Out of the Way

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 122, 16 February 1935, Page 18

Out of the Way

CURIOSITIES IN THE NEWS There are now 57 varieties of sausages on sale in Soviet Russia, according to the newspaper “Pravda.” At the beginning of last year there were only 20.

A postman in the Hjoerring district of Sweden, who tried to deliver kisses as well as letters to the women on his round, was sentenced to 14 days’ imprisonment for “misusing his position.” He has appealed against the sentence.

A hare has shot and killed a huntsman at Keoel, Hungary. He wounded the hare and was carrying it home when its legs knocked against the trigger of his gun. It went off —and the man fell dead.

An elk, a kind of large deer, saw a goods train coming toward it along the line from Uleaborg to Nurmes, in north, west Finland. The elk stood defiantly in the middle of the track, lowered its head to charge and waited. It met the engine full on—and was killed.

An ancient skiff, believed by experts to be about 2000 years old, has been unearthed near the village of Chervonny. It is eight feet long and two feet wide, and is well preserved. It has been placed in the keeping of the Kiev Institute of the History of Material Culture.

Two Greek cafe owners who had long been friends and lived near to each other in a village in the Limassol district preferred each .other’s wife to their own. They thought it would be a good idea to exchange. The wives did not object, so the transfer has been carried out. All four remain the best of friends.

A company of 50 dwarfs with a dwarf elephant and 16 Shetland ponies have taken up their abode as tenants of the miniature Christmas City, which has been erected in front of the former Royal Palace in Berlin. The little city is complete to the last detail, even to its tiny Town Hall with Lord Mayor of appropriate size.

"Who Rules the World?” is the title of a book —claimed to be the shortest in the world—which has been published at Veliki Bechkerek, Yukoslavia. Its author is Radivoj S. Momirski. Inside the book is one word—Money. Momirski’s book has met with great success and has already run into three editions.

Lucie Janoskova, agen 104. says: “Bad times? Nonsense. It used»to be much worse.” Lucie, who lives at Vrbice. near Hustopec, in Moravia, says that she can remember in her youth having to wear furs in August, and a drought so severe that the crops grew only a few inches above the ground. z

Every devotee taking part in an unusual religious celebration at Ellore. Madras, 'has to write the name of a god 10,000,000 times in specially ruled books. The task is expected to take several years. When completed the books will be placed beside the image of the god Sri Rama and worshipped by priests and devotees.

Signor. Pietro Basiero had a devoted dog who faithfully guarded his house at Frassinelle di Rovigo for many years When the master died the dog broke his chain and went to the church, following the coffin to the grave, where he mounted guard. When the cemetery gates were shut he was turned out, but the next morning the custodian found him waiting to get in. The dog rushed to his master’s grave and stood beside it until evening came and he was once more turned out. So it went on for a week until the dog became so thin that Signor Basiero’s relatives took him away, as it seemed that he was dying of a broken heart.

The Prince of Wales’s favourite Pekingese, Princess Pittie, was restored to her royal master and her royal home, Fort Belvedere (Berkshire), after a delicate operation to her eye. During December Princess Pittie was recovering from this operation, which was performed by Mr. W. L. Little, the Prince’s veterinary surgeon. She is now quite herself again. Princess Pittie was in a room at Fort Belvedere with an Alsatian belonging to the Duke of Kent. A piece of meat was thrown to them. The Alsatian grabbed it. The Peke objected . . . and tried to get it from the Alsatian. It is against the laws of nature for a Peke to get the best of a set-to with an Alsatian. The Peke came out of this set-to with a badly damaged eye. She was rushed to Mr. Little’s place. Where the eye was restored to something like its original self. A month’s convalescence followed. The Prince visited her often during the month.