HOME AND FOREIGN NEWS

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4330, 13 April 1901, Page 6 (Supplement)

HOME AND FOREIGN NEWS

the BONAPAiITIST CAMPAIGN

Some time ago it was announced that M. Alfred [Mwards, proprietor ci tho “Petit Sou,” had published in that organ the statement that M. WaldeckRousseau was secretly working to put Prince Louis Napoleon on the Throne of Franco. The writer being a near relation of the Premier, the statement naturally gav e rise to considerable comment. “La. Liborto” has published an interview with AI. Edwards, "who declares that ho got fchc nows from a Socialist Deputy who was in a position to be ex. notly informed on the subject. Th© Bonapartlst campaign, ho says, is making most powerful strides. Although, more active than anyone else, they have always boon protected. At the trial in, the Haute Cour it was Royalists who wore picked out for punishment, whilst Bonapartists got off scot free. M. Edwards states that his brother-in-law, M. ‘VValdeck-Ro-usscau, mis always had the ambition to play thy role of General Monk, who paved the way for Charles 11. of England. Years ago ho had warned him, against it, and restrained him when on the brink of the abyss, but he has now got beyond control.

THE MINISTER’S BREACH OF PROMISE. In the broach of promise action at the instance of Mary Miller, Motherwell, Scotland, against the Bev. Thomas Smith, London Evangelical Union Congregational minister, Muivkirk, Sheriff Orr Paterson has found that the ticfender promised and agreed to- marry the pursuer, and that ho -wrongfully failed to perform said promise, to the lose, injury, and damage of the pursuer, ond has awarded the lady £l5O damages and expenses. In a note his Lord.-hiip says the defender denies that any specific date was fixed for the marriage, but his letters show that oven if no date had been fixed, ho was desirious that th e marriage should take place at as early a date as possible, even although no specific date had been fixed; the promise involved an obligation on the defender to implement it within a reasonable time, and the pursuer was entitled to expect the marriage, which had been delayed for so many years while the defender was studying for the ministry, would take place upon his getting a charge. From October, 1899, till about the middle of January, 1900, the defender continued his visits to the pursuer, but his visits were not so frequent as previously, and no letters seem to have passed between them. From 11th January until April, 1900, the defender neither visited nor wrote to the pursuer. Tliis his Lordship attributes to tic defendant’s affection for the purpursuer’s womanly reluctance to (take the initiative in calling her indifferent lover back to her. Wounded by his neglect and learning that he had been in her neighbourhood w’ithout coming to see her, she in the irritation of the moment wrote on. 28th April, 1900—“ At last, much against my will,'Tam compelled to write you for an explanation of your conduct towards mo. Unless an explanation comes immediately you can consider yourself at liberty to act as if I were entirely unknown to you.” It was contended for the defender that this letter operated as a release to him from- his engagement. Had he at once intimated to the pursuer that he accepted! this as a release, there might have been room for the contention that the engagement was at an, end, but his Lordship is by no means satisfied that such hasty words from a woman smarting under the neglect of her lover could not bo recalled by her or would by themselves justify her affianced in breaking an engagement of such long standing. Even that question, however, did not arise here, as the defender did not refuse the explanation or accept his release, although he declares his intention to marry the pursuer ceased on receipt of this letter. As to the question of damages, looking to the lengths of the engagement, and to ‘the pursuer having waited nearly ton years,, from the age of nineteen or twenty to twenty, nine, to allow of the defender being in a position to- marry her, his Lorship is of opinion that £l5O is not an overestimate of the damage she has sustained.

