HOME AND FOREIGN NEWS

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4407, 13 July 1901, Page 6 (Supplement)

HOME AND FOREIGN NEWS

runaway railway train. A sorknif. and alarming accident occurred on tlio Uiindoo and Forfar line of the Caledonian Railway Company recently, resulting in t-Sio destruction of a good;! train from Dundee West. _ In the course of the shunting operations at Kingcnnic, a train of waggons, which had been stationary, began to move slowly down liie lino towards Droughty Kerry, a distance, of five, miles downhill, and through many sharp and dangerous curves, narrow, rock-girt cuttings, and several steep embankments. The men in charge of the train were naturally startled to observe the waggons move off. and the alarm was at once raised, and .steps were taken to get the engine in order to chase the runaways; and the guard got iuL> a waggon still attached to the engine, in the hope ttiahe would overtake the runaway vehicles and hi/aluc to hook on the nymg portion With his shunting pole. Highdown to ibirnhill the exciting chase was kept up, but invariably when h° was on ;lu- point of hooking on the waggons semi id to gain additional momentum, jmd the task became hopeless. Entering on the long and curved embankment, where the Furfur direct lino joins the Dundee and Arbroath Joint Lino, the waggdns rushed at a terrific rate, and crashed into the main line. The impact was terrible. The waggoury wore telescoped and smashed almost into match* wooil, and the permanent way was .orn up and destroyed. D() :,1 LSTi (.; TJ IA( 1 EDIES. A .t,orri bio domestic tragedy is reported at Ycac'on, an upland industrial villages near Leeds. Waiter Holmes (45), a mill hand, Cemetery road, and his wife and twenty-one year old daughter were discovered by four younger children lying in pools of blood. r lhc women were both dead, with their throats cut from c«ir to ear, and Holmes, who was unconscious from a similar injury, was removed to Leeds Innrmary. It appears that the daughter, after being attacked. attempted to get out of the house, but fell near the door, where she was found lying in blood. At Liverpool a seaman and his wire, aged 29, were one evening treating some acquaintances when a quarrel arose, and the husband shortly afterwards informed some neighbours that his wife was dead. The police on entering the house round Dio woman lying dead in a pool ot blood. A bloodstained poker was also picked up, and there were indications that deceased had expired in terrible agony. The husband has been detained. GIRLS STABBED IN MOSCOW. The Moscow police are actively engaged in endeavouring to arrest an individual who has during the last few weeks stabbed a number of young girls, principally schoolgirls, aged between fifteen and eighteen years of age, in that city. The ruffian waited about in public placees, and having selected his victim, stabs her in the breast with a sharp instrument. The girl last assaulted, who is the daughter of a railway official, states, ns do all the others, that the man, who has hitherto succeeded m evading arrest, has red hair and a grey suit. THE DEATH OF A BOXER. At the Old Bailey, London, recently, the Recorder, in his charge to the grand jury, referring to the fatal boxing competition at the National Sporting Club, said that tlio main question at issue was whether the competition was a genuine boxing match, in which the combatants’ skill was properly exercised, or whether, having regard to the rules under which the contest • was fought, it amounted to a prize fight. It was a nice point- to decide what actually constituted a prize fight. Of course, the grand jury could ignore the bill altogether if they so desired, but, as other deaths had arisen, he thought it better that a true bill should be found. ETERNAL YOUTH FOR £1 A DAY. Parisians have long wondered how a certain famous French actress contrived to retain eternal youth and keep th o complexion of seventeen in defiance of the assault of years. Now the secret is out. At least a story is current which explains the mystery ingeniously, if not in a manner that quite compels conviction. It "is not, so goes the tale, the lady’s own fair skin which has- so marvellously withstood fell Time’s defacing hand. The credit for the victory is said to belong to an inventive hairdresser. TJjis great artist has made an epidermis of goldbeater’s skin which is perfectly transparent and exquisitely supple. It is delicately and carefully tinted a beautiful pale blush rose hue, and has the soft texture of the peach. The artist has turned out a stock of thousands of these wondrous masterpieces, each of which is flawless. A fresh one is worn by the actress in question every May. It absolutely escapes detection, as it fits with mathematical exactness into every dimple of th 6 face. It