HERE AND THERE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2990, 5 July 1911, Page 85

HERE AND THERE.

Duelling in Germany.— A duel was fought last month in Berlin between Baron Oswald von Richtofen, formerly an officer in the Uhlans of the Guard, and Baron Wilheim von Gaffron, also an officer of Reserves. Baron von Gaffron was mortally wounded in the encounter. The dispute had its origin in money lent Baron von Richtofen 25 years ago. When little more than a youth he, needing money, borrowed a sum. of £1250 from Baron von Gaffron, who stipulated that £2OOO should be returned to him within a year. In due time Baron von Riciitofen's elder brothers, one a judge and the other an official in the Foreign Office, who aoted as his guardians, came to hear particulars of the transaction. They refused to pay this exorbitant rate of interest, and the debt was settled by the repayment of the principal, with interest at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum. But the incident becoming known, Baron von Gaffron was given the cold shoulder by society on the ground that he was a usurer. The latter, smarting under the social ostracism of which he was the subject, struck Baron von, Richtolen one day in a restaurant in Berlin. As an officer of Reserves, the latter laid the matter before a court of honour, which ruled that a duel must- ensue. The .conditions were three shots at 15 paces. The meeting took place. There were only seven witnesses —the umpire, the two seconds on either side, and a. couple of surgeons. Baron Gaffron fell, shot in the chest, at the first exchange, and, he died within an hour of reaching the hospital to which he was removed. Baron von Richtofen, on learning of the death of his opponent, reported himself the military authorities. He will be tried by court, martial and almost as certainly be sentenced to detention in a fortress, probably for a short period only, owing to the fact that the duel was fought on the ruling of a military court of honour. There is no sign of any revulsion of popular feeling against duelling, notwithstanding the tragic conclusion of the meeting. The duel and the result are treated as a matter of course.

Romance of a Changeling.—

> The romance of a changeling came to ! an end after eight years of bitter strife in the German courts on May 16, when the Imperial Supreme Court at Leipzig decided that the 14-year-old Count Joseph Kwilecki is really of noble birth, and not, as was alleged, a child of lowly origin purchased for money from, the wife of a railway porter. By this decision the "little count," a handsome black-haired : youth now attending a public school at Breslau, becomes the undisputed heir to estates valued at £500,000 at German Poland. The case began in 1897 ! when the artistocratic and wealthy Count and Countess Kwilecki, who were threatened with the loss of entailed' estates failing a male heir, announced the birth of a son. . At that time the count was 57 and the countess 51, and there was an interval of 16 years between the youngest daughter and the birth of the boy. Immediately I after the announcement of the boy's birth a. branch of the Kwilecki family next in the line of succession charged the countess with substitution, but after a long and dramatic trial the countess was acquitted. Four years later Frau Cacilie Meyer, the wife of a railway porter, alfoged that the "little count" was her son and that she had sold him to Countess Kwilecki. In December, 1909, the Court of Appeal decided in favour of Frau Meyer, and the "little count" was transformed from a wealthy heir to a poor man's son. He was allowed to remain at school, and the caee was taken to the Supreme Court, where the final decision has now been givec The court • quashed the decisions of the two lower courts on the ground that as king as the boy Joseph is entered in the register as Count Kwilecki's son ana the count recognises him as such, the claim of the soi-disant mother, whether right or wrong in fact, cannot be admitted in law. —The Battle of the Pigs.— A great comedy lies behind the official -report sent out " from here (wires the Tetuan, Morocco, correspond ant of the Daily Mail) of an attack by the An]era Moors upon Spanish troops and of the brilliant victory of the latter in repulsing the enemy. The enemy were, in fact, a drove of 500 pigs, which were put to flight by the courageous action of artillery and infantry. The Spanish Consul himself has confessed that the Anjera did not attack the Spaniards. The facts were these: A Moor had charge of 500 pigs belonging to a Tetuan Spaniard. When the Spanish troops arrived and entrenched themselves the Mooir got frightened and drove the pigs to another place in the night. The pigs, not liking the new place, returned to where the troops were posted. Their position j being surrounded by cork woods, the pigs made a great noise. The Spaniards ; thought the Anjera had come to attack. The troops began firing, and the artillery cam© into action. The pigs immediately bolted, and the Spanish commander,