RUSSIAN FLEET IN THE PACIFIC. The present political complications having rendered necessary an increase of th© Russian squadron in the Pacific Ocean, tho Ministry of Marino has elaborated a scheme whereby the squadron ■will be composed of the following vessels during the year 1901: Tho battleships Potropavlovsk, Poltava, Sebastopol, Sissoi Veliki, and Navarin. . The first-class cruisers Gromoboi, Roaria Kurils, Admiral Nakhimo'ff. Admiral Korniloff, Ihnitri Donskoi, Vladimir Monomache; tho second-class cruisers Razboinik, Zabiaka. Tho seagoing gunboats Gremiastohy, Otvajny, Gbiliak, Koroiets, Mandjour, Sivoutch, and Bohr. Tho torpedo vessels Vsadnik and Haidamak, and tho torpedo, boats Kit, Sour, Delphine, Kassatka, and Skat. Tho squadron will be further reinjwoed noKt summer by one battleship throe cruisers, two transport vessels, and five torpedo boats. TAILORS’ STRIKE IN PARIS; The strike of persons engaged in the making of tailor-made costumes in Paris is assuming serious proportions. It affects the famous dressmaking establishments in the Rue-de la Pa ix, the Rue de Rivoli, and tho neighbourhood. A singular spectacle is afforded by groups of workwomen on strike lying in wait for their comrades in these brilliant quarters of Paris fashion to induce them to follow their example. Unfortunately there is a disposition to use coercion, which has impelled M. Repine, Prefect of Police, to place a large number of extra men on duty. From time to time arrests are made, the mob following the prisoners, crying ‘Vive la grieve!” Some of the big houses have made arrangements-to provide board and lodging on the premises to secure the safety of the employees. The animosity of the strikers is chiefly directed’ against cutters. The strike is doing considerable damage to the trade, it being impossible to fulfil orders’ in time for the social engagements of the Carnival season.

At a meeting held at the Bourse tin Travail, the tailors and tailoresses ro. solved to continue the strike. It was also resolved to take up a stand at the entrances to the workshops with a view to prevent non-strikers entering. There "Were several disturbances after the meeting, especially iu th© Place de la Ropublique. The poiioo were ordered to use violence, and make numerous arrests. PIET BE WET AND PEACE. In an interview with Mr Piet Do Wet a correspondent was told that the .object of the former’s visit to Cap© Town was bo secure the co-operation of the Afrikander .Bond as an organisation towards cringing about the” cessation of hostilities. “The Peace Commission,” Mr Be Wet

said, “have two immediate objects in view. First, to secure the retreat flora Cape Colony of all (he commandoes, and secondly, weir surrender on_ returning to the late Republican territory, and the surrender cl cue ocher Republicans. “So far as we can see, the Bond is emphatically the boat instrument to this end—indeed, our hope.- of success re.,t mainly on the Bend. The present invasion of Cape Colony is the direst consequence of the Worcester Congress. Largo numbers of Afrikanders wore present, and the general tone of tne Congress led the Boers of Orange River Colony to believe that tney had only to cross the Orange River and seat, ter through Cape Colony, and men such as those attending the Congress would assist them. It now appears that such was not the intention oi t.iy Congress. The commandoes have come, but, to iar as is known, very few Capo Colonists have joined them. “What 1 now want is. that the Bond as a.n organisation should take up a firm attitude, not as loader to th e Dutch in Capo C0,0i1... !n«.i tey ’.O the commandoes : You cui expect no maioria; hup from us. We are British subjects, and, whatever we may think, we cannot and will not help you.' “Having achieved our first point we should then ask the .Bond to send a deputation of influential Afrikanders to the Republicans, and principally to my brother and air Steyn to prevail upon them to surrender. I know specific occasions on which General Botha earnestly advocated surrender, but Mr Steyn and my brother, Christian De Woe, would not hear of it. These two are the stumbling-blocks. “The surrender must be virtually unconditional. though some minor terms would doubtless be arranged.” ANGLOPHOBIA IN GERMANY. A telegram from Berlin says the 'Tvicuz ZeUung” recently dealt with the present serious position of the British Empire. The writer prophesied a dis. rnal future for England . In 1897, and immediately after Fashed;.-, (he says) she was in the zenith of her power and pro.stige. In four short years all this has gone or is going. After allowing her agricultural interests to bo ruined, she has become an industrial state exclusively. Her textile, coal, and iron industries are being rapidly encroached on by Germany and the United States. England is no longer the banker of the world; America is now her rival. She is no longer the world’s carrier, for Germany is entering the lists against her.

