General News Items

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21467, 15 April 1933, Page 5 (Supplement)

General News Items

50WN CLERK AT NINETY-THREE Forfar claims the distinction of having the oldest town clerk in Scotland He is Colonel Alex. McHardy, who is 93 years/ of ago and has been in office since 1903. Colonel McHardy attributes his good health and old age to constant attention to work/and moderate living. His only hobby is the Volunteers, of which body ho is a colonel. THE WILL AND A WAY Where there's a will there's a way. Many persons, forced into the ranks of the unemployed, have launched out for themselves, creating jobs unthought of in nioro prosperous times. A man at Consett, Durham, has established a touring library among the outlying villages. Another has arranged with shopkeepers to pay him a small cum each week to keep their shop fronts clean. REMARKABLE CARVINGS An unusually striking carved elephant tusk has been donated to a shipping museum in London. The tusk is oft. Bin. in length on the curve and is modern Japanese work. Ou one side are carved in relief tigers and on the other side monkeys. The monkeys provide a more varied group, fdr there appears a cascade where a monkey is drinking, a tree up which another is climbing, ono monkey is holding a crab and another has a frog. The tusk is mounted on a black wooden stand. ANIMALS IN GARDEN OF EDEN Facts about the traditional " Garden of Jiden " aro revealed in an archaeological report to the American Association for tho Advancement of Science. The report states that, if the Garden was where popular belief places it in Palestine, researches suggest that it existed more than * quarter of a million years ago. Its animals included: rhinoceros, deer, hippopotami, oxen, horses, rodents. The climate was mild, a comforting Assurance in view of tho scanty clothing of the inhabitants. SACRIFICE REWARDED Tribute to his daughter's devotion is paid in the will of Mr. William Crumps, of Malvern Link, Worcestershire, horticulturist, formerly for 40 years head gardener at Madresfield Court (the home of Earl Beaucliamp), who lately died aged 89, leaving £5271, with net 'personalty £4656. Mr. Crump left £IOOO to his eldest daughter, Mary Rosamond, in addition to any other benefits, "as 6ome sort of recompense for her thoughtful kindness in sacrificing her scholastic profession and prospective pension in order to come home to care for and attend to me//and her mother in our old age and illness." STUDENTS' BARTER SYSTEM ' Students of Penn College, Oskaloosa, lowa, have been enabled to complete their studies by giving primary products to the authorities. On the credit 6ide of their accounts there appeared last year 13 head of cattle, 9 sheep, 27 pigs, 39' chickens, 1500 quarts of canned fruit, 25 bushels of apples, 20 bushels of potatoes, 250 bushels of corn and 25 bushels of wheat. It was decided that the college should operate a farm where it could employ students as part-time workers and utilise these fees, and now the cows provide milk for the college dining tables; the chickens contribute toward the egg supply; the pigs are doing their bit after fattening on the corn; the vegetables find their way directly to the tables. Needy students pay their bills by ' Bweeping college buildings, stoking the heating plant and doing odd carpentry, and women students work their way as waitresses, cooks, maids, laundresses and typists NEW MUSEUM IN BERLIN The only old Berlin patrician house •whose rococo interior has been completely preserved has been opened as a branch of the Markisches Museum. It is the so-called Ermeler House at No. 11 Breitestrasse. The decorations and furniture date from the time of Frederick the Great. A ceiling painting of Venus and Minerva in the dining room is by an artist who painted similar pictures in the New Palace in Potsdam. One of the rooms contains a collection of historic toys from tho so-called Biedermeier time, the first half of the last century, including a great number of dolls and streets peopled with brightly painted tin figures. A noteworthy exhibit is a faithful copy of the dwelling rooms of Frederick the Great in tho Sans Souci Palace in Potsdam, made by the 81-year-old Berlin decorator Wilhelm Wiedemann' of cigar toxes. The upper storey of the Ermeler House will be used for exhibitions. PENNY WITH A HISTORY A generous donor has just given a trhole penny to tho British Museum. But the value of the gift depends uoon the kind of penny. The story runs that about 1850 a little squadron, ono of 39 expeditions of the kind between 1847 and 1857, set out to ascertain the fato of the expedition of Sir John Franklin which on May 19, 1845, had sailed with the idea of discovering the North-\v est Passage. One of these relief ships was icommanded by Captain Penny, a regular old sea-dog, who had spent many years in the whale fisheries of the Arctic. Captain Penny landed at Beech y Island, where he found traces of the first tvinter.'quarters of the ill-fated epeedltion. Thence he followed the courso of the Wellington Channel by dog sledge. ' As ho went along he erected cairns to show where he had been, .and to help him on his return. Then, as he had no visiting cards in his pocket, he loft a penny as a token that he had passed that way. It is one of these pennies, found only last summer by a scientific expedition, which has been given to the British Museum. In spite of 80 years in the Arctic,, it shows no trace of rust. THE HOUSE OF COBURG The marriage of Prince Gustavus Aclolphus of Sweden and Princess Sibylla of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha draws attention to tho fact that this formerly reigning ducal house is related to fully half of tho royal houses of Europe. The bride and bridegroom are themselves related to each other, the Princess being a grcat-grand-daughter and the Prince a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, ,Vvlio was a Coburger. The income of the Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha dynasty was never large, and the many children had to look out for themselves when they grew up. Prince Albert' was the first to marry into a reigning house, and this connection with the British Empire greatly illCreased the standing of the Coburgers. In the following years many other Coburg princes and princesses formed royal alliances. The relatives of the ducal family m- . elude, among others, George V. of England, King Leopold, of Belgium, QuoenMothar Emma of tho Netherlands, Queen Maud of Norway, King Boris of Bulgaria, Queen Marie bf Rumania, Kaiser Wilhelm 11., King Alphonso of Spain and King Manuel of Portugal..

