General News Items

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20656, 30 August 1930, Page 7 (Supplement)

General News Items

CASE OF TWO EXTREMES. Two conscripts, one at Estrees-St. (Denis and one at Metz, have just been rejected for servico in the French Army, owing to their height and weight. The first man was 6ft. lOin. in height, and ho broko tho scales when being weighed. The second was 3ft. 6in. in height, and he weighed four stone. POPE AND HIS CIGARS. When tho Pope smokes he likes a good Havana cigar, but he smokes very little. His former Secretary of State, Cardinal Gasparri, however, is a pipe-smoker, but more than that —a pipe collector and connoisseur, in fact. His favourite mixture is a cheap one, tho pungency of which used to bother the late Pope Benedict XV. so much that tho Cardinal bad to abstain from smoking while in the same room." AIRMAN'S FAMOUS FAMILY. Reports of vast excitement in the United States over the birth of a son for Colonel Lindbergh, aro a remarkable triumph of personality. It is so hard nowadays to keep persistently in the limolight. But in one way or another Colonel Lindbergh seems to manage it. And the whole family benefits. Lindbergh's wife, is now " tho world's most famous mother," having been previously " the world's most famous wife." "Tho small Lindbergh is "the world's most famous baby." WORLD'S NEED FOR IRON. There is no better assurance that the world is progressing than that last year it produced 119 million tons of iron, ns compared with 75 million tons 'in 1913. So for every 100 tons produced 16 years ago, 160 tons were produced in 1929, which is very remarkable when it is remembered what troubled years they were. The four greatest iron countries are America, Germany, France, and England, and each of them may expect to share in tho advanco. LUXURY ON RAILWAY TRAINS. Tho British Great Western Railway Company has introduced first-class saloons completo with lounge, dining saloon, rest' compartment and kitchen. Jhe lounge of this " service flat on wheels," is complete with easy chairs, settees, writing table, reading lamps, and mirrors. This luxurious loungo is situated at ono end of tho coach, and the dining saloon, seating 14, at tho other. Both are fitted with long, side and end observation windows, and between these rooms is the rest compartment, kitchen, and pantry. LIBERTY OF THE SUBJECT. Like the old woman who lived in a shoe, New York's statue of Liberty looks about her and finds that she has so many naught v children she doesn t know what to do. At Willacoochee, Georgia, however. the municipal authorities have solved (lie problem; new by-laws provide for almost every mischievous contingency. Particularly the mayor congratulates himself on the ruling that no married man is " to bo caught riding or driving with any single girl or girls." the penalty of a breach is that of being interrogated by tho marshal as to his intentions. THE " YELLOW PERIL" LORRY. At the great rally of Scouts and Guides on Marlborough Downs recently, ono of the items in the programme illustrated tho " Litter Lout." A yellow-coloured lorry laden with trippers, carrying balloons and streamers and scattering them along the route, trundled rn to the rallying ground. The trippers alighted, and in three minutes uprooted every tree and flower—all specially planted for the occasion—driving off, leaving behind a hideous assortment of paper and broken bottles. The lorry was labelled the Yellow Peril! KITTENS' INHERITED MEMORY An observant person in England describes a case of animal action which he thinks suggests that memory may be inherited. A cat, which lived to a good age, for years had a saucer of milk placed for it in an outhouse in the garden. The cat had kittens, caught a cold, and died. The kittens were brought up by feeding with a bottle. The first time they were able to go into the garden they made their way to tho outhouse and sniffed expectantly around the exact spot where their mother's saucer had always been placed. Was it only chance, or was there an inherited memory ? the observer asks. THE USE OF BUTTONS. A writer in a London journal, has discovered that the buttons on men's coats, now purely decorative, aro a survivial of tho days when coat tails and cuffs were buttoned back, even as tho French Infantry in 1914, buttoned back their blue coat-tails. Likewise the nick in tho coat lapels is merely a survival of tho Georgian fashion of a permanently turncdup coat collar. " Cuff " used not to mean the end of the sleeve, but a fingcrless glove, or mitten, or " bag-glove, ' still in us>3 in cold countries and in tho English countryside, where they are cal' d hedger's gloves." Tho strips of braid on the backs of ordinary gloves are a testimony to the natural vanity of man, for thev havo been added to make the hand ana fingers appear long and slender! BRITISH INVENTOR'S HARD LOT. According to an article in tho journal, Inventor, ono of the most serious of British drawbacks is that invention, the very fount of practical progress, is choked at its start by taxation. To obtain a patent holding, good through. )ut the British Empire, about 25 times «is much has to bo paid by a British citizen, as would bo paid by an American citizen for a patent that holds good over all the United States. For about £2O an American inventor can get protection for a patent for !9 years over an area containing about 120 million people. For 16 years' protection over an area containing 48 million people, a British inventor in Great Britain would have to pay £l2O in stamp duties. If the British Empire is included, the payments must be nearly £SOO. BRICK'S OCEAN BURIAL. Dr. Roy L. Smith, pastor of the Simpson Methodist Church, Minneapolis, with eight members of his congregation, arrived at Southhampton from Montreal on a recent voyage. They had crossed the Atlantic to cast a brick taken from the church into the ocean. " Seven vears ago," said Dr. Smith, "we raised a mortgage to build the church. The amount has gradually been paid off. At the service on the Sunday before I left, tho paid-up document was officially handed to me, and, as the funds raised had been known as tho sinking fund, we decided to sink the document . " In mid-Atlantic last Sunday we held an appropriate service on board. The nullified document, with a list of subscribers, was wrapped around a brick taken from the foundations of the church and cast overboard."