Turning to the probability of an invasion of England, the “Krcuz Zeitung’ inclines to believe that invasion is not probable at present, but it points to England’s position in middle and eastern Asia, which, it says, is dangerously threatened by Russia. It is all very well to talk about the colonies having been drawn nearer to the Mother Country, but how long will this last, asks the Junker organ. “Canadians, we are told, are uneasy under British rule, and the United Slates are easting _ greedy looks across the Canadian frontier. In short, wherever one looks there are dangers. The picture everywhere shows shadows.”

The article, which is more than usually foolish, is probably written with the object of pleasing the Junkers.-who are disgusted with the growing prosper, ity and power of the British Empire.

i THE ALASKA BOUNDARY. 1 It is understood at Ottawa that the United! States has protested against Canada’s sending a Commissioner to St. Petersburg to examine the Russian maps with a view to strengthening Canada’s contention as to 1 the Alaska boundary, and that the mission has accordingly been, abandoned. The position taken up at Washington is that such a course would he a violation of the understanding to leave the matter in abeyance for the present. During the debate oh the Address in the Dominion House of Commons Sir Wilfrid Lr.arier, in'reply to the Opposition Leader, said that the provisional boundary between Alaska and the Yukon have been arranged solely with a view to the convenience of trade. He still hoped for a permanent settlement of th e boundary question by a friendly compromise or by arbitration. The Joint High Commission would resume its negotiations shortly, and he trusted that it would result in the settlement of other questions. V ■ MEASURING THE WIND. An ingenious ms eminent has been I invented by Mr R. M. Lowne, of Catford, Englaind, whereby the velocity and I direction of the wind may be accurately 1 registered by means of electricity. The instrument is an adaptation of vane and anemometer combined; and the record is automatically made on a paper rib. bon—-the indicating instrument being connected by electric wires with the vane and anemometer. The direction of the wind is continuously shown by a well-defined single pencil line; and the changes to eight points of the compass and their duration are also recorded in the same way. Another pencil line indicates tenths of miles and miles of velocity, and the maximum velocity (and when it occurred) can also be seen at a glance. Mr Lowne claims that the apparatus, which he has kept working for over a year, is most successful in every way, and! withstands all changes of weather. Everything is perfectly automatic in action, and the battery, power required is very small. The records shown by means of Mr Lowne’s instruments cannot, he states, be obtained by means of any other apparatus in existence. -

Mr Lowno told a “Daily Chronicle” representative that it will be quit© possible to get, by means of his invention, accurate records at a central station of the direction and velocity of the wind from any part of Great Britain by means of electric wires connecting th© recording instrument with the vanes and ane. mometers, wherever they may happen to bo stationed. y BBEAQH OF PROMISE SUIT. A breach of promise action, in which the Rev. Henry E. Barnacle, rector of Cottisford and Hardwicko with Tusraore. Oxfordshire, was the defendant, was heard at the Northamptonshire Assizes. before Mr Justice Lawrence and a special jury. The plaintiff was -Miss Emily Florence Burton, the daughter of Mr Robinson Burton, a, farmer, of Stan, wick, Northamptonshire, the defendant’s former parish, and the sum of £IOOO damages was claimed. The case, as opened by Mr Marshall Ha11,,'K.0., presented somte curious features. The defendant apparently fell in love with, the girl directly her father removed to Stauwick, in 1807. He was constantly with her, and frequently car. essed her ana kissed her. When he went on a month's holiday, bo America, he brought back a handsome fur boa, which he gave her, and said that ho had intended keeping it until they married. After he removed] to Oxfordshire the plaintiff went to stay for a month at Isis rectory. Not the slightest impropriety, Mr Hall explained, was suggested throughout. Defendant asked the girl

to accompany another clergyman and himself on a trip to Norway, but that was declined, tie induced plaintiff's parent:; to send her to a high-class school at Northampton to complete her education. Whilst she was at school the defendant removed to Oxfordshire, ro a living worth about £4OO a year, and had received a bequest of £BOM. Mr Hall suggested that phe defendant had cast the girl off because ha now bought that she was not in so good a social pos“ion as; hira.se.lF. There were many letters, both parties sending “.heaps of love,” and any number of kisses.

