GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19275, 13 March 1926, Page 3 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

A ROYAL APOTHECARY. Tho presentation to the Prince of Wales of the honorary diploma of tho Society of Apothecaries recalls another link between the apothecaries and the Throne. It was in 3345 that Edward 111. settled sixpence a day for life on ('onrsns no < iungeland, Apothcearius Londiniuni. for I akiiii> care ot him during his severe illness in Scotland, though history does not, record how long he lived to draw his penmoii or whether it was paid by the day. BRITISH SKATING PIONEERS. Considering the very restricted opportunities, it is surprising to recall that Britain figures among the pioneers of skating. says a London writer. Though the use of skates for travel and speed had been known in Scandinavia from time immemorial, figure skating was rot known until the nineteenth century, and was then of purely British origin, the largo supply of ponds both causing its invention and assuring it of a quick popularity. MORE FISH IN THE SEA. "The apostolic occupation of trafficking in fish," as Sidney Smith once termed the industry, has certainly grown larger since that wit amused London in the 'forties. Ihe plaint, in a review recently published of Aberdeen's fishing trade, is that potential supplies indeed are being menneed by large trawls of immature fish. But the sea contains a quantity unby tho layman, as is proved by the total catch of 2,540,100 tons landed at Aberdeen last year This represents, on a rough approximation, 7,620,300,000 single fish. SPATS FOR SOLDIERS. As an economical measure, the British War Office is withdrawing the white spats formerly worn by the kilted regiments. According to one authority, spats became part of the Highlanders' equipment as an official recognition of endurance in the Peninsular War. During a retreat under Sir John Moore, nearly 250 miles were tramped through mountainous country, made doubly difficult by snow, and the Highlanders wore their boots into holes. Tearing their shirts into strips, they bound up their feet. This resource was marked officially, it is said, by an issue of white spats. CRIMINAL COLDS. For a jury to acquit a prisoner on the ground that he was suffering from a cold when he committed a crime sounds ridiculous. But before long this may be accepted as a legitimate piea by even the sternest, judge, remarks an English writer. According to a famous doctor, infection of the nose and cavities of the skull by cold germs often results in confusion and lack of memory. Mental disturbances of this nature cause a person to act abnormally. A woman stole a ring from a friend's dressing table. Everyone thought she was a common thief. It was proved later that she, was suffering from a severe cold and was incapable of distinguishing between her own and other people's property. " BIMSHIRE " AND THE " BIMS." Not many countries can boast of a nickname, but this is an achievement which must be credited to one of tho smallest in the "world, Barbados, where the M.C.C. tourists lately met with some stiff opposition. Barbados is " Bimshire" to tho WestIndian, and all the inhabitants are known as "Bims." You can pay a " Bim " no higher compliment than to call his country " just a little corner of the homeland." It used to be said that " Bims " were so assiduous in preserving the manners and customs of tho Motherland that they could be seen from the liners off Bridgetown rowing about the sunlit waters in top-hats and frock-coats. HOME OF FIGHTING MEN. Poole, in Dorset, which has lost by recent floods all hope of preserving the •venerable Scaplius Court, was a great home of fighting men in ancient days. The native product found continuous adventure in four tides a day around the irregular isle of Parbee, while the castle of Branksea was an inspiration to romantic youth. Such environment produced fellows like " Arripay " or Harry Page, who, about 1400, kept the seas against France and Spain, and knew more about buccaneers and smugglers than any man of that time. And there •was William Thompson, who, with a man and a lad, captured a French privateer in 1695, the enemy fortunately being struck speechless with surprise. THE MARINERS' CHIMNEY. The demolition of a 270 ft. chimney at Bevan's Works, Nortlifleet, belonging to , the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers, Ltd., has caused consternation in shipping circles. The chimney, which has stood at Northfleet, near Gravesend, for 50 years, was regarded by Thames pilots as tho most reliable landmark of the river. At this point low-lying fog is the worst enemy of seafaring men, and when the foe had blotted out the 30ft. high lighthouse men have been sent to the masthead to take n bearing on the chimney. So greatly is the chimney missed, for / it was on every chart, that the Admiralty included notice of its destruction in their monthly list, which brings its disappearance to the notice of maritime authorities in all parts of the world. LONDON'S BREAKAGE BILL. Upward of 100,000,000 cups, saucers, plates, etc., are broken in London alone every year. The manager of one leading restaurant company states that his annual bill for broken crockery conies to £33,000, and each week breakages in various branches have to be replaced to the tune of 10,000 cups, 4000 saucers, and 2500 plates. The sum of £SOOO was spent in the replacement of 60.000 teapots that were smashed during last year. One firm's accumulation of broken china is taken out to the mouth of the Thames at regular intervals, and sunk; while all chipped cups and plates are given to charitable institutions, notably Dr. Barnardo's Homes. In other hotels and restaurants the damaged ware is sold to dealers, who dispose of it from stalls and barrows in the street markets. PUSS ON THE PAY-ROLL. A number of cats appear on the payroll of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company, their remuneration taking the form of a regular' ration of milk. This is the minimum wage, but there is no limit to their piece-work earnings, which take the form of rats and mice. The four-footed railway servants are employed at tho company's sack depot at Trent, to which rats and mice are at- j traded by the " shakings " from _ the j grain sacks which come in for repair. j It. is admitted at Trent that the feline , labourer is worthy of bis milk. But j puss would not have been popular in the j factory projected by a Scotsman named j David Hatton. He invented a machine for spinning sewing thread, which was ■worked by a miniature treadmill to be driven by mice. Hatton calculated that each mouse Tould yield a clear profit of six shillings a year, and planned to employ sufficient animals to secure an animal income of over £2OOO. His invention came to nothing; but it mav st'll be seen by the curious in the Fifeshire town of Dunfermline, "where it has been preserved.

