GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18897, 20 December 1924, Page 23 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

A POWERFUL AEROPLANE. The world's largest single-engined aeroplane is the Blackburn-Napier "Cubaioo" torpedo plane, a fighting craft fitted with on engine having sixteen cylinders and capable of developing 1000 horsepower. The spun of the- wing* is 88ft., the length of the aeroplane is 54ft., and its height is 20ft. It carries a load of tons,, and accommodates a crew of three. £500 FOR AN EGG. The most valued egg in the world is that of the great auk, a bird once common in the regions of the North Atlantic, but now extinct. The last auk egg sold realised about. £500. The s.uk was a diving bird about the size of. a duck, but was unable to fly because of its small wings. It laid one egg at a time. The birds and their eggs were used largely for food among seafaring folk. So many of them were killed that th: species has entirely disappeared. SELLING A RUINED ABBEY. Sir John Leigh, Bart., has decided to pell the estates of Lilleshall and Woodcote. They cover 3000 acres, and Lilieshall, once "a seat of the Duke of Sutherland, is reputed to be one of the finest mansions in England. The history of the properly goes back to the time of Domesday. In the Civil War Lilleshall was besieged, its towers .battered down, and its defenders "killed. The ruins of the historical abbey, which adjoin the grounds, are included in the gale, as well as the mansion and about 22 latins. LIMIT TO ORATORY. With a view to expediting the business of Edinburgh Town Council, the Lord Provost's Committee has considered several motions, and a report by the town clerk, on the matter. The most interesting recommendation made by the committee was that the mover of a motion in the council should lie limited to a ten minutes' speech, and that subsequent speakers should be limited to five minutes. These times may be extended by the Lord Provost if the feeling of the 'house is in favour of that course being adopted. SHIPBUILDING BOOM COMING. Captain B. C. Warden, of the Board of Trade, in proposing "The Ship and Boat Builders' Association and the Industry,-" at a luncheon in London, a few weeks ago, said he made a tour of the shipbuilding yards of the country, and he could say 'that those who were ready would in 1925 have a great year. . Those who were not ready, of course, said Captain Warden, would have a year of disappointment. The first essential for readiness was a spirit of unity and brotherhood between employers and employed in the industry. GIFTS TO EX-M.P. STOLEN. Coronation medals and trophies and many presents from various public bodies were stolen by burglars who broke into the residence of. Sir Edward Nicholl, the Cardiff shipowner, lately. The thieves, who forced a basement window, used a dining room table-cloth in which to wrap up their booty. They confined themselves to gold and silver articles. Among the presents to Sir' Edward taken were a silver inkstand from the "me/i of the seas at Cardiff," and a silver tortoiseshell cigar box from members of the House of Commons. THE HANDIEST NUMBER. There is a peculiarity in connection with the figure nine which is frequently turned to account in banks, where nine is consequently regarded as the handiest number. When an error has arisen through a transposition of figures—about the most common error that is.madeit can be seen at once by dividing the amount short by nine. Invariably ' it . comes out exactly. Suppose 69 has been put down instead of 96, the deficit will be 27, divisible exactly by "nine; or that 523 has been put down for 253; the surplus will be 270, also divisible exactly by nine. This holds for any transposed numbers. BARRELS AS CLOAKS. At a recent auction sale in London there was sold for seven guineas an "absolutely unique Elizabethan drunkard's cloak, in which drunkards were pl-iced and paraded through the streets." The drunkard's cloak was essentially a North Country punishment for drunkards, and was inflicted by magistrates during the Commonwealth. The article is thus described in "The history of Intemperance": "The barrel had one bead out and a hole through the other, through which the offender was made to put his bead; while his hands were drawn through two small holes, one .each sire. With this he was compelled to march along the public streets." MOTORS FOB. NIGERIA. Experiments to test tho use of motor transport in Africa are- to be carried out by the Empire Cotton Glowing