The cross-examination of Mr I. A. Symmons showed that the plaintiff, at the time of the presents and the kiss, ing, was only fourteen, that she went to stay at defendant’s rectory as a friend of his housekeeper, ana that h© had not seen her vim-e she w';.s fifteen and a half. The plaintiff would not be seventeen until next May, while the defendant about fifty.

After seme evidence had been given on behalf of the plaintiff, the jury stopped the case, and gave a verdict for rhe defendant, with ©osts. TERRIBLE STORY OF A NEGLLvMED GIRL. At an inquest held at Shoreditch, near London, respecting the death of a five-year-old daughter ot a printer Jiving in Parr street, Hoiton, Mrs May, the landlady of the house, related a shocking story. Mr and Mrs Jones, the parents, with their four children, occupied two rooms, and, as both husband ami wife were generally out till midnight, the eldest daughter, aged fourteen, look charge of the little girl. Mrs May lor some weeks had not noticed the deceased with the other children, and c-u Jan. 17 she burst, open the bedroom door, and saw her huddled up on the floor, a heap of skin, bono amt vermin, and too weak to stand .or speak. Witness took her to her mother, but Mrs Jones only said, “Oh, she’s all right.” Later when Mrs May gave her some bread and milk the child exclaimed, “Nice, nice,” and then she carried her to a doctor, who stated she was dying of starvation. The father said he earned about 3Or, a week, but never noticed anything wrong with the children. The mother was then called, but refused to give evidence, simply saying, '‘My*husband is innocent.”

An inspector of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to O -

dren announced that the mother was sentenced in November 1897 to three weeks’ imprisonment for neglecting the children.

The jury returned a verdiwt equivalent to a charge of manslaughter against both parents.

DOUBLE TRAGEDY AT BARROW. A shocking affair his occurred at Barrow, England. Arthur Thomas Cunningham, twenty-eight, a widower, who resided with his parents in Bucoleuch street, was found dead in his bedroom with his brains blown out, a revolver lying beside him. He had been depressed for clays. He went out about noon on the day of the tragedy, and returned at five o’clock, apparently in great distress. Ho sat down weeping, and said that he had shot his sweetheart, Bose Callow, at the Windmill, Walnoy Island. His parents paid no hoed, thinking that he was rambling. He went upstairs and was afterwards found dead. The police next day discovered the dead body of the woman lying on the sands with a wound in the right temple. AN ALIEN’S TRAGEDY. At Bethnal Green Dr Wynn Westcott hold an inquest respecting the death of Myer Altmann, aged eighteen years, a beat finisher. Rachael Altmann, a woman of twentytwo years, stated, through an interpreter, that deceased was her husband. They were married in Russia about eight months ago, and at once came to England. He then learned the boot finishing, and a t first only earned 12s or 13s a week. He frequently complained to witness that he had to work night and day in order to earn a living. Two weeks ago he started for himself as a boot finisher, and paid a Mr Goldstein Is 6d per week for a seat in his workroom. One night he went to bed mui tering and,crying, and at two o’clock on next morning he rose to finish, some work. About a quarter to seven a.m. the landlord went into the workroom, and there found the deceased lying on the floor with a cord fastened round his neck. He had evidently hung himself to a beam by the cord, which liad broken.

Other evidence showed that the cle. ceased worked for a boot manufacturer of Fournier street. In finishing a boot there was about half the actual labour of making one. The* Coroner; How much would he get for finishing a dozen?—One shilling 1 and ninepence. The Interpreter: He would have to work about twenty-two hours out of the twenty-four to finish two dozen. I have been twenty-six years in the trade, and know.

The jury returned a, verdict of suicide during temporary insanity, caused by overwork at small pay to keep himself and wife.

STRANGE STORY FROM WASHING. TON.

