NEWS OF THE WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 21316, 21 January 1933, Page 7

NEWS OF THE WORLD

A WIFE’S SLIMMING HUSBAND SUES FOR DIVORCE The Paris Divorce Courts have refused to admit that slimming is a ground for divorce. A business man recently began proceedings for divorce, claiming that his wife, in following the modern fashion of slimming, had reduced her weight to much that she was a “living skeleton dressed in lace.” He said that before she started she was “buxom and beautiful,” but now he feels that he cannot live with her. The Court decided that the husband must make the best of matters. FAMOUS BABY NAMED AFTER MUSSOLINI A baby boy who has just been born in Italy does not know how famous he Is. He has been christened “Vittorio Benito,” after the King of Italy (Vittorio Emanuele) and Signor (Benito) Mussolini, the Premier, and he is the first child born at Littoria, the city which is rising around what was for centuries the desolate waste of the Pontine marshes, 40 miles from Rome. Thanks to the determination of Signor Mussolini, 15,000 people have been hard at work for many months in draining this formerly‘malaria-infected district, and are rapidly transforming it into a rich and fruitful region which will be a monument to the constructive abilities of the Fascist regime. Littoria, when complete, will have fine public buildings and roads, and will be circled by a great wide thoroughfare. It is hoped very soon to settle hundreds of families in the region. LEGIONNAIRE’S ESCAPES BEFRIENDED BY ARABS Terrible privations were suffered by Clarence Maxey, of Sheffield, England, following his escape from the French Foreign Legion, He was foolish enough to go to France for a holiday and was sentenced to gaol for six months, being quartered with a madman who attacked him frequently. He was then taken to Marakesh, 400 miles from the North African coast. The captain sarcastically suggested he borrow his horse next escape, which was what Maxey did. He was chased, but the Arabs he encountered were friendly and helped him. At Casablanca an Englishwoman fitted him out with a suit and gave him money to escape. BITS OF BOTTLED RAINBOW GIFTS TO THE LONDON ZOO In a collection of beasts, birds, and fish from the Far East, delivered recently to the London Zoo by Mr Wilfred Frost, the explorer, were 120 fish, each of which was housed in a one pound jam jar. Each jar was divided from its neighbour by a sheet of cardboard, for if the famous fighting fish of Siam spots its fellow it secs red. These fish, none bigger than a “tiddler,” had made the six-weeks voyage on a grain of boiled rice a day. The sight of them fairly made the eyes ache—it was like looking at hits of bo.ttl.ed rainbow. No two .fish were alike, or kept the same colours for many minutes at a lime. Fifty years ago “fish fights” in Siam made the biggest horse race east of Suez look like a game of marbles. Punters not only staked their underclothing but agreed to serve a term of slavery if they were unlucky. This has been wiped off the statute book by a westernised ruler. ANOTHER CRUSOE DISCOVERED ON LONELY ISLAND A new Robinson Crusoe is reported to have - been discovered by the crew of the French windjammer, Tolosa, on Rinca Island, about 100 miles north of the Magellan Straits. On going ashore to search for water, members of the ship’s company came across a man, clothed in goat skins, roasting meat. He muttered guttural cries, but when made to understand that the seamen wanted water he led them to a natural spring. The man appeared to be of Nordic stock, either Scandinavian or German, or possibly British. On being shown the Tolosa lying at anchor and being asked if he would like to be taken off the island, he turned and fled into the woods. Captain Albrez, of the Tolosa, considers the man >is a shipwrecked sailor who has lost thepporerw r er of speech, probably through never having spoken to a soul for many years. ( CROCK OF COINS FOUND UNEARTHED BY GARDENER A young woman gardener, working with a boy at Halton, a large house on the sea front at Sclsey (England) unearthed a crock of coins while digging in the garden. Her fork struck on a round earthenware vessel and broke it, but when it was lifted out of the earth it was found to be full of ancient coins, apparently Roman. Soil had formed them into a solid round mass like a cannon ball. This was extracted from the broken crook, and during the operation from 40 to 50 soil-encrusted, green, discoloured coins became separated from the mass, which appeared to contain several hundreds more. From a cursory inspection they appeared to be Roman silver and possibly gold coins of about 250 A.D. The gardeners had previously come upon remains of an ancient wall close to the spot where the crock of coins was found. RESCUE FROM LINER HEROISM AT DOCK By sliding 50 feet down a rope over the side of the liner Mauretania and then swimming under water, a man saved a workmate’s life at Southampton (England) recently, Frederick Rowe, of Commercial Street, Bitternc, was working amidships on the port side of the’ Mauretania in the West Docks when he fell into the water. He was being swept away by a strong tide when Robert Cornelius, a boiler scaler, of Peel Street, Southampton, slid down the rope and swam io his rescue. Rowe had disappeared, but Cornelius made a surface dive, and when swimming under water be sighted Rowe, seized him by the hair, and pulled him to the surface. Meanwhile another workman had scrambled down the same rope, and lie helped Cornelius to keep Rowe afloat until the three were pulled into a launch. Rowe was admitted to hospital suffering from shock and exposure. After the rescue, Cornelius and Stuart had a cup of tea, changed their clothes and went back to work.

