General News Items

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21165, 23 April 1932, Page 5 (Supplement)

General News Items

FAMOUS ENGLISH TAVERN. "Dirtv Pick's," tho famous tavern in Bishopsgate, England, was slightly dam- • i-eil by lire recently. Ihe blaze broke out. i" " t,,c cc!lar ' 1,111 iL was c i uickl y dis " covered and put out. The tavern was nicknamed " Dirty Dick's" nearly two centuries ago because tlie proprietor in those days used to attend to tllc l,usilie:ss unshaven and dirty. DEATH ON DAY OF FORTUNE, Alexander McGavock, a poor, 74-year--ojj cobbler, who, following the death of i,j s wife many years ago, had lived alone in a ''cottage at Gletiarm, County Antrim, Ireland, was found dead at his home a w- weeks ago after lie had received word that he had been left 25,000 dollars (£SOOO at par). Lving at Mr. McGavock's feet was a letter from solicitors in Denver, Colorado, United States, informing liini of the death of his only brother. William, and enclosing a copy of the will, according to which he became sole legatee to the t estate. WRONG FOLK THANKED. The people of Wakefield, Yorkshire, trail t to know the names of (he city's benefactors—tho person who walked into the Town Hall some weeks ago and offered £60.000 to build a new fever hospital, also the person who handed £IOOO to tho Bishop of Wakefield for church work. It has become a winter night's hobby in the homes of the city trying to pick out the " probables " among local wealthy men, and much embarrassment- has been caused through one or two well-known citizens being slopped in the street and thanked by wrongly-informed people wishing to do tho right thing. BRITAIN'S OLDEST GUNNER. On his 95th birthday, which lie recently Celebrated, Lieutenant-Colonel J9IIII Pawjon of Plumstead, London, received from the King an autograph photograph and a congratulatory message " to the oldest living gunner." Lieutenant-Colonel Taw-son, who was born at E-allincollig, Cork, in 1837, joined the Artillery as a trumpeter when he was 12. He served in the Crimean War, and was at Balaclava and the Siege of Sebastopol. After further servico in China and India, he retired in 1895, but at 77, on the outbreak of the war, be again volunteered and was posted as quartermaster at the auxiliary horse depot at Woolwich. FEAR OF KNITTING MACHINES. Fear of the effects of knitting machines on their centuries-old hand-knit woollen industry has led to a remarkable request by tho Shetland Islanders to the Board of Trade. They want, an inquiry into the state of the Shetland woollen industry, and suggest that the machines might be barred altogether. It. is pointed out that a knitting ma--1 chine —a few of which have already been imported into the - islands—can knit a pull-over at a cost of Is to Is 6d, while the relative cost by hand labour is at least ss. And it is feared that this development may eventually ruin the hand-knit industry. The average annual revenue to the cottage knitters of Shetland amounts to over £BO,OOO a year. DEATH OF "HIKING BISHOP."

