General News Items

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21580, 26 August 1933, Page 5 (Supplement)

General News Items

MR, J. P. MORGAN'S HOLIDAY pfe-Mr. J. P. Morgan left New York in Jhe Olympic recently for his annual vacation in England and Scotland. To vMthe financial reporters.whom he invited . his suite ho said, smilingly, that, though he looked well, he was in need „f a holiday, f Mr. Morgan declined to discuss finP&jnce, and indicated that his interest Ipfor some time Would be taken up by books, of which he had taken two cases ffcth him. Among the books were a !| ; prober of recent novels, most of them : ;Y,detectivo stories. ' ||f 1 £4OO IN A BOLSTER SLIP A Lancashire lass working in a launto of her homo town was washing a slip recently when she felt gometliing that was certainly not linen. s • It turned out to be £4OO. Someone had Spglipped four £IOO notes under the bolll «ter cover and forgotten them! She jf took the £4OO to thp works manager. -The manager looked for the name on the bolster cover and paid a visit to its ' owner. This lady had put the notes into the bolster slip after drawing them from the bank, and- had forgotten them completely. isfMv REMARKABLE FATALITY Hapm . . . / An extraordinary accident occurred Sfipfc Kolhapur, India, a few weeks ago, in the death of Rao Sahib ftliS. P. Savant, a professor in the Law !'• College and president of the Kolhapur fi Municipality. |ffii Tho professor was delivering a Icctqr® the Law College while blasting Y;r operations were going on in a neigh- § bouring rock mine. Following aft ext. plosion a large piece of rock fell on the roof of the college and crashed through, striking the professor on the head. Death was instantaneous. ' •• • • f ■ AIRMAN'S UNEXPECTED HONOUR An amusing incident occurred at the •v 'Calcutta Aerodrome recently in connection with the inauguration of the / Imperial Airways trans-India ,'/■ About the time the first plane of the service, the Arethusa, was due, a . Chinese airman, Mr. Sun Tung-kang, who is flying to Nanking from Ger■many, landed in a small monoplane, p The Ciiinese was astonished td find a fv crowd oi: 6000 surging round his machine' a deputation with an address / of welcome from the Governor of BenPgal. The Arethusa landed in darkness three hours late, lo the disappointment iT' of the crowd. I ''* I OPERATION ON UNSEEN WOMAN How the husband of a high-caste Indian woman, who had been accidentally shot, refused to permit, a doctor ■ to remove her veil, was told by Dr. Arthur Lankester, who has spent many years in India, at the annual conference of the British Commonwealth League # in London. . " The bullet was embedded in the woman's neck,,", said Dr. Lankester. " When I arrived I found her face covered with the usual veil. Her husband told me, ' If she dies it is God's will, but she shall not be.' So I persuaded him to put a small hole in the veil, freeing the woman's nose, f and another hole at the spot where the s" wound was. I administered the anaesthetic and operated without ever seeing my patient. She made a good recovery." BOOKS FOR SAILORS A library for the crew on board every British ship—that is the goal which the Seafarers' Education Service has placed before itself. Already it has % made a good stdrt. It was only in 1919 that it began lending books in this way, but sinoe then it has increased the number of ships carrying these libraries The libraries contain from 50 to 300 books each, according to the size of the ship for which they are intended, and/are ohanged three or four times a year. An officer or steward usually acts as librarian, and requests for particular volumes are forwarded by him and met as far as possible. All sorts of books are included in the collections sent outT—and they are all read—while the requests received show that Bailors' standards of taste are remarkably high. L " GO TO MANCHESTER! " Tho recent visit of the Maharaja of Travancore to Manchester is an interesting sign of tha times, says an English journal. Not only has he broken a tradition at least 18 centuries old in having his own land and crossing the sea, but his interest in Western industrialism, ; which made the Manchester visit the most important item V on his travel programme, typifies the \ new spirit in India. The selection of Manchester was probably partly governed by Lancashire's long-standing association with Indian trade, but it has other justifications as well. It is about 100 years since Disraeli, in " Coningsby," made Sidonia tell hie hero to " go in Manchester " if he wanted to see whatwas most vital and important in England. Where would " Dizzy " send his hero to-day? Perhaps still to Manchester. At any rate, the Maharaja seems to , think so. HARD KNOCKS FOR A PRINCE A report from Bucharest shows that | King Carol does not intend to have ' the Crown Prince Michael brought up j$ in a namby-pamby fashion. For some time past the King hajf had a number of boys from Bucharest schools, regard- /. Jess of tho rank or wealth of their parents, as tho Prince's guests at the Palace. One of them was the son of a blacksmith. Attending several of has son's tea parties, King Carol noticed a tendency to treat Prince Michael with exaggerated respect, so he said a few words to the boys before leaving on one occasion. He made it plain that if any one of them allowed the Prince to domineer without giving him what ho deserved in the shapo of "a good hiding," something more would bo heard in the matter. Subsequently several well.defined bruises on the face and arms of I. Rumania's future ruler testified to the loyalty of the boys to their King and 'to their willingness to carry out his jj| wishes. ? PARROT'S VIGOROUS LANGUAGE ' Legal action was recently taken by IjSf'A. Paris business man to restrain the conversational powers of a parrot Hp- owned by a neighbour. He asked for £290 damages, as compensation for the . mischief which he alleged the bird had caused. The owner of the parrot is a irf former explorer, and was at one time an oilicer in a French coloi'lial regiment. He is therefore more familiar with camps and barracks .than with the .drawing room, thus explaining his iV toleration of some of the parrot's more vigorous comments on things in,general. But the neighbour, the complainant, f has a daughter of only four years of age, who is therefore very apt in addI;' ' ln g unusual words and phrases to her stock ofr language. When a nurse | heard the child use a word not snoken »* Polite society, the parrot was immoQiately blamed. The explorer sternly reproved the ,bird, but steadily refuses to get rid of it, so a Paris Court was |jj|. to decide the matter.

