The Warwickshire Herald. — 1893-12-14 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

CAPTAIN THOREUX IN CAPTIVITY. One of the grievances of Franco against Siam we 3 the capture of Captain Thoreux in an attempt to drive the Siamese out of one of their poem on the Mekong. The SiaN Fre• Punt gives an inter mitnig account of what betel him during his captivity at the beginning of May. It says: "This officer, accompanied by three sharpshooters and an internrm ter, was proceeding from Stung Teeing to Khore ma a canoe. Near Ktione he was hailed while pasting an old Siamese, custom-hougc, and orderemd to atop. He took no notice, and reached Klicmle without having perceived any alarming signs. He cad acutely stepped ashore when • Laotian mandarin also rowed up in a canoe, accompanied by a few natives, and, landing in his turn, cam o up and told him to follow him to the Cleat Mandarin of the province, to explain this custom-house incident. Captain Thoreux began to protest, wit ,n, turning round, he saw he had been noieelessly sur• rounded by some 30 armed men. H thereupon consented to follow the mandarin, but at that very moment, and before he had time to understand *het was going on, be felt himself seized from behind, bound, and carried away. The most ferocious of the men, the very minions who corauntted the assault, are Cambodians, he says. Captain Thoreux remained two days in the hands of time Laotians, and during that time he had to suffer their ill.treatment. He received a blow from the 'mutt-end of a gun on the cheek, and will ling hear the scar of it. Moreover, all his limbs were tightly bound, and As was tied down to the floor of a verandah. This occurred on the first day. The 11•Xt day he was hound in the same manner to the bottom of a boat, and from nine in the morning till four in the afternoon he remained in that frightful position, exposed bare-headed to tho dtrouring sun of that climate. That the captain survived is a miracle. Yet these sufferings are not what this brave officer felt the most. What tortured him to the extent of driving him mad with rage was to hear the jeers of an Italian, who, while the French captain was in agony at the bottom of the boat, amused himself by jumping on his toes to make him cry out. The captain did not breathe a single compleint,but he spat in the face of the wretch. These •taatioes and tortures ceased only when the French officer found himself in the bands of the Siamese. He was taken to the Preapetcha at Oubon, and from that moment the Captain received delicate attentions, and even such marks of rospect that the Siamese, seeing him pawing along in a splessuid carriage,exclaimed, "They treat him like • prince." He occupied the Palace of the Preapetthe, where time y placed at his disposal all the useful and agreeable things which can be procured se far from lumps, such as preserves and toilet articles. The French officer subsequently left the Preapetcha delighted with bin hospitality. As a last mark of attention the Prince (Bidjit) furnished him with every poesible requisite for the journey—elephants. **ldlers, citrates, and provisions." Ultimately, CflPtain Thomas, experiencing throughout the mast courteous treatment irons his BISON* captors, woo Put on board a French mail boat, and taken Weir haek to Cochin China.  "I he Cunard lioer Umbria which arrived at tbioenstown from New York en Saturday morning, reported the suicide of • steerage palieengeri seined Gustave Anderson. • native of Sweden. who leaped overboard and was drowned. The Umbria war delayed an hour searching for him. Some curious litigation has been started is Chicago. The hotel owners are suing the transportation committee and the railroad companies for colinsively keeping customers away during the World's Fair. The damages claimed are rept*. sefited by the difference between the profits made and which would have been made.—L•ro Times.  Early on Saturday morning a man named Richaid Loader, in the employ of the Imperial Property empany at Muswell-hill, met with a terrible scot(lnti% lie was working at • mortar mill, when one of the straps connecting the enginn with the crusher flew off, and caught him round the wale. and before the engine could be stopped he was Oftly drawn between the cog-wheels, his legs being instantly torn from his body. He was at este conveyed to Highgate Infirmary. Among the wreaths placed on the coffin at Proo•esor Tyndall's funeral at Haslemere, on S 43Y, was a bunch of Alpine flowers from alpint ne,ghbours and friends, "with deepest sorrow, veneration, and unending gratitude." The Hon. E. Gordon-Lennox, son of the Earl ol Much, and one ot the Eton eleven, was brolly hult *we playing in a football match for the Eton College Challenge Cup on Monday afternoon. Ile waa carried off the held, and was attended by • doctor,