NEWS BY MAIL.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10723, 22 October 1928, Page 2

NEWS BY MAIL.

PERFORMING FLEAS. T}ie usual method of training a flea is to change it from a hopping insect to one that crawls. This is accomplished in various ways, a.s revealed in the “Pathfinder,” tho ono most generally used . being to place the insect in a glass container where it becomes so tired from attempts to escape that it is content to crawl. The next step is the delicate operation of collaring the flea. Then it ?s harnessed or dressed according to the part it is trained to perform. The collar consists of a very thin -gold wire or silk thread which is placed around the insect’s tiny neck for the purpose of easy handling. Usually it' takes about two weeks to-train a flea, and during this tune it must he handled constantly. The fleas are then ready to step before the. footlights and make their circus debut. But the trainers must always have understudies to take the place of their tiny performers. “Off Stage” the trained fleas are usually kept in little boxes with their feet entangled in cotton to prevent them escaping or getting lost.

ORIGIN OF THE TERM KIPPER.’

It is not generally known how the term “nipper” as applied to a small boy, came into common speech. Tile Prince of Wales did not know until the other day, when he learned its origin while aboard tho Victory. In ships like the. Victory short pieces of rope called “nips were used on the cable, and the hoys whose job it was to fix these ropes were known as “nippers.” They had to bo smart and active and finally the word became one generally applied to small hoys, particularly those of a bright, mischievous type.

CHANGE IN “OXFORD TROU-

SERS.”

“Oxford trousers have undergone a change. Any variation -from the hugely baggy dove-colored monstrosities, "which were in vogue recently, is good news. But their successors are not without a bizarre touch. The excessive width has gone, but in its place is a stripe down the outside of each leg, giving the appearance of a cornet player in the local band off duty. This is not, however, so novel as: it seems. Photographs of college groups of the ’sixties show this stripe i;n all its glory, and sidewhiskers sprout with it. So, perhaps, they will sprout again. £3OO FOR A RABBIT TRAP. A prize of £3OO for the best rabbit trap invention to supersede the-steel-tooth trap that is obviously a painful one to the animals, is being offered in Britain by the Royal Society for the, Prevention of .Cruelty to Animals. The Societv savs. it is anxious to provide a new type of trap that will be acceptable to gamekeepers, and at the same time he free from the objections relating to cruelty. A “SAFETY” BATHING SUIT. A “safety” bathing suit thati is almost indistinguishable from an ordinary bathing suit has been designed by Dr. M. W. Browdy, of Harley Stioct, London. . . f ■. . • . The suit is- so arranged that a greater amount of buoyancy is given to the front, so that if the bather gets into difficulties he will tend to roll on to his back and flat. A valve makes the inflation easy, and the am T ount of air required is not large enough to cause the fabric to be'so distended that it- is very noticeable. “SMILE” WEEK IN BERLIN.

The latest in “weeks” to be reported is Stnile Week, which was recently observed in Berlin. The first prize of. £25 was to a footbal) player, who played’tnroughout a game with a smile despite a serious mishap; - ' •' , • ■ ’A shopgirl won the second prize for a smile that would not weaivoff, notwithstanding the antics of shoppers. The third prize went to a traffic officer, whose smilei unravelled more traffic tangles than did the . average signals. ..