General News Items

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21100, 6 February 1932, Page 5 (Supplement)

General News Items

OXTOED ACCEST. ff the famous jazz conductor, f'>/i from Bolton, Lancashire, and \ "-^r^gga i tried to conceal it, had recently . Oxford accent. reason was that Mr. Hyltcu and band were engaged, at an -fee 7 to broadcast from Savoy jtaiioas in the United States. £r~ firm which paid tl:a fee Oxford accent. Spl" > ¥?" aABDESIKG MAGIC. "' |sKH: : ;v, 'OSM " magician" gardener appeared at gjjrysanthemnm show at Burton, gkffcnishife, one of the largest in the fifijbnds, which held recently. He j| bricklayer, who from nothing made V; JSp* finest exhibitions in the show. man collected flower stalks and P plants thrown away by gardener? hi biters at previous shows and made jfrMH grow again until he has now a noted T ||g STATUS TO A PHILOSOPHER. .S' Small sums contributed by Welsh -•' jp>p.fs. quarrymea, and labourers are possible a scheme to perpetuale - • memory of Sir Henry Jones, the jjbbjos Welsh philosopher, who was known "The Best-Loved Man in Wales." is pfopcsed to erect a statue to Sir Henry in his native village of LlancerJgmw, Denbighshire, and also to convert jjto a musenin the cottage where he w.<; born and spent his boyhood. He started fife as a/ slice maker, and thn bench and •fteeis which hj« used have been carefully • preserved. , i CHAPEL 800 YEASS OLD. The remains of what is believed to k, 'l* « Norman chapel hare been excavated ,vj4 Kenilworth Castle. Two west •erindows sad two ncrth windows have been dis--0;' covered. A choice piece of Tudor stone caring also has beeD found among the <fcbris. jr' 7 "■% Ii is about 50 years since excavations last carried out at Kenil worth Castle •ad on that occasion a kitchen was unP' -J earthed. The recent discovery is but a t'- few yards away. The Norman style dates I' "roughly from the Conquest to the end of !;«> the"third quarter of the 12th century. I•' ', ■ / THE WBO2TG PHASAOH. | As a result of the discussion in connecf ' fcioa with £he proposal to remove the mummies of the Egyptian Pharaohs from ; the Cairo Mnseum to a pantheon, the secret of a y mistake in the identity of one Ek ; :: <rf the Pharaohs now in the museum has »p v been revealed. The pantheon was originally intended as a tomb for the Wafdist leader, _ Zaghlui Pasha Recent researches show that the supi"' pcsed coffin and bones o; Akhenatcn. the ' " heretic " king of the 18th dynasty, who i forsook the worship o£ the Egyptian gcd K - cf the period, are not those of Akhenaton, [•'" bat of successor, Amenkakere. BOHES 0? POPE CLEMEST. An ancient document found by chance 4 fa the archiepiseopal archive at Cologne, : V;'gives reason to beiieve thai a reliquary in the Clement altar of the Church of r EL Annai; in Duren, Germany, contains the bones of Pcoe Clement I. The church authorities have had the '(Aa y reliquary x opened, and the statements &■£ contained in the document are being • investigated. Clement I. was one of the first popes following St. Peter—the second according to Tertullian, and the fourth according /to some later writers. His j accession is variously placed at from 68 to abqnt 85 AD. ' ■ ' . SREAT PEPPEBJEEST PLASTATIO3. Experiments having shown that moor|s| in. Bavaria, particularly the Erdinger moor, near Munich, b especially well j adapted for raising peppermint, a beginning is to be made by planting some 60 . | acres with this herb and building a piant \ for distilling peppermint oil The plant ' " : iw3l be fired" with pear, obtained from the . moor. !?.. Up to now all the pecpernunt oil re|quired for the use of German industry has had to be imported. How great the requirements are is indicated by the fact ' thai a single firm in Dresden imports 23 ■ long tons of this oil yearly for making *.i tooth paste To produce "this amount, 160CG acres of peppermint are needed.

