General News Items

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21141, 26 March 1932, Page 5 (Supplement)

General News Items

SECRET OF STAINLESS STEEL. 11)0 discoverer of stainless steel has Written his discovery in-a sealed envelope for the Cutlers Company of Sheffield, and jr is not. to be opened until 1960. The discovery was made by Mr. Harry Brearley, and his account of it is to be r ead at tho Cutlers' Feast in 1960. THE PRICE OF BEAUTY. The " beauty industry " flourished in JfewYork as never before last year, despite depression, and this year will probably prove even better. This is the report given (O a congress of beauty experts in jjew Ym'k. • American women spent £125.000,000 in 1931 for cosmetics and £70,000,000 more jn beauty shops. CURATE AND SILK STOCKINGS. Girls who- wear silk stockings at Taunton, Somerset, were lately surprised by the statement of tho Rev. P. Cowley, ' curate of St. Mary's Church, Taunton. Speaking at a Y.M.C.A. meeting, Mr. Covylev 3aid: "I do not think that a Christian girl is justified in wearing silk stockings. That, might also apply to men who wear silk socks." PRIME OF LIFE AT 78. Mr. Justice McCardic's viows on age were expressed by him when addressing the jury in a civil action at Norfolk Assizes. " Take a man of 78," the " bachelor judge " said. " 1 will not say an old man of 78, because of late years standards have changed, and some of my colleagues might object. Some men of 78 are in the prime of physical and mental activity." Mr. Justice McCardie is 62. CENTURY OF CORONERS. The family of Whiston, prominent as lawyers in Derby for many generations, lias now held the position of country coroner for a century. The first " Coroner Whiston " was appointed at the beginning of February, 1832. He was " William Whiston, junior." He was succeeded b"v his son, Mr. William Harvey Whiston, and his grandson, Mr. Arthur N. Whiston, is now the coroner. IN DANGER OF THE LAW. Every week the market of a little town in Normandy, on the main road from Rouen to Paris, spreads itself on the stones of the twisting" main street and just leave room for the traffic to whiz through without, running over cabbages, soap, pottery and fowls. The litter made a mess in the streets nntil the town crier announced that if people living in those old streets did not clear their doorsteps and cobbles of litter by sundown they would be in danger of the law. By sundown there was as sweet and clean a little town as one may see in - fair Normandy. PIONEER OF THE TELEPHONE. In Paris the red ribbon of the Legion cf Honour was recently awarded to a man -named Giroudaux because he had been the first person who, fifty years ago, subscribed to the newly-introduced telephone —truly a heroic deed! In the eighties of the last century there were only about 200 telephone subscribers in Paris; at first they had no number, but were rung up by name. It is difficult to imagine how this system could have been kept up even for a week, though of course it is possible that wrong names were called less often then than wrong numbers are now. NURSE'S HUMANE SERVICE. When, a short while ago, a nurse in one of the big Paris hospitals was presented with the Cross of the Legion of Honour .there were grouped round her over thirty people whose lives she had saved. Madame Georgette Colin has probably saved many more by her skilled nursing, but these she had saved by allowing the transfusiop of her blood. She is 52 years old; she lias served in hospitals for nearly a quarter of a century; she has given her life-blood 36 times, mostly to patients so poor that they could only give her a " Thank-you " in exchange. Yet Madame Colin probably thought she liad done little !o deserve the honour of having this cross pinned on her white blouse. COFFEE AT THE DOOR. A dairy farmer at Reading, England, is delivering his customers' breakfast coffee on the doorstep in cartons, an innovation which is proving popular for tho product's own sake, as well as for the saving of time in the house. All that the recipients have to do is to shake the carton to mix the cream, ajid then warm the contents, adding a little more milk .if they desire a weaker beverage. The liquid this farmer is selling be calls " coffee milk," to make which he lias taken advantage of experiments which have produced a dried extract (not essence) of the coffee bean, from which all the woody waste, constituting the troublesome grounds, has been eliminated. beggar with a motor-car. A street musician of Edinburgh, George. Mackenzie, who travels throughout Scotland playing his bagpipes for stray pennies, was fined £1 at Galashiels, Selkirkshire, recently, for having left his motorcar on the high road for a longer period than was necessary. It was stated (hat •Mackenzie went about in his car asking for charity. Mackenzie sad that he bought (he car out of his earnings. " I work six to ten hours a day, and playing the bagpipes is much harder than ordinary to'Ork," lie added. The chief constable said that Mackenzie occupied a house at Edinburgh at a rent of £3O a year. strange museum collection. A museum, recently opened in Berlin, is devoted entirely to smugglers and the Methods of their hazardous illegal activities. Here the public may see how canes, " a gs with false bottoms and imitation books are used for the transportation of drugs and gems. One exhibit is a steamer chair, taken in a raid, which was found to contain several packages of the drug heroin sewed into the fabric. In another case a toy model of a trolley ar , also on exhibition, was used as a hiding place for drugs. One of tho strangest pieces in the collection is a 'antastic but serviceable revolver, constructed by a smuggler from parts of a bicycle and a Russian rifle, and designed be used against customs men. ERITAIN'S tallest tree. . "Ihe oak is supposed to be a characteristically English tree, but if one wants to £e e the best and biggest specimens be "eed not. look for them in England. He Eiust go to Wales. 'According to a recent publication of the National Museum of Wales, the largest Ocks in the British Isles are to be found P°wis Castle, W 7 elshpool. One of them. 105 ft,. high and 24ft. in girth, con--2062 cubic feet of timber. Another, J°t quite 60 tall, is 31ft. in girth, but follow. Wales has always been famous for its ® a ks. A Monmouthshire specimen, cut jtown in 1810, yielded 2426 cubic feet of umber—more than has ever been obtained 'oni any other tree. Another tree of ich Wales is very proud is (he Douglas , a t. Powis Castle. This is 160 ft, high lift, in girth. It is supposed to be , tallest tree in Great Britain.

