GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19608, 9 April 1927, Page 3 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

PAST TRAIN JOURNEY, A daily non-stop journey ox 400 miles between London and Glasgow is the feat which the London, Midland and Scottish Railway hopes to achieve this summer in air attempt to capture the world's record for non-stop running. „ The record is at present held by the Cornish Riviera express on the Great Western Railway with its daily run of 226 miles. * CROWS STEAL GOLF BALIS. Crows that foregather about the St Germain golf course near Paris have carried thieverv 0 f golf balls to a, fine art. Many of the fairways are flanked by nines, in which the crows wait for hardhit drives of 200 yds. or more. When a ball appears in sight a black shadow descends on the turf, appropriates the ball and flies off with it, while the outraged golfer is powerless to seek revenge. < FIRE-FIGHTING WITH SNOW. Before long fiiemen may be seen fighting flames, not wtih pow'erful streams of water, but with flurries of super-cold snow. A new fire-extinguishing process, devised in Germany, employs a snow of carbon dioxide gas. The snow is cooled to more than 100 degrees below zero. Because of the ability of carbon-dioxide gas "to smother a fire, it has alreadv been used in some types ©f fire extinguishers. The intense cold of the snow crystals combines with the smothering effect of the gas to put out fire. PIGMIES FOR HOUSEWORK. The alleged Arctic explorer, Dr. F. A. Cook, who was imprisoned at Leavenworth, Kansas, for fraud, advocated in the prison publication the breeding of a race of pigmies "to do the world's work." Dr. Cook suggested bringing large numbers of African pigmies to the Virgin Islands and there developing a new race of little people, training them for the light, quick work now performed haphazardly. He believes that the pigmy girl would be the ideal house servant and office worker. OLDEST LIFE CONVICT. J William Maxwell, aged 88 years, who has died in the Wisconsin State Prison, claimed to be the oldest life convict in the world. He started to servo the 55th year of a life term on October 25 last. Maxwell was sent to prison for killing a man in defence of s woman in a dance hall. Patrons of the dance hall tried to lynch him, and when the police arrived thev had to cut him down. Maxwell, however, said he never regretted" the act. He was a model prisoner and could have had parole years ago, but always refused. GREAT LOSSES BY FRAUD. "A short time ago we were overburdened with these cases and statistics we obtained showed appalling losses," said the Common Sergeant, Sir Henry Dickens, K.C., at the Old Bailey when dealing with a long firm fraud case. "I believe," added Sir Henry, "that the losses were put at about £25,000,000. I made a rule that whenever a prime mover in cases like this came before me and was convicted he would go to penal servitude. lam glad to say that has had a marked effect, but I am going to stick to my rule." • RIVALRY AMONG DETECTIVES. Thieves who drive their own motor-cars are proving a menace to owners of pigs and poultry in Nebraska and so numerous have the thefts become that owners have been faced with the choice of taking their livestock into their homes at- - night or sitting outside themselves on guard. The plan was tried for a time of hiring men from private detective agencies to track down the thieves, but the rivalry between these agencies became so great that one of them, it is alleged, hired men to steal from the fanners who were patronising a rival firm in order to convince them it was ineffective as a protector. HORSES AND MOTORISTS. When summoned at Withernsea, Yorkshire, for riding his horse on the footpath, a well-known follower of the hounds, gave the following reasons for doing so:— ? . " Firstly, the road is far too dangerous to,ride on; secondly, a horseman on the road is in danger from and a danger to motorists—l am a motorist; thirdly, the footpaths have ceased to be used as such; fourthly, three magistrates., friends of mine, have told me that they would not convict anyone brought before them for this offence; fifthly, some time ago I lost a good horse through riding on the grass verge."