On several occasions during the last three years singular shadows have ap, peared in the main porch of th e White House. About the time that President McKinley’s mother died a shadow appeared taking the form of an aged, bent woman, seen in profile This was seen for two or three weeks last autumn;the shadow had its forearm and hand raised, with the forefinger held up as if in warning. On, February 7th, when the sun was ' shining brightly, about ten minutes to one p.m., a nondescript shadow appeared which .soon took a definite shape, representing a profile of President McKinley. Th© appearance lasted for two minutes, and gradually changed, as the sun altered its position, until at ten minutes past one p.m. it assumed a remarkably perfect likeness of the late Queen Victoria, having on the head an object resembling a.crown. This lasted for two or three minutes, then disappeared. Two hours later the same forms reappeared in succession on the opposite side of the portico, about 40ft distant. The employees at the White House are prepared to substantiate with affidavits these stories, which have caused a great sensation, deeply impressing the superstitious.

THE NAPTHA DISASTER. The fire at the naptha depot belonging to the Caspian and Black Sea Company and Messrs Rothschild is suspected to have been due t° incendiarism-, the outbreak being believed to hav© been caused by some dismissed watchmen as an act of revenge. The first depot which caught fire was situated near to the workmen’s houses. By seven in the evening the fire had attacked all the houses. Thirty persons perished in the flames. The injured were conveyed to th e booths on the market place. Twen.

ty ho-.cs, which wore v. d to play upon the in e, burst, thus increasing the diffns.L.. of getting the flames under con. troJ. Another message says; The potrobe;’! fire has been extinguished. The ten u-dories and five depots which were hii; e-’.l were filled with 35,09-1.009 poods

of r. nthst and naptha refuse, and the lo«; ; are estimated at more than o,(i. c.OIX) roubles. charred corpses were recovered,

wi.Oi 160 persons were injured, by burns, for.:.-cue 'of them severely. Six of the. o have since died. The ruins are *>. '.lined over, as many victims lie under them. A number of _ spectators per.'dud, but their .number is not yet kuou a. One hundred persons are still mi ■•M'lc:.

A committee has been formed by the ('a ,;-ua and Black Sea Company to roirK ;r the losses of life and property, rod •> find shelter for the homeless.

1.0 I;: m cl 1.0. ic.child has applied t.o i-aro. for material assistance fur the sufferers.

Thi. homeless, some hundred families, arc being distributed and housed in the town and neighbourhood, and bread is heii .o doled out to the workmen of the . i napti!-: fact ones at the cost o: t.ie Congress Council. A YOUNG WIFE'S SUICIDE. A H».d story was told at an inquest lute; at. Battersea on Florence Eliza Fiia-ii, tweuty-iOne, the wife of an auxiliary postman. .<_■ husband said they had been married o ily four months, but during that time rne diseased, who was of sober nabiis. had tlirios pledged bis clothes, tm r ho loft home to go ptt duty, she nvcmh.ed to prepare his supper, but on ins return she was missing. Next day he i ■ rued she had taken poison. She ,i .<■ previously threatened suicide, and a low reeks ago attempted to throw her. s , Putney Bridge, lie had received vfac following letter from her;

M.v dear Husban^, —Just these few hues to ask your forgiveness for what i have done. I think I must have been mad when I did it. I wish I had stopped myself, for 1 cannot live without you ; Put the landlady asked me for the rent which I owed—two weeks. .1 had only enough for one week, and she want, oa r!.u other, and as she was going t-c ask you for it I could not face you. 1 know I observe all. Deer Bill, will you say one word of Jirrg.veness? I ought uot to ask, but i! ycni Knew all I think you would. I have spent the mou-Jy in a wrong way in starling, instead of being careful like other women. I have tried, but somenow hive seemed to go wrong. Derr Bill, I hope wnen you get this letter I shall be dead, because I have nothing to live for, and will take a load off your mind. You will be free again. Do uo; take any notice of the rash act 1 am going to do. 1 wish you good-bye for ever. I am. sorry to give you all this .roubte.—l remain your brokenhearted and wretched wife.—Florence Fi.u on.

Ev-donee was' given showing that deconst * was found ill in St, John’s road, and died in the surgery of Dr McConnell. r.f Battersea Rise, the cause of death being oxalic poisoning.