The Bishop of .Winchester, Dr. Frank Theodore Woods, died at Winchester a iew weeks ago, after a long illness. The Bishop, who was 58 on January 15, spent his birthday on a sick bed, being ill with bronchial trouble. He was translated from Peterborough to Winchester in 1924. For many years he undertook a summer pil- ■ grihiage in his diocese. "If people did not want to go to church," he maintained, -"the church must go to them." The Bishop carried the pseudonym of " The Hiking Bishop." He had a fine voice, arc! his pilgrimages into the remote parts of hjs diocese were attended by successful services. He made these pilgrimages in his cassock and with staff, and villagers always gave him a popular tvelcome. He came of an athletic family and was a keen cricketer himself. He was consecrated Bishop of Peterborough 'u 1916. OLD DAYS OF FAMILY PEWS. Some of the English clergy have expressed concern at the degree of respect observed by listeners-in to broadcast church services. Still, no matter how little attention is paid to-day, it can hardly be less than was customary in certain parish churches in the good old days of " family pews." In their private boxes, shut off from the view of pulpit and congregation, the old-time squires used to take their ease during the service riot only by sleeping, but by smoking and eating. « It was the practice during the Sir Roger dj Coverlev era for servants to serve cakes and wine, or something more substantial, for the refreshment of the parish autocrats and their families during the sermon. Smoking during the sermon v ']as fairly common in Scotland in the eighteenth century, and was not unknown in Wales as late as 1850. MR. SHAW AND A REFUSE DUMP. Mr. Bernard Shaw lias won the battle C'f the Wheathampstead refuse dump. As the result of representations by St. Albans ! Rural Council, the Islington Borough j Council has agreed lo make some changes ln the system of working there. Ihe Islington Council's dump is near Mr. Shaw's Hertfordshire home at Ayot, »t. Lawrence. Since 1922 he has protested against conditions at the dump ja chara "teristic letters to St. Albans Rural Council, in v. hose area the dump ls situated. In one letter Mr. Shaw compared the dump to tlie fumes of the island volcjuio of Stiornboli, " which is believed Av t!ie islanders to communicate directly hell, and to he, in fact, one of the Chimneys of that establishment." Mr. Shaw, indeed, stated that to " explain the gravity of the nuisance " was eyond his literary powers. lie Iberc,°lc rjnot.od the Book of Exodus. " Be1 wi 1J send swarms of flies upon M'ee. '1 his might have served I'haroah lmt what li;,(| they in Hertford- , , llre dour to deserve this plague? was s comment. moving a house by camera. Mining .mil industrial areas in Britain extending into many districts that i, llrc . J,, vt .|y country, and many 'eantiful houses h:ive been pulled down or p sndoned on this'account. Hut, Mr. I'.. Jl - Hoyden, of Bidston Com I, was too attached to his home lo think of JHiythins: 'if that kind. lie resolved to In °v e his hi ■use bodily to a place where <,r.unti y was si ill country. The new s, te chosen was ,-u l-Yankhv, on a hillside al >Ov e the liivrr Dee. -V firm of builders undertook to take 'be liou-o lo [lici-os and re-erect it. in the position. To malile them t" do this every dot;iil correct Iho camera was called ui, and more than a hundred piiotofaphs were made. The house was moved 1,1 ' nr g p portions/ at a time. Each of the "Wonderful Tudor chimneys, for instance, taken down complete and removed as it stood. Thanks to the camera's P' Bidstori ('oiuL now stands proudly S n, v ' I"' king exactly as it, did i'l The work of removal took more Wan three years.

MYTHICAL FORTUNES. A warning circular is being sent to thousands of people in the United States and Canada who believe themselves to be heirs to unclaimed millions in Great Britain, and who arc being defrauded by agents offering, foi a fee, generally £lO, to prove their claims. 'I he circular states that "large unclaimed est., s believed by many persons to exist in Luiglanc! are almost all mythical." VOGUE OF ELECTRIC MOTORS. Fifty-eight per sent, of the farms in the United States are said to have a motor-car in the s!ock of machinery, according to the ctnsus bureau. Figures showed that thirteen and fourteen per cent, of the farms had motor-trucks, slightly less than the ratio for tractors. Four and one-tenth per cent, of tlio farms have electric motors for farm work while fifteen per cent, have stationary ga s engines. Nebraska has the largest percentage of automobiles, ninety-ono and eight-tenths. TOO MANY STREET HAWKERS. There are so many street hawkers in Hull 110 one in the city knows what to do with them. Traders, of course, would like lo put .1 slop to them and the Chief Constable has suggested that certain streets should be prohibited to them. These streets have become seriously congested because of tho inc.-ease in the number of hawkers. The Chief Constable and the Town Clerk have been j-jiven the task of preparing a report with suggestions which will allow the Watch Committee to solve tho difficulty. IRELAND'S HEDGE SCHOOLS. Dr. P. J. Donling recently read it paper to the Irish Literary Society of London on the Irish Hedge Schools of the 18th century. When the Irish schoolmaster of those cays, ho said, was forbidden by law to have a school, he <Oll ceivcd the idea of teaching his class in the open air on tlio sunny side rf a hedge or-bank, sr that his pupils might scatter at the first approach of danger. Hence the name hedge school. Later, when the laws against education were relaxed, the school was taught in a cabin, a barn, or any building that might be lent or constructed for the purpose. But the term " I edge school " was still retained. The least that, was taught in the hedge schools included reading, writing and arithmetic; very many of them gave instruction in classics and mathematics. SCHOOLS AND SNOBBERY. Tho headmaster of one of the famous English public schools has been making some comments on the " snobbery " of a distinction in thought between " public " and "secondary" schools. lie quoted one famous case cf snobbery of this kind which was dealt with by Mr. Walker, the formidable high master of Manchester Grammar School and of St. Paul's. While Mr. Walker was at St. Paul's a woman with " aristocratic " connections approached him about sending her boy to the school, asking at the same time whether anything in the school would " jar against her son's social antecedents." " Madam," said Mr. Walker superbly, "if your son does his work properly, and if his fees are paid regularly, 110 question will be asked about his social antecedents." RAINLESS LAN]?: AND ONE RIVER.

