GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20152, 12 January 1929, Page 3 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

BUSES FOR CHURCH-GOERS. The Rev. J. Cairns, vicar of Chevening, Kent, says: "Don't lruild unnecessary parish buildings; rather subsidise a motor-bus. I tiave done so," he adds. " Now on Sunday evenings a large, very crowded motor-bus comes along and nearly trebles the congregation." The rector of Bretteuham, Norfolk, has purchased an omnibus and drives worshippers to and from church, not stopping to change out of his cassock. He charges fi penny each way. MEMORIAL TO A MINER. A mopument consisting of a stone cairn has been erected to commemorate the discovery of a coal mine and the pluck of its finder. The first is near Lethbridge, Alberta, and the second was a pioneer of 1872, Nicholas Sheran. Mr. Sherar. was made of stern. His market w.is 200 miles away. 'io cart the precious fuel to his market he employed bull teams and many weeks of hardship and toil it must have taken him. A WONDERFUL MEMORY. Sir Josiah Stamp, president of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, agreed to address one of the most learned and severely technical bodies in the country. Pressure of work prevented him from preparing a set speech, and he arrived at, the hall without a note ot any kind. "All I want," he told the chairman, " is ten minutes' quiet in an anteroom. Will you keep going untd lam ready ?" ike chairman did. Sir Josiah entered with a few jottings on the back of an envelope, and spoke for an hour and a-half. He reeled ofi detailed itatistics relating to a particular industry, and astonishing everybody by his grasp of au immense and mtiicate bubject. AN HISTORIC SARDINE. Everyone knows the tale of the sardine that blocked the harbour at Marseilles. .It is one oi the most hoary of stories v.'orked on visitors to that famous city. But now it seeing that that classic jest is true after all. writes a Morning lost contributor. It was a corvette, La Sardine, that fought in tho French revolutionary wars. Toulon was being beseiged by the French, held as it wa.-< by a British fleet and army, and to prevent the latter lrorn effect inp a diversion at Marseilles, La Sardine put herself in the mouth of the harbour and was scuttled by her c ' d P~ tain's orders So at least says the leaine Abbe Marius Rccher, who has unearthed the fact from the dust of tho past and pommunicated i' to the Academy. ELABORATE AND ANCIENT CROSS. ' In the course of excavations in Leeds, in 1840 a fine stone cross, 12ft. high, was discovered with an elaborate SCU 'P|" Greek patterning, and dated about 940 by the name Olaf, Kmc of Northumbna . Tho cross stands within the Leeds Parish Church under the south arcade of the chancel. In the rebuilding of the church ir, 1840— actually the present Parish Church i*» the fifth, which has stood on the same site —the cross was found, and was taken possession of by the architect, Mr. Cliantrell. who set it up m the garden of his house at Rottingdean, Sussex. , Many years later the cross was recovered by Dr. Gott, then Vicar of Leeds, and restored to its proper place, where " commemorated, down the ages, the Olaf King of Northumbrian Danes, who settled in Yorkshire, and died 942.

AN AUTOMATIC POLICEMAN. .An automati. system of traffic control is to bo established at Coventry's important road corners. A time switch will control coloured signal lamps, which will be arranged to allow traffic to flow from north to south while that from east to west and west to east is held up, and vice versa. While the signals are changing a central caution lamp will light up. KEEPER OF THE KING'S VINE. Windsoi, so easily reached that it is considered by the visitor almost as one of tho sights of London, enjoyed tremendous popularity last summer. In one of the most picturesque spots in Windsor Great Park is the King's vine, one of tho finest in Europe. Its keeper is Mr. Styles, who is over 80, and has been in Royal service for moro than 6U years. Here lie is, tending thp vine, as lie has done for ,50 years past. 76 YEARS WITH ONE FIRM. Mr. Thomas Rogers, aged 91, who has oeen continuously employed at the Waring Furniture Factory at Lancaster for 76 years, died recently. He worked at the'bench as a wood turner right up to his death. His son. has been 49 years in the same factory, and his grandson nearly 20 years. In August last Mr. Rogers, who was said to be the oldest living hand turner of wood, went to London and took part in a Home Making Exhibition. THE LONELY MOOSE. The Rio Alta Ranch in Alberta has an unusual visitor. Feeling lonely, a fine moose has como down out of his rocky habitation, the mountains, and lias been grazing with tho cattle. It is being watched with interest by the manager, of the ranch and appears to be on quite fraternal terms with the cattle and mixes with them freely. The herd take the stranger's coming as natural and do not interfere with it in any way. They have little right to, for they are prolific usurpers of a land, which onco was his. NOVEL JAPANESE TREES. A fantastic but lovely Japanese tiee, inade from beads, was one of the presents at a recent wedding. r lho tree was of blue beads with crystal for stems and the effect most decorative. These novelties for table decoration aro much in vogue in Britain, at presont. They can be had in many rich colourings, and they emphasise the colour scheme of a room. Such an ornament placed in a dark corner would be exceptionally pretty. On the table they catch the gleam of the shaded lights and reflect these in a truly brilliant manner. BIRDS OF DEATH IN TIBET. Religious scruples and the nature of the land impose on the Tibetans strange ways of disposing of their dead. They may not be buried or burned. _ So the corpses are carried out to the hills, and fed to the vultures.