THIEF, impostor. Henry Capon had given 150 Bibles to the Sunday schools with which h© was associated at Wandsworth, and contributed largely to various philanthropic objects. This was the plea made at the Old Bailey, London, in extenuation of the forgeries of Capon, by which he robbed bis employers, a firm of timber merchants in Graceohurch street, of about £I6OO. It was bad enough, said the Recorder, to be a thief and a forger. To be a -religious impostor as well was infinitely wblse. Th© only sum, .stated Mr Gill (foi the prosecution), they could trace as devqted to religion was £SO prisoner had given to a Wes. leyan fund, which haa been returned, live years’ penal servitude was the sentence.

• DISTRESS IN RUSSIA. Tbo Ministry of the Interior announces that there has been a complete failure of the crops in the Governments of Kherson and Tomsk, as well as in the territory of Akmolinsk. The harvest has also been a failure in several districts of the Governments of Taurida, Bessarabia, Podolia, ivicff, and Tobolsk, and of the Semipalatinsk and TransBaikal territories. On receipt of preliminary reports concerning the distress in the affected districts, the Russian Gc vc: nment assigned the sum of 1,500,(ju;j roubles for the relief of the necessitous population. hccoiding to later and more correct returns, the total amount required for the alleviation of the distress is 5,529,”19 roubles, of which 5,014,619 roubles ha vo already been set apart by the Government. The Ministry of the Interior at the same time publishes par. ticuh.rs regarding the organisation of relief, and! concludes by laying stress open th© fact that besides the assistance given hy the Government an appeal will i.ave to be made to private charity.

A GERMAN PROFESSOR SHOOTS HIMSELF.

It is announced from. Munich that Professor Max von Pettenkofer, the celebrated bacteriologist, shot himself in a fit of melancholia. Professor. Pottenkofer’s chief discovery was that the cholera bacilli, eaten by men, did not cause cholera, but only a slight fever and ‘‘cholerine.” His experiments were corroborated by those of Professor Strieker, of the Vienna University, who fed people with cholera bacilli five years r.go, arriving at the same result. The deceased was recognised as an authorit;,' on heating, ventilation, and other muttons of hygiene. He was enghty-three years of ago. SERIOUS GAS EXPLUbiON. .An alarming explosion has taken place at 15, Victoria street, Westminster, in the offices of the Agent-General for Victoria, which arc situated on the ground floor of the building. It was caused hy escaped gas, and took place when the cleaner opened the door in the morning. All the offices in the large building were more or less wrecked, windows both in the back and front having been blown out. In the Victoria offices the wreck-go was complete. Nor a room escaped, and in some instances the furniture was blown to pieces. The floor above the Victoria offices is occupied by Sir E. H. Witteuoom, the Agent-General for Western Australia, and his staff. The dmu age done to these offices was also considerable, glass being shattered in every direction.

ELECTRIC WAVES. The Right Rev. Monsignor Gerald Mclircy recently delivered an interest, ing lecture, illustrated with numerous experiments, at the Royal Institution. The subject of his discourse was

“Electric Waves.’’ Ho desired to sh dt lint these waves exhibited to a great extent the' same properties as waves cf light. The lecturer then produced. electric waves by means of an

' o - dilator, their presence being detected , by a bell ringing on an apparatus ar- j ; ranged for the purpose. The instra. ! 1 incut. containing the bell was carried 1 ! to various parts of the lecture theatre, : | but tho bell continued to ring as long I !as tho waves were being generated. The ; ' rex:- experiments mad© showed that 1 good conductors of electricity wore i I opaque, and bad conductors tra-nspar- J 1 ent. Another interesting experiment 1 I showed the difference of effect on elec. ■ trie waves when passed through vertical I ini horizontal wires. Although able | to pass through tho former, the horL zo■ sral wires absorbed them. The lecturer next discussed the position electric waves hold with regal'd to or ’ci* ethereal waves and said that tho shortest electric wave ever produced was about a quarter of an inch long.

