General News Items

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21462, 8 April 1933, Page 5 (Supplement)

General News Items

DEBT OF LONDON An increase of £3,978,878 in the total net debt of London during 1930-31 is revealed in iigurcs issued by iha finance committee of tho London County Council. The debt on March 31, 1931, amounted to £152,986,362, as against £l-19,007,484, and tho increase was mainly in respect of housing. Tho city's total net debt in relation to ratable vnluo increased during tho year from 267.] 1 per cent to 288.48 per cent. Part of the increase was due to tho reduction in ratable value owing to derating'. BOYS AS CHEFS A seven-course dinner cookc(,l entirely by boy students of the Cookery and Waiting Department of tho London I'ounty Council Westminster Technical Institute was served at tho institute recently when Lord Irwin, president of tho Board of Education, declared a new £06,000 extension open. All tho waiters, too, wore students aged from 16 to 21. The who prepared the dinner, under tho direction of Mr. I wan Kriens, had como from as far afield as Newcastle, Sheffield, and Wales to learn tho secrets of tho restaurateur. In tho courso of tho dinner Captain Edward Cobb, chairman of tho London County' Council Education Committee, mentioned that an old student of tho institute wns at present the Lord Mayor's chef. THE DAILY A newspaper with two editions 'daily and a circulation of 30,000, which cannot be bought, and which has no advertisements, is something of a freak. Blackmailers. confidence tricksters, burglars, and other law-breakers would give half their " swag " for the sight of a copy. But it is not for them; it is about them. It is an old newspaper, this Police Gazette, published at Scotland' Yard, for it started in 1828 as the Public Hue and Cry, when it issued from Bow Street, the headquarters of the famous " runners," forerunners of the Flying Squad. It gives particulars—and pictures, if possible—of every person I' wanted," of men and women awaiting trial. Every police-station in Great Britain has a copy and one is filed. It •is also sent to certain foreign conn tries and to the Dominions. - OIL-ELECTRIO EXPRESS " I travelled yesterday on the big business express—the first oil-electric express service in Great Britain—from Euston to Castle Bromwich, Birmingham," wrote a correspondent in a London newspaper recently. " This express, luxuriously furnished, will be used specially to carry public men, business men and oil magnates from the London section of the British Industries Fair to the section at Castle Bromwich. It is the latest type of Dicsel-electric rail-car, officially named the Armstrong-Shell Express, and it will run regularly during the Fair. " The coaches lack the spectacular qualities of the giant steam locomotive, but they achieve the same speeds an<3 have the extra recommendation of economy. Yesterday's run cost 6s 8d in fuel, or ,71d per mile. A steam express would consume about £5 of coal on the journey, though it would take more passengers."

ESCAPE OF PRISONER A prisoner who vanished from Strange ways Prison, Manchester, recently,' some time between noon and 2 p.m., provided warders and police with a baffling puzzle. The man was Joseph John Spechko, aged 29, a Pole by descent, but a native of Manchester, who was sentenced to 15 months' hard labour^at Manchester on February 1 for housebreaking and larceny. Spechko's escape is shrouded in mystery. He was seen at noon, and was not missed until 2 p.m., when a routine inspection of cells was carried out. Then all the prison premises were searched, and officers even scoured the roofs of the buildings. It is assumed that the man gained admittance to a shed, climbed on to a window sill, wriggled through the ventilation opening, and /dropped 12ft. to the ground. It is three years since there was an escape from Strangeways Prison. \ A FAMOUS BELL The Ashburnham London County Council School in West Chelsea has a boll for a cap badge, and there is an interesting and ancient story attached to its origin. Tn 1673, on a cold winter's night, >\ illiam Ashburnham, who was cofferer to Charles the Second, fell into the Thames. In those days the embankments wore unguarded and were unsafe because they were also dark, so that Mr. Ashburnham would have been drowned had not the clock of Old Chelsea Church struck nine just in time. The sound of the clock guided him to the embankment. In gratitude for his delivery he gave a boll to Old Chelsea Church, and this can still be seen hanging in tho porch of the church with his name upon it. His wish on presenting it was that at nine every svening the bell should be rung, and this was done for over 140 years. IDENTITY OF BULLETS One of the most important weapons science has ever placed in the hands of tho police 'Tn their war against crime is among the exhibits at the British Industries-Fair. This is the new forensic microscope, invented by Mr. Robert Churchill, the Home Ofhco firearms expert.

All firearms have certain identifying marks on the bullets fired from them, .md also on tho cartridge eases. These marks ar.e different, even in the case of weapons to all appearances identical, and by examining them the export can tell whether or not a bullet has been fired from a certain gun.

