General News Items

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20976, 12 September 1931, Page 5 (Supplement)

General News Items

I ON THE BUS. JFLmrietors of several Vienna motor*&Eart lirranging to entertain pastu5 1 - w jjjj radio, recitals. fe « r*echo«lovakia the buses plying bclo' r ß blo!'7. a'»d Humburg already rorf»,4 Pmauo radio concerts, and in J"®?? he Vu'unA Salzbnrg and Viennagjptt express trains do the same.

KILLS fortune-teller. ♦ <h* town of jassy, in Rumania, a 18 . Lit called llona (iardeanu, who l irt SV?o bo married, paid a visit *»f c fLune-toller. The fortune-teller 10 ?i I.A that her client would die before f#'i g could lake plaee. 3rtie„ sc. envajii'd Ilie girl 1 JLw a 1-eVoher and .shot the lortuneftSd. Thus. possibly, the prophecy p-iifba fu'lfiHed as a consequence of the prl's ° ffn act '

jiyiKG POPULAR IN GERMANY.

1U German Air Irafßc Association roannounced that it. now has about ffirf) members, distributed among 150 All these arc i ferested in flying and especially gliding. Conie 6600 young aviat-ls devote tlienikes exclusively to the motorless nirof which the association possesses 'L-o in addition to 125 motor airplanes. *• 60 »■»! 2 <* of M. Jembcrs specialise in ballooning. FAMOUS CHAMPAGNE HOUSE. Baronet Mumni. the last survivor of «h. famous champagne house, who has a Wlv villa on the Italian Riviera, at rortefino, is both a teetotaller and a vegetarian. , - ■ / Guests who eagerly accept the mvitatims of the baroness under the impression ♦hit <hev will be regaled with some of ihe ''real stuff" find themselves provided Kith lemonade or, as an occasional contusion to their weakness, a little of the innocent wine of the country. CALL OF THE JUNGLE. \ pet monkey, " Bcppo," also called "Horace," which for had been the playmate of children in Tottenham, London, recently felt the call of tho jungle. Tfaemonkev ran riot and. in its back-to-riturs orgy,* it escaped from its home, ' climbed over garden walls, caused terror ia the garden, bit three women, tore a doll to pieces, spoiled flower beds and tore up clothes on clothes lines. The women were taken in an ambulance to hospital to have their wounds stitched and /'treated. CORK WITHOUT A CITY HALL. Ever since a terrible night in 1920. »h?n half the city was destroyed by fire, Cork has been without a city hall. The sitethe former hall is still derelict and the' municipal offices are scattered inconveniently in various buildings throughout the city. A scheme is now on foot to erect a Rew hall and a school of commerce. Plans ' have been prepared and tho corporation hope able to invite fenders a few months % hence. / ; CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE. Cleopatra's Needle, the famous obelisk, Ind the largest,single stone in Britain, is now nearly 35C0 years old. It was lost ' in the Bay of Biscay for many months, aad cost six lives to bring over to England. . Tbe obelisk was sent from Egypt in 18T1 in & specially-made raft, but it had to be abandoned in tho bay on the occasion ol a great storm in wlu'ch six / sailors were drowned. It was not found again and recovered until the following year. It is 68yt." high and weighs 108 ton<>. £2OOO BENEFIT FOR CRICKETER. Eromotfc Robinson, the Yorkshire / criekefer, wilj retire from flic county club at the end of the present season. His intense keeness, his highly characteristic bowling run, and his brilliant fielding have made him conspicuous wherever Yorkshire have played. Robinson will be 47 in November, and i it is an extraordinary feature about his county career that he'did not find a place in the Yorkshire team until he was in his 35th year. Sir Frederick Toonc used humorously to say; " He was so keen that we simply could not keep him out." Hobinson had his benefit last year, and the amount realised was £2205.' SCHOOLBOY'S POCKET MONEY. What allowance may reasonably be ffiven as pocket-money each term to a boy at a public school? Mr. M. L. -Tacks, head-master erf Mill Hill .School, London, declared recently, at the school prizegiving that a boy did not need a lot of Pocket-money. Mr. Jacks said, "In addition to tho shilling a week prbvided by tho bursar, * boy should have ten shillings a term, ®ear of subscriptions, in the first year, -1 later and £2 -when a monitor. (live . US more than that arid it will leave him o opportunity of learning the value of 'Oney Give him less and he will cerbe out, of things." DABINO TRICK BY BEGGAR. Jfhe " Magyarsag " of Budapest ro- */,. decently that on leaving fho ion at Marosvasarhely— now Rumanian v,* i "the express train drew up some tia-J" Outside the station. Tho who dismounted to inquire f' j l6 r . a y discovered a Tzigane and e> naked children lying across fho rails front 6f the traih! I