! T thinking he had gained a glorious victory, I sent a special courier to inform.' the Spanish Consul that he had had a great ! success, and had killed six of the Anjera. I The Spanish Consul informed the other I consuls and the people of the Spanish "victory." The consul next day had to deny the report he bad spread and to I admit that the Spanish commander, like a modern Ajax. had .-■i-" J - : - efength and courage in dneadiu, —Supply of Affinities. — Many fashionable ladies of Bucharest (Roirmania) have (says the Vienna correspondent of the Daily Mail on May 5) recently received invitations to join a society known as the "Women's Interi national Free Love League." The league, undertakes to put them into communication with kindred spirits, who will supply the deficiencies of .husbands who fail to understand the complex nature of their wives. The league's motto ■is "Equal Rights for All," and ladies are assured that the heads of the league wall be in a position to put them into communication with their affinities. Ladies are asked to subscribe to the funds of the league whether they are in immediate need of its services or not; as it is impossible to know when such a need may arise. A husband 01 one of the ladies who received the league's circular put himself into communication with the police. The police traced the circulars to Milan, where it was discovered that a certain Hungarian and her Italian husband were the found ex® of the league. The woman, questioned by the police, said that the league had thousands of members in eveiry country of the world. She explained that the consolation offered to the ladies was of.. an entirely spiritual nature, and that her object was merely to supply the demand for sympathy caused by the brutal obtuseness of most husbands. The police decline to talkie'any action against the league. —A Mother's Devotion. —

A touching story of a mother's love for her sailor boy is reported from Chatham. Mrs Ellis, a widow from. Dundee, has a son in the navy. The boy had been away from home for a long time, and, longing to see him, the devoted mother tramped all the way from Scotland to the naval port—nearly 400 miles. Mrs Ellis, who is from 50 to 60 years of age, began her journey in March, and had to undergo miany privations. She was assisted at Ycrk by the Salvation Army, and in other towns she found friends. But in London she fared badly, and it was only with difficulty that she was able to obtain a mouthful of food and a ndgfrt'-s shelter. Mi's Ellis heard that her son was at Chatham, and was likely to remain there for two or three months, but on hee arrival a bitter disappointment was in store for her—her eon had gone to sea in his ship the previous day. " Footsore and tired out, the weary mother completely broke down on learning that her long tramp had been in vain. —Cheating the Kaiser.—

The Colmar magistrates had an amusing case before them (says the Strassburg correspondent of "Dalziel's" Agency) when a labourer named Fohr was charged with no less an offence than cheating the Emperor William. It appeared that Fohr became the happy father of his first-born on January 28 last, and registered the infant 'as having been born on the 27th, the Kaiser's birthday anniversary. _He admitted to the court that he did this in order to take advantage of the supposed coincidence by appealing to his Majesty for financial help under the circumstances. His plan succeeded, but, after receiving the Kaiser's bounty, Fohr began to boast to his neighbours of bis cleverness, so that they became jealous, and denounced him to the police. Legal proceedings followed, but the Emperor, on being informed of the affair, refused to prosecute. The charge against Fohr was, therefore, reduced to that of having made a. false declaration, and forthis he was sentenced to two days' imprisonment. —Where Church Members are Increasing.—

Whatever may toe the care elsewhere, the membership of the Church ri Scotland seems to be increasing. In tlie annual report of the Committee on Statistics of the Church, just presented to the General Assembly, it is stated that at the close of 1910 the number of communicants on the roll was 714,039, (in increase of 2828. The number reported as having communicated at least once last year was 513,758. The number of elders is 11,978, an increase of 182. The Committee on Temperance report a decrease in drunkenness ' throughout the country. "Though there has been greatly-increased employment for the artisan population, in comparison with the previous year, there has not been, to the same extent as formerly, an increase in the amount spent on drink."

—The Kaiser's First Wedding.— The first ceremonial function which the German Emperor attended was the wedding of King Edward and Queen Alexandra ; and. the late Bishop Wilberforce liked to tell a story of his behaviour on that occasion. The Kaiser was then a child of five, and was known to be of a fidgety disposition. Consequently his uncles, the Dukes of Edinburgh and Connaught, were told off to sit next to him and keep him in strict order. The service seemed to him too long, and he presently began to shuffle his feet impatiently. A warning nudge admonished him; but the result?, were not such, as had been anticipated. The infant prince knelt down, and bit his two uncles in the calves of their legs, not playfully, but in such deadly earnest that they had much ado not to cry aloud with the pain.

—The First Tea-party in England.— The Royal Family at Buckingham PalaOj recently recalls to a contemporary another party given in that locality. Early in the reign of Charles II Henry Bennet, Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale, a member of

the Merrie Monarch's notorious Cabal Ministry, and James Butler, the fifth Earl of Oasory, brought from Amsterdam a parcel of tea, which Celestial leaf had just been brought to Europe by a ship of the Dutch East India Company. In his town mansion, Arlington House, which stood in Buckingham Palace Grounds, Lord Arlington gave the first tea-party in England. It. was reported that the invited guests, great lords and ladies of the Court, made one and all wry faces when they sipped the novel beverage. —Homeless in London.— At the festival of the Claremont Central Mission the other day Mr Parsons, a working-man, described some sad scenes witnessed by the Claremont "Crusaders" during their midnight work among the Embankment outcasts during the last five years. As many as 1720 homeless men and women were counted on one Saturday night. "We see men walking along asleep," said Mr Parsons. '"I have seen them run into the trees. We have seen them asleep on the seats, covered with snow. One man we found asleep on the wrong side of the parapet, on a narrow ledge, and he said he slept there occasionally to get out of the 'wind.'-'