GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20420, 23 November 1929, Page 7 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

latest in slot machines. An inventor of Fairfield, Connecticut, has been granted a patent on a frankfurter slot machine. The new machine will cook the frankfurter, toast the roll, season the msat, and send it out wrapped in paper a minute and a-balf after a coin has been dropped in the slot. Electricity is the power used, and the frankfurter is not touched by hands. Five hundred frankfurters and -the sanio number of rolls may be placed in the machine.

A IPERMIT FOR SWEARING. 'An amusing echo of tho morality campaign, when swearing was made a punishable. ofiencc, comes from tho town of Gyor, m Hungary. A builders' foreman, employed by an important firm, has applied to the police for a licence to pronounce oaths and curses. Tho Iforeman, who has been fined for Swearing more than once, states that ho is unable to get any work out, of his men without using strong language. BRIGHTON'S GREAT BATH. The British Ministry of Health has sanctioned the construction of the new bathing pool at Brighton, which, it is estimated, ■will cost £175.000. Tho bath, which is to be built between the Palace Pier and tho Banjo ..Groyne, will be the largest open-air swimming pool in Britain, as the area of tho water will bo nearly an acre. There will bo separate dressing boxes for 248 men and 246 women, and the promenade round the pool will accommodate ncat-ly 10,000 spectators. 2tewspaper;s great " scoop." On Sunday, November 3, tho Cologne Post, the newspaper of the British Army on tho Rhine, appeared for the last time. ,The publication of this bright journal since it Was first issued on March 31, 1919, ''has been ono of the most gallant adventures in newspaper history. The paper could boast proudly of ono great " scoop." It published ahead of any newspaper in the world tho draft of the Versailles Peace Treaty, which was sent from Paris by air and escorted to tho office by»an armed bodyguard.

YORKSHIRE'S BOTTOMLESS LAKE. Another attempt has been made to find the depth of the subterranean lake in the heart of Ingleborough Mountain, ono cf the highest Yorkshire peaks of the Pennines, "but no plumb-line has yet touched bottom. The lake, .which is 20ft. wide at one Eoint and 300 yards long, and lies 500 ft. elow the summit of tho mountain and a mile from tho entrance to the cavern system, was discovered some years ago. It was explored in a flat-bottomed boat. The approach to the lake takes one through a canyon, in the bottom of which rushes the river. Stalactites hang in profusion from the solid limestone 'roof. WAYSIDE TELEPHONES. At intervals along the road from Berlin io Leipzig telephones connecting with the nearest repair station have been installed, mounted on a white post and enclosed in a box. Motorists may receive a key to the telephone by paying a yearly fee of 15s. The repair stations are obliged to have someone on duty day and night, and to summon physicians and ambulances in case of injuries to persons. By the end of tho year it is planned to have similar emergency telephones on all roads leading into "Berlin for a distance of about 120 miles. ■ " GIRLS AS NAVIGATORS. Girls can now go down to the sea as veil as boys. A three-masted barquentine, a vessel which has fished on the Newfoundland banks, has been made trim for a zirls' school of seamanship and navigating. Commander and Mme. Hebert, who direct the Paris institution kilown as La Palestra,- are responsible for, and will be ifi charge of, this novel school. Provision is made for about 20 girls, who are expected to help out the regular crew cf five experienced sailors. The Alcyon will remain in northern waters during the summer, and will sail to the Mediterranean for the winter. Ihe girls will wear sailors' costumes on board, and a skirt uniform on shore, with yachting cap.

