GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19382, 17 July 1926, Page 3 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

INDOOR -i TENNIS COURTS, Covered lawn tennis courts are to be found on each of the six floors of a new apartment building that lias just been completed in the heart of Paris within 200 yards of the Invalidcs. The courts are regulation size, and are reserved exclusively for the tenants,of the building so that they may be able to keep in training when rainy weather makes it impossible for them to practice out of doors. ROYAL CHRISTENINGS. A christening in the Royal Family in former times was an elaborate and costly affair, but the tendency now, as indicated at the recent christening of the Princess Elizabeth, is toward simplicity. King Edward was christened in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. It was stated at the time that the banquet following the ceremony cost £200,000. This is a figure, says "a London paper, which should bo taken with a grain of salt. BISHOP'S GIFT TO STRIKERS. The Bishop of Bath and Wells has sent £2O to the Somerset Miners' Distress Fund. The following statement was made by the Bishop:---"I admire the Somerset miner, and hate to think of his home being in distress. From all I know of Somerset mineowners they are righteous men of conscience and good will. I his donation does not imply that I express sympathy with either side." PANIC ON MENAGERIE SHIP. Scenes of panic occurred in the harbour of Naples, when tho steamer Garibaldi, which, in addition to passengers, carried a cargo of wild animals for the Rome Zoo. suddenly sprang a leak. The ship heeled over without warning and the rush of passengers on deck was followed by the angry roars o? lions, tigers, and other animals in the hold. The ship had so great a list that it was impossible to launch the lifeboats, and the passengers had to remain between the perils of water and tho wild animals for some hours till divers repaired the leak. .... SEEDS FOR "ENGLISH GARDENS. When, in the early summer, English gardens begin to bloom and to scent tho air with their fragrance, millions of flowers from Canadian seeds make an important contribution to the beauty of the fceason. More and more England is turning to the rich soil and warm climate of Vancouver Island, off the British Columbia coast, for her supplies oi choicest seeds. This market was first opened up years ago. It began with sweet peas. Vegetable seeds are now produced in large bulk, and there is au increasing demand for rare alpine and rock plant seeds. AN "ASPARAGUS KING.", . " The Asparagus King,"' is what Bedfordshire folk call Mr. A. E. Course, of Biggleswade, who farms u thousand acres of land, of which a large part is devoted to asparagus. He is probably the world s largest grower of this vegetable. " I began work as a farm labourer at four shillings a week," Mr. Course said recently. " My first holding was a quarter of an acre in extent. I was struck by the high prices demanded for asparagus, and decided to begin planting it myself. Now I grow more of it than is produced ill the entire acreage of tbo rival county of Worcester." PRINCE AS LOBBY DRIVER. If he had been anybody else the Prince of Wales would have liked to drive a railway engine during the recent general strike," for that is a job he already knew a little about. What he did do was to drive a milk-lorry to one of the poorest districts of London and help distribute the milk from house to house. This was in the early days of the strike before the organisation was perfected. The Prince said ho felt sorry for the children and their anxious mothers, and thought that to help them, could not be deemed " strike-breaking" by any decentminded man. VIOLINISTS AND FIDDLERS. The problem of the distinction between & violin and a fiddle has beeu lucidly discussed lately by Mr. E. Robinson, an American journalist. There is no difference, he suggests, between the two instruments until they are played. The violinist wears evening dress, has an accompanist, and plays classical pieces. A fiddler usually has no collar, dispenses with an accompaniment, holds the instrument in the crook of his elbow, rather than under his chin, beats time heavily with his boot sole, and plays tunes. So Mr. Robinson reached this ultimate and definite conclusion: The difference between a violin and a fiddle is that one is played by a violinist and the other by a .fiddler. AN EXTERMINATION OF CATS. The Czechs do not take unnecessary risk* For instance, all the year round in Prague, any dog which makes a public appearance has to do so in ri muzzle. And now comes another report from Olesnice, in Moravia. Two lads were bitten by a cat suspected of rabies. Thereupon, under an official order, all the cats in the town were forthwith despatched, and, if necessary, this measure is to be extended to the whole neighbourhood. The cat hunt is said not to have passed off without numerous incidents on the part of indignant owners. The condition of the two lads, who were sent to the Pasteur Institute in Prague, is stated to be satisfactory, and no further cases have been announced. INTERESTING STAMP DESIGN. An interesting addition to the philatelist's portrait gallery lias been made by the Maltese authorities who, for the design of their eight eenpenny stamp, have chosen to commemorate St. Publius, convert of St. Paul, who is shown as a castaway on tho island. Saints have been popular subjects with stamp designers of the Mediterranean States. Great Britain's patron, St. George, was used by Crete 20 years ago, and in 1919 another Maltese issue showed St. Paul escaping shipwreck. Only recently Italian stamps were issuci/ portraying the death of St. l'rancis of Assisi,* of which the 700 th anniversary occurs in the autumn, following the example of Portugal, in commemorating the sept-centenary, in 1895, of the birth of St. Anthony of Padua. CUTTING OUT COAL WASTE. The problem of how to use coal to the best advantage is so much discussed at present that, a new system of heating houses, now being tried, will be eagerly watched by experts and the general pub : he It is estimated that the new system will effect considerable economies in coal consumption. 'I he centre ot the heating svstein is an electrical station,.where the evhaust steam, which would otherwise be wasted, is collected after it has completed its work in the turbines. This exhaust steam is then distributed by means of specially insulated pipes, to private houses and other buildings, which it heats. Where this system is used it is estimated that seventy per cent, of the heat in the coal consumed is utilised. This is double the amount made available for heating purposes when coal is burned in an ordinary five.

