AMERICAN LIFE

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 April 1927, Page 8

AMERICAN LIFE

EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS.

An Anti-Evolution Bill lias been introduced in the South Carolina Legislature by Representative W. P. Mason, of Oconee. The measure would make it unlawful in any educational institution receiving funds, “to teach any theory that denies the story of the divine creation of man as taught in the Bible, or to teach instead that man has descended from the lower order of animals.” It provides penalties of 100 dollars to 500 dollars fine, or one to six months’ imprisonment for violation, as well as forfeiture of all pay due and the future right to teach in South Carolina. 50 CENTS REWARD REFUSED. Rather than pay more than a 50 cent reward for the recovery of 1300 dollars which she lost, Mrs Bertha Gerhorn has refused to accept the return of her savings. Lordes Prescott, a waitress in the restaurant of Goere’s Department Etore, Newark, found a bag on one of the tables on December 29.

Meanwhile Mrs Gerhorn was offering a reward for the return of her savings, accumulated in two years while working as cook. Eventually she got in touch with the police. “Well.” said Capta'in Sebold, at Police Headquarters, “suppose we turn the money over to you now, are you going to regard this honest young lady as promised in the paper?” “I give not a cent,” replied the aged widow’. “What!” exclaimed the captain. “Well,” she said, “if 1 give 10 cents, I am giving a reward as I promised.”

Finally she raised to 50 cents, Sebold urging that the finder was entitled to more than that. “Sooner than give a reward, you keep it, all,” was her reply, and she left.

She told the reporters that Sebold told her she should offer Miss Prescott 100 dollars.

“And he called me a miser,” was her parting shot.

WHERE MARY TOOK HER LAMB

The school-house where Mary and her little lamb “made the children laugh and play,” is to be re-opened by Henry Ford at Sadbury, Massachusetts. Last May, Mr Ford bought the little schoolhouse in Sterling to which the pet lamb followed Mary Sawyer to school many years ago, and so inspired the poem of Sarah Josepha Hale.

Since 1885, the building had been used as a. barn in connection with the parsonage of the First Baptist Church but the original frame was intact, and was moved to the vicinity of the Wayside Inn in Sadbury, now owned by Mr Ford. THIRTEENTH BRIDE’S LOSS. Thirteen bridal couples returned yesterday, the thirteenth day of January, on the Furness Bermuda liner Fort St. George. The bad luck of the day took its effect on the thirteenth couple to be inspected by Customs officials. Inspector F. J. Murphy examined the baggage carefully and discovered thirteen bottle of liquor, which he smashed against the vessel’s side. They contained benedictine, gin, and whisky. No fine was imposed, as the bride, whose name was not given, had shown the liquor to the Customs man voluntarily. She said afterwards that she had suddenly become nervous and decided to take no chance. A “CRAZY” INVESTMENT. Twenty-three years ago, James Couzens, then a young clerk in a coal office, now United States Senator from Michigan, wanted to invest some money in a “horseless carriage” that a “crazy inventor” named Henry Ford had built. His father would not lend him the money to put in such a flighty scheme, but his sister would. So he borrowed 100 dollars from her to put into the original Ford company. With the consent of other stockholders, one share of the stock was given her ,the only woman connected with the beginning of the industry. To-day her one sharg is worth 250,000 dollars. A REAL FATHER. Colonel Reuben Bland, of Robersonville, North Carolina, father of 34 children, to-day saw President Coolidge, and told him of his record as the head of a large family. He did not hesitate to say that he had always “drunk his liquor.” He said he kept a jug of it under his bed, and that whisky used in moderation did not hurt anyone. “I live in the finest section of the country to raise children,” said Colonel Bland, who has been twice married, “and perhaps my residence in Martin County has been a great incentive for a large family. I have always smoked. Over in the neighbouring .town of Washington we get the finest fish and oysters in the world. I always advise , my friends to eat oysters. Thej r are so healthful. I

came here to pay my respects to President Coolidge. A fellow from Georgia who had only 28 children came up before Christmas, so I thought I would let him see what a real father looks like.” PERILS OF COSMETICS.

The growing use of cosmetics, for which American women now spend more than 117,000,000 dollars (£29,250,000) annually, is not only supporting the fake products of a horde of beauty quacks, but is causing hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of cases of dangerous poisoning every year.

For the last year a special committee of the American Medical Association’s section on diseases of the skin has been investigating this problem. It has confined itself chiefly to cases of skin poisoning scientifically traced to the use of hair dye, hair tonics, dye removers, face bleachers, face creams, face powders, rouge, mouth washes, toilet waters, deodorants and depilatories. On the average, every specialist on skin diseases in the country each week sees two or three cases of skin poisoning or less serious skin irritation caused by use of cosmetics. Scores of women seeking to buy beauty by the jar get for their money unsightly scars and permanent disfigurement. The committee sent a questionnaire to 437 skin specialists. The results now available are based on only 62 replies. These 62 specialists, however, in the last year, found: One hundred and eleven cases of skin poisoning caused by hair dyes. One hundred and thirty-seven cases

of poisoning from use of face bleaches, face creams, powders, and rouges. Forty-three cases of poisbning caused by hair tonics. ■■„■■■