A Menagerie Manager Attacked by Crocodiles.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 3074, 7 December 1888, Page 2

A Menagerie Manager Attacked by Crocodiles.

: An oxcitiiig scene occurred recently ?■. at,B6ne> in^Al geria, at the Aquarium, , —a sort'of itinerant-menagerie. The special feature of'this Aquarium.' con- » sisted in a collection of no fewer than seventy crocodiles which were fed ■■ ■ publioly at;stateid hours by ager, M. Pernolet, : He pair of Wellington boots, alniaina • : stick with which.to beat off the rep- • >£ tiles when they became too ravenous' and attempted to snap tbe food out' i : r • of his hAtids. On 1 this occasion he - j was sitting on the back of; his largest . - crocodile, and kept {feeding•: tbe rest . v for about lon minutes, when all at . once, as he turned his head and put ■ ■ out his hand to tbe attendant for a " piece of meat, one "of W others!, t crawled up to hifu and bit bim in the : ? ttomnch. A shout', wasraised by the spectators', andi those around the tank tried to beat, away.' tbe crocodile, which, notwithstanding M. Pernor's blowß bet;an whirling round his prey^J^", as if to tear hiiu to pieces. Unfortu- \ uately, in struggling,: M. ■ Pernolet elippedandjell in the very' midst' of - - the reptiles, which nil i imbcd on-him niihfury. A panic took placearaA| ' the spectators,' who mostly fled. No™ ' tlielesa M.. Pernolet was' rescued. Although bis wounds are serious, his life is not thought to be in danger, . -

■; -Terrible Balloon Accident. A terrible balloon accident-is repor-i ted from Canada,, At tho Central Canada Exhibition at Ottawa one of ■ ■ the attractions was a balloon'ascent 1 ! ■ 1 in wliicli Piofeasor;: Williams', after • rcubhing-a Height' of lOOOftj'.was to , descend ,by means of a parachute. , 5000 .persons were in the . ; grounds to-witness llio performance, ■ Many persons'were holding bii lo the balloon while it was boing Mated," ' and waiting for tSe word to be given to let go. Among thein was a young ■ ; > „ man named Weußley, who was hold- •'■ 1 ding on to tho rope running around A . the.bottom oi"the balloon; ' Wlien all. ■-><»?■ t was ready the Professor shouted " Let surprise,of everjdH

h'aa '« about 1000 ft be - f^BHy 1 (ho'bicalbless ciowd bolowWraw himself up as ifinaking - ■' a last effort to save lumEelf,- and then ' his hold relaxed, nnd with lightning speed lie descended towards the earth At this point-the excitement among tho crowd was, beyond description ; women fainted, and a panic was but narrowly averted.- 1 During.: the first; part of the fall'Weiisley came feet foremost, but lie suddenly turned a . somersault, and struck the earth with r out-stvetched arms and legs about; 300 yards from the spot where: the,-i, balloon ascended. The body was-T • disfigured almost beyond and neck arms and legs wero brokffli •' Life must have be'en extinct before tho ground waa reached. Professor Williams, ignorant of the terrible accident, cut adrift from his balloon to commence his descent about twenty seconds after Wensley foil, ; '

! Dramatic Scene on the GallowsTho hanging of Alexander Goldenson, at San Francisco, on 14th September, for the foul murdor of the little schoolgirl, Mamie Kelly, in October, 1880, was noteworthy. Goldenson was a handsome • young Hebrow who had just passed his majority. Hia profanity and "boodlumism" during his gaol life, , his exhibitions of low cunning and .: of moral cowardice, led everyone to expect that he wonld have to be' strapped to the board on the gallows. . His strength had to be maintainii : : with stimulants, and, says the Hilt < York Tribune, he showed his viciousness by cursing his old father beoanse ■ ho came in his working clothes to ; bid him good bye, On the day ofjA the execution' he seemed a changed *.!! youth. Ho was polite'to the gaolers • who lie' had frequently reviled, and, when ho ascended the scaffold liewas - more composed than the officers who surrounded him. Hemarch°.dtothe gallows with the photograph of the girl he murdered in ono hand and a small American flag in the other. He spoko'a few words only, declaring that Mamie had been liis only love, ftiid his death on the gallows proved his devotion, , Then the gaolers strapped his legj, but lie insisted upon putting the noose around jiig \ own neck with his left hand. As he ' raised the rope not a muscle showed any tremor. Then lie'bade all goodbye. Being the first Hebrew ever % ■ hanged on (hat coast, his race made great efforts to secure a commutation of his sentence to a life temwHia crime was unusually atrocioutramy shot down in the street a fourteea; year-old school-girl because she refused to receive his attentions, He was an art student of much promise.,

