NEWS OF THE WORLD

Manawatu Times, Volume 59, Issue 222, 22 September 1934, Page 9

NEWS OF THE WORLD

DEATH-BED MARRIAGE GIRL THREW HERSELF FROM WINDOW The death-bed marriage of a 20-year-old Warsaw girl is related after she threw herself from a third-story window a few days before the date fixed for her wedding. !,'She was, taken to hospital anif was. found to have broken both legs and arms. The doctors could do nothing to save her life. Almost with her last breath she begged her fiance to marry her. He agreed, and a priest was hastily summoned. Shortly after the ceremony she died in her husband’s arms. IMMENSE BLOCK OF FLATS NEW BUILDING FOR LONDON “Flatels” is the nev/ly coined name to describe a £2,000,000 block of flats which is being completed in London. The name is intended to describe flatlets having hotel service. There will be 750 flats, accommodating 1200 people. As far as possible every daily want of the tenants—food, clothing or servicewill be available within the building. A shopping expedition of the fiatdwellers will be merely a trip to the ground floor, and there will be restaurants, dining-rooms, barber shops and beauty parlors. A novel feature will be a.terrace, 16 feet wide, surrounding the top floor of the building. It resembles a liner promenade deck, and will be available for sun-bathing and exercise.

COMPOSER BLINDED BY STONE HAS SINCE DEVOTED LIFE TO CHILDREN Stone throwing by a child had serious results in the blinding of Frederic Hendries, prominent London composer and musician, 14 years ago, and ever since then he has devoted his time to composing children’s music. In his blindness his love for children became intensified and they became the light of his life which he reflected in his music. “Frank can’t cross roads alone,” his wife said, "and on his journeys to and fro these kiddies nearly fight for the privilege of seeing him safe on his journey. It does you good to see them tripping along,. proudly holding his hands as they come singing down the streets. They worship him.” MISSING LEGION OF SOLDIERS LOST IN MOROCCO 12 YEARS AGO A report of a missing legion of Spanish soldiers is being investigated by the authorities. It is stated that some 300 Spanish soldiers taken prisoner by the Moors 12 years ago are still living in captivity in the interior of Morocco. The Minister of War has appointed a Military Commission, which is to proceed to North Africa to make inquiries on the spot. The authorities of French Morocco have offered to collaborate in the investigation. The minister says that the Government decided to take this action in response to “patriotic demands to know the truth’ by people in, every walk of life all over the country. Ever since the battle of Anaul in 1921, when a Spanish Army of 14,000 men under General Silvestre disappeared in Morocco, there have been rumours that many of the prisoners who then fell into the hands of the Moors still survived. LIVING “CORPSE” ON TRAIN

FAKIR’S BET TO TRAVEL IN COFFIN A living “corpse” was discovered at Prague recently, when the policemen on duty at a railway station were involuntary witnesses to a bet won by a “fakir.” A box marked “porcelain’ carried by five men and addressed to Prague at the railway station of Rizan aroused the suspicion of officials. They warned the station police in Prague, and the box was opened on its arrival. To their astonishment it contained a coffin with a window through which a human face could be seen. The coffin was at once broken open and a man got out. He said that he was the fakir Jarolin Zenkl. . who had made a bet that he would travel from Rizan to Prague as a “dead-head” in a coffin. In one of his pockets his friends had put a ticket in case of his discovery. A POPULAR PRISONER SEA CAPTAIN OCCUPIES HIS TIME

When Captain M. Wray left the gaol in Istanbul, Turkey, recently, fellowprisoners formed a guard of honour to see him off. Wray, a master mariner, was convicted of smuggling, and sentenced to 18 months. But he did not forget he was a master mariner. He took his cold bath and turned himself out spick and span every day, keeping his trousers pressed and his beard trimmed. The captain used his spare time in helping the other prisoners. He formed a Keep-Fit club and taught them physical exercises, instructed them in old chanties, and organised a band having combs and saucepans as instruments. The prisoners liked it all, and the master mariner left to one of the rousing songs he had taught them.

WINE SPILLS INTO STREET WILD SCENES IN SOUTH AFRICAN TOWN Spilled wine was actually licked up from the streets when an enormous barrel recently fell off a wagon in a town near Paarl, South Africa, and burst. There were scenes of wild excitement as a host of coloured people scrambled to obtain a share of the liquid. The wine gushed from the broken barrel and the streets and gutters were flowing with wine. Coloured men went down on their hands and knees in the gutters and lapped up as much wine as they could. The drinkers’ clothes were soon sodden with the wine. After 15 minutes the liquor had run off, leaving the roadway stained a dark purplish colour. Although this was washed away, the reek of the wine remained for several days. FAKIR’S LAPSE FROM GRACE UNAUTHORISED IMPROMPTU FUNERAL Buried alive for almost an hour cost the victim SSO at Kansas City, Missouri. Thomas George Pasha, who says he is an Egyptian and has a flair for the show business, agreed to be buried an hour in order to test certain theories of after-life. But the Commissioner of Sanitation and Inspection had doubts as to the state after death and many convictions as to burials. His job was to see that no unauthorised burials took place. Pasha’s hour underground was nearly up when me commissioner appeared. “Get him out; he didnt take out a permit,” said the commissioner. Then he recalled that nobody in Kan- ■< sas City may operate as an undertaker without a licence and Pasha had none. ’ "But lit was my own funeral,” said Pasha. Judge Holland was unimi pressed and fined him $25 for each offence.

