NEWS OF THE WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 21820, 8 September 1934, Page 7

NEWS OF THE WORLD

POLITE CAMEL’S UNHAPPY DEATH J Chang, declared to be the most polite camel in the world, has died at the Zoo in London. He would take oil ms keeper’s hat in the presence of women and offer his “hand” to be shaken by visitors. He never would tolerate the presence of a painter in his white coat or a workman in his shirt-sleeves. Death was due to over-eating. NEW KIND OF ENCORE KREISLER ESCORTED BACK TO STAGE Somebody recently found a new way at the Albert Hall in London of obtaining an encore. When Kreisler ended his recital and it appeared that he was not going to play any encotes, a man left his seat, climbed on th? stage, ana trailed him to his retiring-room. A few minutes later he returned with Kreisler. Then he went back to his seat. At the svd of 40 minutes of playing Kreisler beat a final retreat, and the audience tried the trick again. Firemen had to prevent scores of persons from escorting the artist back to the stage. AN OLD GYPSY WEDDING BRIDE’S COSTLY ORNAMENTS An old Gypsy wedding was witnessed at Whitton Park, Middlesex, when a bride of, 16, robed in white silk, and bejewelled with diamonds, wearing a gold coronet, a jangling necklace of golden coins, was married at sundown to a boy of 11. The bride’s coronet had in it scores of real English sovereigns and - her necklect was made up of golden Empire and American coins. Some were £l2 Australian pieces. They will be stored in the humble tent in which the young couple make them home. All the male members of the tribe are pledged to guard the jewels. SURVIVOR OF FAMOUS GERMAN CHARGE The last survivor of a German “Charge of the Light Brigade” has died in Vienna, aged 81. He was Josef GoeRide, who took part in the famous “Death Ride” of the 6th Dragoons during the Franco-Prussian War. On August 16, 1870, Marshal Bazaine, whose forces numerically exceeded those of the Prussians, launched an attack at Mars-la-Tour, hoping to force his way through to Verdun. The German commander, in a last desperate effort to hold the French in check, told the 6th Dragoons to charge—at the ramparts. Only six men were left in their saddles after the charge, but their attack turned the tide of battle. Two weeks later. Napoleon 111 ’ capitulated at Sedan. GYPSY EDUCATION IN ENGLAND Gypsy education is being carefully looked after in England. A gypsy encampment, which for 100 years had been situated at Hurtwood Common, Surrey, was removed recently to wai-ton-on-Thames. Eight years ago the Surrey Education' Committee; formed the first gypsy school in their midst, and the educational progress which the school has achieved will be completed at Walton. The gypsies will live in bungalows offering accommodation considerably superior to their rude dwellings at Hurtwood. Their school building is coming with them and will be re-erected on a site adjoining the Council School in Terrace Road. The gypsy children will continue with their handicraft work, in addition to the ordinary subjects taught at school. TREASURE IN SECRET DRAWER SPANISH LAD’S LUCKY DISCOVERY Hidden wealth was found recently in a secret drawer by Juan Galvez, a 15-yaar-old Madrid boy. The find was in the form of Spanish doubloons, worth £7500, and was made when he was carrying a 100-year-old table to the local church at Esplugas de Llobregat, near Barcelona. The table slipped off his shoulders as he was lowering it, and fell upside-down on the ground. As a result of the fall a secret drawer came open and let loose a large number of old Spanish gold doubloons of the times of King Charles 111 and King Charles IV of Spain. The boy filled his pockets with the golden pieces and continued his journey as fast as he could. When he arrived outside the church he placed the table down again, and, in doing so. another shower of gold pieces poured out from the table. The boy reported the matter to the rector, handing in all the pieces he had collected. The rector, who was much impressed by the boy’s honesty, immediately informed the owner of the table, who gave the boy 16 doubloons as a reward. CHARLES ITS OAK TREE PENSION NOW SURRENDERED A pension that dates back to the reign of Charles II is automatically surrendered by the death at Florence recently of Professor Francis Cox Walker, of the University of British Columbia, who was a descendant of the Penderell family that saved Charles Stuart after his defeat by Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester, in 1651. . Fleeing from the Roundheads, Charles creot into the grounds' of the Penderell home, in Boscobel: Approaching Elizabeth Penderell, he told her who he was, and that ,he must be hidden. So . she summoned her five brothers and held a conference. At first they suggested hiding him in some cupboard, but, asBured that the Roundheads would make en exhaustive search, they decided he should climb an old oak tree, with a heavy trunk and thick branches. For a whole day Charles sat cramped In a fork of the tree while Cromwell s Ironsides passed and repassed below After sunset he climbed down and escaped. Ascending the throne as Charles 11, the fugitive did not forget Elizabeth, who was credited with the plan to hide him in the oak —the Royal Oak to this day. He awarded annuities in perpetuity to her and her brothers. Elizabeth’s share was £SO. The pensions, which in those days were more than ten times their present value, were charged upon certain fee farm rent then payable to the Crown. These were transferred to trustees to administer for the benefit of the Penderells and their descendants. On failure of all the descendants, the rents were to revert to the Crown. Some years ago the British Government disposed of this reversionary interest, and the Penderell pensions are now paid bv private trustees. Elizabeth’s pension passed to her eldest son. a Yates. From the Yates family it went to the Dysons, who changed their name to Walker. For a short while, during the life of Professor Walker’s grandfather, the pension lapsed, hut was restored. Professor Walker visited England in 1928 and was presorted with voung green shoots from Charles’s tree 1

