INDIA’S AWFUL EXPERIENCE

Taranaki Daily News, 28 April 1934, Page 10 (Supplement)

INDIA’S AWFUL EXPERIENCE

RUIN OVER HUGE AREA. MILLIONS OF POUNDS’ DAMAGE. So appalling was the recent earthquake in India that all is not yet known of its cost in life and property. Not thousands but millions of pounds will be needed to rebuild the fallen towns and villages and set up communication between them again. The area of greatest destruction is as large as Scotland, and in the province of Bihar alone 6000 were killed; 300 patients lost their lives when the Darbhanga Hospital fell. Black mud and water lie where a few weeks ago were roads and buildings. Twelve towns with a population of between 10,000 and 60,000 each are little but heaps of stones and plaster, and the people who survived are living in camps. Several thousand acres have subsided to such an extent that when the rain comes at the monsoon season, and the rivers rise, it seems that nothing can prevent this territory being flooded. TURNING THE TABLE. A GOOD SHORT STORY. A Spanish schoolboy had a fall the other day which has turned into a windfall for him. It happened that the priest in the village of Esplugas, Barcelona Province, bought from one of his parishioners an old oak table. It was quite small, and the priest asked a schoolboy to carry it to the, house for him. But,' after all, it turned out a bit heavy for- a youngster, and the boy let it slip on to the stone paving. As it crashed a secret drawer flew open, and. out tumbled a heap of old gold coins. They vzere found to belong to the reigns of Philip the Third, Charles the Third, and Charles the Fourth, amounting altogether to over half a million pesetas, or about £20,000. The priest handed over to the schoolboy 16 ounces of this gold, and now the youngster is ready to carry old furniture anywhere. The funny thing is that tire table had changed owners many times and the villagers knew it as well as thejr own front doors. It had been used at the school, at the club, and only last November held the voting urn during the Government elections.

QUICK WORK IN THE AIR.

In Dallas a big oil man’s wife and children drove him to the airport and saw him off in a ’plane for El Paso, not realising until he was in the air that the only key to the family car was in the man’s pocket. Aeroplane radio and a quick-thinking station manager saved the day; the very much surprised man surrendered the key in mid-aid at the copilot’s request, it was turned over a few minutes later to an east-bound American Airways ’plane at Fort Worth and delivered to the waiting family back in Dallas within half an hour of the time it was first missed.

“Nobby,” Warea: Tinker Bell is pleased for she is able to put your name in her birthday book now, Tink. Billikins has been so busy to-day for he has been helping Hut carpenter put up some more shelves in the tool-shed. Sounds of hammering and sawing have been floating in through the Hut windows all the morning.

Phyllis Fletcher, Waitara: We hope you will find a pen-friend, Phyllis, for we have put your name into our penfriends’ corner. Tire Hut folk, too, have not been for any swims for quite a long while, so now their swimming togs and their beach ball have been put away in a cupboard till next summer.

Marie McGregor, Waitara: Tinker Bell peeped over my shoulder as Bread your letter and as soon as she saw it was a new Wendy Tink wanting to come to the Hut she ran and told the rest of the Hut folk. So here they all are now, ready to welcome you. “Walk in!” they shouted together.

Molly Morris, Opunake: There will be no fear of your doll being cold this winter I should think, Molly, after all the lovely things you have been knitting forher. Baby Margaret’s dolls are going to be warm and snug, too, she says, for Hut dressmaker has given her some pretty little shawls for them. Ivy Willis, Waitara: We shall keep your daffodil poem, Tink, till the springtime comes and then we shall put it on our page when daffodils are nodding in all the gardens. The Hut folk think you must have had a very happy birthday and they are wondering if you are feeling very much older now!“Tweedledee,” Mokau: The post- bag has been full of surprises for us this week arid your letter was one of them, Jean. You must have had a very exciting time during the dog trials and .we suppose you wish they could have lasted longer than the two days. Thank you for the poetry and jokes. “Jasmine,” Mokau: I wonder-if your little brother gets into all sorts of mischief these days now that he knows how to crawl about. You are all kept very busy looking after him, I suppose. Thank you for the poetry you have sent us, and please thank Nancy, for her “aerodrome” one, too. Neta Hill, Stratford: Yes; we like the poetry you have sent us, Tink, and we are hoping to find room for it on our page. Birthday cakes with candles on them always make the Hut folk feel excited and make them think of parties, so, of course, they liked especially the piece about the cake, “Petal,” Auroa: When Tinker Bell saw me writing this she could not think at first who you were, Ruth, for this is the first time we have used your pen-name, isn’t it? We hope you will know whose name it is when you see it! Thank you for the poetry again. Lucy and Jimmie Mouat, Te Were: The Hut folk think it was very clever of you both to win some races at the sports. Did you feel very tired when you got home? We are glad the jumper is finished, Lucy. You must be feeling very proud of it. Phyllis McCabe, Hawera: Good morning, little Tink. and welcome to the Hut! We are afraid the pen-name you wanted has been used by another Tink, but we expect you can still think of lots of others to choose from. Thank you for the nonsense rhyme. Oni Telfar, Whangamomona: A very easy way to make a snug muffler, Tink, is to knit a long straight piece in one purl, one plain ribbing, and work in rows of different colours at each end. The Hut folk are all trying now to guess the riddle you sent.

