NEWS FROM ALL QUARTERS

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 96, 24 April 1926, Page 23

NEWS FROM ALL QUARTERS

Recent Brewster Sessions reveal that the country Is being "swept iy a wave of soberness," feiiafks Lord Asquith, in a fetter to the "Daily Chronicle."

Xine children family named Pearce have made a total school attendance of "72 years, none having, ever been absent. Xine medals and three silver watches have been awarded to the family.

A few hours after his death there arrived at his home a framed-, diploma awarded Mr. Walter Blackburn, aged ,7* r of Walsall, Staffordshire, _byt the National SundaySchool Union for 50 years' service to Sunday schools. SMALLEST MAN DEAD. Chemah, the smallest man; ii the_worM; died a Chicajjo, Ii his eighty-eighth year. His height was only 28 Inches. For maiiy yehrs he travelledi extensively hi "midget shows." He leaves a son of normal size. CHJXD GIVES POISON TO BABY. rinding a bottle !fn a field; Alfred Probert", aged six, of near Mold, Flintshire, took It home, thinking it contained scent. ■ He gave It to his two-year-old sister to play withT*ie child drew ibis cork and put the contents to her Ups. Then she gave a cry, and died a moment later in her mother's arms. The bottle contained strychnine. HUNTING FIELD DEATH. While following ,the Oakley 6pxhoinds near the village of Keysoe, Bedfordshire, Major Cecil. Brown, _of Bedford; fell from his horse after a 40 inifiutes' run. The hunt was galloping In. open country, and his. horse continued .with tie chase, "When picked np, Major Brown was dead, heart disease, it is thought, being the of death. The hunt was abandoned. Major Brown, a middle-aged man, had been art master at Bedford School for five years.

STITCHES IN HEART. Dr. Nather, a young house surgeon ii the Elselsb'erg clinic, ."Vienna, has saved the life of a -woman at'2s by stitching , two wouids ii her heart after she had been stabbed dj a drunken man. Through the prompt action, of the police, Dr. JTatier- was able to operate on her tweity minutes after tie crime. He sawed through ribs, exposed the heart, located the injuries, and made the necessary stitches. . Blood was afterwards; transfusedy. . and during the following days there- were several injections of common salt into her veins. She is now quite healthy and has been brought by Dr. Nather before the Medical Association. VICAR VEICTRILOQTJIST. The .Bey. George Potter, vicar .of St Ghrysostom's, Peckham, S-IL, .wfio lives ii what was formerly a. pubilehause; Is an expert ventriloquist With iis reii-headedi. dummy, .JJoy, he gives performances. ii the iocal.hall,. which draw crowded audiences. Father Potter, as he is known among his parishioners,, perf bring for local charities and hospitals^ His home, The Eagle, lies in a back street, with little but a. brass cross: ii. the "saloon" window to distinguish rb from an Ttiti. Father Potter has beei there nearly three years, and now commands ai large a hearing for his sermons as for his ventriloquial entertainments. - i -OTSBAND AND WIFE'S BIGAMIES.

VICAB

At Newcastle-pn-Tyne John W. Wilson, miner, was committed for trial on charges j of having contracted two bigamous marriages, and his wife, Ann Isabel Wilson, was j also committed for trial for having contracted one bigamous marriage.. ... An involved story was related to the magistrates by Mr. J. B. M. Peters, for tie prosecution. He said, the male, defendant bigamqusly married a woman named Marsh, aid later, at Doncaster, where he wis working as a miner, he .met. another woman. There were, altogether seven, children as the result of these bigamous marriages. BOYS' HOARD OF GEUGNITE. Terrific explosions near the Black Rocks, in the Cromford Matlock district of Derbyshire, . which: had been heard for miles, were found to be the work of a gang of boys. ... : A quantity. of gelignite cartridges had been taken from a hut belonging, to a. mining company on the top of . Masson Hill, the telephone connection having been dismantled to prevent Interference. .A. supply of. the explosive, apparently hidden by the boys, was discovered in the Black Rocks. '. The Black Rocks are situated on a. lofty hill between Cromford aid Wirksworth, and are well known to tourists and climbers. BORROWED BART. When John Alfred Kay and. his son Frederick William pleaded guilty -»at Sheffield to defrauding the guard-tans it wis stated that they had been chargeable since 1921 and had cost* the guirdiais hundreds' of pounds. The father continued to receive benefit after his wife left home. The son received! relief for his wife and baby for some, time. Ah officer who called at hii house asked to see the- baby. The wife asked him to wait a minute, saying tie ciUdl was upstairs.' She returned with a haby in her arms, but later the officer' found she had stepped out by a. back door and. borrowed a. neighbour's - baby. Her husband later admitted; that his own child Sad been adopted by friend 3. He had not worked for four and £ half yearsc He was sentenced to six weeks' hard labour and his father was bound over for twelve months.

