News from All Quarters

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 142, 17 June 1922, Page 19

News from All Quarters

BURGLE k LEAVES ADDRESS. A Fart > burglar robbed four houses on Sunday, and. distracted by his own zeal, left In t!..- ;«si of them his pockclbook containing Identity papers. Among those was his judicial r«cord. showing him to have been sentenced nine times for theft. He was easily followed up i.'iid arrested. 300- YEAR-OLD CUSTOM. Forty poor persons at Leigh. Lanes., parish church, each received s.'' from a charity left in l'i-0 by Henry Travlce. a farmer. In his bequest he stipulated that each recipient must step over his grave in the north als'.e of tbe church to receive the money. POETRY IN COURT. "I shoe-,.! like definition of the word •drunk.' said a defendant at. ltuabon. rienbipbshir-. Sessions. This was promptly forthcoming by tl.e magistrate's clerk:— He Is nol drunk who lies upon the floor With power to rise and ask for more. But drunk is be who helpless lies, Wltho.it the power to even rise. "You could not rise,- according to the police evidence, and you were druuk."' said tbe chairman. " la v 10/."

A BRIDE AT TWELVE.

The Hem.. Secretary having been nsked about the reported cienth of a H year-old girl in Wales, who w as married at 12. writes:—

" I have seen a newspaper report of the case referred to. According to tho law of England 12 is the age at which a girl becomes capable ..r marriage, and 1 think there would be general agreement that the age is much too low. and ought to be raised. The question will be considered in the event of any revision of the law of marriage, but I do not think 1 can undertuke to introduce •pecial legislation for the purpose of dealing frith this point alone."

BOY ROBBER BAND. A gang of youths, whose ages ranged from ltt> to 15, pleaded guilty at Chicago police court to a series of burglaries in which they secured booty of the value of more sban f2OOO. The courtroom was filled with exhibits— vevolvers, knives, furs, jewellery, masks, handbags, and so ou. The leader of tbe gang confessed that he and his companions had robbed more than 50 houses in the last few weeks.

The gang w a s known as the " film Bandits," he said, from the fact that they always carried out their operations in the afternoons when the houses were empty, the women being in the cinemas.

CROSS-CHANNEL FLIGHT. 170 YEARS AGO. Aviators are discussing whether or not Blerlot was the first man to fly across tho Channel in a heavler-than-alr machine. General opinion is in the affirmative, but * number of flying men now assert that the feat was accomplished by Father Grlmaldl In the summer of 17.11.

Tbis Jesuit, it is stated, built a flying machine having the form of an eagle, and ■dually flew from Cape Grlsnesi to "Dover, where he landed without mishap. This flight Is said to be duly recorded in documents to be found not only in the British Museum, but also in the municipal library of Bergamo, in Italy, where the Jesuit first planned his flying bird.

WOMAN BURGLAR. According to the Recorder of Leeds (Mr. 3. A. Compston. K.C.). the traditional timidity of women is only a tradition. No longer can It be assumed that a woman peeps under her bed at night to see If a burglar is concealed there; she goes burgling herself these days. Addressing the grand jury at the opening ef the Leeds Quarter Sessions, the Recorder said that ODe case that would come before them was "very remarkable." It was a case in which a woman was charged with housebreaking. "It Is generally considered." he added, 'that women are so afraid of being out at night that they would be the last persons In the world to commit offences of this kind." BALD BOY'S SUICIDE. During the Inquest on a Leeds youth of IS, an apprentice fitter, the Coroner remarked:— "I noticed, when I examined the body, that your son was bald. Do you think that worried him at all?" The father: I think so. It made him rather worried when he bad to go into company. The Coroner: How long has your son been bald?— 'For the past, eight or nine years. The father added that nobody teased him about his baldness. He only worried about It himself. He was very sensitive about it. 'He could not go anywhere and take big cap oft and be comfortable.

A doctor stated that baldness was supposed to be associated with depression.

The Coroner returned a verdict of "Suicide during a fit of temporary Insanity."

" .XUSTIFIABLE " SUICIDE. At an inquest at Blackburn on Abraham Parker It was stated that be bad been an Invalid for eight years. He suffered from an Internal complaint and lived in a state of •gony. During the temporary absence of his wife lie crawled out of bed. and, after turning •n the gas. placed bis head In tbe gas oven. Replying to the corner, a doctor said they would not allow an animal to live in pain such as this man had suffered. The doctor added: " I have nothing but admiration for the way in which he bore his suffering." The coroner said Parker must have had » horrible existence, and declared that If ever there was a case In which a man would be justified in committing suicide, this was one.

A verdict of suicide owing to continued UI health was returned.

POISON FIEND. The startling discovery that a "poisoning fiend" Is at work In New York City Is advanced by the police as an explanation of the baffling problem presented by the death In their note! in New York of an elderly wealthy couple, Mr. and Mrs. Fremont Jackson.

Mr. .Tackson was 72 and his wife 69. The.were found dead in the bathroom of their enlte fully dressed. Tbe circumstances of the death show that they were stricken almost instantaneously by some secret poison, the nature of which analysis has not jet. tjeen able to determine. This is tbe third case of Its kind which las occurred In New York In the last few weeks, two other victims being young, beautiful actresses, and the police believe that they have to deal with one of thosepersons common In the annals of criminology who have a mania for poisoning people secretly In tbe most artistic manner possible—the one, that is, that Is least capable of detection.

Two of four doctors Who examined the vital organs of the victims believed that they could detect a faint odour of potassium cyanide, a minute quantity of which causes Instantaneous death and leaves almost no trace In the stomach.