cannot crack, and it yields to every movement of . the face, except those produced by laughter. Thus the lady, though she cannot be boisterously merry, can smile gaily, sadly, or archly, as circumstances may require. It is to be noted (so goes the story still) that she only wears her artificial skin in private life, never on the stage, presumably owing to the fact that it would prove a serious hindrance to facial expression of any pronounced kind, either 'comic or tragic. The price which the lady is said to pay for the privilege of eternal beauty is £1 a day. A CAPTAIN’S DIVORCE SUIT. In the Divorce Court, tjie President (Sir P. Jeune) recently heard the petition of Captain W. R. Hodgson lies, of the Yorkshire Regiment, at present attached to the Houssa Field Force at Lagos, for a dissolution of his marriage on the ground of his wife’s misconduct with a man named Turner. The parties were married in May, 1899, when the petitioner was in England on sick leave, and subsequently Mrs lies gave way to drink and keeping late hours. Captain lies had to return to Lagos in October last year, and wished hi s wife to remain with some relations in Leicester, but she refused to do so, and went to her own aunt’s at Forest Hill, London. Petitioner allowed respondent £2 a week. It transpired that she had suddenly left Forest Hill and gone to Brighton, where she lived with the co-respondent, and there had been a child born. His worship granted petitioner a decree nisi. THE FRENCH ON THE NIGER. “The Temps’’ publishes the following despatch from Lokoja; “The Lenfant Mission, which is entrusted with the revictualling or th e French Eastern Soudan, passed through here on' March 13. Everything was going on as well as could he wished, and the trial, now made for the first time, of the Upper Niger as a means of transit, seems to

give every prospect of success. The provisions brought by the mission, which consist of twelve thousand eases, were conveyed to the Fort-ados estuary by tho French ship Gonseii. The transhipment was performed in the river in loss than twenty hours. At the anchorage belonging to the F'rench enclave recently established by Major Toutec, the twelve thousand eases were put on hoard twenty barges, and towed up here by the Liberty. Tiie canto will bp landed at Aremborrr-Badgiho the second F rench enclave on the Niger, whence it will be distributed in the different regions of the Soudan. Our compatriots spoke most highly of the attitude of the British authorities and merchants, who were most eager to render them every assistance.” SENSATIONAL STORY FROM VIL.sNA. “Die Information” and other papers publish circumstantial reports of a great plot to kidnap the Sultan of Turkey. The idea of the kidnappers wag to declare the Sultan to lie insane, remove him to a place oi confinement, and .safety, and proclaim his younger brother Rescind Sultan. Osman Fasha, son and heir of the -oneral of the same name, and other prominent military men combined with trio Young Turkey Party to carry out the plot. But the Sultan’s astute secretary, Izzet Bov, wormed himself into the confidence of the plotters, betraved their plans, and tiius brought about the lailnre of the treasonable undertaking. Most of the principal revolutionists made good their escape, lint a lame number were arrested and will be executed. The Sultan intends to richly reward Izzet Bey, whom lie- regards iis’nis saviour. MAULED BY A TIGRESS. Mr McCrie, the officiating DeputyConservator of Forests, Nagpur-Wardha Division, has, the ‘-Times ot India” says, been rather severely bitten and mauled by a tigress in the jungle near Chorbaoli. While h e was inspecting a forest he saw a tigre s s and two full-grown cubs. He fired two shots at them, and wounded the tigress and one of the cubs. While Mr McCrie was searching for the tigre g s, she suddenly pounced upon him and seized'his right thigh. Ho struck her a severe blow with the butt-end of hi s rifle. She then let sro her hold on the thigh and seized his arm. Ho gave her another blow with his rifle, and while he was trying to free himself from her unwelcome grip his hat providentially fell off. The tigress then attacked the hat furionglv. In the twinkling of an eye Mr McCrie took out a cartridge from his pouch, loaded his rifle, and fired. The, bullet penetrated the brain of the tigress and killed her. A VENETIAN LOVE STORY. There has been a rather remarkable love tragedy in Venice, a young officer of the Artillery recently fell in love with the daughter of a lawyer. Ho made an appointment to meet her in one of the churches, but it so happened that the girl’s brother was attending mass at the time and saw the young couple together. He waited for them to leave the building and then demanded an explanation, which the officer refused to give. This eo