NEWS OF THE WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 21718, 12 May 1934, Page 7

NEWS OF THE WORLD

I r £196 IN FEATHER BED While renovating a feather bed Baiph Newby, a bl ind workman atthe Sunderland Institution for the Blind, discovered a bundle of Treasury notes. Further search revealed a total of £ Lm 10/-, in notes concealed among the feathers. The-money was returned to the owner of the bed. an unemployed man, to whom the bed was left by his mother, who had evidently secreted her savings in it. «JEWS APPEAL TO POLICE Jews in various parts of London have appealed to the police for protection against persons who have been covering their houses and shop-fronts with anti-Semitic labels. Most complaints have come from the East End, but cases have also been reported from other parts of the city. . . The labels are two inches by one Inch, and usually bear anti- Jewish propaganda. They arc stuck up on front doors and shop-windows in blocks of a dozen. The whole side of one street off Mile End Road, was covered with these bills and the police are endearsgging to trace the persons respon-BURGLAR-RIDDEN BLACKPOOL WOMEN FRIGHTENED TO LEAVE HOME 1 Blackpool, the popular Lancashire seaside resort, is the most home fire-side-loving town in Britain. Wives sfinply refuse to leave it for the theatre or cinema in the evenings and b us ‘ bands have to stay in to keep them company. The reason is—burglars! So many house burglaries have been committed during the recent winter—usually in the evening when the householders have been out on pleasure—that a mild panic has set in. "My husband and I have not been out a single evening for the past two ihonths,” a housewife in a mucnburgLed district said last month. A story was told of another householder Who, having to take his wife to ffie South of England for health reasons, left a decanter of whisky conveniently for the first prowler to sample. But he had, doped it before he left home! ACTRESS RENOUNCES WORLD TAKES VOWS IN FRENCH CONVENT Yvonne Hautin, formerly an actress of the Comedie Francaise, lately renounced the world by taking her perpetual vows as a Benedictine nun before Mgr. Gerlier, Bishop of Lourdes, in the chapel of the Benedictine Convent in the Rue Monsieur, Paris. Relatives and friends were present at the ceremony, among them, being MEmile Fabre, who is still Director of the Comedie Francaise in spite of the attempt of M. Daladier’s Minister of the Interior to give his post to a detective, and other former colleagues of her theatre life. MUe. Hautin left the Comedie Francaise three years ago to take her first vows, and has been In Lourdes since J 932 caring for the sick. The last words spoken by the new nun, Sister Marie Yvonne, to her friends as the heavy doors closed, behind her were, I shall pray for you. OBER-AMMERGAU PASSION PLAY - NOTED FAMILY OF ACTORS

Hubert Mayr, chosen to play St. Peter in the Passion Play performances at Ober-Ammergau this summer in succession to Peter Rendl, whose death was announced recently, is a member oi a noted family of actors. , Well-known relatives include. Joseph Mayr. who was the Chnstus m 1870, 1880 and 1890; Guido Mayr, Judas of the last two Passion Plays: and Klara Mayr. who will be the Magdalene in the jubilee plays this summer. ■ Of his immediate family, who are ‘V/oodcarvers, his / father played the Apostle Thomas in 1922. A younger sister plaved the Angel on the Mount of Olives in 1930 and will have the same role this year, and his elder brother, who played the Rabbi in 1930, is cast as Nicodemus. Hubert Mayr will himself be remembered by visitors to former plays as the Apostle James. REMARKABLE CAREER IN FRAUD OVER 70 OFFENCES BY ONE MAN No fewer than 73 cases of fraud were stated to have been proved against William Henry Thomas Drage, who lately appealed to the Criminal Appeal Court against a sentence of three years penal servitude passed on him at the Middlesex Sessions. - Drage pretended to be a seller of vacuum cleaners, and he' cheated trusting housewives of their money. In one case he actually took away a £2O cleaner on the promise to repair it. The plea, commented Lord Hewart, was as remarkable as it was frivolous. He said that he was overwrought by a fruitless search all over the country for the woman with whom he had fallen in love. ‘1 have to commit these offences to keep going,” was his excuse. The Judge concluded by saying that he could not find words, adequately to describe such a strange and foolish defence to a serious charge, and he dismissed the appeal. SECRET RADIO STATION INGENIOUS YOUTH BEFORE COURT To the talent of a 20-year-old clerk, who. it was alleged, secretly worked a wireless transmitting set for 12 months, compliments were paid by magistrates and solicitors af Rotherham (England) recently. The young man. William Lee, of Brampton Bierlow, was summoned for using the set without a licence. , , It was explained that before anyone cr.uld receive a transmission licence he must undergo a test in the Morse code by the Post Office, and Lee was not proficient. It was suggested that while operating his set, Lee used an obsolete call-sign to protect himself from detection. Defending counsel urged that it was a case of the exuberance of youth. The set built by Lee cost £2. The Bench imposed a fine of £2. Explaining to an interviewer how he used his equipment, Lee stated that he used to send out periodical gramophone music concerts, and on occasions his father would play a piano-accordion, which was also broadcast. They announced their programmes as coming from the “Night Rakers’ Club. . On some occasions Lee got schoolfnends to give turns, and variety programmes were broadcast. , After the gramophone which was Used broke down. Leo sent out only verba! and Morse messages. He communicated with 23 countries In assembling the comnonents in his tians mitter. he showed an turn of mind. For examnle. the telegianh kev made by him for Morse multiplies one movement five times. It consists of toy metal parts used to budd models, a safety-razor blade, and a block of woodU ■-*-