izigane announced I hat ho wished suicide with h : s children bebv m COu ' d , no longer earn any money ten. 8 " 1 ?? music or by mending pots and n st ' l 8 complaintn so moved the' lx 1i?^ ers that in *i few minutes about as collected, and was handed to "ie nan, - dritp "'t f ' , ' l . Vs which followed i ttoo 18 ° ex P res s trains were obliged to a J/ even , times at the same place to thildr funn Ji'S nvp r the Tzigane and his tlafir, 611 ' »> . *' le se ven.th occasion the CjlfliV m l ' B ser " t' lfi gendarmes to CrosL? .1 1? 5 an< '' but ho had already I„J tlle frontier into Ilungarv witii nest «gg of about £25. " SOOEUTRIC dances banned. • Coritrol of l'allroorn i- r n ' K,s prohibited the L s ' ' has banished the t! 'e '/»v 8 , 08 4 raci * cd thc " Ibimb.i " and " Xf!«.L• ?. tlo,r i,'' and has forbidden in n 'f''' ®°llrooms in the coming in, io« 'j| air i will bp made fit, to dance tew dan« 6 ~'' d ' IHS announced that no .WSSi"" ii cad * ° Mew s for dancers, if * r 'Rflle< or inventors of body *ilf th*w j^a.'barir names. Xo longer lea P». Ttf XP nf ' Rro kicks and Zulu St&telv \r danced this year | Parent# {l. , nnese waltz of our grand- , n Ct of Ttt i® 0 ' popular bv the r 4U 65 , sincp ,lis v 'sit to the jMttso' tv. S l° W f° x '-trot, and the tiijtoi'hh r , 3 arp dances which suit long frocks ' lo "K Slove. S*t. ,rho t W ? re ( l r ' ven out of the Blfcdlw i c l an ces are now ex\wSETt t°J? back " " T!l ° Rtej.s in j«»k x ( ' tr 0t and the tango have %lvestT of Perfection now," »» i West i? j' ' H dancing instructor | nd ' Sait! : " that we are J?ii ® n '« Wo do not need any §L^C,, da '! CW - Thp waltz and 6 acnie of rhythmic

MILLION SHEEP DRIVE. l ! n r* vv; *s concluded recently o f Million sheep on the moors am mountain pastures of North Wales chemiea 5 ! t?| and la ? bs WCle b;lthc <' " biVhsh > vi .°" V' 0 hillßidcs of sl.iie ul q Men . onethsl '"-e, Montgomery Of sheen ®"? W P r6Vent tl)0 s P^ac Of sheep seal, and niito disease. ' MILK AS RIVAL TO WINE. alarmed' 1 | v ' 1, f , "' 1 ! tors arc reported lo l„ beer anrl inill- ""-'l'eaßiup popularily o of vtaya' ji OVt ''" SK the Advertising bv milk companies ha: wh! 1 110 : V1 ;" h nf ,ho w iuo merchants ho have declared rl.at heavy Cover,,: i p it taxation is driving drinkers to mill, ■nid other beverages. WONDERFUL ESCAPE. James Saltwell. „f St. Leonard's Road TJi.ghton, in England. had an amazini •cape from death He was walking oi he beach when a boulder, weighing 81b. fe 1 from tho cliff 100 ft. above, and crashcc down on Ins head. Instead of killing Mr. Saltwell, th. s one bounded oft' his head, and wa: Shattered on the beach. Mr. Saltwel \\as only slightly dazed, and was able to go homo after he had received treat ment from a doctor. PAYMENT IN INSTALMENTS. Buying on tho instalment system was common in Germany in the Middle Ages' i his has been revealed bv an old ledger of a Nuremberg merchant Johannes Holszchulier, of the year 1305, found in the library of a castle. This ledger contains (he names of 60 members ol the nobility and 186 ordinary citizens. Some of the customer,s bought very extensively on the instalment plan. A count owed tlu equivalent of £2500. Holszclniher charged a flat ralo of 100 per cent., and he demanded ample security. TURTLES AND FROGS CONTEST. When men got tired of competing against each other they arrange contest. s between animals. But'one of tho severest is frog-jumping, which contests arc said to be vying in popularity with turtle racing in parts of America. It: the fourth annual frog-jumping jubilee staged by Calaveras County, California, the winner, repeated his victory of 192£ with a leap of eleven feet and five inches. The second in a field of 150 entries froir all parts of the country was only fom inches behind the champion. Crowds ir old-timo costumes attend the hopping contests, and entries come from all parts ol the country where tho frogs are groomoc carefully for months by their backers. THE SMALLEST POST OFFICE. Numbers of the post offices along the British coast are quaint and rather charm ing—but distinctly on the small side. Sc every year there are numbers of visitor! who wonder if their particular holiday post office is " the smallest ever." " I'lr sure it must be!" they say. But they are all wrong. The smallest post, office is not in Britain at all, or in any other country. It is in the. Straits of Magellan, and consists of a small painted cask chained to rocks in such a way as to allow it to float freely. Passing ships send a boat to it to take letters out and put others in. And as, naturally, the « is no postmaster. this floating post office is under the protection of all the navies of the world. REDUCTION IN ICEBERGS. One of tho cm 'csities of climatic conditions in the hern hemisphere this year is tho conn .. !o absence of icebergs from the North Atlantic Ocean. Last year about 150 bergs were reported by ships during the spring and summer travel season. In the early summer there are usually a few substantial bergs off the Newfoundland coast, and icebergs are a regular attraction on the Belle Island route to the north "f Newfoundland into tho St. Lawrence River. Evidently the conditions that have given England so broken a summer must either have kept the icebergs chained up ir, tho Arctic or else caused them to melt rapidly. At any rate, only two insignificant icebergs have been sighted this year in the area traversed by the steamer services. AWARD FOR " GALLANTRY." " For gallantly in saving life at sea," the simple legend on the "garter" surrounding fhe oval badge of (he Albert Medal fur sea service, is sometimes compared to the still simpler " I'or falour of the Victoria Cross, Indeed, (Tie Albert Medal, which has just been awarded to Chief Petty Officer Patrick Henry Willis, Ihe hero of fhe sunken submarine Poseidon. is the peace-!irue equivalent of tho Victoria Cross. Like it. it is awarded only in very rare cases and for deeds of the highest heroism. The previous nwnrd, Mi*. Pnmberton, was for attempting to savo a hoy from a man-eating crocodile which was holding h:m under wafer. It was in 1860 that the decoration was instituted. Originally, it was intended as ft recognition of distinguished acts of life-saving at sea only, but eleven years afterwards the medal also became, available 111 the case of similar deeds on land. STRENGTH OF " WEAKER SEX." Measurements Harvard University has taken of 500 girl students confirm other modern evidence that rapid physical improvement has taken place in ic an In' everv dimension except that of the hins flie girls excel students who were

