HOME AND FOREIGN.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1667, 10 February 1904, Page 16

HOME AND FOREIGN.

f . •■ 'n;> \flu! .••• euaghniaky metingS: wrp S^f-NOOMILmES.

• , Adopting-an . attitude of. defiance), Edith Lefroy (22), smart looking ana Weill dressed, "was charged in London the t other day. with having fraudulently obtained board and lodging to the amount of £3 12s Id from Mrs Jane Thomas. She represented that she was an Australian in receipt of an independent income. Once, when the landlady requested payment, the prisoner flourished a ‘/cheque,” which turned out to bo ~ an advertisement taken from. the. pages of a magazine. In a conversation with Mrs Thomas, Lefroy had spoken of going shooting with Lord Onslow and meeting other well-known people. She also left lying about the room, for the purpose, .it was siaid, v of catching her ;eye, ; a diary;Xn. this were entries derailing how she had attended fashionable soical functions,, anet titled persons, and dined and danced at the Carlton, Prince s, Cecil, and other hotels. Amongst the ' entries were the following: V “Fell off my horse whilst out riding this morning and broke my arm and cut my head. Carried homo and patched '•up. This wiill stay my wedding. What luck! . . •' No visitors allowed. Only doctors and nurse®. . • • My wedding, morn that was to he, hut instead of orange blossoms on my head I have got surgical bandages. . • feeling better. . . • Lady Mary

Ccttlinfl came to see me. . • • going to Sandown Races, but had to attend an inquest instead. • • a P" tain Hilton allowed to see me to-day. . . It is raining again like the Te w devil. It’s a fact we shall never gyj to as it rains enough to put all the feres out there. . • • last sunshine— then snow. Its awtul. Detec tive-Serg ean t AlCen said that the prisoner had been a domestic servant in several situations and had always behaved well. She said, when arrested “I left my situation about a fortnight ago, and I an on hoard wages. My master is at present in AiiiOTica, That statement, said Sergeant Allen, proved correct. After leaving Mis Thomas the prisoner went to Acton, Where she was supposed to have lost her memory. Taken to the infirmary dhe ESSTto recover, and* then described hersetf as “Lady Mroy.” The medical adviser at the institution said the prisoner was an “absolute fraud, who had invented the story- The officer added that she had been m the habit of reading novelettes. - • - Having read many of the. entries in tho girl’s diary the judge inquired of the prisoner whether they were true oof imaginary. “They are just things 1 like to write —that’s all,” said -Lefroy with an expansive smile, _ She was iemanded for inquiries as to the state of her mind.

ALARMING CATASTROPHE AT

HANLEY.

■Whilst walking along St Hanley, recently , a man named Hod land Suddenly disappeared beneath the paye- : jnemt.An investigation of the cavity fevealed 'the presence of a disused mine Shaft, the timbering at the top of which had at last given way. Strenuous efforts to reseue Holland were made, - but without success. Thousands of people watched the operations in the barricaded street. It was learned from Mr Atkinson, H.M. Inspector’ of Mines, that it was almost impossible to re-, coyer the body, which liad been buried ;•••; beneath a fall of earth from the -top of the shaft. After an emergency meeting of Town Council and with the consent of the relative©, a funeral service was conducted, over the hole by the Rev B. Bell.' It was attended by the Mayor, 'Aldermen and members of the Corporation, and relatives of the deceased man, • and thousand’s of people, witnessed. the ceremony, which was peculiarly impreaImmediately • afterwards the pit shaft was' filled in. .. . ..At a special meeting of Hanley Town Council, Councillor T. W. stated that Holland was engulfed while - - Sngilng vfe nailed up yonder Ml be SevereJ criticisms were passed, on the action - of tlio authorities in toldipe funeral service at the pits mo Sunday and proceeding t ■ r dhatffc without making an effort to seour the body. The borough surveyor and mining experts,, however, fully justify die ’action- off the council. . . ! • -an ITAiLIABSr -GW-a. :/ There" have been arrested .at Foggia, in Italy, : 70 ahenibers of an association i off ‘ibieyeS u ahd murderers, -which lias flourished for- the' last two years in : several. ffc&wns' of the Adriatic coast, mir ■of boaa-d of assasi rfina residihg iii, Rarletta.' It is now that the association consists