BACK TO THE LA2*D. A movement sponsored by the Canadian i-Department cf Immigration for the eneonragement of colonisation within Canada and condncted in co-ordination of . i, effort with the railway compan-es has had considerable decree of snccess. In 'i 14 months apcrnsimately 42.552 persons -:4: hav? been returned to the Land through r;'' this effort, corsistisa of 6040 families, : averaged ,at five persons each, and 12.1532 VJsngie men who were found employment ...•••fas farm labourers. Mr. yv. A. Gordon. 'Minister of Immigration states that this result has been accomplished without direct financial a;d •;•: to tbose assisted and at no cost to the Federal' treasury. Under the system adopted the Department and the railways. ,;/:• through their colonisation branches, find the opportunities, bring them before those in a position to take advantage of «hem, :0. and facilitate the settlers" removal to new brnps. ITEMS IN A MAIL-BAG. Some of the oddities of a writer's mail were reveaL-d in an address at Montreal lately by I- M. Montgomery. (Mrs. Ewan 4 Macdcnald ) the Canadian novelist-, who v/jis best known for her took. "Anne of Green Gabies. " A monk in a T'mbet y monastery wrote her to express appreciation of that storv. while a in an -examination paper named ber "Anne " as <;•.;• the second wife of King Henry \ 111. ' Another correspondent addressed her as "Dear, !ong-losfc Ur;cie Lions'. ■ " Many pec-oie. said Mrs Macd&oald, letters 'askiuff her to write their life-stones on a percentage basis, and requests for autographs are numerous. A 3 -thank manager asked her to send bim a s ij6«pie for one cent for his collection of documents. Max-donald told of an Australian to whom en renuesi she sen? a picture > of herself. The girl had the p;cture and &e author's address published ia her ■... focal newspaper, and the result was a of mail, as many as 85 letters ia one day. 'i... C AIT ADA'S " WHEAT KESG." Herman TrcCe—pronounced Trelley—- • - *ho has a farm of ICCG acres in Canada. tsff >♦ ;n <-r"p. 600 miles north of the States and so far uorth ||j- his land drains into the Arctic Ocean, hke a successful young business man than a farmer. Nevertheless. in fr-/-*ißning ior the third time, and perenanthe In-errtitiD-rai Wheal Cup, Mr. has «s-f«ajpiij,ij6d a feat equalled «-•.*? wy'other man. r - Trelle w-n h j ;« high honours at the Ipsfcernatiena; livestock- Hay and Grain at Chicago. where, first in ; and a—sirs in ]93€; J;is wheat took place. His fields are divided he- j : : IflpP". Durum and hard red spring, and j Jtg kaag summer days of bright sunshine ] •iwKW' wheat there to unrivalled perfec- |

j/f W 15j»3.t Kip g" wis gassed and jS-°ywded sertinjr with the Canadian forces Gmt War. ajid wet* north on bis [BSBP* Wowk of a tuberetiar infection. ®iyp® Peace River he has found health. oppcrtamxy of rendering his ; aaotiher great servica.

