NEWS FROM OVERSEAS

Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1934, Page 15 (Supplement)

NEWS FROM OVERSEAS

RECLINING BICYCLE BUILT “Rest while you cycle,” may be the sales slogan of Stewart and Ernest Worrall, of Hamilton, Scotland, for their new invention, which they call the velocar. They predict a day not far distant when the ordinary bicycle will take its place beside the boneshaker as a relic of the past. The rider of the velocar sits in a semi-horizontal position, thus making it more comfortable than the ordinary machine, and the handlebars stretch almost from the front to the back wheel. A recent race between velocarists and cyclists in Paris resulted in an overwhelming victory for the machine. CHANGING ROYAL CLOCKS TO SUMMERTIME The Royal clockmaker has a lengthy task when he alters the timepieces in Windsor Castle for summer-time. The Royal collection of clocks is the largest in the world, numbering more than 1000, of which 250 are at Windsor Castle and 160 at Buckingham Palace. Windsor, in addition to having the most, has the oldest —more than 50 being about 200 years old. The most famous and most ancient clock in the Royal collection is the little gold timepiece engraved with true lovers’ knots that was Henry VIII’s wedding present to Anne Boleyn. It still keeps excellent time. DISCOVERY OF DIAMONDS INTERESTING THEORY OF ORIGIN The recent discovery of two great diamonds, one over five ounces in weight, by a poor digger who had previously put in years of work for the most meagre results, is a reminder that the possibilities of romance are not yet exhausted in the diamond fields. An interesting theory has been put forward that at least one of the gems may have been part of the famous Cullinan diamond. On the face of it, this seems impossible, because the Cullinan came to light three miles from the scene of the latest find. This, however, is not quite conclusive, because none of these diamonds has been discovered in its original site. They are alluvial—that is, they were deposited in the places where they were found by floods. It is also possible for a diamond to be picked up and swallowed by an ostrich and transported from one place to another in this way. The idea that other diamonds may have been part of the Cullinan arises from the fact that the latter was not a complete crystal, but only part of a larger stone.

WASTE OF PURE WATER SPRING IN SEVERN TUNNEL Over 8,000,000 gallons run to waste daily from a single spring in England. This is the Great Spring in the Severn Tunnel, whose flow has varied from 9,000,000 to 20,000,000 gallons a day, and is now about 10,500,000 gallons. About 1,000,000 gallons a day are supplied to neighbouring villages, and the rest is pumped into the Severn. The water must be disposed of because of the tunnel and the Great Western Railway Company would be only too pleased it it could be utilised instead of being discharged to waste. It is pure spring water, and thus eminently suitable to provide a water supply. Questions of cost have hitherto prevented any of the public bodies which have investigated the possibilities from doing anything to utilise the water, but it would have proved very useful during the recent dry spell. RAT MENACE IN LONDON ELABORATE PRECAUTIONS LISTED Rats are once again causing alarm in the City of London, and the corporation Medical Officer of Health has drawn attention to the danger to public health of the increasing infestation due largely to the neglect of empty buildings. One precaution that all ordinary householders should take, it is stated, is to make certain that their water supply cisterns are properly covered. Thirst takes the rat to cisterns, and in these days of large, deep cisterns, with a low water-level, the rat may get in and be unable to get out. ■ Contamination of the water follows, as plumbers know from almost daily experience. It is not fastidiousness that makes them ascertain beyond doubt, before they drink it, that it is not cistern water they are drawing. Rats have enormous powers of reproduction, one pair of rats being capable of producing by themselves and their descendants over 1000 in a year. Recently, under an inverted dish on a city rubbish heap, a female rat was found suckling 15 young. Many of those 15 young rats would have had their own young within a few months. By destruction of food and the spread of disease, rats are estimated to cause millions of pounds worth of damage every year. Even in one of the piers of Waterloo Bridge, which has been found to be hollow, a large colony of black rats has been discovered, where it would seem almost impossible .for them to get fo.od.