ITEMS OF GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17380, 31 January 1920, Page 2 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF GENERAL NEWS.

PRISON . CELLS EENTED. The haaslng 'shortage has-be-coma so serious that cells in the old city gaol, have been rented out by the municipality. ';,- : .• ** TRICK OF FATE. : While David 'Thompson,-; a ;Br<JOonshire farmer, m the ait of hanging himself from a beam in hi* stable, the.plow rope snapped in two. r & Tell to the floor, with <$reat force and died of shock. ~ A TRAGICAL MISTAKE. Four fishermen were killed by a mine exploding off Cape Clear; co. Cork. They were racing with another fishing boat to secure the mine, which they mistook for a barrel of rum or port wine. BATTLEFIELD ATE, PICTURES. The unique view of the battlefields enjoyed by travellers on the London-Brus-sels air service has resulted in many making the journey to see the Ypres salient, the Meriin road, and Ghent and Bruges. TOWN OBIERS TO 00. The town crier of Peterborough having resigned, the corporation has decided w allow the office', which has been in existence from time immemorial, to laps*' as being an unnecessary expense in the present day. Other English cities may follow suit. \u, TOWN IN POISON CLOUD. From Brunswick it is? learnt that big stores of gas sheik and other ammunition in the Breloch gas magarin* near the Muenster camp, which were shortly to be delivered the Entente, recently caught fire and exploded. '* Evacuation of the region was- order*! by tiw military ; authorities, who issued gas nwafo to the population. _«—.

DOG'S lAZSE 'TEETH., Bonnie Lad, a Scotch collie owned by John Gallagher, of the Kansas (Sty Kennel Club, is the envy of all the dogs in that . part of the country, Bonnie Lad had but two teeth, haying lost his others in & fight with a bulldog. Hie. master took 'him to one of the dentist* and nonBonnie Lai has a full set of false teeth, two of them gold, to make him appear a little more aristocratic among dogs 01 his acquaintance. aBCfBTDSY'S GHOOT. 'A dilapidated hottsin in KingswootJ Solid, Bromley, which has been empty some twelve years, has lately, been the scene of some strange happfoings, says a iiewa agency." For several nights a. light has been seen in one of 'the windows, wfieclr ing a ghostly looking figure. A boy was farad insensible outside; a ni||bi or two afterwards and required medical attention. The house, known as Hillside seems to be aobody's property, and thisro are no boards outside to indicate that it is empty. The last occupier is said to hive been a city merchant. "Recently some of 'tho timber in the grounds and .floor boards inside the house have disappeared, and the police began keeping watch. AWARD TO "WORTHBffiC CURB." ' Provision for the payment of an annual sum as a prize for the "worthiest girl" in, thn City of Providence, Rhode Island, is included in the will of Count Paul Bain-, otti, a millionaire of Turin, who, while in the Italian diplomatic service, met and married , Miss Carrie Brown, a member of a wealthy family which .founded: thj Brown University in Providence. The, testator set aside a sum of £2000, the in-, t?re«it from which is to be giveirannaaTly,, "about July 17 to the young lady in Pro-i vidence, who, being 20 years old, xanf-, riageable, and .a daughter of the common, people, will bes£ deserve it by her oon-, duct and family virtuM," 1 , KAPOLEOH'S NECKLACE; The £200,000 diamond necklace presented by Napoleon to the Empress Marie Louise, forming part of the crown jewels of Austria, is now the object of judicial investigation in Paris., In 191!! the wart of Austria was desirous of helping the royalist party in Portugal and being short of funds decided to sell - certain crown jewels, among which was! the famous necklace, A special envoy was sent to Prance arid' the jewels were entrusted ,to the lady for her to arrange a 'sale. ' Mo receipts were given or asked for. The war began while this sale was not yet complete and now the lady isjipngmg an action against the diamond merchant, and the latter in- his counter-claim asks for £1200 commission. A NOVEL THXE7-OATOEEB. By means' of what the Marylebone magistrate described as a clever device," Detective-Sergeant Lawrence arrested a man whom he accused of stealing a wallet from his overcoat pocket. ' Lawrence attended the gymnasium of the Ministry of Pensions, ut Lancaster pate, and lett his wallet in the coat 'pocket when lie went in for treatment. Before he loft, however, he attached an electric wire to the wallet, a battery being at one end, and a loud buzzer at the other. lie had been gone for only a iihort time when the buzzer sounded, and immediately scenting theft, returned to his overcoat to find Frederick James Jones, a Blackfriars man, standing near by in amazement..