6000 MATCHBOXES A quaint hobby is indulged in by Mr. Walter Smith, landlord of tho Irafford Arms adjoining the railway station at Croston, Lancashire. For somo years Mr. Smith has collected overy kind of matchbox he could lay his hands upon. With them ho has effectively designed tho walls of the " snug." To-day ho has over 5000 boxes of 300 different designs. QUEEN'S GIFT FOR SALE A set of 12 English silver apostlo spoons which aro stated to have been a present from Queen Mary when sho was Princess of Wales wore recently offered for salo in New York. According to tho Emergency Unemployment Relief Committee "in New \ork, tho spoons wero given as a wedding present to an unnamed New York woman, who is now anxious to sell them to " stave off destitution." ANCIENT LONDON St. John's Chapel, in the White Toner, was in use in the days of William tho Conqueror, and on occasion services are held there to-day. It shows that even in the eleventh century England was not behind other countries in building in stone. St. John's is small, bin it suggests the minster none tho lesil. There was a restoration of the chapel as late as 1863, and it was made fit for use after centuries. Principally to-day some of tho Tower garrison uso it for worship. OAK TREE 1000 YEARS OLD An oak tree at Allonville, Bellefosse, in the north of France,, celebrated its 1000 th birthday recently. It is so big that nine men can barely encircle it wit,h extended arms; and cut in its trunk aro two chapels, ono over the other, in which 40 children can stand. A stairway leads round tho tree to the upper chapel. This famous tree was regarded with veneration in tho Middle Ages by tho French, whose Gallic ancestors worshipped with the Druids beneath its brunches in the days before Christianity. RECRUITS AND DEFECTS Alarming revelations as to the fitness of new recruits offering themselves for tho British Army were made recently by the new Adjutant-General of the Forces, Sir Cecil Romer. He says that 575 out of every 1000 recruits offering themselves were rejected as too weak to be trained for marching and firing. Throe out of every four of the candidates took nearly eight minutes to run a mile, and were unable to jump more than three feet high. More extraordinary still, it was found that one in five could not write an intelligent letter and that five per cent were unable to read or write. MEN AS QUILT-MAKERS Many of Manchester's unemployed men are secretly taking to sewing as a means of supplementing the dole, and aro receiving tuition in the handling of their machines from expert wives. They are busy making quilts. Although a great amount of work is involved in tho making of these quills, it is stated that payment is very low and ranges from to 3d to 6d a quilt. The quilts are made from 50 to 60 pieces of cloth, which must be sewn together to form a patchwork. Care in matching the pieces and forming a good centre is necessary. Tho firms who specialise in the business allocate the cloth by weight and stipulate a certain number of quilts. BELGIUM'S POPULATION A remarkable analysis of the Belgian population has been published by a Belgian professor. He says that the Belgian people, apart from any prospect of immigration of> foreign people from without, must decline frocn the "present eight millions to under six millions bv the veiur 2000. He also points out, what is little known outside Belgium, that the Belgian population has been largely sustained in the recent past by the immigration of Poles. In ten years the Belgian Poles have increased ten times. Also in France, the Poles have been an important factor in maintaining the population while native Frenchmen have declined in numbers. In the last ten years the number or Poles in France has increased thirteen times. There is also a very large Italian population in France, and it is only through tho additions of Poles and Italians that the French population has been saved from substantial decline. Even as it is the French population has remained for practical purposes stationary for many years. BURGLAR'S MONEY RETURNED A woman succeeded recently in a claim at Southend against the Chief Constable for the return of £42 in £1 noises found in possession of her husband on his arrest in 1925. It was stated that the man confessed to 37 cases of shopbreaking. Mr. D. Collard submitted that tho onus was upon the police to prove that tho money was stolen property. Evidence had been given by both applicant and her husband that it came from the salo of their furniture to a Mr. Cox, anil this story was corroborated by Mr. Cox. Mr. Collard cited a case where a man was found to have £12,000, although his income was only about £6 a week. He had been convicted of receiving bribes of several thousand pounds, and it was morally certain, said Mr. Collard, that the money had come from bribes. Tho judge held in that case that unless the Orown proved that those actual poundnotes had been como by dishonestly, then the money must be returned. The Court ordered tho return of tho £42. ORIGIN OF FAMILIAR NAME The word " Porterhouse" as applied to a particular cut of beet, is one of the best illustrations of the accidental application of article. During the war of famous porter house, near the Battery, in New York, was kept by a man named Morrison. It was a resort much frequented by pilots and boat ™ en ' found it a convenient place to secure a hot lunch when they arrived, wet and cold from their duties in tho I)arbour. One day customers had been numerous. When, finally, a couple of pilots arrived in the evening, all the steaks were gone. Not willing to send nis guests away, Morrison took the ' a fK e roast sirloin ho bad provided for the next day, and cut off a couple ot steaks from the small end. Ihey wero eaten with gusto, and the two customers enjoyed them so much that tnoy asked from what part they been cut. Morrison told them and showed tho sirloin from which they had been taken. The two men left a standing order for similar steaks whenever they should call; and the good'qualities of the cuts soon commending them to other patrons, calls for the steaks became common. To meet the demand, Morrison directed his butcher to cut the sirloins into steaks, so that in the market " steaks for the porter-house " became a familiar expression..

