HOME AND FOREIGN.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1676, 13 April 1904, Page 14

HOME AND FOREIGN.

HOTTENTOT RISIN G.—-MU RDERED SETTLERS. - Tlie “Cologne Gazette” publishes a message dated. Ojutjo (German. SbuthVTest Africa,), Feb. 3, from Herr MuellentLbrff, a representative of that journal, who was reported dead. It said: —“The following have been murdered: A man named! Peter, at Out jo; two ■ men, Schwartz and Hoy, in the West, and! the carrier Lehr. Three others, Gr'imewald. Clussmanin and Wesohkalnitz, have been maltreated. The 4th Company on Jan. 16 had a fight at Okarandje, in which Sevgt.-Major Glatzel was severely wounded. Capt. Kliepoth. on Jan. 27, started on an expedition to Omaruru, from which place no news has been received. I was present at an engagement at Etanrcberg. in which artillery was brought into action. Capt. Kiipoth was shot im the shoulder. Beyond this the Germans had no casualties. The Hereros sustained severe losses and evacuated tlieir position. On Jan. 31 we again reached Outjo. First-lieut. Baron von Sclioenanikehr about this time made a successful reconnaissance westwards, against farming thieves. The Hottentots in the north, as well as the Ovamhols, are qiuiet, but caution is necessary. Onr company remains here. We are awaiting relief. We are 120 men strong. Some of the besieged will break through to Swakopmuncl biv way of the Na*mib Desert. According to the “Lokailanzeiger,” a skirmish took place near Windhoek on the 14th- between an advance company of German troop's and a party of Hotten.tots. The German forces are stated to have lost one killed and two severely wounded. WOMAN’S STORY OF AN AUSTRIAN DIVORCE. . ~ An extraordinary development of a summons taken out under the Married Woman’s Maintenance Act eaanei about during the hearing of the case of “Tann'eblatt v. Tanneblatt,” in London. The woman, represented by Mr Crocker (solicitor), said.that the defendant (her husband) bad deserted her. and she asked for maintenance. She said they were married in Austria last autumn and come to England the same week. He was a cabinet-maker. She had a restaurant in Spiral fields. After two or three weeks he left her aiyl said bis parents would not allow him to live with her any more. He told her if she-sold her business he would go with her to America, but he afterwards refused, .and had not “contributed to-, her support since.' The Magistrate remarked that it seemed a short married 1 life, and asked how the parties came to be marrierl in Austria if the woman had a business here. The woman, giving evidence through the court interpreter, said she went out to 'Austria to- him to get married. The defandant went ‘into the witnessbox and, also- giving evidence through the interpreter, said he- found that.his wife was enceinte, and, therefore, he left heir.—Mr Clper: That is not sufficient reason in Elnglish law if yon have married the woman. Had you been here; and did she follow you tol Austria P -—The questions were put through the interpreter, and then it came out that he had been a waiter at the restaurant, that the woman, had a, husband there, and that that hrusband left her. The woman was recalled, and said that it was true. Mr Crocker: I understand he left her because of her alleged adultery with the waiter, aryl she went to Austria to get a divorce, and then married the waiter. Mr Cliuer: I shall vfant strict evidence of the divorce, or shall hold there is no marriage here. BRA YE DEED REWARDED. The .. Roygl Humane Society has awarded the Stanhope Gold Medal for the most meritorious case of the year to Mr J. Shearme, --fourth officer on the P. and O. Steamship Malacca, for his rescue of . Mr A. Aveston. quartermaster of the ship, at Woosung China, on Dec. 15, 1902. . " - • < • Aveston; in attending to bis duty, fell overboard shortly after midnight, and Mr Skearme, although the night was pitch-dark, with a heavy teea, six-knot tide, and the temperature below freezing, at onoe went after him, and at - tremendous risk effected his rescue. The report showed that 642 cases of gallantry had been brought forward, and that 721 persons had received recognition for saving 665 lives. Bathing in the Serpentine had been supervised, and 11 persons who? got into danger rescued. Seven suicides had taken, place in this water, and 11 attempts at suicide were frustrated. -V YOUTH’S WORLD TOUR. The 16-year-bld youth, William E. Mason, who left London on a walking tour round the world on June 21, 1897, arrived (writes a “Morning Post” correspondent) at Rovelstoke (British Coluin- - bia), on Jan. 21, after having walked 36,579 miles. It will be remembered

