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New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 21, 20 February 1891, Page 31

It is said that Sitting Bull's body was not buried, but is in the baods of surgeons, who will arrange the skeleton for deposit in some Government collection. The Queen of Spain recently acted as godmother to the infant of a lighthouse keeper, on the island of Santa Clara, near her Majesty's castle by the sea. Professor Alfred KirchofE, of Halle, has published an interesting communication in a local paper, the Saale Zeltutig, on the anxiety with which even scientific men of repute looked forward to the autumn meeting of the International Conference on Degree Measure* ment, which was lately held at Freiburg. It had been reported that a series of bimultaneous observations canied on at Berlin, Strasburg, and Prague went to show that a decrease in latitude was in process, at least in Middle Europe, and further reports from other observatories showed that a similar phenomenon had been noted in other places iq Europe. This implied an alteration in the direction of the earth'd axis. That is, the poles and equator, latitude and longitude, are not, as usually assumed, practically fixed data, but are liable to the general terrestrial law of flux. The amount of ascertained decrease of latitude at the end of the six months' period from August, 1889, to February, 18i)0, was half a second. But it was notified to the Conference that the Berlin observations for the half year ending last August showed an increase of latitude amounting to O.i, or two-fifths of a second. In other words, the fluctuation of the axis is due to a minute oscillation, probably owing to some changes in the internal mass of our planet, and not to be confounded with ths great secular phenomenon known as the precision ot the equinoxes. Dispatches from Pierre, South Dakota, and Standing Bock Agency, to General Miles at the military headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, on the 15th ult., announced the killing of the famous old Sioux chief, Sitting Bull, and tis Bon, by the Indian police. The police weie Bent out to Sitting Bull's camp to arrest the old chief, as it had been reported that he had struck his teepees, and was about to join the bostiles who have been pillaging along the White River. When the officers reached the camp, they found the Indiana ready to march. Their ponies were painted, and many of the savages had stripped themselves for war. The police mads a dash into the camp and seized Sitting Bull, 'lhey were on their way back to Standing Rock when the tall, athletic son of the famous chief urged his comrades to rp-ranturo the old man. The women and rhildren were lift in the bushes, and then with yells the bostiles charged upon the police, firing as they came. A hand-to-hand "struygle ensued, during which Sitting Bull, who was not shackled, gave his orders in a loud voice. For several minutes the firing was heavy and deadly. Nearly every man who was hit w.is killed. In the furious fusillade Sitting Bull fell out of his saddle, pierced by a bullet, but it is not known whether it was fired by the charging party or by one of the police. The son of Sitting Bull was slain almost at the first volley of the police. The hostiJes firi/d with deadly accuracy, and slowly drove the police from the field. If the cavalry had not come at this time, it is probable tuat the force would have been annihilated. After tho fight was over, the followers of the dead chief Btruck out at killing pace for the Bad Lands.