CORNISH DISCOVERIES As yet no attempt has been made to fix the date of the remains of prehistoric villages which have recently been excavated in West Cornwall. It is assumed that the enrly hut encampments and the stone implements go back to A.D. 300, but they may, of courso, bo very much older. • There is still much to be written about the history of Cornwall—perhaps the least known, and certainly the most romantic county in England. BROUGHAMS FOR MESSENGERS Need for economy lias led to a return of an old custom in the carrying of messages and dispatch boxes between Buckingham Paluco and Government offices in Whitehall.* In recent years, when ono of the palace, messengers lias had to undertake a journey, a taxi-cab lias boon requisitioned. Now a brougham from the Royal Mews, driven by a cockaded coachman, is used. It is the King's wish that tho change has been made. Recently it was suggested to the King that " cuts " might he made in the establishment of the Mows. When the King heard of the practice of hiring taxi-cabs for tho conveyance of messages ho at once saw a way out. " Keep my men and use them and the horses and broughams from tlio stables instead of cabs," was His Majesty's order. NATIONS WITH SMALL NAVIES Many nations to-day have navies consisting of only one boat. Panama's naval establishment is ono steam yacht, lightly armed and, according to Popular Mechanics, is now for sale. This craft is manned by two caretakers. Ecuador has ono gunboat, manned by 53 officers and 261 men, Mexico has five gunboats, and Peru's navy comprises threo cruisers, a destroyer, four gunboats and six submarines. Switzerland actually has a navy; it consists of fast small vessels for patrol work on Lake Geneva. Austria now has no seaports and is without a navy. Finland started its new navy by borrowing a gunboat, and Esthonia, with a single sloop. Holland's navy consists of 24 submarines, most of them on patrol duty in the East Indies.