UNDUE "SENSE OP DRAMATIC." non I°]\ thf "' Alrdrle employee named Francis h___.. was sentenc P e 7*o hooting""' Tr' RerV ' tUde " 6, -W»w for footing a sirl cluema attendant in the The crime was attributed to "an overdeveloped sense „f , he dramatle ft long cinema environment." BLESSING THE BABT. The following letter has been received for™ 1 E "7 PCan "»»»■ 1» I-cklu from a lormer ( hiuese pupil 0 f hers — Mr Dear Mrs.-.uiow mp to congratulate yon upon the auspicious event of Horning a young gentilemau in your house, on the — 1022. ' f.'od bless this young gentleman Unit he will lend a g a y life, as he is getting along. How gladly if I can see this young gentleman, and embrace him on my knee, for 1 love children much more than those that loved mc. when I was h child. Hoping you and your sou were both safe and healthy. Most sincerely yours. ' LISTENING IN" CLUBS. The boom in private wireless sets has led to the formation In. the provinces of various " Llstcnlng-ln " Clubs, whose members are enthusiastic wireless amateurs addicted to the latest scientific pastime, says an English paper. The craze has even reached some of the public school's. In America the boom is breaking out In all sorts of directions, and It Is now estimated that over 2.T0.000 wireless 'phones alone are in regular use. Religious bodies, with typical American resourcefulness, are adopting the erase with the hope of extending the "range" of the pulpit, and nn Ohio pastor claims to preach to a Sunday congregation of 25.000 persons. A Pittsburg sermon is said to have becu heard 2000 miles away.

RESULTS OF HOUSE SHORTAGE Remarkable stories concerning the bongo shortage in London were told in the Row Street County Court during the hearing of a number of possession summonse*. One man said he had packed his family In one rrom while he slept In a shed in the gard-n throughout the winter. A woman said it was now customary to read the death notices and then inquire at the house whether the death meant accommodation fcr a bxlger. Another man told the court he bad been married two years but had never lived with Us wife because his landlady rcfuned to have her in the house. A new employment for (ommerciiil travellers was revealed, namely, seeking houses and rooms for clients on commission. WAYWARD HEARTS. Ex-King Karl has ordered his heart to be sent to Hungary, and perhaps no difficulty will be placed in the way of its receiving considerate sepulture, says the " London Chronicle." It will be more fortunate than that of Edward 1., who vowed to go back to Jerusalem to continue the crusade. War with Scotland prevented this, and he left £2000 for a heart burial in Palestine, but a disregarding son did not fulfil the obligation. Edward's implacable foe, Bruce, on his dying couch asked for a heart burial In the Holy Laud, but the organ never reached Palestine. It was taken by Douglas as far as Spain, when he fell in battle. Brnce's heart came hack to be buried beneath tbe altar of Melrose Abbey, while Douglas was interred at St. Bride's, Douglas. MINERS' " ROLLING EYE." Miners' nystagmus, a peculiar eye disease In which the eyeballs roll about at the rate of 300 to 350 oscillations a minute, costs the State £1.000.00s) a year, says the committee appointed by the British Medical Research j Council to Mud a remedy for the disease. | Men suffering from It frequently burst into tears.

The committee say that the cause of the disease is deficient Illumination. The committee recommend that everything possible should be done to mnke illumination in pits where safety lamps are used equal to that In open-light pits by increasing the illuminating power of lamps to two or three candle power or by using electric lights fixed to the miner's head, and that all parts of the pit other than the coal face should be whitewashed or stone-dusted.

BEDROOM DRAMA. Emile Dallois. who lives in the Passage ties Fouts-a-Chaux, Paris, came home about eleven the other evening, and his wife reproached him with being late. The quarrel reached such a pitch that finally Dallois seized a bayonet and held it above bis wife in bed, threatening that he would kill her. Believing that he meant to o_tr>-y out his threat, she took an axe from i corner of the room and struck at her husband several times. Dallois fell to the ground, and terrified at her act, the wife rushed to the police station and informed the police of what bad happened. Her husband was taken to hospital, where It was found that his wounds were not serious. The woman has been provisionally set at liberty, as she appears to have acted in her own defence. '" BEAUTY FOR ALL." Said to hare guaranteed to make the plainest woman beautiful. Charles Newland, 47. auctioneer and estate agent, was committed for trial at Willesden on charges of defrauding to the extent of about £1300 business partners and otber people to whom he offered employment.

Detective-Sergeant Hansen said that when he arrested prisoner he was carrying on the dual business of matrimonial agent and ladles' beauty doctor in the name of Mr. Harley Cook. He a quantity of, typed letters offering to "convert the worst figure into a beautiful woman, radiant with the matchless charms of youth." For The sum of one guinea he promised "a full and attractive figure and llssomencss to every movement, skin as" smooth as satin, bright eyes, silken and life-like hair—in fact, the royal road to health and beauty."

"PUT AND TAKE" SWINDLERS. In tbe opinion of the British police authorities there has never been a time when there have been so many racecourse sharps as there are to-day. It seems as if they were concentrating more than ever on swindling people in the many apparently innocent forms of gambling they Introduce for the edification of the large body of " green " racegoers. Even " put and take," which started as an amusing and harmless domestic game, is put to base uses by racecourse sharpers. One top they use Is genuine, but when the stakes are very high a loaded one is cleverly substituted, and " take all " is the inevitable result of the spin. The spinning jenny is particularly popular. In tbe centre of a trestle table is a canvas sheet marked out in sections. The operator spins a pointer (the jenny), and those who back tbe section at which It stops win. One of his confederates causes the pointer to stop at tbe least backed section by pressing with his leg a spring at the top edge of the table. Crown and anchor, beloved of all soldiers in the trenches, is on the racecourse a barefaced swindle. One of the squares on the cloth bat no counterpart on tbe die*.