HONOUR IN HUMBLE SPHERES. A Portuguese washerwoman has been decoiated with tho order of tho Faithful Servant for spending a lifetime washing. i I'orn Paris the nows comes that a blind charwoman, Madame, Sophio Guillemin, has been decorated with honour for 19 years of faithful service in scrubbing the corridors of the American hospital in that city. MOAT AND THE SWANS. The Bishop of Bath and Wells has been cleaning his moat. Tho work will take about 18 weeks, but it is only done once in a lifetime. Hie moat was made round his palace at Wells nearly 600 years ago,- after there had been rioting in tho town, but it lias never seen fighting. What the moat has seen for many long years is a gracious company of swans, which pull the bell ropo under tho castle wall when they want their dinner. Thousands of tons of mud and tin cans are being dredged out of tho moat. FRIENDLY SOCIETIES' WORK. 1 lie British friendly societies liavo had a stormy passage during recent years, for industrial depression weighs most strongly upon tho people from whom their membership is drawn. At a time, however, when there are over 2,000,000 insured workers unemployed, the friendly societies can claim 10,000,000 members and have about £100.000,000 in capital reserves. Tho friendly societies not only pay sickness and disablement benefits, but some of them have advanced millions of pounds to their members to enablo them to buy their own homes. EXODUS FROM SOUTH WALES. A report specially prepared for the Board of Trade on industrial conditions in South Wales makes sad reading. Tho area covered by the report includes the whole of Glamorganshire and the industrial parts of Monmouthshire, Carmarthenshire, and Brecknockshire. In the last ten years these four counties have lost fcy migration no fewer than 242,000 people. But there still remains in tho area a large surplus of labour said to amount to 35,000. If these people ar 0 to remain in South Wales new industries are required. Moreover, it appears that a new surplus of 100,000 is likely to arise through general loss of trade. WORLD'S GREATEST AQUEDUCT. Eighty engineers, scaling precipitous peaks and tramping over burning sands, have just completed the survey for the biggest and longest aqueduct in the world. They have picked a route for the manmade river that will take Colorado River water to Los Angeles and Southern California., 266 miles away. Ten thousand men will be needed to build the monster aqueduct. When the six-to-eight-year task is finished Los Angeles' population will have no fear of water famine. But that is not all. Turned into the parched but fertile deserts of Southern California, the river will change thein into blooming gardens and orchards. Between Los Angeles and the Mexican border, 5.000,000 more people will be able to find homes. The planning of the artificial stream that is to work this transformation has occupied the survey engineers for eight years. LIGHTING STREETS WITH COFFEE. For some time past Brazil has been very much worried over the problem of what to do with its surplus coffee. For the world only wants a certain amount of this beverage, and Brazilian growers have been producing in excess of the demand. So large stocks have been accumulated. The latest scheme for disposing of the surplus stocks is to use them for street lighting. Apparently illuminating gas can be extracted from coffee as well as from coal, and it is suggested that the unwanted beans should be used in this way, and the product burned in street lamps. A liftle while ago another idea held the field —that of compressing the inferior beans into fuel bricks and using them in the locomotives on the State railways. But that has apparently come to nothing. Some thousands of sacks of coffee were, however, got rid of a few months ago by a process still more wasteful—they were thrown into the sea. NORTH AMERICAN PEACE GARDEN. A new idea for cementing friendship has been devised by Canada and the United States, who are proposing (o establish a peace garden to celebrate over a hundred years of peace and cordial re--lafions between the two countries. The place chosen for the garden, which will be about 1000 acres, lies half in Canada and half- in the United Slates, on land in Manitoba and North Dakota. Both countries are, enthusiastic about the proposal, and plans are being made to plant in the garden all flowers and shrubs native (o (he two countries. When necessary, they will be grown under glass The cost of (ho garden will be about £200.000, and a. fund of £750,000 is being raised to maintain it. Britain has a number of peace gardens, (lie most beautiful of which is in the Close at Canterbury Cathedral. .It is a war memorial (o (he men of Kent who died in the last war, and is a reminder to people visiting it that, the soldiers died for everlasting peace. TAMING WILD GEESE FLOCK. The apparently impossible has heen achieved by a young Scottish laird, Mr. John Berry, of Newport, Fife, who has succeeded in taming a flock of wild geese. " Wild geese are normally tho shyest and wildest of birds. They are seldom seen by the average persons except flying at a great height." Mr. Berry said lately. Mr. Berry lias succeeded in taming a group of these birds, which aro now to be seen on his estate of Tayfield, so much at home that, but for the difference in appearance, one might take [hem for domestic geese. Simultaneously with this experiment, another was tried, with much less success —that of attempting to make a domestic goose a wild one. The bird was liberated, but resolutely refused to go back to nature. At least, each feeding time always finds her back on tho premises. PRIME MINISTER'S LETTER. Jt was stated the other day that tho British Prime Minister, Mr. Mac Donald, had written a. letter to M. Laval, the Premier cf France. At first sight, it seems a simple thing, but is it? remarks the Children's Newspaper. In the first place, when Mr. Mac Donald writes to another Prime Minister like this, a Cabinet meeting is called and probably several heads of the Foreign Oilice aro summoned for consultation. Jhe letter is then drawn up and Mr. Mac Donald signs it .in the presence of witnesses. Generally such documents are photographed as a safeguard against alteratiou. Then comes the envelope, which is duly sealed with tho Prime Minister's seai. The letter is entrusted to a diplomatic courier, who signs a receipt for it and sets out for Paris, frequently accompanied by a detective. Meanwhile a telegram is sent in secret codo to the British Ambassador _in Paris to inform him that the letter is on its way. The courier is met in Paris and taken direct to tho ambassador, who takes over the letter and signs his receipt for it. The ambassador"!hen arranges a time to meet tho French Prime Minister, and delivers the letter in person.

