GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19833, 31 December 1927, Page 3 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

WORLD CHESS RECORD. A world's record chess match recently took place at the Ministry of Health, ibjndon, where 000 Civil Service players opposed 500 from the Southern Counties. The players were distributed among 26 rooms from the basement to the fourth floor, with 50 stewards to marshal the crowd, STAR MISTAKEN FOR AEROPLANE, On a recent Transatlantic voyage passengers aboard the Leviathan were c'f'led from dinner to view what was thought to be the light of an approaching aeroplane. The light proved, however, to be Jupiter, ohir.mg brightly in the eastern sky. Who would have thought 50 yais ago that a nitar could be mistaken for a orans-oceanio jtaraveller! A PECULIAR GERMAST TRAIN. One of the most peculiar trtins in existisnce, froin one standpoint at any rate, is one that runs between Berlin and Leipsig, for it leaves Berfin at no hour of the day or night—at leas.t so.far as the clock is concerned. Its time of departure is 0 o'clock, 00 minutes. This strange hour i 3 duo to the introduction of the 24-liour clock on the German railways. A train arriving at midnight arrives at 24 o'clock, while a train leaving at midnight departs at 0.00 o'clock. Thus the mystery c/ the Leipsig train meets with a simp.o .ixplanation. TYING BOWK ITALIANS. There are, ap; ire itly, hard times ahead for motorists in Italy . f or plans are afoot to make all Italian motorists Government auxiliaries. Automobile Club of Italy has been ordered 'to transfer its headquarters from Milan to Rome and «1J motor owners must become members. The club • is now obliged to maintain n register in which all sales of motor vehicles throughout the country must" be entered, as well as every financial transaction in connection with motor-cars. Although the hire-purchase system is to be encouraged, all transactions aie illegal janleas registered with the club. THE STARS AKD STRIPES. 'At an American Legion paiade in Paris recently the nation?- ss andavd of the United Status, th-» .Stars and St.upes, -ad the procession-, with tho standard of tho American Legion beside it. J he flag of the United States is by a national custom always accompanied by the atandard of some organisation or society. The reason for this custom is that this flag, as such, may not receive honours, jpiOT may it bo uicfinsd before irijonuments or personages The standard; therefore, of the military or civic organisation accompanying tho national flag receives and pays these honours, while the national sag remains erect. CRICKET ON CONCRETE. finding that after a season's football ft, war, often impossible to get the ground into a suitable condition for cricket, the Bwansen Borough Council have been, conducting experiments in an attempt to prevent .the winter game from spoiling the summer sport. . ~ , Last year tho council laid down two concrete cricket pitches, 66ft. by 4ft. 6m. Green cocoanut matting was placed on ♦/op of the concrete and the experiment proved so successful that it is intended * to lay these concrete cricket pitches in all areas where,,: owing to lack of sporty |»ff accominodation, football has to be felayedl on groiinds which, during the Ujrgmar, are ' uised by - cricketers. ]

SUNKEN TREASURE AT VIGO> An international company has obtained a concession from the Spanish Government to exploit the treasure contained in the 6hips of the " Plate Fleet " from America, which were sunk by a British fleet in Vigo Harbour in October, 1702. Silver from the ships captured on that .occasion was minted into coins in England bearing the word Vigo under the bust of Queen Anne. TIN HARES AND SHOPKEEPERS. A shopkeeper in a Manchester suburb says that since tin-hare racing began his turnover has decreased by over £3 a week. " A serious thing," he adds, " for a small man like me. Not only that, the number of people who used to pay me ready money, and who now ask for credit, has increased." The shopkeeper adds" Knowing my customers, I am certain that it is tfys greyhound racss that are responsible." Other shopkeepers tell the same tale. ' BREATH-HOLDING RECORD. Mr. E. L. Gaylor, a member of the senior class ot Wesleyan College, Connecticut, has broken the world's record for breath-holding by establishing a time of 14m. 2s. Tho previous record was. made by the University of California m 