GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18457, 21 July 1923, Page 3 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

, A HUGE OMELETTE. A motor lorry, /belonging to an egg merchant,' collided with ' a motor-car on the road . between . Ligny and Velaine, near Sursambre, and 7800 eggs were spread about the road. Out of 530 cases of eggs on the lorry, 300 were thrown to the ground and smashed. "-■ DUMB MAN CRIES « HELP I" A man i who had been dumb for five years regained his speech following the shock of a fall from scaffolding near Nancy. The man, while working at \ a considerable height, slipped, but luckiiy his foot caught in the scaffolding, and ho hung downwards in mid-air. His work mates were astonished to hear him shout Help and after they had rescued him he was able to thank them warmly. The man was rendered dumb by shell-shock in 1918. ■.: ,/■ ';;■:;,• ~ ;..:■ , .'. COCKATOO EIRE ALARM. ." What's up with you all? "cried a cockatoo as it was being rescued from a burning house in Leeds. The indignant bird apparently resented being unceremoniously bundled out of a window by its. mistress and carried down a ladder. The bird began screaming" when the house filled with smoke, but its warning was unheeded until a railway signalman who was passing realised the danger. The occupants of the house, Mrs. Harriet Hainsworth and her. two daughters, were rescued by a policeman.

WIPE LOSES £3000 A YEAR. The romance of a girl clerk in an hotel who received an allowance of £3000 when she married was described in the Divorce Court in London, when a decree nisi was granted to Mr. Christopher Brooks Warner, formerly of WcodbrOw, Malton, near York, owing to his wife's misconduct with Mr. John Smith, an electrical engineer.' It was stated that Mr. Warner, a man-of large means, first met his wife when.she was an hotel clerk at York in 1916. He allowed her £3000 a year, but when they separated in 1920 the allowance . was reduced to £1000 a ; year. : : When he discovered his wife's misconduct he offered to allow her £500 under a settlement. CATS HOOKED LIKE FISH. Cats are being cruelly trapped in London for their skins. Two boys brought their pet cat to the North Kensington branch of the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals Of . the Poor. 'A length of severed four-strand fine. copper wire projected from its mouth. Aft the other end of the wire, .firmly, embedded in the animal's gullet, was a large fish-hook._ The animal was put under an anaesthetic, and the hook extracted. The hook, baited with meat, had evidently been secured _to a railing. The cat, struggling to gain ■■ release, broke the wire and made its escape. Several complaints of the same, practice have been received from other parts of London..

:■ WASHING BANK-NOTES. > The. United States Exchequer saves thousands of pounds every year by washing dirty bank-notes and re-issuing them. The process is very simple. The notes are washed with soap, scrubbed, rinsed ; in cold water, and ironed. The actual .washing is dene by a mechanical contrivance consisting of sets of rollers. In the first place the dirty . notes are placed in a series of copper rollers which revolve in. a special kind of soap. The continual rolling backwards and / forwards makes the paper clean. The notes are then put between' rollers running in clean water. In the last proofs the damp notes are placed in a set of heated rollers, i which do the ironing and \ turn ; Out ,the notes " starched and ironed." " MAN WITH SIXTH SENSE." A story of a man with sixth . sense is reported from Notodden, Norway. It is declared that the man, named Halvorsen, ■:. has been : . employed by the ■ police to trace stolen goods that had' been buried, in some cases maty': miles : diiiismt' from the scene of the robbery. In orid.instance he is '-'::- reported,' ;to{ ?; have .; described accurately whare certain goods:, would be i found without, leaviisg his room. ; : On another occasion,; a valuable dog was : lost.and the police and others; had pursued - a T t fruitless search for 'jnariy days. They then called in ; the' man, who said the dog; would be found at the fop of a long valley some: miles - away.;■ The searchers went to the place. described •; • arid found the dog. :It is also claimed that the man has found! water and iron ore, the latter beneath deep snow. '■