Ah Amencan on the English turf. ; Mr Cassatt, who visited England in the beginning of tho year, andwho . 9 is the owner of the Barb, lias taken the American Press into his confidence. He thinks tha English - three-year-olds are an indifferent lot, and that the best of them, possibly Ayshire, is My ten pound behind the best French bred colt of tho same age—Stuart. Ho saw the Grand Prize run and'the French horse made mincemeat of Crowberry, who had just previously run second to Ayrshire . in the English Derby. As to how the English three year olds compared with Americaus lie could not offer an opinion, There, are at present 110 ,-American horses running in England ' and any judgment as to which . country has the fastest hops ; would '' be valueless, In : comparing? the ;j; grass tracks of the English course with those of America he tlie only advantages the former enjoy o\jer the latter isfas.far as he. can 1 see, that they are pleasanteMo Tookup, Of course from 'a mere scenio point of view the picture presented - by ft field of thoroughbreds galloping.. : , at full sweep oyer, a course . greeo is mow acceftatio to, the eyj ut

than a vacoon a mado track; Hut :.. from ii pcactiole point of view he was that courses in America waro the boat.', Thore yon see the ■ 'li6rsoaUthewftyi'Ouml,biitin England tlioy arc frequently, ont of sight altogether during portions of the race. The round track was by no means tlio unmixed evil that some people would make it out to bo. It affordod less opportunities to dishonest jockeys to play tricks, for they knew the eyes of the judges and'owners were upon them from start to finish. Then, again American tracks are far safer for horses than the English courses. ' Grass tracks get as hard as adamant in dry seasons, and horses arc continually breaking down, Split pasterns wero mishaps of frequent - occurrence in England, yet in America hardly ever such. a thing happens oh a track, Again they receive uiuoh more attention and are always fairly good going. They were , too, free from holes., Having no WnnM covering of grass any irreguthe ground was readily seen, and at once rdmedied,'but in England the growth of grass effectually concealed holes and ruts, and a liorso was often crippled in a race in consoqnence, F6W people seemed to realiso how rapidly running races were growing in popular favor in America, where there woro nearly twice as many races decided in a season ■ as there were in England, More liberal encouragement, too, is given in tlio way of' money prizes. It is true that of late years tlio English have given a number of very large prizes to be run for, a £IO,OOO <4 race at Saudon, the same, or nearly as largo a sum at Kempton; £2OOO and £BOOO plates at Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester and elsowhoro. These amounts loolc very big on japer, but 1 when you come to jpxamine tlio conditions under which , they are run for, you find that the owners of tlio horses subscribe the whole or nearly the whole, of the money amongst themselves, The large sum charged as entry money, often £SO or £IOO, with half forfeit . for any horse that does not go to the post, often reaches moro than the aotual stakes handed ovor to tho ownor of tho winner, A case in point'occurred while lie was in England. The prizo offered was and the amount received by the managers of the meeting from the owners who nominated their horses for that particular race -exceeded £6200. This lie called encouraging sport with a vengeance. He saw a good many races in England, and could not say 'ho saw anything, to ft convert him to the theory that the | English jockeys enjoy a pre-eminence in the art of race "riding. Li tlio races, the greatest of English Derby he closel watched rum Am matter ofliors at homo in that ____ believed that there w 'roping' or 'pulling' Nine times -out of ten when'a horse Started for a race ho to running to win. As for condition of affairs in England, it was sufficiently indicated by the remarkable admissions made under oath by a number of noblemen and gentlemen, well known owners of racehorses, in the recent action brought by Charles Wood, the jockey.