GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19738, 10 September 1927, Page 3 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

JOAN'S TWO SILVER WEDDINGS. The distinction of having celebrated two silver weddings was held by Fredarick '* Benjamin Wickenden. of Taunton, who died recently at the age of 92. Mr. Wickenden had 17 children by his first and second wives. A £2OO {SPELLING PRIZE. Dean Lncas, a pupil in the rnral schools of Wayne County, Ohio, spelt his way to tame and a £2OO prize at the Third Annual Spelling Bee held at Washington in June Dean was a contestant last, year when tie went down on the word rendezvous. This year he defeated Ralph Keenan, of lowa, on the word abrogate. PRINCE AND HIS NEIGHBOURS. Among the neighbours of the Prince of Wales on his Alberta ranch are many members of notable British families A few miles to the north of the Prince's ranch Lord Minto has a substantial ranch, and in the neighbouring province of British Columbia the Duke of Sutherland has many acres on which he grows fruit and raises etock and crops. CONSIDERATION FOR WOMEN! On a road in Kent two large pieces of looking-glass have been fixed up in front of the gate of a house Tney show the owners and their friends when they come out what traffic is approaching. Two young women stopped and arranged their hats before these convenient mirrors. A foreigner passing in a car saw this and has been telling everyone he meets about it He regards it as a very fine example of English consideration for women that they should have facilities for keeping themselves tidy provided even by the roadside! THE WORLD'S MOTOR-CARS. One motor-car is in operation for each Eve citizens in the United State, according to the Department of Commerce. Statistics for ths world as a whole showed 27,650,267 motor-cars in operation f-t the beginning of the year, or one for each 66 of population. In Canada and Hawaii there is one machine to each 11 of population, while New Zealand has one to 12. Australia and Denmark one to 17, Great Britain one to 43, Argentina one to 45. and France one to 4b It is estimated that 95 per cent of all motor-cars operating in the world are of American origin. THREE STRANGE WILLS. The daugntei of a wealthy American bars been punished by her father for refusing to shut a window at his request Six years ago. Her father, Mr. Isidor Carfunkel, who died recently, left only £lO to his only child and bequeathed the bulk of his property to charity. Almost as strange is the case of Dr. William Schroeder. who cut off his wife with four shillings because he alleged she had failed him, and bequeathed to his Bon ona halfpenny He left most of his estate to his housekeeper Mrs. Louisa C Goorle inserted a clause in her s-il! to the effect that the mourners fit hei funeral should stop at a famous restau ant on the way to the funeral and have * good dinner.

LICENSE LAW IN THE AIR. No drinks may be served in an aeroplane flying over British territory during hours when public houses are closed. For ships and trains 6peciai provisions are made in the licensing laws but commercial aircraft are not included. THE CURSE OP MODESTY. " We m England are cursed with a rotten modesty," said Admiral Phillip Dumas recently at the annual meeting of the Hertfordshire Navy League, at Hemel Hempstead " We should get rid of it," the speaker continued, 44 and tell ourselves and the world of the splendour of our Empire " No one who had ever known war, he said, wanted to repeat the experience It was a disgusting, loathsome business. OLDEST VINE IN THE WORLD. What is claimed to be the oldest vine in the world is growing in the Rhine Palatinate, near Germersheim, Germany. It is said to have been planted about 1500 The main stem is more than a yard in circumference, and the roots are upwards of 80 yards long The vine still bears excellent fruit. The great vine at Hampton Court was not planted until 1768 THE FRUIT THAT WE EAT. How much truit does one eat m a year? A voluminous British Ministry for Agriculture report on fruit marketing states that each person on an average eats in a year 120 apples, 21b of pears, 31b of plums, of cherries, lib of currants (all kinds), 21b strawberries, l£lb of gooseberries, £lb. of raspberries, Bjlb. of tomatoes, and lib. of cucumbers. investigators suggest that everybody will eat more fruit if prices are more stable and methods of picking, grading, and packing more efficient. WORLD'S GREATEST CHEF. M Escoffier, whose " Guide to Modern Cookery " is a kitchen classic, lately arrived in Loudon on a visit. Now getting on in years —he must be nearing 80 —Maitre Escoffier is the most distinguished chef in the world to-day It was when he was at the Savoy, previous to going to the Carlton Restaurant, he invented the peche Melba in honour of the famous singer Though a little man with a white moustache, M Escoffier has a presence of distinction, and his name will go down to posterity m culinary annals in the same category a3 that of BnllatSavarm. A VALUABLE SIGNATURE. Three excessively rare Button Gwinnett signatures discovered at Wolverhampton Blue Coat Charity School were sola in London recently by the trustees of that institution to Gabriel Wells, a New York bookseller, for an undisclosed sum Gwinnett's signature is the rarest among the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, and his autograph is so sought after by collectors of Declaration documents that £5750 is reported to have been paid for the last example found Gwinnett, before emigrating to Savan n>*h, was a merchant at Wolverhampton, where he 6igned the local school register as a contributor on three separate occasions in 176 L 1

