NEWS OF THE WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13859, 23 March 1907, Page 14

NEWS OF THE WORLD

THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT IN ICELAND. - ■ | _ Tho agitation for national independence is carried <m in Iceland will) remarkable! persistence. At present, after prolonged struggles, the country possesses Homo Jiulo to tho fullest degroe. This, however, does not satisfy tho leaders of tlio movement. IJrthcrJo their aims havo foimd ulteranee in tho pi;e.s« and 111 speeches. Now they are, for tho first time, given in book' form by Dr Hanncfspn Alaireyri, with the title "Tho Dawn of tlic Morning." ,'fhc autlior asserts that tho union between Sweden and Norway, and tho connection between, Austria, and Hungary, show how barren tile junction of several' nationalities in a State generally is. Ho dwells on the example of Norway as a proof that the smaller nation may well he ablo to gain its deliverance. Iceland, too—ho says must free herself from Denmark, the connection between them being useless, as Denmark herself is driven to seek support from moro powerful States. Complete independence is. to bo tho aim. Iceland jkxmsc.s full natural resources, and is even now not. too poor for stepping forward as a national commonwealth. The fishery inspection, 'hitherto carried on by Denmark in Icelandic waters, can easily be undertaken by Iceland herself. A gunboat, the maintenance of which would-scarcely cost 50,000 crowns a year, would bo auflicient; and this expense would bo nearly covered again by fines imposed oil foreign fishermen. A separation from Denmark Dr Hanncsson adds—offers no serious difficulties, as that country has HO means of retaining Iceland against Ihc will of its population. Tho only impediment is to be found in (lie fact of (he King of Denmark being also tho legitimate King of Iceland. Ilenco he would have to bo induced to resign that title of his own free will. Tho famous saying of Mr Gladstone 'as jo the "union of hearts" in the jNort.li, owing to the existence of Home Rule lsotweon Sweden and Norway, and Denmark and Iceland, is thus onco more disproved. To thoso who have no clear notion about, ,tho linguistic 'condition, of fhoio various .northern nations it may be useful to point Ollt that, though they are all of tlie f!ermanio stock, Swedes and Norwegians differ 'in speech. So do Icelanders' from Danes even ill, a Javgo degree. The Icelandic language fl t7n is nearest lo that of the Ivdda, tlio old Norse Scriptine, in which 1.(10 Odinio creed is embodied. It has a literature of no mean value, and in olden times the island was a flourishing independent country, with a noteworthy culture, of its own.

A CHAIR OF AUTOSIOBILIBM. Spain is not, perhaps, the. land to which ■on© wonld look for ni load in the spirit of modern progress, but in Ihc neld of automohilism at least (he young enthusiasm of King Alfonso deems to have struck out in a direction where other countries may follow. Ilis Majesty has come to the conclusion that technical instruction among Spanish chauffeurs is summary, not to say fragmentary-defects which may not, be peculiar to Spain, and he has devised a bold remedy. At his instance I hero is to bo founded in tho_ Madrid School of Arts iand Graffs a Chair of Automohilism, by means of which jSpnnish chauffeurs mav receive a training which it is hoped wiil bo complete. It is certainly to he varied. Besides mere- familiarity"with tho mechanism of the machine, they will have to acquire some new- acquaintance with the legislation governing the use of motor-cars and a strong grasp upon the system of main roads in the country. As this is not of the most complicated, the difficulty will be so much less in mastering them. One feature of tho course of instruction will tempt tlio caustic humour of the mol or-phobc. I'ho Spanish chauffeur will receive sufficient trainiiffe in to enablo him to render first aid to an injured pcrHOll.

DOCTORS' FEES. 1 Town and country doctors alike in most parts of Austria Jiavo decided to increase their fees 50 per cent., thereby joining in (lie K&eral upward movement' in prices ■which lias been .going on in Austria for "omo months past. In the rural districts llifr doctors were miserably underpaid, and even Viennese practitioners accept very small fees. University professors and' specialists of high reputation can be consulted for 10 kronen (& 4d), and general practitioners lpako thousands of visits to patients in their own homes for two kronen (Is 8d). Tho doctors watched rents, coal, clothes, focd, and'all kinds of commodities go up in price without making any move, until tho Government, brought in a. new —Kale for telephone rates, doubling and oven trebling the present charges. This was tco much for tho doctors, who do not find the telephono an unmixed blessing, They complain that many unscrupulous persons obtain advice over the wire without any idea of paying for it. In future, however, I lie doctors have decidcd to charge /or such I'onvorsations as telephonic consultations, to lie paid for at the 6a(no. rate as ordinary risits. A NEWLY-DISCOVERED MURILLO. Jinny stories have l'eeently obtained currency its to tho rediscovery of lost pictures by old masters. and an instance of the kind lias co'mc to light in Geneva. The facts arc these: / Several months ago a Spanish gentleman named Sen or Navarro, who had been long resident at Geneva, died there. At the sale of his effects, some time after, • nn old painting representing Saint Vincent . of Paul in a kneeling pasture, was sold for 7s 6d to V dealer in old art work—M. Ciisin-lierlincourt. 'flic painting was thickly crusted with dirt! and tho dealer was so far from attaching value to it that he resold it for 50s to Dr Nut riziano, of Geneva, who seems to,lie a ralher keener judge than the dealer. The, doctor thought the picture so well deserving of close examination that he sent it to Paris to be cleaned and passed under the eye of an expert. } Tho expense was about i>ls. but the result lias: more than justified tho expenditure. It has iioiv been established that the paint-

ing .is really a portrait of the founder ot the Sisters of Charity, and that it is by Murillo, whose signature appears on the canva3, and tho date 1669. The treatment. is described as a very fine example of Murillo's work, and interest attaching lo tho subject is all the greater that it is a departure from llie mere scries of Madonnas. SECRET MARRIAGES. Atlantic City (U.S.), where a great I restlebridgc railway disaster took place, recently. is now claiming- nearly as much attention by reason of the matrimonial sensations furnished there. 'I'liey include several automobile marriages and one wedding on the ice, wlnn everyone wore skates. On January 22 the, guests who went to the. wed. ding reception ot Miss Ida. Zi-isnizz, who was married at the home of her mother to Mr Martin Blankerhorh, of Philadelphia, found waiting for (hem a double surprise. After, the young couple had been made one, and when the felicitations wero falling like hail. Mrs Mathilda Zeisnizz, mother of (he bride, and still a young and handsome woman, l>esought the company to reserve some of their congratulations, us she might, require a few herself. She then announced that she was really not Mrs Zeisnizz, but, the wife of Mr Charles 10. Verhart. a musical ;director, of New York. Her change of name, she said, had been very recent. The. astonished guests wero pouring complimentary speeches upon her when one of them reminded Miss Mathilda Zei.snizz, older sister of Mrs Blankerhorn, that, she ought to have something to say for herself. " And so I have, 11 cried' the young woman. "I am not, Miss Zeisnizz, but, Mrs Nelson Edwards, and there is my husband to prove if." She t hereupon, led out, Mr Edwards, looking .supremely foolish but extremely pleased. She and Jlr Edwards had been engaged for some time, and six weeks ago decided that, they would keep in advance of the younger sister by quietly gelling married. The mother felt the same way, and pursued like methods. Neither couple, however, confided in the other or in the pair who were married on January 22. At tho close of the reception all three couples ,'went on wedding tours in three different directions.

BOMBS AT BARCELONA. While ->,a. meeting was being held at' Madrid on January 20 by Oarlists, Reactionaries, and Anti-clericals lo protest against, the new associations law, some, shots were fired bv a group of Radicals, several people being injured. The police intervened and made many arrests. Subsequently the agitation was renewed, and a body of Anarchists tired with revolvers on some Clericals who were leaving the meeting. Later on the same evening a telegram from Barcelona announced that a man had been killed by a bomb. It appears that, lie was about, lo pay a visit to his father-in-law, who lives in the Rambla de Canaletas. As ho was ascending tho staircase he noticed a small parcel, and was about to pick it up when it. exploded willi terrific force. The man, whose name is given as Vives, was terribly injured- all over the body, his hands being mutilated and his legs almost blown otr. Vives was carricd in great agony to. a neighbouring dispensary. The srtaircase of the house was almost entirely wrecked. Pieces of the bomb were taken to the police station for examination. It is believed that, the bomb was intended to be thrown among a meeting of Catholics, but that, owing to the measures taken by the police, the man who was carrying it, deposited it in the house where Vives found it ill order to escape capture. Had it been exploded in the street it would have undoubtedly Icjlled a largo number of people. Many arrests were made at Barcelona, one of the prisoners being an aifarehist,. who had a. bom-l> in his pocket.

A SPOOK TARTY. To entertain her guests in a really novel style, Mrs Arthur Brooks, a. prominent member of American society, gave what she tidied a " spook party," a ghost dance, or revel of apparitions, at a leading hotel in New York, on January 14. .Some of those invited came to the festivity in autohearses, and'upon entering the drawing rooms, filled with weird creatures garbed in white sheets from head lo foot, one got I lip impression that the very graveyards had yawned to furnish uncanny sensations. The favours were sweet little toy skeletons, and death's-heads, whose orbits were illuminated by green electric fights, added to the beauty of the decorations. A Hindu palmist, under a. canopy of crossbones, foretold pleasing events beyond the Styx. The climax came at midnight. The lights were dimmed, chains were clanked, tortured fouls in rosy corners shrieked, the ghosf dance grew more furious, and then the costumes wero cast off, and from their winding sheets emerged lovely women in gay gowns and gallant men in swallowtails. As a freak entertainment Mrs Brooks's spook party ranks with the Newport function, when a well-known hostess invited a large number of people "to meet Jacko." tho latter being an educated baboon, dressed in evening clothes, which secured fame at the American music halls. Jacko "received" with great dignity, and sat down to supper like everybody else.

CURIOUS STORY OF A DREAM. A correspondent sends the Daily Mail the following anccdoto, or, ns ho calls it, '■ case, of thought-transference," which was told him by nn eminent, engineer:—"This well-known engineer had been to Btilawayo on the occasion of the opening of Iho railway to that place. A friend,'who accompanied him on Ihe occasion, contracted enteric fever and die<l 011 the homeward voyage. vllalf an hour before lie died his hair turned perfectly white. On arriving in England the engineer wcht to break (he news .lo the young man's sister. He found that not only did the lady know of llio death of her brother, hilt she knew the time, and the circiunstauco of the hair turning white. The engineer was requested lo break the news io the father and mother as gently as possible, but to say nothing of ilio hair turning white. After a journey oPIOO miles he found that both father and mother, whom lie saw separately, not only know of the death of their son. but know of his hair turning white a.l the lime of his death. Each had had a dream, a vivid dream, at the moment of the death taking place, a,nd each had kept his and her own counsel, and had not spoken to one another of the dream. It appears to me," the correspondent adds, "that thought waves do exist."'

GREAT AERIAL RACE. Particulars have boon published of tho Paris-London raco for ilirigiblo airships and aeroplanes organised by the Matin, which olVcrci' a. prize of £4000, raised by other donations fo £10.000. to the first successful competitor. All machines must be of Frmch make, and must rely solely on mechanical propulsion. The dato of the race is July 16. 1908, tho points of departure and arrival being the Paris and London office of the Matin. Competitors completing tho race must drop papers of identification within a radius of 30 yards of tho London office. Weather conditions will not be allowed fo prevent the race, but stops for refills of petrol, etc., are authorised. A 24 hour timo-limit is imposed. If the prizo is not won in July, fresh rncos will be organised in tho following months. FRENCH COURTS-MARTIAL. The Figaro states that the. French Ministers 0! Justice, War. anil Marine have agreed ui>oii the. terms of a bill for the abolition of courls-martial. The measuro will provide for tho trial of minor military offences boforc the Police Courts, tho niasistrate.-s of which will be assisted in such easos by two military assessors. Soldiers accused of serious crime will bo sent, to the Assize Courts, where (.he eases will be tried by a jury composed of six military men. The preliminary investigation will in all cases 'lie conducted by an examining magistrate. .SIIAM FIGHT BECOMES REAL. Lieutenant Real, a young Swiss officer, was tried by court-martial recently, and sentenced to 10 days', imprisonment, the costs of the trial, and damages amounting to £60, for losing his head during last year's annua 1 inanwuvres. The young officer fell into fhe hands of tho "enemy," ami, forgetting himself in tho excitement ot the moment, out down Privates Joost i'ml Jobert. severely wounding tho lafler. Private Jobert receives the £60.