' WIRELESS SEARCHLIGHTS. One of the most remarkable improvements in directing airmen at night lias been announced by Godfrey Isaacs, of the f&aous Maicom'wireless company, this invention is a new wireless searchlight, but. with no light. What actually happens is that by means of a patent transmitter the wireless waves are concentrated into a wireless beam of a searchlight. These beams will be pieced round towns and will regularly and automatically flash into the skies the name of the town, guiding airmen in exactly the same way as a' lightship or lighthouse guides a seaman by the intelligent flashing of light. So long, for example, as an airman is flying over London he will receive the signal "This is London." He will know his position just as well as the railway passenger doe's reading the names on the platforms hfi passes through. v~^_ TEE WORLD'S BIGGEST VOICES.

Mere bigness of voice'in itself makes no musical appeal, but if accompanied by fidf.l;.'„- to pitch, is unquestionably exhilarI ating, even to fastidious ears. The record fbig voice of history unquestionably- belonged to Stentor, a, herald of the Greeks m the Trojan war, whose voice wtis as loud as \hat of fifty men shouting" together. It is to be regretted that Homer bills us nothing of its musical quality. Towards the end, of the eighteenth, century there was a bass at the Paris optra, named! Cheron, who in earlier life nad been a blacksmith. This modern Steiitor, by blowing into a drinking glass would crack it, and by singing into it his mighty upper D could burst it. The biggest singrug voice of the last ce itury belonged to Luigi Lablache, the greatest bass singer ttat eve? lived. His upper D, like Cheroa's, was overwhelming in v its sonority, 'and could dominate both cJwrus and orchestra at their full power. But he never confused bigness with beauty of tone, and could moderate his tones to the .softest pianissimo. -The biggest,and noblest voice that this century has listened to was Eiouiird de Keszke's, bow, forever silent.

; ;: STUMBLES ON FOETUNg. TA? rabbit catcher at Miidgee, N.S.'W after robbing a,-bees' nest, stumbledi.«j! whit he found to be a Mb nugget of the shape of .a Maltese cross ana of practi. - cally * pure gold. J x ;. _ __ -~/ ■'■ ■■' ■ f ARK? MB COATS GOUTO, The red tanie of the British soidLfrf:'.dress uniform is likely to be for blue or khaki. Army life and aw — are so improved that authorities thiajr - : . bright colours an unnecessary lure. »vi f>:~~. '. • SAVED THE SPIRITS. }^'\ Alive or dead, Charles W. Dickston r*' fibied to lose two quarts rf perfect;? j>oad liquor. He fell off the gang-pknk of* • ferryboat at Pittsburg, U.S.A., with" a bottle in each hand, and when he *« i hauled out of the water he jtill held tin bottles. —- ( > A STRENGTH-GIVING DRINK. •' There has been a revival in Honolulu of the native drink, okolehao, a distills ' liquor of great potency, which retails fci 8s a quart. Federal officers are arrest ing vendors of okolehao. A native girl, 12 years old, drank some of the stuff and swam out in a heavy sea and killed & . man-eating shark with a jacknife. THE GULF STREAM BOILING, Sailors who have recently returned from » the Gulf of Mexico report that the Gall Stream is almost at the boiling point, and that existence on deck is almost unbeas able while ships are passing through ft,-.' Water dipped from the stream is almost warm enough to poach an egg, they as, - sort. The temperature 100 miles out fa sea is 100 deifies above zero.

