NEWS FROM ALL QUARTERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 224, 21 September 1935, Page 4 (Supplement)

NEWS FROM ALL QUARTERS.

NEWS BY TELEPHONE. The news service in Hungary will shortly be accelerated by an institution called "The Telephone Newspaper. Subscribers to the telephone newspaper will receive news of politics, stock exchange, sport and other topical matters within a few minutes of the receipt of this news at the centre. Subscribers may choose any particular subject which interests them and pay only for the length of time 01 hearing, after which the telephone disconnects automatically. WINE GLASS SWITCHBACK. The fame of the restaurant shaped like a wine barrel at the Bavarian watering place Dui'kheim has spread far and wide. Now Neustadt, on the Haardt range of mountains in the Palatinate, lias decided to go one better and build a switchback railway shaped like a wine glass, GOlt high and 30ft in diameter. Steps will also bo made leading up to an inn inside. Wachenstein, in the Palatinate, is capping this project by a building in the shape ot a champagne • bottle 90ft high. AFTER FORTY YEARS. An old man at Prerov, in Moravia, las been summoned to pay a fine of 7/6 for causing wilful bodily_ injury— l 3 e ?, r ■?? years ago. As he has lived peacefully with the world for many years the fine surprised him. Then he looked at the of the alleged offence, and found it was 1890. He then recalled that in a train on the way to Vienna in that year he had had an argument with a fellowtraveller about opening the window, and had finally smacked the man's face. He was warned that lie would hear about it later —and he has. The "injured" man s complaint has been held up for 40 years. KRUGER RELICS. Three relics of the late President Kruger -—a shirt and black tie worn by him, a soup plate from which he ate, and a letter written by him—have been, bought at Lisbon for £50. The purchase has been made by Mr. Eric Louw, the Union Oi South Africa Minister to Lisbon, and the articles will be sent by him as a gift to ithe Kruger Museum in Pretoria. They were found casually in an old curiosity shop in the centre of Lisbon. The shirt is a dress shirt with the collar attached. It was made in Pretoria, and bears an indelible ink mark "P.K." on it in broad capital letters. It was worn on the day Kruger left Pretoria for LourenCo Marques (Portuguese East Africa) —and exile.

MASS-PRODUCED ART. A "mass production factory" for .painting, statues and other art objects is planned for Moscow. It will take the form of a huge building where all the. artists, sculptors and art workers will have their living quarters and workshops. Work has already been started on the building. In conjunction will be a 'bronze foundry, marble and granite workshops, a paint and brush manufacturing shop and departments for all the allied industries of art. The building will have flat roofs for work under the open sky in summer and solariums for winter work. It will be surrounded by gardens fitted with statyes and bas reliefs, and will occupy 30 acres in all. THE HUMAN BLACKBOARD. Canada has produced a "human blackboard" —a seventeen-year,-old youth whose skin responds to a stick as clearly as a blackboard responds to chalk. His name is John Darch, and he first discovered his unique gift after he had been spanked as a child. He found out that he could write words on his skin with a stick and that the words remained for some time in the form of welts. Now, instead of tying a knot in his handkerchief or writing notes on his shirt cuff, John simply jots down things on his arm, leg, or any other part of his body that is convenient. He went to a doctor for an explanation and the doctor sent him to a chemist with a prescription—written on his chest. HE BLEW UP HIS WIFE. Alois Stanek, a peasant at Drnovice, in Moravia, lived on bad terms with his wife, and she told him she was going to apply for a A few days later she came downstairs in the morning, after her husband had gone out, and found that he had thoughtfully laid the fire for her under the oven. Welcoming this sign of "improvement," she put a match to the paper and sticks. Immediately there was a terrific explosion, which hurled her across the kitchen. The room was completely wrecked, but she had a remarkable escape from, death or mutilation. Her husband, finding that his plan had miscarried, confessed to the police that he had laid the fire principally with gunpowder. CYCLED ACROSS SAHARA. After many perilous adventures on a motor cycle journey from London two English girls, Miss Florence Blenkiron and Miss Theresa E. Wallach, arrived at Capetown. They had been more than seven months on their way, having left London on December 11. Despite breakdowns in the desert and dangerous adventures in the jungle they plan to ride back again. They said that they contemplated leaving Capetown in a month and hoped to arrive back in London by the end of January. iWiss Blenkiron, who. was born at Harmb~near Richmond (Yorkshire), was formerly secretary to tlie technical assistant of Sir Robert Hadfield, the Sheffield steel magnate. Miss Wallach, who was born at Stowe (Bucks), is a skilled engineer. Three months of their hazardous trip Was spent in the wilderness of the Sahara, when they crossed 3000 miles of desert. During the first part of the Sahara crossing tlie.v took n new route which cut off 500 miles. Rut it was considerably worse than the old crossing, as their only guide was a series of sticks stuck in the sand.

