VARIOUS NEWS ITEMS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 3374, 6 October 1931, Page 7

VARIOUS NEWS ITEMS

The Vatican railway is nearing completion. With its inauguration the Pope may leave his miniature sovereign State, that w’alled city in the heart of Rome, and travel without setting foot upon Italian soil. The railway measures 3000 feet from the start through the tunnel until it links with the Italian State railway just outside St. Peter’s station on the Rome-Viterbo line. In order to construct the shortest railway in the world, the ancient Vatican city wall was pierced, houses were demolished in Roman territory, and an eightarched viaduct had to be built over the Gelsomina Valley and the Via Aurelia, a busy thoroughfare on the Italian side of the Roman-Vatican frontier. The Vatican station, which, like the railway, is for the exclusive use of the Pope, high church dignitaries, and royal visitors, is an armoured cement and of the simplest design. It is 180 feet long, and has a private waiting room for His Holiness. There is great doubt as to the Pope ever taking advantage of his railway, as a journey nowadays would entail a great deal of police protection. Also, there is a tradition that the more a Pope stays at home the greater is his prestige.

A Judge of the English County Court has been raising his voice in protest against a tailor describing himself as “a creator of clothes.” Most of us are inclined to put on a small swank in this way, says the Aberdeen Press. “Girl typists are now secretaries, bookkeepers are accountants, plumbers are sanitary engineers, barbers are beauty culturists, customers have become clients. Esquire has replaced Mr., socks are footwear, pyjamas are known as slumber suits. They have gone further in the great land of democracy across the water, where undertakers style themselves morticians, and, if an American satirist is to be believed, there is a Grand United Order of Garbage Practitioners.”

“If I could again become a British citizen I would,” lamented Mr. David W. B. Haining, an architect, of Atlantic City, New Jersey (U.S.A.), when he explained that his uncle had disinherited him of a fortune of £150,000 because he had become a citizen of the United States. Mr. Haining’s uncle was Mr. James G. Russell, of Falkirk (Scotland), who died recently. His will, dated 1924, disinherited Mr. Haining in favour of two cousins and a sister.

When Mr. J. Livingston was stressing the necessity for catering for the horse section at the A. and P. Show, at the meeting of the Ge'neral Committee of the Dannevirke A. and P. Association to-day, the President (Mr. H. B. Stuckey) remarked that they could not expect to receive the same number of entries in these classes as in former years. This would be found to be the experience of all A. and P. Associations in the future, owing to a decline in the breeding of horses. “They are coming back,” interjected Mr. Livingston. “Very slowly.” remarked the President.

According to Mr. J. E. Zahn, of Denver, Colorado, who is on a tour of the Dominion, population for' population, business was even worse in the United States than it appeared to be in New Zealand. He could not understand, however, why everyone he met commented so adversely on the United States tariffs. New Zealand tariffs (including primage) were far higher than the United States Government would ever dare make them, and it was a pertinent fact that 60 to 70 per cent, of the imports into his country were free of duty. Practically without exception, manufacturers he had spoken to in New Zealand wanted tariffs on their products; producers in the United States, on the other hand, were just the reverse. Another feature of the conditions in New Zealand that had struck him as odd was the astonishing amount of land which by all appearances could be profitably worked, that was lying undeveloped. In the United States 50 per cent, of the population lived on the land, but he had to admit that that country was always faced with the same difficulty as appeared to exist in New Zealand—the trend towards the cities. To a certain extent this trend had been checked, and settlement on the land had increased, with a corresponding benefit to the country.

The Australian-built car which will be shipped to New Zealand at the end of November for an attempt on the land speed record of 245 miles per hour has cost about £15,000. .The car will be driven on the Ninety Mile Beach, North Auckland, by Mr. Norman (“Wizard”) Smith, who hopes to attain 300 miles per hour. The car has 34 per cent, less wind resistance and is 7in. lower than the car with which Sir Malcolm Campbell created the record. Smith has already driven at 148 miles an hour on the Ninety Mile Beach in a comparatively low-powered car.

Government economy is getting down to detail. For years past it has been the custom to take a carbon copy of all Press messages received, one copy for filing, one for delivery. From to-day this old order has changed and the demands of economy are being met by the taking of one copy only—that for delivery. It will mean a big saving in paper—both flimsy and carbon—when the enormous amount of telegraphic Press messages sent in the Dominion is considered. This same economy might reasonably be practised in other Government departments (states an exchange). Instead of taking a sheet of foolscap to say “Your communication will receive consideration,” or some similar non-essential message, such communications could be confined to memos, such as any sensible member of the business community would send. We pass on the suggestion as there undoubtedly is unpardonable waste in this connection. We have a sample before us as we write. The coat of arms and the headings take up three inches by eight inches. The letter, from address, to signature, containing exactly 100 words, takes up a space covering six inches by eight inches! The whole lot could have been put in a couple of inches, or three at the outside. A space of eight inches by ten inches of firstclass paper, with expensive printing o'n the top for a letter of 1000 words is not in keeping with the times.