that, after being stripped of all his clothes, he attired himself in a suit made of twopenny worth of newspapers which he purchased. In this novel costume fieTmade enough money to buy a now suit, and then set forth on his lour of the world. Though he had no money, he was not to beg, borrow or steal. He has now been on the tramp fotr isix years and a-haif. At Revelstoke he made 25 dollars by lecturing on hiis tour aryl experiences. He started again on his walk on Ja,n. 24 for Montreal, which he expects to reach some time in May. WARNING TO TRADESPEOPLE. ~Tn the King’s Bench Division Miss Dutrey, can-tying on business as Madame de Lambert, high-class dressmaker. Hanover square, London, brought an action to recover £lO9, the amount of an account for blouses, tea-gowns and underwear, said to have been incurred by Mrs King, wife of a tea traveller, living at Highgate; The action was against Mr King and liis wife, and the defence was a denial of liability. A material point was whether the articles supplied were “necessaries.” Mr Justice Phillirnore hoped that great publicity would be given to the case in cyder that- tradespeople might take warning. Mr King said his rent was £7O per annum, and his income averages £I2OO. He had a wife and three daughters. To the wife he allowed £lO per month for dress; to the daughters £SO each per annum, and to the youngest £25. This was always paid by cheque, and the last few years the total for their dresses amounted in that way to the following :—ln 1900. £315; 1901, £311: 1902 £315; and -part cf 1903, £265. There were, in addition, frequent presents by him. His wife bad been extravagant in dress for a long period, and be bad before been sued in the King’s Bench Division in consequence. He had been oblige:! to pay tradesmen personally. and had forbidden her to pledge his credit. It was upon his solicitor’s aylvi.ee that he paid his wife by cheque for her dress allowance. Mr Justice Philimore. in summing up. stated that the principal questions were whether the articles supplied were neessaries, and whether the amount allowed by the husband was sufficient. The jury brought in the following questions and answers:—Did the plaintiff give credit to the husband —No.—Were the goods necessary for the wife and children? —Yes.' —Has the husband forbidden the wife to pledge his credit? — Yes. —Has he made the allowance which hie says he lias ?—Yes. His lordship said that amounted to a verdict for the defendants, and gave judgment- accordingly. LADY’S SLANDER SUIT. Miss Kathleen Muaselwhite, a wellknown Wiltshire musician, living at Wilton, brought an action at Bristol Assizes claiming lamages for slander against Mr Sydney Henry Beckett, who at the time the words complained of were uttered was Mayor of Wilton. The evidence was to the effect that defendant told tlie lady’s father last November that there' was a tale about concerning Mr Mussel white’s daughter, Kathleen, and a young medical man named* Rucker, to whom she was engaged, “They say there was a pair of bloomers and a mackintosh picked up in the Groveley belonging to her”— Grovel ey being a favourite walk in the district*. It was complained that this cast an imputation on the plaintiff, who stated in evidence that she had been jeered at in the streets after the report, and had to speak to tlie police. Defendant pleaded that in a friendly way lie told the plaintiff’s father of the rumour he had heard in order that Mr Musseliwliite might put a atop to it, but he made no imputation whatever against the plaintiff. Mr Justice Grantham, in the course of the case, said Wilton seemed to he celebrated as an emporium of scandal tend gossip.—The jury found for the plaintiff and awarded her £SO damages. ALIENS IN THE HIGH COURT. Mr Justice Pliilimore and a common jury, in the King’s Bench Division, London, had before them the case of “De Rosa v. Capocci,” which was an action brought by one Italian against another to recover damages for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. The rear of the court was crowded with Italians. The witnesses in the case could not speak English, and the services, of an interpreter were called in. The plaintiff’s case was that the defendant was a “padrone,” keeping a house in which resided Italians who* came over to this country and were sent out in the winter months with barrel-organs and in the summer with ice-cream stalls. The plaintiff was under the defendant’s roof for some time and then started business on ibis own - account. This seemed to up'set the defendant*. There was a quarrel, and serious allegations were made by the defendant against the plaintiff’s wife. An action for slander was thereupon brought by the plaintiff, but before it came on an affray occurred in which the defendant was seriously injured. the plaintiff and two others being afterward's charged by the defendant with assault. The case was heard at the Croydon quarter sessions, and the result