MILLIONS FOR BOADS. It is estimated by the Roads Improvement Association that the modernising of the British road system calls for an expenditure of afc least £100,000,000. So far the expenditure authorised for the next five years amounts to just under £40,000,000. HORSEMAN AT THE SMITHY. On an April day in 1646 an anxious and impatient horseman waited at a smithy near Harrow for his horse to be shod. It was Charles the First, and he was flying for his life after his defeat at Oxford. The smithy which was afterwards erected on this site has recently been closed. COTTAGE ON A TRAIN. The other day a cottage went for a change. After staying in tho Cotswold village of Chedworth ever since the fourteenth century it went to London on the first stage of its journey to America. When a rich man travels he reserves a carriage, but the cottage went one better, and reserved a whole train. Nearly 70 Great Western railway trucks conveyed 475 tons of fourteenth century beauty. BREAKING A FAMILY TRADITION. James Cable has broken the family tradition by dying in bed at 78. Both his father and grandfather were drowned in trying to save life at sea, and James Cable was coxswain of the Aldeburgh lifeboat for 30 years in his turn. Mr. Cable's whole life, it has been said, was ono long chain of brave deeds. Greatly will that North Sea town miss the handsome old man with tho fine seaman's name. KEEPING A LANGUAGE ALIVE. A new wireless broadcasting station has started working near Louvain in Belgium. One of the objects of the station is to preserve the Flemish language, but the broadcasting will bo very powerful. and will bo heard clearly all over the British Isles. This station and another new station at Louvain, together with eighteen other foreign stations, have made an agreement. to send out regular programmes in English. SHIP FOR THE POPE. The first ship to fly the Papal flag for many years, recently sailed from Naples with tho Papal Legate and his suito on board bound for tho Eucharistic Congress in Carthago. A special ship had to be hired by the Holy See, but it is proposed to make a collection among Roman Catholics all nvrr tlie world for tho purpnso of presenting the Pope with a ship. Ho already has a train and a railway station, which is virtually finished. NEW AGE IN FARMING. Mr. Henry Ford has said that engineering must come to tlw aid of agriculture. Until 1880 farming was more or less what it had been in the time of Amcnhotep in Egypt. Tho engineers ushered in tlie now ago with harvesters, motor-ploughs, gasolino pumps and trucks. The next step is industrialisation. That will place millions of acres, now unused, on a productive basis. All farm work should bo done by electricity, and power for ploughing, to be done at night, will be obtained at low rates. CECIL SHARP AND HIS SONGS. Cecil Sharp, who gave back to the English people tho old songs and dances which they were in danger of forgetting, is not to be himself forgotton. Tho songs of Old England will always bo a restored monument to his memory, but the memorial building, Cecil Sharp House, which has been opened in PvCgent's Park, London, is to carry on his work. Tho collections and books of Cecil Sharp, will bo housed in the library, and in tho open-air theatre of tho garden English young men and maidens will dance again tho country dances he preserved. BRANDY A CENTURY OLD. There was history with a tinge of tragic significance in tho rare old bottled brandy placed before the members of tho Gourmets and Connoisseurs' Circle when they met in Mayfair, London, on May 14. In 1896 tho ill-fated Tsar of Russia laid the first stone of the Pont Alexandre 111. in Paris. He was on that occasion presented with brandy that bore the date 1830. Some time iater tho Tsar gave a few bottles of this gift from the French to the Royal Yacht Club at Reval, and some of that portion found its way to London. The brandy was served at an epicurean feast which included plovers eggs. UNDERGROUND WATERFALL. Explorers in tho recently-opened Lookout Mountain caves, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, report the discovery of a 150 ft waterfall 1000 ft bolow the earth's surface. Already it has been heralded by geologists as one of the scenic wonders of tho world. An elevator shaft has been sunk to the level of the waterfall, thus making access possible for tourists. Over £50,000 has been spent in constructing Cavern Castle, a luxurious stone tavern, at the entrance to the caves. Floodlighting effects, with coloured electric lights, have been installed throughout the labyrinthian passages leading to the waterfall'. _ TWO KINDS OF SHEPHERDS. Tho success of a meeting at the Queen s Hall, London, in connection with the 45 new churches' fund for tho London diocese was a story that has been told by I.ndv liridgeman. 'The Bishop of London, Lady Bridgeman explained, recently met a shepherd in tho West. Country. When tho shepherd told Dr. Ingrain that his flock was 500. the Bishop replied, " But I. too, am a shepherd, and my flock is 5.000,000. To this the shepherd retorted, " By gum. Bishop, what on earth do you do at shearing time?" , There was not an episcopal dry eye when tho meeting had recovered its decorum. Lady Bridgcman appeared to he surprised fit tho lfiuphter created by her story. CHIMPANZEE SMOKES CIGARETTES. The London Zoo has been presented with a rare black-faced chimpanzee from tho French Cameroons. The specimen is a female known as Bobo, and her zoological importance is only one of her minor attractions. She appears to be a "char acter," and intends to be an exacting new inmate of the gardens. The animal must be allowed to smoko 10 cigarettes a day and to have tea with plenty of sugar and milk every afternoon, while her rations must always include a plentiful supply of cabbages, lettuces, onions and leeks!

Bobo's intelligence is stated to be nighly doveluped, nnd she has been trained to perform several tricks, one of >vhich is to write notes to anyone who will provido her with a pencil and paper. Unfortunately, her temper does not seem to bo reliable, and, though docile with certain persons, she is subject to fits of violent and ungovernable rage*