Corporation. Two vehicles have been selected of the half-track type, similar to the "caterpillars" used for tanks during the war. It is claimed that these cars can not Only negotiate steep gradients and < traverse soft roads, but that they im- < prove unmetalled ground. It has been ; decided to send two vehicles to Northern I Nigeria, where they will carry cotton or i other freight. It is believed that some type of halftrack vehicles will assist considerably toward the solution of the African transport problem. This problem has delayed the development, not only of cotton production, but of other produce throughout Africa, . ' SHOREHAM'S MYSTERY TOWERS. No more interesting or notable demoli- 1 tion job has been undertaken in. re-cent, 1 years than the cutting down of the • "mystery-towers"' in Shoreham Harbour. J One of the two towers built during the e war was towed to a position about five < miles east, of the Isle of Wight to replace I the Nab Lightship, while the other was fc cut down . by oxy-acetylene • torches and I compressed-air tools. These towers —begun by the Admiralty S Sri 1918 for a purpose which has never 1 been disclosed—were constructed on i rather unusual lines that, closely corres- t ponded to those of a honeycomb. The i cteel superstructure was cut down by i oxy acetylene torches and the reinforced j concrete which proved to he exceptionally f tenacious, was broken up by means of pneumatic tools. TREASURES IN A TOMB. t One of the most dramatic discoveries ( in the history of archaeology occurred ' when a fall of the cliff near Byblos. Syria, 1 scooped a corner otii of a rock-cut tomb t over '000 year.-, oid, the existence of which l had long been suspected but never proved. 1 The slid.- revealed to a passer-by a huge sarcophagus with a unique lid.' having < large mushroom-shaped knobs by which, ' 'I no doubt, it was originally handled. The j < rock hereabouts is very porous, and a ] i layer of muddy soil, knee (Ken. which j i bad filtered down through the ages, I covered the floor. ] In tin- gallery a further small tomb or | t grotto was found. The tomb was orpin- ! f illy entered bv three pits, which were c afterwards walled in below and filled in I above. Among the objects found were 1 anatomical ashes and bone fragments, a t Jamp of bronze or gold, silver vases, a 1 goblet of obsidian and gold, two gold "* f'"ers, an alabaster vase, a bronze vase, ! ' <*—l jjbtoueft of ivory or lustr» ware*. j J

A "BOY" OF EIGHTY-NINE. When Mrs. Mae Urdang celebrated her 114 th birthday recently in the Harlem Home of the Daughters! of Israel, among those taking part in the jollification were her "young brother," who is 100, and her "boy," who is just 89. In addition, 50 other aged men and women, inmates of the home, joined in the celebration, the feature of which was the cutting of a birthday cake adorned with 114 candles. A LOFTY RAILWAY STATION. The highest station on any standardgauge railway in the world is Ticlio, west of the boundary line between Brazil and Pom. Its elevation is 15,665 ft. The journey from. Callao to Ticlio, a distance of 106 miles, occupies 9 hours 38 minutes, dring which time the train ascends to a height of three miles at an average rate of rise of 27ft. a minute. It is estimated that the cost of construction averaged about £12,500 a mile. FRIGHTENED DOG'S GREY HAIR. Mutt, a black and white Airedale, furnished the first instance ever recorded at Galveston, Texas, of an animal turning grey from fright or shock. The dog had been missing since a motor accident in which both its owners were killed. Mutt was chained to the running board of the car, which turned over three times. Later the dog was found cowering under the house. When he was finally enticed out his head was covered with grey hairs. MAN'S WALKING POWERS. For the average amateur mountainclimber in the Alps, an ascent of 5000 ft. in a day's tramp is looked upon as the ordinary thing. An experienced mountaineer in perfect condition can climb 7000 ft. While one constantly reads about the amazing feats performed by specially trained athletes, it is more' interesting to learn what an ordinary man in good average health can, or does, achieve in a day. He ought to be able to walk from 20 it* 25 miles without undue fatigue. Many policemen cover 20 miles daily on their usual beat. VALUABLE HITMAN CARGO. __ Business undertakings in America and Europe with a total capital of more than £100,000,000 were recently represented among the passengers in the Cunard liner Berengaria