From Many Lands

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 762, 7 September 1929, Page 19

From Many Lands

book appreciation from 6d TO £365 Bought for sixpence a few years ago, a copy of “Echoes,” by two -writers— Rudyard Kipling, and Beatrice, his sister —was sold at Hodgson’s, London, for £3£d. it -was a first edition copy °f Kipling’s early poems, and ■p-as printed at Lahore in 188 i. SURPRISE FOR SON “DEAD” MAN OPENS DOOR After a drowning tragedy at Carrickfergus, near Belfast, the body of an elderly man -washed ashore was identified by a son as his father. It was decided to take the body home. "When they knocked at the door, it was opened by the “dead” man himself. He was wearing a suit exactly similar to that worn by the victim. THRIFTY RATS nest-egg under flooring When the floor of a building in Govan which is now being reconstructed was lifted by workmen, they discovered a rat's nest containing Ss 4jd. The amount -was made up of sixpences, threepenny bits, pennies, and halfpence, all bright and burnished as if recently In use. Another nest contained 100 marbles. MONEY FROM THE SKIES airman loses a wallet While Mr. Cecil Sparshott, of Bournemouth, was walking along the sea front, a wallet containing banknotes suddenly fell at his feet like a bolt from the blue. He picked it up, looked around, and then saw a Moth airplane stunting above him. Going to the local airdrome, he found the owner,' who had just returned from a flight, and the notes were restored. “FATHER WILLIAM” HIGH-KICKING AT 100 Mr. John Jackman, of Blackheath Vale, Blackheath, S.E., who celebrated his 100th birthday recently, gave an exhibition of high-kicking to a “Daily Mail” reporter. He said:—“You think I’m old. Nonsense! I can see to read, I'm not deaf, my hair is as thick as ever, and my memory is perfect. I can remember killing -a xvild boatnear Guildford, probably the last in England. The animal tore my horse in seven places before I shot it.” KEPT HIS PROMISE A CELEBRATION DINNER Captain E. W. Dillon, at a Tonbridge hotel, recently kept a promise he made 14 years ago in Port Said. When C Company, 2/4 Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment, landed at Port Said in August, 1915, Captain Dillon entertained the company, then 250 strong, to breakfast, and after the meal he said: “If I have the luck to come through, I will treat those of you who get home alive to a good dinner.’* “OLD KATE** king subscribes to fund One of the best-known figures on the English racecourse has been, for many years, Old Kate, who earned her living selling race-books and who was on friendly terms with the most famous men in the two kingdoms. Kate is now past her eightieth year and is unable to attend race meetings. From all sides aid is forthcoming for the old celebrity. This letter has been received from Windsor Castle: “The Keeper of the Privy Purse is commanded by the King to send the enclosed cheque for ten guineas as a donation from his Majesty to the ‘Old Kate’ Fund.” SALOME’S GARTERS SPANISH ARTIST’S DARING Federico Beltran - Masse, whose Paintings of beautiful Spanish women in all stages of dress and undress are causing a sensation in London art circles, is a man in the early forties. Although he has an established Continental reputation he is so sensitive to criticism that he stayed away from the private view of his pictures at the New Burlington Galleries rather than see groups of people discussing his Another example of his sensitiveness has been misrepresented in some quarters. It was reported that because the exhibition was to be opened by the Spanish Ambassador, the Marquis de Merry Del Val, a particularly daring picture of Salome, wearing only a pair of jewelled garters, was to be removed until after the ceremony. The facts are that Mr. Beltran-Masse heard that the Ambassador was to be accompanied by his brother, the Cardinal Merry Del Val, the Pope's Secretary of State, and thought that a picture dealing with a biblical subject might be offensive to a dignitary of the Church, and it yas for this reason, and not because 1C is a study in the nude, that he himself suggested that the painting should bo temporarily taken away. There are, in fact, much more unconventional Pictures in the exhibition than this. of them, called “The Sick Pierr°t,” shows a weary aristocrat reclining in a chair, while an unclothed full of vitality, sits on a couch behind him. It is said that the man’s features closely resemble those of a certain Spanish nobleman, and the original title, “The First Born,” seemed to suggest the decay of an ancient house. The Government, at any r ate, thought it pilloried the aristocracy, and in obedience to an official bint the title was changed.