ROMAN*SOLDIER DUG UP WAS NEARLY SEVEN FEET TALL Peasants ploughing near Potenza, in Southern Italy, recently found the skeleton of a soldier, still wearing his helmet and the medal he won in the Second Punic War of 200 B.C. The medal is inscribed “Scipio Africanus’ on one side and “Hannibal Punicus” on the reverse, showing that the warrior fought for the Roman Scipio, who, having conquered Hannibal the Carthaginian, took to himself the name of Africanus. The man was nearly 7ft. tail, as his skeleton proved before it crumbled into dust at the touch of the fresh air. All that then remained were the embossed helmet and the medal. ONE-EYED BOY’S ARTISTIC GIFT Minus an eye, and having neither the gift of speech nor hearing, Robert Murray, an Arbroath boy, has developed a trait of artistry while a patient in an Edinburgh hospital. His subjects are film stars, railway engines and rural scenes. His deftness in light and shade and colour creates convincing productions. He has all the stars in the cinema world in characteristic poses. Several professional artists have been attracted to the boy’s work. His mother died a short time ago, and his father is unemployed. TEN SNAKES BEFORE BREAKFAST Snake killing became a pastime before breakfast when a Uganda resident walked into a Kampala office and announced that he had seen 10 snakes that morning. No one believed him, but, jealous of his reputation, he went to his car outside and returned with a box in which were 10 freshly killed reptiles. Seeing a snake near an old ant hill outside his front door, he shot it, and to his amazement it was followed by another and yet another in seemingly endless sequence. Later, with the aid of native servants, he dug into the anthill and discovered a large collection of snake eggs. Incidentally, the snakes were a new variety, ana have been taken to the game warden at Entebbe for identification. TELEVISION AT ITS LATEST WORD “AUDIENCE” OUT OF DATE Shouting from the housetops is an old phrase for advertising oneself and one’s wares, but Sir Harry Greed, chairman of the Baird Television Company, recently went much higher than the housetops to impress his audience with the value of the invention for which his company is responsible. He climbed the south tower of the Crystal Palace, from which the whole valley of London can be seen. Speaking in a soft voice. Sir Harry showed himself to his audience, which sat in a room in Wardour Street. Indeed, he proved that the word audience, derived from the Latin word to hear, is now strictly out of date, for they saw him on a screen though he was in a room seven miles away. OBSERVATORY MOVED TRANSPORTED FROM OXFORD TO AFRICA Sitting in the Chancery Division ol London, Mr Justice Bennett lately sanctioned a scheme for the establishment of a £72,000 astronomical observatory in South Africa out of the funds of a 200-year-old English charity. The observatory, it was explained, would be built on a site on the high veldt near Pretoria, offered free by the South African Government, and its 72-inch reflecting telescope would be the largest in the Southern -Hemisphere. The Court’s approval of the scheme was sought by the trustees of the will of Dr John Radcliffe, a scholar of Oxford, and an eminent London physician of the 17th century. The Radcliffe Observatory at Oxford was established in 1768 out of one of the testator’s bequests. Recently, it was sold, and the trustees decided to use part of the £130,000 fund in providing another Radcliffe Observatory in South Africa, where, they contended, there were greater opportunities for advancing the science of astronomy. It was intended that the observatory should work in close co-operation with the University of Oxford. The university, however, objected to the scheme because they said their long association with the Radcliffe Observatory would be broken and the science in Oxford would suffer. South Africa was too remote for their studies. Professor Einstein, m an affidavit, declared that the University of Oxford would undoubtedly suffer serious damage from the absence of a wellequipped observatory in or near the town. The judge held that the university had no legal right in objecting to the removal of the observatory. Sanction would be given to the scheme in principle, and it would be referred to a judge in chambers so that the details could be finally settled. DRUMMER-BOY’S SECRET FROM HIS MOTHER WOULD NOT LET HER KNOW HE WAS SERIOUSLY ILL Patrick John Ifould, 16-year-old drummer-boy of the Ist Battalion, the Loyal Regiment, is the boy who “would not tell his mother.” Not quite two years ago Patrick kissed his mother good-bye, left his home at Tring, Hertfordshire, and sailed away with his regiment to India. He was stationed at Cawnpore. His weekly letters home were full of enthusiasm for his life there. So his mother did not worry, and looked forward to maildays and those happy letters. , One day a few weeks ago Patrick’s mother received a letter in a strange handwriting from India. It was from a kindly woman in Cawnpore who had taken an interest in the little drummerboy since his first arrival in the country. The letter said that the boy had been gravely ill for two months.

Patrick’s mother was frantic. Cablegrams flew back and forth between Cawnpore, Lucknow, and London. The last message came from a hill station at Ranikhet, in the Himalayas. It said: "Slight improvement.” Meanwhile, letters continued to arrive from Patrick to his mother, describing what a good time he was having. Then Patrick’s mother telephoned from the “Sunday Exnress” offices to the hospital at Ranikhet. Over 15,000 miles of space, through sub-station after sub-station, sped by sympathetic operators, the call was sent. It stopped short at Manital, for there is no line of communication between Manital and Ranikhet. The kindly chief medical officer at Manital Hospital spoke to Patrick’s mother. “I’ll have news somehow within an hour,” he promised. An hour later the “Sunday Express” was talking again to Manital. “The boy is better,” came the welcome news. "He is sitting up for a little while today. He has been seriously ill. He told me to say that he said nothing because he would not have his mother worried. And he added that he is a real soldier now.”