infuriated the man that he struck the officer, who wore spectacles, a violent blow in the face, smashing his glasses, and nearly destroying one of his eyes, thus ruining his military career. The accident so preyed upon the young officer’s mind that he took boat to Mestre’s and there shot himself through the heart. He was a well-known figure in Venetian society, and the only son of one of the oldest Venetian families. GOLD ORE FRAUDS. At the Central Criminal Court, London, before Recorder Richard, Horace Everett (33) and Henry Ernest Fry (61) were indicted for conspiracy in agreeing together with the late H. J. Hayes to obtain on false pretences various sums of money from Megsrs Barclay and Co., bankers, with intent to defraud, and, in pursuance ot such conspiracy, incurred certain liabilities to obtain credit A plea of guiby was entered, and Mr Grain, for the defence, addressed the Court with a view to mitigatiqn of punishment. The Recorder said that the prisoners had pleaded guilty to one of the most elaborate and mischievous ’ commercial frauds that had been brought under his notice for a great number of years, and he had been in doubt whether the punishment he intended to inflict was adequate. Hie sentenced prisoners to five years’ penal servitude. The charges against the prisoners were of forging and uttering warrants for gold ore, and obtaining from Messrs Barclay the sum of £3300, and, further, with conspiring together to defraud Messrs Barclay of £3300 by means of those warrants. MENIER AND HIS ISLAND. Some readers may remember the purchase a few years ago of the island of Anticosti, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, by M. Henri Monier, of Paris, In a paper in the last number of “Ainslee’s Magazine” some particulars are given of the island, and how the purchase came about. One day an Englishman named Kendrick walked into Menier’s office in Paris, and announced that he had an island to sell: “Where is it?” asked Menier. “At the mouth of the £t. Lawrence,” was the reply. “Ah, Anticosti?” The Englishman nodded. “The price?” “One hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.” Henri Menier had paid double that s um for a steam yacht. The amount was a trifle. . . . “The title is absolutely clean,” remarked Kendrick. “We can /prove it from the time the island was granted to .one Joliett, in 1627, by the King of France.” “Why do you wish to sell it ?” “Because it is an elephant upon our hands,” was the frank reply. “I am the secretary of a company called the Island of Anticosti Company, Limited. • The company bought the island in 1889 from the former owner, who had failed to make it nay, and now we wish to get rid of it.” M. Menier asked his visitor to call for an answer the following day. On the reteurn of Mr Kendrick, Menlor said h e was undecided, but would send a commission of three men to see the island. He did so, and in course of time an enthusiastic cable message reached Paris. Then the commission returned and supplemented the message with more enthusiastic comments and reports. “It is a wonderful place,” said the three. “The soil is fertile, the fishing invaluable; the spruce covering the island are almost ample enough to supply the world with paper puln.” In brief, the reports gave Anticosti the very best character. His business instincts satisfied, Menier closed the bargain at once, and became the sole owner of a spot of land great eenough and rich enough to form the realm of a king. The following summer th© new proprietor of Anticosti crossed the ocean in his yacht to inspect the island personally. What he found there exceeded

his roseate anticipations. Mcnicr’s plans for the island, on which there were a few dozen settlers when he took possession, are broad. They include the building of towns, the clearing ot land the construction of roads and railways', the building of a deep-sea port, and the development of Hie natural resources of the island, such as agricultural products, fisheries, and paper pulp. A fair start in these directions has now been made. ■UNALTERABLE RESOLUTION OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE. In the absence of Lord Salisbury, who was still abroad, Mr Balfour was the principal speaker at the annual Liana Habitation of the Primrose League at the Albert Hall, London, recently. Mr Balfour devoted some attention firsts oi all to Homo Ruic. After threatening and cajoling in vain the Irish members were going to try a now method, and ho understood that the method was that they wore going to bore them into Homo Rule, but tney would not succeed. Turning to the war in South Attica, a war which was begun in sobdcfcnce, he .said they were often told that the modern democracy had not the staid qualities which were shown m their forefathers' time, but was more easily led