A country about the size of England, peopled by agriculturists, but practically without rain, and dependent for its water supply on a singlu river—that is the province of Sind, in India. Under British rule the primitive canals have been greatly improved and extended, and now the province has the largest irrigation system in the world, with a dam about a mile in length, pierced by 86 sluice gate openings and seven great canals, every one bigger than the Suez Canal. The new system, known as the Lloyd Barrage, was recently opened. The value of the dam is that, during the period when the Indus is nomally low, the shutting of the sluice gate a will keep the water at a sufficiently high level to feed the canals. Then when the river is in flood the gates will be opened. COMEDY FILM ACTORS' WEAPONS. Motion-picture comedy actors who fight with chairs and other implements use furniture made o: wood that i s so light it never hurts. A club may shatter realistically over a comedian's head, but he hardly feels the blow. Guns and hammers that appear to be dangerous weapons on the screen actually weigh only a few ounces. The lightest material that the studios can obtain for this furniture is the pith of the yucca, otherwise known as the Spanish bayonet. Scouts are sent into the south-western desert to gather the stalks, some of which ara thirty feet high. The pith of the yucca has the same texture as heavy wood, >ut it feels softer than cork. A block of it can be crushed easily in the hand, yet it is sturdy enough to cut into thin boards and make into such articles as tallies and pianos. BUILDING TEAT IN LONDON. An interesting building feat has been proceeding almost; unnoticed in one of London's busiest thoroughfares recently. During the widening of the " bottle-neck " of Kensington High Street, the setting back of Barker's and Deny and Toms', and the erection of huge modern buildings, one tiny portion has been left untouched. This is the little " Lyons " teashop, which occupies a narrow wedge of the property. Brick by brick all tlie storeys of the building above have been carefully removed, leaving c ily the four walls and roof intact. The work ha s been so skilful I done that few customers have realised the pr cess of reconstruction which has been taking place all round them during the last few months. The old tcashop was losed for the tirst. time in 31 years, duri: g transfer to temporary premises and in a few months' time a new tcashop, willi an enlarged frontage, will open in its ilare. NEW RUJY ANIAN STAMP. The Rumanian Government has recently issued a social set, of four postage stamps to eelebr; te the fiftieth anniversary of the foui elation of the national liavv. This is tin first occasion on which commemorative postage stamps have been produced in bono ir of any navy, but the collector's album .ontains specimens illustrating almost evi-ry type of modern warship except the s ibinarine. In 1898 tile U tiled Stales issued a set of fiscal stamps villi a design showing a battleship. A dieadnought typo battleship of the early war years is depicted on Austria's 20-lieller Charity stamp of 1915. a tif i six y.ars later Japan produced a special stamp showing battlecruisers.

Thn only destioyer which appears in (he stamp a 1 burr: is that, shown on I lie now Rumanian S O lei stamps, while the 10 loi value of 11; is sot lias for its design a. small monitor. Probably I lie smallest, warship to decor; te a postage stamp was the gunboat Lark, which is represented on the 3-cent. Liber ian stamps of 1909.