at the university only twenty years ago; they are more than an inch talki ami 7a irerr iC ' lV Kugen Fischer. n German anthropologist, has gathered similar statistics concerning German women . d ho declares that th-s physical inferiority of the "weaker so:;" is not biological, bU isdue to the dornesncat.on o won.on throughout the centuries 1 he effect of .-port and changed vocations is shown best of all in Japan where sbi.t.« ™- lccted bv the Government show ti'K'ls of eighteen are an inch anfl „ i 1QO7 taller than girls of the same age in 1907 If the present tendency continues it loolls "s llK„, s l, in » women will have overcome H.en inferiority to man-usually reckoned at 25 per cent.' learning business in gaol. One way to become an efficient business ['.'ivirpJ,' "in (1.. j!o>™'£ \f-iior A C 11. Benke, has msl it ul en 10 attend classes while ihe> "'IP'? 'litWalton may well )o ,irthe ambition of the jver 12 oi 13 t j,-, 10lI n:h grounding in J o able to gam a thol^ n r ossi b] e subiis subject .Among J . 1 B ] lor ihand, ects are:—Business louunt, . ro iiookkeeping, and dnniglilsm-' n ,o i., able—or is f ;econd or third term rooie knowledge will be irn P l on< j uc fcing the Voluntary teachers are con ]; s ■nurses. Major Bonke * » jccts lint practical instruct!ion _ v |,r>n |*t McS from'Z