A MIDGET SEAPLANE. A now French seaplane, said to be the smallest ii} the world, can be assembled, piece by piece, in three minutes on the dock of a floating submarine. These little planes can rise from the water in nine seconds and quickly attain a height of 2000 ft. Every submarine in the French Navy is to carry one as an aid to reconnaissance in time of war. RHYTHM WITHOUT MELODYA band of twelve small, totally deaf children, who devote their entire energy to oroducing a perfect rhythm and ignore the matter of melody, has been organised in the Wisconsin School for the Deaf and is the culmination ol an interesting experiment in instruction. The children recently gavs a concert in which they played a march, a dance, and a lullaby with three cymbals, one sot of jingle bells, one drum, two tambourines, two triangles, and three miniature zylophohes THE DAUGHTER OF MUSSOLINI. A young lady who has begun to share a certain amount of the popularity enjoyed by her father is Signorina Edda Mussolini, the Duce's daughter. She has just accomplished her eighteenth birthday, and has been staying lately with her father at his summer residence, the Villa Torlonia. Rome. The Premier's daughter joins him every morning in his daily rides in the beautiful park, and now, for the first time, she has attended a sitting of the Fascist Chamber of Deputies, and heard from the diplomatic gallery a speech delivered by her father. It is believed this first public appearance will be followed by •.her taking a prominent place in the social activities of the Premier's life. SOLVED BY WIRELESS. The latest wireless story concerns a foreign vagrant apprehended by the New York police and interrogated regarding bis credentials. But he spoke an exeoea ingiy strange tongue. The police interpreters were nonplussed, and eventually several professors of modern languages admitted themselves beaten. At this juncture an idea occurred that broadcasting might bo of service. Listeners to the nearest broadcasting station were accordingly acquainted with the circumstances and the luckless individual was instructed to speak into the microphone. The distressing appeal was heard by a fellow-countryman, with the result that the captive was identified as a Laplander. Explanations satisfied the police and he was allowed to depart. INN NAMED AFTER MARSHAL FOCH A public-houso in England ha; recently been named after Marshal Foch—a peculiar honour which ssure? him of undying fame. Phe Romans honoured their heroes by orecting triumphal arches; the Greeks built statues The commonest inn sign is the "Marquess of Granby;" his special claim to celebrity was that he originated the term 4 'to go bald-headed" for anything. When about to lead a charge at Minden he was reminded, 44 You have lost your wig, my lord. ' "Hang the wig; we will charge baldheaded," Tie replied. When some exceptional festivity filled the inn so completely that guests had to sleep at an adjoining mansion, the arms of the host, affixed to their lodging, told the guests thi they had found the cprrect billet. Hence there are found scattered about England 14 Devonshire Arms." "Rutland Arms." and the like. I

A FIVE-TON PAINTING. A painting weighing five ions, supposed to be the biggest package ever shipped from England to America, taxed the ingenuity of the mechanics and engineers responsible for its eafe transport. The painting, 400 ft. long and 50ft high, is a panorama history of the war, and contains 60D0 portraits. Every day dnnng the war two French artists, with eighteen helpers, worked on the canvas, recording each event as it occurred Its value is incalculable, and until recently it occupied an entire building in Paris. SPYING FROM THE CLOUDS. Kites are largely employed at meteorological stations. They are ased for, hoisting self-recording instruments into the air. In this way, and at small cost, valuable information is gained regarding conditions in the upper regions of the atmosphere. Wireless aerials have also been raised by kites for experimental work. The first transatlantic wireless messages ever received were brought in by Marconi on a kite-flown aerial. Benjamin Franklin used a kite to collect electricity from thunderstorms. "THE BISHOP OP EUROPE." Tha Bishop of Fulham is also Anglican Bishop of North and Central Europe, a diocese which covers all Europe north of a hns drawn from Bordeaux to Moscow. Daring the last nine months 'he has travelled 22,000 miles by land, air, and sea in the course of his work. Over twenty different languages are spoken in his area. The bishop has had some amusing adventures. Once a foreign valet laid out his best bishop's gown with balloon sleeves in mistake for his pyjamas. He tells of an English ladv who addressed a very stout French bns-condnctor (in French) thus: "Are you the omnibus? I want two places in your interior." THE OLD CLOAKS OF HAWAII. A resident of Kent tells of a discovery in an attic in New York. A great jewellery firm was displaying a feather cloak—one of the Royal feather cloaks of Hawaii—in one of its windows with a card stating that seven of its kind were known to exist, but that one had been lost sight of completely. This notice was keen by the daughter of an old sea captain in the China ti;ade. She remembered that her father left behind him a box of feathers which had lain forgotten in the attic of her house in New Jersey ever since. The box when examined was found to contain the missing feather cloak! The lady gave the cloak to New York Natural History Museum. THE GUARDIAN OP MILLIONS. Mr. Charles A. Woodward, lat manager and secretary of the National Safe Deposit Company, Ltd., had, at his retirement, completed 41 years' service with the company, which he entered at the age of 15. Millions of pounds' worth of jewellery and other personal (property has passed through his hands, and among the rotnantic things ha has had in his keeping havo been the Russian Crown jewels. Mr. Woodward maintains that if a bur glar could get his way into the great vaults he could never And his way out again One eccentric old client of Mr. Woodward's used to peer in at every win-" dow before he believed that' his safe was properly locked up and guarded He couldn't see bis safo from any of the windows, but he always carried ont that eccentric practice after every deposit.