LATE MAIL NEWS.

Hokitika Guardian, 27 May 1920, Page 3

LATE MAIL NEWS.

MEN WHO GIVE SPARKS. NEW YORK, April 3.

Medical men and scientists from Harvard University have been summoned to Danneniora Prison, Clinton, New York, State, to study extraordinray symptoms that have developed among two score of male prisoners, two of them have since died, the others being in hospital. The bodies of the afflicted men appear surcharged with electricity. They are referred to by the doctors as “animated electrodes.”

Sparks fly when their fingers come, in contact with steel, and when they handle electric light bulbs the filaments quiver with energy. Scraps oi paper stick to their lingers like"filings to a magnet. In some cases blindness developed, and it was at first thought that, that might be the result of wood alcohol poisonrig, but the best explanation scientists have to ofler is that the patients have been poisoned hv the germ ‘botulinus’ known under certain conditions to generate electricity. Officials are investigating a theory that the germ was intio h.i ;.?d in tinned salmon served to the pris mors a fortnight ago.

* * Botulism, attributed to badly prepared canned food, attracted much attention in this country in the spring of 1918, hut the symptoms were not those described in this despatch. Dry mouth, drooping eyelids,-and delirium were the most noticeable.

A POCKET-YACHT. LONDON, March 18. At the Motor Boat Show, which opened at Olympia, London, yesterday, every kind o T motor-propelled craft is to be seen, from big 45-foot cruisers, with sleeping accommodation for eight or nine people, down to punts and Canadian canoes.

One of tlie principal attractions is the big 40-foot cruiser de luxe shown by Messrs William Osborne and Co., of Littlechampton, Sussex. She has a beam of 9ft 6in., a draught of 3ft 4in., and her displacement is 10 tons. Her internal fittings and general equipment are of such unusual excellence that the name “pocket yacht” applied to her by an interested spectator did not seem out of place. Among the fittings is a special locker to carry a gramaphone safely in any sen. She is fitted with a 36 h.p. Thorycroft engine which uses paraffin. Motorists will remark the difference in finish"' between, tlie engines of the latest motor-boats and those of th la-test-motor cars. The keen yachtsman will not nut up with the uncouthness to which the motorist is becoming unwillingly accustomed these days.

£750 DOGS,

LONDON, March 18

After the war-time scarcity the demand for dogs of all varieties is extraordinary and prices have risen until well-bred terrier pups cost from £lO to £ls each, while the (nice of a firstclass animal runs into hundreds of

pounds. A feature of the canine world is the boon in Alsatian wolf-dogs, tlie price of which in France, tlieir home, has been forced up by a brisk American demand, until now anything from £SOO to £<so is paid by enthusiasts. Many good specimens have been brought home bj British officers.

The Alsatian wolf-dog resembles a smooth-haired collie with prick ears, is very powerful, and hears unmistakable traces of his wolf ancestry both in manners and appearance. His good war work, as sentry and messenger, won the admiration of British, and Americans alike and caused the present boom. Several specimens will be seen at Kensington Canine Society’s show at the Holland Park Rink,. Londo, W., on Wednesday week. _____