away by evanescent notions of military glory. But this was not so, and he thought that the people of this country were not mere creatures ot transitory impulse, but had .shown a steady concern in the future or the country. At the present moment they were showing this, more especially when the burden of the was was being brought homo to them —to every man and woman in the country—by the additional burden of taxation. He thought that this attitude was worthy of the highest respect, and fully exemplified the best traditions of the country. Had the popularity of the war diminished a non party would have come into power ready to gHe terms to the enemy which would be the ultimate seeds of rum to the empire. He trusted the prophets had been convinced that the resolution of the English people was an unalterable resolution. He could not have spoken with the confidence he now did had not the actual burdens of the war been brought home in recent discussions to every man and woman he was addressing. ' They knew now what the war had cost and was costing. Ho saw no sign of wavering in any quarter. The constancy and determination of our people had recently found most conclusive and admirable expression. ROYALTY IN AN IRISH COURT. The Duke and Duchess of Connaught paid a visit to, the Dublin law courts the other day, and were present at part of the hearing of a breach of promise case, in which Miss Rose Murphy, a farmer’s daughter, of Co. Armagh, sued Mr Stephen Murphy, a broker of Burnley, claiming £I,OOO damages.—For the plaintiff. Mr Shaughnessy, K. C., said one of the letters was signed, “Your ever faithful lover. Red-headed Stephen.” In another he represented himself as scaling a mountain and sitting for two hours looking down upon “the house °f my Rosie.” There were other letters, abounding in sentiment. They were written on bill-forms, which the defendant used in his business, headed: “Bought of Stephen Murphy, rag merchant, skin, hair, and metal dealer. No deduction will be made for short weight or inferior quality unless advised or agreed to, within six days.” Gradually the tone of the letters changed, and the end of it was that the defendant went a-courting in Manchester, and married another lady.—The jury awarded the plaintiff £225 damages. AN ENGLISHMAN’S CAREER. There arc many curious stories told in India of men who have chosen to live in native fashion, but seldom can there have been a stranger case than that of John Ford, an Englishman who died recently at Nynee, near Allahabad, at the age of about 60. Ford was a gentleman by birth and education, belonging to a good county family_ in the centre of England. ■ At pne time he was a railway engineer, but afterwards took to brickmaking. He married a Hindoo of the brickmaking class, and lived with her for many years in the native house in which he recently died. It is said that his wife initiated him into the trade of brickmaking, and by the knowledge he thus acquired he was able to make a large fortune. He owned a considerable extent of land in the neighbourhood of his house, and it is believed that when his estate is realised it will come to over six lakhs of rupees. He seems to have been deeply attached to his wife, who died some eighteen months ago, and almost the only article in a will made before her death provided for her in the case of her surviving him. Before her death, also, he was engaged in the plans of a large hous e in English fashion, and had bought a quantity, of English furniture, but he gave up these plans when his wife died, and took to building an elaborate tomb for her remains. In the meantime Ear stone coffin rested in the verandah, and when the doctor who attended him in his last illness brought him some beef tea ho begged that it should not come near the coffin out of respect for his wife’s religion. He was quite collected up till the day of his death, and talked intelligently on English affairs. Though the old man’s end was necessarily lonely, it is satisfactory to know that he was discovered bv Europeans before his death and carefully tended during his last illness. His fortune has been left to a niece who is resident in. England. MATCH-MAKING IN COURT. At Leeds.assizes recently a man named Daniel Dixon, aged 40, an agricultural labourer, was indicted for abducting Mary Pickersgill, aged 17, at Knaresborough. Prisoner pleaded that he intended to marry the girl at a Sheffield registry office, but she was too young, and he still desired to marry her. The girl was called and admitted; in reply to Mr Justice Grantham, that she still wanted to marry the man.—The Judge: Has he treated you properly since he has been living with you ?—Yes; he has treated me better than I have ever been treated in my life.—His Lordship : Well, I hope you feel you have done wrong to your parents.