General News Items

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21758, 24 March 1934, Page 5 (Supplement)

General News Items

TROUBLE IN STY. Twelve pigs were dozing peacefully in a sty at Hose, Leicestershire, recently, when over the fence sailed a fox, and over in its wake came the Belvoir hounds, one of the most famous packs in England. Pigs, fox and hounds all took their parts in a silly symphony which would have done credit to Walt Disney before tho hounds made their kill, drew off, and twelve pigs went back to doze peacefully in their sty. DOG PREVENTS RESCUE An inquest was held recently on Miss Annie Willey who was found accidentally gassed in her flat in Leytonstone, London. It was stated that for u long time people could not go to her assistance because Miss Willoy's dog attacked all who tried to enter the room. Tho opinion was expressed that Miss Willey had turned on the gas of a stove but failed to light it. There was a box of matches by her side. A police-con-stable 'said that it appeared that Miss Willey had tried to boil a kettle of water and had a fainting fit and was overcome by gas. A verdict of accidental death was recorded. PRICELESS PORCELAIN Pieces of porcelain valued at £750.000 were recently gathered at the house of Sir Philip Sassoon in Park Lane, London, for >ui exhibition of " Porcelain Through the Ages," on behalf of the Royal Nortnern Hospital. In some cases the exhibits, which include 25 pieces lent by tho Queen, were not insured because their owners held that no amount of money would be sufficient compensation for their loss. One uninsured collection belonging to a woman is worth more than £50,000. One vase of the Ming dynasty is valued at £II,OOO, while a pot of the K'Aug Hsi period is worth £SOOO. " RETIRED HURT " While" players were assembling to take part in sports at the University College and Hospital Athletic Ground, Pcrivale, Middlesex, recently, a young man approached and said that he had been promised a game of hockey. A place was found for him in a students' eleven and he plaved through the first half of a game. At half-time he complained of injury and retired. When the match ended the stranger had disappeared, and it was discovered that various sums —amounting to about £4 10s—which other players had left in the pockets of their clothing in the dressing room, had also vanished. A POWERFUL ROCKET Plans to shoot a self-propelled rocket 15 miles into the air for purposes of national scientific research were disclosed recently when Mr. Ernest Loebell, German engineer and designer, tested —with apparent success — a miniature model of the rocket's powerful " motor." The Cleveland Rocket Society, believed to be the first organisation of its kind in the United States, which is sponsoring the rocket research, conducted the test on the suburban estate of Mr. Carl H. Hanna, whose son " Ted " is one of the members. Mr. Loebell's miniature motor is 6in. long and liin. in diameter, bulletshaped, and hollow. The power planif, a combustion chamber only, with no moving parts, receives oxygen through one tube and gasolene under 2501b. pressure, supplied by a tank of nitrogen, from another. Had the motor been fastened in. a rocket large enough to four tanks of proportionate size, Mr. Loebell said, its power, theoretically, would have been sufficient to carry the projectile five miles. ESCAPE FROM DEATH As the sequel to an amazing escape from death, a four-year-old boy was treated for injuries in the Royal Northern Hospital, London, the other day. The youngster is Peter John Rooke, of Islington, who fell about 70ft. from a fourth-storey window of his parents' flat. The mishap occurred while he was at play. Luckily he was saved from fatal injury by his clothes hitching in some railings and breaking his fall. A neighbour stated she saw Peter with his'clothes caught in the railings. '' I did not actually see him fall," she said, " but I saw him suspended for a moment from tho railings. Then he fell to the ground, but picked himself up at oncfl and ran a few steps. He looked very dazed, and then he collapsed. His mother told me afterwards that she had left 7 him alone in the room for a few minutes." Another neighbour, living in the flat immediately below Peter's parents, declared she actually saw the child falling past her kitchen window. MYSTERIOUS IRON PILLARS A number of British steel manufacturers are taking a trip to India to study four iron columns which have stood 2000 years without showing any decay or rust. They hope to find out how the people of those days produced rustless iron, a thing the modern world is not able to do. It was Asoka, the great Buddhist emperor, who erected these columns in four districts of his Indian Empire. Each stands on a high rock and is inscribed with the laws of Asoka's reign. Earthquakes have not Bliaken them through the centuries; and storms, sun, and rain h ave rusted them. It is one of the mysteries of Indian civilisation that many of its ancient crafts are secrets now lost. The caste system, which was built round the various trades and " handicrafts, forbade artisans /to share the of their work with any outside fraternity. 1 here we, however, in India to-day descendants of those who made some of its magnificent treasures; but even if they inherited'the knowledge it is doubtful whether they will share it, though men may come 7000 miles to learn the secret. TERRIBLE NEW SHELL Hundreds of Sheffield's new super war horror, the J6in. naval shell that " nothing can stop," have been produced for the Admiralty by the big armament,' firm of which Sir Robert Hadfield is the head. Secret.tests, under Government supervision, at Shoeburyness proved that these shells, then in an experimental stage, would crash clean and unbroken through 16in. armour plating. The explosion then *akes place with " disastrous effects" (to, use Sir Robert's own description) actually inside the vitals of the ship. In one test one of these shells was fired at 12in. armour plating fit a speed which was equal in lifting energy io 25,000 tons. ■ ft forced open the plate and punched out 6ewt. of solid steel in a. "four-thou-sandth part of a second, in April last year Sir Robert Hadfield told a meeting of shareholders that the shell had been patented in eight countries, and had been proved effective even when hitting its objective sideways. Describing the terrible havoc which the shell would create, he added: "If the time for large employment comes, we are ready to meet the requirements of tho Army and Navy with the projectile, which is capable at long ranges of carrying the charges through the armoured protection of enemy ships with disastrous effects."

