GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18281, 23 December 1922, Page 6 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

l_ _ — DANCE ROOM ASTRAY. At a public danco in Madrid a quarrel between soldiers and civilian; led to fighting, in the course of which a sublieutenant was very seriously wounded. Three soldiers and three civilians were also seriously wounded, and a number of ether civilians received minor injuries. TEN KILLED IN FLOODS. Heavy floods occurred at Naples recently, causing landslides and the collapse of several buildings. At Santa Maria della Neve a wall fell upon firemen and civilians engaged in rescue work- Eight firemen and two civilians were killed and many injured. BOILER LEAK HERO. A cloud of scalding steam pouring suddenly from the boilers of submarine K26 during tests in Chatham dockyard, enveloped Archibald Stannard, ai fitter. Though terribly injured he refused to leave"an even moro seriously hurt fellow workman, and slowly assisted him out of the infcrnoi. Both men died within a few hours at the Royal Naval Hospital. GALLOP TO DEATH. Captain Walter Fox Tosswill, of Rosehill, Cheltenham, a Gloucestershire magistrate, who was nearly seventy years of aire, was killed at a meet of the Cotswoid hounds near Cheltenham. lie had galloped d.Mvn a steep lane after the hounds, and failing to hold his horse was thrown heavily, lie fell on his head and died almost at once. WORKING GIRL'S WINDFALL. At Provins, in Seine et Marne, Florentin Cornu, aged 88, died Vocemly m circumstances of seemingly direst poverty. When his little dwelling-place was searched it was found to contain 400,000 francs in bonds (about £6250), and 4500 francs (£7O) in banknotes. 'Hie only heir to the old'miser is a working girl engaged to a young mechanical engineer living in Paris. CARPENTIER IN BERLIN. Georges Oarprntier recently paid an unexpected visit to Berlin, whence he was proceeding to Russia. Despite 'his French nationality, he was surrounded wherever he went by a throng of admiring German women. " 1 am not doing any fighting for the present,"" he said. " I have an aluminium pot and pan factory in France. With M. Letellier, the publisher of the Journal, I am going to Riga and Moscow, where I hope to develop business interests." A PAUPER'S HOARD. A Manx woman who purchased a table for 8s at a sale of cottage household effects was surprised to find £68 in Treasury notes wrapped in a newspaper in the drawer. The table belonged to .an aged woman who over a number of years had received from the poor law guardians about £200 in relief. When the purchaser of the table heard cf this she immediately handed the money over to the guardians. GOOD TOR JDMBO, TOO. An elephant strolling home from a theatre in Newport (Mon.) turned suddenly into the public bar of the Taltob Hotel, lifted from the counter a pint glass of beer which a man was just about to taste, and drank the beer. Then, smacking its lips, it held out the glass to the startled barmaid for more. The girl, however, said " No," very shakily. So did the trainer, and the elephant, being too large to turn round in the bar, was backed out. HEROIC WOMAN. Cicely Bryning, aged 32. and her sister Mabel, aged 26, were waiting for an approaching train at Wendover Station, when Male! accidentally fell on the metals. Cicely immediately jumped from the platform to rescue her. The driver applied his brakes and pulled up the train within 20 yards, but the engine passed over the women. It was at firstthought that they had been killed, but the elder sister escaped with the loss of an arm, which was cut off above the elbow, while the younger girl's fingers were crushed. Cicely is in a very serious condition in Aylesbury Hospital. TABLE OF 7000 PRAYERS. Andy Toth, a Hungarian, was imprissonod for life, some years ago, for murder. He was convicted on purely circumstantial evidence. For twenty years he was imprisoned. Then the man who committed the crime confessed. Toth was released, and returned to his family in Hungary, from whom he had been separated for twenty-seven years. Andrew Carnegie pensioned Andy for life. While in prison Toth constructed a tabic, composed of over 7000 pieces of wood of twelve different kinds. Whenever he laid in a piece of wood he paused to utter a eilent prayer for his freedom. It took nine long years to make the table. ROYAL PEARLS IN BUTTER. On being examined by the customs officers on tie Hungarian frontier at Salgotarjan, a man giving the name of Cornelius Szivos was unable to afford satisfactory explanations regarding a fair-sized piece of butter