The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-30

life may be saved
 The verdicts of many juries in this country baffle understanding At the very moment when there is a loud call for severe repression, jurymen set themselves deliberately to defy public opinion. Here is one more case in point. youth named Mathis. aged IS, who had been brought up by charity. and had been placed on a farm at Naudieres, discovered the corner in which the money box was stored away. On January II the farmer and his wife having gone to market, Mathis de- cided to rob them. He was detected by Madame Thierty. the mother of his mis- tress, an old woman nearly so years of age, as he was breaking the box open, and, rushing at her he threw her on the floor after a brief struggle, and cruel ly killed her by kicking her on the head with his heavy sabots. Then he opened the box, took the sl00 that 1t contained and left the place. He was arrested on the following morning at Pontamouson, and brought to trial at MeurtiIe ct Mo- selle asszes. A verdict of aequittal has actually been returned, the excuse being that he was too youthful to understand the enor1nity of his crime which he had committed. The court has sent him to a reformatory until he becomes of age.
 
 bank notes had been found in an old desk some time ago at Auxerre The desk. a very old-fashioned piece of fur nlture, belonged to the vicar of the vil- lage in the Tonne, who died some time ago, and 1t was sold with the rest of his belongings. The desk had carefully been examined by his heirs and also before the sale, and nobody ever noticed small secret drawer. The purchaser himself pxQnfna1 oa afI it either It was sent on to Reuil. where the purchaser lived. but when 1t arrived it was almost in pieces, as if if had been broken open on purposes and the secret drawer was then discoverd It contained the above mentioned amount in gold and notes. There was no mention of this sum in the vicar's will. and his heirs had never heard of it. either. It Is supposed that either the money had been conided to him by some parishioner shortly be- fore his death or that the vicar himself perhaps was unaware of its existence. In- quiries are now being made to trace It's possible owner
 The latest victim of cruel tricks on tradespeople is dressmaker in the Rue Saint Honore whose delight was great when a smart looking individual who had been introduced by a customer as q distinguished nobleman, gave her an or der for 5000 worth of costumes for as he said, his wife in England. The gen. tlenan took wonderful interest in the work, calling frequently to watch it's progress, and suggesting various altera- ton, which raised him considerably in the estimation of the cauteuriere who eomplimented him on his taste.
 At last the dresses were finished, and the count was in his apartment at a iiote near the boulevard when they were brought with the bill. He looked them all over carefully, and had come to the last when he sexclaimed There was to be a sash here Please go and fetch 1t at once" The girl hurried back~to the shop in quest of the sash, but when she returned the nobeman had disappeared with the costumes. and nothing has since been seen of him. The customer who introduced him to the unlucky dressmak- CT has been questioned by the police commissary of the district and there is no debut that she acted in good faith under the impression that he. was great parsonage. She is, however, unable to furnish any clue. as they simply became acquainted casually at race meeting. 
 Primogeniture confers no. natural ad- vantages, according to Professor Met schinikoff. On the contrary, all the old est sons and daughters must consider themselves as lncky If they are just nor mal The professor was asked to &C., count for the alleged increase of crin- inality in France. Some believe that the increase is due to the increase of sensa- tional police reports in the French yell low press. but that is neither here nor there.
 Professor Metschinikoff's answer was one word. Depopulation He afterwards explained himself thus: The smaller fam lilies are. the more chance there is of the children turning out idiots or crim- inals. which is very much the same thing. There is much higher proportion of degeneration and imbecility among first born children than among others. The the increase of abnormal individuals. The