of three groups—the “camorrisitsi,” the •‘piocdotti,” and the “seagnozsi 1 ” —• classified according to the ability displayed in stealing and the use iotf the knife. Henibers make a monthly payment to the hoard, varying froan two 'to five francs, according to their means, and when caught and brought to Justice the society furnishes false witnesses, sand intimidates complainants, policemen, and jurymen. The association also takes charge of the education of its members. There is a school to train the 1 “soagnozsi” als pickpockets, and another to instruct the “picciotti” in forcing locks 1 and giving a stab; There is also a socalled tribunal to condemn backsliders and traitors to death. ,-iA GIRL TRAGEDY. A tragic affair, analogous in some respects to that horrifying form of duel termed “'American,” by which the opponents draw lots to decide which of them is to die, has occurred in the students’ quarter of St Petersburg, the principals being two girl student®. The story is most dramatic. One of the girls made the acquaintance of a young man of good family, and became secretly engaged to him. Shortly afterward® she introduced to her fiance another young girl, an. intimate friend of her own. At this point the tragedy commenced, lor the fickle lover immediately fell deeply in love with his fiancee’s friend, and what was still worse, the attachment was mutual. The girl®, however, true to their friendship, had' mo secret® from each other, and the newcomer confided to the betrothed girl the fact that She and the young man were in love. The two girls were in despair, and at length detammined that the death of one of them offered the only solution of the difficulty. They accordingly resolved upon fighting an “American duel. Locking themselves in a room with a revolver, they drew lot®, and it fell out that the betrothed girl had to shoot her friend. The latter stood, calmly awaiting her death, looking straight into’ the eyes of the girl who held the revolver, but the later, yielding to a sudden impulse, turned the weapon against her ownbreast and fired. The shot wad a fatal one, and, bleeding from a terrible wound, the poor girl fell dead on the floor. At this sight the girl whose hie had been spared snatched the revolver, and attempted to commit bm her trembling hand was incapable of properly directing the shot, and she only wounded herself slightly. Her courage uivm o " way, she knelt in despair by the of her friend, crying tattcrly, and in this position she was found by neighbours who, on hearing, the shots, broke datorthe room. OPERATED CKN EIGHTY-FOUR times. A man who has survived 84 surgical, "operations lives at Guisborough, an old wodld market town in Yorkshire, at the foot of the Cleveland Hills. Eor over 30 years he has suffered from the ravages of the hungry disease known as lupus. Having reached that stage o life which, under.,, normal conditions, would be a man’s prune, he is still an ■intense sufferer. “Yes ” ho said, during an interview.. a I have been operated upon 84 times, frequently under anaesthetic®. Nobody cam possibly realise the amount of* suffering I have endured. Still, T was always cheerful. There was the bright prospect before me that one day, perhaps, I might be cured; but now I am not so young as I was, and cannot stand so much. Nevertheless I will never give up, for I am a firm believer in the oud saying that while there is life there is hope.” HYPNOTISM AND CRIME. •Gabrielle Bompard, the woman who helped her. lover Errand to hang the process server Gouife in her rooms iin Paris, was lately liberated from Clermont prison, and is publishing hgr memoirs, like Madame Lafarge, the poisoner. They appear under the title Ma Confession, in a periodical, “Drames Vecus,” started by (M. Jacques Dubr. who. states that he has seen Bompard twice hypnotised by Dr Liegeois, once in a provincial place, and recently in Pari®. Ma. Confession was written after the experiments in the provincial town, ’ ‘ln Paris the doctor repeated the experiment®. He seized the woman by the wrists, and said “You must fall into a deep sleep, and ’act the scene of the _ crime over again. There you are, it. is Just the moment of the murder; go- on. The woman sank on her knees, and, with closed eyes, went back on thought oh the crime. She was heard muttering, “Leave, me; you are smothering me. Enough, coward.” Then she rose to her feet, convulsed with anguish, and seemed to he conducting an invisible person, towards a of the room, where she took off her girdle or waist belt. After having seemed' to reflect for a few moments she uttered a cry, and fell on. the floor. A minute later she was on her feet du erer !” She several times- spoke of Eyraud, asking him to leave her.