no Saw on pillion hiding. "I do not consider, on the information before mc, that a case has been, made out for the prbhibltioi of . on motor saidthe Minister- if Transport, Colonel Ashley, in. Parliament. He did not know how many people were MUed and injured last year Ii accidents in which pillion-riders were involved, nor did he believe it possible to get this information. HAIR CTTT iiTT IN STBEET". Walking in Middlesex Street, London, E., two girls found that their plaits of hair bid been cut off. A youth standing near a market stall was snbseojiently. taken to Commercial Street, E., Police Station by a plalh-clothes police officer. The police have recovered a quanrity of girls' Hair. He will De charged before ; the Old .Street magistrate with assaulting a number of girls. ii PETEIi PANS » OF LIFE. "Most people have never psychologically passed their 'techs;'' said Dr. Elizabeth M~. Sloan Chesser, addressing tie Parenta" Association, at St. John's Wood yesterday. The best way to make a boy grow up was for him to have a sweetheart Extremists of all Communists, black-shirtea Fascisti, and die-hard Conservatives—were people who had not grown np. Oyir-lidulged children sometimes failed to grow up. These "Peter Pans" were a trial to others, anil they _ very readily developed nervous ailments in after life. DEATH CAUSED BY SPLINTER. :f T. Komatsu, &, a workman employed by the Brunette SawmiHs, New Westminster, Can., died as a result of poisoning of his right arm. Komatsu, it is stated, had a small splinter of wood break the skin between.the first and second fingers of his right hand on February 13, He paid, no attention to tiie cut, viewing it as a minor accident of the day, and did not seek first-aid treatment. The hand became Infected, and had swollen to such an extent that four days later he sought medical assistance. A continuous battle was waged to save his life, but without avail. •MAN'S 125 YEABS. A remarkable claim to longevity Is made by. .Mr. whilam" Smith, a resident or Dromara, Co. Down, who states that fie has attained the age of 123 years. 1 He believes nimself -to be the oldest mania tie Kingdom, if not In tie world, aid " can produce official papers wilci show that he was born on Jaimary 2, XSOI, In. the Smithfield area of Belfast. Mr. Smith, who is still hale and hearty: can converse quite freely in a remiilscent vein, His memory being such that fie Is stm famSiar with events which happened many years ago". . He was a hawker for many years, travelling about tie country, and ie attributes' his long life to his simple manner of living aid" the exercise in the openair.

TRAIN "PEEPING TOM" KILLED. A man's peering through a window into the compartment of a rapiaTy-moving train,, provided a. shock for two passengers oh the Southend to "Liverpool Street lineIt was shortly after this that Charles -William. Stead, > aged 28, a painter, of Forest Glade. Whlpps Crosse was found dead on the line, near the Bishopsgate tunnel. ~ ". .' .." SSij ,_ . lAt the resumed City v inquest Harry Edward Gray stone,, of Parkhurst Eoad, | Manor Park, said that when, the train in which he and his sweetheart were, travelling was between Manor Park and Forest Gate his sweetheart called out; "Oh, look, Harry 1" A few minutes later he-saw a man's face at the window. .The man went back, along the footboard to the next compartment . "Death by misadventure" was I the verdict

MINIMUM FOR CUPID. i What Is the mfinmuin weekly Income necessary for married happiness? The Kingston ilxg.) Bench recentlydecided that wedded hliss was highly improbable on £2 a wee£, and refused to I sanction the wedding of a boy of 19 and' a -girl of IS. The Greenwich Bench thought a young couple could live happily together on £2 19/2 a week. This is iSLe wage earned by Albert Edward Conway, of Mill (Road, Lewfsham. . | a lad of 20, whose mother objected to his marrying a girl of the same age on the | grounds that he was too young and would "run himself into poverty." Her objections were set aside by the magistrates, who sanctioned the marriage. jlt was! stated that tie couple would live with the girl's father. SECRETARY'S SUICIDE IN A ITE±-b'. A.verdict of "Suicide whilst of unsound mind"' was recorded at in Inquest at.Sap. cote, near Hinckley, on Edward Coles Page, :of St. .George's Avenue, Northampton, secretary of a firm of hoot polish manufa» ttrrers, and for some years secretary or ! Northampton Rugby Club, -^ho : was found dead In a. motor car in a field : ; with a bullet wound in tie temple. - Ii Page' 3 pockets were two letters*. Iv ". | one he wrote that for three years he had '. -been slowly but surely going off his head, i This had been brought about by business ; trouble: He was taking tie only wax, out, . and Ms one regret was for the suffering It :'• would cause his' wife and kiddies. In tbe : ; second message he wrote that he was in full : ; possession of his senses, and if he had been I : given a share in thft business, as had been : j promised, this would not have happened. The Coroner, In returning his verdict, [ said tie messages proved that the man was : insane when they were written. COUP*EE DEAD XS CHURCH. A young couple were found dead on tie floor of the Session House of Cambnsiahg * Parish Church, near Glasgow. The victims, Peter Stevenson McNee (38), a cashier, aid his wife, aged 33, were prominent members ;of the congregation. Mr. McNee had charge of the distribution among the members of the Church of Scotland monthly magazine, and, accompanied by his wife, had gone to the church to arrange the magazines in the pew 3. The beadle, Mr. John Anderson, found the couple dead on the floor. He ran to the Manse and Informed tie minister ana ' the police, and two local doctors were summoned. Mrs. McNee,. apparently, had been violently sick, while her husband was lying on his face, with his feet truster a table, at j wMcn. it is supposed, he bad been sitting. .Nothing was found that would suggest tie -self-administration of poison. Tie church is nt by electricity, and as far as Is known there are no gas mains near. A curious feature, however, is that some of the police officers in the session-room felt themselves Becoming faint ana had. to retire to tie fresh air. A post-mortem examination: establlshett that deati was due to poisonous fames from a furnace used for heating the bufld:lns. .. -