HOME AND FOREIGN

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXV, Issue 5134, 28 November 1903, Page 13

HOME AND FOREIGN

A BRUTAL SERGEANT. At Berlin, tho revision of tho case of Sergeant Broidenbaoh, of tho Fourth Regiment of Infantry of tho Guard, who was sentenced to three and a half years' imprisonment, with degradation, for brutality to his men, has resulted, in tho increase of tho sentence to five years’ imprisonment, with degradation. Tho indictment against Breidonbach, who is only 24 years of age, includes 1207 cases of mishandling soldiers and 15 charges of grass ill-treatment. One soldier committed suicide and another attempted to do so, owing to tho sergeant’s brutality. A number of privates deposed to Breidenbach’s systematic illtreatment, stating that ho kicked and hit them, flogged them with bayonet casos and. broomsticks, and struck them with both ends of a musket. When asked why they made no complaint of this treatment, witnesses replied they wore afraid to do so. Ono had been flogged until he was insensible, and tho man Will is reported to have said to a friend shortly boforo ho committed suicida that when be passed a shop window ho used to stop and look in to convince himself iio was still alive. Tho case has excited groat indignation. THE POPE’S DISREGARD FOR ETIQUETTE. An evont to which considerable importance is attached in Roman circles took place on a recent Sunday, when tho new Pope, defying all tradition, invited his three sisters to dine at bis own table. Hitherto it line always been doemod highly incorrect even for the most eminent ecclesiastics to sib down with his Holiness. On finding tho Pope deaf to entreaties nob to violate hoary observances, tho Hoad Chamberlain, it is said, broke into loud sobbing, and retired to'his apartment. whilst a Cardinal of noblo . extracton who happened to bo calling at the Vatican drove off in a state of great irritation. Another distinguished person was stirred by the Pope’s reluctance to create bis sisters countesses. Without a title, it ivas urged, there would bo an insuperable obstacle to their being lecoivod in polite society. Tho Pope, hearing of this, exclaimed, “They have a title already. They aro sisters of the Pope.” MORE ATROCITY STORIES. Letters from Monastir continno to bring reports of fresh Turkish atrocities in that neighbourhood. Ismail Pasha recently persuaded many families from the villages burnt in tho liastoria district to return to their homes, promising that the good Sultan would rebuild their houses. After the Pasha’s withdrawal, however, tho soldiers came and killed more than half tho people. They violated many of tho women and threw into a burning limekiln 18 children between tho ages of hve and ten. This report was furnished by a Wallaohian muleteer, who said bo had expostulated with the soldiers, whereupon tho latter had replied:— “Their fathers are tho causa of all the present trouble; if these brats live they will treat our children in the same way.” On the 14th September a Bulgarian peasant was murdered in the market place at Monastir by a Turk in the presence of gendarmes and policemen. No attempt was mado to arrest the murderer. Next day, however, his father was arrested. The Turkish village of Bukova, in the district of Okhrida, was attacked by an insurgent band under Kotskar, and a severe fight ensued. A party of Albanian muleteers, who were passing at tho time, were all killed, and the insurgents seized their loaded animals. Peasants coining into Monastir from Malovishta* and Rokotina report that they saw- several dead bodies, stripped of all clothing at different places along tho roadway. ,

ETIQUETTE AND SUICIDE,

There are people in the civilised world who take etiquette seriously, but in this respect they are not a patch upon the untutored barbarian. In his interesting report on British Central Africa for the year 1902-1003, Major E. 13, Pearce, the Acting- Co m missio nc r, observes that where a native considers that his honour is touched, especially in Angoniland, he docs not hesitate to corpmit suicide, and there have been cases during the past 12 months of women killing themselves when under the impression that, owing to some Jack of etiquette or nou-observ-anoo ofjiativo custom, she would lose caste with her follows. One woman, having given birth to a child, requested her husband, in accordance with native custom, to throw away the cooking po ts. Ho for some reason refused, and the woman thinking she would be dispised by the other members of her sect in tho village, banged herself. As an illustration of the ignorance of the natives and the conservative manner in which they retain thir original customs. Major Pearce instances another superstitious practice. An infant boy cut his upper teeth first, and, in consequence of this the ■husband ordered his ( wife to kill the child. This she did. The case came to the knowledge of the District Collector, and steps were taken to bring the parents to trial."

KILLED BY A MELODRAMA. Antonio Daske, a nino-year-old boy of Rosebud, South Dakota, attended a theatre for the first time in his lifts the other day. When tho heroine was about to he torn to pieces hy a buzzsaw. ho screamed, threw up his arms, and fell dead on the spot. DIED WHILE PLAYING CRICKET. A man named Jolmstone, an insurance agent living-in the Old Kent Road, was playing cricket when, just as ha was about to take a run, he fell down and died. DIED IN HER CR ADLE. Very singular is the life-story of Maria - Schumann, who has just died in Bavaria. The Brussels correspondent of tho “Daily Express” states that this remarkable woman passed the whole of her 23 years of life in the cradle in which she was laid after her birth. She preserved all her life the size and appearance of a baby a few months old, but her mind developed normally, and those who saw her said that it was very weird to listen to her speaking. Her parents as well as her brothers and sisters are of ordinary appearance. A MAD BARBER’S FREAK. A curious and at tho same time amusing story is told about a Dundee barber named Andrew; Blair, who has been re-

