GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20288, 22 June 1929, Page 16 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

[WOMAN AS EKPERT RIFLE SHOT. Miss M. E. Fostor, the famous Risley s!iot, while shooting at Bisley in a King s / first-stago match on April 13 with tho servico l'iflc 'made the highest possible score at 200, 500 and 600 yards. This; is the first time sinco the diameter ol the bull's-eye was reduced from Sin. that a highest possible first-stage scoro has been made by any shot, man or woman. Miss Foster 'is a poultry farmer in the neighbourhood of Farnborough. ■ ' | " ~~ ~ SEQUEL TO A SALUTE. The United States Secretary of Labour Las instructed,officials of the Department of Labour to/admit to tho United States Irish immigrant girl who was reported / to have lost her passport .in saluting tho Statue of Liberty upon her arrival at Now York. Tho girl, Mary Callaghan, Queenstown, Ireland, was to be admitted temporarily without a passport if the department officials found tho report authentic. SERVICE TO DUMB ANIMALS. The, American Humane Society's medal for extraordinary service to dumb animals has been awarded, at Buffalo to Mounted Patrolman Frank McGuire. / Mr. McGuire, on uuty at a busy corner. puw a lame, dog dodging in the traffic jam, helpless (aid frightened. Oblivious to danger lie rode into tho thick of tho traffic, leaned over from his saddle, picked up (he dog, and carried it to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (shelter. i' POWER/OF A PARACHUTE. 'An a'eroplaaio with its motor cut off at 5000 ft. altitude, was recently successfully lowered to the ground by a parachuto at Santa Ana, California. Tho parachute, released from the plane by a coil spring, took up tho ship's weight of 28001b. after a drop of 200 ft. Captain Rosfcoe Turner piloted the craft, R biplane, which was landed gently in a field threo miles from the airport whero it had taken off. The parachute was 60ft. in diameter, ;and contained 600 square yards of silk./ TALKING POST-CARDS. j " Talking /Post-cards " will, in future, 1 make it possible to dispense with ordinary printed greeting cards at Christmas and on birthdays. The latest novelty is a very small "gramophone record imprinted on a picture post-card. The card is about oin. in diameter, and looks like a thin brown filament, but is shaped and marked like an ordinary record. It can be sent by post for a penny and on arrival at its destination it will deliver/its message of greeting by being played on an ordinary gramophone. f DEPOSED MONARCH'S BUTTERFLIES When a book is written on "The Keercations of Deposed Monarchs," the travels . of ex-Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria in search of butterflies should form _ asi absorbing i-hapter. He was lately in Last Africa collecting his rare specimens, and proving, no doubt, as wily with the butterfly net as he was with diplomatic weapons. Ferdinand was not popular. He was suspected, perhaps wronghj of trying to set other countries against each other, hoping to pick up something when they came" to blows. But personally ho is amusing and, without pomposity. j STATE GRAMOPHONE RECORDS. Ono of the most recent acts of the Italian Government has been the establishment in Rome of a state collection of gramophone records for the- purpose cf / preserving tho sound of the voices of those citizens who, have, served their country with distinction,' The choice of the persons who are to receive the signal honour will bo made at the beginning of each year, and the cost will be partly recovered from tho sale of the rights, "to reproduce these State records. It is expected that other governments will follow the example of transmitting to posterity tho voices of most eminent men and Women. BOON OF THE AEROPLANE. * There is a woman in England to-day Who is more grateful for the invention of flying machines than anyone else in this island. She went to Switzerland for the winter sports and received severe injuries ii\ an accident. Line most sick people, she longed to bo home, surrounded by friends and kindred, but it was out of the question iliat she should make the journey by train and boat. Imperial Airways, on hearing of her plight, tuinicd an air-liner into an ambulance and conveyed her from Switzerland to London iti seven hours. That included §i hour's halt in Paris. Land and tea travel .would have taken about 24 7 hours. i; ';, -- . . DREAM WITHIN A DREAM. Several people,who take an interest ;n their dreams keep a pencil and paper at their bedside, says a writer in the London Evening News. One of them stated to the writer that he had a dream lecently which lie was too sleepy to record. He repeated the details to himself, and thought he would remember them in the morning", but next morning tlio baseless fabric had quite melted. A few nights later another dream came to the man, whereupon he resolutely conquered Ids sleepiness and wrote down a page full of the details. When he wakened in the morning he forgot the dream itself, but remembered that he had written it. He reached for tho paper—and found only a blank sheet. It had all been-'a dream I within a dream. i SPECTACLES AND THEIR HISTORY. It is three hundred yc-ars sinco the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers re- " ceived its charter from Charles L, and the tercentenary is soon to be commemorated. But is it correct to speak of it as being tho tercentenary of spectacles, asks _a .writer in the London Daily Chronicle ? ' Among the lesser, sights of Florence is j a house, which bears the tablet affixed "to honour tho memory of Salvino dcgli Armati, inventor of spectacles in the 13tii century." Strangely enough, although the English spectacle-makers' guild had its charter in 1692, one finds Pepy's nearly 40 years afterwards complaining of his eyesight. He adds, " I am mighty hot ' upon trying the late experiment of paper tubes.'' If the Italian claim is. authentic it seems'inconceivable that the boon of spectacles should have taken three more centuries to reach England. JERICHO TO BE EXCAVATED. The site of the ancient city of JCrichc is to be submitted to a thorough archaeological Excavation. The work will be under the direction of Professor John Garstrang. The expense of the new expedition is being shared by Lord Melcheffc and Sir Charles Marston. It is hoped to throw light on the muchdisputed question of the date of tho exodus of the Israelites and their entry i into Canaan. Jericho was destroyed, according to the Bible narrative, by Joshua during m ; nt the close of the 15l1i century B.C. The site was excavated 20 years ago by Dr, Schumacher and Professor Sellin. Th-j conclusion drawn by the German excavators was that Jericho fell before an invasion from tho east, and had been - some centuries before Joshut aurvcUed the city. Dr. Garstang doe; a «cpt that theory.