wrapped in paper which he was holding in his hand. The customs officer stuck a knife into the butter and found in it two magnificent strings of pearls of inestimable value. Szivos then said that the pearls belonged to the Royal family of Bulgaria, who had had them deposited secretly in Budapest at a time of political unrest in Bulgaria in order that they might have something to live upon should they be forced to leave tho country. The Budapest police are making inquiries into the truth of this statement. BIRDS SWARM ON LINER. . Thousands of birds, of many different 6pecies, alighted on the Cunard liner Scythia during her last voyage from New York, transforming tho ship into a floating aviary. They were soon flying about the saloons, some even penetrating to the engincroom. The great flock settled on the Scythia's deck when she was about 400 miles out on her eastward voyage, and it is believed that they had been blown to sea during their autumn migration from North to South America. When tho Scythia arrived at Liverpool thcro were still a number on the birds on board, and they had become so tame that they fed from the passengers' hands. Among them were wild canaries, linnets, thrushes, and carrier pigeons. _ There wore also three horned owls of i'erocious ftppoaranoo, with cat-like faces. BANDIT ON A TRAIN. After holding up seven passengers or the Cette-Bordeaux express, a maskec and armed bandit was himself held ut bv a man who afterwards disappeared Just after the train had left Cette, a tal man, masked and holding a Browninf pistol in each hand, entered a second class compartment, and ordered the pas aengers to deposit their pocket-books puises, jewels, etc., on to a vacant seat The frightened passengers obeyed. Th« bandit picked up the loot and was aboti to bolt when, at tho door of the carriage he in turn received the order "hands up' and found himself confronted with th< muzzle of a rifle. A minute later thi robber was pinioned and unceremonious!' bundled under the seat of the compart men!, At Bordeaux tho police wer< called and took him into custody. Bu the man with the rifle had disappeared It is thought he was carrying the weapor without a license, and feared trouble witl the police if he waited for congratula

WOMAN 131 YEARS OLD. A Chinese woman who has arrived at . Saigon, in French Indo-China, claims to be the oldest person in the world. At the age of 131 she travelled, with a large retinue, from Haiphong (the principal seaport of Tonking) to Saigon, which place she had expressed a wish to visit before dying. "MY DOG, 808, £400." Mr. Thomas England, of Leigham Court Bond, Streatham, London, retired solicitor, formerly of Halifax, Yorks, aged 77 years, left £21,736. A curious clause in the will leaves "£4OO to my dog, Bob." Presumably there aro arrangements by which " Bob " will have his legacy administered on his behalf. BOMB PRACTICE TRAGEDY. In the course of a bomb-throwing practice at Chalon-sur-Marne, Captain louqiiet had assembled twenty men around a held mine and was explaining its working, when an explosion occurred. Two soldiers were killed instantly, and Captain Touquet. Adjutant Roussin, and fifteen men were more or less seriously wounded. STREET GAS MAIN TRAGEDY. As the result of a leakage from a street gas main, two persons wens found dead w bed at Stafford, recently. Deceased were Mrs. Catherine Hingerty, 70, and one of her sons, Daniel Hingerty, 48. The whole family were taken to tho infirmarv suffering* from tho effects of coal gas poisoning. Several other families in the same street were affected. WALKED WITH FRACTURED SKULL, When a verdict of accidental death was recorded at Shoreditch, in connection with the death of George Baker, fiftytwo. it was stated that after deceased had been knocked down by a motor-cycle he visited a hospital without it being discovered that he had sustained a fracture of the skull seven inches in length and four broken ribs. Upon leaving the hospital he walked unattended some tw-o miles, had a meal, and went home by tram, only to die the next day. TWICE ORDERED THE " CAT." Twenty strokes of the " cat " and 12 nu-nths'"hard labour were imposed at Liverpool Assizes on James Scanlon, a young ship's oiler, of New York, for assaulting and robbing a Warrington architect in Liverpool. Scanlon, it was said, had been convicted in New York of highway robbery with a revolver, and at Liverpool Assizes last year was ordered IS strokes of the "cat and six months' imprisonment for robbery and violence. MUSIC ON LINERS. There is music galore on Atlantic liners nowadays. Apart from