1916, when 10m. 20s. was achieved. Mr. G iylor accomplished his feat by breathing excessively a short time before holding nis breath, to rid his blood of much of the carbon dioxide, and to propare himself further he concluded the process with three breaths of oxygen, tho last of which he held for tho record time. TEN GUINEAS FOR A PIPE. Thirty years ago a Cambridge undergraduate asked his tobacconist to procure lor him a pipe tho grain of which ran uniformly in tho same vertical direction as the bowl". Such a thing is a freak among j ipes, anc out of 1000 out there may be one with this peculiar characteristic; it is usually lie result tl the heavt of tho nriar root happening to be exactly at-the bare of the bowl when tho latter is fashioned out of •'.»* rough wood. The tobacconist at length £oui T.'ch a pipe, which hs sold tf the the ordinary price. , Tho. matter's • friends, however, were so struck with novelty that they overwhelmed the de-"ier with orders for " straight grainers." , The demand for this kind of pipe grew steadily, and the makers set them aside whenever they appeared as rarities cupabio oi ; realising fancy prices. "LAND 0;f MY FATHEJ.F.." No man could call himself a Welshman who did not know "Hen wlad fy Nhadau" ("Land of My Fathers"), yet it is only recently that a movement to provide & memorial to the composers .of the famous national anthem has been started in Wales. Tho music of this anthem was composed by the son of the man who wrote the words. ■ One day Evan James, whose bardic name was leunn ab lago, sent a message to his son . asking him to visit him and to bring his harp. He went to his while the people were in chapel and his" mother rebuked him for bringing his harp on the Saibbath. At this the son asked her if sh> had forgotten the b ar P of David ' at the feast,, ... Evan James held a slate in his hand and. while he put down the words, his son composed on One stanza was, composed tihat evening and the other , the following . morning. j

WHITE FLAG OF STRASBOURG. The white flag under which the representatives of the toira of Strasbourg surrendered to the German Army in 1870 has been formally restored to the town. All tho patriotic societies of Strasbourg, including tha veterans of 1870, paraded in the Place Kleber, and the flag, a tattered white napkin fastened to a cavalry lance, was then carried in procession to the military museum. POSTMAN'S HOSPITAL GIFT. Mr. Francis Cardinal, a London postman, has sailed fo~ India on special leave to open a cottage hospital which he has built for women lepers. Mr. Cardinal served in India during the war, and was impressed with the sufferings of the leper outcasts. After the war Mr. Cardinal became acquainted with an old woman who was also interested in lepers. The old woman died, and left him a small sum of money, which Mr. Cardinal has put with his own savings, making just enough to build a cottage hospital for lepers in South India, DOG'S BIRTHDAY PARTY. Jack, of Putney, fe dog who saw war service in Flanders and was wounded three times, has just celebrated his 20th-birth-day. He had a birthday party, with a cake surmounted by 20 candles. Hg sat at the head of tho table and, with his mistress holding his right paw, cut tho cake himself with a silvor knife. -There were seven guests, six human beings and one dog, Moo, a Pekingese, Jack had three slices of cake, and afterwards presented each of his guests with a silk'handkerchief. Ho wont out to Mons with his former master, a major in the 12th LancerSj in 1914, and served three years Mons and Ypres, where he killed over 1000 rats m the British trenches. His master v.aa killed at Mons in 1917. _____ LETTER DELAYED 63 YEARS. The vagaries of post offices seem unending. In London a letter has lately been delivered 63 years late, with a charge of 3d for postage duo attached. It _ was posted on November 30, 1865, at Knightbridge. and was recently received in Baker Street, little more than a mile away. The additional postal charge was made because the. stamp was out of date,, bat - Wis authorities state that a refund will be mado if a claim, is submit d »n prenrr' order. > ■ 'l, Vie firm to which the letter was addressed is still in business',, and recognised the "inane as that' of,an old client, but-the premises to which the letter referred have long since been replaced. It is believed that the letter was found in the ruins ot" an old