1 FRENCH POST OFHCE RAID. A daring attempt to rob . the post office jj at Viroflay, a village ; between Paris v and ■» Versailles, was made: recently. Shortly . after eight o'clock -the postmistress" closed i the office as usual, and sent a servant into * the garden to lock the door. Two masked I men suddenly attacked the girl and threw her ■ on the ground ,' bub : she managed by her cries i to attract the attention of her mistress. The latter; and her husband rushed into ■ the garden, and were immediately up by mra with/irevolyera. ; Taking their prisoners hlto the:house, the intruders demanded the contents, of the ; post office safe. An alarm was, however, raised, arid neighbours =| came running up. A revolver shot was 'heard, apparently I fired /an > accomplice who had been posted to give an alarm if necessary, ? and the two men bolted; carrying with them about fifteen thousand r franca ' in notes, which had been' paid 'in during the evening. .; ///;',.-'/■ :: "//.//■> /' /:/-^: / :^: : ;./'// ; ";;- BLAZING MOTOR-BOAT. A motor-bo.it,' blazing from;, stem to stern as she - ; travelled : at speed,v was a thrilling spectacle to /shipping^ in the Solent .recently./ :i The ?,: boat, the / Wit. motor-cruiser Rumaniii, , owned by Mr. A /Florian, was taken out from Cowes by ! Otto. Solberg, a Norwegian mechanic, who I narrowly escaped with his life. ,„ 1 was '(' testing the engines , Of : the Rumania, , - I said Solberg, with the idea.of^or king : up her speed. I was alone ;in s the: boat, iff the Beaulieu River, v' when - suddenly there was an explosion from the engine, ;; and I was lifted right up and blown clean over the centre bulkhead into i the,-after part of the boat. The midships of tne Roumania was a: sheet of : flame, so made a raft by lashing two seats together, and lumped 'into the sea. I had to fight against the tide, and ? several ; times:; I thought I should be swept into the flames.; : Mv • strength was nearly exhausted when : a, boat from tho steam-yacht Medusa picked mc up." ; The Rumania was burned to tha water's edge and she sank in the channel. * SANITY SIGNED, AWAY, "This woman : has been I proved : to be sane, yet she was sent to a lunatic asylum by the stroke of the; pen on the part of a man who had never even seen her. It was a criminal thing: to" do." These and other equally indignant remarks : >«» made by .members of : the Hastings (Engird) Board of Guardians when they discussed the caso of an elderly woman who was certified as insane by ,two .doctors, sent to the > East : Sussex v Lunatic ■: Asylum and discharged ■ six weeks ';■ later '/.risvh a:; "sane person. i The ; clerk ;■ stated in,; his -,-,; report that tho magistrate who signed the r order for her/removal/ never v even saw tho ; woman. ." There are many people in the asylum who ought : : never /to/ ha been certified: as insane." : declared : Councillor ' Henbrev. He added ;.that; he /knew,;^ an elderly 'man who was sent to r tie asylum as a' certified ■ lunatic. When he reaches there/trie doctor said "::' "What have they sent you here ; for?" -4" don't know, ;; the : man replied. ■;«' They/ nay I am insane." "You are not insane, said/tn« ■ doctor: " but you can come inside. lon : can'have : a rest : and we will feed you up.. Then you can go home.'' ■» \-/.://.;//-- . v .; l ':-//':v;-./////':////>/■[. ■-.-•■ ■•-: ;.-■.-■ :.-,-v.- v .,, ;:v'----.:.--:--.- i -c.., , fc •:.■. '■:•:.- ■■■■:■■;■-:?>,-■■:■<■::■ ■■■■■ ..;■:.:■:■■: -: ! ;' .:';■■;,:■. .>; ■■::■ A^^cmm^