Gabrielle next sat down, and had a fit of hiccups.

Asked after a time by the doctor if she saw anybody, her replies were incoherent. “Can you see Gouffe?” asked the specialist: The answer was “Yes.” “Where is he?” “He is there,” and she pointed with her finger. “How is he?” quiereu the doctor. The woman here burst into tears; 'but the specialist repeated his question in a commanding tone, and the reply came, “He i® dead.” Further pressed to describe what Eyraud did to Gduffe, Bompard rose and closed her fingers round the doctor’s windpipe.

The woman later on described her journey to Lyons with Eyraud, who threw the trunk containing Goulfo’s body into a field near that town, her return to Paris, and her voyage to America. Dr Liegeois later on pun Bompard through an experiment while she was awake, and fully demonstrated that she was a wonderfully hypnotisable subject. t WOMEN’S RIGHTS FOR GHTINA. New ¥ ork. 10th December. —'Chinese women in California have turned “mowen’s rights” champions, and have issued an appeal to their countrywomen at home to rise aid assert themselves. They say that. China has actuality 400,000,000 people, hut for all practical purposes there are only 200,000,000, because 200.000,000 are females, and these are of little, or no importance to the Government'. “Alas!” runs the appeal, “this is a cruel! treatment, classifying us not as human beings. Although we are weak, we are horn under the sarnie heaven and on the same eartn, and subjects of the same country. "Where would they be if they did not have us as mothers?” POPULATION IN GERMANY. The Imperial Statistical Office publishes figures showing that during the past year the population of the Empiie had increased at an unprecedented rate. It is computed that in the year the population had increased by 902,000, or 1.56 per 100. JEWS A MIXED RACE. Paris, 7th December. —M. Salomon Rematch, a very wealthy Hebrew and a member of the French Institute, m a lecture recently declared that the Jews were not a pure race. c They were a mixture, he said, on Arabs FhilistTn.es, Kittite® and Tartars. In the eigth r-~Mury a Turkish population living in uthern Russia, several hundred thousand strong, and known as Ohazars, became converted to Juuaasm. The race was a mixture of infinite variety, bound together by a creed. By ten centuries of inter-marriage they had developed the distinctive appearance by which they were easily recognised. PHOTOGRAPHS BY STARLIGHT. Fanis, 4tih December. —According to the “Debats,” M. Touchet, who has already photographed objects by the light of Venus and Jupiter, has succeeded in obtaining an interesting photograph, by the light of Sirius!, the most brilliant of all the stars. He used an ordinary camera, but attached to the objective a cardboard tube, to tlie end of which he affixed a brooch. The light of the star was concentrated by a powerful fens upon the brooch, and an exposure of an hour and five minutes was given. An excellent photograph of the star,, with a clear image of the brooch in it® centre, Was obtained. As it takes nine years and nine months for the light of Sirius to reach the earth, travelling at 187,-500 miles pea* second, the rays which were used in the experiment had been travelling through space since 1894. WIRELESS TR ACTION. New York. 4th December. —The formal tests of a system of electric transportation without the use of wires or trollies, the invention of Mr L. W. Pullen, of Philadelphia, were made recently at Atlantic City. A anile track along the Pennsylvania railroad had been prepared for the ex-: pertinents, and an immense car which' held 100 passengers was used. The mechanism employed is a series of magnets of a saucer shape laid along the surface, which only become electrified when the ear passes over them. Electric engineers who were present asserted that the test demonstrated the feasibility of cars of a very great weight attaining a speed of 85 miles an hour. The inventor claims that his systew can be installed at a low* cost, and is immune from electrolysis. THE FUTURE MEAT-STORE OF mankind. \ The peculiarity of Argentine fawning is lucidly described by W. Singer Barclay' in f The wealth,..of Argentina consists of the degp aMnpM mould of her pampas and the success with which the nitrogenous lucerne is