LUCKY PORCUPINE QUILLS " Prickles for Luck " is the latest Blackpool slogan. The prickles are the long, sharp, black and white quills from _ porcupines, of which there are five in the Tower Zoo. The natives there believe that the spines keep away the " evil eye." And a belief in them as luck-bringers has gradually arisen among Blackpool people. V isijrors to tho animals often beg for a stray quill from the attendants, hoping tor good fortune while it remains in their possession. HORSE FULFILS PROPHECY Waukoo, a horse which won the Now Century Steeplechase at Hurst Park, London, recently, although only a four-year-old, was born under a prophecy. His dam foaled by tho roadside. As the mare was passing the Meenlagli bog, a nian loked at tho foal and said, " Ho will win good races, and I shall have a shilling on him everv time ho runs." Waukoo won first time out in a flat race in Ireland, starting at 20 to 1 against. Ho won his first race over hurdles at Lingfield Park, last Novembci, at odds of 33 to 1. Now he has won a steeplechase at his first attempt. MEDAL FOR BRAVE MINER The King has awarded tho - Edward Medal to Thomas Thomas, a Welsh miner, who risked his life to save liis colleagues when there was an inrush of water in the Brass Vein Slant of the Brvnamman Colliery, Glamorgan, last September. Thomas assisted a yorth, who had lost his lamp to reach a part of the working whore other miners had gathered. They then divided into two groups, one seeking a way out by an airway and the other by a road -which was flooded and obstructed by timber and rails. Ihomas, when the second group reached safety, returned to fetch the other group, who escaped by the same route, Thomas being last to leave. STRUGGLE IN DOCK Six policemen joined in the struggle to remove a prisoner from the dock at Ealing, London, Police Court, recently, after the man had been sentenced to 12 months' .hard labour. The man, Edward Stannard, a bookmaker's clerk, of Bethnal Green, was charged with being a suspected person in Ealing Broadway and with being amenable to the Prevention of Crimes Act- He was finally carried to the cells. Charged with Stannard as a suspected person was William Hewson (29), a motor driver, of Cambridge Heath, Bethnal Green. He was sentenced to three months' hard labour. It was stated that both men were known as members of an expert gang of office thieves. MEETING OF MONAROHS The King and Queen and most of the Siamese Royal Family arrived in Marseilles from Bangkok recently. The King is on his way to have some teeth pulled. "Ever since my Eton days I have had a great respect for the manner in which Britishers treat teeth, and mine have been giving me trouble," said tlbe King. " I have come half-way round the world because I want my troublesome teeth attended to by a British dentist." Curiously enough, the King, who is very short, was to meet the King of Sweden, and the King of Denmark at Beauliep. The former is 6ft. 7in. in height, the latter 6ft. 6in. tall. Their equerries were in some perturbation. Tradition demands that the kings kiss in cousinly manner. A BARGAIN BUILDING A tenement for a farthing is the tempting bargain in house property which is going begging in Glasgow. The public auction of a three-storey building in North Street, Glasgow, is listed, and the sale advertisement announces: " Upset Price—One Farthing." The building comprises four shops on the ground floor and dwelling-houses above. The assessed rental is £265 15s, and there is a feu duty of £2 6s per annum. And it is certainly no tumbledown tenement. The houses are tenanted, and three of the four shops have occupants who seem to be doing well enough in the respective businesses of banker, fruiterer and shoemaker. The secret is this. " Upset price " does not nscessarily mean sale price. The low figure may induce sufficient competition to bid up the property to a remunerative price. CAUSES OF EARTHQUAKES London is safe from earthquakes. If one did affect the city it would be so serious! that the rest of the world would be destroyed. Dr. W. E. Winton, the seismologist, made that statement, and explained it in a lecture recently at the Horniman Museum, London.. The reason for London's safety, he said, is that it sits on a " soft cushion of clay." Dr. Winton also said: Serious earthquakes are not usually caused bv volcanoes, but by *' a readjustment of the "earth's crust by the lateral process of contraction." The Perthshire village of Comrie has an earthquake every day because of " planes of weakness " in the rocks. It is only a slight shock which rattles the crockery in the houses. Another Scottish earthquake once occurred by the River Dee. It was attributed locally to Sunday salmon fishing. MAN'S HOARDED WEALTH Hoards of golden sovereigns, Treasury notes and silver, all hidden in old stockings, were found recently in the home of a Hull man, who lived in Providence Row, one of the meanest streets of the city. When Public Assistance officers called at the house to remove the man to an institution., they were astonished to discover that, although he was regarded by his neighbours as penniless, he had nearly £SOO in cash and in the bank. In one stocking were sovereigns and half-sovereigns of the face value of £166. In three other stockings were £4O 12s 6d in silver, £l9 Is ljd in copper, several 10s Treasury notes and a valuable gold albert. The searchers also found a- bank book showing that over 30 years ago £ll4 was deposited in tho Yorkshire Savings Bank. It is understood that a second search revealed another hank book showing a credit of more than £IOO. PREHISTORIC PAINTINGS Eleven granite caverns covered with prehistoric" paintings of cows, oxen, goats, sheep, gazelles, and elephants have been discovered at. Ain Dona, near Cufra Oasis, in the Sahara desert by an Italian archaeological expedition. The expedition, under the leadership of Professor do Caporiacco, of Florence University,, had been exploring round Cufra Oasis for several months without success. Dispirited, the members of the pE.rty were about to return to civilisation when one of them, Count Almasv, lay down to rest under a mass of granite. Half asleep, he noticed scratches on the rock over his head that looked like tracings. He called tho rest of the party, and tho scratchings were identified as rock paintings. Further investigations revealed the 11 granite caverns and also small pictures of men armed with bows and arrows .and of women and children. Tho pictures, in red, white, and yellow, resemble Egyptian and Cretan paintings.