HISTORIC RUG IN MUSEUM. The Museum of Applied Arts in Leipzig, has added to its collection a rug stained with tiio blood of Tsar Peter of Russia, who was murdered in 1801. The rug, some 16ft. liy 26ft., was woven in 1771. About five years later Louis XVI. of France piesenled it to Peter, then crown prince, who visited many European courts in 1782. COPYING OF DRESS MODELS. Paris dressmakers arc taking special measuilis to prevent the copying of their models. Representatives of the leading houses met ' n conference recently, and decided to fix a common date, February 25, for deliveries in Europe, and February 17 for America. No buyer will be allowed, in future, (o attend displays unless ho Las made at least one purchaso in the previous season, or lias paid a deposit of £2o—which will not ho refunded unless he gives an order. Fashion artists will be excluded from (he displays. POLICEMAN'S LUCKY ESCAPE. When a man in Boothtown area of Halifax, England, noticed a depression in tho road near his home, he called a policeman. While tho policeman was testing tho surface tho road suddenly collapsed and ho was swallowed up in a hole 15ft. deep. The officer was Constable Herbert William Lee—tho heaviest member of the Halifax force. Two ambulances and tho fire brigade were called, but before they arrived llie policeman was able to climb up a ladder which was lowered into the hole. INVASION OF SERPENTS. Recent floods in Tunis not only caused material damage, but brought down numbers of snakes, which infested the coast, from Cape Bon as far as Tabarka, a distance of 10 miles. There wero many thousands of vipers and larger snakes writhing in tho sand and in tho debris of the flood. They warmed themselves in tho sunshine and set out to regain tho country inland. A vigorous campaign was organised against the snakes by (ho troops in garrison near by, 1000 men being engaged for a period of three days.

