NEWS FROM OVERSEAS

Taranaki Daily News, 23 February 1935, Page 15 (Supplement)

NEWS FROM OVERSEAS

ELECTRICITY FROM WIND A machine which its inventors claim will revolutionise industry by generating electric current from the wind has been produced at Belgrade by two scientists. They claim that their invention, which they have taken years to perfect, can produce energy _ .so cheaply and in such large quantities that it will make coal, petrol and oil unnecessary. They are planning great centres in the windswept mountains of Slovenia and Dalmatia, which would supply the whole land with motive power for trains and energy for lighting and industrial purposes. RICH HERRING HARVEST Yarmouth’s herring fishing, which ended recently, has resulted in a total catch of nearly 274,000 crans, equivalent to 270,000,000 herrings, worth, approximately, £350,000. This is only 20,000 crans less than the former season. Local boats have grossed from £3OO to £2OOO. The most successful boat in the Scottish fleet had between £lOOO and £llOO, and the average was over £4OO for steam drifters and £2BO for motor-drifters. The best-fished motordrifter made between £BOO and £9OO. DROUGHT IN MIDDLE OF FLOODS VILLAGERS HAVE TO BUY WATER In spite of the fact that last December week-end was the wettest experienced in England for many months, the rain brought little relief to many districts in which water supplies failed entirely during the prolonged drought. December 16 provided the extraordinary contrast of deep floods in some areas while in others the inhabitants were paying a halfpenny a pail for water. The month promised to be one of the wettest Decembers on record. The rainfall on December 17 exceeded the average in most parts of England, Wales and Ireland. ' r The inhabitants of Docking, Norfolk, were envying the townspeople of Pulborough, Sussex, the 2ft of water which rendered the main street of that town impassable. “Our water is brought to us in motor-lorries from Bircham Newton aerodrome, 2| miles away, and thankful we are to get it even at a halfpenny a pail,” one of them said. “We have had a lot of rain in the past few days, but the springs and wells became so dry during the drought that they will not be of any use until the spring. Farmers are carrying water several miles to their stock, and many of us have forgotten what a real bath is like.” A telephone call to Pulborough produced a very different tale. “The main street is flooded for the first time for some years,” said a householder, “and the water is still rising. Notices have been put advising motorists that the road is impassable, and flags are also being used to warn them to drive with the greatest caution. Meadows just outside the town are like a vast sea.

REUNION AT ST. PAUL’S As the great clock of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London struck five on a recent afternoon three middle-aged men ran up the steps and clasped each other’s hands. They were the Rev. J. P. Goodenough ,of Clapham, Mr Wilfred ,E. Horn, of Brockley, and Mr H. J. Artiss, of Slough—three out of four surviving members of a pact made 29 years ago between eight men. Then they were all young clearks and agreed to meet' on the steps of St. Paul’s 20 years later and afterwards every year. Crossing hands on this occasion the three men sang “Auld Lang Syne,” and afterwards dined and chatted over old times. The fourth survivor, aged nearly 70, was unable to attend, owing to poor health. He is Mr J. S. Duerden. The pact provides for the last survivor, if in good health, annually to visit the steps, and then a restaurant, in memory of his colleagues. “Next year,” said Mr Artiss, “we hope to have a special rosette to mark the 30 years’ continuance of the pact.” ■ . DOUBLE BIGAMY CASE Dramatic incidents were described at Manchester Assizes, lately, when Mrs Mary Dearnaley, aged 57, of Southport, was convicted of bigamy. In 1896 accused was married to William Henry Dearnaley at Christchurch, Ashton-under-Lyne, and they separated in 1914. The woman went to Bar-row-in-Furness in 1915 to work on munitions, and, in 1917 she made the acquaintance of a fellow-employee, James Dale. He was single, and she accepted his proposal of marriage. The couple eventually went through a ceremony at a Barrow register office in March, 1918. From then on until September last, stated counsel, prosecuting, the woman, and Dale appeared to have lived quite happily together, first at Blackpool and later at Southport. Recently Dale began to frequent public houses, where he got to know a girl named Nellie Rowan. On October 6 he “married” Miss Rowan, although when he did so he believed himself to be legally married to Mrs Dearnaley. Counsel mentioned a strange coincidence that happened after Dale and Rowan had gone through the ceremony. Dearnaley’s husband appeared on the scene, after a lapse of 20 years, and nis wife became alarmed. She went to Dale and told him she was a bigamist. He replied that he was just going to give himself up to the police for being a bigamist. “As things ‘have turned out, however,” added counsel, “Dale is not a bigamist at all now.” Dale, in the witness-box, admitted quite frankly that he was “soaked in whisky” when he “married” Miss Rowan. Dearnaley’s husband stated that the cause of their separation in 1914 was his wife’s affection for one of their lodgers. “When I got home at nights,” he added, “fire was out, wife was out, and the lodger was out.” Mrs Dearnaley was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment.