ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 211, 18 May 1909, Page 2

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

THE WORLD'S PRESS

When the members of the Parish Council of Westnewton, in the Wigton Union of Cumberland, met to transact business It was found that there was only one absentee, a veil-known agriculturist. It appeared that that gentleman had refused to accept the notice of the meeting from the postman because it had been surcharged a penny. The vicar, who is chairman, ruled that, as not all the- members had received notice, the meeting was invalid, and -in adjournment was agreed to A decree has ju6t been granted in the New York Supreme Court to a woman annulling her marriage with a man on the ground that at the time of the marriage he was suffering from consumption, and was therefore incompetent to contract a marriage. In King's Bench Division, London, recently three Judges heard arguments in the case of a man named Frederick Emery, who at Stafford Assizes was found to be mute by the visitation of God, and unable to plead, find was ordered to be detained during His Majesty's pleasure. Counsel for the man contended that as. he had not been found to be insane he could not be so detained, and was therefore in wrongful custody. The Court held that the order was properly made on the findings of the jury, and it was not necessaiy that the jury should find the man was insane. The application to have the man discharged from custody therefore failed. A very odd patent has been originated in Holland, ajid is about to be exploited in England — viz. , an " ice-tumbler for holding cool liquids." This is a tumbler actually made of ice. and at first sight indistinguishable from glass. When slipped into a paper holder it last6 for about half an hour. The inventor's idea is that it will bo used for summer da-inks in restaurants. The ice tumbler is made by pouring water into the space between two moulds, with an outlet to prevent bursting owing to expansion. The moulds are made of different materials, - with different coefficients of expansion, thus making it possible to release the frozen-in tumbler. In a case at Greenock Police Court against a woman charged with being found on enclosed premises for an unlawful purpose, an inspector of the South Metropolitan Gas Company said that for a long period the prisoner had been suspected of robbing meters. Accompanied by two dogs, she obtained keys of empty houses, which she entered. The dogs barked if anyone came to the house, and thus the prisoner received warning. He had received complaints in respect of at least 300 houses during about three years. The prisoner, who declared that she had " never dono anything wrong in her life," -was committed for six weeks' imprisonment. In one of the Basque provinces of Spain there is a prison which opens the doors every morning, and fno prisoners go into town for housework, gardening, or some trade. Somo act as commissioners. In the-evening they quietly return at the appointed time to the prison, and the gaoler most carefully identifies them before withdrawing ihe bolts for their admission. Once a prisoner ventured to present himself at the gates of the prison in a state of inebriety, and the gaoler refused to admit him." "To punish you," he (said, "you will to-night sleep out of doors." And the prisoner, it is recorded, in spite of tears and entreaties, was condemned to pass the night outside. Quickly surrounding a building in Southwark, a party of policemen felt pretty sure of catching the burglaa* they were after. He had been seen at the window of a warehouse in Warren's Yard by a carman. Stealthily the police proceeded to search. They found him in a horse trough, which was full of water, in the ynaxi. He was dead. Among recent ■works by Gerinen men of science i« mentioned an investigation by T>r Alfred Kalischer of the senses of color and tone in animals. He had made a long series of experiments with dogs, the result of which ."shows apparently that although dogs are- supposed to dislike music, they distinguish musical tones more easily than colors. Mr Kalischer found (says the 'Westminster Gazette') that he could train dogs to snap at meat only when red electric lamps were turned on'; but they showed more hesitation in deciding between red and orange than between musical notes. When a lamp of a shade not far removed from red was lighted, Dr Kalischer 's terrier hesitated at first, but finally rejected it as not the real thing. Another dog trained by Dr Kalischer could distinguish the smell *of real from imitation musk. One never knows whether to be grateful or otherwise to the inventor of a new saying (says a writer in the 'World'). Mr! Winston Churchill gave us "terminological j inexactitude," and for a while we rejoiced exceedingly, then hated him when it met us at every turn. Mr Gladstone's phrase.- --" within the range of practical politics," has been useful, and has ceased to be a bore. We were delighted beyond words at " little Mary " when Mr Barrie surprised us with it. It seemed at first as if the joke could never be exhausted, and it took quite a long time to get it into the heart of the country, but now we should warmly w r ring anyone by the hand who had never heaixi it, and we cannot manage even to twitch a corner of our mouths into the veriest ghost of a smile when it is used by a facetious vicar. At this moment we are' beginning to suffer from another of Mr Barrio's little jocular phrases. I confess I never again want to hear or read "what every woman knows." The order of the United States Court releasing the convicted banker, Charles W. Morse, by day, and returning him to the Tombs at night, has (says the New York correspondent of the ' Daily Telegraph ') startled even this community. Morse, it will be recalled, is under a sentence of sixteen years' imprisonment for violation of the national banking laws, and an appeal has been lodged on a writ of error. His release on bail has been refused, but instead he has been granted the right "to go in custody of a United States marshal to such places in the city of New York as the reasonable transaction of his business may require, provided he be taken back to the city prison for safe keeping during the night." The United States District Attorney (Mr Stimson) denounces the proceedings as " a revolutionary action in the matter of court procedure," while the public generally regard the order with amazement. The torture that is inflicted by the Chinese mode of punishment of placing the culprit where a drop of water will fall on his head for hours is proved by an experience that Colonel Fred Burnaby had in Vienna several years ago. A school teacher bet him that he would not be able I to let a pint of water, drop by drop, fall on his hand. Burnaby laughed at the very idea of his not being able to stand it, and the test began. Although the strong man talked and jested gaily at first, it was not long before he began to show signs of distress. At about the 200th drop — for the school teacher kept tally — an expression of pain crossed his face. 'When the 300 had been entered his hand began to swell and grow red. Then the skin burst, and the pain became more and more excruciating.

Finally, at the 420th drop, Burnaby gave ij> up and acknowledged himself beaten. The romantic French Foreign Legion is said to be the most cosmopolitan corps in the world. Political victims, deserters, criminals, doctors, and professors of all degrees, officers of all countries who have been " cashiered," artistocratic " remittance men," are all to be found in its ranks. During a fight in South Oran, when the doctor was hit, and could not attend to the wounded, no fewer than four doctors and medical students Avere discovered in the ranks of a single battalion ready to take his place. Desperadoes, too, find a welcome in the merciless " Rurales " of Mexico. They are chiefly employed in running to earth bandits and other reckless lawbreakers, and on the principle of " set a thief to catch a thief," converted robbers are eagerly enlisted. Captured murderers obtain short shrift with the " Rurales," and very frequent is the report to headquarters : " Bandit chief caught and shot Avhilst attempting to escape."