NEWS FROM ALL QUARTERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 234, 2 October 1937, Page 4 (Supplement)

NEWS FROM ALL QUARTERS.

EEL STOPS TRAM. An eel stopped a crowrtecl tramway car in one of Helsinki's busiest streets. The tram was pulled lip with a jerk while passing near the local fish market. The driver had spotted an eel on the line and stopped to avoid running over it. As a traffic block began to form behind the vehicle, one of the passengers jumped off, went to the front and removed the fish from the rails, saying that he would take it home for dinner.

WORLD'S HEAVIEST CHILD. A three-year-old boy living at Siverek, • small town in Southern Anatolia, weighs lOst 31b. He is believed to be easily the heaviest child of his age in the world. The boy whose name is Ramazan, which in Turkish means "fasting," is only two feet tall. He has four brothers and a sister, all of whom are quite normal. His father, a poor farrier, is very proud of his remarkable son, but has refused several offers to exhibit him at country shows. COLOUR AND CUPID. Coloured pavements which will make women seem more beautiful and men more romantic will be a feature of the Golden Gate Intefnational Exposition to be held in San Francisco in 1939. The effect will be obtained, it is hoped, by a lavish use of red colouring in the paving. All the walks will be of asphalt mixed with a reddish colour between maroon and magenta. "This," says a colour expert for the fair in an interview, "will raise the emotional level of visitors, keep them gay and vivacious. It will make the men appear more romantic and induce them to spend more freelv. It will make the women appear younger and more beautiful. It i-< a known fact that reds and magentas have this effect," lie added.

VOTE-CATCHING NAMES. The strange facts of aji election conducted fin the Sisseton Indian Reservation have heen revealed ill a search of old records at Pierre, South Dakota. Intereat in the election of IHH7, it was found, centred on the legislative contest. The victor was Man \Vho Makes-Sneak rm-Public-Inst itut ions. Apparently his election was inspired l»v the implication of his name that he could do the most good for his constituents. His opponents may have heen equally well qualified, but their names were less appealing. They were Old-Man-Wlio-Cusses-With-out-Priiniple and Yo-ung-Man-With-High-I p-Ambitions. Old Necessity was victorious in the race for justice of pence over Mari-Afraid-of-Two-Deuces and You ng-Man- Who-Mot-Thirty- Days. Young - Man-Who-Always-(lets -Licked won a race for election as constable.

ITEMS OF INTEREST IN PASSING. .

CANINE COLOUR SENSE. A dog which has T)een trained by its owner to distinguish colours was" exhibited at a dog show at Waldenburg, near Breslau. The dog Was shown a flag of one particular colour and then told to fetch a flag of the same colour from among a group of flags of various colours at the other end of the room. The dog did this successfully. The experiment was repeated several times with different flags, and the dog always succeeded in picking out the colour indicated. .

KEY-LOSING TEST. Passentrers in a motor oar driving through Sunt It miiil Central (iorinaiiv throw aw.iv about 200 keys —single ones nnd in bunches —at intervals during tlie journey. Of 100 hunches "lost"' ill this way. !>7 have now been returned—within four day; —to (Tie Lost Keys Rtirean in Berlin. The key-losing test was carried out before extending the lost keys organisation throughout the Reich. The Berlin bureau already has 10,000 "members.,"' who have fitted their keys with the organisation's little metal discs promising- a reward to the finder.