TINY ELECTRICITY PLANT Half a mile from one of the giant towers of tho electric grid in Norfolk is a country village which has its own power station and supplies electric current to some 50 cottagos. Tho village is Tichwell, and for years it has been producing its electric current from an oil engine and dynamo and battery of accumulators. Unfortunately, the battery is almost worn out and cannot last fliuch longer. So this enterprising little placo is faced with the problem of either renewing its own tiny plant or bowing to the superiority of the vast electric grid. WIDOW'S GOLD HOARD Several thousand pounds' worth of gold coins, together with a large' number of banknotes, wore found wrapped in a mosquito-net between tho mattresses of a bed belonging to an English widow, Mrs. W. H. Smith, of Alexandria, Egypt, after her death. The gold coins were mostly sovereigns, and the hoard also included a number of gold ornaments. Tho valuables wore removed to the British Consulate. They were discovered when tho contents of Mrs. Smith's house were being listed so that an inventory could be made for probate purposes. NEW COINS IN FRANCE New silver coins have just been put into circulation in France. They are for ten and twenty francs, about five shillings and half a crown, and they replace the undignified brass tokens which have been in use for years all over France. The figure head on the new coins is full of dignity on the one side, and on the other there is an expression of •rigidity and straightness of line in modern art. Brains have been used in fixing the weight of the twenty-franc piece; it is exactly twenty grammes, which is the normal weight allowed for a letter in the post. FISH FOR UNEMPLOYED Free food was supplied to unemployed labourers of Norfolk recently in a most unexpected manner. A river left its bed during the night and entv - ely disappeared from view, leaving hundreds of fish floundering on dry land. The unemployed were not slow to seize their opportunity and gather up the fish. The phenomenon occurred where the river formed a tributary. Part of the bed of the river had given way, and the water was flowing about Bft. below its normal level. The cause of the collapse is a mystery, one of the many tricks of nature which defy human explanation. BIG MOTOR-CAR FOR £ls A motor-car which was built to the order of the German ex-Kaiser, was recently for sale in London. The price was £15 —but there was a catch about it. The motor-car is an enormous 45 horse-power saloon with a speed of more than 80 miles an hour. It has silk tapestry upholstery, a luncheon table, and a cocktail cabinet. The cocktail cabinet is empty. The car was built in 1926 to the exKaiser's command —but it was never delivered to him. For a time it was owned by a director of a chain of shops. Now a dealer in North London says he will sell it to anybody for £ls. The reason is that the tax on the car is £45 a year, and it only does eight miles to a gallon of petrol. BUSINESS FOR RAILWAYS In order to keep a firlher hold on thoir patrons, railway companies in England now undertake household removals. Not only are they willing to remove, furniture, they also undertake the laying of carpets and lino, stacking of shelves and cupboards with goods and chattels, hanging pictures, provision of meals to members of the household travelling by passenger train, tho care of pets during a removal, and even .the mowing of the lawn! Not only so, but a reduction of a third in fares is allowed to a family making removal by railway. The railways will also remove farming implements between one milking time and another, or factory plant, with as little disturbance as possible. ORIGIN OF THE STIFF COLLAR To-daj', when figures show that the stiff collar is gradually dying out, manufacturers are looking with veneration at a tablet on a house in Troy, New York. The tablet commemorates the invention of the stiff collar. Tho culprit was a woman—a blacksmith's wife. And she lived 100 years ago. Mrs. Hannah Lord Montague was 30. She washed her husband's shirts, which had collars attached to them —soft ones. But she noticed during her washing that the collar was always dirtier than the shirt. This gave her an inspiration. She cut off the collars of the shirts, put bands on the shirts, and starched the now separate collars. She found that they stayed cleaner longer. Mr. Montaguo was pleased, and told his friends. Thus, was the stiff collar given to the world. LIST OF ASSASSINATIONS Mr. H. W. Seaman, writing in the Sunday Chroniclo recently stated that he had a list by no means complete, of 50 illustrious victims of assassination in the last 40 years. It includes Shahs, Tzars, Presidents, Generals, Prime Ministers, Kings, Queens, an Emperor or two, a Sirdar and a Viceroy. Not one of the assassinations took place on British soil. Mr, Seaman says: —" The last time I was in Madrid, I was shown at least 30 spots at which statesmen had been murdered. In one square, 1 saw the marks made by the bomb that was thrown at King Alfonso and his young English brid?, and I remembe,red the horror that tha outrage caused in England. Lisbon and Rome are similarly pock-marked by memories (if assassinations. Every one of the assassins throwing his bomb, or firing his revolver, or lifting his dagger, had in his mind no honest hatred, but only an unreasoning lust for fame. They .ill failed. It is hard to-day to get to know thoir names." UNUSUAL POISONING CASE A curious case as a result of carbon monoxido poisoning is reported from Chicago. The patient, in the course of his daily work, had to make up estimates of costs and keep the times of the men under him. When he was examined after being poisoned, he was found unable to add simple numbers. Found unconscious in his garage, evidently overcome by the gas from the exhaust ,pf his motor-car, he remained unconscious for several days, apd on recovering suffered from confusion of direction and forgetfulness. When the sheet on the left pide of his bed wrinkled up, the man pulled at the sheet on the opposite side in an effort to straighten it, and in dressing himself he always tried to.put the right foot into the left leg of his trousers. He gradually improved in this respect, but could not add even small numbers. In cases of mental disease with other signs of aphasia this is not uncommon, but this is said to be the first'case as an after-effect of carbon monoxido ; poisoning. ; . ,

