GENERAL NEWS.

Wanganui Chronicle, 17 August 1901, Page 1

GENERAL NEWS.

The visit of Madame Belle Cole to Wanganui is being looked forward to with much interest in musical circles. Madame Belle Cole is unquestionably one of the greatest contraltos of the day. Those who heard her when she toured New Zealand seven years ago will remember her phenomenal range, and her voice is now said to be at the very zenith of its beauty and power. Mr John Prouse, who accompanies Madame Cole, has been heard here before, and those who recollect his fine range on : former occasions will be pleased to renew their acquaintance with him on Friday evening next.

I am not prepared to swear that it is true (says the London corespondent of an exchange), but the story' goes that during one of the matches played at Glasgow by tho N.Z. bowlerSj the worthy president of the opposing club, who was "skipping" was directed to plant his bowl on a certain spot. He cut the caper as neatly as could be desired. "Grand, man, grand!" shouted, his director from the play end; •'ye'yc just dune exactly as ye was tell't." "Ay," spoke up the president's little daughter from the crowd on the. bank, "and that's just what he has to do at home, too." ' And there was dead silence for at least twenty seconds.'

Post officials have to deal with some curious correspondence at times. Recently a letter was received in Melbourne, and put through the • aijew Barr-Fykke stamping machine, which is incapable of discriminating "in favour of lovers' missives. It contained a conversation lozenge, which waa reduced to the finest of particles, and all trace of the fond message which it doubtless originally bore had been removed. More recently still, the office received from the country a plain "Abernethy" biscuit, with the address on one side and a postage • stamp on the other. It was carefully handled by the .'lettersorter, says the Melbourne Afgusi, and duly reached its destination intact.

; Nob. long ago a ■ Gordon • Highlander invited his wife to visit him at the barracks in: Scotland. She did so, .taking with her their six-year-old girl. When they arrived, as it happened, the .husband was engaged on sentry duty, and so they could not approach him. The child eyed her "daddy" with,% rather .sorrowful expression, as he paced up and down the square shouldering a rifle and wearing a kilt. She had \ never before beheld him thus arrayed, and for' a; few minutes the spectacle seemed to be quite beyond her; but for no longer could she keep silent. "Mamma," she said, in a voice that betrayed a trace of childish covetousness, "if daddy finds the man who stole -'ess trousers, will lie gimme dat lickle frock?"

According to a Melbourne paper the frequent appearance of a mysterious light, which cannot at present be explained; has disturbed the peace of a' number of families residing about two miles from Wangaratha, a town in Victoria. It has now -been iseen by a large number of people, and • all describe it in the same way— as resembling a lighted lantern carried by a man. A Mr W. Sutton, on •whose land it has lately appeared with more than usual frequency, states that he first saw it two years ago, and now that general attention has been directed to it various neighbours bear testimony to the same effect, but until lately each had thought the other had a peculiar habit of working ut night with a lantern. Several attempts have been made to get close to it, but when approached it wouldl disappear like a flash, and' be seen a few. seconds later in an entirely different direction. It has been seen only on dark nights, and generally disappears about 11 o'clock, but Mr Sutton states that he saw it one morning at 3 o'clock immediately in front of the house, although the night before his Avife and a man working on the' place were alarmed by • observing it in a yard at the rear. It was these two appearances that caused them to mention the light to their neighbours, and it was then found that the light had been often seen, and attributed to a lantern. If it be a practical joke it is .well managed, but witnesses are positive in declaring that the light appears to stand alone, and there are no means of tracing it, and the fact that it has been seen at odd times and in various places within a radius of a mile or two intensifies the mystery. The ipaper adds that when the moon wanes parties of townspeople are to make further inquiry, and tine effect of a gunshot will at least be tried.

"For intelligence, knowledge, virtue, and religion, the English of to-day is unspeakably better than the England of sixty years ago," said the Rev. C. Williams in the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church (Christchurch), on Tuesday evening last. Continuing, he said that practically the whole child population of the United Kingdom was now dn the day schools. It was impossible ,to value too much the education Act of 1870, which started the new system and created the Board Schools. Though they still mourned over the manufacture of criminals, especially in their cities, and though there was still much evil to be got rid of, England was improving. It was becoming less criminal and more moral than it was in the days gone by. The advance made by Great Briitain was very remarkable. At the beginning of the present century there were thirty-one million French-speaking people in the world, thirty German, and twentyone English. At the beginning of the present century the French-speaking- people were sixty millions (nearly double), the Germans seventy millions (more than double), and the English 125 millions (having increased five-fold). If the inhabitants of; the United States were included, they would have a total of 200 millions of English-speaking people in the world. That showed that great Britain was not becoming- the dominant power, but had become so already. He said that in order to fulfil their destiny, the British people should not only have faith in God, but also dn one another. His confident belief was. that in every human being were to be."found the .materials out of which God Made saints.