—The mother Said she had objected because the prisoner -rfas too old. She now, however, admitted that a marriage would be the best thing that could happen.—The prisoner was ordered to, enter into recognisances, and his lordship advised him to be a good husband. —“I will, sir,” said Dixon, quitting the dock. A CONTINENTAL CRIME. An atrocious crime has been commitr ted at Mariendorf, in the neighbourhood of Berlin. A man named Bobbe murdered a woman named Hemmiling and two young boys, aged nine and seven, the children of a woman named Stege, with whom he had been living. When arrested as he was flying from the scene of his crime he shot a bullet through his own head. Bobbe bad already spent 22 years of his life in penal servitude, his last term of punishment being ton years for arson. His object

in murdering Frau Hemmling was to gain po.sses.tion of some property in land whicli belonged to her. It was while Bobbe was engaged in murdering Hemmling that tne two Stege children appeared, and they were murdered to tret rid of their evidence. Bobbe had carefully planned the murder, as the bodies of his victims were found in a dugout hole under his room, which must have taken three weeks to excavate. There is evidence that Bobbe had also intended to murder Frau Hemmliug’s husband. THE SEAL OF CONFESSION—A MARTYRED PRIEST. A thrilling stoiy is told by our Paris correspondent or tn e late Abbe Bruneau. Some of our renders will remember the painful sensation caused by the tragedy in which this priest was supposed to be implicated, and his subsequent conviction and execution on the charge of murder. The Abbe Ericot, parish priest of Eutrammes, was found one day to have been put to death in a brutal manner. Suspicion was directed towards the Abbe Bruneau, whose duties brought him into close and frequent contact with the deceased clergyman. The Abbe Fricot’s housekeeper came forward and accused him of the crime, mentioning matters which appeared to confirm the circumstantial evidence against him. The truth has now been revealed. Th e murder was committed by the housekeeper herself. She died lately at Nantes, and on her deathbed she made a declaration to this effect in the presence of witnesses. The Abbe Bruneau, she stated, was perfectly innocent. In order that he might jie prevented from making investigations which might result in the detection of her criminality, she confessed her guilt to him in the tribunal of penance. Afterwards she appeared in the witnessbox as his accuser; and the priest, faithful to the claims of duty, even unto death, remained silent and faced the ignominy of the guillotine. It is in real life such a case as Robert Buchanan has woven into the plot of his well-known novel, “Father Anthony.” Another incident in connection with the confessional just reported in the French press is the restitution of bonds to the value of 8000 fto a widow named Fenavrou, cf the village of Stables, in the Commune of St. Laurent. They were restored to her at Easter by the Cure on behalf of a penitent. A reporter has, it seems, been asking priests in France whether the Abbe Bruneau could not have saved himself from death by making us e of the knowledge he obtained in the confessional as to the murder of the Abbe Ericot. This pressman is not a Catholic. Every Catholic knows that the seal of Confession cannot b e violated on any consideration. As Father Hunter points out in his “Outlines of Dogmatic Theology/’ it is an obligation arising from natural law, for everyone who confides secrets -to another has a right to have his 'confidence respected. It is also required by the Divine law, for when God instituted the Sacrament under the form of a secret trial, He by implication required the minister who holds His place to do nothing which would frustrate the purpose of this secrecy, and these natural and Divine obligations are enforced by the Canon Law of the Church. The obligation, is absolute, admitting or no e xc °ption whatever. The seal binds the priest, and not only him, but all other persons to whose knowledge the confession has come, such as interpreters or anyone who may have overheard what was said; and, besides sms, it extends to whatever else has become known in Confession made in order to obtain absolution, the revelation of which would in any way annoy or inconvenience the penitent. A COMEDY OF ERRORS. A strange story of telegrams on the public service sent for years to the office of an American editor in London has come to light. Recently a telegram intended for the War Office was delivered in Fleet street, and inquiry reveals that it is only a repetition of a series of errors that date hack at least to 1896. In September of that year the editor of th e “London American,” Mr Ramsay, was surprised to find that his telegraphic address, “Kamsin,” was