■ HISTORY IN STAMPS A special series of pictorial stamps of high artistic merit to commemorate the centenary of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire will be issued this year by the Government of Sierra Leone. They wijl range in value from id to £l. The designs have been prepared from sketches by the Rev. Father P. Welch, of the Roman Catholic Mission, and consist of vignettes. The borders of tho stamps include the name of tho colony, the commemorative dates, 18313-1933, tho * denomination, the inscription " Postago and Rovenuo," and in some cases a title of tho subject matter of the vignettes. \ BLIZZARD COSTS OVER £200,000 The cost of repairing the damage to telegraph and telephone lines caused by a blizzard in England early in tho year, has been computed to be more than £200,000. There were 1585 broken poles, and 14,380 fell or were deflected* junction and trunk lines interrupted numbered 5080, while 44,220 subscribers' linos were broken, and 460 exchanges were isolated. During the last 14 years, a vast network of underground cables has been constructed in England, and this work of placing tho lines beneath tho ground is being continued, with the gratifying result that blizzards and storms are likely to interfere still less with communication in the future. CANARIES DELAY STEAMER People on a quay near London recently, seeing off the Italian steamer Paganini, were somewhat astonished to find her departure delayed. At the very moment of weighing anchcr two canaries had been found sitting on the ship's railing. To v take them out to sea would have meant* certain death for them, as sooner or later they would have tried to fly back to land and would certainly have been 'drowned on the way. The captain would not allow this, so he decreed that the ship would not leave until the birds had been caught and sent back tr their owner. Tho ensuing chase proved so exciting, however, that even the most impatient of the passengers forgot to fume, and the only ones who felt injured were the canaries. <

