GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18891, 13 December 1924, Page 3 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

DRIVING AT NINETY.

A nonegenarian, Mr. Thomas Lott, who was one of tlie leading county farmers and a well-known judge of horses. died at Heybridge. Essex, recently.

Mr. Lott had readied his 91st year, and as late as July last drove his own horse. He commenced his working life as a miller, being apprenticed with Mi. Constable, the father of the famous painter of many Essex' rural scenes.

POST OFFICE 900 YEAES OLD. Part of the post office building in the village of Heston (Middlesex) is . 900 vears old. The present postmaster. Mr. E. -Paines, has been in charge for 11 years, and his mother was postmistress for the previous 60 years. Mr. Paines, who is 70 years of age, bus lived all his life on the premises, which, although only nine miles from Hyde Park corner, form a typical country grocery and general store.

DOG'S TIGHT WITH A BURGLAR.

A collie's fight witJi a burglar, who retreated hurriedly from a suburban residence, is told by Mr. Rowland Johns, .secretary of the English National Canine League. The dog found the burglar in his drawing room and held him as he made for tb'e door.

A struggle in the hall brought down an umbrella stand, and in the confusion the burglar bolted, with the dog hanging on. As the man scampered around a corner he left part of his clothing in the collie's grip.

DUTY ON ELECTRICITY. A curious question is being raised in France about duties on electricity "imported" from Switzerland. The enormous amount of water-power in Switzerland has been largely used to genente electric current, and, the electricity being so much more than Switzerland needs, it is sent to France. Some people think duty should be paid on Swiss electricity thus imported into France, but after many consultations the French Government has decided not to impose any duty on the current at present.

GOLDEN IDOL STOLEN. A Hindu God—a little golden idol— with £300 worth of Indian women's ornaments, ha 1 , been stolen from a showcase at the Indian Pavilion at the Empire Exhibition. The "god" is only worth a few pounds, and is not likely to bring much luck to the thief from a commercial point of view. The section in which the property was housed contained ;. selection of the arts and crafts of several of the Indian States. One night the case, in which many gold and silver ornaments, brooches and necklaces had been placed, was found wrenched open, and many of them had been stolen.

WEALTH OP THE WORLD. Just before the war the total wealth of twenty nations engaged in it. was estimated to be £126.000.000.000. but to-day itis only £123,800,000,000. Some nations, however, have more wealth, than they had in 1914 and among these are Britain and the United States. The pre-war wealth of the British Empire was about £28,000.000.000, and today it is £29.800.000.000.

The United States had in 1914 £40.000,000,000 and now she has €"6,000,000.000. France had £12.000,000.000. and to-day her wealth is about the same, but Germany has fallen f oct £16.000,000.000 in' 1914 to £11,000,000.000 in 1924. RE-APPEARANCE OF A PIER. A start has been made in providing London-on-Thames with the motor-boat • vice. This is to take the place of the old Thames steamboats. The old pier at Chelsea, which only just outlasted the war and was removed, has returned to its place by the Albert J'.i'dge. For some years it has been \\ '• mating at Stra«d-on-the-Green near 1 • v. where, on the mud. it looked as if were to be allowed to fall to pieces '<■' i some of the weary old barges there, 'int now the pier has been towed back, and with a fresh coat of paint and the lettering Cadogan Pier in white and brown, is as young as ever, and (fit to receive boat-loads of passengers. STARS AND STRIPES IN ENGLAND. Mr. Francis Treman King, of New York, has invested 1500dols. (about £300) to provide in perpetuity for the flying of the Stars and Stripes from one of the fig-staffs at Sulgrave Manor. England. (thi old home of the Washingtonsj and for kindred purposes. The Washington Arms, which are carved in stone on the doorway of Sulgrave Manor, are thought t<, have formed the inspiration for the American national em' lem, the Stars and Stripes. American sentiment is gratified at the flying together of the Union Jack and Stars and Stripes at the old Washington Manor House; and this endowment by Mr. King is intended to mark their appreciation. KING JOHN'S SWORD. An interesting piece of history was related by the Mayor oi King's Lynn recently to Prince Henry, when the latter . was made Lord High Steward of the town.. King's Lynn, the Mayor said, had always enjoyed the confidence of the Grown On one occasion King John took his sword from his side, and presented it to the town, to be carried before t\\c Mayor in office. That sword was on parade that day. ' At the Guildhall. Miss Lydia Beloe presented the Prince with bread and salt, according to the old custom. The Prince's health was drunk from the famous King <- >'i|i at a luncheon given by the Mayor. LABOUR PARTY AND SABBATH. A strong protest was made recently by Mr. Arthur Connell. the presiding tnngistrate at Grimsby, against the secularising of the Sabbath bv the Labour Tart v.

An application liar] been made by the promoters of a Labour meeting on the following Sunday at a local music-hall for a music and singing license, and this was granted.

Mr. Council, in announcing the decision t>i tin- Bench. said lie found that he was Hot in unison with his colleagues, He personally should have refused the application H<- had every sympathy with the Labour party, ly ' 'niuili regretted that they had donf eeularise the Sabbath than any !v. TOUCHING WOOD.

Many people, after they have boasted of their good luck, proceed to "touch Wood." So did our remote ancestors, the tree worshippers. Hie primitive heliei was that spirits resided in trees Without this basic idea being entirely lost, there came the period tot the Sacred doves and the Druids' Oaks, and then the dedication of certain J"rts of trees to the earliest and simplest l«<rm of superstition.

We touch wood to call the attention t» the tree spirit to the fact that we reCogniw. his influence in the good lurk of h '' 1 w e l.oast. and in order that he Bmy no| f ee ] B]jßhtec]B]j ß htec] and change our feoorj fortune into bad. That is considered w » U ikhy out Aucasiors toachad wood.