J BAD OHEQUI JOE HYJIHS. > Charles Leslie Hulatt, who is" said to f have a lengthy criminal record, has b«n ) seatenoijd to a year at hard labour, tor passing fraudulent cheques. A merchant victim explained:' "He was such a sen. ens looMng young man that I never mis- .• toasted him. After he had picked out 'Abide With Me and 'Rest in tha t Lord,' which he explained were hii • favourite songs, I cashed his cheque mlb. •. i out* question. 1 . '. . SPBaNO ■ P3IEDIOTS STOS33. A barometrio spring, gushing from 4* i rocks close to the summit of Zeigto 1 mountain, 5500 ft above sea level, is at* 1 tracting considerable attention in the, . United States. The spring has proved *; unvarying in the positiveness with which it records the approach of storms. During normal periods the spring flows steadily bat when a storm is brewing the water rises about sb. Forest rangers i consult the spring frequently. i JNTEK3G!SHT TROUT. £ Sir Albert Roliit, who Eves at Sk Anne'? Hill, Ghertsey, owns a number (A trout which know the voice of their mas. , tor, and at his call will come to-the .end. ' of their tank and wait patiently for bits; of bread •when it is held between. Bb Albert's fingers. Sir Albert says that tha ' trui are still in their summer quarters, ' "except one which has to be kept in sol> fcary confinement because of its cannibal istio tendencies." GI3S SHOOTS EOU9XSB. 9 A tragedy took phtra at the hamlet of Anbdngues," soar Wimereux, when 'i French girl named LoeuDet shot anil , killed a British soldier with a revolver. ■ The soldier, a private in the Royal Engineers, named Hammond is said to have - promised to marry, the girl, who was 28 - years old and in domestic service at Am- ; bleteux.' He was, however, already married! and was waJongwith hi» wife when*, Louellet, met him. Drawing a revolver,a she .shot Hammond, and then fainted.' She was taken to hospital, where she was put-tinder arrest on recovering con-crow ness. coKxuiuK counts. In connection with the Heahro.'- oeffie-' tery, said to be the only paying concern run by the council, a soldier correspondent sends the l?beJfield Independent the following curious example of municipal enterprise in funereal matters that exist hi tha . Balkans :—Th s communal coffin is an established feature of most towns sad villages, and is kept always ready -in the church. When a man dies, his relatives, after paying a certain fee, fetch the coffin down to the house, and the body is duly*installed in ft. No lid is placed on tha coffin, and at the funeral tbefbody, in*.. stead of being respectfully lowered, is nn.ceremoniously tipped out of the coffin into the grave, and the empty oeffin restnmed to the church. At Stnuicfes, he continues, he saw the town coffin used for nine funeral*.in cue day. r ' —-T- •: -■ ' PLUOTEB OK TEE HISS SEAS. The Admiralty sre trying to stop the habit of curio-hunting by crews of dips engaged in marine salvage work. Following the criticism of a destroyer's crew in ; the Admiralty Court, the Admiralty have issued a rigorous order, which says:—' would appear that the notion is widely prevalent thai, as the ship is in danger of sinking, articles may not improperly be removed and retained by the salvors, andjE fiat tiie importance of taking effective* steps to prevent any such irregularities and of punishing any offences in this con* nection is not always sufficiently appreciated by the officers in charge of salvage parties. In future any salved property, which is. not at the first opportunity immediately given up or duly notified, is to be regarded as stolen property. No ex* cuse is to be accepted and offenders are *3 be rigorously dealt with. . A SSEBOHAirrs GOLD HOARD. Mystery surrounding the hidden gold boarded up in the bedroom of his house at Bow by & retired oocoanut merchant was cleared up recently, when tits safe containing, the life's savings of Mr. Asher Levy was opened in the basement of the Bow Road branch of Barclay's Bank. Romantic stories of the huge wealth ac- ' cumulated by the old man proved to be well-founded, for the total estate is worth -about £60,000, including over £6000 in sovereigns, the title deeds of 14 houses, a great quantity of banknotes and soma vaulable antique jewellery. No w*U was found in the safe or elsewhere, although diligent search has been made, and there v accordingly great excitement and speculation among the numerous members of Asher Levy's family as to tire disposal of the property. There are some 50 aspirant* to a share in the fortune, and they i are all waiting on the tip- of expectation for the legal verdict.

A WORBIED J?S32E WUfffEE, Ex-private H. W. Ball, the winner of 15,540 prize in the army sweepstake on the"" Manchester November Handicap, spent the week-end receiving would-be oongratulators at his home at Leigh-on-Sea. He travelled up to London with his father, and in the train they opened soma of the large number of letters received. Another huge post was awaiting him at his father's office. "Some of the letters my son has received are amply amazing," said Mr. T. H. Ball. "Several people with large families, ask for help to keep them, and others whose wives have gone astray beg for assistance to %j to tracs them. There were also, of course, other letters asking him to invest his money end become a millionaire for certain." Throughout the day a steady stream fA callers presented themselves at his father's premises, also at the bottling stores in Brittania Street where he is employed, but Private Ball wan not to be found. Hundreds of congratulations were also r** ccived over the telephone.