grown there. Strange to say, the ordinary progress of civilisation is reversed. b* Pasturage in Argentina succeeds tillage. Tfhe great pampas are first 'of all broken up by the plough ; and made to grow \n cereals. Then, after three or four-in years of agriculture, ilho Land is so w n l . with lucerne, and becomes - profitable pasture. As the growing of,; ; wheat is undertaken principally as a means of preparing 'the land for the lucrative growth of lucerne, “wheat can bo grown and sold at a profitable rate.” As yet, however, only oneseventh of the available fawn area of the Republic has felt the -plough. “Meanwhile, agriculture may be likened to a wave which, sweeping inland from the coast, leaves green fields. and grazing herds behind it.” Argentina is supposed to contain 110,000,000 feheep, more than are- in Australia and New Zealand combined; and 20,000,000 cattle two-thirds-of what are found m the United States. The Argentine output seems within measureablo distance of controlling the world’s meat marke s. Butcher’s meat is the main staple of Argentine prosperity, hut the grow , i whait, as has been seen, and the export of butter,' are important by^dptsLEG GRAFTING. New York, 4th December.—<Dr Andrew L. Neld on. who has successfully grafted the ear of one mam on the head of another, at Philadelphia, believe® that surgery will some day be able to perform the same operation in the case of hands, arms, fingers or legs. He told an inter-viewer-:—“"When I say that leg and arm grafting are possible, Ido not want to be understood as meaning that such operations can be undertaken immediately. The future lias that in store. For the present, surgery can do very little even with bone ,grafting. In certain cases small shaved pieces of .bone have been used to replace dead bo net, and I am familiar with instances where chicken bones have been grafted in noses. But as yet no operation on. so email a scale as making a new finger has been attended with success where bones in their entirety are concerned. £7O FOR A POTATO'. Some extraordinary prices were realised at the iSimrthfield show for a few pounds of potatoes. Messrs Isaac Pond • and Sons, potato merchants, York, fold 41b of Eldorado potatoes for £6OO, or at the rate of £l5O per lb. This works out at £336,000 per ton., or about three times their weight in gold. Mr Findlay, the raiser of these remarkable tubers, declined an offer of „£7O- for a single potato. A sum of £3OOO was paid for 10 tons of the Northern Star variety.

G3LBER/ITAN ENDING TO A TRIAL.

Milan, Bth December. —The trial of the village councillors of Montegu for forging State document® has just ended in a Gilbertdan way. Beppo Vigole, who killed a rival t the hand of a young lady in a duel in 1876, fled to Argentina., .and was in his absence sentenced to penal servitude for life. A short time ago, having amassed a fortune, he wished to return home, and made overtures to the local authorities at Montegu to erect a hospital and subscribe li'berallly to other charitable objects if his sentence were annulled.

He was informed that if he gave himself up to the police his discharge would be a foregone conclusion. Yigode did not see 'his way to accept his proposal, and then the village councillors hit upon the scheme of getting a substitute to undergo the trial! for a monetary consideration. At the last moment the substitute gave the secret away, with the result that the oouncilCors had to answea* a serious charge.

The jury, however, took a humorous view of the situation, and declared the prisoners not guilty.

A PEASANT'S INHUMANITY.

Twenty-one years ago a peasant. in the village of Jaennersdorf, near Oistpriegnitz, placed his sonin a small building, and after trailing him Vin> kept him there. " Food was handed !in through a small opening not many inches in diameter, which was the only channel for light and air within. The peasant is now aged 90, hie wife 86, and the ©on 46. Rumour® caused the police to investigate, and they released the victim, whose condition was indescribable. He was totally mad. His parent®, who say that he was a lunatic beffore he was immured, have been arrested.

brutality inthe GERMAN army. •'

Sergeant Kirchner, of the 153rd Regiment, was sentenced, at Halle, to four- , teen ’months’ imprisonment for numeric ous oases of pipf>reating soldiers. Th»| men often fainted under bis bruEgg treatment, and be habitually epat. « men’s faces* ?>Cf A ' • •ri-..V' ;t