The body is laid on a huge flat stone, and a member of an outcast- clan cuts it up into small morsels To be eaten by members of the feathered world is considered the best means of disposal of the dead since in this way a good reincarnation is assured. The vultures are captured and used as scavengers io the Tibetan monasteries,.

LIGHTHOUSES ON LAND. Britain will soon bo a land of lighthouses, each flashing out its Morse signal for the benefit of aircraft flying by night or through fog. Pilots will carry code books enabling them to note their positions from tho signals of tho beacons. The Neon light at Croydon has been so successful that similar beacons aro to be placed at intervals along the main air routes, the landing grounds having the moro powerful lights. STORY OP A BOUQUET. A woman who won a law-suit in a Paris court presented the judge with a bouquet. He offered his thanks, but explained that ho was unable to accept the gift, and handed it to his clerk. The clerk was a stickler for legal etiquette, and gave tho flowers to the usher who, in turn passed them on to a party of visiting English schoolgirls, with the intimation that he dared not take them home to his wife. The bouquet was given to the girls as " a present from French justice." ROYAL CHRISTMAS GREETINGS. Christmas cards were chosen by the various members of tho Royal family some weeks before Christmas. Tho Queen's card depicts an English garden scene entitled " When Summer Weaves her Magic Spell;" and was painted by Miss Flora Pilkingtou. The King selected a picturo of the Royal barge being manned up-Thames, tho Tower of London showing in tho background. Tho design on tho Princo of Wales' greeting is a merry hunting scene. A historical sea subject is the Duko and Duches of York's choice, while Princess Mary's card represents a children's party at Hampton Court. STRONG-ROOM SECRETS. Besides the more mundane deposits of cash, jewels, and securities, bank managers in Britain are entrusted with tho care of the most extraordinary belongings. A bank's invulnerable vaults often contain articles of personal rather than intrinsic value. An elephant's tusk, a stuffed lizard, a cameo that once adorned a queen, and a shrapnel-scarred helmet are some of the strange curios that a bank manager confessed nave occupied his strong-room. Yellowed bundles of love-letters tied with faded ribbon are sometimes handed in to banks for safe custody, he said. Perhaps the most remarkable request was that of a medical student who required accommodation for a human skeleton. He was refused, however. THE MARINERS' CHURCH. A generation ago there were many persona who through their birth register held themselves as " belonging" to Stepney, although they had never set foot in that ancient ecclesiastical parish. This followed from a far-distant proclamation of the Bishop of London that every child baptised in any British sliip> in no matter what part of the world, must be registered at St. Dunstan's Parish Church.

From the year 950, when the church was rebuilt by the monks of St. Dunstan, until 1760, Stepney Parish Church was the church of the Port of London, and as such has a maritime history. Sailors from all parts of tho world made their thank-offerings at St, Dunstan s for voyages safely accomplished. Among ancient bequests to St. Dunstan's was one of £315 by a woman who stipulated that the income from that sum should annually be devoted to the help of girls under twenty years old whose fathers were mariners wrecked on the coast of Cornwall and nowhere else. The £315 was, however, seized in the time of the Commonwealth, and is no longer distributed by the " Rector in the Vestry on the 4th day of January each year."