20RSE PINES FOR DEAD MASTER. Broncho, ihe famous veteran jumper, is pining for his former owner, Brigadier Malise Graham, who died on August 14 as the result of a kick from a horse received at Dublin Horse Show. For many years, the brigadier, and the horse were inseparable. The understanding between them was the talk of every 6how at which they appeared, and it enabled them to win many triumphs. T.'ie most notable of these was achieved only this year at Olympia, where they led the British team to victory, the performance on that occasion bringing the whole audience to its feet. There is now a proposal to remove Broncho to Mellon Mowbray Remount Depot. Here he would live in the cavalry atmosphere to which lie has been accustomed, and enjoy the companionship which, it is thought, would revive his spirits. MANX CATS GROWING TAILS. There is great perturbation in the Isle of Man because Manx cats have so far forgotten tho dignity and cxclusiveness of their breed as to grow tails. Many of them are no mere stumps, but fine, bushy tails, which would stamp cats of other breeds as champions. Tails ,of any kind are unwanted and unappreciated. The Manx Board of Agriculture, moved by a happy sentiment and a keen desire to build up the now sadly depleted ranks of the tailless army, lias decided to wage war against any sort of tail which has a cat attached. It will be slow work. Tails arc neither grown nor got rid of in a day. Ihe department hopes, by giving encouragement to Manx people, to breed real Manx cats, that future generations will again see the little island populated with fine, big, but quite tailless cats. It was decided to award attractive prizes at various shows Jto be held in the island.

AIDING THE BLIND TO READ.

The whole field of literature may be opened to the blind by the invention of an electrical device whereby printed letters are interpreted in the form of sounds, t .The device, called the " Visograph," i? based upon the characteristic of the " Eelenium cell. A book is held in a mechanical holder arid an electricallygenerated ray about 1 1000 th of an inch in diameter is.projected upon the page. The ' ; ray can be moved along at the will of tho operator. When the light ray is on tho white " paper, an electric current flows through the apparatus, causing a buzzing to be emitted by a loud speaker. When the ray strikes the black of the type, the current ,ceases. Upon the light ray depends a pantograph, similar to that used by architects and sculptors, geared so that steel rod at its end travels four / times the distaneo covered by tho light ray. Updcr this rod are several aluminium •trips forming the-ground on which tho Kv. rod "writes." Tho blind reader draws -'•.c: pantograph over tho strips, and by i'* *'t*FQ&ting silence and buzz feels out tho y;- ®*}ape,of tho letter, progressing then to §&• next, and so on to tho end of tho line.

MUSIC AND THE RADIO. For the first time recently an orchestra composed of musicians in London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, and Milan, simultaneously played their various instruments to a single,, piano accompaniment in a Swiss radio studio.

Oboe, and violin were played in London, and other instruments in other cities, tho combined orchestra being gathered into tho single studio, wlicnco tho .symphony was radiocast.