STRIKERS AND THEIR BEER. Five miners were each fined 20s at Sunderland, England' lately for stealing a 36-gallon barrel of beer from a publichouse yard. When the ■ barrel was broached scores of people carried beer away in buckets,, baths, tins and other utensils. The defendants said that they acted out of devilment, and promised to refund the value of the beer after the strike. names for motor-oars. Ihe American craze for giving motorcars names has reached England. Two cars, both of the smart semi-racer aluminium type recently seen in Piccadilly with names painted on the outside One car was called " Atta Boy," and was driven by an obviously American young man, but the occupant of " The Nonsuch " was a pretty English-looking girl. THE KING AS A COOK. There are no more constant or welcome visitors to the London hospitals than the King and Queen. Recently the King made an informal tour of one well-known institution, and showed great interest in the kitchens which are attached to each of the wards. His Majesty stood by and watched a nurse preparing a special diet for a patient, and then smilingly he said: "I can cook a chop— at least, I remember trying to." A NEW YORK WIRELESS HOME. By pressing a key at Radio House, London, Captain P. P. Eckersley, of the British Broadcasting Company, flooded n New York house with music. It is a private house in which every room is equipped with wireless, but not a wire is visible. Even the aerial has been built into the walls. The six loud-speakers can be operated separately or together, offering three programmes in one house, and an automatic time clock starts a set at any hour required. FIRST ALL-STEEL TRAIN. The first all-steel train used on English railways, with the exception of those employed on London's underground system, made its inaugural trip from Euston to Birmingham recently. The train is fireproof, cannot telescope in an accident, and is all-British. The carriages are fitted with every modern' device for tho comfort of passengers, with new ideas in ventilation and special luggage accommodation. Tables, each arranged for four people, extend along each side of a carriage, with a corridor running through the middle. COMPASSES ON TREES. It is a curious fact that nearly all the pines and conifers generally are fhe most perfect natural compasses, in that the shoot at the top points toward the north. In the case of some trees this tendency may not be very evident when the specimens are young, but as they grow older the long shoot leans right over to the northerly quarter of the sky. This fact, which has never been completely explained, has often proved of great service to those who have lost their bearings in the woods. Examine the growing shoots of the fir tree and these will always give indication of the direction in which the north lies. ANNUAL GIFT OF PEAS. New College, Oxford, is to be asked by Great Witcbingham Parish Council, Norfolk, why tho inhabitants of Lenwade hamlet have not in recent years received a gift of peas on Shrove Tuesday. From remote times a pint of peas was given annually to each person, young or old, in the hamlet, and visitors who slept in the hamlet on the Monday night in the first week in Lent received a similar quantity of peas next morning. The peas were distributed by the tenant of Lenwade Mills, and it Ims been generally understood' that funds for the purpose were provided by New College, which owns land in the hamlet. " The custom discontinued three years ago. YELLOW AS DANGER SIGNAL. Though people have grown accustomed to the red and green signal Jights on the railways, these colours have not always held the field. 'Years ago yellow was largely used. Now it is to "be reintroduced on the Great Western Railway in Great Britain. Distant signals, which give drivers of trains early warning of the necessity or otherwise to pull up when approaching a station or junction, are to be painted yellow, and yellow lights at night will leplaco red for the " caution" indication, green lights continuing to bo used for the " iine clear" position. This practice has already been adopted on tho main line between Paddington and Southall, arid this year the distant signals as far as Bristol and Birmingham will be similarly dealt with. A COSTLY COMMA. It is recorded that an American Tariff Bill once cost .the United States two million dollars through the wrongful insertion of a comma. This bill provided, among other things, that •" foreign fruit plants, etc." should be admitted free of duty, the aim of the Government being to stimulate the interest of farmers in the cultivation of high-grade varieties of fruit trees and grape vines within the States. When the bill was printed, however, a comma was erroneously inserted between " fruit" and " plants,' and as the bill was passed before the mistake was discovered,, oranges, bananas, lemons, grapes, and other fruits went into the United States free of duty for a whole year. A ROYAL BIRTH CUSTOM. A strange custom is regularly associated with the birth of a royal child in the direct line of succession to the throne. It was sometimes feared that the child might be a strange one brought secretly into the palace, so \t became customary for a high official of state to be present at the event. As the child to the Duke and Duchess of York is at present third in the line of succession, a careful record of the event was necessary, and the Home Secretary was hastily summoned. During the reign of James 11.. when the Heir Apparent, afterwards called the Old Pretender, was the only surviving son of the King by his second marriage, many scandalous rumours were circulated, and it was eventually considered necessary to publish evidence of witnesses to the birth. LONG-LIFE RECORDS. Members of the vegetable kingdom easily beat those of the animal kingdom where length of life is concerned. The life of the great forest trees may vary I from 100 to 4000 or 5000 years. The cypress, it is said, may live ior 350 yeais, the ivv 450, the chestnut 600, the cedar 800.. the oak 1000 to 1500, the yew 2500, and the baobab tree 5000 years. A hundred years are attained by some of the longest-lived animals, such as the elephant, tho crocodile, and the tortoise. Pike and carp have been known to live from 60 to 150 years; eagles, crows and parrots from 50 to 100 years. A Shropshire farm labourer, Thomas Parr, is credited with one of the longest lives on record. He is said to have been 152 years old at the time of his death. At 120 years he married a second time, and for many years continued to work on the farm.