HARDLY WORTH IT." : : ; Five hundred paperworkers at Vailey", I field Mills, Edinburgh, struck because one man left tac trade union. They remained on '■'■ strike- •': lor four months, rec«ived £10,000 in strike pay, and lost £30,000 in wages. They are now going back to T'ork. The one man in still outside the trade union. '■.■:•:■ ■ '/'-: ' WEASEL IS BIRD' 3 KENT. A resident in the Girvan district* o£ Ayrshire recently found a robin's nest in a bank of a road. "Visiting the place a day or two later he found two boys standing near the nest. One was in tears, and said that, when he put his hand in the nest he was bitten by a weasel,'which evidently had taken possession. The injured boy'was sent home bo be medically attended, as a weaisel bite is poisonous. PARALYSED AT CRICKET. " An ordinary underhand ball" was the term applied at an inquest at Cowes on Stanford Streets, a ten-year-old boy, who .was killed by a ball while batting. It. was stated that the ball was pitched about a yard from the batter, who stepped out to hit it. The ball ran up his bat and hit him in the. chest. Medical evidence wa3 that the blow near the heart caused paralysis of the respiratory centre, and a verdict of " Death from shock" was recorded. y

WORLD'S CHAMPION HUSBAND. The world's champion husband has been discovered in the French Cameroons by ; Mile. Homburger, one of France's greatest linguists, who speaks a score of native ~ dialets. While she wr.s on ai special mission to the interior of Africa to study methods of handling leprosy, and to lee-, ture the natives on the evils of cannibalism, she was conceded the rare privilege of visiting Sultan Njoya, of the kingdom of Bamoun. 4 She found the Sultan- in the midst of his harem of 350 wives, ranging in colour from light chocolate > to, the .-,. shiniest 'ebony. ;.'■■ ■;-.-■ « t , JURY FOREMAN AGED, 100.. Mr. J. C. Weld, Enfield's'oldest in- '■■':•■ habitant, who is 100 '. years: of age, has been elected for the 27th time foreman of ; the jurv at the Ancient Court Lett of Enfield." He walked from his Rouse to the Court, which was held- in the historic Tudor Palace. The Court Leet has been held continuously since, the time of the Norman Conquest, and is still carried out with all its picturesque details. 'It was opened by the criers, who stood at the door of the .palace, and after the traditional "Oyezi Oyez! Oyer.!" called upon all persons owing suit and service to the Court Leet and Court Baron of the Sovereign to draw near and give attendance." Then the jury were selected, and they proceeded to appoint the constablest , head boroughs, ale conners, and leather sealers. ■'~■;■ • .:.-■;.'■■';:, ; -; r VcMORMON CENTENARY,- ■ ; A great; Mormon mission: campaign ; is'. ; > ' under in the States_of New York, : ■ Pennsylvania, West : "Virginia, ,'. Delaware, I and Maryland, and •- in the New 'England i area. It will continue until September 21,. - when :,;the:, missionaries will gather at ;>•' Palmyra, in Central New I York, '■ to celebrate the 100 th anniversary.of the Mor- .. mon founder's " revelation." Ona hundred and fifty young men are journeying on foot, knapsacks on their backs, through I their appointed territory, calling at farm-. houses, holding meetings , in towns, distributing tracts, and otherwise spreading the ; gospel' " revealed" :to Joseph Smith;■:;-s»}-';:•' founder of Mormonism; by -means of ink famous , engraved .plates, "discovered": early'in the last century near the, village of Palmyra. << , . t HOSPITAL WARD DRAMA.. Patients, with their riewlyborn babies '■ lying; by their,: side'i' ; in '.a, ward of /the, 'Newcastle ; (England) \ Maternity v, Hospital, :■ were suddenly tenHned by the; sound of a ;. revolver - shot, innrvcdfately'; followed ;f by ■ another. ~ A doutor, - rushing to'. the: ward, : found ;:. Blanche Gibson, one of the patients,; l the young wife of a,/commercial-. traveller,v £ shot through . the chest. ;; Kenneth ; GFibson, I her husband, lay .at the foot of' the bed with a bullet Wound two inches ; below ; ! ;ihis heart. A \ revolver ■' containing five ~• cartridges, '■ two spent' and: three live, , Vas' ; found on the floor. Mr. and Mrs, Gibson are now in Newcastle .Hospitalr in 'a critical condition; The wife, :+ who -v had ;; been a patient in' the maternity hospital ! :■ for a week, had, it is stated/ lived apart from her ; husband recently/ 5 He : ; visited her several times after ' the birth \of her; child. t : ,v ' ■

