GENERAL CABLE NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 179, 16 December 1912, Page 8

GENERAL CABLE NEWS.

SOME RECK XT CABLE ITEMS. The following items have appeared in the Sydney Sun's social cable service: ELECTRICITY' AS FOOD. Paris, December 5. Professor Beruogie, originator of the tlieuiy tliat the luuiuin body can be nourished by means of electrical currents, has communicated to the Academy of Sciences the remarkable results of some expei.inicnts that he recently curried out. The case described by the professor is that of a patient who had become a physical wreck, and was unable to assimilate his food. This mau, wlio.se weight was taken in hand was 1071b ; was subjected to a scries of 40-niinute applications of a high frequency curleney, with the result that he continued to put on flesh until now he weighs over 1381b. IJk lias regained his normal strength, although he eats much less than he did before the electrical treatment was entered upon. Professor Bergonie declares that the day is not far distant when it will be possible to cure completely all troubles arising from malnutrition.

SAWDUST IN THE MANGER,

London, December 4. Speaking before one of the learned societies, p. well-known authority said tli,at though wood, in its natural state, contained no sugar, sawdust, under certain conditions, did. Placed in closed retorts with a weak solution of sulphuric acid, and subjected to a pressure of six atmospheres,' sawdust produced 25 per cent, of sugar. It was claimed that the product was valuable for feeding horses, cattle and, sheep. It had been tried upon the ponies and horses attached to a Durham colliery, and had kept them in hard condition. EXCITING BOLT: FOUR MEN KILLED.

London, December 5. I While" a company of the Grenadier I onurds in Berlin was marching from the 1 barracks to the exercise ground to-day the horses attached to the transport waggon belonging to the airship battalion took fright and bolted. The maddened animals dashed right in among the men, scattering them everywhere. Four of the guards were killed and three others were seriously injured. WIRELESS PLANT'S LONG RANGE. Berlin, December 4. The new tower that is being erected at Nauen for the German Wireless Company will be 917 ft high, or 250 ft taller than the structure that was blown down a year ago. This station is to be equipped with a long-distance plant, which will have a range of 5200 miles, and will therefore be capable of sending messages from Berlin to Chicago.

LORD ROBERTS EXPLAINS. London, December 3. In a letter to the Times, Lord Roberts, whose recent utterances on the question of universal service have aroused so much discussion, explains that he never denied that Britain's command of the sea was the first essential in the country's defence, but that supremacy, he points out, cannot be achieved without complete mobility of the navy itself. To promote that an efficient army for Home defence was indispensable. UNRULY STUDENTS. London, December 3. A Christian Science meeting that was held at Belfast last night developed into a very lively affair. Among the audience were a number of students, who kept up a running fire of interruptions, which they varied by blowing toy trumpets and by discharging electric snuff. The police eventually had to be called in to eject the disturbers.

PROTECTING SHORE MAGAZINES. London, December 4. In the House of Commons to-day Mr. Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, announced that steps were being taken to safeguard shore magazines against attacks by airships. Mr. Churchill stated that the trials to which the new airship Willows had been subjected had proved satisfactory.

ANARCHIST ACTIVITY. London, December 4. One of the Paris papers, the Matin, reports that in consequence of the recrudescence of anarchist meetings, and the appearance of anarchist posters in the city, the police authorities are energetically prosecuting enquiries in the hope of discovering the leaders. BOY WHO WAS DEIFIED. London, December 3. A remarkable case is now engaging the attention of the courts in Madras where a Hindu is suing Mrs. Annie Besaant, the famous Theosophist, for the restitution of his two young sons, who are being educated under her direction in England. The plaintiff alleges that Mrs. Besant reported at intervals that the boys were progressing towards their initiation into her cult. She told him that one of the lads was going to be Lord Christ, with the result that the bor was deified,many people prostrating themselves before him. The defence was that the boy was not deified. Mrs. Besant admits the acts of prostration, but avers that the father begun them. ' There is a probability of serious charges of conspiracy arising out of the case.