MONKEY AT A WEDDING. While a marriage was being performed in Sainte Croix Church, Bordeaux, a large monkey, which had escaped from its owner's house, entered tho building and jumped on to tho shoulder of the bridegroom's mother. Tho startled woman gave a loud shriek; and tho ceremony was stopped while members of tho wedding party chased the monkey. Tho animal took refuge in tho pulpit. There it was captured by Iho verger, who restored it to tho owner. WHERE FRANCIS BACON RESTS. Ono will look in vain in Westminster Abbey for the tomb of one of the greatest, most learned Englishmen. Tho remains of Francis Bacon, Baron Vcrulnm, Lord Chancellor of England, philosopher and essayist, lie in, a small old country church on the outskirts of St. Albans. Bacon, it is related, caught a fatal chill when stuffing a fowl with snow on a bitter day to see whether cold would preserve the flesh—an action typical of tho man who combined a marvellous versatility with an unquenchable thrist for first-hand knowledge. BRAVE RESCUE OF A DOG. Mr. F. J. Joliile, the Flamborough light-house-keeper, has been presented with the National Canine Defence League's silver medal for swimming a quarter of a mile to rescue a dog which fell from tho cliffs into the sea on July 15. It was remarked by Mr. Joliffo that he thought tliero was moro fuss than need be concerning tho incident. Ho could not see a dog drown. ' Only those who know tho. treacherous submerged rocks appreciate tho danger Mr. Joliffe incurred. CHINA'S POSTAGE STAMPS. A change has recently taken place in the design of China's postago stamps. For a long spell of years what lias been in ui;e lias been a small upright octavo, with a four-masted Chinese junk with all sails set, and tho words " Republic of China, Postage," printed underneath. But owing to recent political events new stamps have beeu designed. A larger upright octavo lias within a laurel wreath circle a capital portrait of the new head of the Government, General Chiang-kai-shek, while underneath is the legend, "To cohimemorate unification," and beneath that again " Republic of China." DEADLY ELECTRIFIED EARTH. A case of electrification probably without precedent is reported from Dijon, in France. Two farm horses on their way to work in the fields dropped dead as they were passing a standard carrying ari electric power cable, although they had not been within a yard of it. Experts, on investigation, found that tho horses had been electrified by shockconveyed .through tho ground. A flock of starlings alighted on a high-tension cable and caused a short circuit. Uhis destroyed the insulation between the cable and its standard, so that tho current passed from the metal supports to the ground, charging the area with electricity. The horses had stepped into this area. IMMENSE SWIMMING POOL. The largest swimming pool in Europe is approaching completion in Berlin. The hall containing it will be about 200 ft. long and 70ft. wide, and tlio pool itself about 164 ft. long and 50ft. wide. The walls and roof of the hall are of glass, and tho windows at the sides can bo removed completely in summer. There will be two gymnasiums in the upper storey, and two separate roof gardens. The new swimming hall will contain more than 700 disrobing cells, 100 tub-baths, £0 cells for shower-baths, 25 medicinal baths, and extensive Russian and Roman baths, with some hundred cots. A NOVEL TRADE UNION. An .eight-hour day for cigarette-end pickers is one of the aims of a new French trade union, the name of which in English will probably be something like The National Union of Pickers-up of Cigarette and C'igar-ends. The arrival of thousands of tourists has thrown the industry into a state of chaos, and fights and quarrels are frequent. The intensified competition has resulted in an attempt to form a. union. It is said that these dealers in second-hand tobacco make from £3 to £4 a month. It is planned to divide the members into three categories—first, those who do their picking by hand; second, those who use a stick with a sharp nail at the end; third, and most expert, those who use a snKUI tack on the heel of one shoe. " BACK TO THE RIVER." London business men have gone " back to tie river." Not since the days of tho old London County Council steamboats has the great waterway been so extensively used as a means of getting io work. With tiie advent of the speedy motor-launch it is rapidly becoming <* popular route to the city. Every fine morning motor-boats dash up to' Blackfriars Bridge with city men and return punctually at. j.uO to pick them up for the homeward trip. Westminster Bridge is the landing place o civil servants who live at leddington and Hampton Wick. Enthusiasts declare that for scenery and fresh breezes this loim of travel is preferable to_ any other. Women, too, are appreciating the river as a high ,road to the shopping centres, and frequently they moor_ their era t opposite the Houses of Parliament while tliev make a tour of the West End. is no uncommon thing for parties in even intj dross, bound for an evening at the theatre, to make the trip in a motorlaunch. PONY WHICH TELLS THE TIME. Mr. W. .L Butler, a youtig fanner, of" Dauntsey, near Chippenham, England, has developed a remarkable power over horses, which enables him to tram them, in his own words, " to do anything but speak." I" three months he has taught a four-year-old chestnut pony to tell the time, to count his own and his master's age, to pick out people in a crowd, to sham being dead, to mount a table and to push a perambulator containing two children round tho ring. Even more remarkable has been Ins succ'SS with a nine-year-old pony 10 hands high, which he has taught to sit in a wheelbarrow and to shake hands, as well as the tricks done by the chestnut. Mr. Butler places kindness as.of the first importance in training animals, but says firmness must be coupled with it. Mr. Butler is also owner of a bLick hunter. Jimmy, which for tjio iast thrce seasons he lias regularly ridden to to Duke of Beaufort's Hounds- without saddle or bridle, controlled only by a light cane and with merely a rug on its back. When driven in harness Jimmy never has a bit in his mouth, tho reins being fixed to a headstall, and the horso answers readily to the slightest touch,