ESCAPE OF BpEit PRISONERS. FROM GETLON. The ‘'St. Petersburg Gazette” states that while the Russian steamer Kherson was lying off Colombo, the sailois one : -.t heard a noise in the water near Lioir .ship. They looked over the side and perceived several men struggling in the water. Being apprised of this, the captain gave orders for the persons to bo rescued and brought 'on board. When they arrived on board the men srated, as, indeed, had been suspected from the beginning, that they were Beer prisoners who had ©scaped. They st ,tcd that their names were M. Steyn, nephew of the cx-Presidont; Fiold-Oor. net Botha, brother-in-law of the Boer o i-.nniandaiit; the brothers Settlor, ordinary soldiers; and Haussner, also a soldier. These fugitives were taken by cl;,. Kherson to Theodosia, whence, after hi ring been most cordially welcomed by (.fie authorities and the inhabitants, they left for St. Petersburg.

Later information says the five Boor prisoners, who escaped at Colombo by swimming to the Russian steamer Kherson, have arrived at St. Petersburg, wber© they have been interviewed by a largo number of Russian journalists. One of them, Mr Haussner, who speaks Herman, has given an account of the flight of himself and Lis companions. According to his story they were taken fee Ceylon on board the Catalonia, whicn reached Colombo on Jan. 9. On the I-Uli, a large number of tho prisoners haviqg meanwhile been taken on shore, wanssnor and his four companions, the -wo brothers Soitlor, Piet Botha, and vi'y Steyn, let themselves down by ropes from the ship and set off on a perilous swim of about two miles. The night was very dark, and they were able in rest more than once on the way by clinging to the cable chains of some British steamers. Sometimes they had to dire to escape rhe observation of of guardhoats. Haussner was in the water altogether about two hours and h half. The Boers were received very kindly by the Russians, and soon recovered from their exhaustion. They proceed lienee to Utrecht to visit Mr Kruger, arid afterwards to Tire Hague and Brussels, where they hope to meet Dr Leyd.

A PIT DISASTER IN FIFE. The pit disaster at the Fife Coal Company’s pit of Hill of Boa.th appears to nave been du© to th© presence of “whit© damp” in the pit. Shortly after midday on the day of the accident, an overseer and inspector named Robert Birrell and Andrew Nasmyth respectively, descended th© shaft to make an inspection of certain air courses. The men wore expected up again at two o’clock, but they failed to return, and a search party, headed by the manager, and consisting of seven men, .proceeded underground. Two be iirs elapsed, when the manager, and one of the search party returned to the pit-mouth, suffering from the effects of what is known as “white damp,” and fears were entertained that not only tho overseer and/ inspector had succumbed, -but that the remaining members of the search party had also been suffocated by the gas. Various search parties descended, and the body of one of the missing men was recovered. Later in tho day the bodies of tho other sis men were found. They had all been asphyxiated.

“MARS IN THE ASCENDANT.” Lord Avebury sounded a somewhat doleful note in his presidential address to the members of the Royal Statistical Society recently. Taking as his theme ‘ The Growth of Municipal and National Expenditure,” he deplored the present trend of things, and feared unhappy re. jults. First as to the municipal expenditure, he was firmly of opinion that it was desirable to restrain the trading done by local authorities within the narrowest possible limits. Municipalities had 'nilto enough to do without engaging in commercial transactions, and to extend their trading would involve a great increase in local indebtedness, while it would be a serious blow to progress and discovery.