EXTIROiMIDINiAIRY WiEIDDTNG INCIDENT. Hecently-B"ploughman on a farm north o£ Blairgowrie was to have been maimed in the marisQ of a neighbouring parish, and all arrangements had been completed for the ceremony. The local police, however, received information that the bridegroom 'was ‘‘wanted” on a change of theft, and- ftrily half an hour before the time fixed ; fdr’'the wedding he was arrested, and conveyed'-to the look-up 'passing the minister who was to have married him en route. The articles he is alleged to have stolen are a gold brooch .and a gold ring, hut he emphatically denied any knowledge of them. Inspector Small and Constable M‘CBean visited the bride at her home, and asked her to show them her presents, which she proceeded to do, being ignorant of her intended’s arrest. Among the presents were the brooch and ring reported to have been stolen, and these were taken possession of by the police. When'told that her . lover had been arrested on a charge of stealing them the bride gave way for a time to uncontrolled gried, and later on cailled at the Police Office and asked that the marriage be allowed to be proceeded with in the o%lls. Neediless to say, this request was refused, but during the evening the accused ws liberated on bail of £3, and the couple proceeded direct to the manse before mentioned, where the knot woo duly tied. '

YOUNG LAiDY BOUND AND

GAGGED.

At the Sittingbourne Petty Sessions reoently,v John Wilson, a AobourerL of stalwart build, was charged with housebreaking at Little Piid.es Farm. Shenpey, and with endeavouring to obtain money by threats from Miss Florence Grant, aged 22, described as an authoress, who

lives alone at the farm. Miss Grant found the man in her cottage, and it is alleged he gagged her, and bound, her to the bed until she told him where her money was. and promised t.o not more. Prisoner went with'Mass' G’ant to her parents’ house, but she there gave information which lied to prisoner being apprehended. He made'his escape, hut was again captured after an exciting chase. He was remanded.

EXTRAORDINARY TALE FROM

RUSSIA.,

On arriving at St Petersburg a week or two ago, a German visitor purchased a peculiarly-shaped cap, which he / thought would be more comfortable than/bis ordinary head-gear for exploring the. town, with which he was not : well acquainted. On arriving home in the evening after •his first day’s sightseeing, he was surprised to find in the pocket of his overcoat two purses, one of them containing over £lO. Next day he found in his pocket several more purses, and the third day he communicated with the 'Chief of Police. That official suspected that the cap had something to do with the circumstance, and ho sent the German with a policeman to the hatter’s shop, where they learned that some time ago a man had cailled and given a large piece of English cloth, of which the shopkeeper was to make 15 cape of exact similarity. On concluding this order the hatter found that he had a piece of cloth over, and. of this he made an extra cap—the one which was sold to the German. On the strength of this information the Chief of Police arranged for a detective to accompany the German on bis next day’s sight-seeing; and then the mystery was cleared up. Watching his charge carefully, the dective saw various men loungo furtively up to the German and . transfer something from their hands to liis .pockets. On each occasion the men thus discovered was arrested, and in the course of two or three days, during which the same plan was pursued, the . police made prisoners of about a dozen men. They turned out to be a gang of pickpockets, and all wore a cap of the same pattern as that purchased by the German. Their plan was to pass on their plunder to a confederate for whom the German had been mistaken. F A FIGHT to the death. The Scots Zoo, in New City Road, Glasgow, was the other day the scene of the fiercest animal combat that has ever been witnessed among the animals in the collection. A majestic forest-bred South African (lion, named “Cecil/’ without the i slightest - provocation, attacked a large lioness, which only two or three days ago had been put into liis cage, and in a few minutes, despite the Strenuous efforts of Mr Bostock and the tamer and the staff/ the female lay a mangled and' lifeless mass in the corner of the den. So fierce was the encounter and so firm the hold.which the lion had obtained, that the united efforts of the men to save the lioness were unavailing. Every available weapon was: used and a deluge of water was poured upon the lion from the. firehose, but hot until tlielitianiroiate form of the lioness lay mqtibhless in bis mouth did he relax his -The lioness was a very beautiful on®Mbtended for stock pur- ; poses. It added that the old ' and 'killed }a lioness undek'feirailai' drcumstanoes at

