HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16713, 20 April 1922, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

AN EYE FDR EVERYTHING. RED-HAIRED “ PANTHER ” OF Paris. Marguerite Bertrand, a red-haired girl of eighteen, has boon arrested by i aris police on a charge of burglary v ith violence. It alleged that she is tue head of a band of young armed Apaches who have been terrorising the outsKirts of Paris. She is known to her comrades as ‘the Panther of -JJouffetnrd, * from the name of the district which has seen most of the explcuts of her gang, nil girls and bovs. L-ne other day, at the head of five girls and boys, she entered a grocer’s shop and having shut the doors rifled the till while her companions loaded their pockets with bottles of wine and tins of preserved meat. The shopkeeper was threatened with stabbing if he did not reipain silent. Marguerite’s compan ions in this exploit have also fallen into the hands of the police, and the whole gang will shortly be brought before the Paris Assize Court. FAMINE STONES SEEN. The famous famine stones of the Moselle appeared during the recent dry period for the first time in many years, ihe Moselle, usually associated with a special sort of wetness, is also by the irony of fate periodically distinguished for particular dryness. As a compensation, tho great drought years of 1842, 1857 and 1911 were also superior vintage years. This year, for the first time* in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, great rocks in the middle of the stream were visible; one not far from Trier had not been seen for 121 years. Near Coblenz the drying waters revealed a stone inscribed, “ When you see me. weep. 1842.” One set of marks not far from Senheim dates back to 1609, and witnesses among others the heavy drought of 1640. which added to the horrors this district suffered during the Thirty Years M ar. An interesting custom has arisen in the wine district ©f Trarbach, where a wine reserve from the especially dry years -is kept in the great rocks ordinarily covered by water. When the water is low enough to open the caches then the wine of the last dFy time is drunk. The first bottles were laid by in 1842 and opened in 1857 ; again in 1911 wine was nut aside and broached on July 16, 1921, with a great celebration, attended by old and young. The iron door over the bottles was opened, and everybody had at least a swallow or two of the old wine. The vintage of 1910. laid by in 1911, was found to have been especially fine. NOVEL PUSH BOAT. The pushing boat is the latest suggestion in improved means of water transportation. This novel project, the invention of an official of the French mercantile marine, is designed to take the place of a tug, and also of tho motor portion of a self-propelling barge. It consists of a powerful motorboat, built on the same lines as the barge or cargo boat, and shaped in the fore part like a wedge. The cargo boats are to be built with a corresponing stern portion of V shape, into which the stern of the- motor-boat will roughly fit. When in that position, the two —cargo boat and motor boat-—-have the appearance of one boat, and they move as one. When the cargo boat hAs been laid alongside the wharf of discharge, the motor-boat backs out, and picks up another cargo boat, one motor-boat being, it is said, sufficient to keep three cargo boats at work. Herein lies a saving in first cost, and in cost of maintenance relatively, to boat* provided with their own propelling engines. These “pushers” are to he regarded, not as independent boats, hut as detachable portions of the ear go boats, in which portions the motive power is located. Though seagoing qualities are claimed for these boats, their place would seem to be on the inland waterways. ABSENT * MINDED. In his biography of Sir Edward Cook, the great journalist, Mr Saxon Mills tells a story illustrative of Lord Salisbury’s proverbial absent-mindedness. He and the Bishop of London were ac Sandringham with the King. His Majesty said to the Bishop: “Lord Salisbury has just asked me, 4 Who is that young-looking clergyman? I seem to know his face, but cannot put a name to him.’ But,” continued the King. ‘ don’t you mind. Lord Salisbury took up a photo of me just now and said, 4 Ah. Old Buller, I see.’ 17 A WONDER WOMAN. A very wonderful woman is Miss Helen Keller, whom Roosevelt described as “ the world’s most wonderful woman.” She affords a striking example of how perseverance may rriumph over the greatest of handicaps. An attack of fever when a child rendered her deaf, dumb, and blind. Instead of bowing to the inevitable, she battled with her afflictions, took to hard study, and graduated with B.A. honours. *She learned Latin, Greek, German and French, and mastered music and sculpture. The greatest of all her achievements was her victory over the loss of speech. She would place her finger* on a friend’s throat and try patiently fpprcducP in her own mouth the sensations she felt. One day she spoke five words. They ver®: 44 1 am not dumb now ! ** EX PEN STYE BIRDS. A man was shooting in the hills of Killarney. A pheasant killed above fell into the valley beneath. One of the beaters remarked. “ Your honour might have saved yourself the powder and ball, for the fall alone would have killed him! ” An Englishman took a shoot in the West of Ireland. The first day resulted in a bag of cne .snipe, and on his way home he worked out what his expenses had been. They totalled roughly to about £IOO. He turned to the Irishman who accompanied him and said. “Pat. do vou know that bird has cost me £100? I>at : <» -\y e ib your honour, I a.m thinking it is lucky you did not kill any more of them.’* LIQUOR IN*GERMANY \ ‘ dry ' Germany is undoubtedly a very long way off. But the Government; of the Fatherland is determined to take at least one step towards it. and has sent a bill to the Reichstag which sets forth the view that the drink evil which exists in spite of the assertions of casual visitors, that “you never seo a drunken man in Germany -—must first, be combated bv reducing the opportmiities of the general public to obtain intoxicants. It is. therefore- proposed that the' number of places where drink can be obtained —wine and beer restaurants. drink parlors., liqueur rooms and bars—shall be reir considerably reduced. 'Licensing authorities will, except in extraordinary _ circum-* stances' refuse to grant new licensee. Houses at present- licensed mil not be interfered with until they change hands; then the licensee will only be renewed if n plea that they are neeee?ar,. succeeds. Efforts will be made to municipalise as many licenses as possible and to assist their passing into the hands of companies and associations which will not make the sale > ! drinh their chief source of revenue.