What Struck Him!

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3184, 20 April 1889, Page 2

What Struck Him!

Boston Herald. .. . " How are Americans liked in England?" And Mr B. Fi Lnrabeo, of 42, Chester Square, ex-director of the No w York and Boston Despatch Express Company,'.' who lias recently returned from a considerable residence -in London, answered''lf they have good recommendations and behave themselves, they are well treated, but they will like the English people, anyway, when acquaintance ripens into confidence," " How do the English. compare with Americans ?"

'• The finest looking men in the world can be seen on pleasant dajs of the London season, promeuading Piccadilly. The English ladies, however, are neither bo neat in their appearance, or bo "graceful inform and movement as the Americans, but they seem to enjoy more .robust health." •'■'" ■■'■■ :■• ; : ■'■' '■ ?■

" Are English people louger lived than pur people.?"■ "Idon't know... I have not fully investigated. But I remember once hoaring read a newspaper paragraph entitled, - ' Why do Englishmen Live Longer than Americans?', That paragraph, by the way, once solved a great mystery for me ?" "Ah, indeed,- another ' tribute to' the power of the press ?'" suggested the reporter. . "Yes, if you so please to oall it. In 1879, when I was residing at the Commonwealth Hotel, in this city, I had occasion to do some business in Washington-street. When I got to the cornor of Franklin, I seemed to feel a blow in the breast and fell to the pavement like a dead man. When I recovered consciousness I was taken to my hotel. I first thought perhaps some enemy had struck me, but my physicians assured me that such could not be the case, and advised strictest quiot.. For six long weeks f was unable to lie down. I was violently ill, and my physicians said I would probably never walk the streets of Boston again. I did not want to die, but who can expect to live when all dootors say he cannot?" And Mr Larrabee smiled, sarcastically, and expressed himself very freely concerning the number of common disorders which aro controlled by remedies whioh physicians will not employ.

" But how about that paragraph?" "Yes; yes. When I was obliged to sit np in bed day and night for fear of suffocation, and hourly expected death, my nurse begged the privilege of reading that paragraph to me. I refused him at first, but ho .persisted, It described my condition so exactly, that for the first time 1 began to realise what had prostrated me, I was'filled.with a straugo hope. lat once dismissed my physician and immediately began. Warner's Safo Cure, In a few months, ;I was restored to .perfect health, notwithstanding mine was one of the'worst possible oasos' of Bright's disease of the kidneys, which all my physicians —and I had. the best specialists in Boston—said was incurable. • I tell you, when a man gets into' the desperate condition I was in, he doesn't forget what rescues him,"

" But were the effectspermarient?" " That was fivo yeaw ago," said Mr Larabee, " and * for tbirty years I have not been so well as during the past five years. If I had known what Ido n0w,.1 would have checked the matter long ago, for it was in my system for years, revealing itself in uiy blood, by frequent attacks of drills jaundice, verdigo, typhoid fever, nervousness, wakeful nights etc ■ I took 1 over forty bottles boforo I gof' in/and ovor one hundred and fifty before I was well,' 'I have commended that treatment in thousands of cases of general debility, 1 kidnoy and liver disorder eto, and have never heard ill concerning it. I bank on it." " Speaking of paragraphs how do English papers compare with American in this particular'?" ! ■ " " Well, ,;.they : . have fewer witty paragraphs', 1 but tlie ! smaller • papers, like the Pall Mall Gazette, St James 1 ' Gazette, and Truth, abound in sharp incisive paragraphs without wit, ! lii general, American papers make the most-of news,, the Loudon papers make the most of opinion,

A Murderous Struggle in the Bark. Swansea was early on tha morr.it)j» of February 10 the eoene. of dreadful murder. Mr Frederick.George Kent, landlord 6'f tho Gloucester Hotel, and Mrs Kent, retired to bed on Saturday night, • having safely looked all ; the doors, including that of their own room, wbioh they fastened from the inaide. About s o'clock.it appears,'' Mra Kent was awakened by the sound of a match being struck, and, looking towards the dressing tabid, she saw a black man, in the act of lighting tho candle which stood on the table, She nudged . hot' husband, and said, "Fred, there's a man in tho room," Mr Kent jumped out of bed and closed with the b intruder, who stmgg'ed desperately. Mrs-Kent, who acted with great coolness, remembered that her husband kept a revolver under his, pillow, jjhe found it, and jumped out of ..bed,; with the intention of-shooting-tho intruder Tho candle, howevjr,- had not Keen' : lighted, and _it wag too dark, for her to distinguish) the^iiien. sojiarately.;,: They were'still struggling,-andvin a : few minutes one of.', the wrestlers : threw the other on the bed, ■'■ where i they still clung lb each other.,, By J tiw Uroe Mre Eout tod UgWeii ft i