! was that the plaintiff was ;< unfitted, and j ho luuocquyiuiy u-r-ougut the present aci ticn any.l asked for damages. His lordship remarked to the jury that \he count had preciously to deal with a case.in which Polish Jews were concerned, while their lot that day was to deal with a squabble between organ grinders. (Laughter.) After hearing evidence, a good deal of which was of a more than usually contradictory character, the jury returned a verdict for the - plaintiff and awarded £SO damages.— Judgment was entered accordingly. STRANGE SEQUEL TO AN ELOPEMENT. The romantic story of a lady who* married a coachman was unfolded in a case at Leicester Assizes recently. The plaintiff was Albert Edward Smith, a coachman, and the defendants were Robert Walker Kaye and Charles Bernard Robinson. . The plaintiff sought damages by reason of the defendant's 'enticing away and wrongfully harbouring, his wife. Counsel told how Smith, who served with the Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa, had become a coachman in the employment of Mr Kayo. Miss Kaye frequently stayed with her brother, and from constant drives out with plaintiff mutual affection resulted. However, plaintiff said nothing till one day, when out riding together, Miss Kaye recognised the difficult circumstances, herself declared her love for him, and asked him to correspond with her. Affectionate letters and meetings followed, and in February of last year they became* secretly engaged. In one of her letters to Smith the lady wrote:—“l may tell you that my feelings Towards you will never change to lfiy, dying day, and even that which I feel for you will pass on, with me to* the next world. Love comes hut once.” An aunt of the lady died in March, leaving her £4509. and a reversionary interest in some other money, and after a time Miss Kaye and Smith were married*. Counsel said that the action was for enticing away from the plaintiff his wife, . and when She was away from him, inducing her to stop away. Before she was taken away —he said taken away apparently almost, if not entirely, by force—until then not an angry word had ever passed between them of any kind or description. Sine© she left him he had not heard a word from her. He had not been able to gain access to her, and. so far as lie believed, She had been prevented from corresponding with him. In his evidence plaintiff said ho considered his flesh and blood as good as hits master’s. The latter wanted him to marry a housemaid; but lie declined to have a wife selector! for him by his master. Witness 'added,. “I told him I should marry the one I loved, and I did.” Cross-examined, tlie plaintiff said it was not true that he had entertained no idea of marrying Miss Kaye until he heard that she had been left a large sum of money. The defendants arrived at Bolton two days after the marriage, and Kaye burst into the room without permission and said, “Smith., you are a scoundrel. Where is my sister P” A detective who accompanied them kept witness in conversation while defendants took his wife away. Mr Justice Wright, in summing up, said that no matter whether it was a case of duke and dairymaid, o*r dairyman and duchess, the parties had equal rights, and in this instance plaintiff, despite liis position, was entitled to the benefits of his marriage. If tlie jury believed the defendants went to Bolton with the intention of inducing Mrs Smith to leave her husband they were liable. The jury found a verdict for plaintiff and awarded him £SOO damages. WAR OFFICE CONTRACTS. In, the King’s Bencli Division the blearing was con eluded ‘of the action against Messrs Edwaud Lloyd, Limited, proprietors, of the “Daily Chronicle,” for allege! libel. The plaintiffs ivere Messrs E. Underwood and Son. Limited, hay and straw merchants, of Nine Elms. The learned judge now summed up and directed the j'uffy to answer the following questions :■ —Did they find for the plaintiffs or the defendants ? If for the plaintiffs, with what damages ? And he asked them to say whether the substantial part of the forage delivered on board at Liverpool was of good or bad quality. The jury retired, and after an absence of forty minutes found for the plaintiffs with £l6O special damage and £IOOO general damage. They also found that the greater part of the hay delivered was of good quality, although some mow-burnt hay had been improperly inchided in it, and that the hay had suffered a certain amount of damage on the quayside from causes not under the control of the plaintiffs. The learned judge thereupon gave judgment for the plaintiffs for £ll6O, with costs. FIGHT IN THE OAMEROONS. According to a telegram received at Berlin from the Imperial Governor of the Cameroon's, Count Pueckler. who was in charge of the post of Ossidinge, has .been killed in fighting with the natives at Basso. A punitive expedition

