NEWS ITEMS

Colonist, Volume XL, Issue 8808, 6 March 1897, Page 3

NEWS ITEMS

—^- (Fbom odb Latest Exojianqkb.) A woman fell into the trendies at Dover, where she lay for two days and nights with both legs broken before she was discovered. The cold had been intense, and she is not expected to recover. Admiral Bridge, inteiyiewed at Auckland, said he thought it was to be regretted that the Government had not provided in Auckland suitable accommodation for the admiral commanding the station, as he considered Auckland was very suitable for a naval station for recruiting the health of the crews and refitting. The Auckland papers suggest that Mr Nathan's property, Waterloo Quadrant, sh,uld be purchased. In the wintry weather, in Sweden and Norway, trusses of straw and hay are tied to the lamp posts for the benefit of the birds. Prince Bismark is tte possessor of 482 crosses and decorations. It would require a breast of 21ft in width to v\ ear them all at once. A blind beggar who sat for many years on Waterloo Bridge, London, not only kept his family well, but had saved up £230 at the time of his death. The horsehoe superstition is j. re- j valent among all races in Europe and Asia.

A ton of sea water is supposed to contain about 14 grains of gold. On* thousand rose trees are ordinarily required to supply 2oz of attar of ro*es. It has been stated that a mrjrder is committed in Italy every two hours on the average. Liszt when studying the piano was accustomed, as a regular occupation, to practice 10 hours a day. Over 30 cities and towns in Ontario have adopted the provincial curfew law. The corporation of Ottawa has decided to apply i to that city,Children under 14, unaccompanied by parents or guardians, must not be in the streets after 9 p.m A return to the London County Council shows that the cost of the band performances in the parks and open spaces during last summer was £7021. The number of performances given was 796. It is proposed tc vote £7800 for music in 1897. Thb word " dun "is said to owe its origin tc one Joe Dun, a famous bailiff about 1500. He is said to have been so shrewd and dexterous in the collection of dues that his name became proverbial, and earned a dreadful immortality. The bee works harder than most people would believe. There are about 60 flower tubes in every head of clover, and only a tiny morsel of honey in each. In order to get enough sugar for a load the bes must visit about 6000 different flowers, and each bee must make, on an average, 20 trips a day. The Lambeth guardians, finding young women object to the term, have abolished " general servant " altogether ; substituting far it *• wardmaid*" On every shilling turned out the Mint makes a profit of nearly 3d, On every ton of penny pieces taken out from the Mint there is a profit of £382. The New York correspondent of the ' Daily Mail ' says that George Bramble, an Englishman, recently employed as railway station-master at Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, has just cleared over 7,000,000d0l by inventing a wonderful rotary niotorj and selling the patent to au English syndicate headed by the Allan Steamship Company, of Liverpool. A GRiDiRON party is the latest novelty. The Prince of Wales and many 11 smart people" were present at one given by Mrs Dunscombe. The dining room was turned into a grill room and filiets an 4 outlets were cooked on silver grills arid served to the guests. In a suit for breach of promise by Miss Mabel Duncan, an actress, again3t Captain Arthur Bingham Crabbe, of the Eoyal Irish Eegiment, for £10,000, a verdict by consent was rendered on January 20 for the plaintiff. The terms of the settlement are not stated. Count Sidney 0 Dann, the gentleman who i 3 bringing a Buit for 37,650,000 francs agaiDst the German Embassy in Paris, as damages for what he claims to be unlawful imprisonment in Germany for a period of eight and a-half years, claims to be the rightful King of Ireland. He is said to have been at one time an officer in the Prussian army, and distinguished in 1866. He was military tutor to the Germar Emperor, but was degraded and imprisoned during the FrancoGerman War for plundering. Emile Saver, the courtly gentleman who has charmed Europe by his marvellous powers on the pianoforte, has a keen sense of dry humour. Pulling out his cigar case, he apologised for only having two cigars. 14 One," he said, " was given me by Klinker ; he can afford good cigars. This," said he, "is one I brought from Germany. Good looking, is it not ? Cost me a penny ! But, then, I only smoke thebe on Sundays. I have ha'penny ones for week days !" So far as Nansen's party took saunding in the Arctic waters, these did not favour the idea that land existed in the direction of the Pole. There was no signs of shallowing as higher latitudes were reached, but rather the opposite. At 84deg N., a depth was found of 780 ft to 9180ffc, and further north thelead showed even greater depths, as much, it is said, as 19,000 ft.. The dress of a fully-equipped diver weighs 16941 b, and costs about £100. The thick under clothing weighs BMb, the dress itself weighs 14lb ; the huge boots, with leaden so'.es, 321 b : the breast and back weigh 801 b, and the helmet 351 b The biggest gold robbery ever perpetrated on the coast of Australia was that of £2 ),000 worth of bullion taken by a party of armed men, who boarded the ship Nelson in 1852, and having tied op the crew and ransacked the vessel, got clear off with their booty. The diamond is not among the earliest gems known to man. It has not been found in the ruins of Nineveh, in the Etruscan sepulchres, nor in the tomb of Phoenicians. The Mayor of WeJnesbury has proposed a scheme for c ectin? a cottage hospital to commemorate, the Queen's long reign, and offered £100 at once. If the scheme is adopted he will subscribe £250 towards the undertaking. During the hearing of a case at Marylebone, it transpired that a husb.md, after assaulting his wife, aseerted that as ehe was his property he could do what he liked with her. The magistrate commenced on tbis idea, which he said was far to oprevalent among young men. All who entertained such a notion would be taught a lesson when they came before him. Miss Winter, the English governess who has for so many years had charge of Wilhelmioa, the young Queen of Holland, has now returned to her home in England, pensioned for life with £500 per annum. She has also been loaded wi'h presents by both the Queen and her mother. A school inspector, having a few minutes to spare after examining the' school, put a few questions to the lower f rm boys on the common objects of the schoolroom. " What is the use of that map?" he asked, pointing to one stretched across the corner of the room ; and half-a-dozen shrill voices answered, " Please, sir, it's to hide teacher's bicycle." The Baroness Hirsoh ia about to give a sum of £80,000 for the purpose of founding an institution for consumptive children in England,