I . ' f ' TTJTAFKHAMEN'S FAN. The loveliest ostrich feather fans evei Been in the ballrooms of great European cities are as nothing compared with King Tutankhamen's ceremonial fan. This has been found in one of the inner chambers of the tomb. There were several fans. No Pharaoh seems to have been happy without the gorgeous splendour of. toys like these. The most beautiful is said to be unique in the history of fans and it must have been dear to the boy king, for he had collected the feathers himself on his hunting expeditions in the desert. The royal craftsmen worked their- best on the setting of the king's favourite fan. Its ivory handle is inlaid- with many colours and set- with bends of gold patterned with precious lapis lazuli. . LARGEST MEDAL COLLECTION. The largest collection of British military and' naval medals ever made —brought together by the late Mr. G. HamiltbnSmitli, of Bristol —is to be sold this year. The weight of the collection is estimated at about 2cwt'. There are the gold-mounted -sword and the gold case, valued at considerably over £IOOO, awarded to Sir Thomas Picton, with the many decorations bestowed on Sir Howe de Lancey. Gold medals for the Peninsular campaign. 500 medals for Wellington victories, and the very rare medals for the victories M Nelson and his sea captains appear in the collection. In many respects the coin Cabinet vies with the world-famous collections of Montague and Murdoch, dispersed over a quarter of a century ago, bringing in hundreds of thousands of pounds ' Mr. Hamilton-Smith was the possessor ot !» selection of coins struck'in Bristol from Saxon times to the seventeenth century. and he. also owned rare species of the Stuart period. CIVILISATION AND HEALTH. Although the average duration of life has been more than doubled in the last thousand years, vet it is still necessary to fight vigorousfy against the " degrading" influences which civilisation has brought in its train, declared Dr. S. Henning Belfrage, hon. medical secretary of the New Health Society, at a conference held recently Dr. Belfrage said progress in civilisation had removed many of the dangers which threatened the well-being of mankind, and now the forces of nature were often harnessed for its utility. Nevertheless, far too many people were content with a lower standard of health than they really might enjoy. Disease snd ill-health were too often looked upon as the decrees of fate instead of the working of natural laws. The result of general ignorance in matters of health was shown in 473,000 deaths in England last year. With the exception of fewer thap 60,000, these deaths were due to what were believed to be preventable diseases.

USE OF BRITISH TYPEWRITERS. Sinca the British Industries Fair held last year 1278 British typewriters have been supplied to replace foreign machines in Government offices. When the King attended the fair ho expressed astonishment on being told that British typewriter manufacturers were unaole to obtain orders from Government departments. ' HEAVY TOLL OF SHIPS. Stormy weather took a heavy toll of ships last year. The annual report of tko Liverpool Underwriters' Association shows a total loss of 187 ships, as against 174 in the previous year, representing a gross tonnage of 418,410, as against 342^129* These ships included 45 British steamers and six sailing vessels and 105 foreign steamers and 31 foreign sailing ships. CARVED HIS OWN COFFIN.' An eccentric inhabitant of the Swiss canton of Schwyz named Pfister, who has died aged 80 years, spent many years in . constructing his own coffin, which he carved with texts from the Bible. Pfister brought a plot in the local cemetery. Ho had his grave dug and cemented, and the coffin placed inside ; in readiness for his death. ' He said that he did not wish to leave such an important matter to neglectful relatives. , «' NATION OF NUT-EATERS." "It may bo that we shall never acquire the chewing-gum habit, but we are rapidly becoming a nation of nut-eaters." This is the view of the manager of a large London store, who said that the consumption of nuts in Great Britain had never been as large as it is to-day. "The secret of the nut habit,", he said | "is to be found in the small packets" of | Brazils, walnuts and almonds, all cracked and ready for eating." Hundreds of thousands of these nut packets arrive in Britain every month from America. Franco and other nut-producing countries! VICAR'S CHANCE DISCOVERY. While cycling near Birchover, Derbyshire, where a dozen cinerary urns were unearthed not long ago, the vicar of Birchover, the Rev. C. W. Summerfield, noticed fragments of bones on the bank side. He pulled yp a flat stone, and underneath found broken fragments of urn and the deposit' of burnt bones. Extending his