orchestras —tho Majestic carries two, which play in tho first and second class quarters—hardly a voyage is made but some famous vocalist of pianist is a passenger and gives of his or her best at the concert in aid the marine charities. The Australian vessels of the White Star Line, carrying cabin passengers only, are provided with gramophones which have proved so popular that they have now been introduced into the second-class quarters of tho company's New York steamers. BABY'S FATAL QUARREL. A strange fatal accident to Charles Covey, iiged three years, the son of a canvasser, of Kentish Town, was revealed to the St. Fancras coroner. The child was subject to attacks of bleeding, and during a dispite with another little boy over the possession of a scooter, he knocked his teeth against the toy. All attempts by the doctor to stop the flow of blood were unsuccessful, and the child died four days later from hemorrhage. Dr. Lord said that death was due to heart failure from hemorrhage. The boy was known as a "bleeder." A verdict of "accidental death" was recorded. "HARD UP" EX-SULTAN. Muley Hafid, the ex-Sultan of Morocco, who was compelled to abdicate in 1915, is in such financial straits that ho has now left of all his property only one jewel—a yellow diamond, estimated* to be worth 300,000 francs. This diamond has been pledged, and is now in the hands of a Paris bank. The ex-Sultan, who wants the jewel back, commissioned a Shereef to redeem it, but the negotiations failed. Muley Hafid has now obtained the services of a Madrid lawyer, and ft is proposed to take proceedings in London . or at The Hague Arbitration Court. POLICE STOP BAG. i A rag organised by Cambridge undergraduates recently developed so violently ) that one cf the demonstrators was ar- ■ rested. For about half an hour a pro- " cession of motor-cars, motor-cycles and I push-bicycles paraded the streets and there i was considerable noise and much oonfu- : sion. Some of the lookers-on commenced pelting the police and public with cabbages, flour and fireworks. The arrest followed and the demonstration was ended by the police and proctors after an unsuccessful attempt had been made to rescue tho prisoner. FOOTBALLER BY AIR. A member of Harlequins Rugby team 1 in London also plays for the Stade ; Francais in Paris every week. His name is Jacob, and he is regarded as one of tho most promising footballer of the day. I Every Sunday he crosses over from London to Paris by air, arriving at the Pare 1 des Princes just in time to change into his playing togs and trot out on the field 1 with the Stade Francais team. Needless ' to say, he is very popular with the followers of the game in Paris, and not a Sunday passes without he is the recipient of a tremendous welcome. " SCRAPS OF PAPER." Slowly but surely the dirty scraps of paper which represented 50 centimes, one franc, and two francs in France during ' and since the days of, the war aro dia--1 appearing, and are being replaced by the I far more attractive aluminium and bronze t tokens. The Paris Chamber of Commerce 1 had issued small notes to the value of i 120,000.000 francs; 80,000,000 francs' 1 worth of these have now been replaced 1 by the metal tokens. Moreover, a sufttJ cient stock of tokens has now been made ' to make it possible to begin the recall of t notes from the provinces and the replaci. ing of these notes by tokens. s GIGANTIC WALLS. s The Chinese are not tho Only WnJl builders of note. Mulai Ismail, who was Sultan of Morocco 200 years ago, has something of a reputation as a builder ol fantastic and colossal works of masonry " also. Burton Holmes, the lecturer, whe " has travelled over Morocco extensively P says that the great interior city j- of_ Mequinez is surrounded by th< '1 ruins of several walls, hundreds o! g miles long, which Mulai Ismail c&Usec I- to be, built. The walls wore forty 5- or fifty feet high, and wide enough 3, at tho top for a caravan to travel on. t. They lie many miles apart, and low? dis ie tances from the towns they irere de >t signed to protect. "I asked" mv Moon's! h guide about the walls," said Mr. Holmes "and he said that Mulai Ismail built ie them to protect him from his enemies ie 'And did they serve that purnose?' ] y asked. 'Well,' replied the guide, 'the) t- saved him from some enemies, for h< " e worked many captives to death nuildim >t , the walls.' Mulai Ismail held that th< 1. j subject who was killed by his sovereigi n went immediately to paradise, and during h his lifetime ho wantonly took lives o; i- j 20,000 persons, including many of his J thou&a-nd-andodd wives,'"