FOREIGN ITEMS.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3074, 4 May 1881, Page 4

FOREIGN ITEMS.

At the theatre at Nice one night last week MfiJle. Andral,...formerly an actress, asked nn attendant to open the door of a box occupied by Lieut, de Villiers, brother-in-law of General Thomassin, of Greek mission notoriety. On bis complying with her request she entered and dashed the contents of a bottle of vitriol into M. de Villiers's face. Two other persons in the box received some of the spray. She was immediately arrested, and declared that M. de Villiers, after living with her two years, had abandoned her in Paris, and she followed him to Nice. She resolved on the act the previous day after reading a newspaper article on recent cases of vitriol vengeance.

A terrible accident occurred at Munich lash week during a masked fete which was beinii given, by the students of the Academy of pjuntpi'M. One of the party, dressed in the /lax tM?.h".:P of an Esquimaux, set light to hi« /.l:f?ssi -with a unci ran in terror av> ■..■.α-i oHi-r artists dressed in a similar ,'::;)•);icr. setting fire to their dresses also, inn p.-persons were burned to death, and flight others were so severely injured that four of them have since died. One of the students was a Russian, the other seven were Germans.

The American correspondent of the Times gives the following particulars respecting the fire at the St. Patrick's Orphan Asylum at Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 27. The Sisters of Charily had in their charge forty children under twelve years who were locked in tbeh , dormitories when the fire was discovered. A sister unlocked the girls' dormitory, liberating twenty-three girls, who all escaped: bufc on going to open the boys' dormitory, a stranger on the stairs refused to allow her to pass, because of the danger, saying that all had escaped. Afterwards, on the firemen breaking in the door, they found seventeen boys suffocated by the smoke. They had crawled under their cots. They were dead. Only two of them had been touched by the fire. King Theebaw of Burmah, of sanguinary notoriety, has ordered a theatre to be erected in the garden of his palace, for the special benefit of his 450 wives. No individual of the stronger sex is allowed to set foot in this temple of the musee, except the eunuchs: ■who are occasionally required to take part in tke performances, which the king attends several times a week. The actors are female slaves or eunuchs, and receive the munificent salary of twelve fuangs (about If, 75c.) per cliem.

The ."English game of " Kiss in the Ring " has been introduced into Paris in a vsry queer shape. Ladies and gentlemen sit round a table, and the one who gets the ace of--hearts is entitled to a kiss from the opposite partner. A correspondent who witnessed the game says: — "It was quite a study to watch with what perfect sang froid the gentleman stood up to receive the stake he bad won, and with what consummate grace the lady bent her head to one side so that her lucky opponent aoross the table should receive his full allowance." There surely must have been some cheating in the game, for he adds :-—" How it came about I don't know, but I saw one gentleman win the game several times in succession, and kisa th© same lady. ,1 The American system of book manufacturing is about to receive a wonderful illustration. A letter in the Times from Messrs Oassell and Co. quotes a circular from a New York book firm stating that they have made arrangements for Betting up the whole of the revised New Testament within 24 hours after the first copy has been obtained from England, and within three days 10,000 copies will be ready for delivery to purchasers, after which the books will be produced at the rate of 5,000 copies a day. A more striking example of the necessity of coming to some arrangement for international copyright could not be deaired.

• A woman named Elizabeth Hutchins, who has spent t'.-e greater part of her life either in the workhouse, gaol, or lunatic asylum; has just been discovered to be heir to an 'estate worth nearly 20,000 dollars, which has been in Chancery for many years. Some months ago the publisher of the Phonograph, a shorthand magazine, offered prizes for miniature shorthand. The system ; was to be Pitman's, the writing to be legible ! to the naked eye, and to be on one side of an ■ English postcard. The first prize in this competition was awarded to a Mr G. H. Davidson, whose postcard contained 32,363 words, including the whole of Goldsmith's " She Stoops to Conquer," an essay on : John Morley, and half of Holcroft's " Road to Ruin."