candle, .arid,- Riming at the. straßger,.; ;;;■>';■ she shot him in. the .thigh^;-He?fell;.;:; to the floor with a loud Imprecation;■.';; ■ ,'V and crept nuder the bed.. Mra Kent" " v (hen unlocked the bedroom door, arid . called for assistance. - While shewaa; doing so the.man crawled from under;£Jj| •■ the bed, and seizing the /looking-glass -3 - hurled it'at ifra Kent, 'Happily it ■".. •; missed her, but: the diversion, it catiaeil by; tblß* v - viilaiii.to extinguish thejiandle, rush, for. the door/;- and. e*scape,M When: : a; y' : light.Wßß again pbtaihedpitwaßfouhd that Mr Kent had 'been tefribly-:cut by.«razor on the throat and about. the stomach, a 4l ff ' an'accoiint of what had •happened to the police, and stated that he was'Bure | his assailatit was.a coloured man. Two' hours {later Itinf unfoMnalf WopF .'A hue and cry was immediately .-•-... raised under the direction of Captain ':■'(■ '.■; Colqnohon, Chief of Police.' Thousandi j|*'' of people joined in the search, and at noona negro seam'an'was found conr ccalcd in a furnace at the Globe Dock, He was covered .with blood marks, and there was a bullet wound v in' his tbifh, • The. crowd made desperate, efforts to ijian'j jand one of them struct' him a severe blow on the head with an umbrella. TbfW police,'however,'c6ridildted him to prison. On being charged he made a statement practically adiaitHng that he was lhe ; hlanlwho hadlconiuiitted' the crime, fle. said -that a servant girl had invited -himto.the house, There carl be', no doubt, that 1 heentered! the.house before closing time ; ' and concealed himself with the object ' of robbery. He eives his "name ha Tom Allen, He is suspected of having . - committed other outrages, Mr Kent, who was 88 years of age, was a native of. Plymouth. The object of' the murderer, it is siipposfici; was to ; Saturday's takings, He had been 'a. ship's steward, M»t for some time had been hanging about town. He is a short slim man, and by no means powerful. Great admiration is ex- j£: . pressed for Mrs Kent's ■bravery coolneis, " ''"■ ; ".''■ ",

Big Profits irbm the Wolssley Shearer,

The Argus' writes of the Wolseley shearer as follows: "Iu the actuals work of Bboating, the one greJH;. triumph aohieved by the rnaobine was in the Dunlop shod on the Darling Eiver,.- where in fourteen weeks,l,Bl,ooo.sheep were shorm.. teat .which' might satisfy; the .most exacting critic as to the possibility of using the machine suacessfully on the .very largest- flocks. The. experience -Of. the Dunlop shed proves that the. shearer can quickly adapt himself to the machine, and do more work with' far less strain to himself than with the old hand shears; 184,000 sheep were shorn in the eeason, and in one day thirty-one men clipped 8728, any average of 120 per man, while individual tallies went up to 167,168, arid 178. It .' is not surprising, then, that the shearers are perfectly satisfied, or that Shearers' Union has officially notified the directors that its members will offer.no opposition to a general introduction of the machine. >v. ■ "On the.-21st December last, Mr % , Wilson : ni'bte:,' Having now. coujljr | pletod the ecouring of tbe dip of 1888, and' compared the yield -' of wool with that of a'neighbouring flock of the same class of sheep shorn this year with the ordinary shears, I find there is a difference of Jib of •'. scourediwool in fafpr of the Wolseley • machine. 1 ' This-1 : value at'.Bd } pW - sheep.' And this on 184,000 sheep amounts to 26183 6sßd. Avery satisfactory addition to the year's revenue; but it is not' all.' The Dlinlop clip is not yet in the market, but its still further enhanced value may be judged from the evidence of Mr R. Jinck, of Finok and Betz, antl . Mr Von Kompaey, of Ostermeyer, Dewer, and Co. Mr Finok saya:— ' 1 consider that the regularity of the staple and the general appearanoo'of the floeco (machine shorn) increase's its valuo. at least }d per lb.' And Mr Vanßbmpaey, without committing himself to" figures, says:—'l have just had an opportunity of examining a parcel of machine-shorn wool, and have beon muck struck by. its the extra length of staple, especially (& bellies and pieces; ioausiug' itf'w anticipated! to realise special valuoW'' Mr Wilson reasonably expects la make ;jd per: lb more for M* ; wool than would be realised by similar wool band-shorn, and this on the wholo clip will be £2BOO, the total profit through using,the machine shears amounting to £B4BB, Assuming the accuracy of Mr Wilson's figures, the aotual profit on the Hooks of Australia alone represents suoh a sum as to entitle him who bestows it on bis fellows-citizens to any honour it is in their power to confer. There are iu. Australia somewhat ovor • 05,500,000' sheep.. The increased annual profit by the use of the machine shears will bo in quantity 8d per head, and in quality Bd. Tho total for the whole number willbe upwardßof £.400,000.- By the use ot : . machine shearß this vaßt amount will , be_ actually saved, and therefore gained in every year. For it ns not to "' bo supposed that the gain in quantity willjceuso"with" the first year's shear- , ing.' t The testimony of practical men, - . and indeed the evidence of experience already gained, is that the surface secured, by the use of J||'{ ' ■ machine gives such a. fair start .h the next season as to produce a close' : ' •>' and even fleece, into which'duefc; ■'.s* seeds, &C, will not easily penetrate, 'andwhich in tho next season will ■ '. ', show a marked advance in both' ; - qu'autity and quality." ' \- ■ v*. ,^