LENIN'S colossal statue. T-m c ° lQSsai S ff ure oi Lenin, towering 370 ft. high and forming the largest statue m Jhe world, will be erected at Leningrad. The statue will form a lighthouse, being topped with a beacon. I lie Statue of Liberty, at the entrance to New York, at present the world's largest statue, is 305 ft. high from the foundation to the top of the torch. Nelson's Column, in Trafalgar Souare, is 16811. high. . NOVEL CHURCH DECORATIONS. Strings of cockles were used to decorate a church at the Old Town, Leigfa-on-Sea, Essex, on the occasion of a fishermen's festival service. An anchor and a foghorn were placed near the altar. The pulpit was decorated to represent a ship aad was equipped with the regulation lanterns, a compass and a pair of oars. Cockles, winkles and ship's biscuits were arranged in front of the preacher, the Rev. L. Butler. UNUSUAL PLEASURE YACHT. For a wealthy doctor of Buncos Aires, a French shipbuilding firm is building a beautiful and unusual yacht. The vessel of the Portuguese type, is to be built on the lines of the high afterdeeked vessels of the Sect of Louis XIV. _ An exact, copy of one of these beautiful old ships, named the Izarra, has been launched as a pleasure yacht. The deck and all the outnttings are copied from models and designs in the museum at Honfleurs, bat concealed within is a Diesel engine of 120 horse-power. REM A BTr A TTTVp CASE. The N-eues Wiener Journal publishes a report of a strange case at Czeraovitz, the capital ot Bukovina. the former Austrian province, which belongs to RnMania. Joseph Schmidt, a teacher at a suburban elementary school, was being treated at the Czemovitz hospital, when he suddenly fell into a sort of coma. While the man was in this state, he mentioned the dates of the birthdays of all the physicians and the names and illnesses of all the patients in one of the rooms in the hospital. He diagnosed his oirn illness in Latin, although he had never studied that language. £50,000 LEFT TO SERVANTS. To six servants the Baroness Me'anie Red!, who died in her castle near Vienna recently, at the age of 92, left a fortune of nearly £50.000. She disinherited her four srraad-daagMers, the Baronesses Risenfels. The grand-daughters made an unsuccessful attempt several years ago to appoint a trustee over the baroness, and the old Jady, considering this to -be a " shocking act of nnkmaness." never received her relatives again. An offer by the beneficiaries to renounce half of theninheritance in favour of the young baronesses has been rejected. . GETTING £3OOO EN PENNIES. " I shall keep on with the work as long as I can walk. lam hoping I shall be spared to make my total collection into £5000." said Mr. Albert- Boyle, a septuagenarian ex-pcsiman. of Leeds, who has collected more than £2OOO in pennies for Yorkshire sanatoriums. Mr. Boyle started this self-imposed task of taking round a collecting box for the consumptive hospitals more than 25 years ago. when he was employed as a postman ax the Leeds General Post Office. F_u*ri dav, after completing Ms eight hours of auty collecting and delivering letters, Mr. Boyle would change from his uniform into mufti, snatch a nasty meal, and. tiffin go round with his collecting box, tramping many miles in addition to those he had already covered when delivering letters earlier in the day. It ha 3 taken him nearly 25 years to raise the £3XO. PROTECTING MIGRATORY BIRDS.