has been despatched. Further details have not yet been received, but itis presumed that Count Pueckler, while on a 'tour of exploration in the parts of his district which are still little known, came into conflict with the tribe* of the Anjangs, in whoso territory Basso is situated, and who have not yet submit*- . ted to German rule. WRECK OF A STEAMER. Advices from Oorcubion (Corunna) report that the British steamer Yeoman has* gone on the rooks there, that four lives were lost, and'that the vessel was seriously damaged. Messrs T. and J. Harrison, .the managing owners of the Yeoman, informed Reuter’s Liverpool representative that the telegrams they had received' showed that four of the crew were missing. The Yeoman had four passengers, who were saved. The steamer has a general car<™ amongst which is a quantity of sailt*. The value of the entire cargo is* about £250,000. The Yeoman left Liverpool on Feb. 6 for Calcutta. The owners do not know the names of the* missing men, but tsay thev are only reported as missing and may turn. up. The Yeoman was only built in, 1901, and is of 7379 gross 'tonnage. Messrs Harrison states that they had information, that all Europeans on hoard the Yeoman were saved. The four missing members of the crew are Lascars. BOMB OUTRAGE IN A CHURCH. Advices received from Baku stake that the Armenian clergy celebrated a solemn Te Denm service for the success of the Russian arms. At the end of the- Te Deium, during the singing of the National anthem, a bomb was thrown at the clergy. The bomb exploded, wounding several persons, two of whom succumbed to their injuries. When the excitement which the deed occasioned had been allayed the congregation proceeded, carrying a portrait of the Czar, toi the house of the Governor. They requested his excellency to convey to the Czar an expression of their feelings of loyalty, and- to accept the sum of a thousand roubles (£100) for the relief of those wlio had been injured in the bomb outrage. LADY MOUNT STEPHEN'S NECKLACE. On the day of the Royal wedding at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, Lady Mount Stephen lost a pearl necklace with a diamond clasp, valued at £2OOO. Her ladyship missed the necklace at the chapel. Search was afterwards made everywhere, but the necklace could not ho found, and a reward of £SO was offered for its recovery. - One of the porters employed at* tlie Great Western Station at Windsor informed the station-master that on the day of Princess Alice’s wedyding, shortly after the arrival of the special train from Paddington containing the wedding guests, he picked up the necklace in the station (yard.* Not* knowing the value of it he put it in his pocket*. The necklace was in three pieces, and had evidently been broken when her ladyship entered her carriage. Mr S. T. Maun, the etationma'ster. at one© handed the necklace over to the divisional superintendent of the line at Paddington, and it was restored to Lady Mount Stephen. In consequence of the porter not reporting liis find and at once handing over the necklace to the officials he wa» suspended from duty pending the decision of the railway authorities. He had only been in the company’s service* a short time, but lias always borne a good character. He served in the Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa. A BUCKETFUL OF DIAMONDS. An -extraordinary story is told in the Cape papers, as a sequel to the* sentence of death passed upon the man. Swartz, who while on a search for buried diamond's, murdered liis companion. It is said that Cecil Rhodes, while travelling near the possessions of the, then great Kaffir chief Magato in: 1890, was invited to pay the native fortress a visit. Magato asked Cecil Rhodes if he had ever seen a bucketful of diamonds, and received a negative reply. The Kaffir chief said something to ail Induna, and two natives brought out a bucket filled to the brim with precious stones of the finest colour and of perfect lustre. Mr Rhodes, filling them to be valuable diamond’s, asked Magato how lie had got them.* The reply was that they had come at different times as presents from his native subjects who worked in the De Beers mines. Mr Rhodes estimated the value of tlie tones at from two and ahalf to four and a-lialf millions sterling. Several syndicates triqd to persuade Magato to sell the diamonds, but he always refused. _ . . . Magato*, before liis death, divided the stones up into parcels', and distributed them amongst liis Indunas. It is Supposed that some of 'the diamonds ivere afterwards buried, and it was to* search for one of these parcels of hidden treasure that Swartz formed the fatal expedition.