HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17758, 30 January 1926, Page 8

HERE AND THERE.

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING. WHO DIliD FIRST? One stock legal situation, beloved of novelists, disappeared at midnight on December 31, when the Law of Property Act, 1925, came into force. No longer, says a “ Daily Mail ” contribution, will it be possible to tOTment readers through 500 pages with the conundrums. “ Who died first? and “ Who is the real heir ? ” where property passes as the result of two or more persons being killed to all appearances simultaneously in the same shipwreck or motor-car or railway accident. Section 184 provides that where: “ two or more persons have died in circumstances rendering it uncertain which of them survived the other, or others, such deaths shall (subject to any order of the Court), for all purposes affecting the title to property, be presumed to have occurred in order of seniority, and accordingly the younger shall be deemed to have survived the elder.” CHILDREN SCARE LIONS. Four lions got loose among a crowd of children in Paris. In the little town of Jarnac, a menagerie was giving a performance for the school children. As the lions were being transferred from cage to cage, the electric light failed, and the keeper could not see that one cage door was imperfectly barred. When the light was restored, the lions were seen in the midst of a panic-stricken audience. But the king of beasts proved to be no braver than the ’ young lords of creation. The lions fled in terror, knocking down some of the children as they ran. The lions were tamely recaptured soon afterwards. GANG WARFARE. Evidence that rival gangs in South London arc again active led Mr Waddy to remark at Tower Bridge Police Court: “If the witnesses in this case are interfered with by members of either of these gangs of young ruffians I shall grant a warrant for the offender’s arrest and it will go very hard with him.” William Smith (18), Pell Street, Stepney, was chafed with maliciously wounding Arthur Batt. Prosecutor's evidence was that ho was attacked by defendant and another lad, who then called on six others, who kicked him as he IKy on the ground- Mr Hellyer, defending, elicited that Smith and his girl had been attacked by a rival gang the night before. Accused called witnesses to prove an alibi. He was committed to the sessions, bail being allowed. a a a ENTOMBED FOR FOUR DAYS. Entombed for nearly four days under hundreds of tons of debris, John William Poole, aged fifty, of Furlong Road, 80l ton-on-Dearn, near Rotherham, kept himself alive by an astonishing feat of endurance of body and spirit in darkness and an atmosphere of vitiated air. On the other side of the barrier between him and life a body of men worked feverishly and endlessly to hew a passage through to him. After seventy hours they were on the point of abandoning hope when tapping and the sound of a voice inspired them to greater efforts. Another twelve hours of herculean labour were necessary before their mate was reached and brought to safety. The story of this miraculous rescue comes from Wath Main Mine, South Yorkshire. There was an enormous fall of roof. Two men, Poole and Granville Flinders, aged fifty-two, of Mexborough, were buried, and John Charlesworth, who was working with them, managed to jump clear. Before Poole was reached they had to remove hundreds of tons of rubbish. MEDALS FOR DISOBEDIENCE. A gallant boy scout is to be greatly honoured by his own town—Brentwood, Essex. For saving his scoutmaster from drowning at Wimereux, near Boulogne, last August, Patrol Leader Vincent Magner, seventeen, received the Royal Humane Society’s diploma, and the silver cross ‘‘for conspicuous gallantry.” Before a parade of scout troops, cubs and girl guides, officers and pubblic officials on Shenfield Common, Brentwood, at 3.15 in the afternoon, Magner, who is an apprentice compositor in a newspaper office, was presented with the diploma by the Roman Catholic Bishop of the diocese, the Right Rev. Arthur Doubleday, and with the silver cross by Brigadier-General de Rougernont. The diploma was accompanied by this record of Magner’s heroism: — “In that he did gallantly save the 1 life of his scoutmaster from drowning at Wimereux, Northern France. “Though twice requested to leave him bv his scoutmaster and save himself, as it would be better for one life to be lost than two, he persistently re- : fused to leave him and hung on, though nearly exhausted. He eventual- • ly succeeded in reaching the end of a • living chain that had been formed by his brother scouts and reached safety.** :s | MIGHT HAVE BEEN SAID } BETTER. Pastors of churches are often able » to tell good stories, many of them • against themselves. A minister re- • ceived an invitation from another • church to become its minister, but 7 he decided to remain where he was. A few days later he called upon an l aged member of his congregation, who congratulated him warmly upon his decision. “ I hope,” said the old lady, “ that you’ll stay with us as long as you live. 1 have known our church a good many years, and have ? seen many changes. Every time we have changed we have gone from bad to worse. I hope you’ll stop with us.” She was somewhat like the Presbyterian minister who, called upon at short notice to officiate at the parish church of Craithie in the presence of Queen Victoria, inf eluded in his prayer the petition: ■’ “ Grant that as she grows to be an old woman she may be made a a man! ” Perhaps an even better ma stance of the way not to say a 13 thing is told in Mr G. W. E. Rus- . sell’s volume of “Collections and Recollections.” The story is that , the leading citizen of a seaside town erected some iron benches on the sea *'* front, and with the view of at once commemorating his own munificence „ s and giving a profitable turn to the thoughts of the sitters, inscribed on the backs of the scats: These seats were presented to the town of t Singleton by Joseph Buggins, Esq.. * r J.P., for the Borough. ‘The sea is l his, and he made it.’ ”