NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18380, 21 April 1923, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

The stars are divided into two great streams, moving in, opposite directions, according to a Dutch astronomer. During the past year, the Thames Angling Preservation Society has placed in that river over 1,000,000" small fish. In Kentucky an ungovernable temper and religious differences are only two among 11 legal grounds for divorce. Penally, near Tenby, which has just lost its vicar after fifty years of service, has had only two vicars in a century. Brides in Paris are shown by the latest statistics to be older than formerly, the majority in 1922 having been between 30 and 40. Though having a population of 60,000, only five residents were prosecuted at Great Yarmouth for drunkenness during thei past year. Sarah Bradford, buried at Tamworth, had been in the workhouse for nearly 60 years, at a cost to the ratepayers of about £2000. Mr. Thomas Tranter, an elderly master at Welbridge Park College, while sitting with his boys, fell forward and died almost immediately. ..'.■••• . , ._ A\ West Lancashire farmer travelled two miles in his own brand new motorcar to sign a petition to his landlord for a reduction of his rent. > Arriving from the White Sea with 1000 boxes of mixed fish, the Grimsby steam trawler Jeria struck a market poorly supplied, and her catch realised £2450. : Both Newfoundland and the small adjacent island of St. Pierre are reported practically blockaded by ice, which is said to be the thickest for 50 years. The lake in St. James's Park, London, drained during the war, .will irequjro 6,000,000 gallons of water to fill it to a depth of two feet. It covers ten acres. The approximate number of working days lost by trade disputes in Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1922 was 19,900,000, states Major Boyd Carpenter. Carpet, slippers for horses are for sale in the United States, and are recommended by the S.P.O.A. The shoes will help a horse that has fallen on a slippery surface. ■ *, . * ' V ' v., Paris police used esphyxiating bombs to overcome the resistance of a workman •named Raby who had been .. discharging his revolver at all who approached . his room. ' _ . t ■'.■ .:. •-. . - , A free fight took place in the Prussian Parliament between Communist and Socialist members on the question of limitation of time allowed . for speeches. One member was thrown downstairs.,- *,

John Davies aged 80 years, of Upper Chapel, Brecon,' was standing in his farmyard, , when a bull which had been j released from its pen savagely attacked him and ; gored him. The old man* died four hours later. t- .\ '_ - .>, '>* ■.

Since 1877, Mr. George Withers,' the postman at Crondall, near. Farnham (Surrey), is . stated to ; have walked ? 210,000 miles. 4 Not once late for duty, he has only." had a few,days' sick leave.-,; He retires on pen-' sion next month..' ''' . ■'. • ' ■ :•.-

Many corpses of British soldiers, most' of them little more than skeletons, ■ have been found during the clearing of a wood in the devastated area round Albert. Many have been identified by: means of; their army identification discs. ";>* >" *." ' '- K>

While a wedding was being celebrated at Montagrer, k Dordogne, : /the floor gave way. The wedding party,'about 50 in all, including the bride : arid bridegroom, 'fell into -, the • cellar; beneath. ;; All • were more frightened k than hurt. i;.iy-\ '. r'*.;' : r '-.'--, ''.;,";>''-% •'',.. i;S'

An 87-ton rudder, so perfect in its steering mechanism \ that' it • will answer Xto" the touch'- of a child, is being : installed 'at Southampton v in I the *' Cunard I! liner , Aqujtania. 1 ; The rudder is in', three ; sections and measures 30ft. by 26|ft. '$■..< y - ; The Grimsby, .steam trawler ; Sargon has been ' y . given • up as lost with , her entire crew • of ,'•? 12 ■•hands.* 1 She was homeward ■ bound from; the White . Sea and had. riot been heard of since she left the Norwegian coast early in February. ■ ' .' ; \ , ?' r