“White Heather,” Kohuratahi: Cookie has promised Billikins he can make some ginger cream from your recipe in the holidays, Jack. Billikins loves making toffee and fudge and things like that, but he has to be very careful not to make Cookie’s clean white table" sticky! Albert Stewart, Kohuratahi: Of course you may join the Wendy Hut, Albert, for there is plenty of room for you. We have given you “Mustard S' ;d” for your pen-name for “Golliwog” has been taken, and when you write again will you tell us when your birthday is, please.'

THE LOUD TELEPHONE. USABLE AT A DISTANCE. ■ ■ ■ In the telephone book we are asked to speak quietly into the mouthpiece, but if we mstall a new apparatus just perfected we shall have to acquire that broadcasting voice. The new telephone is a combination of microphone and loud-speaker. It will be possible to lean back in our armchair by the fireside and talk to our friends through the microphone at the other side if the room. His reply will come back ■ to us through a loud-speaker behind it. The reason this instrument has not been possible hitherto it that interruptions would return to the ears of an interrupter mingled with the other voice. This difficulty has now been obviated by a switch which is operated by the voice and allows only one person to be heard at a time. The new device will cost about four times as much as the telephone at present in use. It will teach good manners to its owner, for interruptions spoil all conversations conducted with it. ETHEL BELLAMY, M.A. A WOMAN AND THE STARS. Oxford University has bestowed an honorary M.A. upon Miss Ethel Bellamy, the astronomer, for work which had already won her a silver medal from the Pope. Forty years ago eighteen observatories agreed to divide the sky between them. It was not a matter of claiming the • sky for a particular nation, but a sharingout of work. They .were to try to determine the position of every visible star. Oxford finished its share early, published eight volumes in twenty years, and then took over the unfinished work of the . Vatican Observatory. Miss Bellamy and her uncle, Mr. F. A. Bellamy, mapped nearly a million stars for Oxford. Miss Bellamy has devoted thirty years to astronomy, and all over the world astronomers know her name. Outside the circle of; star-gazers she is not so well known as many a third-rate, film actress; but we.. are quite certain this 'does not trouble her in the least. She loves the stars too well to be jealous of a screen. HITLER ON AIR PEACE 60,000 MILES OF AIR-LINES Chancellor Hitler, the Leader, as they call’ him in Germany, has said a notable thing about Peace and Air Traffic. Addressing the International Air Traffic Association he declared that air traffic was the traffic of the future, and went on to say: When air. traffic is accepted everywhere, and the harvest of its peaceful Work is ripe, then it will also be possible to deprive aircraft of its character as a military weapon. In that day, we may hope, the aeroplanes will draw the nations together by swift transport. Already thirty nations control 60,000 miles of air lines regularly flown. Through tickets can now be bought in London to 150 towns in Europe, most of which can be reached within 24 hours. THE WAY TO THE TOP. FROM MACHINIST TO PRESIDENT. The appointment of Mr Samuel James Hungerford to be President of the Canadian National Railways is good news for all who are starting at the foot of the ladder. ; Mr. Hungerford began his career as a machinist’s apprentice in a railway shop at Farnham in Quebec. After completing his time he was successfully mechanic, charge hand, locomotive foreman, and general foreman. In ISvS he became Master Mechanic of the Western Division of the C.P.R. at Calgary, and was later promoted to thp position of Superintendent of Shops at Winnipeg. In 1910 he joined the Canadian Northern Railway. In 1918 he was appointed Assistant Vice-President in charge of operations, maintenance, and construction' of the newly-formed Canadian National Railways. When in 1923 the Canadian National Railways was completed by the incorporation of the Grand Trunk Railway System Mr. Hungerford was appointed Vice-President in charge of operation and construction; in 1932 he was ActingPresident, and now comes the news of his acceptance of the Presidency of the biggest • railway system on the North American continent. IN A PETROL TANK. ONE MORE HERO. Folkestone must be proud of William Barton, of Browning Place. He was at a petrol depot, and heard tapping from a tank. Looking , in, he saw a lad of 16, George O’Brien, lying there, dead or unconscious. Barton tried to get O’Brien out, but found that he could not do it without entering the tank himself. There was only an 18-inch hole. It was like entering a death-trap to plunge into those deadly fumes! Perhaps he would only throw away his life; perhaps O’Brien was dead already. But in.he went, and although he, too, almost fainted he succeeded in getting the lad and himself to safety. O’Brien was saved by oxygen and artificial respiration. If Barton had not acted quickly and steadily those aids would have come too late. THE REPTILE FARM FIRST EXHIBITION OF ITS KIND So large has the trade in reptile skins become that, as in the case of furs, farms have been established to rear reptiles for the market. South Africa has a big trade of the sort. At the Imperial Institute, South Kensington, a reptile skin exhibition, the first of its kind, is being held; it will be open until March 2. Some forty varieties of skins are being shown. A python. 24 feet long is exhibited. An enormous quantity of reptile skin is now used in the making of shoes, purses, hats, bags, and other articles. The price of many varieties of skin seems to have fallen, despite the demand. Skins come in from Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon and Malaya. There are about 1500 species of lizards and about 1000 species of snakes, many with skins of great beauty. THE STREAMLINE TRAIN. Forty new trains of the streamline type will be running on the Netherlands Railways in May, These. trains have a round nose at each end and look from an aeroplane rather like a short worm running over the ground at incredible speed. . Eacn train has three coaches with the engine in the middle. A Diesel oil engine provides the power to drive a dynamo which, in turn, drives the motor, and with this the trains have a cruising speed of between sixty and seventy miles an hour.