It is lamentable to consider what a few centuries will result in if this rate continues.

In Paris the divorce is more than ever the fashion, thanks to legal facilities. Out of a thousand married couples, it is calculated that 258 are living apart and correspond only through their solicitors. The capital furnishes exactly a quarter of. the French divorces.*- Afl to the marriages of divorced persons, they are, a* they should be, more numerous in the Department of the Seine than in. the other departments. Ti e ngure is 9.2 per thousand. Speaking generally, throughout France, for every hundred adults fifty-two are celibates for divorcees), eight are widowers or widows, and forty married. As England is represented as having only twentyfive per hundred adults married, France does not consider herself to be m such a bad way. The marrying age for the Wide is from twenty to twenty-five, sentt’ f c ™ r^ ln g 1° the statistics, repreSfi K alf I t^ e marr iages; a quarter of f I 10 1- state between the ages quarter' fcy '?. v ® and tMHy; and the last -"Pall MaU * r thirtfeth “THE FLYING DUTCHMAN.” fo£ot d ?” are not likely to D„,*m 11 s description of the “Flvine tiSSSra” in the “Phantom ” they may be convinced all the

time that the story is made up out of the yarns of ' superstitious’ seamen. But it is not generally known that the princes actually saw the Flying Dutchman while on this passage from lYlolhorno to Sydney. Their Royal High- 1 nesses, who were certainly hoi> either superstitious or unduly imaginative, give in their diary a perfectly matter-of-fact account of the affair, without attempting to explain it. .It was at four in the morning, they relate, that the the Flying Dutchman crossed the bow s of the Bacchante. A strange red light, as of a phantom ship all aglow, was seen, in the midst of which light the masts, - spars, and sails of a brig, 260 yards distant, stooebout in strong relief as she came up on the port bow. The look-out man on the forecastle reported her as olose on the port bow, where also the officer of the watch from the bridge clearly saw her, as did also the quarter-deck midshipman,, who was sent forward at once to the forecastle. But no vestige or sign whatver of any material ship was to ho seen either near or right away to the horizon, although the night, was clear and the sea calm. Thirteen persons, altogether saw the mysterious appearance, and, moreover, the Tourmaline and the Cleopatra, which were on the starboard side signalled to ask whether the Bacchante had seen the strange red light. Sailors firmly believe that the appearance of a phantom ship always presages disaster of some kind. Now, it is a remarkable fact that at 10.45 that same morning the ordinary seaman wfio had reported the Flying Dutchman fell from the foretopmast crosstrees on to the topgallant forecastle and was instantly killed. He was a smart royal yardman, and one of the most promising young hands in the ship. At the next port the Bacchante came to the admiral was struck clown by illness. METHODS OF DE WET. De Wet never slept in farm-houses, being afraid of capture. Among liis last orders to the burghers was one inflicting a fine of £lO or 25 lashes on any burgher found sleeping .in a house. De Wet tells of many interesting incidents which happened on the Boer side. The commandos- never slept at the same spot two nights running, thus making it very difficult for the British to make successful night raids. They had an excellent intelligence system, as is well known by now. Their scouts or spies, as they call them, were so well posted that if a column or convoy moved from any point, all the commandos within 70 miles knew it the same clay, thus giving them time to prepare for attack or to clear off. News of the route of march of the column or convoy .was sent from commando to commando, all being soon acquainted with our movements.

The sjambok was frequently used by the commandants to bring wavering burghers into the fighting line, its use having a far greater effect on the burghers than any other punishment. They regarded it as a great humiliation to be sjamboked. De Wet himself gave some instances ip which he used the sjambok.

Perhaps the longest wound caused by one bullet in this war was in the ease of a Vredefort burgher who, while lying flat between the rails after taking to tlio line between two blockhouses, received a bullet from the blockhouse behind him. The bullet entered under his foot, travelled the whole length of his leg, and finally lodged in his thigh. The man, whoso name was Grobler, lost the use of his leg. TRAGIC SEQUEL TO FORTUNETELLING. Dr. Michael Taylor held an inquiry at Battersea concerning the death of Mary Ann Chapman, aged 38 years, wife of a carpenter, of ** andsworth, who had died in the loca linfirmary from the effects of self-inflicted injuries. Priscilla Parfitt said the deceased, who was her sister, informed her that somebody had told her (deceased’s) fortune, and that on a previous occasion the same person had foretold that her husband svould meet with an accident, and this had) coane true; that on the last occasion the fortune-teller had said there would bo “blood and scandal,” and it had worried her' greatly. Witness tried to pacify her by telling her that she did not believe in fortunetelling. She had no. other trouble.

Emma Jane Batten, wife of a gardener, Southfields, said that* deceased called to see her, and said she had been bad for some time, and felt as if she were going to die suddenly. She added that she could not stand the worry much longer, and suggested “cutting the cards.” This w r as done, and deceased said she thought she was going to have a row, but witness, just to cheer her up, told her that she had “cut for a wedding.” Witness denied telling the deceased some time since that she was a fortune-teller, and that her husband, would meet with an accident; in fact, she had not played cards for eight years. She could not read fortunes, nor could she play cards,- and statement must have been imaginary. By the Jury—The deceased did not say that anyone else had told her fortune. The Coroner said that it was clear the woman had worried about something, and that the fortune-teller, whoever she was, had greatly upset her. They were

hound to accept Mrs Batten’s evidence, however. The jury returned a verdict of suicide during temporary insanity.