Anew stenographic machine has just been tried in the Paris Chamber of Deputies 1 in the presence of M. Gambetta and other members. The mechanism, which is an Italian invention, was worked by the daughter of the inventor. A small keyboard, somewhat similar to the piano, communicates with, the stenographic signs, which are printed on a slip of paper. A speech was read in. Italian at an average rate and speedily taken down. After this a curious trial was made by M. Gambetta reading a French speech to the operator, who was entirely ignorant of the language. Her quickness of hearing, however, enabled her to transmit the various sounds to paper by means of the instrument, and the result was veiy satisfactory. The following storey is told of a twostorey brick house, in the suburbs of Boston, whose doors and windows are nailed up, and which has never been occupied : —" Nearly eighty years ago a young man built it for his bride, intending to mortgage it and pay for it gradually, as is worldly goods increased, to all of which she agreed. When the wedding day was appointed, the trousseau ready, and the house finished, he took the lady out from Boston to inspect ifc. After going over the house, he presented her with a deed of it for a wedding gift. Knowing his circumstances, she was astonished that he had actually paid for it. lie explained that, buying a ticket in a lottery, he had drawn the first prize, which just covered the cost of the house. The Puritan maiden protested she would not take a house obtained by gambling, and refused the deed. His arguments were of no avail ; she remained obdurate. When they left the house he locked the door and threw the key into the brook near by. The next day he boarded up the window*, and only the spiders and mice have ever occupied it. The man never married ;he became rich, but is a wanderer on the face of the earth. The woman never married—she is still living, poor and an invalid."

The new peerages just issued contain an entirely new entry. They have the entry of a colonial peer. Cnnada alone among the colonies has started an aristocracy with one lord. Baron de Longueuil, of Longueuil, in the province of Quebec, holds a patent eignedby Louis XIV. When Canada was ceded to England in the honours conferred by previous sovereigns of the country were not abrogated ; but it needed the visit of a Princess of Canada, and her return to this country, to get the Canadian lord recognised. It is strange that Lord Beaconsfield did not do it. Mr Gladstone and Lord Kimberley have done it. The Canadian baron has neither territory in Canada nor precedence in this country. He lives in Park-lane j ho cannot take his seat in any Parliament; but when Canada sets up a House of Lords, she will know that her first noble is to be found in Park-lane London. W.

The other afternoon His Excellency Chin (the Chinese Charge d'Affaires), Tso (the Attache"), and an admiral of the Chinese Navy, with one attendant, visited the British Museum Library, dressed in the full flowing garments of the East, with long pigtails, &c. Their visit created some interest, and the lemon-colored dress of His Excellency was rather picturesque, especially when walking round the first tier gallery. They •were shown over the library by Professor Douglaa, who acted as interpreter, and all expressed their astonishment at the vast extent and resources of the building. The catalogues were examined with great interest and His Excellency observed that he had

never conceived- such immensity. " Two thousand volumes of catalogues only ! Why, this is a library in itself !" be exclaimed. On Feb. 26 an appeal was presented by plaintiff in person in the case of Hind v. Brand. This was an action bro\;gbt by plaintiff against the defendant, as Speaker of tlie House of Commons, in respect of what was alleged to be a" report of a libellous character against the plaintiff, printed by order of the House. After hearing plaintiff at length, Lord Justice Bramwell said : How is it that you sue the Speaker ?—Plaintiff : Because, my lord, he is responsible for everything the House of Commons does. (Laughter.) —The Lord Justice : I don't know that. —Plaintiff : My lord, by Magna Cliarta and the Bill of Rights, I am entitled to justice. —Lord Justice Brett: But they do not entile you to come and talk nonsence for an hour in a court of justice.—The application was ultimately dismissed.

The total receipts for the 100 performances given in the United States by Mdlle. Sara Bernhardt reached 326,000 dols., Mdlle. Bernharclt's personal share being 13(3,400 dols., all her expenses being paid in addition. This dramatic tour exceeds in financial results all that have hitherto been made in America.

The will of Charles Edward Stuart, Count d'Albanie, late of Rccleston-square, has been proved under a nominal sum. The testator bequeaths to the Marquis of Bute, the Highland Tlaidh-mor (Andrea Ferrara) worn by his (testator's) grandfather, Prince Charles Fdward Stuart, at the battles of Falkirk, Prestonpans, and Culloden, a pair of steel pistols, inlaid with silver, and the dirk worn by his said grandfather at the ball given at Holyrood on the eve of the battle of Prestonpans, and which he opened with the Countess of Wemyss ; and to Lord Lovat the large two-handled sword made by Cosmo Ferrara, firstly belonging to the Italian general Patrici Colonna, and afterwards to his said grandfather, and two pistols formerly belonging to Rob Roy, 1715.