when she sailed from Southampton. Fifteen chairmen or vice-chairmen and 30 other important officials of different firms were aboard. They were members of companies dealing in motor-cars, tobacco, rubber, matches, clothing, cocoa, coal and agricultural implements. Another passenger was the Rev. William Wilkinson, known throughout the United States as "the Bishop of Wall Street. GOLD IN ROAD METAL. Parts of the road by which the Devonshire village of Widecombe is approached are metalled with a peculiar type of granite, in which a geologist has recently discovered both gold Mid silver. A ton of this peculiar rock may contain from 3s to 30s worth of gold, and as much as two-thirds of an ounce of silver, worth rather less than 2s. Many tons of similar rock have been built into the walls lining the roads and enclosing the moor pastures in the neighbourhood. Hundreds of tons of the rock occur among the loose boulders of barren granite strewn over the local moorland. The "vein" from which these gold-bearing boulders have been derived has not, yet been discovered. WORLD'S OLDEST STATUE, The world's most ancient statue is to be found outside, not inside, the British Museum. It is said that it tool; 20( men from the crew of H.M.S. Topaz, md 300 natives, to drag the statue from its original site, although it weighs only four tons. The statue is the work of a race of huge builders and was one of many similar colossal statues, some of them weighing as much as a hundred tons, scattered over Easter Island, in the Pacific. These hideous images were originally suplied with hats, in some cases weigh- . ing another five or six tons, which were red because thev were made of tufa or volcanic rock. All the hats have fall* n off now and are found lying around the huge statues as though there had been a high wind. VARIOUS FOOD FANCIES. An attempt is to be made to introduce snails as an article of food in certain London restaurants. The French, regard snails as a delicacy, while British people almost shudder at the thought Df sating them. Yet they eat mussels, whelks, and winkles, which in some countries are regarded as being unfit for human consumption. In southern England the eel is relished by many people, but in Scotland it is detested by nearly everybody. Rabbits are looked upon as vermin in some parts of America and Australia and are seldom served at table. In Britain, rabbit pie is i favourite dish. Sweden are often eaten in Scotland with )ther vegetables, whereas in some parts if England they are cordially disliked md given only to cattle. Turnip-tops in Scotland, again, are not considered worth looking. But in Covent Garden they sell dv the ton. FISH THAT SING. In Ceylon there is a shellfish, a sort ?f mussel, which sings! It can hardly be .laimed that it competes with the nightngale, but it produces a long, low, fluty ound, which has a musical quality. Seeing that these bivalves do not x>ssess a throat in any accepted sense of he word, and certainly no vocal cords, his singing sound must lie produced T>y dine manipulation of their double •hell, t is possible that increasing dryness nables the fish to sing, for the round inly occurs after the tide has been down or a considerable time, leaving the ivalves high and dry on the rocky teach. ere is a fish which hoots, too. The, coltish fisherman calls this fish the lv.itennan and, when caught by line or n*t, t makes a noise from the back of its iroat when landed. Eels also make a joise when the hook is being removed rom their gills. The common gurnard. ;runts loudly when hauled to the surace. WHAT NELSON'S COLUMN COST. Trafalgar Square, London, is dedicated o Nelson. It was designed by Sir 'harles Barrv. and completed at a cost • f £10,000, 'in 1841. The Square was milt over the site of what was formerly he Royal Mews, which were removed' to lake room for the National Gallery, about 824. The column, begun in 1840, is a copy f one of the Corinthian columns of the V'tiiple of Mars Ultor, the avenging God i War. Nt Rome. The total height of the lonument, designed bv William Railton, < 193 ft. 'I In- full-length figure of Nelson is 7ft. in height, and an idea of its proporions may be formed from the fact that rom toe to heel the foot measures three* narlers of a yard. It is hewn out of wo pieces of Craigleith stone, of great ardness, from the Granton quarry of lie Duke of Buccleuch, and weighs nearly 8 tons. The total cost of the column .-as £50.000. of which £20,000 was raised v subscription and the rest voted by 'arliament.