EXPOSITION IN CHICAGO A commission representing the 1933 World's Exposition in Chicago, which visited the famous Dresden Hygiene Museum, has given commissions for duplications for that exposition of many of the museum's exhibits, especially of those in the central group entitled " Dor Mensch " (man). After the exposition the models will form the nucleus of a scientific pedagogical collection for a newly organised medical faculty in the United States. Somo of the models have already been completed and aro on exhibition in the museum. The Dresden Hygiene Museum has from its inception been the goal of visitors to Germany from all over the world, especially of physicians and social workers. WHERE THE PENNIES GO Tho penny, though humble, is extraordinarily useful. There were issued in Britain between 1860, when the old end clumsy penny was abandoned for the more nimble one, and 1930, no fewer than 1,760,000,000 pennies. Of this total 86,000,000 have been withdrawn. The banks hold an average of 400,000,000, while automatic machines and telephone boxes withdraw vast numbers from circulation. The organisations controlling the machines which supply matches, chocolate, cigarettes, and so on, confess to gathering 2000 tons of pennies a year! They claim to sell 250,000,000 boxes of matches, that weighing machines dispose of 20,000,000 tickets, and that chocolate machines hand out 60,000,000 bars. In addition, 100,000,000 pennies were collected from telephone callboxes last year in tho London district alone. AMERICANS' CHEWING GUM The consumption of chewing gum in the United States has risen to well over 100 sticks a year by each person, three times the 1914 figure. In 1929, factory valuo of the production of chewing gum was almost £12,000,000 and retail value of that sold in the United States is estimated at nearly £23,000,000. Even more rapid than the riso in home consumption has been tho increase in exports. Ascribed rn large measure to its introduction into Europe by tho American soldier, chewing gum exports have increased in value from less than £40,000 in 1914 to about £300,000 last year. Tho basic gum entering into the manufacture of tho product is chicle, obtained from the sapota tree, averaging 75 feot in height and a native of Central America. The largest part of the gum comes from the southern part of Mexico, particularly Yucatan..