RECORD PRICE FOR POTATOES. Three potatoes have been " purchased by a shopkeeper in Paris for what must he the record prjee of £l4. He received a telephone call from a man who pretended to be one of the shopkeeper's best, clients. Ho said (hat lie had arranged for a parcel from a well-known leather shop in the Hue de la Boelio (o be left, at the shopkeeper's establishment, and asked the merchant to pay the bill and keep the parcel until it was called for. This is a very old trick, but it worked. The parcel was duly delivered, and the bill bearing the name of the leather shop mentioned was presented. It was for 1400 francs, and this sum was'paid. Later in the day the victim of (ho fraud grew uneasy and opened (he packet. It contained three potatoes, neatly packed in tissue paper. REMARKABLE DWELLING. To Professor Bernard Ashmole goes (lie distinction of possessing mm of tho world's most remarkable homes. Tho curious structure lias just been completed, overlooking the town of Amcrsham, Buckinghamshire. Plans for the dwelling were given doubtful approval by building officials, who had never seen anv like them before. The outline of the structure is made up of massive white blocks holding rectangular windows to give a maximum of sunshine and view, and (o provide outdoor shelter around it, no matter from which angle the wind blows. Visitors entering through the hexagonal hallway find the interior finished in modernistic style, and bedroom doors opening off tho six-sided upstairs landing are coloured green, blue and silver, so that a guest can remember his own room. Behind the house is a curious water-tower shaped like a mushroom. LONG-BURIED TREASURES. An ancient chart, carved upon a thin, flat stone has led to tho discovery of a whole series of treasures buried centuries ago by red-skinned inhabitants of the barren Catalina Islands off the coast of southern California. Found by accident when a liijnter stumbled over it, this queer map has revealed the location of a dozen or more ancient cemeteries in which treasures precious to the Indians were buried. Several finds of Indian relics had previously been unearthed when Ralph Glidden ran across the stono chart on Santa Catalina Island. Its queer pattern of holes excited his curiosity. By a shrewd bit of detective work, starting with tho position of tho known places, Mr, Glidden located a series of burial grounds. In tho relics discovered scientists read a fascinating story of the visits of four alien peoples to the isolated island villages. Traces of tho coming of tho Spanish remain in tho form of broken candle-sticks, rust-flaked cannon balls, and several heads from once keen battle axes.

A COOL CUSTOMER. A man arose from his table in a fashionable restaurant and walked Inward the door. Ho was passing the house detective at. the entrance when a silver sugar bowl dropped from his bulging coat. The guest glanced calmly at the detective then turned with an expression of polite annoyrtneo toward the occupants of the room. "Ruffians!" he said. "Who threw that? and walked out." ANYTHING- TO OBLIGE. Jackson was hobbling along the street on ci utches when he met his friend Brown. "Gracious!" said tho latter. "You seem to have, had an accident." '' Yes," said Jackson; " I tried to climb a tree in mv tuotor-car." Brown gasped. " Whatever did you do that for?" he asked solemnly. " Just to oblige a lady driving another car. She wanted to uso all the road," came the explanation. HARDLY COMPLIMENTARY. Bertram was taking his sweetheart to tho pictures. For 20 minutes ho waited patiently on the corner. At last she appeared. Bertram gasped. " Jove, darling," he said, " you look • simply charming tonight !" The girl smiled coyly." " You flatterer!" she announced. " Honestly, I didn't recognise you at first!" said the tactless young man. THE DRAWBACK. . A minor actress was given a small speaking part in a curtain-raiser. Sho spoke with a pronounced lisp, apparently unaware of the fact, and the writer of the playlet worked in a lisp in tho fow lines that wero given to her. After the first rehearsal he asked her how sho liked her part. " Fine," was the reply, " but thcre'th one thing I think rather thilly. Why do you make me play it with a lithp ?" FOREIGN TO HER. It was her daughter's birthday, and Mrs. Highbrow had decided to give her a book of opera. Entering the village music shop, sho said: " Mikado libretto." The new girl assistant returned a puzzled stare "I beg your pardon, madam?" she said. " Mikado libretto," repeated tho customer. Tho girl shrugged her shoulders helplessly. " Me very sorry, madam," she replied, "1 no spcakco tlie Italiano."