moved to the Herts County Asylum at Hill End. It is said that a policeman at Barnet found Blair trimming the hedgerows with a pair of scissors and comb subsequently proceeding to strep a razor and shave an adjacent milestone. He kept up a conversation with his imaginary customer all the time. TRICES OF FASHION. A charming and fashionable young French actress has, according to the “Daily Telegraph,’’ given away. On the day before a very fashionable race mooting she purchased tho latest tiling in early autumn mantles, for which she paid £4o. She sported the garment at tho races, and was tno smartest-dressed woman there. On tho following day she took tho mantle, neatly wrapped up in tissue paper and folded in its cardboard box, back to the tailors. On second thoughts she did not fancy tho garment, and did not find it suit her. The mantle was, of course, taken back, and the price was refunded without a question. Miloi Liii, as the lady is known, left tho shop congratulating herself, but soon discovered Ijiat she had loft her purse, containing i. 200. in tho pocket of tho mantle. Hurrying back to tne shop she called for tho discarded garment, and therein found her money. • But tho tailor now gently interposed, pointing out that tho lady mast iiavo worn the mantle, since, she had put her puree in tho pocket. Having had the garment on sho must keep it and pay for it. Mile. Lili declined at first, but at last paid tho price. BOY CRUSOES. Tho two brothers, William and Robert Farmer, aged 14 and 12 respectively, who ran away from Bexley, Kent, recently, were discovered near Harrow. Mr James Taylor, of Woaldstone, who had just read an account of their disappearance, saw two boys passing by. Struck by tho likeness of tho lads to tho printed description, Mr Taylor and bis companion, Mr F. Hudson, of Watford, stopped them. The boys admitted their identity, and their discoverers tool; them to tho house of their grandfather, Air Stephen Cannon, tho well-known miller cf Bexley, and have divided tho £2O reward which Mr Cannon offered. . Seen that night,' tho older boy was a little tired after his long tramp; tho other was fast asleep. Neither has suffered in health, and a cough which tho youngest had suffered from for months has disappeared—a tribute to the openair treatment.

Their journey was caused by their approaching separation, it having been decided that tho elder boy should go to 'Sydney with his mother. Their idea was to get work together either on land or on a ship. They intended to communicate with their relations in one year if on shore or as soon as they were safely embarked. Thev left home on a Monday with two handbags and a knapsack containing a suit and one clean cellar, a rug, 2s lid in cash, a dark lantern, a water bottle, a Bible, a quantity of nuts, and two apples. That night they slept in a railway enclosure near St. Mary Cray. On this day they started a stern system of dietary which consisted of one apple per day and six nuts with each meal, and four extra at any time that they felt they required them.

Next morning they cooked their breakfast over a twig fire; it consisted of a baked potato. They walked through Ohislehurst and Bromley, reaching Hayes Common, where they slept under a gorso bush. On Wednesday morning they breakfasted again on baked potato and toast, walking afterwards to Croydon, where they must havo narrowly missed their two uncles who wore looking for them. Hero they bought tins of bloater paste and treacle and tramped on to London. In London they obtained shilling beds somewhere in Kennington. The eldest disposed of his watch on Thursday momma’ and they walked across London to the Edgwaro Road, and thence to Kingsbury, where they slept in the open again. A Kingsbury farmer they approached did not need their services, requiring, as lie said, no nqw hands.- On Friday morning they reached Harrow, where they were stopped. They had a half-crown, and a half-penny loft.

UNHAPPY MARRIAGES. The wife of William Reeves, of Swinnerton street, Homerton, granted a judicial separation recently at the North London Police Court. Trouble, it soorns, began on the wedding and ever since, said the wife, her husband had beaten Her night after night. Tho husband’s version was that upon returning from tho church his wife said—“ Now you have put tho ring on I null show- you who is master here.” She then struck him and broke some vases, and he hit her in self-defence. She had altogether disappointed him. “We were married last April and have been quarrelling ever since,” said a comely young woman at Westminster, who charged her husband with 'assault. The Husband—Soon after we were married you stabbed mo in the eye. The Wife—You kicked me, and I threw the knife at you. Y r ou have threatened to murder me, and tied strings round my neck. Mr Horace Smith—Dear mo! There hardly seems time for all these horrors. The husband was remanded;

A “MIRACLE’’ AT NAPLES. The feast of St. Januarius falling ou Sunday, the customary liquefaction of ■what is said to be his blood was worked to order at Naples before an immense concourse of sightseers (says the “Chronicle’s” Rome correspondent). Cardinal Prisco presided over the prodigy, which occurred at sir: minutes past ten in the morning. Loud cries, mingled with threats and imprecations, were meantime directed towards the saint’s massive silver image, and a strong guard of city firemen and gendarmes had to be summoned into the sacred edifice to prevent St. Januarius from being maltreated by an impatient mob of fanatical devotees. When at length the matter inside the crystal vase began to bubble and foam to the neok of the vessel hysterical shrieks of satisfaction broke forth from the bystanders. Whilst the famous miracle was in progress, numerous feats were being performed by the light-fingered profession upon the pockets and persons of the assembled faithful. The tourist section, of course, suffered most. An old French lady was relieved of a purse containing 1600 francs in gold. A Neapolitan priest strove to console her with the thought that the great miracle she had seen amply compensated her for the other “miracle” she had suffered and attributed her loss to St. Januarius’s displeasure at the recent policy of M. Combes.