COAL FOE 400 YEARS.

What is probably the richest coal stain in England how been discovered at Moor End in Soul!-East Yorkshire. It is thought that it may extend 65 miles out under the North Sea.

It has been estimated that, oven without the scan Tunning under the sea. it contains 23,000 million tons of coal, which at the present rate of output vill last 400 years.

A DAY'S RUN TO AFEICA. A man has breakfasted in London and dined in Africa on the same day. He is Mr. Alan J. Cobban), who won the King's Air Cup this year. Mi-. Cobhani set out from Croydon at six o'clock in the morning, reached Madrid at 2.10 and stayed there for half an hour, and arrived in Tangier at 7.30. He had flown 1300 miles in hours. After a short rest he flew back to London.

SNEEZING AND SIGNS. In the ancient days of Greece and Rome, a sneeze was supposed to bear in its train far greater portents than a more cold. To sneeze while rising from the table or bed was said to indicate approaching death. Yet to sneeze between midday and midnight under favourable planetary conditions was an augury of happiness. Again, if the Greek or Roman turned to the right while sneezing, it was regarded as a happy omen.

£10,000 BEACON TOWER. A large tower costing £10.000, surmounted by a beacon visible at night over a wide area of South London, "ill be; a feature of the Salvation Army's William Booth Memorial at Denmark Hill. The .scheme includes the erection of a largo, training college and hostels, and the total cost approaches £200.000. General Braimvell Booth has entrusted the carrying out of the project to Sir Giles Gilbert. Scott, architect of the new Liverpool Cathedral, and Mr. Alexander Gordon.

TRAWLERS AND WIRELESS. Most of the large British trawlers and certainly one boat in all the Meets of trawlers, are now equipped with wireless. This enables tlnmi to keep in touch with ports and owners. The men on the trawlers can learn when fish is scarce and prices likely to justify a race back to port, or when a general glut has forced down prices so that they might as well stay another night at sea. There." is another benefit, for in the slack hour:., while trawls or nets are drifting, the mea off duty can pick up concert programmer from different centres.

A DOTOLE LAUNCHING. An event wifchou ; precedent in the story of shipbuilding took place recently at Glasgow, when two 15.000 ton steamships were launched by one firm within a few minutes of each other, and ware christened respectively by the wife and the daughter of the chairman of the P. and 0. Company for whom the vessels were built. The Cathay was launched from the West, Yard, and was christened by Viscountess i Inchcape. The Comorin was launched from the Clydeholm Yard. - and was christened by the Hon. Mrs. Alexander Shaw. The vessels have been built for the. Australian mail service of the P avid °' I MEDIEVAL FIND IN A CHURCH. Remarkable discoveries have been made at the 14th century church of St. James. Great Ellingham, Norfolk, which is now being restored. Partially preserved frescoes have been revealed under the whitewash on the wall in the south aisle. A large unusual medieval niche, which had been completely walled up, and of which no record existed, has also been found. The niche is brilliantly painted in blue and red, and the gilding on the vaulting is almost as bright as when ii was put on. There is a painted angel at the head of the niche in a perfect state of preservation. LONDON'S FIRST MOSQUE. Hazrat Khalifat-ul-Musih,, head of the Ahmadia movement, among Moslems, laid the foundation stone recently, of London's first mosque at Southfields." This movement has a following of 100 Europeans in London, and more than 1.000,000 in the Near East, Africa and China. It is intended at present to complete only a part of the mosque, and the whole of the money to build this part has been subscribed. Those present, at the ceremony included the Japanese Ambassador, the German Charge d'Affaires, the Mayor of Wandsworth, the Esthonian Minister, and representatives of the Turkish and Albanian Legations. 1 A LAND YITHOUT LAWS. North Greenland, which is situated within 12 miles of the North Pole, might ! well be described as the Communists' paradise. There are practically no laws at {ill, all that the men possess are their hunting-knives, while the women have only their household utensils. I The stone houses in which the natives live belong to nolwdy in particular. If an Eskimo family find an empty one, they I simply move into if and it becomes theirs i until they vacate it. Polygamy is permitted and "marriages" are arranged entirely by parents. When j a couple tire of each other they simply take other mutes, There is nothing that corresponds to "courtship." FALSE TEETH FOR DOGS. Pet dogs can now be fixed up with false teeth, artificial eye,, and limbs. "It I lias been done rniire than once succes.-i- ! fully," said Mr. West, a London veterinary surgeon, recmtly. "1 do not say st is very practical in the case of a worrying dog, but I have known cases oi dogs fitted up with teeth and eyes lost through age or accidentally, and they have lasted for years. Dogs always bolt their food. They do not use their teeth much, except with a bone Or a very hard biscuit, and therefor'' il is possible for them to be fitted with false teeth."

In one case. Professor F. T. (1. Hobday, a Kensington veterinary surgeon, fitted a Schipperke with a double set of false teeth, which lasted 18 months.

SEVENTY YEARS UNDER THE SEA

A brass cannon, belonging to a ship that went down seventy years ago. with halt" a million pounds' worth of gold-dust. was recovered from tiio deep recently- npar Santa Barbara. California. ft is stated that the cannon has been identified by the makers as one sold to the ov ners "t the Vankey Blade. Records show that the Yaokey Blade left San Francisco in 1354 for New York, with many miners and this consignment of gold-dust for a New York firm. She was hoarded by a gang of desperadoes before she sailed, and was run ashore. 300 miles on her journey. A storm destroyed the ship and her crew and the pirates. The bodies of some of the miners were washed ashore with their store of gold-dust in their belts, but the chests with the half-million's worth of gold sank with the brass cannon.