TRAFFIC HOLD-UP “THE DUCKS GO BY” Pedestrians paused in Piccadilly recently to smile at the unusual sight °f a duck and seven tiny ducklings going in procession along the pavement. The ducks had emerged at Hyde Park Corner, the mother bird having apparently decided that her brood must be reared in the St. James’s Park lake. A policeman, failing in his efforts to turn them back to the Serpentine, held up the traffic while the duck family—very solemn and self-pos-sessed—crossed the road and entered the Green Park. MEMORY FEATS A BUSMAN MARVEL Remarkable memory feats are now being performed by Mr. Jock Neill, a London General Omnibus Company’s driver, attached to the Putney Bridge garage. His latest feat is to repeat the names and constituencies of the new House of Commons. “My husband has the most wonderful memory in the world,” said Mrs. Neill to a Press representative. “He never forgets anything that he really wants to remember. “And when it comes to sport he knows more than a newspaper! He can give you the names of all the Derby winners for nearly 50 years back. He knows the winning teams for at lease 40 Football Finals. SINISTER SOUVENIR ROPE THAT HANGED 12 PERSONS The landlord of the Golden Fleece, a well-known Nottingham Inn, has an interesting if sinister souvenir of the late James Berry, one-time public executioner. It is the rope with which Berry hanged 12 murderers, and with which three abortive attempts were made to execute John Lee, “the man they couldn’t hang.” In 1885, when Berry was in straitened circumstances, he sold the rope to Mr. Dominic (father of the present landlord of the Golden Fleece) for 255. Its authenticity is vouched for in the following letter, dated from Berry’s address at Bradford on August 6, 1885:—“Dear Friend, —I will come on Saturday and bring you my favourite rope, which has hanged 12 persons. With all respect to you, I tell you this rope is most remarkable, for it is not a pin worse for been used, but it is rather stained at the noose. I will take 25s for It, and bring it if I hear from you by return. Hoping you and the family is all well, I remain, yours truly, James Berry, executioner.” The letter concludes with a list of names of persons hanged with the rope. IN LICHTENSTEIN HELPING A TINY COUNTRY Volunteers from 20 countries responded when the little principality of Lichtenstein called for help to repair roads, drain flooded areas, and otherwise remove evidences of havoc caused by the unprecedented winter and sudden spring thaws. The cost, according to a message from the capital, Vaduz, was borne partly by the Swiss Government. MEMORIAL GROCERY NO CUSTOMER FOR 40 YEARS A grocery shop at Higham, near Burnley, Lancashire, has not had a customer for 40 years. Its owner, Mr. William Wilkinson, died about 1890, and his son kept the shop undisturbed 1 as a memorial. Only the perishable stock was gradually drawn upon. The scales are still on the counter and upon the shelves are canisters in which traces of tea and coffee are still to be found. Even the jacket of the shopkeeper is still preserved. The son. Mr. Flavius Josephus Wilkinson, has now died. He could have sold the business many times. ZOG ON THE JOG KING SEEKS COOL QUARTERS For the first time since he became king, King Zog has ventured far from his" big palace at Tirana, which is guarded by four companies of soldiers. He has gone to Durazzo, on the coast, accompanied by his whole Government, where he will spend the summer. The intense heat moved him to change his residence. THE TROGLODYTE LIVED SIX YEARS IN CAVE The story of an ex-soldier who had served in the Boer War, and whose horror of conventional life led him to live six years in a cave at Bawtry, near Doncaster, was told at an inquest on Janies Kerwin, 6a, who was found dead at the bottom of a sandpit not far from the roadside at Bawtry. , . The cave was described as being about five feet square. To reach it Kerwin had to crawl through a hole aud then along a tunnel four or five feet long. „ Kerwin had always said that alter his Army life he could not live anywhere except in the open air. He had a rough bed inside the cave, and cooked his meals outside. Arthur Edward Baker, of Bawtry, said that when he went down to the cave to see if Kerwin was in tlie hole, he could not get in, as the place was swarming with fleas, and he was nearly blinded by them. He smelt death in the cave. He took over an hour to get the body out. Kerwin was lying inside the cave dead and naked, and they had to move tons of old bags and iackets to get him out. Other witnesses said that Kerwin burned a candle in the cave at night to keep the rats away. He was known as the "Hermit of Bawtry. The coroner recorded a verdict oi death from natural causes.