the Tower Menagerie, Blackpool, about eight; years ago. CHICAGO GANG OF BOY MURDER. ERS. /The four young bandits —Marx, Vandine, Roecki, and Neidemeior —who liave committed eight murders between them, and "were captured last, month after a desperate resistance, ‘.were charged with the capital offence at Chicago. It is intended to send them to the gallows as quickly as the law permits. Vandine, the eldest of the gang, who has bean a soldier in the Philippines, wept when visited by his mother and sweetheart. The latter declares that she is willing to marry him in prison or on the gallows. Vandine told them that lie could net explain his conduct. To a reporter he said that trashy stories of adventure were not responsible for his criminal career, hut the fact that he was unable to earn more than enough t ; o buy bread. Ho says that there was an agreement between the four that, in, ease one was arrested, the others shoui’d. rescue horn and kill the witnesses. They had even planned bo blow up the police -stata cm with dynamite to rescue Marx, the first of the gang to be captured.

Vandine says that he could kill a, man two blocks away. All the bows pride themselves an their marksmanship. 'Marx said that after ho had IrT-lecl two men in the carsheds he thought every prEcemau. knew his secret. Ho had a pretty hot career he said : “but wo rmVM ns well end it now as at any other time.'” . Neidemeior refused to'talk. except to sa.v that he and Vandine sir'iendered because Vandine said that he wanted to See his mother before he died. Noidemeier’s parents blame Marx for leading him astray. ; Roecki says that Neidemeior and Vandi.ne wanted to kill him a month ago to ensure their own safety. He feared treachery on the day of the fight with the detectives and sought .to escape. He lost his revolver while running, and broke through the ice on. the Calumet river, orally his head -being above water. Hid .clothes were frozen, .and his stockings -and shoes were filled with blood.

• Vandine and Neidemeier are the vainest of the four. They refused to be photographed after their capture until the blood and dirt were washed from their face®. ' MADE HIS “PILE” IN PRISON. According to a New York correspondent. A,lpho.no J. 'Stephana, who is serving a •life sentence in Dannemora Prison for murdering Judge Reynolds, out of revenge, is becoming known in the jail as “the dead man of Wall Street.” Sbephani has an office in his celll, closely follows the stock reports, and has become a well-known client of several brokers in Wall Street. So good is bis judgment that he is said to have made a fortune, and his cheque is reported to bo good for five figures in pound sterling. Some time ago his mother died and left him £SOOO. The owner of all this wealth lives in a cell, wears a courso stripped suit, and supports existence on dry bread, black coffee, and other unpalatable prison fare j TERRIBLE RAILWAY DISASTER. A terrible disaster has occurred on the railway near Greenwood, Delaware, when a collision between two goods trains close to the town. A crowd wok watching the wreck when suddenly there was a terrific explosion from one of the waggons, which contained either dynamite or naptha, and two persons were killed —one of them, a child, being killed anerely by the shock —and scores injured, several beyond hope of recovery. Five houses near the railway were destroyed, and hundreds of buildings were damaged. The force of the explosion waa such that a hole 10 feet deep and 200 feet in circumference was torn in the earth. NEGROES LYNCHED IN LOUISIANA. ° i • A! telegram from Belcher, Louisiana, states that three of the five negroes who had been arrested an a charge of fatallvshooting Mi” Robert Adler, a respected .white citizen, were all hanged from the same.limb of a tree. They had been identified by Mr Adler before he died, apd .had confessed their crime./Negroes -participated in the lynching, which was witnessed by a crowd of 1200 persons. THE OONFIDENOE TRICK. . A clever and ingenious variation of the oonfiden.ee trick has occurred in Edinburgh, an. Italian ice-cream, dealer having - lost savings to the amount of £B3 4s. About a fortnight ago a gentleman, who spoke Italian fluently., visited the shop, and by daily visits gradually won the friendliness and confidence of the Italian. A week later a second individual, also speaking Italian, balled and desired to be recommended to a quiet hotel, as lie had a considerable sum of money with him, showing a wetllfilled bag, which, he said, contained sovereigns. It was agreed that the gentleman should have in the

Italian’s own house, and the latter permitted his visitor to place the hag of gold in a box along with his own savings, amounting to the sum named. The first-comer was apparently unknown to the lodger, and they were introduced by the ice-cream dealtf. Next day they left the shop together, promising to return at night, hut hi)' 'more was 'seen of them, and the sequel oarno when the Italian found'aH his savings gone and only iron filings in the bag. The couple felt no clue of any kind.