LIPSTICK LESSONS AT SCHOOL. The famous " three It's" have been followed by a fourth in Chicago schools, whero a course of rouging has been added to the curriculum with the approval of tho Board of Education. Miss Nellie Ryan, who added the courso in the North Side continuation schools, explained: " Since girls simply will make up we have decided to try to initiate them into the correct artistic application of cosmetics." THE WORLD'S LARGEST DAM. The Lloyd dam, the most stupendous mass of masonry ever constructed by the hand of man, and tho largest dam in the world, has been opened at Bhatgar, near Poona, in tho Bombay Presidency. The terrible famine in 1899-1902 cost the Presidency over three millions sterling in money alone, apart from the toll of suffering. When all tho present irrigation schemes are completed it is estimated that there will bo an increased yield of crops of over four millions sterling yearly against a total capital expenditure of only double that sum. DEGREE TOR A CLOWN. A report from Budapest states that the Philosophical Faculty of Budapest University, has bestowed the degree of doctor on tho famous clown, Grock (Adrian Wettacli). Twenty years ago he was tutor to the family of Count Bethlen, the present Premier of Hungary. Grock has enjoyed tremendous popular? ity since the war ui Britain and America, and is regarded as tue greatest clown in tho world. He is a clover musician and an astute business man. 110 has refused to visit England again owing to the in come tax deduction from his princely salary. Hitherto Fanco is the only country which has honoured clowns. LONG LINE OF ANCESTRY. Apart from the Royal Family, which is tho oldest in Great Britain and Ireland ? This provocative question has aroused the greatest interest in London. Tho latest claim is from a member of the O'Malley family, which has been settled in Galway for centuries. This claimant states that there is in existence a documented pedigree showing that his family, of which Sir Neville Wilkinson, the Ulster King of Arms, is a member through the female line, can bo traced back to an ancestor who flourished in A.D. 365, or nearly half a century before tho Romans left Britain. Previous to this claim the Shirleys and the Gresleys were in tho lead. FIRST ENGLISHMAN TO FLY. A memorial tablet has been erected at Oxford in honour of James Sadler, the first English aeronaut, who astonished people on October 4, 1874, by " ascending into the atmosphere with firmness and intrepidity." His balloon was 170 ft. in circumference, and carried a small brazier, suspended under the envelope, in order to maintain heated air to give the power of ascension. It shot up to a height of 3600 ft. and was blown north west.

Unfortunately, Sadler dropped the fork used to handle the fuel, and it is said he avoided coming down in a wood by using oars. Eventually, after half an hour's flight, he bad travelled about six miles. In his second flight ho used hydrogen, and in three minutes was lost to sight in the clouds. Twenty minutes later he came down near Aylesbury, fourteen miles away. For twenty-five years Sadler worked as a chemist, engineer, and inventor, but when fifty-seven he returned to ballooning. In 1814 he ascended from Burlington House, Piccadilly, before a huge crowd. Subsequently, however, ho failed in an attempt to cross from Ireland to England-