THE EXTRA SIXPENCE. A costermonger, who had two black eyes, was brought up before tho magistrates and charged with various breaches of the pea re. After hearing tho policeman's evidence the magistrate looked across at tho prisoner in the dock. "So," ho said, "not, satisfied with having a merry time, you had to end up with a fight." The prisoner nodded guiltily. " Very well," said tho magistrate. " pay ten-and-sixpence." Tho costermonger scratched his head thoughtfully. " But, your worship," bo said, " 1 don't mind paying ten bob for a fight, but what's tho extra tanner for v " " Oh, that's entertainment tax!" tho magistrate blandly replied.

—Sunday Graphic. NOT IN HIS LINE. Mosenstcin had accused his best friend of burgling his premises. In his statement to tho magistrate, Mosenstcin .explained how he locked and barred tho back window, turned the key of tho front door, put tho key in his pocket, and went down {ho street for lunch. When ho returned and lot himself into his shop, ho found tho place ransacked—all in " toity-foivo minutes." Defending counsel, cross-examining Mosenstcin, elicited the fact that as fat as Mosenstcin knew there was but one key. " Then said tho counsel, " since you declare you had that key all the time, how was it possible for anyone else to enter your shop?" " Don't ask me, 1 ' said Mosenstcin, pointing to the defendant. " Don't ask me; I'm a tailor.. Ask him, he's a boiglar!"

PROOF POSITIVE. The manager of the restaurant stormed down the room between tho tables and grasped the waiter's arm. "Why did you turn that diner out?" ho asked. "He wasn't sober, sir," replied the waiter calmly enough. "Wasn't sober?" echoed tho manager. " And how did you know?" " Easy, sir," replied tho waiter. "He put his newspaper in tho ring and tried to read his table napkin.". ACCORDING 'TO THE LAW. Tho traveller entered the family grocer's shop and was met by an irate shopkeeper. " You're just, tho man I've been looking for," said tho shopkeeper. ,l 'llie last time you camo round you sold me some goods which you said were British. They weren't British at all." " Well, to tell you the honest truth," explained tho traveller, " they were in stock so long that 1 thought they were British by naturalisation." HELPING THE TEACHER OUT. " Two cows is in the field," said a teacher to a class of small boys, indicating the writing on tho blackboard. " Now that sentence is wrong. Can anyone tell me why?" Wearily she looked over tho apathetic class. "Come, come!" she said encouragingly. One youngster, with a latent spark of chivalry, sought to help her. " Perhaps one of them aro a calf, miss!" lie suggested innocently. COULDN'T FOOL HIM. Little Ernest was being shown round London by his mother. Presently they camo to a building with a number of gargoyles protruding from the wall. " Oh, mum," said tho child, " that ugly face nearest tho corner looks just like Aunt Fanny." Mother looked sternly at tho boy. " Ernest," she cried, " aren't you ashamed of yourself for saying that?" Tho boy smiled artfully. "Oh, go on, mum," lie said. " You can't fool me. That, figuro is made out of stone and it can't understand what I'm saying." ONLY A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE. A social climber, very pretty, but decidedly low-brow, found herself at a select house party. A datico was in progress and tho girl, lonely and uncomfortable, and looking like a fish out of water, was leaning against tho wall, framed against the dark oak panelling. Presently tho hostess, who had seen her plight, took pity on her. "My dear," she said, kindly enough, " you look just like an old Rembrandt." The gill blushed, but quickly retorted. " Well, she said sharply, " you don't look too darn snappy yourself."