TELEPHONE BOX ACCIDENT A woman was telephoning in a public telephone box in Parkstone, Dorset, recently, when suddenly a passing motor-car, driven by a woman, swerved to avoid another car, mounted the pavement, and bowled over the telephone box—with the woman inside it. The car overturned, but neither the driver nor tho woman in the box was hurt. Both women, however, were suffering from shock, and were taken to hospital HEAVY-WEIGHT OAT (Maimed to be the fattest of cats, '• Gibson," is owned by a family in Wimbledon, London. " Gibson " weighs 351b., measures 37in. from nose to tail, l'tin. across the shoulder, 33in. round the " waist." And ho is still growing, although ho is seven and a-half years old! " He is one of four kittens we had from a stray," said Mr. A. M. Turner, who owns him. " None of tho others is abnormal. He eats lib. of steak, plus a good taste of liver, at a sitting." CANNING OF ROSES Canning roses is the latest industry developed in California. It is now possible for rose stocks cut in California to travel 3300 miles across the Continent. They are put on sale in New York and other eastern cities in their original packings, and finally bloom in New Yorkers' gardens. The canning is done by spraying hot paraffin wax on delicate rose cuttings. It is possible for one nursery to prepare for shipment 5000 cuttings a day. They are packed mechanically in their air-tight containers. MEMORIAL ON SCRAP HEAP A war memorial tablet bearing the names of 16 dead has been found on a scrap heap in Sheffield by an unemployed ex-soldier. It bears the following inscription:—" Of your charity pray for the souls of members of the congregation of this church who gave their lives during the Great War 19141918 and to whose memory this tablet is erected." The name of tho church in which it was placed is not known. The tablet was to have been melted down as scrap metal.