WISDOM OP THE «" G.0.M." One day Mrs. Gladstone was discussing with some ladies a knotty problem while t her distinguished husband was upstairs j busy in his study. As the discussion proceeded, one of the " ladies exclaimed with a sigh—" Well, , there's One above who knows it aIL" " Yes," said Mrs. Gladstone, " William > will be down in a. minute, and he will tell f us all about it." VICAR'S WAY Or ESCAPE. Is there any little boy or any little 1 girl," asked the vicar at the close of the f Sunday school class, " who would like 1 to ask me a question? " 1 " Mary's hand went up. " Yes, sir*" she said.' "Why did the angels walk up and down Jacob's ladder when they had wings and could fly ? " " Oh—um —ah—yes," replied the vicar. " Now, is there any little boy or any little girl who would like to answer Mary's question ? " all the difpebence. , Mrs. Plainface was an exceedingly , jealous womau. She had taken her husband shopping and when she suddenly saw him gazing rapturously at a beautiful 1 young mannequin she was very angry. She threw down the frock she had been inspecting, much to the annoyance of the girl attending her, and grabbed her hus- , band by bis coat-sleeve. " Herbert, you wretch, you never look at me like that!" she reproached him. 44 No," agreed her spouse. 4 But then you never .ook like that yourself! " " THAT DREADPUL CHILD." Little Dolly's mother had taken her out into the town to help with the shopping. When they went into the greengrocer's, the proprietor, who was fond of children, gave the little girl a big, red apple. The child took it, but not one word of thanks passed her lips. Dolly's mother was somewhat embarrassed by her little girl's lack of manners, and said: "Dear, what are you going to say ? " Dolly held out the apple to the greengrocer and said briefly: " Peel it! " RIGHT AT LAST. There was once a small boy who began a diary. " His first entry began thus:— " Got up this morning at 7 o'clock; went to school all day till 4.30 p.m." Ho showed this to his mother, and sho was horrified. " Got up, indeed," she. cried. " What a dreadful expression. Does the • sun get up? No, it rises. You must do the same." And the grammatical woman scratched out the words. On the next day the small boy again showed the diary with his final entry before going to bed. " Set at eight o'clock," his mother read. THE BACKWARD BOY. Tba backward boy was telling his . school teacher about a week-end he had spent in the country. " Well," he said, " we goes up—" " Went op," corrected the schoolmistress. " We went up on the farm—" " To the farm." "To the farm, and there we see—" " We saw." " Wo saw a little kid—" " A little child. Now, begin again, and tell it properly, as I have shown you." The backward boy drew a deep breath. " Well," he repeated carefully, " we went up to the farm, and there we saw a goat's little child."

OBEYING ORDERS. On going to camp the scoutmaster had told a tenderfoot,. i,Q pack 'all necessary things for th.3 first-aid box. When about to start the scoutmaster said: 44 Now, are you sure you have packed everything ?" " Yes, sir," said the tenderfoot. "Bandages, safety-pins, lint, iodine?" " Nofc iodine, sir." "And why not?" " Because it was labelled 4 Not to be taken,' sir." WOT THE ONLY ONE., With a view to learning the art of boxing a young tnan went-to a "professor." A few moments after they bad begun the first bout the instructor floored his pupil with a neat half-hook. " I say," spluttered the novice, as he struggled to rise, 44 is it necessary to knock me down like this?" . 44 Bless your heart, no, sir," grinned the old pugilist. " Stand up and I'll show you a dozen other ways. ' . . ■ ; ■ IT WAS IMRBSSIBLE. There is a certain London club which makes a practice of sending a handsome wreath to the funeral of. any member who happens to die. A Scottish member went to see the secretary, and intimated that as be was prepared to fojego the flowers at his funeral he would take the cash for his wreath now. " Oh, no," replied the official courteously, 44 we could not think of depriving ourselves of the pleasure of sending the usual floral tribute when the happy occa. sion occurs." " ONE, TWO, THREE, AND GO." A couple of travellers once took lodgings for about ten Hays at a tavern in York, and fared sumptuously, drinking two or three bottles of wine daily. On the last day a dispute arose about the speed of their horses, and at last they agreed to enter on a contest to seo which was the fastest goer. | The landlord was appointed judge, each being the rider of his own horse. When they were mounted, the judge, like those at the Olympic games, gave the words, 44 One, two, tlireo, and go!'' 05 they, went, and the- landlord has never seen or heard of them since. , HOW IT HAPPENED. Bound the wards of the big hospital the old gentleman was being shown, and I as he passed through the accideritward, exchanged words of sympathy with some iof the patients. 44 Dear me," aa,id be, as he paused before a man whose head was swathed in bandages, and; whose j features were hardly distinguishable, ■ 44 you're badly -knocked about, bat you must cheer up, my man!" 44 Cheer up, guv'nor ? , I've done cheering up," replied the patient. 44 Non- • sense—nonsense!" But the man ..was hot to be comforted. 44 It ain't, nonsense," he insisted. 41 I'm 'ere through cheerin' up. "I *appened to cheer the wrong team!" HOW WAR BEGINS. A small boy asked his father how wars began. " Well," said his father, " suppose that England quarrelled with France—" 44 But," interrupted the mother,." England mustn't quarrel with France!" 44 1 kuow," he answered, "but-1 am taking a hypothetical instance." " You are misleading the child," * al " ;Jj the mother. 44 No, I am not," he- answered. 44 Yes, you are." - V "No, lam not." , * ' "I think I know how .war#.