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Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 7369, 17 November 1898, Page 4

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Unsuccessful gold-seekers, returning to Vancouver from Klondyke, state that the Ashcroft Trail is strewn with skeletons and dying men. Sfr Arthur Curtis, the missing baronet,, was said to have committed suicide on the trail from want, disappointment and illness. A man who went through the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny was killed by a van while selling bootlaces in the streets of Tottenham. An attempt was made to cross the Alps in a balloon, but the wind carried ib in a wrong direction. An altitude of 20,670 ft was reached. The specially-constructed balloon was said to be capable of carrying 100 tons. A German woman who attempted to abstain from food for 30 days in London brought her fast to a close in consequence of the withdrawal of her medical attendants. She had abstained from everything but water for nearly 18 days. In a night balloon ascent made at the Crystal Palace, the balloon started at half-past nine, rose to a height of 3000 ft, and descended at Aylesford. In the clear moonlight objects on terra firma conld be distinctly seen, and the temperature was warmer up above than on the ground. The Prince of Wales is still the guest of the Duke and Duchess of Fife at Mar Lodge. The Prince can only walk with the aid of a surgical appliance, and has cancelled another batch of engagements. He returns to London next week, and after a few days' stay proceeds to Sandringham, where he will be joined by the Princess on her return to England.