Turning to State expenditure, Lord Avebury said the increase of inclobted-ne-s in tills and foreign countries had been enormous. The great military expenditure was much to be regretted. ‘•The last time I saw M. Gamhetta.” continued Lord! Avebury, ‘‘we were talking on this subject, and he deplored the enormous increase which was taking place in the naval and military expenditure of Europe. ‘Tf this continues,’ ho said ‘we shall all end by being beggars in front of barracks.’ Alas! it has not only gone on, but is yearly increasing. We are told that ‘if you wish for peace, you must prepare for war.’ That is true for one Power, but if we prepare for war wo shall ,one day find that we have slipped over the brink. Indeed, in one sense we ar© in a state of war already. We have the expendi. ture, though happily without the bloodshed, of a European war. Europe is an armed camp. Moreover, the evil is increasing. Mr Gladstone once told us that political economy was banished to Jupiter and Saturn; and I sometimes fear that common sense has gone there too, and that Mars is too much in the ascendant.” PURSUED BY AN ENGINE. Engine-drivers on the great lines of America seem to have more fun than their British cousins. A train was speeding along on the almost dead level btween the 'Mississippi River and the great lakes where a large moose was discovered near the track. What followed is described by ar. eye-witness as follows;

■ln an instant tin# 1 ’ big brute flew ahead of the train along an old path used by Indians and woodsmen, and which runs alongside, the metals for several miles. Of course the animals was safe enough, but it appeared to think otherwise.

“The driver had a clear field, and determined to show the mcose how re run. Tip whistle shrieked a challenge, the iron horse bounded over the track of stem, while the passengers thrust out their heads, cheering engine and moose impartially. It was a four mile straight run, bat in the excitement no one registered the time. •‘Thrice the moose faltered .as the patn led over deep ravines spanned only

by rude and rickety Jog bridges, bn- y ,s tiio train thundered close upon him, ue again plunged ahead to increase the distance between himself and Ids heartless pursuer. “It is a funny sight to soeamooso run. The beast looks so big and awkward, but it can roll along at a wonderful pace. The present animal exhibited an indescribable trot, his hind feet seemed to fan his ears, his tongue lolled from his mouth, every muscle in its body was moving. At first the pace was little more than a jog, and all the power of steam could not prevail over the mon. arch of the forest.

‘ Faster and faster sped the engine, but still the frightened moose trotted in the van, letting out his tongue another link, and adding a knot, as it was needed, to his gait. But when four miles had thus been traversed, the contestants came upon clearing where men were gathered. ‘ Thus driven from its pathway, and compelled to abandon tic Tun,’ the moose dashed across the line several yards in front of the engine, and a mo. ment later, amidst a roar of cheering, disappeared in the woods.”

MISTRESS AND SERVANT GIRL. A girl from a “home” (writes a lady correspondent of “The Scotsman”) was recommended to me by a friend. She was a very smart girl, and l picked, up rapidly, but unfortunately she picked up more than her duties. The funny tiring, however, was that she was rigidly honest where money was concerned. She stole my sister’s false teeth. She evinced an incurable liking for drawing-room ornaments, and tried to palm off on me the broken pieces of a coarse basin for those of an expensive vaeo which all the time lay snug in her bos. Then a little music-box fo.nt si-missing, and. this betrayed her, for late one evening, when probably gloating over it, she accidentally set tho thing a-going. Another servant I had kidnapped my favourite little dog, and a nominee of hers got a reward of 7s Gd from me along with my gratitude. Yet this young wo. man had a very passable character given her by her last employer, who apparently wished to get her quietly off his hands. But, bad as she was, she was not very much worse than her successor. who would go one day to the baker’s and say 1 sent her for a loan of ten shillings, and a few days later call on. the butcher and borrow a like snan and pay the baker with it. I might bo said to have escaped the “piano fiend” servant, had it not been for a maid who regularly deposited the parlour sweepings into the works of my beloved “cottage.” When one day i caught her at it, she brazenly told me that her father was in the trade and did the same thing.

THE KONITZ MURDER. The murder of the schoolboy Winter in Konitz, Germany, two years ago, al, icgocl to be the work of- the Jews for ritual purposes, still' continues to engage public attention. A Jewish butcher named Moritz Levy Iras been convicted of perjury in this case, and sentenced to four years’ penal servitude. During the /ehrlicr legal investigations connected with the case Levy, who was himself accused of being an accessory to the murder, swor e that he did not even know Winter. The trial, while failing to bring direct evidence that Levy was implicated in the murder, established beyond doubt his perjury regarding his acquaintance with Winter. The sentence has given immense satisfaction in Konitz where the population, is fanatically anti-Semitic.