Round the World Paragraphs.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 1, 6 January 1909, Page 44

Round the World Paragraphs.

Where Not to Live. Bolivia in a good country to live out of, according to a Uonsular rej>on recently itinied. The British Consul urites that the cost of living is enormous, and the pillage of goods while they are l>eing transferred inland from the ports of Antofagasta ami Mollendo defies description. The following list shows the prices of tome commodities in Bolivia: — Coal. £ 14 per ton. Wood, £l2 per ton. Electric light. 7/- per light per month. Petroleum. 10 jer tin for 5 gallons. Groceries, Two and a half times as much as in Europe. Bread. 4<i per lb. Butter, 3/- per lb Champagne, £lO per dozen of cheap wines. Milk. 9d per quart. Clothes. £l5 a suit. Roughly speaking. £1,500 a year in Bolivia represents £6OO in Europe.

Festive Funeral.

The body of M. Pierre Lacroix, a wealthy bachelor eighty years of age, was interred at Amilly. nea r Montargis, France, a few Meeks ago, amid extra ordinary scenes. To comply with the wishes of M. Lacroix there were no mourners, all those attending the funeral being dressed in their gayest clothes. The hearse Mas preceded by a brass band, which played selections from the “Geisha” and “Les Cloches de Corneville.” and the coffin was lowered into the grave wit«h loud cheers. The guests were afterwards entertain at a banquet, followed by a dance at a local hotel. _M. left a will bequeathing his fortune of £4.000 to the municipality of the town, with the sole stipulation that his instructions for the funeral should be carried out to the letter.

Passed for a Prince.

A story which throws into the shade the daring exploits of novelette heroes . was unfolded in the Court at Madrid. < The prisoner Mas Emile San Pedro, a < gallant looking young fellow, Mho had » been arrested fur illegally wearing mili- i tary uniform. His adventure consisted of a long series of impersonations which, * owing to an attractive manner and a t first-class education, gained him the en- i try to the best society. ] Some time ago he took the name of Vil- I laamil, son of the illustrious hero of San- 1 tiago de Cuba, and succeeded in Minning i the affections of a British officer’s young j daughter at Gibraltar. The engagement was officially announced, and the fraud was discovered just in time to prevent the marriage. San Pedro was arrested. He was not to be daunted, however, and after imploring his fiancee’s forgiveness he persuaded her to interest her brother in his ■ favour, and was finally released from 1 prison. 1 He then proceeded to London, where 1 he posed as the son of the Minister, Senor > Rodriguez San Pedro, and soon became a i favourite in many Mell-known drawing- t rooms. 1 But he grew tired of the humble role. { and resolved to become a prince. He s crossed to Cherbourg, and wired to the c Spanish Embassy in Paris that the Queen 1

of Spain’s brother would arrive at two in the morning. He was said to have l»een greeted on his arrival by the Spanish and British ambassadors, and reviewed the detachment of infantry sent to do him military honours. The pseudo-prince then proceeded to GLbraltar, breaking his journey at Saragossa, M’here he lunched M-ith the Governor, and at Toledo, Mhere he Mas welcomed by the Primate of Spain, Cardinal Sancho. At Valencia he was discovered, and thrown into prison, but succeeded in effecting an escape, and proceeded to Gibraltar. There lie is again credited with having done the impossible. He contenteu himself with the uniform of an infantry captain, hut the number of de corations with which his breast was studded excited suspicion, and he was once more arrested. He was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. but he has won the sympathy of -th<* entire public, aud it is believed that he will not serve the full term.

“Dehumanising” Women.

A terrible indictment of the British system of treating women prisoners is made by Mr« Elizabeth Sloan Chesser, M. 8.. in the “Contemporary Review.” "I have heard the view’s of educated and uneducated women,” she says, “of women doctors, artists, sick nurses, business girls, and M’orking women of all classes, of mothers, and domesticated women generally, who know by sad experience the hard lot of our English women prisoners. They say that the penal system fails largely because life in prison kills self-respect, courage, and physical and meatal activity. “Dressed in shapeless, uncomfortable, unnecessarily hideous garments, fed like beasts, and treated as if they were not human, continually suspected, degraded by frequent searchings and constant spying, deprived of sufficient fresh air and exercise, forced to spend long hours alone, without occupation for the mind or hands, how can the prisoners possibly achieve jedemption? How can they find salvation in this world?” Mrs Chesser says women prisoners are shut in then cells from 5 o'clock in’ the evening until 6.30 next morning. Three days a week they have anout 40 minutes’ exercise in the yard, under the eye of the wardress in charge. "After a few months of prison existence,” she continues, "a hunted expression; a look of stealthy watchfulness is typical of the faces. They become cunning and wary; they lose something of humanity, because they are treated as less than human. The aim is punishment, and the result is a hopeless failure from the point of view of reform.

The Memory of the Jungle.

“The elephant’s memory is proverbial,” Mr. F. Martin Duncan. F.Z.S., said in a lecture at the New Gallery Photographic Exhibition. London, "but that of other beasts of the jungle is hardly less noteworthy.” Tigers in captivity always remember a kindness and recognise a friend, even after the lapse of months. Lions which have been in a zoological garden for years have been known to show abject fear when visited by natives of the country where they bad their early home.

Dreadful Paris Tragedy. CHILD MURDER AXD SUICIDE BEFORE A WIFE. A dreadful family tragedy has occurred in the Rue des Gobelins. Paris, where a man named Helie Boutuille .hot his young daughter dead and committed suicide in the presence of his wife. Boutoille, who was an artisan, was only 34, says the Paris correspondent of the “Daily Chronicle.” W hen he married, eight years ago, he was a man nf good conduct, but recently he became consumptive, could not work, and took to drink. This, in addition to his physical depression, soon turned him into a household terror. He thrashed his wife daily, until finally she threatened to leave him. Knowing how attached she was to ue. six-year-old daughter, he told his wife if she left him he would kill the child. The poor mother fell ill two days ago, and was taken to the hospital. She would not leave her daughter alone with her drunken father, and had her taken to her parents. On Saturday afternoon Boutoille discovered where the child was, and took her away, under the pretext of going for a walk. At the same time the wife received a note from him saying that he was about to keep his promise. Mme. Boutoille. terror-stricken, left tne hospital and rushed to the police. The commissary and two policemen accompanied her to her house, but waited on the staircase ready to come to her help if necessary. When she entered the room her husband took her by the arm and locked the door. Then, before tne poor woman had time to see what he was about, he seized a revolver and shot his daughter, who was asleep in bed. Then, placing the revolver against his temple, he shc*S bisnself dead. The unfortunate gone out of her mind.

Terrorising School Children.

For some days the pretty Surrey town of Kingston-on-Thames has been terrorised by a report that “Jack the Ripper” was about and meant to kill some of the school children. Something like a panic amongst the school children began to prevail when reports were received of little boys having been chased by a man with a naked bayonet. The description given of him was that of a man with a face of many colours. So great became the scare that children refused to go to school unless accompanied by their parents. I Itimately the man arrested was brought before the magistrates. Policeconstable Church told the magistrates that he was on duty at the foot of Kingston Bridge when three little boys complained to him that a man had been chasing them in some gardens with a naked bayonet. On going to the gardens he found the prisoner, a youth named Arthur Levenden. who had in his possession a sword bayonet and some rouge. His face was coloured red, .blue, aud green. The accused made a remarkable excuse for his conduct. Up said his sweetheart was always talking about "Jack the Ripper,” and he thought he would frighten her. The Chairman, in fining prisoner, said it w*as a cruel and heartless joke., when the school children in the town had the idea that “Jack the Ripper” was about.