GIRL SOLDIER'S, MASQUERADE.' ':■- A French girl who has • masqueraded ■ as a man since 1914 — when, she eaj'ft, she accompanied a regiment to .the frcint—hM ,■> . i confessed/to, ths < police at Grenoble. In 1918' a young man giving, his, na'm.o /as ■ Marcel Rosso was engagail ■on a farm at Revel ia the Isere department. He proved ,- so useful that the farmer camo to regard ■ him as his own /son, and, 'with, the intention of adopting him, mtSe inquiries for the youth's, birth certificate: The inquiry ■_.;-• failed, and the local police, becoming, 1 suspicious, intervened. 'The youth, Rafter, being v closely questioned about/ his *■ origin, j broke down, and, : weeping ■ bitterly, 1 .said, i "I; am' not'•■»: manr-I am: a!; woman. /My name ''.iii : i ; Suzanne Perriet. I was born .at ■■'■;";. Chaririecotes, in the Is'erc/ department, on :September: 21, 1896." She added that sh« ;;/* had cut off her hair ; arid dreaded as ' a man ' in order to follow a i regiment to the front . • in ,1914. BOBBED HAIR ENB AWES HUSBAND. \ Mrs. Marian Curtiss Mooney bobbed her • hair, enraged her .husband, t William S. / Mooney, and started the. preliminaries of ' : a divorce action that ;< rocked /American ,-/•-■- society circles, solely to enable Mrs. Preston :Higgin3. her intimate friend, to win a :/ /■:■■::. bet of £1 from Mooney.' This was revealed " by Mrs. Mooney to a fashionable audience which packed the Courtroom -at Oakland. ; " He was opposed to hair'. bobbing," said . : Mrs. Mooney, who. . before her * elopement': / ■ with Mooney: in October, 1919,/ 'was , a , popular student .at .the' University j ; of ''■ • California. " Ho. was too dictatorial, and Mrs. -Biggins bet him that I was \as much the boss of the family as lie 'was.'''-Mrs..' Mooney is. living with hen '-siother.Mrft.: „ Genevieve C. Oartiss, reputed to be one of the; wealthiest wornon in the State; //■/•/ The couple were -separated last * summer, and Mrs. Mooney is suing Mooney for a divorce on,the ground 'of,cruelty.* '/■ , . BRIDAL PAIR'S, PISTOL DUEL. ':'■?> A stormy honeymoon ended "*in a shoot- /'/: ing; drama a few days ago. inv a lonely ; : country road:'; in '] Missouri. ■ ;• A commercial l traveller from St. Louis ; found ■ a newly-- . . : married couple wounded arid helpless near ' , their ca,r, and '•■ gave : them first aid. ■ They : ; are Mr. J: and - William Krelling," and ""■'■. the story, as pieced -together from s the . fragmentary explanations given the ; woman, who has two bullets in her head, : is that they wore married itt Hutchinson, I Kansas, a month before. The woman, ; ' who is 42, had.; been a widow for several . ■■; years. Ki:elling met her a, short time ago, ! arid, carried on/ a/ whirlwind courtship. , •■:■'. !|sWlii^'\tW?kn!Bfe\.was\tjed:iffiey ; decided to . ; ' go to Michigan, travelling in the. caravan > | they had improvised by putting a little ' I house on the chassis of a truck. QnaraeTs I'! marked the journey, • and ended in her / husband -firing the two bulled which, she - i| still carries. Though she thought herself --~. i i mortally wounded, the wife say;i she : crawled to where a second revolver, was ; ivirigr and fired four bullets into Krel- ;■ ' Imp's body. The ma« steadfastly denies ■ that he shot his wife. Neither rives any; r :, i explanation of the nature tof .thou-i.quar- ; refs. Krelling.:was $hoytmce ,m thoW,. \ I once in the back,'and once in tw --gao - > arm. H» li« » » S* 6 T» conditio*. . " ,