RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 81, 29 December 1928, Page 6

RANDOM NOTES

SIDELIGHTS ON CURRENT EVENTS LOCAL AND GENERAL (By Cosmos.)

A financial expert says that 70 per cent, of all purchases are made by women. Bachelors probably suspect it, too.

“Films cause deep emotions,” says a producer’s publicity man. We have known vicious instincts to be aroused by a section of the audience reading the sub-titles aloud and forecasting the denouement for the benefit of all and sundry.

Mussolini says his successor hasn’t been born. There are people who will regard that announcement with feelings of great satisfaction.

Graf Zeppelin, now Germany’s most famous airship, on her return flight from the United States to Germany covered the distance in 71 hours 12 minutes. This, we are told in the news to-day, has been officially recognised as a world record. It was ten hours faster than any of the four other transAtlantic airship trips. The Graf Zeppelin, when travelling westward, took 111 hours 30 minutes to cover the distance; the R-34, travelling eastward, took 108 hours 12 minutes, and. the Los Angeles, on a westward flight, made the good time of 81 hours 17 minutes. The Graf Zeppelin’s homeward journey has been described as terrific for the crew. East of Newfoundland they headed into a gale which threatened to break up the vessel. Dr. Eckener headed into the wind and slowed his. motors. The wind, we are told, blew him backwards at the rate of 324 feet per second. Eventually he gained headway towards the Bay of Biscay, and there again he ran into a storm. But he shouldered through it and landed safely at its hangars at Friedrichshafen to meet the applause of the howling German crowds.

Pearling has long been one of the industries of Australia, and the news from Perth that a single pearl has been sold for £lO,OOO recalls that “The Star of the West,” probably the finest gem found off the West Australian coast, was sold in 1917 for £14,000. It is a drop-shaped specimen, the size of a sparrow’s egg, and weighs 100 grams. Another famous Australian pearl is the “Southern Cross.” It was found off Baldwin in Western Australia in 1883. It is formed of nine separate pearls, grouped in the form of a cross 1J inches long; seven form the shaft and two the arms. The individual pearls are not of great size or beauty, and the gem’s value depends on its uniisualness. * *, * The pioneer of Australian pearling was one Tays, an American sailor who settled at Nickol Bay in Western Australia; Recognising the value of the ■ pearl shell strewn about in abundance, he began in 1861 to gather it for export. When the beach itself had been stripped of shell, aboriginals were engaged to dive off-shore. When they had reached the limits of their endurance, about fifty feet, diving-dresses were provided for them, so that the shell might be followed into still deeper water. The industry expanded so fast that in 1871 the western fishery employed a fleet of a dozen vessels of from 15 to 90 tons burden. The Torres Straits fisheries began in 1868, when William Banner, master of the Julia Percy commenced operations on the Warrior Reefs. The industry grew rapidly, and by ISB3 the Queensland pearling-fleet consisted of 206 vessels.

For a whole millenium the Royal Mint has literally been making money. In A.D. 928 Attelstan, King of England, appointed a number of “moneyers” or “myn.eres.” These were scattered throughout the kingdom, owing to the imperfect communications of those days, but they were under the control c' London. These people, who were elected by the burgesses, gave way in 1850, to Civil Servants. Although in the reign of Mary, all the coinage was made in London, later sovereigns opened mints at various places. Even today, there are two minor mints. There is one at Soho Works, Birmingham, and the other is at Messrs. Ackroyd and Best, Ltd.’s glassworks, Morley, Yorkshire. The dies are sent from the mint and officers of the mint also supervise operations. Sir Isaac Newton was the Warden of the Mint for nearly three decades, from 1699 to 1727, and kept a firm hand on things in general. One example of his correspondence shows this. In a memorandum dated October 22, 1698, he says: “Sir, pray let Mr. James Roettier have the use of the great crown press for coyning of medalls, and let some person whom you can confide in attend to see that Mr. Roettier make no other use of the said press.” Roettier was the engraver of the figure of Britannia which is still part of the design on the pennies of to-day.

A statute of Edward 111, in 1343 contains the first information about gold being brought to the mint for coinage. Among the many metals coined it may be mentioned that Charles II found that tin suited his requirements, in 1654, but James 11, after his abdication. had to be content with gunmetal and pewter. Queer circumstances have been responsible for the withdrawal of various coins. The first 2s. pieces in 1849 were made without the letters, “D.G.” and the dies had to be changed. In 1887, complaints were made that the sixpences, which were being minted bore a resemblance to the half-sovereign, so they were removed from circulation and in the same year, it is stated that the effigy of Queen Victoria on the coinage was ridiculous. It showed her to be an austere woman, who wore a tiny crown set jauntily on the back of her head. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, who since IS7O, has held the office of Master of the Mint, held an inquiry, reported, and bad the coinage withdrawn. Only once has the mint been burgled. The story of the crime .is that many years ago an employee of the mint forced a fellow worker into a cupboard, with a revolver, and locked him in. He then made off with two thousand odd of the golden guineas of the realm.