UMBRELLA AND LUXURY TAX. Tho proposal to include umbrellas among the objects liable to a luxury tax has caused consternation among tho um-brella-makers at Budapest. Twelvo years ago 570,000 of tho umbrellas used in Hungary wero imported from foreigu countries. The number of imported umbrellas has fallen _ to 13,000, which means that the Hungarian makers are now ablo to provide 95 per cent, of the umbrellas used in their country. OPERATION ON A DOG. ' A boy at St. Helens, whose dog's head was battered with a brick by another boy, asked a surgeon at the hospital to put his pet out of its misery. Tho doctor was touched by tho boy's distress and ho operated on tho dog, removing a broken piece of skull over tho brain. 4 When the boy revisited tho hospital he found tho dog taking food and able t» wag its tail in welcome. The dog is now an out-patient at tho hospital. PRIZES FOR PECULIAR DOGS. At the annual pet show of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals there was a special class for " peculiar dogs," which included tho dog with tho longest tail; tho tail With tho longest dog; the happiest dog, and the dog with tlie best curled tail. The classes also included tho mongrel with the least resemblance to any known breed; tho best spotted dog; the fastest and slowest dog; the dog with thfe most beautiful eyes; tho best hand-shaking dog; and the best begging dog. ®. ' PRINCE SUCCEEDS MINER. Tho Duko of York's appointment as Lord High Commissioner of tho Church of Scotland, with the right of residenco at Holvrood Palace, Edinburgh, is interesting, It is a reminder of the fact that in democratic Britain there is no post under tho Crown to which the humblest, may not aspiro. Within a few years His Majesty's High Commissioner in Scotland has been first a * working miner, and secondly a Prince of the Blood. Tho miner was Mr. James Brown, who was appointed whilo the Labour Government was in office m 19^4.

