GENERAL NEWS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 6, 1 February 1909, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS

1 The Carnegie I nstitiiiioii is, states a •telegram from Svw York to the London iH'Wspsijx'rs, building a vessel which is to ho used for tJie (iurpo.se of conducting experiments in, and n general study of, ■magnetic conditiuns in all parts of the •world. The vessel is remarkable in that every portion of it id absolutely nonmagnetic. Kvou the anchor* are made of bronze. A large sum of money is being spent upon the f-:liij>, but the most ■valuable results are expected. • A resident in a Parisian suburb, who somo time ago was a. victim of the confidence trick, sought and found an ingenious revejige. Recognising at the St. Lazaire station the confederates who

had victimised him, lie assumed an iimo- ! cent air, and allowed himself to be I -fleeced in un identical manner a second i time. When the confederates subsequently proceeded to open the stolon purse a violent explosion occurred, the owner having placed in it a cartridge, of •fulminate of mercury. The holder foil 'down. badly burned about the face and •hands, and is now in the police inlirm* iary. The other escaped lieuter. John Ij. Sullivan, once the champion heavyweight, recently obtained a divorce at Chicago. Sullivan testified that he married in lrtS.'J, and .separated from his wiife in JSS4. lie charged her with desertion and improper conduct. The exgladiator told the court, affording to the London Daily Telegraph, " I hav® been oIV rum for four years now, and I have won hack money and self-respect. J am a new man and will never take i another drink. I have killed the desire of my amo-suggestion and faith in myself. .Matrimony is ail ideal state for a man if he gets it right, but if he gets it like I did it is something unprintable." tloldfish apparently come within the ken of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A correspondent 'has written to the Wellington body -(says the Dominion) drawing attention •to a ca,se. in that town, in which some •of these ornamental fish, were dying for -want of attention. The society's inspector stated that he had visited the owner, and given him information as to proper treatment. In this connection it may be interesting to note that New Zealand legislation deaJing with the proper treatment of pets is based on azi English statute relating to "wild animals in captivity." And here the. matter becomes a little amusing. A grub, for instance, •used by an angler as a lure is not ''ail 'animal in captivity," but whether it is a "wild'' animal within the meaning of the Act is not so clear.

Says a Home paper of December 10: •A cry of horror went up front a crowd •of passengers standing on Burton-on-Trent railway station platform on Wednesday. Before their very eyes lay all ! the elements of a tragedy. Between ; tlu> metals an assistant shunter was at Nvork. Suddenly a goods train bore down upou the man. Before the startled spectators could warn him—almost •before the cry of alarm had escaped their lips—he disappeared ''beneath the engine, and ten horse-boxes passed over him. When the train was brought to a standstill a number o,f persons rushed H'orward to render assistant. They 'were too late. The shunter, a man named John Hughes, rose calmly to his feet, 'stepped over the metals, walked up td the driver of the engine, and gently but ■firmly remonstrated with tlie driver for knocking him down. Beyond a few cuts on tlie face and hands, caused by falling on the gravel in the four-foot way, the man was uninjured, lie afterwards attributed his miraculous escape to the fact that he lay perfectly still while the train was going over him. Ostrich-farming ha» long been one of South Africa's most nourishing industries. The business is conducted on scientific principles, and careful breeding from selection has improved the slock to a rcmarkabk". extent. Recently, for instance, no less than £ 1,000 was paid for a pair of birds, whereas ostriches of the common class can be bought in any number at from 30s to GOs apiece. Of late years the industry has developed enormously. Jn IflTO, *«. h stated, there wero only about 100 domesticated ostriches in Cape Colony. Today it is estimated that there are over

"00,000 birds on Cape farms. Hitherto Mouth Africa lias enjoyed a virtual ■monopoly in the supply of the muchsought after plumes, out lately America and Australia have entered the Held, and although so far the competition is negli-

traders are naturally watching with a jealous eye a development whieh some years hence may render their iniliMry Jess lucrative than it is now. In self-protectio'a, therefore, measures have been parsed by common consent in all the South African States, practically prohibiting the sending uur ot the country of both birds and eggs.