DANGEROUS BLACK COBRA A black cobra, which has a habit of spitting venom, with deadly accuracy, at the eyes of anyone who excites its anger, arrived at the London Zoo recently. It was one of the specimens in a collection of reptiles presented by Mr. St. Alban Smith, a resident of the Malay States. A keeper, wearing goggles and armed with the nooses which .are used in dealing with dangerous snakes, ushered the black cobra into its den. The moment it was free it looked round for a victim and saw Dr. Burgess Barnett, the Curator of Reptiles, standing not six feet away. At once there came a spurt of venom, but Dr. Barnett only laughed—for there was a sheet of plate-glass between him and the angry snake. " It was an excellent shot," he said afterwards. "If there had been no glass to intercept it the poison would have caught me in the eyes and I should have been blind for months." PLAGUE AMONG DOGS London veterinary surgeons have been working overtime because of a mystery scourge afflicting London dogs. There has never been so much sickness among them. The symptoms resemble those of distemper of enteritis, but apparently the disease is neither. Dogs pick it up everywhere. They have high temperatures, collapse, recover slowly and eventually throw off tho disease entirely. Veterinary surgeons say frankly that the disease baffles them. Their one explanation is that the recent drought in England may be partially responsible. One of London's greatest "vets" said there were too many dogs in London. At the moment there were probably 500,000. This authority added: "Another dry summer, five years hence —with the increased number of dogs which London will then hold—"'ill see a plague among dogs like tins Black Death." WARSHIP'S ILL LUCK Bad luck has dogged in an astonishing wav the spring" cruise to the West Indies 'of the British 22,000-ton aircraft carrier Furious, which arrived at Port of Spain the other day, three days late, with one aeroplane missing and two others wrecked. The series of mishaps began when Flying-Officer J. S. Dewar was washed overboard in raging seas in the Bay of Biscay, lie was luckily rescued by a tender. Flying Officer G. W. Montagu was the next victim. He crashed on the deck in his plane, and nose-diyed into tho sea when a day out from Gibraltar. Montagu and the wireless operator were rescued. Tho following day it was discovered that a stoker was ill with it was suspected, spotted fever. The Furious was forced to return to Gibraltar and go into quarantine. During exercises on the voyage to Trinidad two other aeroplanes crashed on to the deck and were wrecked. There were two minor fires on board, one seriously burning a fireman.

NOAH'S FAULT We mortals have to swat and shoo The flies from dawn till dark 'Cause Noah didn't swat tho two That roosted in the Ark. WHY THEY WERE ODD Little Benny looked up at his mother thoughtfully. " Muni," he said, a frown on his face, " tell me —did you get me in a bargain basement?" " Whatever - makes you think that, Benny?" mother asked. The boy held up his hand. " I was just wondering," he replied. " You sec, my fingers are all odd sizes." OF COURSE NOT The manager called his office boy into his room and indicated his desk. " Look at this," ho said sharply. "Jt is disgraceful! Why can't you keep it cleaned and polished like you do the banister rail outside?" The boy shook his head artfully. " Well, sir," he replied, not in the least put out, " T can't very well slide down your desk." PLAYING FOR SAFETY Henpeck tiptoed into the kitchen and quietly tapped tho cook on the shoulder. " Tho wife's mother is staying with us for Christmas," ho said. " She is due to-morrow." Yes, sir," said the cook wonderingly. Hen peck fished a piece of pa per from his pocket. " Here's a list of her favourite dishes," he went on, " and, remember, the first time you serve one of them you're fired. Understand?" WRONG BOTH WAYS Husband and wife wero touring tho shops in the West End of London. Presently they stopped outside a display of hats in a shop window. " There you are," he said, pointing to an attractive style, " buy yourself that hat. It'll suit you." She shook her head. " But that style is not worn now," she replied. He pointed to another hat. " How about that one?" he asked. " No, everybody is wearing that kind," she returned. THAT'S DIFFERENT " You mean brute!" the young wife sobbed. " And to think it's scarcely a year since you married me and declared : ' With afl my worldly goods I thee endow '!" " Well," her husband replied, " whatever's wrong about that? I did so, didn't I?" " Yes —you wretch, and now what do you say? As soon as I show you what I bought at the millinery sale you shout: ' What d'you mean by buying rubbish like that with my money?' "