BETTER THAN MONEY. A lucrative post has just been declined by the Rev. William Birch, rector of AH Saints, West, Gorton, Mau<-hesler. He I will not give up his church work, although | offered £BOO a year to join a London firm j as toy-designer. Before taking Holy Orders, Mr. Birch j was a fitter. Toy-making is now his : hobby, and at present, he is engaged on a dolls' house, complete to the smallest details. PROFIT MADE FROM LOSS. An ill wind has blown good to two charities, as reported by the London City Mission in regard to tho case of three collecting boxes which were rifled in a laundry in Wimbledon. A claim for £2, the sum of which was estimated as being taken, was made upon the insurance office in which the manager had a policy. By return a cheque for £4 was received, being, in addition to the amount claimed, a gift of £2—£l for each of the two institutions concerned. PAINTER'S CLIMB TO FAME. Jean Corot, who was born 330 years ago, would have been little elated, one suspects, by the news that two pictures of his have just reached a total of over £16,000 at a sale in New York. Corot, one of the most, charming and generous of artists, a boy of humble birth, beginning life behind a counter and long without official recognition, secured what was to him the supreme tribute in 1874, the year before his death, when his fellow artists presented " Father Corot" with a gold medal. FORBIDDEN TO WED ALIENS. Should either of the- two daughters of the late Mr. John Ernest Jewell, of London, marry a person other than a natural born British subject she will forfeit lw interest under his will. Air. Jewell, who was at one time proprietor of Heppells,'tbe West End chemists, left £97,468, the residue of the estate being bequeathed on trust to the daughters. In the event of the daughters dying without heirs, the ultimate residue will go to Dr. Barnardo's Homes. OLD TRxAFFIC DANGERS. Modern streets are admittedly dangerous to all but the very agile, but, at any rate, we are spared one peril wit-i wh.eh our forefathers in England were familiar. In spite of the efforts' of the authorities, the London streets of an earlier day were infested by 'stray swine, savage enough on occasions to attack children. In 1268 letters patent were granted by Henry 111., certifying that John, son of Aylric. had had his ears bitten off by a sow, lost later on it should be assumed that the loss had been sustained in the pillory. £IOO,OOO GIFT TO CHURCHES. Salaries of North Wales Calvinistic Church pastors will benefit as the result of a £100,005 fund raised through a "challenge" by the Llandinam family of Davies, of which Major David Davies, M.P., is a member. In 1920 t.he family offered to subscribe £50,000 if the churches raised a similar amount in five years. The church fund now stands at over the required amount. The Davies family has made a similar offer to South ' Wales Presbyterian churches, and big efforts are being made to complete the scheme. j WARNING THE WHALES. The simplest and most constant sound in Nature, the washing of the sea, serves as a radio beacon to warn whales, porpoises, and many fishes to keep away from the shore and below the surface in rough weather. According to Dr. Austin Clark, formerly naturalist on the scientific ship, Albatross, "The simple breaking of the waves is of immense importance to sea creatures as an index of tho dangers they are running. In times of storm the repellent sound increases, and by this they are warned to keep farther from the shore and farther down beneath the surface." THE POTATO'S PROGRESS. The value of the potato as a food was first recognised in Ireland, where soon after its introduction in the seventeenth century it became the main food crop of the poorer classes. Apparently the first county in England to adopt the cultivation of the potato extensively was Lancashire, but as late as 1770 it was not grown as a farm crop in the south-west of England. The cultivation of the potato in Germany dates from 1774, when Frederick tho Great sot himself the task of imposing its use on his people. It was some years later that the cultivation was introduced into France. A PLAGUE OF MTJD. One pictures the destruction of Pompeii, recalled by the activity of Vesuvius, as having been accomplished by streams of molten lava pouring down upon the town. But. as a matter of fact, says an English writer. ther<> is no evidence that anv lava at all was discharged during this eruption. What is bebeved by scientists to have occurred is that the steam given off bv the volcano condensed into rain, and, mixing with the dust and ash. overwhelmed the city in a torrent of pasty mud. Country people, especially now, can believe anything of mud. A BARGAIN IN TREES. About £375 worth of seedlings from a Kentish wood have been bought ,by the Berinondsey Borongh Council for £2. Seedling birch and cherries were bought for £2\a thousand, and small shrubby specimens at £1 a thousand. "A number of these trees," say a report on the subject, ''are as good as those offered to the committee this year at from 3s to 7s 6d each. At the 7s 6d rate, 1000 would have cost £375. for which the council are paving only £2." It is hoped to obtain from the wood about 6500 specimens, which are expected in a vear or two to be worth hundreds ot pounds. A ONE-WORD SERMON. The word " news" is made up of the four letters that indicate the main points of the compass—N.. S.. E. and W. In a book published more than a century ago the author comments upon this in a way that is by no means out of date at the present time. The writer says: —" As news implies the intelligence received from all parts of the world, the very word itself points out its meaning—N. the north: E. the East; W. the west; and S. the south. This expressive word also recommends the practice of the following virtues: Nobleness in our thoughts, Equity in our dealings. Wisdom in our counsels, and Sobriety in our enjoyments." A BLIND SOLICITOR. Three barristers and four solicitors in England have succeeded in passing their examinations in spite of being blind. But Mr. W. Ingram, who lives near Newport, and who lost his sight at the ace of six is the first blind solicitor in Wales. To have no more than two months' schooling before the age of sixteen was a serious handicap, but Mr. Ingram received a public school education at the Worcester College for the blind, and was afterwards articled to a solicitor. Only twenty-six years old, Mr. Ingram has just passed his final examination in law, for which be studied no fewer than 1.603 volumes, nearly all of which were read to him.