NELSON'S REPUTED SEA CHEST. A sea chest, reputed to have been Lord Nelson's, was added to H.M.S. Nelson's show in Portsmouth's recent navy week. 'J'he chest is the property of Aliss Willis, of London, and she lent, it to the battleship for navy week. It is a Sheraton chest of drawers, niado in two pieces for handling on board ship. SCHOOLBOY AND HIS BEARD. When before the court recently for having refused to send his ten-year-old sou lo school, William Surgcnor, of Gilgad, near Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland, said that the boy had to be shir,ed four (imes a week, and his schoolfellows " ragged " him about his beard. The boy, with one day's growth of beard, appeared to bo aged 30 years. A lino of hnlf-a-crown was imposed. A BROADCASTING JOKE. The British Broadcasting Company s station had its " leg pulled " recently. During a broadcast talk, Mr. B. H. Jones, author of "On the Road to Llido r," achieved a practical joke. Under tlio guise of an alleged incantation used by the Turks, Mr. Jones ulteied what was, in facl, a sentences Welsh, which being interpreted, meant, 0 that Wales had its own broadcasting station! " MEN " BUT NOT " GENTS." A hairdresser of Oxford who wished to advertise bv an illuminated sign that ho cut " gents' " hair, has been told by the city town-planning committee that, lie must use the word " men." not " gents Otherwise il. was intimated tn him he would not be allowed to erect the sign at all. Many other Oxford tradesmen who apnea! to "gouts" are wondering whether they will have to remove tho word from their signs. AUTOMATIC TRAFFIC SIGNALS. Automatic signal lights are to control one of London's most important thoroughfares. After months of preparation and discussion the signal lights arc to be seen in Oxford Street. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that, though London moves slowly, when it does move it. goes a long "WAV. , \ it Oxford Street intends to go one better than anywhere else in Lnglaud, for the installation will include bells as well as signal lights. Tho halted traffic will be rung off as well as signalled off. "FAIRY CR" JES IN ROCKS." In Vancouver, and nowhere else in the world, is found a geological formation known as the "fairy cross" for which science has found no satisfactory explanation. Each of these little brown rocks, worn smooth by countless centuries of exposure to tho elements, bears tin form of a cross, often so clearly outlined as though chiseled by hand. Tho most nearly perfect crosses are found on tho surface of t' " soft soil, but similar formations bavo ottcii been found embedded in the underlying rocky ledges. PUTTING A BOOK TO THE TEST. A young butcher of Cambridge, in England, sat in the sunshine on tho grassy bank of Snobs Stream, a backwater of the Cam, near Cambridge recently, reading a book entitled " How to Savo Lifo at Sea and in Rivers." A scream broke the quietness. A boy named Clark had dived from a bridge into sft. of water and had stuck in the mud! The student of life-saving took a sv ft glance at his book and dived to tho rescue. Ho had to divo twice before he ! found Clark, who recovered after arti- j ficial respiration and was taken to lios- ; pital. MEN OF THE IRON AGE. Relics of a primitive civilisation 400 ' B.C. have been discovered on the | Mertliyr Mawr Warren, between Port.li- j cawl and (he Ogmoro River, which fur- | nish definite proof that early Tron Age men settled on tho Glamorganshire coast. On tho trackless wastes of the dunes, hidden by the shifting sands of centuries, is a watch tower that served the castles of Ogmoro and Candleston. It was near this tower that, finds—mostly by accident—were made. They consisted of mediaeval pottery, flint arrow heads and bones of extinct animals. Private digging operations followed and t here was found a brooch which fixes the date of tho settlement as 300 or 400 B.C. HISTORIC AMERICAN WARSHIP. " Old Ironsides," the famous old American warship Constitution, which fought historic battles in the War of Inhas, after 44 years, been recommissioned in tho United States navy to the sound of booming cannon and fluttering flags in Boston harbour. She was re-entered in order that she could take part in tho YorkUnvn sequicentennial j festival and pageant to be celebrated in j Virginia in October. The old warship is to make port under j her own canvas, manned by American | sailors, who will pully-liuul as did their j predecessors of long ago. After the tele- | brations tho Constitution may be used j

as a. training ship in connection with t lie j Naval Collide at Annapolis. REVENUE FROM SHARKS. Waterford fishermen in Ireland, have shown that they also can do something at the sport of catching sharks alive. A specimen recently caught was apparently a monster, weighing nearly six tons and measuring 35 feci. In these days shark-catching is almost an everv-dav ' occurrence with the Ayrshire fishermen. Thev usually knock the marauder on the head and throw it hack into the water. In the height of the season, however, it pays them to put it under c . OV rr jmd charge visitors 2d. each for admission. By this means the fishermen often reimburse themselves for the damage caused to their nets by the unwelcome catch. Much more to lie dreaded is an oncounter with a sail fish. One which was landed at an Ayrshire harbour a few years ago, measured about twenty feet. This monster lashes through the, nets, Hoping them asunder, and leaving a deposit. of s'ime in its wake.

PRINCE OP WALES' MAIL. Most, distinguished people have extraordinary post-bags, hut hardly anybody in the world receives such a largo and such a strnngoly assorted mail ns 1 lie Prince of Wales. ~ It is staled that there is a person in Glasgow who lias written to the I iim;e every dliv for the Inst 10 years. These letters from (llasgow are anonymous, hut, judging by tin; writing, the eerentrio roiTospondcnl is an elderly woman. The postmark is always Clasgow o.vepl in tl)( , month of August, when it changes o Jlklev, England. Unlike most elderly ( women, the Glasgow correspondent is com- ' niendahly brief. She always begins. My dear Prince." and then follows a text from the Bible, almost always from the Book of Revelations. That is nil. The other regular correspondent to Ihe . Prince is even stranger. livery _ month (he Prince receives an envelope with the Hamburg postmark containing n 100-mark note. There is no covering letter, but, I the envelope is addressed in an l.nmis- < tnkably Teutonic hand. This money has been received ever since the armistice. i Naturally the Prince does not wish to j necent the equivalent of £5 every month from an anonymous stranger. As the best way out, it is paid into the fund from which His Royal Highness dispenses < charity.