house which is now being razed, and was reposted by one of the workmen. ARTISTS WHO ARE SAILORS. There are fsw callings that teach one to be handier with one's hands than that of the sailor, and it is said there are many bailors who would have made a name for themselves in the art world had they had the necessary training. Rugs and embroideries, and those ingenious sltips inside bottles, are familiar examples of Bailors' work. The second officer of .. one liner has chronicled his voyages in a scries of watercolour paintings. His view of the sea from the ship's' bridge has given him |'plenty.. of • opportunities fo portray its various moods. Then there is a liner s lift attendant who, although ho has only one arm, paints beautiful pictures. 1 Many sailors are clever musicians, and one man can produce really , wonderful music from a mouth-organ. Another sailor, a bedroom steward, works so delicately in wood that ho has made a carved -chain from, au ordinary safety - matcJi»

"THE TOP OF ENGLAND." When the Prince of, Wales paid a surprise visit to the London County Council elementary schools in "Upper Kenningtou Lane, London, the headmaster asked of Raymond Chester, a rosy-cheeked little fellow of seven, " Where is Scotland ? " " On the top of England," said Raymond promptly. The Prince laughed so heartily that Raymond instantly became the hero of the hour. A SURPRISE FOR AMERICANS. Two Englishmen have some reason to be proud of themselves. Driver William Young and fireman George Pearce, of the Great Western Railway, who lately returned from an 11 weeks' visit to the United States, startled the railway officials in that country by the high speeds at which they drove their exhibition engine. When Messrs. Young and Pearce touched a speed of over 75 miles an hour they were asked to slow down. ~ . . ROMANCE OF TWO SINGERS. j Mr. Henry Mills, the secretary of the National Sunday League, has almost completed 40 years' service with that organisation, which has done so much to provide city dwellers in Britain with suitable Sunday concerts and country excursions. He hears hundreds of singers in a year, and passes judgment on them. About 20 years ago Mr. Mills gave a chanco to a young Irish tenc named John | McCormack, now the c©fcnr<?.ted tenor. Last year a young boy was given a chance. Ho created a sensation, for. he had a wonderful tenor voice. Tommy Sandilands was his name He was a Welsh youngster employed in a hotel. The latest news of him is that his contracts up and down the country are bringing him in £IOGO a year, although he is only 17. STATION WITHOUT TRAINS. . There is an underground railway station in London which, although" no train has over passed through it, has probably held more valuable property than any' other station in the'world. It is - 'where the Crown Jewels and National Gallery .paintings were deposited for safety during the war. This strange . station - has >•"' 70ft, of standard underground track, used for teaching engineers and signalmen of the Loudon Underground Railways the intricacies of. their jobs. At one end of th? station.is a large te<> lure room for CO pupils, while signal cabins ar>3 stationed along the track. By means of. toy cars, drivers are taught, how to avoid collisions, and how to use the electro-pneumatic signal system. It is hoped that before long a . method will be deyised by which underground trains will be mad© to run without drivers. BEHIND LOOKED DOORS. firms have started with smftU capitals, but surely the smallest is half' a pound of tobacco! It seems incredible, yet that small quantity of tobacco popularised the cigarette habit in England and built up a great industry. , A poverty-stricken Russian fled—a refugee—from" his homeland to London 45 years ago. Ho was Abraham Drapkin; the cigarette pioneer, who died recently. Other Russians, equally poor* fled, with him, and for a living they began to make cigarettes at a time when the ready-made article was almost unknown in England. Young Drapkin bought, with almost his last coins, half a,pound of tobaccd, making his cigarettes by hand and teaching the trade to his friends. They had to gum a piece of parchment to the table on which to roll the tobacco, aud, fearing their landlord would object/ worked with tile door locked. Becoming suspicious that-a conspiracy was afoot, the landlord brought two policemen, who * burst open the * door aud revealed the ''plot."