being used for the delivery of cipher messages, to the meaning of which he had not the slightest clue. The first came from the West Indies, and upon inquiry at the post-office Mr Ramsay was informed that “feamsin” had been for some years the telegraphic address of the Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, but was 'relinquished, a-,d subsequently assigned to Mr Ramsay. Apparently the alteration was notified by the military authorities, and the only explanation of the repeated misdirection is that some of the officers have been using an obsolete address book. For three years, however, War Office telegrams continued to be delivered to Mr Ramsay, and wer e dropped into the waste-paper basket, ne at first sought to get rid of them by returning them to the post office, but the merciless logic of the department rejected such an easy way out of the difficulty. The telegrams had 1 been delivered to the owner of the registered address, and what more could any reasonable man expect? So the telegrams continued to be delivered. They came from all parts of the world, the West Indies. New Zealand, the Cape, and from America, when the Venezuelan trouble was engaging the attention of our Foreign Office. Some were in code, others were not. Mr Ramsay implored the post-office to relieve him from the annoyance, but the St. Martin’s-le-Grand officials were hard as adamant, and Mr Ramsay disposed of them in the manner mentioned. At the end of three years ho wrote a letter which apparently roused the postoffice to a sense of its responsibility, and the telegrams were taken back for delivery in the proper quarter. But the game seems to have begun again, for the other day he received the folloinng telegram.— “Pretoria Residency, 3.s.ol, 9.60 a.m. “To Karhiln, London. “R. 443.* Your 7332 gcolto Camoncillo jockeying. Daydreams,—Kitchen*r. M Tanght by experience, Mr Ramsay wasted no time on the post-office, but sent the telegram straight to th e War Office in Pall Mall. “What would be thought of a business house which conducted its affairs in this loose fashion?” ho said to- a “Daily Chronicle” representative. “Here is a great department, responsible for the most important affairs of State, and one of its officials does not know that its telegraphic address has been. changed!” A SHORT-LIVED STRIKE.

A complete stoppage of the electric tramway system at Sheffield was threatened the other day. The trouble aros e through the instant dismissal of a depot foreman for alleged discourtesy to the general manager (Mr Fell). The course of action fa ken was resented by drivers, conductors, and others, and at a mass meeting it was decided not to run any cars after noon unless the foreman was reinstated. This was not done, and the result was that some men on the Tinsley section stopped work, and their places were quickly filled.

The strikers took possession of the depot, and prevented any cars leaving the sheds. Inspectors, timekeepers, pointsmen, and others had to be pressed into service as conductors. Most of the oars were accompanied on their journeys by policemen. In the afternoon the strike collapsed. PANIC ON THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE. The contest for the control of the Northern Pacific (Railway, which had ied to some extraordinary gambling on the New York Stock Exchange, culminated in a disastrous panic, involving the loss of (millions. When the cornered Northern Pacific stock went up to HIOO dollars there seemed to be a sudden realisation that the long-predicted (smash was at hand, and in the utter panic which followed other stocks were thrown overboard regardless (of price. Everyone was frantically striving to free himself and to stand from under lest worse might happen. Opening at HO (Northern Pacific shot up to 1000 in an hour. This was followed by a panic unparalleled in New York’s financial history. Other stocks came tumbling down so fast that for (i time there seemed no bottom. Standard Oil declined 171 points, and other stocks dropped from 10 to 60 points. Then the (Harriman Syndicate agreed to suspend deliveries, and a sharp recovery followed. Meanwhile, an' untold (number of speculators had been wiped out, and several failures were announced. When the break became general many houses declined business altogether, while all refused new orders. In every direction prices fell irrespective of value. Brokers (with millions in securities were unable to obtain accommodation. Some borrowed from Mr Russell Sage at (10 per cent., which rate ruled for a while. The feeling of the New York financial world (was greatly reassured next day by the" announcement that Northern Pacific shorts would be settled with at 150, thereby ending the “corner.” Brokerage offices were (filled with speculators from an early hour. To some large