News Curiosities

Horowhenua Chronicle, 6 September 1932, Page 8

News Curiosities

JOTTINGS PROM WORLD’S PRESS thousand sparrows which have persisted in nesting in only two of 400 trees planted in a Berlin street have driven a despairing tenant of a flat to appeal to the magistrate for permission to break his lease and to recover damages from the houseowner. A statue of Mercury, stated to be an exceptionally fine piece of sculpture, was found by fishermen in the sea 30 yards from the shore of the seaport of Anzio, 40 miles south of Rome. The right arm is missing, but the left' holds the god’s usual wand, on which is entwined a serpent. The "beauty industry" flourished in America as never before last year, despite depression, and this year will probably prove even better. This is the report given to a congress of beauty experts in New York. American women spent £125,000,000 in 1931 for cosmetics and £70,000,000 more in beauty shops. When Sam Leather, a builder’s labourer, was carrying timber at Northwich, Cheshire, the earth gave way and he sank in the ground neck deep. Only the timber saved him from burial. Fellow workers rushed to his assistance, and he was rescued without Injury. It is believed the subsidence was due to' quicksands. ’Arriet, one of the pair of infant walruses received at the London Zqo from Greenland last summer, has died. Walruses arc expensive luxuries to keep in captivity, since even baby specimens will eat 301bs. of fish a day to keep them in health, at a cost of about 4d a pound. If Andy, ’Arriet's mate, lives to attain maturity he will incur a bill amounting to over £SOO a year in fresh cod, whiting and herrings.

The recent appointment of Mr. dacx Payne as honorary director of dance music at the National Institute for the Blind, England, has already produced a ‘ ‘ speed-up ’ ’ in the Brailling of new dance numbers required fcy blind musicians. "Hot" numbers for February were well in hand at the beginning of June, but Mr. Payne and Mr. Mayhew, his blind assistant at the Institute, hope soon to be able to supply the Braille scores to blind musicians on the same day that inkprint copies are available to sighted players. An Indian woman who murdered a girl of eight as a " sacrifice ’ ’ to the gods to cure her hoarseness has been sentenced to transportation for life. The woman, Umrai, was singing with other women of the village of Supauli. Their voices became hoarse and it was decided that a girl should be sacrificed at the altar of the goddess Saraswati to cure their hoarseness. Early the next day Umrai took Konia, her granddaughter, and murdered her with a spade. She was first sentenced to death, the Court of Appeal later reducing the sentence to one of transportation.

Bound for the Spanish Main in quest of treasure, the auxiliary yacht Vigilant has sailed out of Shoreham harbour with a crew of adventurers. Her exact destination is being kept secret, wut the crew ibelieve they will be away between eight and 12 months. The Vigilant was formerly a Brixham fishing trawler,' and she has been reconditioned throughout at Southwick. Her skipper is a former ofiieer of the merchant service, and '•he other members of the party include several former naval officers, as well as a retired An American Tariff Bill which specified articles which were not to be taxed, was to a, great extent nullified by a mistake in punctuation. The section which enumerated the duty-free articles specified: “All foreign fruit-plants"— meaning plants for propagation experiment. But the bill as it passed Congress read: “All foreign fruit, plants, e"c. ” This change of a hyphen into a comma could not be rectified for a whole year. And in the meantime, oranges, lemons, bananas, grapes, and so forth had all to be admitted free.

major, a well-known yachtsman and a skilled engineer, the party being under tne leadership of Mr. Stratford Jolly.