POSSESSED £3OOO, YET POOR. A remarkably case cf a fortune missed through its existence being unsuspected has just occurred at Arbois, in. Belgium. A pork butcher named Bidaine in 1870 purchased two French military saddles after the rout of Sedan forced a number of French soldiers over the Belgian frontier. It is not clear that M. Bidaine ever made much use of the saddles, but he kept them, and at his death . recently they were pointed out to M. Sibenater, director of the Provincial Museum, as “objects of historic interest.” Proceeding to examine them after purchase, the director found in a diesel,v-st.rapped saddle pcckct 85 old French bank-notes, of 1000 francs' (or £4O) each, evidently the property of soma bachelor troooor or officer who-se fate has lain for 32 years in oblivion. As for poor Bidaine, he died rather poor, with £3200 within reach of liis hand daily for the last half of his life.

THE REVIVAL OF THE DREYFUS

EASE

The Dreyfus case is to he reopened, the French Government 'having consented to the preliminary steps being taken for a further revision. An intimation to this effect was sept to the press in the form of the following official note:—“After examining the dossier communicated by the Minister of Waa*, the Minister of Justice, who had also under consideration an application for 'revision made to the Chancellor by ex-Captoin Dreyfus, lias furnished these various documents to M. Durand, Councillor of the Court of. Cassation and president of the commission constituted at the Ministry of Justice in virtue cf the law cf June 6. 1895, article 4.44 of the Criminal Instruction Code.” It is the result of General Andre’s inquiry which lias led to the decision noted above. No official statement has yet been made on this point, hut it is currently reported that the inquiry revealed the fact that certain documents shown to the Court-martial at Rennes whilst it was sitting with closed doors were forgeries. The document containing tho words “Co canaile de D ” is, it is believed, especially doubtful, as it is now proved that the initial “D” had been substituted for some other letter. In consequence of the examination made by the Minister of War, the conclusion is said to have been arrived at that the -annotated bordereau did not figure in the dossier at the Rennes trial, but it was not proved that the forgery did not exist outside the dossier. The inquiry showed that tho witness Czernusohi gave false evidence, but the specially serious fact which would justify tho revision of tho trial is that it was shown, according to the “Depeohe de Toulouse,” that evidence the falsity of which was known to those who gave it was produced at the Rennes trial and that forged or falsified documents were shown to the judges. Several persons in high positions are stated to be implicated in the affair. In conclusion, the journal says: It is reported that the examination of the dossier, including the.,secret part, led to tho conviction that no real proof, material or moral, exists against exCaptaiin Dreyfus. On the other hand, all the presumptions of guilt against Estierhazy are said to be justified.

SOUTH AFRICAN VOLUNTEER

GETS DAMAGES.

In the Court of Session recently, Lord Stormonth Darling had before him the action by David M‘Gill Smith, civil engineer, Raemoir, Carriok Road. Ayr, agninsb the Union Castle Mail Steamship Company, Glasgow, for £2OOO damages. Pursuer served in South Africa as a anember of the Volunteer Service Company of the Gordon Highlanders. He returned on 25th June’. 1902. otn board the Walmer Castle, belonging to defenders. On the first evening, shortly after he had gone into his bauimook, the whole of the mess and one or two others collapsed. Pursuer was precipitated on to the mess table, and was crushed between the table and falling timber, kits and other wreckage, and was severely injured. Defenders have now paid £SOO and expenses.

BLANK OF ENGLAND SHOOTING

INCIDENT.

At the Mansion . House (London) Piollioe Court. George Frederick Robinson, aged 27 described as a mining engineer, the man who fired shots in the Bank of England last week, was brought up on three charges—tho first, being a wandering lunaticthe second, with shooting at Mr Kenneth Grahame,

secretary of the (bank, with intent to murder him: and third, with threatening to dhoo-t two detective officers at the bank.

