NEWS FROM ALL QUARTERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 264, 7 November 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

NEWS FROM ALL QUARTERS.

WORLD'S RECORD TROUT. The largest known species of brook trout taken by an angler was that caught by Dr. J. W. Cook, of Fort WilliamOntario, in the Mac Donald Kapids, in the Xipigon River, and weighed This record brook trout was caught in the presence of ten witnesses. MIGHTY POWER OF NATURE. Trees, no matter how tall, have little trouble in lifting water to their uppermost branches. Forces of more than 1501b to the square inch are overcome by the tendency of water molecules to cling together. Thus the water pulls itself up through the tiny tubes within the tree. HOLDING 'PLANES STATIONARY. A device by which aeroplanes may be held stationary while in midair has been perfected in Indiana by Clayton B. Clark. He believes his invention would be valuable to endurance flyers and aviators in non-stop llights. Six cups, placed on the wing near the cockpit, receive air from a metal tube, and reflect it on the back of the wings, keeping the pressure equal on both sides, Clark said in explaining the basis of his invention. The device appeared to be successful in a test flight, according to Clark.

SHAKESPEARE'S COMPLICATIONS,

The death of Will iam Shakespeare, the bard, was due to a complication of thirteen diseases, according to an article in "The Lancet," the authoritative British medical organ, by MacLeod Yearsley, consulting aural surgeon to St. James Hospital. According to him, the famous playwright'sfdeath resulted from a complication of fever, typhus, typhoid paralysis, epilepsy, apoplexy, arteriosclerosis, oversmoking, chronic alcoholism, gluttony, angina pectoris, Bright's disease, pulmonary congestion and locomotor ataxia. A " BAD MAN " PASSES. The " Black Phantom" stage eoaeh robber, road rider, and killer, is dead, The Black Phantom w r as Allen H. Downen, famed bad man of the days when Judge Lynch ruled the West. He died at the Colorado State Penitentiary in his eighty-second year. He had been an inmate of the penitentiary since 1896. The white-haired old man, whose benevolent attitude and jovial spirit belied his past, was one of the few remaining bad men of the old West. His crime career started with the holdup of a stage coach in 1873, when he was 24 years old.

THE TINIEST AEROPLANE. The days when every member of the family _ will be flying about town in his own tiny aeroplane are anticipated by a little craft at Croydon, England. The vast hangars of the Empire's greatest airfield certainly dwarf the miniature machine, the Aeronca, as it is called. Its construction would appear to embody the ultimate in simplicity. Even shock absorbers are dispensed with, reliance for an easy landing being placed entirely upon the wheels, which are composed entirely by small hubs and very thick tyres. The Aeronca, or "Flying Wigwam/' is powered by a 28 horse-power two-cylinder engine, the smallest aero engine in existence.

WHEN STALIN NEARLY DIED. Sta-lin, the Soviet dictator,, has been the target for assorted jibes from the Press latelj r , because he ordered Mrs. H. Grady, an American authoress, to leave Russia for having recounted in a magazine an anecdote about him that he didn't relish. Here is the story: A youth was swimming in the Black Sea when he saw near him another bather apparently in difficulties. He swam to the rescue, and towed the half-drowned man ashore. As the lhan lay panting on the beach he clutched the youth's hand. " I am Stalin," he said. " Ask for anything, and I shall see that you get it." The youth hesitated a moment, then: "If you don't mind, all I want is that you don't tell' anybody it was I who saved you."

APE AND MAN-HOW CLOSE? Primitive man is further removed from the ape than had been hitherto believed, the International Congress of Archaeology and Athropology recently learned from a paper read by Professor Sergio Sergi, of Rome. Professor Sergi's paper dealt with the Neanderthal man, who has been visualised by scientists as having had arms that hung low and a stooping posture similar to that of the ape. Signor Sergi, however, after long researches has found evidence to prove that the Neanderthal man, though not erect, held himself commonly much straighter and walked like a human—always on his feet. The paper indicates that at the period of the Neanderthal man the human type had developed considerably beyond the conception hitherto accepted by science, SPOILT DARLING OF PARIS. Mulay-el-Hassan, the Sultan of Morocco's little boy, holds court in Paris from the balcony of his hotel. He is the spoilt darling of all Paris. Flowers, fruit and toys are always being brought for him. The dark-eyed little two-year-old has a room full of toys, with marvellous mechanical things and an electric model crane presented to him by the City of Paris. Woolly lambs, bunnies and wooden delights abound, but he loves best the penny balloons that he buys on his visits to the Tuileries Gardens. The receptions, medieval in their pomp and splendour, to the Sultan since he came to Paris might well have dazzled any little_ boy, but Mulay still loves and hugs his penny balloons— often, alas, till they can stand the strain no longer and go off bang. Then Mulay laughs and acquires another. GREAT WOMAN EXPLORER. Travelling all over the world by all kinds of transport has been the experience of that interesting woman Mrs. Violet Cressy-Marcks, of England, in her 30 years of life. She crossed Lapland with reindeer into Russia, and through the Caucasus. Persia was explored by car and airplane, Arabia was traversed by camels. She has only recently returned to England from a trip up the Amazon and over the Andes to the Inca ruins. Language difficulties are overcome by this intrepid woman in a unique manner. She aever visits a country without first mastering some of its language. She has found that there are certain words which one must use in the course of a few days, and ihese she learns before she embarks on her adventure, so that she can " get on " anywhere and make herself understood. " I am hungry," " I am lost," " butter, wood, water, milk, wash, bed," " I don't want it" " It is too much," " I want to go," "Will you come with me?" are a few of the expressions she always studies. By this means she has never found herself in a real quandary.