" liv Oreat Uritain," said Archbishop Kelly, in ;i cliiil inspecting his travels to a reporter ut Sydney, '• Australia is regarded :is a priviledged country «u regard to lier jmtiu'iil resources, ami m tile chances lor success for nion who deserve it : but iliU'll) Juts been done in the direction of diverting would-be enimigrants to Aiistraln by reports as to her legislation. Those reports are exaggerated, they seem to have fixed themselves predominantly in tlie minds of those wha speculate upon the social and commercial condition of different countries. It would be well indeed if the world could be made to see that Australian publicopinion favors tile acquisition of private property. Au awful socialism is that which deprecates and antagonises individual possessions ; and I repeat that it would be well indeed iif it were shown llmt Australian democracy is constituted of individual proprietors, who will protect the laborer from unfair treat-* incut. lty capitalists, while securing to every investment all that may be claimed to be the rights of private property, lliat is a thing which the world should be made to understand—that we arc ready to give investments all the security and justice and fair treatment they should claim." \

"•Fifty years ago there was not a stag in New Zealand; now it is one of the 'finest deer-stalking; lounttries in the world, and the heads obtained there 'Would, alas, put to shame every deer 'forest in Scotland." This is how Sir. It. I'rank Wallace, K.X.S,, sums up the result of his observations while deer-, 'stalking iu New Zealand in 11)07, ill '"Mtalks Abroad," published by au English firm. Hi- goes exhaustively into the history and characteristics of tin: various New Zealand herds—the three main herds at Wairarapa, Nelson and Otago, Uilid that recently established in the liakaia Valley. With the Nelso-.i herd he did not make personal acquaintance, Iml fifteen or twenty heads which lie saw were all "narrow, ugly, and lacking in symmetry." Some which are working further inland, lie understands to he better, but they are. still inferior to those of Otago in length and span, and to those of Wairarapa iu weight. A common weakness in Nelson, and rather les, common iu Wairarapa,' he says, is the absence of liavs. Wairarapa iieails have a heavier beam and ;i larger luini'bcr of points than those of Otago; in ■tact, t hey resemble English park deer or Kiel-mail heads. The Otago heads have, as a rule, greater length of horn and finer span. II r. Wallace is more inclined to ascribe these differences to climate ami feed than to divergence in breeding, as sonici of the most prominent New Zealand stalkers believe.

Women, \yno -sleep in botls have looked under them over sin'ce these home comforts were invented. "It is a natural and feminine tiiiny to do. Thousands of women there are who year after year. decade after decade, have sought in vain for Hit! hidden burglar, and lew there have been who have found him. Men like the humorist and criminal Archibald McNeil, who rejoice in weird exhibitions of cooluc-.s, arc the. only type that may he found under beds, and so justify the faith that is hi women that some duv. if I hey- are constant in their -search, they may discover what they seek, say* the Wellington Times. There is .of course, the sturv of the aged but unmarried lady who for fifty summers had after her evening devotions carefully lifted the counterpane and glanced under the bed. It is recorded that -.he observed the mauil custom one night, and to her astonishment really did lind what she hail not expected to see all those long weary years. "Thank heaven/' she said, as .she seized him. The burglar was never handed over to the police. There are. ! too, circumstantial .stories of maiden , ladies who have actually sought maV hats, to hang up on hall hatstands so that the -potential intruder coming to the door might see them and be afraid. A large party of muddy boots on the verandah ot' the home of fair women (but no men) has been known to have terror-striking features to the intruding bottle-oh man; and the sole lady occupant of a house who on the appearance of a suspicious character sereanics out ''.lack" (although there is no .lack) seeius (o have some defensive armor left. There is every reason to suspect that the lady who looks under the bed each night, and owns a number seven nian\ hat, a pair of number twelve man's boots, and l her own unadulterated voice is better armed that the big foot"bailer -who possesses a revolver and no previous knowledge of its uses,