houses admission was only by ticket. Before the opening interest (centred in London quotations, and when these came much higher than the previous night’s closing prices in New (York, the better feeling became stronger, and the Wall street opening was awaited with confidence. A few minutes (after' the opening it was officially announced that all clearing sheets had gone through and all cheques given by members had been honoured. RIOT IN A SYNAGOGUE. An indescribable (scene of pandemonium occurred ’ recently at the Foreign Jews’ Synagogue, Sunderland. A dispute arose between sections of the congregation about the (salary of the minister, a subject which tas been agitating them for some time. The fact that something extraordinary was going on was jodnveyed to the public by the worshippers rushing into the street, shouting, “Help!” “Murder!” and “Police!” 1 Inside the synagogue a free fight was in progress between combatants clad in quaint religious regalia, all of (whom were yelling in Yiddish. Candlesticks were among the weapons used, and with these some nasty wounds jwere inflicted. TWO BREACH OF PROMISE CASES. At the London Sheriff’s Court, the case of “Cooper v. Knight,” being an action to recover damages for breach of promise, wag heard.—Counsel said that the parties first met in January, 1898, when the plaintiff was living with her mother at Salisbury road, jßarnet. The defendant was then employed at a local florist’s, but from there he went to Brussels to better (himself. The following were samples of the letters of the defendant:—“My darling,—Last night I just managed to (catch my train by the minute, and I had to wait at Stamford hill for three-quarters of an hour; but now, deary, anything jfor you, love and all; I am yours now, blacky and white (laughter). . . I feel as if I am drawn back to (you. I could not do without you now, dearest Madge. . . I really do not know what I feel like, my' dear girl; hut (my heart, when writing to yon, goes pit-pat (laughter) and makes me feel happy and thick hearted.” Counsel concluded by (saying that defendant broke off the engagement in Dec.ember last without assigning any reason. He was now employed at Kew Gardens.—Plaintiff (who (entered the witness-box on crutches, she having met with an accident to her foot) bore out her counsel’s statement. She was now an orphan, and the defendant -was in the same position.—Counsel: Did he spend money freely ?—-Plaintiff : Yes, for a (Scotchman (laughter).—The plaintiff was awarded the sum of £-50. 1 Before Mr Justice Ridley and a common jury. Miss Jane Ann Griffiths recently sued Mr Sidney Herbert England to recover damages (for breach of promise of marriage.—Her counsel said she was the daughter of a farmer ' in Gloucestershire, and ever since jshe was 18 had earned her own living as a professional nurse. In 1896 she was at Ilfracombe (and there met the defendant, she being then 22 and he 20. After two years she accepted him, and after that defendant wrote to plaintiff J as “My very dearest Annie,” and as “Your true and devoted sweetheart.” The defendant left Bristol and obtained (employment in the General Post Office in London, and then, after they had been engaged only (three months, he wrote that he would prefer that she did not buy presents for him, and spend her valuable time (on him, owing to his uncertain position, which render, ed it probable that she would never become more to him jthan at present. Defendant did not get any answer to that letter, and ho wrote another one on July 2, (expressing surprise. The plaintiff regarded these letters as a request that there should be less correspondence, and not as (a definite breaking off of the engagement. She wrote in reply saying she was sorry her failure to write had (hurt the defendant, but she did not write because she had nothing to , say. They met as nsiial in 1899. In July, 1900, they went for a walk in Kensington Gardens, and defendant said he lad changed his mind.—The plaintiff Said she was now engaged at the Western Hospital, Seagrave road, Fulham. Her salary was £76 a year.—The (jury award, ed plaintiff £25 damages. AN ENGLISH GIRL MURDERED. Lieut. Godzikoffsky, of the Sebastopol Fortress battalion, was (recently sentenced, at a court-martial held at Odessa, for the murder of an English , girl named Adelina Dongworth, (to banishment to Siberia for life and loss of all civil and military rights, with the addition that he should not be allowed to leave his place of residence for two years and the district for eight ' years. This sentence has been comnluted (by the Czar to one of imprisonment in a fortress for three years, at the end of which (period Lieut. Godzikoffsky will be dismissed from the service, without losing his rank, although he will be deprived of several personal and civil rights. 9