MAKING SURE The curtain rang down on the pantomime, and the artistes retired to theii dressing rooms. " Did you see the lovely bunch oi roses handed to me over tho footlights?" said the principal boy. " But they were meant for the principal girl," said the fairy princess. " How do you know that?" askec the principal boy sharply. " I was with her in the florist's wher she ordered them," explained tin other.

JOINING THE RANKS Jones and his wife were strolling through tho park. Presently they saw a number of people all running in the same direction. "Hallo!" said his wife. "I wonder why all those people are collecting over there?" " Can't think," sftid Jones, displaying little interest. " I expect it is just vulgar curiosity." " Let's go over and see," she quickly replied. A SPORTING GESTURE The lane was dark and almost deserted. Little Jones was suddenly accosted by two men, the larger of whom stopped him, and said politely: " Excuse me, sir—l wonder if you could oblige me with the loan of a penny, or some similar small coin? " " Why—er—yes, 1 think so," Jones replied, feeling in his pockets, producing a penny, and handing it over. " It's a small request—er—may I ask for what purpose you require it?" " Oh —certainly, sir," the fellow replied. " My mate and I wish to toss the coin to settle our little argument as to which of us shall have your watch and which your wallet I "

"UP TO THE MINUTE " You are certain that this is the very latest material?" asked the customer. ' The very latest, moddom," said the shop assistant. " And it won't fade?" asked the customer, holding the cloth up to the light. " I'm positive of it, moddom," said the assistant. " Why, it's been in that very window there for about ,six months 1" SEEING AND SHAPING He was a new recruit to the Navy, and had joined it to fulfil his youthful ambitions of a life on the sea and travel to distant lands. But at first he was sent to a training school, and at the end of two weeks he had spent most of his time digging ditches and filling up holes. Finally he sought his commanding officer. " You see, sir," he complained, "when J joined the Navy they tokl me I should see the world, and here for two solid weeks I've been doing nothing but rearrange it I" THIRD PARTY RISK Thomas was stranded in a provincial town without any cash. His last hope was to ring up nis friend Brown. He put through a trunk call. Presently he heard Brown speaking. " 1 say, old chap," said Thomas pathetically, " I'm stranded here without any cash. Can you wire me a fiver ? " " Sorry, Thomas, said Brown over the wire, " but I can't hear you." " I'm stranded here without any cash. Can you wire 1110 a fiver? " repeated Thomas. " Can't get you—line's awful," came Brown's voice. "Say it again! Thomas was about to repeat his plea when the operator interrupted. " There is nothing wrong with this line," she said. " I can hear every word said by the caller." " Oh, can you," said Brown. " Then you'lend him the blooming fiver." ON' HER OWN HEAU; " ! want to give Cousin Jane a birthday present," said hubby to his wife. " Will you take this ten-shilling note and go buy her a hat —something you would choose if you were buying for yourself?" •" All right," said his wife, secretly resolving to get her own back on dear Cousin Jane. " Here's the hat, dear," she told her husband some tiino later, and she displayed an atrocious-looking object which was very much out of date. " Is that exactly what you would like yourself, dear?" he asked, looking at the hat rather doubtfully. " Exactly, dear," she smiled. " I think it's wonderful." " That's good," he replied. " Now, I'll tell you my surprise. The hat isn't for Cousin Jane at all; I intended it as a present for you, dear."