LATE MAIL NEWS.

Hokitika Guardian, 22 May 1920, Page 1

LATE MAIL NEWS.

DEVOTED NUNS. NEW YORK, March 21. Sisctcr Mary Teresa, mother superior at a convent of the Order of Mercy at Wiikesbarre, Pensylvania, lost, her life as a result of a fii'e which yesterday destroyed the convent and imperilled the lives of 60 nuns. The Blessed Sacrament was saved from the fire by two nuns, who carried it from the tabernacle through' the, flames in the corridors and liung from a window ledge for many minutes, while hundreds of spectators prayed in the streets for the sisters’ safety, till they were rescued. MAJOR SHOT DEAD. CALCUTTA, March 15- : Major H .D. Cloete, M 0.., commanding tlie 2nd Assam Rifles, -was shot dead b y ° the Rev. L. W .R., Jackman, an American medical missionary, at Sadiya Assam, (a North-East frontier post)^. It appears that Mr Jackman loaded a revolver and went to Major Gioete s bungalow. He asked the major to come out. and when he appeared shot him dead. Tile missionary thereupon went straight to Mr O’Callaghan, the acting political officer, and gave himself up. The reasons for tho tragedy, he said, were domestic, but the opcers are reticent on tho subject. Both men were well-known. Major Harry Duriev Cloete was the son of Sir Henry Cunningham Cloete, late of the Public Works Department, Indian Civil Service. The Rev. L. W. R. Jackman is an American Baptist medical missionary, who has been resident in Assam since 1904. ASPIRIN prices. LONDON, March 20. A Profiteering Act Committee which has been considering the price of aspirin, states that the manufacturer can, make a reasonable profit when selling screw -capped bottles, containing .25 livegrain tablets each at ssd. f A retail price of lOd per bottle, thecommittee states gives, a reasonable, profit to all ocneevned. Bottles containing 25 five-grain tablets can, however, lie bought in some shops at 6d. Other shops charge as much as 2s for--35 tablets of substantially tlm same quality. ■•■ in. In 1919 the price of aspirin m bulk was 3s lOd to ,4s (id per 1b.—1,400 tablets.

SANE IN A MADHOUSE. TWO SISTERS SHUT UP FOR- 10 YEARS. NEW YORK, -Van'll 18. An extraordinary story of the kidnapping of two spinster sisters, heirs to a wealthy estate, and their subsequent incarceration in a madhouse for 10 years has just come to light in a New York, court. How the elderly couple, bad been' shut up for a decade by relatives while the estate dwindled to practical insignificance was related before Mr Justice Arthur Tompkins at White Plains, New York State, during the course of a hearing which resulted in the release of the couple under a writ of Habeas Corpus. The women are Miss Phoebe Brush and Miss Ada Brush, now 68 and 56 respectively, members of an old Revolutionary family which settled more than a. century ago at Huntington, now thecentre of, the fashionable section ot Long Islahd. Although still possessors of property i worth about £7,000 the two sisters appeared in court clad in threadbare garments of the most old-fashioned sort. Both women are now white-haired, but i maintained a dignified and aristocratic bearing, seemingly unconscious of the odd effect created by tlieir singular attire. ' , Miss Phoebe, tile elder, took the: witness stand wearing a. long cape of antiquated design and fastened with ribbons, and a man’s hat several sizes too large.- -She told the judge a convincing tale of how she and her sisteiv while nursing their invalid, mother at Huntington in June 1910, were kidnapped by four men and several women, and spirited away to King’s Park Asylum. She declared that she bad •-> brothers and one other sister, but thatnot one ever visited her or her sister Ada during the time they were shut up as mental deficients. The women owe tlieir release to the interest in their case by Mrs Florence Ferguson, a former nurse of tho asylum, •who said that after long observation she became convinced that the two sisters were sane. Mr Justice Tompkins made a minute examination of tlie commitment papers and found them faulty in that they provided only for the temporary restraint of tho women for a period of 10 days upon the ground that they had . homicidal tendencies. Physicians testified that the allegations of homicidal instincts Avere disproved and recommended their release. ,

REAL BUTTERFLIES. PARIS, .Mart* 26. Real butterflies of brilliant hues are now worn in Paris in bodice ornaments and ocndants. I learn that they are sterilised like the flowers which -re the rage" here as table decorations. The butterflies are then mounted between thin sheets of glass and set in gold, platinum, and jewels. I saw this evening a splendid ornament drawn over the forehead of a well-known Paris woman. It consisted of real English sky blue butterflies set in brilliants. The effect was emarkable.' Beetles and scarabs are also set in this wav, The craze extends to the decoration of scent , bottles, card trays, and toilet accessories.

60,000 CHICKS FAltAl. LONDON, March 20.

There niay be larger poultry farms in Great Britain, but there is certainly none better equipped or run on more up-to-date lines that the farm which Mr Gerald S. Montagu, brother of Lord Swaytliling, has established on 60 acres near Egham, Surrey. Air Alontagu, who is by nature a busy man, was advisee), that lie must live an outdoor life, and his Black Lake Poultry Farm, specialising in tho two famous breeds of egg producers, Wiiite Wyandottes and White Leghorns, embodies liis choice of occupation.

The farin has great interest for tlie race of small poultry keepers, which is to increase because it is a type of the nurseries from which the birds of tho small utility flocks are derived. Air Montagu showed me an incubator ropnt with a capacity of 10,000 eggs ill 50 incubators. This room is 130 ft. long and has a hollow roof and walls for the purpose of maiitaiuing a temperature of about 50 degrees. Starting in January and finishing at the end of April 50,000 eggs can be hatched in this apartment during the breeding season. In the 80ft long brooder house there are 48 brooder boxes, and its total capacity is 50,000 chicks. Mr Montagu’s breeding pens consist of a cockerel and 6 bens on one tenth of an acre. There are 73 of these pens now working, and soon there will be about 150. In each pen'there are 8 young fruit trees. A 9-acre field full of pullets (42 pens of 8 birds each) of last spring is called the trap nest field. This is where tlie egg-laying merits of 1 tho young stock are tested. Three girls (who live on the farm) and a boy look after the birds at pre- j ent. MUCH TANED HEIRESS. ' NEW YORK, March 20. “For sale, 36 stones graded from six carats- purest water; splendidly brilliant. Mrs A. W. D. ’Phone for appointment University Club.”’ This advertisement in yesterday’s Now York papers excited considerable speculation, which was allayed to-day by the following statement -bv Mrs Andrew D. White, widow of the wellknown American Ambassador to Petrograd and Berlin:—“Armenian relief work was, always a favourite charity of my husband. This time, owing to inheritance and other taxes, J am unable to contribute, so I am selling my diamonds. ! have worn them only at Court and at diplomatic functions because they are too magnificent for ordinary .wear. They arc particularly: adapted for Court or opera wear.”