NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 November 1920, Page 4

NEWS BY MAIL.

THRONE TO CONVENT. BRUSSELS, Sept. 1

The Bishop of Luxemburg officially announces that the ex-ruler of Luxemburg, the Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide, is about to take the veil and join the order of Saint Theresa at the Modena Convent, Italy. Born in 1894, the eldest daughter of the Grand Duke William of Luxemburg and Grand Duchess Marie Anne do Braganza, and cousin of the Queen of the Belgians, she was proclaimed Grand Duchess on her father’s death, but oniy took possession of the throne on her majority in 1902. She. abdicated in favour of her younger sister on June 9, 1919. ' The Grand Duchess is very fienutifuß and is known for her goodness, piety, and gentleness. On the heights of Mount Carmel, Modena, she intends to spend her time praying for the people who were once her subjects, as she promised in the proclamation of her abdication.

BUTCHER CLAIMS £8,000,000. MONTREAL, Sept. 1. Mr Syman Horosvitz, who keeps a small butcher’s shop, in St Urbaifist reet, is believed to be heir to ail estate of £8,000,000, left by a second cousin, who changed his religion arid became a Catholic bishop in California, and died intestate at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. The estate is being administered by the American Government, which has searched for years for heirs. The estate meantime has accumulated, so it is difficult to estimate its exact value to-day; it may' he £10,000,000 now. SEIZED HOUSES. ROME, Sept. 27. The example of the metal, workers in occupying the factories from which their employers threatened to lock them out has been followed in Rome by homeless families taking possession of temporarily unoccupied houses.

The police last night were engaged in turning out organised parties from many buildings occupied in this way, including the .Villa Albani, an 18th century lion'se from which Napoleon carried away 294 sculptures, and purchased by ter. late Prince Torlonia for £12,000. It stands a quarter of a mile from the Salaria gate. It is rumoured that a more extensive movement will be attempted to-night, and .the Vatica'n has' been warned that several religious .houses in the neighbourhood of the Lateran Palace (where the Popes lived from the time of Constantine until 1377) have been, earmarked for occupation. The Government is taking steps to prevent the scheme from being carried out.

! RICH BEGGAR-WOMAN. PARIS, Sept. 26. When sanitary inspectors, accompanied by the police, forced their way into a lodging at Lyons occupied by a, beggar-woman named Clementine, Tornay, they found, amid a mass of r'ffgs and mouldy food, bundles of French railway shares, £BOO in Treasury bonds, a passbook showing a credit account of £4,000, and a store of copper and'silver coins. \ The sanitary inspectors had come round with an order for the compulsory cleaning of the rooms, which had become a danger to public health. The beggarwoman, who is 80, had collected the money during 60 years. (i „ , k SHOT AFGHAN MYSTERY. ALLAHABAD, Bept. 27 At the Murree, Punjab, court-martial on Private Chilcott, Ist Camerons, the accused stated that he noticed a Muhaiir (Moslem emigrating to a Moslem land) attempting to snatch a rifle from Lieut Hewett, who was bleeding profusely. He (Chilcott) took a rifle and bayonet and, hearing the order “Fire!” aimed at the legs of the dead man. Then, hearing Lieut Hewett’s command not to fire, he handed the rifle to a Sepoy, who fired two rounds, and the dead man fell. The counsel for the defence argued that it was proved that the shot fired by the accused took effect. Even if it had, the accused was justified, as he obeyed the orders “Fire” and “Cease fire.” LIQUOR CONTRABAND. NEW YORK, Sept. 27. Protests have been made by the Canaefian Government against the United States armed steamer Chillicothe patrolling the St Lawrence River from Ogdens , burg, New York, for the purpose of sup-1 pressing violations of the Prohibition laws. J The protest says: “There is a direct violation of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, which should not be tolerated.” The use of | naval guns in such narrow waters, it is added, is a menace to Canadian shipping, life, and property. ,

AIR CUP FOR FRANCE. / PARIS, Sept. 27. M. Sadi Lccointe has won tiie Gordon Bennett Aviation Cup permanently for France —Frenchmen having won it twice previously already—and £BOO lor himself, by completing the course of 187 J miles at Etampes, near Paris, in lhr (smin 28sec, an average speed of about 172 miles ah hour. lie finished the race alone. ,His machine, a Nieuport biplane, was fitted with a 800-h.p. liispano Suiza engine. The only British competitor, Mr Ray'nham, in a Martynside fitted with a British-built Hlspario-Suipa motor, came down before- lie had covered the first lap.

M, Sadi Lecoihte iiad a great reception wheii he landed.

PIPE-SMORING FOR WOMEN. , LONDON, Sept. 27. Yet another stronghold sacred to ihen has fallen before the advance of modern woman—the briar pipe. For some time past the Continent has accepted the coming of the pipe for women. The new fashion has now reached this country, and pipes of dainty appehraticc, graceful outline, and elegant proportion are now lieing made by experts jii the West End of London. These pipes.>have tiny bowls, some of which are shaped like an egg or bell and hold about the amount of tobacco contained in a couple of cigarettes. Some of the women smokers like them with a plain igold band for mounting, while others favour a dainty circlet of jewels round the stem. They, are about 6 inches long and weigh only ioz. v We; have.on the average 5 new customers a week,” saida member of a firm which is specialising in this work yesterday, “and there are many hundreds of women pipe-smokers in England. It is not a fad or a passing fashion. We blend a special kind of mild tobacco for their use—and we sell about 601 b of it a week.

“I think one of the reasons why women are taking to the briar is because they like to be companionable with their husbands, and they want to join him in a pipe in the evening. They find that it costs less than cigarette smoking, too. Some of our customers are only 20, while others are as much 50.” YEAR’S BEST TOY. PARIS, ,Sept. 27. A jury of boys and girls in Paris lias decided that a flying arrow which when thrown in the air describes intricate curves and invariably returns boomerang fashion to the thrower is the best new toy of the, year.