GENERAL NEWS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 199, 15 November 1879, Page 3

GENERAL NEWS.

(From our Exchanges.) The Auckland Star's London correspondent writes : " Talking of the Claimant and his friends reminds me that Mr Ahmed Kenealy, a son of a famous doctor lias got into trouble. It appears he was desirous of bringing his name before the public again, and hi order to do so effectually forged a number of telegrams announcing his own suicide, wnich were duly transmitted to the various daily papers. Most of them, however, smelt a rat and declined to publish the news without confirmation. By-and-bye Ahmed was found to be ilive, and within a week the police trace \ the bogus meosages back to him. He is now in durance vile and will in all probability have to pay somewhat heavily for the joke." During the debate on the Women's Franchise question, in the House of Representatives (says the Post) Major Harris suggested that women might have seats in the Assembly. He thought it would not be a bad idea to send them to the Upper House first, and if they turned out well there, they might follow the. example of the Premier —namely, resign, and stand for a seat in the House of Representatives. Liveipool papers print the story of one William James Mayor, a respectable citizen, who passed several years in penal servitude for burglary and an attempt to murder, of which he has been proved to ' e entirely guiltless. It was a case of mistaken identity, and no redress for the injustice has ever been received.

A novel kind of robbery was brought under notice of the Melbourne nwistivtfs recently. Two fdsters, n;>med Sii.-im mid S'-riih WilkinI*, 1 *, aged IS nnd 19 respectively, had, some time before they were detected, carriid on this pbm of operation—they watched children going on errands to shops, asked them if they wanted lollies, giving them pennie* to buy some, ai d offering to take charge of the children's money till they .returned assuring them that they were friends of their mammas, in this manner they succeeded in securing sums varying from 6d to a Ll-note ; the police suspected them for a long time, and watched them in private clothes for weeks. They wer? caught in the act, and are now locked up on remand, a large number of charges having been laid against them. It has been clearly established ( says the Athenajam ) that Sir William Wallace, the great hero of Scotland, was of English origin. An old general officer, a veteran in the service both of his queen and of the King of kings, when he was dying (early in 1878), seemed almost too languid and exhausted to reply to his son's tender inquiry, "Is there anything you wish, dearest father?" save in the feebly-whispered work,''Only to die." But, suddenly, this old man, in the last moments of mortal weakness, sprang to his feet from his bed, and clasping his hands, whilst a transport of joy illuminated his face, exclaimed, "I have seen Him!" and the sext moment went away with his Lord, to "look Him in the face with joy for ever." A glimpse of" the King in His beauty and of the land that is very far off " was vouchsafed to the aged general, even before his immortal spirit had quitted its tabernacle ol clay—reminding us of Stephen's dying utterance, " Behold I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God." "The great Liberal Party," says the patea Mail, " having cut off its own head, is conducting itself after the manner of most other decapitated things —it is beginning to smell high and to show signs of disintegration. All the blows of the enemy had been aimed at the Grey head, an I therefore it was supposed by the body and the limbs that if the head were cut off the enemy would be completely sold, having nothing further to attack. The head was therefore removed as politely as possible and it was then discovered, when it was somewhat too late, that a head is a useful contrivance, and that it is not easy to graft any block on in its place. In cutting off it* natural head, the Opposition has done all that the Government could have wished to do, and the victory of the Government wilj after all resemble that of the Irishman at the battle of Waterloo, who walked boldly up to ono of the enemy and cut off his foot. 'But,' said one who heard the story of the exploit, ' why didn't you cut off his head ?' ' Och ! ' said, Pat, ' that was off already. ' The great Liberal party should have remembered that a band of humbugs must be most successively led by the prince of humbugs, and should therefore have stood by the leader without whom they would have had no political existence.