The Mystery oi a Fearful Explo- .„* . sion Solved'.

The ierriblo explosion on \i ",■'■•: steamer Sultana, near- Momphis, '2B years ago, by which nearly 1200" Union soldiers, lost their lives has always beeii surrounded in mystery. The survivors, of the disaster have ■' '.: rcceiitly/piibhWed statements - affair, but by far the most Bensational story that lias come out is told by William; 0. Streeter, a painter and • '. decorator of St Louis, His story fixes the fearful catastrophe as tho 7; j result of no accident, 1 but'of a fieridisb'. ■ ■■ design, and ho locates 1 the boss dynamiter and murderer of thajflL ■ V Yes, I know something. onß' ■ Sultana disaster, said Mr Streeter in - reply to an inquiay- "I can give '■ -''■ the cause of the exilosion, A torpedo, encloeed'in.a lump of coal, was ; : carried aboard the steamer at .Mem.- \,'''.- phis, and deposited in the coal pile Qfa-tho^hoilers,^ ; y for ■.'■■; who placed the torpedo onth© bpat '■ v' \K is' my authority, fori had: the state. )?S ment from his own lips, JJe was a, VIH? notorio*UE| fcl^rifelerate| ; waU^Vedrrier i - and;blockadi.itnfe: f #s capftrMlfov :edmo'fivqor blxlimes,:and'oiwe''■■ leastKDtenced Jf i-|jji' : £^

tary oommission ; .in/this, city." His real name was Bobert Lowdou, but ' ' he was alwaya kriowu in'tbta city by his alias, Charlie Dale. '. He. was .a painter by trade, and worked in the sarao shop, with me for William H, fray some three years after the ose of the war. Dale was at that lime a ' young vigorous dare-devil, He possessed bravery of a cortaiu kind, I think, oquul to that of any man whoever lived. Ho was cool aud calculating in his disposition. He told me that ho had firod no less than half-a-dozen steamboats on the Mississipi. I asked. him in an offhand way what he knew of the Sultana explosion, Then he told me - the story of the torpedo in ; the coal, aud, using'his own expression, "1 had got too —— ticklish a job' to' set. a boat afire and get away from her." Out of a hundred other of Dale's daring exploits \ during the war ono * in partiSrfs oular impressed me foroibly as . showing the oharater of this remarkable man. It was accomplished whilo the Federal fleet was lying between Memphis and Vicksburg. Dale had esoapsd from prison in-this city, and was on his way south. Ho was in a quandary for several days as to' how he was going to get through the lines. Finally he hit upon a and it was successful, He got a coffin at Memphis, caulked it up with white, lead, and launohed it on the Mississippi. Then he laid himself in the ghastly looking boat, and floated down tbo stream.'Ho passed the Government Gunboats at night, and two or three times when the current drifted the coffin up against the hulls of the boats he readied out his hands, pushed the craft clear, and landed in the morning safe within the Confederate linos. Dale died in New Orleans during the yellow fever epidemic."