BULBS IN THE WASH. Tlio Wash area is going to ]ilay a prominent, part in tlio bid to capture tlie £1,500,000 bulb industry for Britain. Already tlio tcH'linieal problems of growing suitable bulbs have been solved at (lie agricultural institute at Kirton, Lincolnshire, and tlic official view expressed. today is that we can grow all Iho daffodil and late tulip bulbs required, and may be able to grow all our hyacinth bulbs." BIDDING BY SAND-GLASS METHOD. The toll rights of the bridge over the River Parrett at Bridgwater, Somersetshire, on the Taunton-Glastonbury road, were sold by the traditional sand-glass method at Langport recently to Mr. C. Miller, of Burrowbridge, who bid the record sum of £I2BO for the privilege of collecting tolls during the present year. The bidding started at £BOO. and after each bid a sand-glass was inverted, but before tho final bid could be accepted the sand had to run through the glass three times. " BISHOP'S " LONELY POST. ' A lonely ministry has just been accepted by an elderly minister of the Welsh Calvinistic Church, (he Rev. Edward Evans, who is going to look after tho church on Bardsev Island, off the Carnarvonshire coast in the Irish Sea. Mr. Evans will be known as tho Bishop of Bardsey. His island has a visit from a mail boat once in three weeks, and there is also a wireless station. Mr. Evans, who is a Welshman really speaking Welsh, has spent nearly twenty years as a missionary in Nigeria. SIXTEEN MILES OF WINDOWS. Sixteen miles of shop windows—the stand frontage of the British Industries Fair—displayed in February lo all the world tho latest developments in tho nation's manufadtired goods. The Fair was the eighteenth and largest of tho series, and the floor space of the various halls amounted to nearly thirty acres. The area of the stands, not including gangways, was 623,000 square foot—--300,000 at Olympia, for the lighter trades, 243,000 at Castle Broinwich. Birmingham, where the " heavy " section was displayed, and approximately 80,000 at the White City, which housed the textile section.

FATALITIES ON THE ROAD, Last year, despite a fall in the total number of road deaths in the London metropolitan area, there was an increase in the number of little children killed. In 1930 the number of children killed under five was 46; in 1931 it was 64. It is reported that, taking all ages, 14 fewer people were killed in the last quarter of 1931 than in the previous quarter, but 600 more were injured. This is far from satisfactory, especially as owing to depression there has been a decreased use of the roads. ANCIENT VIKING SHIP. The Norwegian authorities are now engaged on tha reconstruction of what may claim to be the oldest seagoing ship in tho world. Not the oldest vessel, for tho dug-out canoe found in Lincolnshire, the Roman boat whose remains are now at the London Museum, and Caligula's barges which have, been exposed in Lake Nemi, are all considerably older. But these are only craft in the narrowest sense, while the Gokstad Viking ship is a real seagoing vessel, and a particularly fino one at that, and it. is the plan of the Norwegian Government to restore it to its original form after the fragment have been exhibited for fifty years. There was a virile romance about the Vikings and their ships. One of their traditions was the lashing of captives down to the launching ways that they ,night, be crushed as the ship took the water, a custom which is tho origin of our present launching and christening ceremony. CUDGELS FOR CANDIDATES. The first historical record of the Ancient Order of Foresters dates from 1790, when No. 1 Court, of the Ancient and .Royal Order came into existence at Leeds. There is a tradition that, an earlier court was formed ;Tt Knarosboroujrh, in 1745, but there is no.written evidence, in support of this. Such societies of foresters as existed before that time were chiefly convivial associations, which mot at regular intervals for feasting and jollilication. Candidates were initiated with curious riles founded upon old forest legends. Some of these ceremonies survived until almost the middle of tho last cent ury. As as 1843 a candidate for admission was required to prove his courage by combat! The Chief Ranger produced two cudgels, presenting one to the candidate and telling him to hand the other to any member of the, company, llis choice probably fell on the smallest man present, who must, have had rather a bad time if there were many candidates. The, two then retired outside, and the battle look place under 11ie supervision of the sub Chief Ranger and senior and junior Woodwards, who subsequently reported whether the candidate had duly proved his courage.

