General News Items

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21130, 12 March 1932, Page 5 (Supplement)

General News Items

ISLANDERS' STRANGE COINAGE.

A strange coin, as heavy as some fullgrown men, is used as money on the island of l" a P> ' n South Pacific; it weighs 1201b. With one of these a visitor to tho island could buy a good 18ft. canoe, a quarter acre of land, or about 10,000 coeoanuts. Natives carry the huge coins by inserting a pole through the convenient hole drilled at the centre. TURKISH " FATTIES " ON TOUR. Tho Turkish " Fatties' Club," the memf,eis of which must all weigh over 2241b. (16 stone), have arranged a European tour, the itinerary of which will include London, Paris and Berlin. Tho president of the club, who turns fhe'scale at over 3001b. over (21 stone), stated: " We want to let people of other countries know that lurks understand how to feed up and keep smiling. There -will bo 150 of us making the trip, and y\d shall weigh c.xactly 20 tons." WIFE BOUGHT FOR £25. An Englishman, Paul Cox, who bought $ wife for £25 at Zagreb, Jugoslavia, and wanted to pay by instalments, has been murdered. The wife of a Croatian friend had fallen in love with him, and after a time he succumbed to her charms. When the husband, an older man, discovered them together, Cox offered him £25 for his wife.- The husband agreed, and the younger man took his purchase home. " Next day, when the money was not forthcoming, the husband became angry. Finding the lovers in a cafe, he demanded the money at once. Cox offered £5 down, the remainder by instalments. In reply he received a blow on the head with a chair which cracked his skull. Grief-stricken, the wife drank poison. MANY TYPES OF WATERCRAFT. The landsman interested in shipping will be surprised at how many types of watercraft the word " vessel " stands for. In London, " vessel " officially includes any ship, lighter, keel, barge, launch, houseboat, pleasure or other boat, randan, wherry, skiff, dinghy, shallop, punt, canoe, yacht, raft, flost of timber., or craft whatever, whether navigated by (team or otherwise. Among the foregoing are several which ire more unusual than others. A randan is a boat worked by three rowers, the one amidships using two oars. A wherry means a light, shallow, rowing boat for plying on rivers. Shallop is a light, open boat. A float of timber is a small pile being towed by a row-boat. STAKING AN ANCIENT CAMP. Three miles north of Brighton, England, en the South Downs, is the ancient Hollingbury camp. In shape between a square and a circle, it covers about nine seres. Antiquaries have speculated as to the date of the camp, but not until last year did anyone dig into it. Fragments of- pottery found show that Hollingbury was occupied about 300 B.C. by a Celtic people who went to England from the Continent. On the top of the banks the residents built a strong stockade of wood. Postboles were found to descend into solid chalk. Two sections of the stockade have been reconstructed by inserting new posts in the old holps, so that now there is a fair picture of what Hollingbury must have looked like. 2200 years ago.

HORSE BUS STILL IN LONDON. A horse-omnibus is still running in London. Mr. Beasley is the last of tho horse-omnibus drivers, and he runs daily from Baker Street to the Zoo. He has the only horse-omnibus licence in London —and a hatred of petrol. Forty-five grey horses stamp in Mr. Beasley's stables, where one finds gigs, phaetons and barouches, landaus and brakes, long whips and high white hats, and all the gay gear of the days when merry hooves spec! down the open road to the song of a cracking lash. Mr. Beasley and his horses stand as the last barrier against the age of petrol. " Of course, there's work," he said, "lots of it. And those Americans and film companies often want the old carriages, believe me." RESTRICTION OF RAZORS WANTED. In the police-ridden states of Central and Eastern Europe, economic principles are often vaguely understood, and it is quite usual for persons engaged in various occupations to assume tßat by prohibition of this or that which might deprive them of business, their situation can be improved at the expenso of the public. The Association of Barbers of Yugoslavia has put forward the most extreme demand of this nature. The barbers declared that, owing to the general economic crisis, the number of their customers was constantly decreasing and (hat the number of self-shavers was steadily increasing. They called on the state to restrict the possession of common or safety razors to persons in possession ®f a permit to carry arms. If this were granted by the government, the resolution added, th° barbers would bind themselves to let their apprentices shave unemployed men and to cut their hair and their wives' hair free of charge.

TWO-HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD TITLE, The title of Princess Royal, which has heen conferred on Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood, has been borne by the eldest daughters of the Kings of England for the past 200 years. It was King George IT. who set the precedent by conferring the honour on his eldest daughter, Anne. The title regained a courtesy one, without any special Warrant, until 26 years ago. In November, 1905. there was gazetted a Royal Warrant confirming the style and titie nf Princess Royal to the eldest daughter of King Edward VII., Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife. The Duchess died last year. The first daughter of a reigning Sovereign is born Princess Roval, as was the case with the Empress Frederick, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. If, however, she is born before her father's accession as in the of Princess Mary—she has to ho " declared," subject to the vacancy the dignity. CURIOSITIES IN IVORY. Two curiosities were recently in cargoes landed in England. There was a pair of Congo tusks which had lost two f p et of what must have been perfectly pood ivory just because a crocodile found theni good nibbling, or possibly, scraping. The elephant originally bearing the tusks '""st. have conio to its end in a swamp by the bank of a river. One can see their worn-away ends with the marks of the crocodile's teeth scored all up and down. A different story is concealed behind a tusk sent from Zanzibar. Long years ago ® baby elephant was with a herd which stalked bv a hunter who fired at a grown-up male and sent the bullet through . 10 .youngster's right tusk, badly shatterlng it. The baby grew up arid reached age before it fell to the rifle of ivory hunter. Inspection shows that the wounded tusk . ckened and warped and grew coarse in | texture in the intervening years. The of the bullet is easily visible on ® external and internal surfaces, and ctual morsrls of lead arc embedded in * 6 solid i')")iy.