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MEXICO'S NEW STAMPS The Mexican Government is about to issue two commemorative postage stamps—one air mail and the other ordinary. These special air mail stamps, in denominations of 20 and 30 centavos and one peso, will commemorate the twenty-first International Statistical Congress, attended by delegates from all parts of the* world, which will bo opened in Mexico City on October 11. These stamps will be oblong, coloured, black and purple, and have in their foreground a picture of the £1,000,000 National Theatre. The ordinary stamp will commemorate the 100 th anniversary of the founding of the Mexican Geographical and Statistical Society. They will be square and in the following denominations and colours: — Twocentavo, dark green; five-centavo, pale green; ten-centavo, dark blue, and one peso, purple. These stamps will bear the society's, coat of arms. REMARKABLE POWER SCHEME The villages of the Punjab in. North India will shortly be bright with electricity, the hot mid-day air will bo cooled by electric fans, the wheels of industry will move with the touch of a button. British engineers, with the co-operation of Indians, have been working for over 10 years at this great scheme in a mountain area where two rivers run parallel, one 3000 ft. above the other. The water of the higher river has been turned into a reservoir, and a tunnel of over two miles allows the water to run into the lower river with sufficient force to produce all the electric power needed. The nearest station was 120 miles away, so a small railway was constructed to carry 115,000 tons of material to the foot of the mountain, while a tramway took it up the steep slopes. The iron and stool girders had to be hauled up separately,, past projecting rocks. The cables, each weighing nearlylo tons, were made in Birmingham. Five thousand workers and their families had to be c.aterod for, and < houses, schools and hospitals built. Such is the result of the British genius for colonisation. PARADOX IN LAW COURT The law is often confusing enough, but not often so paradoxical as the day in a law court at Dijon, when a French canon argued against his own defending counsel while the opposing barrister pleaded on the canon's behalf. The case followed a collision between the canon's car and a motor-cycle. The rider of the cycle was injured and brought an action for damages. The canon contended that as ho was on the proper side of the road he was not to blame, and the court agreed with him. No sooner had the motor-cyclist's claim been dismissed than the canon asked for the judgment to be reversed, stating that in his conscience he felt that he might have been partly responsible for the mishap. The case was accordingly sent to the Court of Appeal. At this hearing the canon used all his powers of argument a decision against himself, while the barrister defending him maintained that his client was in no way responsible for the accident. The barrister for the cyclist, however, seized his opportunity and eloquently supported the canon's own arguments. But it was all tinie /and eloquonce wasted, for the court again found that the canoij was innocent of blame.

TALE OF THE OYSTER An oyster met an oyster, And they were oysters two; Two oysters met two oysters, And they were oysters, too. Four oysters met a pint of milk And they were oyster stew. SELF-CONTROL NEEDED " I'm thinking of getting a wireless set," said Jones. " I'd like one like yours." "Yes, they're quite good,'' replied Smith. " How many controls has it?" asked Jones. Smith grimaced. " Two," he replied bitterly; " my wife and my daughter." CAUSE FOR COMPLAINT Arm in arm the two young lovers strolled aimlessly through the orchard in the palo moonlight. Presently the.y stopped and she raised her blind for silence. " John, dear," she said in a hushed whisper, " do you hear tho trees moan and sigh?" " Yes," said the nnromantic John. " I think we would, too, if wo were as full of green apples as those trees are." AN EYE ON IT While on leave Pat lost his left eye, but not wishing to leave the service, he got a glass one in its place before returning to his regiment. Being somowliat absent-minded, however, lie appeared 011 parade one day without it. " Pat," said , tlio sergeant-major, " you are improperly dressed. You have come on parade with only ono eye I" Pat was in 110 way nonplussed, however. With characteristic Irish readiness he answered, "I loft it in my quarters, sorr, to keep nil tye on my kit." EXPECTED TOO MUCH The Smiths went away for their annual summer holiday and gave Jane, their maid, a month's wages and an allowance for board. On their return, four weeks later, Jane demanded further wages. Mrs. Smith was naturally horrified. " Gracious, Jane," she exclaimed," this is monstrous! You already got better pay than most of the girls in the town. Why, you've only just had a holiday with full wages. You should consider yourself verv fortunate." "That's just it," said Jane. " You paid me that money for doing nothing, so it isn't fair to expect mo to do all the work now for the same wages. ' HARD TO PLEASE A farmer had a son at college. At the end of the first year the boy came home in high feather. He stood second in his class. "Seoond?" said the father. "Second! Why didn't you stand first? Wfyat do you think I'm sending you to colloge for?" The young man returned for his second year, determined to win first place. At the end of the year he went home and announced his success to "his father. ' The father looked at him for a few minutes in silence, then shrugged his shoulders, and. said: "At tho head of the class, eh? Well, it can't bo much of a college, after all."

