GENERAL NEWS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 5 September 1913, Page 7

GENERAL NEWS.

WHAT THE BUTTiER KNEW. T|he butler at the Elysee, a stately functionary, who has served under three Presidents, is veiy fond of recalling various incidents of his years of. office (says the Chronicle). One day, it is said, he was treating Mme. Poincaire to a recital of -his . choicest souvenirs, when suddenly he asked: " Why does not Madame havethfe> receptions on Thursday evening ? In Mme. Ealheres'. time ,they; were .always held on that was the idea of that " asked Mme. Pomcare with same amusement. "Well,. you see," replied the butler, "nobody ate any sandwiches after midnight."' "But why not?" asked Mme. Poincare. The butler smiled knowingly: "You see, madame," he said, "after midnight it became Friday and everyone had to fast.'' Such are the secrets of domestic economy at the Elysee.

UNEARTHING A SINGEjfI. Mr Oscar Ham-ner stein's talent for finding musical treasure was illustrated the other day, when he discovered I/uigi Gasparini, a rotund, middle-, aged plasterer, beneath a pile of bricks. The impresario was watching work on his big new Opera House in New York, which he says will give tone and initiative to the musical world, when he heard .(says the New York correspondent of the Telegraph) the strains of "II Trovatore,'' to the accompaniment of a tinker's chorus of clinks. Oscar and his? son Harry listened sympathetically, and forthwith began to hunt for the vocalist, who was foimd hidden in the basement with bricks below, bricks above, and bricks about him everywhere. Luigi was dragged forth to the fire engine station close by, where, puffing with pride, he gave selections which gratified the Hammersteins to such an Extent that he was provisionally Engaged for their ghorus,

JSIOHT APTM- i ; EAR§; Remarkable interest has been aroused throughout the United States' by despatches from Chicago, Illinois, describing the restoration by an operation of sight to Mrs Mary Welsh, of Hillsdale, -Michigan, after, she had suffered from total ; blindness ioriialf a .century. Mrs Welsh, now a. feeble woman 1 of gixty-six, was (says the Telegraph) a beautiful girl of sixteen .when she last saw light. She married at the age of twenty-two. She never saw her husband, who died several years ago. Mrs Welsh had eight children, six of whom are now living, and yesterday she for the first time looked upon her children's faces. After her first recovery frorn the emotion aroused by seeing her children, she asked to be taken to the graves of her husband and two children. "In the little country cemetery she looked upon ths epitaph of a man she lad married and had never seen, and, sobbingly, she murmured, "Too. late, too late !'•'

SEVENPENCE A DAY. „ An inquiry which has just ? made into the earnings of the liomeworkers in Paris makes pathetic reading (the Paris corresyondent of the Evening Standard says).. One of the most poorly paid industries is that of artificial flower-snaking, which is all the- more astonishing when one takes nto account; the extravagant prices ■paid for millinery trimmed with the products of the unfortunate workers. The making of artificial roses is the most remunerative, as facility in the art is only acquired with long practice, and demands a certain amount of intelligence. But even this class of work seldom brings the .worker more than three shillings per day, and usu-ally-not more than a shilling or one and sixpence. Those engaged in making the smaller flowers earn more than tenpence a day, and often not more than sevenpence. Taking mto account- tlieir reduced earnings during the slack season, the greater proportion of these flower workers do not earn more than £l2 a year, even thugh they usually work ten hours a day. Incredible as tbese figures may appear, they represent the actual state of affairs, and supply a strong argument for the establishment of a minimum wage for home-workers by Act of Parliament.