search, he came across a fine bronze dagger, Sjin. long, a small pebble in a bone setting, flint chippings and bone pins or needles, one with a large round eyehole evidently used in sewing skins. The urn, Sin. high, is of the Bronze Age type. * j WOMAN THRASHES BURGLAR. While she was putting her baby to bed one night recently, Mrs. Dorothy Jelliman, of Palmers Green, London, heard a scuffling noise ni the kitchen. Seizing a stout stick she went downstairs to investigate, and was surprised to see a man searching the mantelpiece. She belaboured him with the stick and drove him into the garden. The man fled, but returned later. Mrs. Jelliman held him up at the point of a pistol and summoned assistance. Several neighbours came to her help, but the intruder took to his heels. He was chased over several gardens into a side street, from which he made his escape. - BEQUEST OF MUFFLERS. Two of his best silk mufflers and two of his best v-oollen mufflers are bequeathed to his daughter-in-law, Florrie Boedo-Yanez, by Juan Boedo-Yanez, of Alfonso Cottage, Brooklands, Cheshire, who left £27,357 gross, with net personalty £27,124. His will concludes : "And finally my solemn and dying recommendation to my beneficiaries is to make work and knowledge their principal hobbies (following Francis Bacon, the great scientist's motto, 'To take all knowledge to be my province '), to control their purse, health, passions and temptations, to help to be kind to mankind, and to protect our dumb friends, the animals, especially the much abused cart horse and costermonger's donkey." DEDICATING SHIP'S BELL. One of the largest ship's bells ever manufactured was completed recently. It was cast at a 400-years'-old bell foundry in Whitechapel Road, London. 1 The bell, which weighs nearly 2cwt., is the gift of Mr. Van Lear Black, a wellknown American, to his friend; Captain David Bone, who is in command of the liner Transylvania. Mr. Black personally dedicated the bell in the presence of about 30 friends. It was, a picturesque ceremony m the flickering light created bv the glow from the furnaces. Mr. RJpck assisted the artificers to pour out the moulten metal, and flingiing a coin into the fiery liquid he solemnly pronounced the words, " May your sound protect it." SPEEDY BRIDGE BUILDING. The new bridge over the Nile .atDessouk, which was opened recently by the Egyptian Minister of Communications, has been constructed to carry the Egyptian State Railways, over the river in place of an old bridge which could only carry a locomotive and one vehicle.at a time.. The new bridge, which consists of four spans, is 600 yds. long, and. cost about £140,000. The engineers commenced demolishing the old bridge in • December, 1925, and the construction of the new bridge was only commenced-in May The rapid completion of? the work, in spite of difficulties due to the coal strike in Great Britain, will save the railway administration the heavy cost of maintaining the ferry service in operation durirtg the rebuilding of the bridge. A MARRIAGE DILEMMA. A dilemma of a young couple who wished to get married was explained to Sir Chartres Biron lately at Bow Street Police Court. Accoinmpanied by hjs fiancee, the man said that as she was under 21 years of age the consent of her father was necessary before she could marry. She, however, left her. father three years ago owing to his drinking habits, and although they had searched for him during the past six months he could not be found. Her mother was dead. . ' Sir Chartres told the couple that the new Act provided that if the necessary consent could not be obtained by reason of absence or inaccessibility then the Superintendent-General could dispense with such consent. He advised them to consult the Superintendent General, and said that if anv difficulty arose they con.d come back to him. AERIAL DUCK-SHOOTING. A new method of stalking and shooting wild ducks is being practised by test pilots of the Blackburn Napier torpedo aeroplanes, which arc built and tested on the Yorkshire shores of the Huinber, where large numbers of wiloi ducks spend the winter. Flying a two-seater aeroplane, carrying as> passenger in the back seat, a man with a gun, the pilot climbs to a height of about 900 ft., and • intercepts there the V-fonnatioii of wild ducks as they are llymg from their feeding grounds on the stubble fields inland, to their sleeping quarters near the mouth of the Humuer. ' .. When the ducks find tho machine is overtaking them they wait until it is only a few yards behind, and then, exftC; uting a swift about turn, fly round the edge of the wings of< the machine, thus coming within range of the gunner in,the back seat. A motor-boat on the water below follows behind to pick up the ducks as they fall on the water. I