Mr Fre&lifield, solicitor to - the bank, described tho affair. Accused came to tho bank asking to see Sir Augustus Prevest. He was in interviewed by Mr Grahame, and presented him with a roll of papers iii the form of a petition, which would bo handed to the Court. Ho then presented a revolver at Mr Giiahame and fired. Mr Grahame left the room, and prisoner followed. He went into the library, where he was secured after a severe sniggle. On the roll of papers which Robinson presented to Mr Grahame was written., “All are concerned.” The head waiter at- the hank said prisoner caino from tho waitingroom into tho lobby shouting. “Come on, you cowards and curs.” He them walked into tho library, and witness locked him in. Piisoner shouted’ from tho inside, “Como in, waiter.” But witness stayed outside. ■Detective-Inspector Bacon said that when called to the library, lie Cooked inside, and saw the prisoner with a revolver in his hand. The revolver, an army Colt weapon was produced. Witness attempted to seize the prisoner, but. he-dodged him and kept him at bay until he was overcome by the fire hose being turned on him. As witness and another detective approached, prisoner aimed a terrific blow at them with a heavy chair, Ibut he was overpowered after a desperate struggle.

The prisoner interrupted to remark that tho cartridges did not fit the revolver, and the., inspector prooeeded to put the bullets in the weapon. Much to the alarm of some of the Court officials, the prisoner asked if he could have the revolver a minute, but tho Magistrate replied, “Not likely/’ When prisoner was taken t-o the police station, he made a rambling statement about the gold in the bank, the poverty in the East End, and said that the laws of England wanted reforming. Asked if { he wished to say anything, prisoner said—“ All I wish to say is, after the first two shots were fired the revolver became clogged. I released it, and put in a piece cf paper, some candle grease, and a little gold on the top of the grease. That was for the remaining four, shots.” Prisoner was committed for trial. BIGAMY EXCUSED. Paris, Bth December.—A- man who had committed bigamy was to-day acquitted at the Paris Assizes. He had married a woman twenty years older than himself, but she turned out to have a very bad temper, and refused to live with him. Then he> met a young woman, with whom ho fell violently in love, and -not being able to wait for a divorce married her. ’When tho jury hoard tho story and saw the behaviour of the two women in court they decided to acquit tile man. “But he is -any legal husband,” protested the elder woman. “No,” said the younger woman, kissing tho man, “the court says my poor darling is not guilty, and I am therefore his wife.” Thereupon tho two women began fighting with their umbrellas, and had to bo separated by the police. ", HIS LAST DAYS. In one of the smaller provincial workhouses a feeblo old man, assisted by another pauper, was making his way with tottering steps from the “body of the house” to a ward in the infimary. The reception lie met with from the pauper wards man in charge was anything but inviting.

“Why could n’t you wait till after supper before coming up?” -.

“Doctor said as how I was to come at once.”

“Well, take off your things and get into bed; you’ll never get up any more that’s a sure thing.”

“That’s what doctor said. ‘Go to bed/ says he, iand have a rest.’ ‘But doctor, ’ I says, Tbe thinking my work’s done, and ’tis the long rest that’s ar coming; eighty-five and never give up before; I bo ready, for sure, but I warrant that some on ’em wild miss me when they be : 'sawing up the wood.’ ” “Hold your bother and get off your clothes.” ; -

“I won’t bother ’ee for long; tho Master’s coming for mo soon, and I be ready to go vi’ ’m. Can I have my weskit under my pillow?”

“No, you can’t. What do you want your waistcoat under your pillow for ?”

“There’s a bit o’ ’bacca in it.” “Put the ’bacca on the chair; you can’t keep your clothes, you’ll never want ’em no more. Off with your stockings.”

“Now, do ’oo let me have on my stockings; they be clone "o n to-day, and won’t do no harm. I do get the cramp so in the night if I don’t keep my stockings on.” .v / ' .

‘'ln you get. I’ve gob something eEse to do besides bfoth&ring’ about -with yooi.” S r “I botliea’ tor’oe for long; V O Lord! make:haste, make haste, and . take me to lo©.”—"Westminster Budget.” 3 ' ;v '. >3' •• ; , 33 ■