Rivalry between two gangs, of school boys at Weymouth has resulted '■■ in the. son of a local publican ;named Richards receiving a knife wound vin a free 'fight, v It' was discovered the knife 'had just missed v the heart. ;' A boy has been arrrested. Ar- burglary at the; Raglan Nurseries, Port Talbot, threw further i light on the problem where flies ?go in ;-. winter.vK Replacing a lock that had been t wrenched off a door, it was ; discovered; that a large family l ; of house flies i had taken 1 , refuge there. : ;;>- : ..S J-. lc, i~7 : ;>';£'.'. : , , .-..CI'/; \O, y-yi-^r^

; ; On going ;to the signal-box : to .inquire why ; the ■ signals were not working : * correctly, the stationmaster at i Fenny: Stratford, Buckinghamshire, ; foundV the 'signalman, William '■}. Margaretts, i dead ':. outside the box. He had apparently had a seizure. No* trains were held up.*

Five.Danes recently left Shanghai in a 40-ft. yacht for England, being- given a hearty send-off ,by a large crowd \ of spectators. ' They expressed;. confidence in l being able to accomplish the trip, which will be made via the Cape. They expect the voyage to last : eight months. * ;/_;.>;; sfpl ■ The casting of the 47 bells of the Loughboroughi war memorial carillon has been accomplished. A bell, weighing 35cwt. and costing; £526, has' been \ given by the hosiery trade. a The keyboard of the carillon, which .will be the largest in the world, will be'! played upon by! hands and: feet.";

!..""• A vat! containing 1000 gallons l of; hot wash burst on the premises of the ; Distillers' Company, Ltd;," : at I Glasgow.;' The hot liquid, rushing in all directions, flooded a shop-; and three dwelling { houses. ■ y f A' young man had his feet ! scalded; -and " : 'a young' woman had to be medically attended for shock.; ; ,'- : ''r.-:!":V, : : : - : -;'V'-\ '■ .';:'; .:-:'""•;:";;'

Raymond K. .Levich was sent to prison for two months at Coventry for going ' behind the counter "in a shop and kissing a young woman. In evidence it was said that the young woman screamed, and 'that Levich picked up a knife and threatened to kill her. Her' screams .; attracted the attention of a passer-by, and the man left. At a meeting of the French Academy of Agriculture, M. Augot stated that, excepting perhaps 1873, there had not been such a rainy year as 1922 for 120 years. May was the hottest' month of the year, the temperature rising; to • 93.2 ; Fahrenheit, while the highest temperature '■'■ recorded was only 86 Fahrenheit.":'■■' - A new bill < which Lieut.-Col. Ashley tentatively promised on behalf of the British Ministry of Transport will make it an . offence for motorists to carry lights which will dazzle either approaching pedestrians or drivers of other vehicles source of many motoring accidents. It is also proposed to standardise motoring signals. * . • r Constable Dowson, of Chester, possess a cat which acts as foster-mother to two young Wild rabbits. The cat's, kittens were destroyed, and shortly afterwards Dowson took the rabbits home. The cat immediately carried them to the cupboard, where she has since tended and suckled them; and jealously! protects them from other cats. • What appears to be the opening of a new branch ;of the coachbuilding industry is the production of a motor living van by a Nottingham firm. It 3 { not the intention of the makers to compete with cheap houses, but they claim that the price (about £700), compares ~ favourably with 1 present-day:;, building ■■ charges. ; ,It f, comprises two sleeping compartments and a living room. ;•■'•;.:;'•..;■■ . An ;.; upside-down aero ! ; engine, ■ constructed for a two-seater fighting aeroplane, was i tested in : ! the l Napier i works at ; Acton, / Middlesex.; ;>iTheV ? engine, which . is .'!.-; known ;! Kas: : v the ■: r. inverted; Napier Lion, is an >; exact • reversal ;of j the ordinary engine, having its crank case at the top and its cylinders. beneath, and has been bo constructed as ■ to enable the .: pilot of a fighting plane ■to L have ian i uninter-> rupted yiew - forward of ids '■ machine.