WIDOW’S £IO,OOO GIFT The Bishop of Chelmsford lately rer ceived a gift of £IO,OOO from Mrs 3L H. Keene to erect a church in a poor part of the diocese in memory of her husband, Mr John H. Keene, late chairman of an insurance company. Noted for her generosity, Mrs Keene recently built and endowed a number of almshouses In Chelmsford and presented £SOOO to the Royal Free Hospital, both gifts being in her husband’s memory. STATION WITHOUT A NAME There is a main line railway station at Furness Abbey, Lancashire, without a name. Every time a train stops officials open the carriage doors to inform the passengers where they are. It. is said that the reason why the Station has never been christened is because name notices would spoil the beauty of the abbey surroundings. “Years ago before the railway grouping took place the station belonged to one of the smaller companies,” a railway official said lately. “Certain people then decided that it should remain unnamed.” WILD BIRD? AS DECOYS For using wild birds as decoys to take other wild birds, Albert Norman Dewe, of Hounslow, and his chauffeur, George Wheelman, were bound over for two years at Pewsey, Wiltshire, recently. ' . , , A constable stated that he saw what appeared to be petrol tins in a field. Wheelman was crouching under a hedge. What he thought were petrol tins were green cages containing linnets, goldfinches and a bullfinch. There were nets on the ground, with cords to release them, and a quantity of wheat. Two linnets and a cock chaffinch were penned to the ground. For the defence it was stated that Dewe bore an irreproachable character. He was not a dealer in birds, but simply bred them himself, and had a large aviary. , CIGARETTE PICTURE COLLECTOR MAN WITH HALF A MILLION “ Got any cigarette pictures, guv’nor?” There is one man living in London who is asked this question hundreds of times a day. His answer is: ‘Yes, I’ve got half a million. . The man is Mr Jack Hickman, of Gunnersbury Park, and he has been collecting cigarette pictures for over 30 years. He has thousands of complete series, not only out of British cigarettes but from America, Malta, South Africa, Australia and scores of other countries. .. , Some of the older generation of smokers will remember the cards that appeared long before the war. Mr Hickman has them—thousands of them! —pre-war racehorses, poultry, Bntisn birds, Boy Scouts, infantry training. One of his old sets deals with the Boer War. His difficulty is to know where to keep all his treasures.

YOUTHFUL CAT BURGLAR STOLE £IOOO WORTH OF JEWELLERY How a 16-year-old boy stole jewellery worth £IOOO was described at Northallerton (England) when he was brought before the Juvenile Offenders Court. He was chught in a bedroom, up to which he had climbed by a ladder, and was held in a chair until the police arrived, , The boy admitted this charge, and also asked to be taken into consideration another case of burglary. A policeman stated that he then got away with jewels valued at £IOOO, and sold one ring valued at £95 to another boy for 1/-. A second ring had been discovered, but two others were still missing. An education official explained that the boy had an excellent school record, but was fond of aping his elders. He was ordered to a training-ship. NEW LIFE AT 74 ENGLISHMAN EMIGRATES TO CHICAGO Mr W. A. Knapp, of Newport, Isle of Wight, served one firm in the town for more than 50 years. At the age of 70 he felt he had done his share of work. He retired. The former colleagues of Mr Knapp however, felt they could not do without him. They sent' a deputation to ask him to return to work, and he agreed. But within two years his wife and one of his daughters died, and there seemed no reason to go on working. Mr Knapp, at 74. still thinks there is plenty to do, new fields to explore. He is leaving for Chicago. He has a married daughter there. “I expect to find a new life and a new interest in America.” Mr Knapp says. “I don’t expect ever to come back.” WINDSOR CASTLE KEY STOLEN THREE MEN SENT TO PRISON “At Cram'pton Street ’1 • found 165 keys, one of which was traced to Windsor Castle,” said Detective Sergeant Robert Lee, in a London court lately when three men were sent to prison. ' Sentence of five years' penal servitude was passed on William Henry Alfred Radford, aged 35, street trader, who was convicted on three counts of receiving stolen property. Patrick O’Hara, aged 24. carpenter, who admitted seven cases of house and office breaking, and Willian Hawkins, aged 24. carpenter, who pleaded guilty to twelve cases of shop, office and warehouse breaking and receiving, were both sentenced to three year’s penal servitude. BANK OF ENGLAND COURT PARDONABLE ERROR BY GOVERNOR A half-yearly meeting of the Court of Directors of the Bank of England was held in March. It was —almost—an assembly of the Knights of the Court of Prince Montagu. Mr Montagu Norman, the governor, wearing broadly braided morning coat and a black tie with an emerald pin, led the procession of directors to the court room, made two deep bows to the seated proprietors, and the proprietors bowed in return. , _ . The profits of the half-year to February 28, were £656,794. and. after paying the proposed dividend of 6 per cent, less tax, the “rest,” or carry forward, was £3,024,021. Mr E. T. Hargreaves moved a vote of thanks to the governor and direcMr Norman, in reply, after jocularly remarking that the chief benefactor of the bank’s position would be the Chancellor of the Exchequer, thanked the proprietors for receiving the "toast" in the way they had. it was a pardonable error- says the Daily Eatress.”