THE HIKER EXPLAINS Farm Worker (to hiker crossing a field): " Didn't you see the notice saying pedestrians ain't allowed here? Hiker (with great presence of mmd): " I'm not a pedestrian. I'm a Congregationalist! " " Oh, that's different. You can go across. ADVICE NOT WANTED A Scot consulted a London doctor, who told him that he must give up drinking. Very disgusted, the patient was walking to the door when the specialist called him bark. " The fee for my advice," he said, "is two guineas." " That's all right," replied the Scot. " I'm no' takin' your advice." SITTING ON HIM Mother (sternly): " Didn't I see you sitting on that man's lap last night?" Daughter: "Yes, and it was very embarrassing. I wish you hadn't told me to." " Good Heavens, I never told you.to do anything of the kind!" ' " You did, mother. You told me that if ho attempted to get sentimental I must sit on him." NEARER THE MARK The rather heavily-built woman soated herself in the shoe shop. ' I want a pair of dainty- brown shoes,' she told the assistant. "And what is-your size, modom? asked tho assistant. " Lot me see now," pondered the woman. " Four is my size, but I think five is more comfortable." The assistant nodded knowingly. " Yes, modom," she replied. " And I suppose six is a perfect fit?" NO COMPLAINTS The teacher had worked hard explaining the injustice done by Nero, and believed ho had made an impression on the boys. " Now, boys, what do you think of Nero? Do you think ho was a good man?" No one answered. Then the teacher singled out a boy. " Tommy, what do you think? Do you think he was straight?" " Well," returned the boy, "he never done nothin' to me." THE PESSIMIST The parents of a solemn _ little boy were perturbed at his morbid outlook on lifo. They wore sending him off by train to relatives, and told him to write his name and address on a card, and put it in his pocket. The boy did so, beginning: "In case of accident, this was Johnny Smith."

A LONG ILLNESS The history master, noticed that young Wiggs was back in class after a long absence through illness. " I'm glad to see you here again," he said. " You'll have a lot to make up. How long have you been away?" " Since William the Conqueror landed, sir," replied Wiggs. QUITE SIMPLE " I'm sorry, madam," said the pass.port official, " but there has been a mistake made in your application form." " What is that?" she asked. " The colour of your hair has been put down as dark instead of fair." " Oh," she said, with an obliging smile. " Will you alter it, or shall I?"

QUITE INTERNATIONAL One day the landlord of a block of fiats called on one of his tenants, a young artist. " The rent of your rooms is six months behind," ho commenced, " but times being what thoy are, I don't want to be hard on you. I'll toll you what I propose to do. I'll moot you half-way—-forget half the debt. How about that?" The tenant smiled gratefully. "That's fine!" he said, "And I'll forget the other half."

VERY UNLUCKY MAN Tramp: " Lady, won't you help a poor man that lost his family in the Yorkshire flood and all his money in a crash ?'' Housewife: " Why, you are the same man that lost a family in the South Wales flood and was shell-shocked during tho war." " Yes, lady. I'm the unluckiest guy on the face of the earth." MAN WHO DOES NOT GUESS " I say, Tom," said Dick, " you're looking rather miserable this morning. Anything wrong? " " I've just had my fortune told," replied Tom miserably. " Well, I must say I wouldn't let that worry me," put in Dick. " Why, those sort of people only guess it. ' " Maybe some of them do," came the reply; " but this was my bank manager, and he didn't guess." MAN WITH A BILL A young man about town returned to his flat after having lunched well but unwisely. As soon as he entered he was met by his valet. " Pardon mo, sir," said the valet, " a man wishes to see you. Looks like a man with a bill." The young man looked wonderingly at the man. "Man with a bill?" ho echoed. " Don't bo an ass Don't bo absurd. Must be a bird." NO OFFENCE INTENDED They had been married seven years, and it was hor usual custom each year to make her hubby a cake to celebrate the occasion. " Henry, my dear," she said, " this is our anniversary, and I've baked a fruit cake for tea." Her husband put down his paper and took off his spectacles. " How thoughtful of you, my dear!" he replied. "I have always looked back on the previous cakes as milestones in our life." AFTER A GOOD MEAL Charitable Woman (to tramp): " Now that I have given you a good meal you ought to be nt to chop me some wood." Tramp: " !Nfo, lady. It would show base ingratitude for me to do that." Woman: " I don't understand you." Tramp: " Well, when I get going on a heap of wood I chop ho fast and furious that 110 /vxe-handle would Stand it. That would mean the expense of a new handle." Woman: "But you could chop slowly." . - Tramp: It's not in me, lady, to sleep on a job."