German and Dutch lighthouse-keepers | have taken precautionary measures to save l tie iivas of migratory birds. These I feathered IraTeSers often dash themselves I to death against the lanterns cf lighthouses. Casualties have been particularly numerous at the great light of Heligoland, which is located in the centre of one of the main migration paths. With the aid of ornithologists, various lighthouse departments in Europe have installed rings'of lights around the towers, to illuminate the ramparts, railings and cuoolas, thereby warning the birds of danger. The new lights give the birds some landmarks other than the blazing eve of the lighthouse itself. The system is gfiir) to have rednced the number of bird casaalties. The migrating birds see the ring of liahts. find perches on which to rest, and "then take to the air again for their destination. LOB'S-LOST TABLET FOTTND. A tablet which fcr many ye3rs was thought to be lost has been found gmong the flagstones in a newly-laid footpath at Sarshalton. Surrey. People using the pavement at first thonzht. when they saw letterine cc one of the Sags, that the local council "had used in error an old gravestone. A close examination by the council's surveyor revealed that the stone bore the following inscription In Obedience to the Oiver of Life, ef tbe Books and Fruits that Feed of the Peace that Ends It. May Tins Well be Kept Sa<red fcr the Service® of Men's elects anfl Ficwers and Be By Kindness Called M.nrjnir»t's "WeU. This Pool was Beautified and lindewed fey John Bcskin, M.A.. LL.D. It has been ascertained that the stone wa 3 originally erected near Margaret's Pool. Carsbalton, which Buskin at his own expense cleaned and named Margaret after his mother, who lived at Shirley, near Carshalton. DEATH OP A FAMOUS APE. Death has claimed as its victim one of the almost human chimpanzees at Ibe Loudon Zoo. She is Peggy, one of the famous trio of apes whose daily tea party in a room over the Regent's Paris restaurant was one of the biggest attractions at the zoo. Peek's two companions. 800-boo and Ivv. are in the zoo sanatorium, figlstws against an attack of pneumonia. They are surrounded with hot-water bcttles and watched day and night. It was their liking for human companionship that brought about their illness. After each tea party they rushed to the little gins? window to flatten their noses against the panes and watch the human beings they tried to imitate. A draught round the window started their colds, which.fumed to in2u«nza and then to pneumonia. Peggy, weakened bv pneumonia " last year, developed bronchitis. Orvgen was used in a vain aitemot to pull through i3er illness. TWO SPASMODIC ISLA2TDS. Two uncharted islands appear off the coast of Brazil!, the product of a sub<xmnic volcano and the property of wfto- ; ever scleras them first. are l«3il*>o a; pf>s.sible landing piaees _for trans- j Atlantic airplanes. Two nations see »n them valuable refuelling bases, and despatch fast nary ships in ;l race ,or orioriiv. And when one of the ships ;t]o<; if sails over the place the islands were reported, for they have disappear ed. The Sam® s*«ry is repeaied several times a vear. The earth, usimHy thought of as solidity itself, rises and dives again like a porpoise: no one can predict where it,, will bob up next, though some favourite plavgrcnnds are familiar- Japan rs roirked bv an earth <v?a';e and the ish-.ri of Sankaa disappears. _ The British HVdxcsraobie Department, iwws a sta'ernifflt that " the existence of Dougherty Island has been disproved " and orders alii, references t-a the vagrant to be exptinged from official publication*.

HORN I2T MAN'S FOREHEAD. A workman appeared at a hospital in Athens and exhibited a horn four or five inches tang, it inch had grown in • the middle of his forehead. The man declared that be had pared of? the horn many times already, but it persisted in growing again. The hem is report ed to have reseml-ied a goat's horn in appearance, and when ihe extraordinary operation of removing it had been successfully performed it was presented to one of the museums in the city. DOCTOR'S KCSDJTESS REWARDED. Forty-five years Dr. Herman Hanni{ran, when practising at Debenham. Suffolk, took into his borne a man who was severely injured in the bnntinr field, and for whom no hospital accommodation could be found. Hie doctor forgot the incident: the injured man, Mr. Oscar Moorson-Roberts, did not. .Mr. Moorsczn-Roberts died in July, leaving an estate of £58,721. He directed that £SOO should go to the doctor who, be said, had thre-3 times saved his life. PARADISE FOR CHILDREN. In a remarkable playroom in London, children may their toys,__ play with the dripping water taps, and indulge all the other forbidden longings of childhood. Blocks and building sets also are available. Hie National Institute of Child Psychology has established this school for difficult, children. With the raie "No praise, no blame, and no prohibition,*." the experimenters believe that a child's real instincts and impulses will be revealed for study. AIT ISLAFD PARADISE. According to the newly-published Manx Year Book for 1352, the Isle of Man is a paradise for taxpayers and bachelors. The island has no national debt, the marriage rate is 7.2 per ICOO. against 9.5 for Great Britain, and the tax on incomes starts at only Is 4d in the £, despite a recent increase of Id. against a general rate of 5s in the £ in Britain. The population has remained at just under £€.ooo for 10 years. There is practically no unemployment in the summer, and, while in November there were 1647 men out of work, most of these had found jobs in December. „ PALACE WITH A HISTORY. One of the most remarkable buildings in London is available to anyone who wants something very special in h<~mes. The lease of the Royal Palace at Richmond is for sale again. It combines a unique mixture of ancient and modern, for while it is advertised in cold commercial terms as possessing modern conveniences, company's water, gas and electric light, it is crusted with history. The building is the calace in which Qneen Elizabeth died. It was Henry VXL's " nursery " for his children, and in a dimmer past Richard C. did most of his enter tailing here. SET OF TEETH EffPGUSDED. Judge Moore at the Scuthwark County Court recently gave instructions that a set of false teeth should be placed in the strongroom of the court pending payment of a debt. This decision followed a dispute between a taxi-cab driver and a dental mechanic. The defendant admitted liability for a set of false teeth, bat was only able to pay the balance of what he owed by monthly instalments of IDs. The judge agreed and made an order that the set cf teeth should go to the defendant whft the debt and costs were paid. In tLr%eantime the teeth were ordered to remain in the custody of the court. At the end of the case they were wrapped in paper and taken to the strongroom. HOW SMUGGLERS WORK.

