NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 5 January 1921, Page 3

NEWS BY MAIL.

£5,000,000,000. PARIS, Nov. 4. The dearest “scrap of paper” in the world is the bond which has just been handed by the German Treasury to the Reparations Commission. Its nominal value is £2,000,000,000. It is a small piece of paper about 15 inches long and 8 inches wide with a black border. It is printed in bold black type. The bond, which i,s in English, French, and German, enumerates the clauses and conditions of the Treaty of Versailles under which it is issued h.v the Germans. It is dated Berlin, ()c----i l er 8, 1920. It is signed by 9 Ministers and Treasury officials. Two other bonds wore presented by Germany at the same time. One is a German Treasury note for £1,000,000, 000, without interest, payable, at the latest, by next May. The other is a promise to issue further Treasury bonds to the value of £2,000,000,000 as soon i as the Reparations Commission is j satisfied that German finance can bear i the strain. i HONEYMOON COUPLE DROWNED. i COPENHAGEN, Nov. 3 ! A motor-boat carrying a wedding party between two islands of the Lofoten Archipelago, in the North Sea, inside the Arctic Circle, was going at full speed near the shore when it ran on to a rock, alter failing to answer the helm. The boat sank and the 11 persons on board, including the bride and bridegroom, were drowned. Lofoten Archipelago belongs to Nor- ,

way and is separated from the coast by a bay. The permanent population is 4,000, but in January, February, and March 15,000 to 20,000 fishermen go and usually catch about- 30,01X1,000 cod. VICHY GAMBLERS. PARIS, Nov. 3. This year’s profits at the Vichy Casino have broken all records. From May 1 to October 15 the profits amounted to 10,579,01X1 francs (nominally £423,160), of which £IOO,OOO will go to the State and about £BO,OOO to the town. The remainder "ill go to the owners of the Casino. WHARF EXPLOSION. LONDON, Nov. 1. Two firemen were killed and several others injured in an explosion resulting from a serious fire wfiieli broke out at Oliver’s Wharf, Whipping Wall, IC., shortly before midnight. In addition other firemen were reported to lie missing in the debris. Two policemen were also injured. Oliver’s warehouse contained a large quantity of rubber and fancy goods.

The flames burst through the building on the river side and quickly assumed wide proportions involving the premises of Andrew Lusk’s mustard factory, while the Metropolitan Wharf adjoini: g was also threatened. The sky was iit up for miles. There was a brigade call and a large number of fire-engines were soon at work, while all the fire boats on the river were called to the outbreak. There was a big explosion caused, it was stated, by gas, in a cellar under a warehouse, the roof of which fell in with a crash. WAR FERRY DEAL. LONDON, Nov. 4. A Sandwich correspondent writes : I understand that three parties are in dose negotiation for the port of Riclihoroug.ii. the war ferry port established at Sandwich, Kent, to supply the Expeditionary Force With war materiaks. It is believed in the district that the property is about to be sold as a whole, including the train ferries, tugs, barges, plant and machinery. Within the last few weeks Belgian, French, and English experts have been examining the port and its equipment.

X-RAYS FOR INSANITY. LONDON, Nov. t. An X-rays installation for the investigation and treatment of mental cases was opened at the Retliioin Royal Hospital, by the Lord Mayor of London (Sir E. Cooper). The installation, one of Hie most modern in London, is the gift of Sir Charles Wakefield. Dr P. Beeton, one of the Betlilem Royal Hospital, said last: "In mental diseases there are certain growths inside the sku]l which make the bone thinner in certain places or widen <eitain apertures. By means of the Xravs you can detect these changes. “To great numbers of shell-shocked soldiers the apparatus will be of inestimable value in discovering pieces of iron and shrapnel in tile brain also the presence of foreign bodies in other parts of the human body which may «he affecting the nervous system. They might never be discovered by other means.” .