NOVEL PRISON FOR WOMEN. Women prisoners at Long Bav A. i New South Wales, are to be allowed »' work and sleep outside the prison 1, in the hope that it will turn thl^ 1 ' law-abiding citizens. A camp for tliem ° to be established outside the nricnn here they will grow flowers ordo oH? d useful work. The Minister 0 f T„!i et Mr. Martin, who is responsible for i n \, Ce ' ducing the reform, believes it will heln t improve the women's outlook and mat them better citizens. A prison farm and afforestation schemes for the male tir soners have produced good results. SHE CURES THE BLIND. Hundreds of cripples and invalids are gathering daily at a small village Barisal (Bengal) in the hope of beinp cured by a young Hindu woman who if said to have acquired "miraculous" healing powers. These followed a dream in which the goddess Manasha arniparnS before her and told her of the root of a certain tree possessing curative proDertioc Although blind from birth, the youne woman obtained the root, placed it on her eyes and at once had her sight restored Since then she claims to have cured mamcases of paralysis, blindness and deafness. THE "CATALO." A new animal—the catalo—has appeared on the market at Spokane, Washington and fancy prices are being asked for its meat. The catalo is a cross between ordinary cattle and the buffalo, or bison Mr. L. 0. Wilson, a cattle bi»eder of Colville, has conducted experiments for many years in an effort to cross-breed the two types of animals. The animal that came to market was 'a two-year-old quarterbreed steer. The sire's female parent w*b a cow, and its male parent a buffalo. The value of the meat is put at one dollar to three dollars a pound, according to cut, MEXICO GOES SCOTTISH. Things Scottish, music, dances and food have become so popular in Mexico that they amount to a craze. Scones with butter and jam and short cake have become standard delicacies. Englishspeaking Mexicans sing Scots 6ongs. Those who do not know English hum and whistle Scottish airs or strum them on guitars. Tartan, made in Mexico by Indian women who weave in a manner similar to that of their ancestors, is extremely popular among Mexican women. It was first made on cotton by textile mills in Oaxaca. The novelty soon caught on and other mills are now making tartan.

DUKE GUILTY OF SWINDLING. The Archduke Wilhelm of Hapsburg, a great-nephew of the Emperor Francis Joseph, and a former post office employee, Mile. Paulette Couyba, who stated that she was the Archduke's fiancee, have been sentenced to five years and three years imprisonment respectively at Paris. They were found guilty of swindling, abuse of confidence and the issue of worthless cheques. The Court considered that the chief responsibility rested on the archduke, who was sentenced without first i offenders' benefit and in default, aa he is at present in flight. Mile. Couyba received first offender's benefit. DOGS' JOURNEY IN TEA CHEST. Daniel Darlington, a dog bregder, of Pen-y-Coed House, Brynibo, near Wrexham, was fined 20/, with £3 3/ costs, at Bow Street Police Court fpr causing six Sjottish terriers to bp conveyed from Wrexham to London in such a manner as to cause them unnecessary suffering. MrGordon Jones, prosecuting for the R.S.P.C.A., said that the dogs, about two months old, were sent by train fro® Wrexham to a pets 6tore in Wardour Street- in a tea chest. They were on the journey—lßo miles—fyom 5.30 p.m. on June 24 until 9.30 a.m. on the following day. The case was well ventilated, but the dogs were packed almost like sardines. One was dead on arrival and the others were, ail in a distressed condition, due to the overcrowding. The floor space of the case was 22in by 18in. A veterinary surgeon said that the puppies were suffering from heat stroke, which might happen to any dog. Darlington said that when he dispatched the puppies the temperature in Wrexham was 60 degrees. He expected them to be delivered within six hours. The magistrate said unnecessary suffering had been caused to the dogs partly through ignorance.