EXTERMINATING DOGS NEW SOVIET DECREE In a short lime there will be no dogs in Russia. A new Soviet decree orders all owners of dogs to deliver their animals immediately to special dog pounds. The animals will be killed and thejr skins sent to government fur factories to be converted into clothing for the Soviet Army. It is expected that 3.000. skins will be obtained in this manner, sufficient for the army’s re-, quirements. BLIND BOY SHOT DONE OUT OP PITY A woman doctor, Paula Klafter, has been arrested on a charge of killing her 14-year-old nephew in a hospital at Prague. The hoy was severely injured while conducting somfc chemical experiments, losing the sight of both eyes. It is alleged that his aunt, unable to endure the sight of the boy’s suffering, and knowing that he would be crippled for life, fired at him five times with a revolver. BIRCHING RECOMMENDED AN EFFECTIVE PUNISHMENT Old-fashioned birching is considered the best medicine for gang boys who arc first offenders, in the opinion of Mr s Angelo Jennison, juvenile court judge at Manchester. She is GO years old and a grandmother. She said of the tough type in one gang she dealt with, “They know all the tricks and flagrantly wink at each other in court. Prison and probation mean nothing to them. They will grow’ up to be bandits—their movie heroes—unless they are taught a lesson. Birching as punishment, is short, but effective. GIRL IN MEN’S TEAM KEEN FOOTBALL PLAYER Miss Lillian Mitchell, aged 21, of Tottenham, London, believes she is the only girl footballer playing in a man’s team. She is centre forward of the Tottenham Motor Cycle Club’s team, which plays friendly matches in North London. She has not yet scored a goal, but that is her ambition next to winning a cross-country motor-cycle endurance trial. “I play in a men’s team,” she said, “because there is no women’s football team in North London. I get hard knocks whenever I try to score, but that is nothing to be afraid of.” Miss Mitchell is the only woman member of the Motor-Cycle Club, too, and often takes part in cross-country trials. NEW BEAUTIFIER • POPULARITY OF GOAT’S MILK Great Britain is using more goat’s’ milk. To-day its sale amounts to 20.000. galons a year, which is 10 times as much as the sale 20 years ago. The reason for the increase is that women have discovered that goat’s milk is good for their beauty. A “peachbloom” complexion can be acquired by bathing the face, neck, and arms with goat’s milk. There are health reasons also. Goat’s milk is more easily digested than cow’s milk, and it is free from tuberculosis germs. Increasing numbers of small holders are now keeping goats. Though no actual figures arc available, it is estimated that there are well over 30,000 goats in the country. South Wales gave the lead to Great Britain in making good use of this animal, and there are 5000 in that district, Essex, Norfolk, Durham, and Hampshire following closely. AN ARTIFICIAL HEART EXPERIMENTS ON DOGS Dr Bruchinenko’s “artificial heart” goes from strength to strength, and now holds out an immediate hope of performing major cardiac operations on human beings. Already more than a dozen dogs have had their hearts dissected during the last two years, but all survive in normal health. One operated on during four minutes and a-half had its heart literally cut up and then sewn up in 17 different places by Professor Tercbinski with the help of Dr Bruchinenko’s “artificial heart,” which consists of a perfectly balanced circulation pump connected up with the vascular system after the real heart has been disconnected. The special chemical substance injected prevents the blood from congealing during this marvellous preliminary operation, and afterward while the real heart is being linked up again. This substance keeps the blood in perfect condition for many hours. NAPOLEON’S ELEPHANT LIVING IN BUDAPEST Zara Agha, the world’s oldest man, appears to have a rival in his claim to be the only creature now living who knew Napoleon, for Budapest is calling attention to the fact that it possesses an elephant which came into intimate contact with the Emperor. It is a natiye of Siam, and was given to Napoleon during his disastrous campaign in Egypt. He took it back to Paris with him, but it proved so wild and vicious that he presently packed it off as a present to his father-in-law, the Emperor of Austria, who placed it in the Vienna Zoo, where it again caused trouble and was transferred to Budapest, where it has remained ever since. Reputed to be 150 years old, it has lost its youthful energy and spirits, and spends its days begging coins and cakes from visitors. CHILDREN IN CELLAR ABANDONED BY PARENTS The sentimental heart of Paris has been touched by the story of two abandoned children, Renee and Robert Moblet, aged 9 and 11 respectively. Their unemployed father vanished from the cellar, which is in the outskirts of Paris, then, four days later, their mother went away, lolling them to carry on until her return in two days. A week passed and they were still alone. They had no money and no food, but, obedient to instructions, they carried on. Renee, anxious not to miss school because she was working for a scholarship, presented herself each morning, neat and clean, hut hungry. One even'ing, liowevcr, the brave little girl fainted on returning home, and Robert, determined to get food, went into the fields and dug some potatoes. On these, eaten raw, the two children lived for days. Then a neighbour questioned (he children and, their plight revealed, they were taken to an orphanage.