TEARS IH ONION TRADE. Hundreds of tons of Egyptian onions wero lately held up at London docks as a result of the most serious glut ever experienced in the onion trade. Tho market had collapsed after the great frost, and in tho city first-class anions were selling for as low as 6s a cwt. " Onions - are cheaper now than they havo ever been before," said a prominent importer. " They should not bo moro than l£d a lb. in tho shops. About 35,000 tons have already como from Alexandria, and moro are on the water." NEW AMERICAN TENNIS THRILL. " Jai alai," a'South American form of tennis which is being exhibited in New York, will, it is expected, cause a stir. The game is played at a tremendous rate, and, according "to those responsible for introducing the fame in the United States, it is the fastest and most graceful sport in the world. Betting is allowed, and it is the swiftly changing fortunes of the two sides that is expected to keep tho spectators of New York, like those of Yavana and San Sebastian, in a frenzy of excitement. The game is somewhat similar to tennis, but the racquets used are basket-shaped and strapped along the arm of the player, as in the Basque sport known as "pelota."

BRIDGES OVER THE TYNE. Thero was a bridge over the Tyno during the Roman occupation, as the name Pons iElii bears witness. _lt was probably n wooden one resting on stono pillars! Nothing much is known about it or how long it existed. There was a bridge across the, river, however, in 1174, as history records a fight on the Tyne Bridge in that year. Tho bridge mentioned was destroyed by fire in 1248, and the one which replaced it stood till 1771, when it was washed away by the great flood of that year. The next bridge was a nine-arched structure of stone, which was completed in 1781, the first stone having been laid in 1775. It was this bridge which was demolished in order to make room for tho Swing Bridge which was commenced in 1868 and finished in 1876. THE SEA AS A POSTMAN. A penny, two farthings, and a letter, which had been drifting, about the A'orth Atlantic for two months and 20 days were delivered in London a few weeks rgo. The letter came from St. Kilda, but two others sent about the saline time are missing. St. Kilda, om of the Outer Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland, is the loneliest of tlie British Isles, and the whole Atlantic is its pillar-box. Thero is no post-office there, so stamps cannot be bought. Letters are put in tin cans with the necessary postage and cast upon tlie waters. The cans are fastened to sheepskin buoys with wooden floats marked " St. Kilda Mail. Please Open." The set of the Atlantic currents washes up most of tho St. Kilda mail in the Shetlands, but many letters have to bo written off as lost in transit. HONOUR TO T. A. EDISON. To perpetuate one of the most dramatic incidents in the career of Thomas A. Edison, his friend Henry Ford has purchased and will move to his Dear-born museum the Grand Trunk. Railway station at Smith's Creek, in Michigan. Jt was when the train slowed down for Smith's Creek that an irate trainman bundled the youthful inventor out of the baggago coach, pitching after him his printing press and chemical laboratory, following a fire in the coach ignited by spilled chemicals. This event occurred during tho Civil War. when Edison, was working as a train newsboy on the run from Detroit to Port Huron, whero he lived with his parents. Etlisori was printing the only newspaper published on a moving train, writing the news, setting the type, and running off the sheets on his own hand press. ORIGIN OF "PAPA" AND "MAMMA." A correspondent of tho London Morning Post, who signs himself " All Early Victorian but not early enough to romernber tno beginning of ' papa' and ' mamma,' " asks when these " horrible appellations" were first introduced, and also when they may be said to have died. The answer to tho first question is stated to bo that these terms wero introduced from France- toward the end of tho 17th century. They were considered very refined, not to say smart, and wore at first used not only by children but by grown-ups.-

In the" early part of the 19th century the torms were still going strong. Their death was a slow process, for they only gradually gave place to " daddy" and " mummy." In some families " pater" and " mater" were chiefly employed, but that classical touch, which was considered more manly among schoolboys in those days, was short lived.