Microscopes have been used f6r this work /in the United States for some ypars, but the new one is tho most perfect of its kind —and it is made bv a British lirm from British materials. The now microscope will also enable the smallest objects to bo enlarged and photographed, a circumstance which may,' on occasion, provide valuable clues. WOMEN WINTER SWIMMERS Open-air bathing during the winter inonths Ins so far been confined in England to a few bravo men. Even this sphere ha.s now been invaded by however, and, in response to a request from between 60 and 70 fair 'enthusiasts, Ken "Wood Pond, at Highgato, London, is to be kept open during tho winter. This concession, however, depends on sufficient supprtrt hoing forthcoming, so (ho gentle sex have still - to provo themselves as winter swimmers. Ken Wood Pond was fenced off and reserved for exclusive use by women Bwiiuruers at the beginning of the summer. It, and a pond at Victoria Park are the only two stretches of open water in London which are entirely preserves. During the winter it is proposed that Ken Wood Pond should lopen on Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from ten to one and two to four. A woman attendant, fully trained in Ijfe-saving, is a),ways on the spot while bathing is .iii progress.

FINGER-PRINTS OF BABIES Mexico C'tv has had a bright idea in connection with tho registration of babiw whi"!i has now been put into practice. Babies brought to tho Civil Registry offices in Mexico City lix their own signature at the foot of the page. This is dono by pressing baby's thumb on an ink-pad and then securing the imprint on tho page. Such thumb-prints will help to identity children later. It will do much to prevent accidental or conscious cases of substitution of babies, and will make kidnapping far more risky and easier to discover. SEARCH FOR LOST GOLD Equipment for salving the gold of tho historic English frigate Lutino, whose bell is known throughout the world as tho " Lutino 801 l " of Lloyd's recently arrived at Terschelling 'The' Lutine, carrying Bank of England "old bars and coins, to save Hamburg bankers at a moment of crisis was sunk off the )slo of Terschelling in October 1799. Many attempts to salve tho gold havo since been made, but so far only about £IOO,OOO worth has been brought up. Gold worth £1,150,000 is still in tho Lutine. The new salvage machinery, consist- .£> enormous tubo with sucking pipes driven by big engines, has just been constructed by a Dutch engineer, lho Lutine bell, recovered in 1859, is rung at Lloyd's when overdue vessels arrive, or to signalise other important announcements. LOST ON THE RAILWAY It would appear, after a visit to the lost property offico of tho big London termini, that a railway journey is still ' a ssleep and a forgetting." There is even evidence that the sleep continues while passengers are walking along the arrival platform. How else could they leave behind false teeth, a perfectly good feather bed, a bath, a camp bedstead, a cistern, and even an Egyptian mummy. Tho other day someone left behind them three villas and a workhouse. The house property, however, was not genuine bricks and mortar. It was a stage set probably belonging to some touring pantomime company. Perhaps the owners lost interest in it and decided to leave it in tho van. At present it rests dejectedly far from the footlights in a thicket of forgotten hats, sticks, gloves, umbrellas, coats, suitcases, hams, pheasants and golf bags. WHAT THE NAVY READS Sailors have usually been keen on reading, and the men of the navy seem to te no exception to the rule. Their tasto for it, too, is encouraged by their officers, and to-day practically every warship has its own bookstall, while well-stocked libraries are carried by the larger vessels. Novels are, naturally, much in demand, but a great deal of serious reading is also undertaken by the lower

deck. Plymouth booksellers say that there are many inquiries for historical and technical works, and essays are also widely read. This is in great part due to the fact that the navy is now manned very largely by men who regard their work as si profession and who desire to get on in it. Very much th 9 same holds good in the army. And in both services the student is encouraged and frequently wins promotion.

A ROUNDABOUT REVOLUTION An interesting centenary has just been at King's Lynn—that of Frederick Savage, the man who " mechanised " the travelling shows. Roundabouts were turned by hand—a laborious process—until one day a showman asked Savage if he could invent a 'steam engine to do the job. Savage did so, and soon other showmen adopted the new.method and the fairgrounds were transformed. The invention revolutionised tho finance of the travelling fair as well as its technical side, and ushered in the day of the showman-capitalist. Although electricity is now replacing steam in the newer travelling "shows," the industry, on its present large scale, danes from the day of Savage's brainwave. Frederick Savage has other claims to fame, however. He was an agricultural engineer, and one of the pioneers of the steam plough. INSULTS OF ART Two nude statues covered with white sheets, and bound hand and foot, stood recently on the broad staircase leading to the mayor's parlour at Blackburn, England. The question whether they are to remain in their present conspicuous position, either veiled or nude, was to be fought out at the next meeting of the council. The statues aro those of the Venus do Medici and Octoroon, a Greek slave. " I will fight to the last drop of my blood to have these figures removed," said the mayor, Alderman W. Kenyon. " It is a question of art versus decency, and I am not going to allow my wife to bo insulted. Each time the mayoress goes up or down the staircase these nude statues are flaunted." Mr. R. Atihton, the art curator, said: '' The statues have been on exhibition in Blackburn, and thoy must have been seen by thousands of people during the last 60 years." FOILING JEWEL THIEVES Smash-and-grab raiders will soon find that they are the grabbed and not the grabbers. There will, in fact, bo no nioro certain way of dropping a brick than to hurl it through a window and then to thrust your hand in search

o!r jewellery through the hole made by it. The hand will go through easily enough, but it will not come out again.

Tho new invention, which has been patented by tho Automatic Light Control Company, Limited, is a development of tho watchdog invisible ray apparatus brought out not long ago. That apparatus merely rang a boll; tho new grab-tho-srnasher device does moro than this.