"JAY WALKER" SENT TO PRISON. A " jay walker" lias been sentenced in Berlin to four months' imprisonment for manslaughter. lie stepped off the pavement when tho rod light was against him. A motor-cyclist had to put on his brake so suddenly that a girl who was pillionnding behinj him fell off tho machine and sustained fatal injuries. NEW USE FOR OLD CANAL. After lying idle and waterless for a score of years, an old canal in Newark, New Jersey, is again to be used for carrying passengers. This will not be done by filling it with water and reviving tho historic boats and mules. The canal will bo widened, and into it will bo directed more modern torrents—stieams of loaded trolley cars, whose passengers will be taken to a new Pennsylvania Station. LITTLE HERO OF THE SNOW. lhe remarkable heroism of a four-year-old boy was revealed at Montreal, recently, when searchers found him halffiozcn beside tho body of his playmate. All night tho little fellow had supported his friend in a snow-drift, where they were trapped after wandering from home. Police and searchers who scoured the country for 20 hours were often within 100 yards of tho spot where the boys were slowly freezing to death. It was only when it was decided to abandon the search that the body of one of tho little boys was found in the sijow, clasped by his comrade. LEGACY FOR " COURTESY." " For their courtesy," two ticket collectors at Bowes Park Station, on the London North-Eastern Railway, have each received a legacy of £5 under the will of Miss Rosa Ann Panting. They are Mr. Charles Cope and Mr. George Croxford. Miss Panting, tho daughter of a railway engineer, gave generously to charities, and was known as the " fairy godmother." Mr. Cope stated that Miss Panting was over 90 when she died. He added, " She used to come round to the station to correct her watch by the railway time, and as she could not see very well one of us would assist her." SAILORS' LOVE OF MUSIC. Sailors regard music as an inspiring ally. Captain Cook prescribed a hornpipe a day for his crew, and Lady Hamilton declared Dibdin's songs were worth 10,000 men to the British fleet. At the Cape, every negro gang that cleans ship demands being accompanied by one boy who does nothing but enliven their monotony by singing and beating out a rhythm. Music gives the sailor yet another opportunity of exhibiting his initiative. The humblest ship's forecastle usually boasts a combination consisting of an accordeon, one-stringed fiddle and mouthorgan, to say nothing of a home-made drum manufactured from a sheep-skin, alum-bathed, dried and stretched, which Jack begged from the cook when a sheep was killed.

ITALY'S IDLE SHIPPING. Italy, in spit© of flic reputed wisdom of having an " infallible " dictator, is feeling the scourge of unemployment, for, although the subsidised services under the Italian flag havo been doing exceedingly well lately, there are still a number of ships idle and a considerable proportion of the trained personnel is unemployed. Officers and seamen have agreed to cooperate in alleviating the prevalent distress, and have put before the government a suggestion for a rotor system which would ensure certificated officers nine months' employment in evc.ry year, while a similar scheme is to be arranged for the hands. Such a scheme requires a considerable measure of government interference, but there is no great difficulty over that in Italy as the state has a very big 6ny in practically all shipping matters. . UNFORTUNATE VESSEL. The Bermuda, must be the most unlucky ship that ever her builders produced. To be almost destroyed by fire in Hamilton, Bermuda, last June, and then, when repairs 011 account of this fire were almost completed, to be so badly damaged by a second fire at Belfast, as to be almost unrepairable, seems to be the height of bad luck. The catastrophe will be felt by all connected with the vessel, states a writer in Port of London Authority magazine; the owners who had planned her next cruise, the 3000 men working on her who are thrown out of employment, and perhaps most of all by the underwriters. The damage caused in Juno is not yet paid for, and that is expected to cost about £600,000, or 90 per cent, of the ship's value. It is no wonder that sailors were superstitious and regarded some ships as having a malign fato shaping their destiny.

