NEAR AND FAR

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10711, 16 September 1912, Page 3

NEAR AND FAR

Somi) of the me:i best known in Lnglish public lif,; never proceeded to a degree at their Alnui Mater. This point was referred to in the course ot a recent debate in tho House of (Jom 111011 s ()v Mr Asquithj who iemaiKed: "At this moment I have 1.0 votj lor Oxford, although I hold an hono.arj degree and was Fellow of my college." Tho reason is that Mr Asquith, "starting life as a, poor man,' did not waste £25 on an M A. degree. "Oh, yes," Jio added, amid laughter, ".L did pass tho examinations/' Lord Lore burn and Mr Swinburne aro other instances of voteless Oxonians, a fourth being "my light hon friend the Foreign Secretary, who did not, I tiiink, take, a Bacnelor s degree." This revelation of 'Sir Edward Gre.y as a man who did not graduate caused quite a sensation in the J louse.

I The plea of some doctors that the I dot-ailed reports given in tho Press or j infamous crimes Have a most dopressi ing effect on weak-fibred individuals | Jias received exemplification at Vifcor- [ bo (Ltaly), where, following immediately 011 t/!e conclusion of the Camorra.j 'trials, a young banker's clerk named Sebatmo ran amok and killed four persons on July 2tth, before ho was shot by the police. On the day in question Sahaffino rushed into the room in his home where his wife and three children were, and shrieking in maniacal fury, began firing at them with a revolver. His brother ran into the room, and was immediately shot down. Then the maniac's .mother-in-law ran, to the ■ rescue of her daughter and grand-children, and was in turn shot down. The next victim was the father of the demented man, who was killed as soon as he entered the room. The wife and children escaped injury. Sebatino reloaded his weapon, and rushed into the street, firing at every person he saw. Four gendarmes finally surrounded him and ordered him to surrender. His answer was to shoot one of them dead and seriously wound a"other. Thereupon the other two fired and killed him. A'n extraordinary fatality occurred at New York on July 21st,. when Holier t Kjnsella was drowned on the top of tho roof of a 12-storeyed building where he resided. He had gone on to the roof for the purpose of releasing a foot and a-haif of water which had -collected'there after the drain- I pipe became clogged. He ran his right arm down into the drain-pipe, ; and as ho released tho rubbish the suction of the rushing water caught him. . His arm was drawn in up to ' his shoulder, and became wedged in the pipe. Threo companions strove frantically but vainly to release the imprisoned man. Tho suction .held him in the pipe, and his head was drawn into tho water which still remained on the roof. Looking lip through the few inches' appealing to bis helpless friends , Kinselhr was | drowned before their eyes.

. Several Wheatstone ABC telegraph instruments reviving memories of vci'V early practical application oi were offered for sale by auction the other day l>y tliO and Telegraph Department, hut (wires our parliamentary eoiVOS'pondeiit) when someone recognised their historical interest they were saved for tho Dominion Museum. They were brought out to New Zealand by tho la to Mi 1 J. Woodford in 1861. Mr mK ,;lford was a personal friend of the late Professor Wheatstone, and took n l{j»on interest in electrical matters. " * A| ' X l in (.•hristclmrch, where he Ho ksh.. _ ' ->mcnt6 -to the Provincold tho inst;. in cial Government oi \x?vc 1866; tor some rca-son tin.-

never mad. - ! uso of, and lay on tlu shelves -of the Christchureh Telegraph Office for 40 years. Tn 1906 they were exhibited-at'tho N"W Zealand South Seas Exhibition, and. then wore, de- I posited ill'the- Post and relcgrap;) } storef aj Wellington. Lockjaw in a boy seven years of ago has been cured in Launeeston (Tasmania). Tho boy's name is Lionel Tufßn, who resides with his parents at Treva'.lyn. He became ill on Aug- 1 ust 17th, and it was at first thought that he was suffering from some childish complaint. Some tw'o days later sorioivf developments took place, and a medical man pronounced the case ai one of lockjaw, and tha bo; was . rwnoro<! to a private hospital. For several days his life was despaned oi. | Unremitting attention was given th-' lease, and constant injections of anti- ■ tetanic serum were made. Tho crisis j was readied a little over a week ago. and since the boy's recovery has been slow but sure. His iaw is now iinlookcd, though his feet are still ai--I'ected. Tho doctors have declared, however, that oneo the uoisou is out ci tho srstem the boy will complete-. Iv recover. It is not known how tlu> lad contracted tho ailment, but it was probably from a scratch. Messrs John O'Connell and W. Kit-to came into Shepparton (\ ictoria) one day last week with specimens oi golden quartz, whihe they reported having obtained from a reef a mile and a hall from tho township of C aniambo, 18 miles from Shepparton. Mr O'Connor tells a remarkable story. For six months he had been in tho Moonoompa Hospital, where he underwent three operations. He was discharged seven weeks ago, and two j nights afterwards dreamt that he had discovered gold at a certain snot not far from Caniambo, After having had the same dream live or six times, he, with Kitto, whoso acquaintance ho made-in the hospital, iviit to tho place indicated in the dream and there discovered - a reef. Several leaders were worked about- 30 years ago, but- ihe reel' in the neighbourhood was missed.