Thero is nothing in tho window to indicate its prcsenco, but the moment anything passes through tho glass two powerful " gadgets " come into operation from cither side of the window, and next instant the raider's arm is held in a grip of steel. LONGER HOURS FOR JUDGES The suggestion has been made recently that judges in Britain might vrork an extra hour daily, starting, perhaps, HO minutes earlier in tho morning and finishing 30 minutes later at night. It is contended that this would enable tho courts to tacklo tho cases now accumulating without additional judges being appointed, and that it would bo cheaper to do this, at tho same time bringing the judges' salaries back to the old scale, than to make new appointments. Judges, of course, are not necessarily finished with their work when the "I rises, and counsel also have to put in long hours, studying briefs and considering knotty legal points, when not in wig and gown. But in the old days, courts used to open at nine-thirty in the morning and frequently sat until late in tho evening. On one occasion a case was actually called at about six o'clock on Christmas Kve, and the hearing continued until a minute or two before midnight.

MAN SENT AS PARCEL Tho strangest parcel that has over travelled by air was delivered in London recently. The parcel was a Belgian journalist, Mr. G. Lantcheere, who had posted himself at tho General Post Offico in Brussels to an address in London. Tie was consigned as a sample packet of no value. Duly labelled and postmarked, ho travelled in tho parcels compartment of tho aeroplane, and was unloaded by post office officials at Croydon. Ono drawback to this kind of air travel is that parcels are not given chairs, but against this must bo set a great reduction in the cost of the journey. For a passenger between Brussels and London tho faro is £4, but the human packet came for £2 Bs. Ho will havo to mako his return journey as an ordinary passenger, for tho G.P.O. docs not accept livestock, whether human or not, as parcels for delivery outside Britain. One can. though, post oneself as a parcel or even as an express letter between two places in Great Britain. GOLD MINES IN BRITAIN The vaults of tho Bank of England arc not tho only places where gold may bo found in Britain. The wedding rings of tho Queen, the Princess Royal, and tho Duchess of York, for instance, were mado of Welsh gold. Tho brides of the Sutherland family aro married with rings from the mine at Kiklonan, in Suthcrlandshire, and there is a gold reef underlying the Forest of Dean

that is said to resemble that of the famous Witwatersrand in the Transvaal.

Gold-mining is to be resumed in the hills of Carmarthenshire. Professor Bernard Holland has been granted a 63year lease, thus reviving an industry established by the Romans, in fact, the industry is oldor than that, for in the British Museum there is a more ancient corselet of Welsh gold, and a breastplate of beaten gold was found in a Celtic " barrow " in North Wales. In tho 30 years before 1911, £370,000 worth of gold was taken from a mine near Dolgclly. Besides the mine at Kildonan, there are many other goldfields in Scotland. A nugget weighing 270z. was found in Lanarkshire, and nuggets have often been found in tho mountain streams.

PIGEONS AS PHOTOGRAPHERS Carrier pigeons are being used in Germany to take aerial photographs. These are often wanted for particular purposes, and to make them by means of an aero piano is rather an expensive business. By means of a wonderful new miniature camera, pigeons can be made to take the required snaps at trifling cost . The method used is ingenious. Birds which can be relied upon to fly straight homo to their lofts are selected. They are then liberated so that the place to bo photographed lies between the point of release and the home loft. The camera has a time shutter which can be sot to operate to within a fraction of a second. The speed at which particular birds fly is known from experience and the shutter is timed in accord with the estimated timo taken for the pigeon to fly over the spot of which photographs are required. GAOL AS REFUGE "Hands up! Resistance useless—my comrades are at the corner of the street!" Alois Zymonczyk, a young butcher, shouted those words to two musicians who were about to ejiter their Berlin homo and pointed what seemed to be a revolver. They put up their hands and let him tako the money in their pockets. Tliey wont into the house together. " You can now telephone to the police," said the robber after a timo. The musicians suggested that ho should return their money. "Certainly not!" ho roplied, "for if 1 had not got your money I should never get sont to prison—and that is what I want." Ho added that ho was in a frightful position botween two girls ivho wero jealous of each other, and had made his life a burden. Ho added casually that the " revolver " was a big key. The polico were called, and next morning the judgo gave Zymonczyk seven months' imprisonment. THE SIX-FOOT WAY Travellers by train may sometimes have wondered what is referred to in Britain in the term "tho six-foot way." This is really tho space between the " up " and " down " lines in a double track, and tho actual measurement is generally Cft. Sjin. Tho importance of having a, proper space between trains which may pass each other at high speeds need not be emphasised, and many precautions are taken by tho railways to ensure that both passenger and goods trains shall have no overhanging loads which might foul in the " six-foot " space. Should it bo necessary to transport any such loads, this is done when traffic is quiet—usually on a Sunday—and the other iset of rails is kept clear until the awkward consignment is safely out of tho way. The width of a double track of railway lines is not less than 28ft., but even with this space large girders and castings on route may cause anxious moments, particularly when tlioy pass under bridges or tunnels..