STILL A SECRET. " Yes," said Martin, " it was a sad case about George. Since lie lost all his money half his friends don't know him any more." "What about the oilier half?" asked his neighbour. Martin smiled. " They don't know yet that he has lost it," he replied. HARDLY POSSIBLE. lie looked impatiently at his watch and then beckoned to the porter. " When is the next train out of this village?" he asked. " Five o'clock." said the porter. " Five o'clock ! Isn't there ono before that?" asked Mie angry traveller. " No. sir," 1m replied, " we never run one before the fiext." QUICK AND QUICKER. The now assistant in tho hardware store rather prided himself on always having a quick reply. " Do you keep aluminium saucepans? " inquired tho timid-looking woman customer. He saw his chance. " No," came the reply, " we sell them." "Anyway," said the customer, who was equal to the occasion, " you'll keep the ono you were going to sell me." And she left the shop. VERY SHOCKING. King, tho earnest local organiser, called at the home of one. of the villagers. " Ah, Mr. Jones! "ho said. " I'vo called to ask if you'll sing at tho concert we are holding next week in aid of the hospitals. What kind of a voice have you? " " Well," returned Jones, with little enthusiasm, " I'vo got what you might call an electric voice." " And what kind of a, voico is that? " asked tho puzzled visitor. " When you hear it. you'll have a shock," camo tho reply. HER GREAT LOSS. Jim, who was usually so cheerful and light hearted, arrived at his office mo morning in a. melancholy frame of mind. Mis fellow ledger-clerk noticed at once thai something was amiss. " You're not your own bright self this morning, old man," he mentioned. "Anything wrong?" " Vera rejected mo last night," explained Jim gravely. " Well, well!" smiled back his companion. " You mustn't take that to heart, llemembrr there are lots and id's of oilier girls equally as good as Vera." Jim nodded agreeably. " 1 know, ' he said; "but somehow 1 can't help feeling sorry for tho poor girl."

EASILY EXPLAINED. The young office boy thought he would have a joke on the hall-porter. " I say, Jiggs," he said, " I saw five women standing under an umbrella down tho road and not one of them got wef." " H'm! " said the surprised and unsuspecting porter. " That must have been a very big brolly." " Not at all," said the cheery youngster. " It wasn't raining." A GRADUAL PROCESS. Little Betty, like most other children, never wanted to go to bed. Ono evening she was naughty, and as a punishment her mother placed her on a chair in ono corner of the tooiri. And don't you dare get down till you are good," said the vexed parent. After a while mother said: "Betty, it is time for you to go to bed." The child shook her head. " Oh, no, mummy!" she said. "I'm not good enough yet."

NEARER THE MARK. '1 lie rather heavily-built, woman seated herself in Iho shoe shop. " I want a pair of dainty, brown shoes," sho told tho assistant,. "And what is your size, modom ? " asked tho assistant. Let me see. now," pondered 11m woman. " Four is my size, but 1 think live, is more comfortable." The assistant nodded knowingly. " es, modom," she replied. " And 1 suppose six is a perfect fit ? "

SOON CURED. Br, Nobbs rubbed his hands professionally. " There you are, sir," lie said to his patient; " rnv bill for improving your hearing conies to twenty-five pounds." The patient shook his head. " Did you speak, doctor?" ho said. "If so, 1 didn't hear a word of what you said." " H'm," sniffed the medical man. " perhaps I'd better make it ten pounds." " That's better, doctor," said the patient readily enough. " That's about right." HIGH PINANCE. Little Egbert approached his hardworking mother and gazed up hopefully into her eyes. " Mum," lie said. " you are rather busy to-day and you don't want nic hanging round, so I'll give you sixpence if you'll let me go out and play. Mother almost dropped tho frying pan she was cleaning in her astonishment. " Egbert. what are. you talking about?" she asked. "Where did you get the money from?" Tho boy displayed a two-shilling piece. Dad gave nic it not to bother you," ho replied. ADVICE NEEDED. The small, aproned figure at the scullery sink sighed wearily. "So this is married life !" came the murmured protest Another sigh, a rolling up of sleeves, and tho scullery was soon a clatter of washing dishes and scouring. Presently tho toiler paused for a time to listen to the steady tapping of a typewriter in the next room. Tho last dish had been washed and dried when tho noise of the typewriter ceased and a woman's head appeared round tho scullery door. " Samson, my pet," said his wife, addressing the small, aproned man, " 1 can't for tho life of mo remember. Do you spell cave-man with a hyphen or not ?" NAME, PLEASE! Although they had known each other only three days, they had to part. " Conio along," shouted tho guard, and tho young couple lingering on tho platform started. " It'll be terrible without you," ho sighed. " And I'll miss you too," she said. " 1 was never so happy before, and all because we met three days ago." "Stand away there!" shouted tho guard. " You'll write," sho shouted from the window. " Every day." Then suddenly he tore aftu? the (rain, and as lie almost overhalaiV'"d on the extreme edge of the platform sio made a trumpet of his hands and cried: "Darling! Darling! What on earth did you say yonr name is?"