A curious incident occurred at the Vatican the other morning. An unknown Cardinal appeared in the Loggia of Eaphael among the many persons gathered there on the occasion of the anniversary of Leo XIII.'s coronation. For a few moments he was supposed to be a foreign cardinal whose appearance was unknown to the officials, and some ladies present are said to have kissed his hand and received the Benediction from him. It was, however, soon noticed that he wore a moustache, and that some of the accessories in his dress were incomplete, and on his being then questioned, it was found that the supposed cardinal was a poor madman who had on several occasions presented himself at the Vatican, asking to be presented to the Pope. Having managed to pass the Swiss Guards, he had made his way, it is stated, equally unobserved, to the apartment of Cardinal jacobini, where he changed his clothes for a suit of His Eminence's robes, and was proceeding tranquilly to take his place among the members of the Sacred College in the Sistine Chapel when he was discovered. He was removed quietly by the Guards, and taken to the asylum. ! A disgusting discovery was mode the other day on the premises of Mr Wiles, .potted meat manufacturer, Winsoh Green, Birmingham. Entering the premises Superintendent Birehley and Inspector Latham found in the "manufactory" the steam machine in operation, and about 1,300 lbs. of diseased horseflesh, mutton, &c, in various stages, from the "raw material" to the "finished" potted meat, sausages, saveloys, savoury diicks, German polonies, &c. There were nearly 200 lbs. weight of sausages recently made,: and coloured with red ochre to give them a fresh appearance. Two diseased sheep dressed but uncut were in the manfactory, besides quarters, breasts, legs, and shoulders of diseased mutton, together with upwards of 200 pounds' weight of diseased horseflesh cut into small pieces, cans of recentlymade potted meat, the meat being mostly horseflesh horribly diseased and coloured with red ochre, large German polonies of equally unwholesome if not poisonous material, and a large number of cans ready to receive as potted meat the strange bompounds. The borough and county medical officers immediately condemned the meat, remarking that they had never 'seen such a disgusting collection. A tin of red ochre was also found in the loathsome manufactory. Magisterial proceedings will necessarily follow. A story is told of Van Amburgh, the great lion-tamer, now, dead. On one occasion while in a bar-room he was asked how he got his wonderful power over animals. He said : "It is by showing them that I'm; not in the least afraid of them, and by keeping my eye steadily on theirs. I'll give you an example of the power of my eye." Pointing to a loutish fellow who was sitting near by, he said, "You see that fellow ? He's a regular clown. I'll make him come across the room to me and I won't say a word to him." Sitting down, he fixed his keen, steady eye on the man. Presently the fellow straightened himself gradually, got up, and came slowly across to the lion-tamer. When he got close enough he drew back his arm and struck Van Amburgh a tremendous blow under the chin, knocking him clean over the chair with the remark ? " You'll stare at me like that again, won't you ?" Madame Sarah Bernhardt has fascinated the Cineinnatians. They liken her voice to " strain of soul-touching melody, , ' and declare that she possesses " two haunting eyes that have enslave"! men from the beginning of time." It is difficult to conceive how a population so profoundly susceptible can turn without a struggle from such a vision of loveliness, from such a sconce of aesthetic inspiration, to the cold, greasy realities of pork packing.

The late Mr Sothern's (Lord Dundreary's) will is to be contested; the widow and two elder children being excluded from participating in the property. Mr Sothern's personal estate amounts to between £16,000 and £17,000. A caveat has been entered, and of course the matter will be duly fought out, but before it is finally settled the lawyers will have a good slice of it. The Baroness Burdett-Coutts, on her recent marriage, presented to the tenants on the Columbia estate the sum of £1 each ; nearly £400 -was distributed by Mr L. Harrison, her ladyship's agent, on this account. Substantial presents have also been given to the whole of her ladyship's employees on the Highgate estate and elsewhere.