DEATH OF RUSSIAN HANGMAN KEPT CAREFUL RECORDS OF VICTIMS PhilipiefT, for several years' official hangman of Russia, has died in poverty in a small village in the Ukraine, according to reports from Riga, Latvia. During his term of office he executed 937 people, 178 during the reign of the late Csar and 759 during the three years of Bolshevik rule from 1917 to 1920. His nerve gave way and he was obliged to retire, although still a comparatively young man. Philipieff was considerate to the people he was ordered to hang, and he kept a careful record of every execution. Against each victim’s name he added notes describing his bearing when faced with death. This diary is understood to be in America!

COLLEGE OF HUMOUR FOR LONDON London.is to have a college of humour. The main object will be to produce comedians ready to take their place as master funsters in the entertainment world. They will be taught all the tricks of comedy, including how to originate and to put over “gags,” as well as make the most of the materials provided comedians by playwrights Eccentric dancing and knock-about tomfoolery will be taught bv experts. Part of the college will be devoted to teaching aspiring young authors the meaning of the word comedy. There also will be a course for men and women who wish to shine in public life as witty speakers. HIGH HEELS CAUSED ACCIDENT JUDGE’S OBSERVATIONS ON FASHION High heels promoted some observations when a Brooklyn judge recently ruled that women who wear high heels on inappropriate occasions have no redress in law if they fall and injure themselves. The woman sued the owner of a fishing vessel for damages for injuries received when she fell down a companion-way in his craft. The judge dismissed the action, declaring: “This woman wore heels between three and four inches high. She is a woman of sft 3Jin, weighing 160 pounds, and is 54 years of age. lam sure that a woman on occasions may wear such heels, but certain it is negligence for a heavyset woman unaccustomed to boats to descend a stairway in a fiishing boat wearing heels of such a height." STRANGE TAVERN RAID NO VALUABLES TOUCHED IN RANSACKING

A tavern raid occurred recently at Clondalkin, County Dublin, when several young men entered carrying revolvers and others with guns stood at the entrance. Acting under a leader the men went behind the bar and told the foreman that they had come to search for arms. They ordered him to lead the way to the office. He complied, and the raiders ransacked the. office, tossing papers and furniture about, but taking nothing. They then went upstairs to the proprietor’s private office, forcing the door with a jemmy and then a roll-top desk, the contents of which —letters and business papers—were scattered about the floor. Money in the desk was not touched, nor did the men read any of the papers. An attempt to call the police revealed the fact that the telephone wires had been cut. . .

GOAT'S STOMACH BANKED ANIMAL CHEWED MONEY IN POCKET Banking a stomach was the rare sight which took place at the Bank of Nethiands, Amsterdam, after a goat with an expensive appetite had devoured 220 guilders. The goat was killed later and its stomach taken to the bank, where the money was replaced. The farmer had laid his vest, containing the money, on the grass, not giving a thought to his neighbour’s goat, which was grazing nearby. The animal, however, worked the money out of the vest, and was cheerfully chewing on the last banknote when the farmer saw what was happening. An official of the bS'nTc succeeded in deciphering the numbers of the notes, and the farmer received new money. CAMPAIGN AGAINST OFFENSIVE ADVERTISING Beauty conservation will be the aim of the Touring Club de France, which plans to wage energetic warfare upon “offensive, sacrilegious and ugly” outdoor advertising which defaces age-old monuments and destroys the beauty of natural sites. At first, persuasion will be used, but if this fails, a public boycott of the merchandise thus advertised will become one of the weapons used in this war against "the desecration of the French countryside.” The Touring' Club has constituted "An Exposition of Horrors,” consisting of photographs of beautiful structures made hideous by vulgar advertisements. Included in “the horrors” is the Arc de Triomphe, at Avignon, which is "worse than an American billboard.”

DEATH OF REMARKABLE PILGRIM With the death at Oberammergau of Catherine Kopp, the most remarkable pilgrim of modern times has passed away. Of peasant stock, she lived to be 34, and made, on foot, 12 pilgrimages to Rome. She knew three Popes and had planned another. pilgrimage for this spring. Each journey, involved walking over 1200 miles. On reaching Rome she went straight to St. Peter’s to pray at the Apostle’s tomb. On one occasion she started on her homeward walk an hour after the late Pope Pius X had received her. She made her first pilgrimage when she had passed her 17th birthday. ELECTRIC EYE FOR TRAINS PHOTO-ELECTRIC CELLS FOR CONTROL Trains in Germany will he operated by an electric eye if an invention recently tested by the German State Railways is adopted. Control of a train is through photo-electric cells which operate the brakes *by means of a light signal, but the light itself is provided by the engine. A dynamo on the locomotive feeds a lamp which throws an almost vertical cone of light into the air. Mirrors are arranged on upright supports at points along the line, and if the signal is against the train the mirrors will be in such a position as to meet the beam of light and throw it down on a pair of photo-cells mounted in the searchlight of the engine. The electric current from the cells operates a relay, and the brake magnets are opened and the train is brought to a standstill. The speed of the train can be automatically adjusted.