A rncseum opened recently in Berlin is devoted entirely to smugglers and the methods of their hazardous illegal activities. Here the public may see how can.es., travelling bags with false bottoms, and imitation books are employed for the transportation of forbidden drags and dutiable gems. One exhibit is a. stealer chair, taken in a raid, "which was found to contain several packages of a drag sewn into the fabric. On another occasion a toy model c£ a trolley-car, also on exhibition, was used as a hiding place for drugs. One of the strangest pieces in the collection is a fantastic, but serviceable, revolver constructed by a smuggler from pans of a bicycle and a Russian rifie. and designed to be used against customs officers. GOETHE YEAS TS MXHTICH. The programme of special events in connection with the " Goethe year" in Munich this year, will include the founding on March 22. the 100 th anniversary of the poet's death, of the " Goethe Institute for German Language Abroad." Its purpose is to assist foreign teachers and other friends of German culture abroad to learn or perfect their knowledge of German during their stav in Munich. The Bavarian state theatres will, daring tliis year, produce Goethe's " Urgotz." " fegroont " and " Faust " (first part) in a new setting. The Residence Theatre will cive " Iphigenie," " Stella." " Tasso,"' " The Fellow Sinners " and " Geschwister." The Schanspielhans will produce " The Triumph of Sensitiveness," with music by Ernest Krenek. BEQUEST 300 YEARS OLD. The terms of a 300-year-old bequest w«re observed bv the people of Chippenham. Wiltshire, recently, when nearly 150 half-crowns were distributed to the poor in the parish church after the recipients had list-erred to a sermon, for which the vicar was paid £J. Earlv in the seventeenth century Robert Gale, "citizen and vintner." of London, used to visit certain Will shire towns. Chippenham people found favour with the vintner, but not so the residents of Coine. for when he died be left £2O to Chippenham. " hut as to those besgarly people at Colne I leave them a louse." The money left to Chippenham i* paid oat of estates in Derbyshire and Lincolnshire. The first payment was made in 1629. and the distribution has since been made annually. Nothing more is known of Mr. Gale's association with the town, although there is a tablet in the parish church to his memory.

LOITDOir LORD MAYOR'S SCEPTRE. Sot one Londoner in a thousand has ever seen, or even heard of the diamond spcpt.ru whi<-h for one brief moment the naw Lord Miyr holds in bis hand to symbolise Ids ralersbip of the. city. Not nnt;' he hands it to. his successor November will thai precious staff of oHicr; arsin appear. So Integra. a part of London hfe and history is the sceptre that dur.ng the war, when the Guildhall sent all its other treasures to Aberystwyth to escape danger from enernv aircraft, it was tent in the r;;v. bnrwl for safety in the deep cUy beneath the Liverpool Street tobe railway. London's diamond sceptre is a short stall or baton, only ]Bm. long. If is cut from pure crystal, and its spiral grooves are inlaid with gold. It is the world's oldest piece of insignia still in use for its original purpose. Fw o?d no one and 370 record r '> n say. f' l1 1 the Bvzanttne setting of the rearls mark* die shaft as of the Jlncio-Saxon period, when London's chief citwen was entitled the' Portreeve, to become later the Bailiff, the Mayor and Lord Mayor.