LANDRU’S “NEXT.*® PARIS, Nov. 4. The. sentence of 4 years’ imprisonment and deportation to a penal settlement passed in 1914 on Landm, the alleged Paris “Blue Beard” (who is charged with the murder of 12 women), for embezzlement, and against which be appealed was confirmed to-day. On Monday, Landru’s effects were moved out of his flat in the Rue Rochechouart to a cellar, where, they await a public, sale to defray Ids unpaid rent. When Landm heard that his effects were to be sold ho remarked: “ Wlr' do a few pieces of furniture more oi less matter?/ When I am set, at liberty I shall marry again, and my fiancee will, of course, choose furniture to suit her own taste.” TT.LFf IAL M ARRIAGES. PARIS, November 3. T| lo French civil authorities have discovered that for many years marriages at. a village near Lorient, Brittany, were illegally conducted at an inn and not .recorded in the proper register. A number of couples are, therefore, not legally married. The village officials have also neglected to notify the births of many children, who consequently have no legal existence. Steps are being taken to rectify the m i stakes.

GIRLS AT FOOTBALL

PARTS, November 3. The close of the football match this afternoon between a team of girls from flte Dick Kerr electrical works, Preston, ami a representative eleven of French football girls was marred by some of the crowd, which, annoyed at a corner kick given against the French team, broke on to the field and forced the referee to stop play. Mr Franklin, secretary of th e British team, stated that the girls of his team had been highly delighted with the friendly reception they 'received, and added that only a small percentage of the 12,000 spectators was responsible for this incident. A lightning shot from Mile. Bracquemond, the French inside left, scored the only goal for her side, and just before half-time, the English inside right, Miss Lyons, scored with a dropping shot. RUINED BUILDERS. j NEW YORK. November 3. Revelations came thick and fact as yesterday’s inquiry by the Lockwood Committee into th 0 building situation j in tli is city, which is blamed for the acute house shortage. Mr Robert P. j Brindell. president-“proprietor” of th P Building Trades Council was present. Witnesses swore to having paid money to him for permission to go on with contracts for ordering buildings, although they had alwayk engaged union labour, Mr William Waixel, of Tuckahoe, New Jersey, said that he paid Mr Brindell £IOO before he bid for a job, while- Mr Jacob Fradus, of Riverside Drive,' general contractor, swore that Mr Brindell’s actions ruined his

business and forced him into bankruptcy. Mr Brindell the first time demanded £5,000 telling him, “You have got to be a good fellow.” Mr Fradus refused and was bluntly told that lie would not got any more work. Even after his failure Mr Fradus was forced to pay Mr Brindell £2OO before lie could start on some small excavating work. According to Mr Robert S. Whiting of the George Fuller Construction Co., doing £8,000,000 of business yearly, Mr Brindell called strikes on three of their jobs at once, in defiance of all agreements with the trade unions. Other statements showed Mr Brindell in the light of a despot. He broke up an association of house-erecting employers, it was said, forcing most of them to sign an agreement to use only inexperienced men from his unions. Mr Brindell’s council counts 115,000 and the yearly income is little short of £30,000. What becomes of this money? Mr Tompkins, Mr Brindell’s treasurer, could not say when examined as a witness. COD-LIVER OIL FOR PLANTS.

ioiM.iv i'« iuu run i ic, LONDON, November 3. In the living room of an Oxfordshire country house is a maiden hair fern that has just- celebrated its 56th. birthday. It is now some 2ft. across and very fine, fresh and young in complexion. A year or two- ago it seemed to be falling into the sere and yellow leaf and was threatened with its first illness. But after consultation with a local specialist the woman (who lias tended her plant herself for 56 years) gave it a close of ood-livcr oil. The brownnoss that had threatened to invade the whole plant soon disappeared under the treatment, and it is now ns vigorous and as green as ever. Hon long a fern can live in an old botanical puzzle. Lichens are .aid to live 1.000 years; but they undergo a sore of hibernation. This maidenhair has not only lived 56 years, but is still in the stage of active growth and development. PAPER-BAG PIPES. LONDON, November 3. Smokers in the West End of London are reviving an old method of filling

their pipes. “Walking down Bond-street, AY.,” writes a correspondent, “I was surprised to see a friend place a little round disc of what appeared to be rice taper, with a tiny hole in the centre on the palm of his hand, pile the tobacco on it, and twist it lightly into a pear-shap-ed bomb, which he papped tail first into bis pipe. Tile small hole in the centre of the paper was then on the top and ho lighted the tolvieco through 't. "More surprising still was 'be condition of the paper after the smoke. Beyond a small area on the top, it was riot even scorched. It left Tie pipe perfectly clean and all the nicotine had collected in the scrcwjed-up ‘tail.’ ”