POOR FATHER! Gludys: " Mother dear, I advertised under, a different name that I would like to make the acquaintance of a refined gentleman with an eye to romance." Mother: "Gladys, how awful! Did you get any answers?" Gladys: " Only one —from father." BRINGING HER BACK Brown and his wife were at a local concert, and Mrs. Brown loudly applauded one of the singers. " Why are you clapping for an encore? Her singing was terrible," said Brown, irritably. " I know," replied the wife, " but I want to have another good look at her frock."

THE WAITING LIST In tho old country, Bons-in-law wero often givon free board and lodging instead of a dowry. A young man and his sweetheart wero discussing " ways and means " ono day. The girl's father could not afford a dowry. " Wo might board with your parents until jtimes get better," tho young man suggested, hopefully. " Noij a chance," sighed tho girl. " My parents are still boarding with my grandparents." LANDLADY AND THE BUTTER He was a member of the Royal Air Force band engaged to play during tho season at a popular resort. At his lodgings he noticed that his butter seemed to get less and less; tho more ho bought, the worse it got. One morning before leaving for the bandstands, he stamped the butter with one of his regimental buttons, thinking to detect tampering during his absence. The landlady saw tho trap, helped herself to tho butter and with a grim smile, stamped it again with a regimental button she happened to possess. On his return, the musician took one look at the butter, and summoned his landlady. " Very good, missus," he said cynically. "And how long have I been "transferred to the Royal B usiliers?"

WHAT A PITY! " Man, what's the matter wi' ye?" a Scots doctor demanded of a patient. il Yer tongue's as black as ma hat. " Aye, Ah spilt a bottle o' whusky on a new-tarred road." "Dear, dear! Did ye now? What a pity! By the way, did ye notice the name o' the road?" ANOTHER, KIND Freddy was not exactly the brightest boy in the class. Time and time again his master put a question.to him and on each occasion the answer was wrong. " Now, here's something you must know, Freddy,' he said wearily. " Give me a collective noun." Freddy answered readily: " A dustcart, sir." AN EARLY BEGINNING r " Speaking of tho difficulties foreigners experience in giving the proper accent to English," said a witneSs, " Reminds me of the fact that when I first came here I could not speak English, yet you cannot detect in my conversation a foreign accent." "To acquire such perfection you must have taken time?" " Oh, yes—it required years!" " You must have been young when you came to this place?" " Yes, I was very young. In fact, I was born here." IT WAS OBVIOUS The sound of tho front door shutting echoed loudly through tho house. Presently the drawing room door opened and hubby entered and flung his racket into a corner of tho room. . > " Hallo dear," his wife said brightly; " How did you get on in tho club tournament?" He glared fiercely at lior. "How did I get on?" ho cried. With courts liko plum puddings, umpires who couldn't distinguish foot-faults from foot-salts, and " "Oh, I see, dear" she interrupted. " You lost." - THE POOR WOMAN'S TROUBLE A wealthy man was motoring through a remote district in Ireland, when he came upon a poor woman seated, with all her humble 'furniture about her, in tho middle of tho road before her little cabin. The rich man was, profoundly moved. Here, before his very eyes, an.eviction, a real Irish eviction, was taking place.. He got out of his car and gave the old woman a fivepound note. " Tqll me," he said, " what is the trouble, my poor friend?" Bobbing and curtseying, tho old woman roplied, "Sure, sorr, me man's whitewashin'!" HE WAS VERY TIRED The weary theatrical magnate sat back in his chair. He had given auditions to at least 20 young women, who wished to adorn his chorus, and ho was tired. Then came a timid knock on tho door, and a rather faded, obviously married young woman entered. '' Excuse me, sir," she said, " but " " All right," he said, resigned. "Sing something." " But-——" " No voice? Can you dance? " " No, I blooming well can't," she snapped. " But if ' you'll stop being funny I'll start scrubbing the floor. That's what I come here for.','