ANCIENT PORT OF SYRACUSE. It is doubtful if there is another port in the world used by modern shipping that can lay claim to such ancient history as Syacuse, which is situated in the southeast corner of Sicily. The history of Syacuse is connected with wars both on land and sea, and during this time has produced many fine seamen. Its history dates back to the year 734 8.C., when it was founded by the Corinthians, who drove the Sicels from the island of Ortygia, and settled therein. Syracuse passed through a period of internal conflict until 415 8.C., when it was besieged by the Athenians. For two years they blockaded the town, and on the eve of victory, a mistake by the Athenian commander allowed the Syracusians to gain the victory. For forty years the city was governed by Dionysius, and under his rule there was a period of peace and plenty. During this time the docks were built in the greater and lesser harbours, the town was completely surrounded by fortifications, and the navy was enlarged to the extent of 200 ships. At this time the Syracusians had the largest fleet in the Mediterranean. HONESTY AND INDUSTRY. In India, at Hyderabad, there is a man who has spent the last 13 years in trying to save enough to pay back a debt that was brought on him by his enemies. Latsmipoor Abraham is his name, and he is an outcaste, hut, wonderful to relate, this humble man owned a little land. That was a striking tribute to his thrift. Thirteen years ago Abraham became a member of a Christian church. The caste overlords looked on Christianity as a dengerous thing which would overthrow the social system, and for fear that it should spread amtig the outeastes of Hyberabad they determined to make an example of Abraham. After that everything began to go wrong for him. Finally a case was brought in the law courts, claiming that the land ho cultivated was not legally his.

Abraham had to borrow the money to fight the case, and it has taken him 13 years to pay it back. There is still a little owing. But, instead of grumbling over the injustice of his 13 years of poverty, he talks of God's goodness to him, and of how lucky he was to find someone willing to lend money to so poor a man, how lucky he was to win his case, and to be able to keep up the payments.

PLOUGH IN HEART OP LONDON. I'or the first, lime for many years a plough lias been used in tlie heart of London. r J he authorities have been preparing a large area in Kennington Park as a playing-field for children, and a horsoplough has been tilling tho soil of a rough football ground in preparation for tho sowing of lite grass seed. CATS THAT WEAK BELLS. All the cats in Llewellyn Park, a fashionable residential section of West Orange, New Jersey, aro compelled to wear bells around their necks for tho protection of birds. Tho women of tho community met and decided that something must bo done about the dwindling bird population. The bell ordinance was accordingly adopted. CHOICE WHALE STEAKS. Certain visitors at a hotel at Perranpcrth, Cornwall, recently decided to find out for themselves what whale steak tastes like. Eight of tho monsters were found stranded on tho beach, and the visitors helped themselves to choiceo cuts. It was said that the meat would'be fit to cat after being hung for three or four days, Tho whales were washed up after a storm, which evidently overtook the " school " when they were pursuing largo -shoals of herrings. They lived for somo liino afterward—-eyed with awe by largo crowds of people. NEW ERA IN RAILWAY TRAFFIC. Form the Pennsylvania railroad route between New York and Washington, D.C., the steam monsters which for more than fifty years have hauled some of the heaviest freight and passenger traffic in America are soon to disappear. By tho middlo of 1933, at, lest 1.50 electric-powered locomotives will be handling tho traffic. This greatest steam railroad electrification project, involving 1300 miles of track and costing about £20,000,000, marks the beginning of a now era for America in railroad trans- I port at ion. j

KNIFE-BLADE IN MAN'S BRAIN. Surgeons in Chicago have decided that a man who has carried a two-and-a-half inch knife blade in his brain for over oO years will continue to carry it there for tho remainder of his days. Dr. Karl Meyer, of the county hospital, states that he has decided not to remove the blado from tho brain of 59-year-old Linus Larson, bccauso the operation would be too dangerous. Mr. Larson has suffered no particular pain, but has been subject to lapses of consciousness. Ho once fell unconscious in a bonfire; again ho swooned after turning on a jet in a kitchen stove. lie explained to tho surgeons that he was involved in a tavern brawl in 1901, but did not realise until recently that tho knife- blade had broken off in his skull. A VERY GALLANT CORPORAL. A very gallant man has died in a hospital near Bristol after a long illness. During the war Corporal Frederick CI. Room was put in charge of stretcherbearers. IT is company was holding a line of shell holes and short trenches. They were under continuous heavy lire. Every natural instinct told him to lie down, and to take what cover ho could from the hail of death. Mr. Room worked away tho wholo time as quietly as if he were on a cricket field. lie dressed wounds, ho carried the wounded, knowing full well that machinegunners and snipers had his measure. But Mr. Room had his reward. Ho was told that beyond doubt ho was the means of saving many lives. He also had tho Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery; but tho first reward was tho greater. SWEDISH PRINCE'S SCHOOLDAYS. It is raro that a royal prince, belonging to a ruling house, publishes his memoirs, but that is what has actually happened in Sweden, Princo Carl, the eldest brother of King Gustaf V. of Sweden, having written a book of 400 pages, entitled "I. Remember. . . ." Born in 1861, Prince Carl has a great number of interesting reminiscences to tell. Unlike their royal cousins in other European kingdoms, Princo Carl and his brothers went to an ordinary secondary school in Stockholm, nbcre one of his schoolmates was Hjalmar Branting, the late Swedish Socialist Premier, and another Verner von Heidenstam, tho grand old man of Swedish literature and a Nobel prize-winner. Of tho former the author says that he had " very hard fists." Prince Carl describes at length the school days of his youth and the battle fought in tho streets with boys from other schools, iri which his royal blood did not protect him from severe scratches. Ho is the father-in-law of the Crown Princes of Belgium and Norway.