THE "NEVER-NEVER" WOMEN. Fifteen young Birmingham women who decided that they would always remain spinsters recently formed themselves into a "Never-Never Club," In the event of any of the members becoming married they will be automatically expelled from the club. A "Never-Never Club" started in Hull about two years ago is believed to have been the first of its kind ever established. The inaugural meeting of the Birmingham club was held in the home of one of the members, when each initiate was required to swear obedience to their one rule that they shall not marry. After each girl had taken the oath, tea was passed round and an impromptu dance held, but there were no males present. "The idea of our club seems to be very amusing to some people," said Miss Jean Ferguson, secretary and founder of the club. "But it was not founded in any spirit of fun, and we are really in deadly earnest. It is not a case of sour old women getting together in a spirit of antagonism to men, for only one of our members has reached the age of 30. We are all women in fairly good positions, quite able to support ourselves, and we have no desire to become wives and mothers. When there are so many surplus women in the country, surely it is the duty of those women who can look after themselves to do so."

TUNNEL UNDER MONT BLANC

Members of the International Geologists' Congress recently discussed at. Geneva the construction of a solid granite tunnel through Mont Blanc (15,771 ft). Concessions have been asked of the French, Italian and Swiss authorities, and a financial programme will be submitted after the congress. The tunnel will be about fourteen miles long. The project will bring Chamonix and Aosta much nearer to other French and Italian points. CRUDE-OIL 'PLANES.

Important developments in British aircraft engine manufacture are foreshadowed by the success of experiments, conducted at the Napier Aero Engine Works at Acton, on two different types of motors. One motor is designed to consume cheap unrefined oil and may, it is claimed, cut the cost of flying by as much as 25 per cent. The other development is a new type of air-cooled Napier engine designed to enable the speed of fighting aeroplanes to be increased to more than 200 miles an hour. A DOG'S GOOD DEED. Peter Nichales, of Gary, Indiana,' boasted that his best friend was his dog. Nichales was sitting on his doorstep when six deputy sheriffs said they wanted to look over the place. "All right," said Nichales, "but be careful, because I have got a vicious dog, and he doesn't like anybody but me." Nichales' best friend bounded round the corner, wagged his tail and licked the hands of the deputies. He led them to an innocent looking spot, and while they stood in the shade the dog dug. He rooted up a bottle of liquor, then another, and so on until there were eight. Nichales, in prison, declares that he has changed his mind about dogs in general, a: d his own in particular.

A SHOCK FOR THE COURT. A new record has been established in Peking, which is now able to boast that the youngest person ever to make its appearance in a court of law is the child of a local resident. Mrs. Sun Shih-Hciu was the defendant in a civil suit in the Peking district court. As the case was proceeding Mrs. Sun asked the judge for permission to retire into the adjoining room. The request was granted. A little while later she reappeared in the eourtroom with a new-born baby boy in her arms. The judge almost fell out of his seat with astonishment. His first act was to dismiss the suit against Mrs. Sun, who was being sued for the non-payment of a small debt. Then a rickshaw was hastily summoned, and Mrs. Sun and her new-born babe sent home, there to be greeted with congratulations and kisses from her startled but delighted husband. MAN WHO SAVED THE KAISER.

The detective who onoe saved the Kaiser from death, and who lias guarded the lives of nearly all the sovereigns of Europe, is about to retire from Scotland Yard. The rigid regulation that insists on retirement of all police officers at the age of GO forces the retirement from the Metropolitan Police of Superintendent E. Parker, chief of the Special Branch. In nearly 42 service he has guarded three monarchs—Queen Victoria, King Edward, and King George. On one occasion, when the German Emperor was in London, an anarchist swore to shoot him. The Special Branch found the would-be murderer among the spectators who had gathered near Trafalgar Square to watch the Kaiser ride by. ' The Emperor was only a few yards away when a man arrested the anarchist, who was discovered to be armed. It waa believed that in another minute the Kaiser would have been shot.

STRANGE BUTTERFLY "FARM." One of the strangest farms in England is situated ait Bexley. It is the butterfly "farm" owned by Mr. L. W. Newman, who for 40 years has made a business of catching and breeding butterflies and moths. On his "farm" are many rare specimens which have taken years to collect and breed, and some of which are worth £30 each, Life on a butterfly and moth "farm" is a strenuous occupation. Mr. Newman has- to travel all over the country in order to secure rare specimens. In addition to the butterflies and moths he has thousands of little caterpillars which have to be fed daily during the summer, while in the winter he spends his time mounting the specimens captured during the previous season. Mr. Newman started collecting butterflies as a hobby, and then conceived the idea of turning his hobby into a commercial enterprise. Now he supplies museums and colleges in all parts of the world.

A MONKEY AT SEA. With nearly every crime but murder laid to her charge, a little brown-faced monkey, named Jenny, for 10 days successfully evaded capture on board the White Star liner Majestic on a recent trip from New York to Southampton. Her crimes included stowing away, stealing fruit and attacking an officer with intent to do him bodily harm. Where the monkey came from was unknown, but it was assumed that she had boarded the Majestic from an oiler when the ship was being fuelled in New York. The monkey climbed to the highest point she could reach, which was the bridge, and made her way into the ventilating system of the officers' quarters. Here she had access to all the officers' cabins, including even the captain's quarters. She was caught in the act of stealing grapes from the captain's cabin. Hastily closing all doors and windows, an officer, protected in fencing mask and gauntlets, entered the cabin and pinioned the monkey after a hard struggle in which Jenny bit throught the gauntlet and the officer's finger.