People and Their Doings.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 143, 18 June 1931, Page 8

People and Their Doings.

“Tilly” Devine could Fell a Man with One Blow : Kings Cutter has Two Hundred First Prizes : An Impertinence to Memory of the Fallen.

“*J»ILLY” DEVINE, the wife of James Devine, who has been charged with the murder of Moffat in Sydney, was for many years a leading figure in Sydney’s underworld. The owner of several large suburban properties, with an interest in various concerns more or less shady, she cropped up unexpectedly in so many sensational cases that the police at last began to investigate the source of her wealth. They did not get very far, because w Tilly ” Devine had accomplices who were only too willing to assist her in covering her tracks. In addition to being a woman of strong personality she had a powerful physique, and when some intruders entered her house on one occasion one man was felled like a log with a blow to the chin. Detectives accused her of knowing the whereabouts of' several criminals, including the notorious Buckley, who had escaped after murdering a bank manager. Though nothing was proved, “ Tilly ” Devine found the situation getting so warm that she decided to leave Sydney for the Old Country on a prolonged visit. When the liner pulled out from the wharf the last the Pressmen and police saw of her was a well dressed figure standing on the boabdeck making an impudent but adequate gesture of defiance with her hands. 9 ?SF W Mjss MAISIE HURL wrote a song—a pretty song—“ My Irish Daddy.” It was set to music by Haydn Wood and published recently. A copy of the song was sent to Mr George Bernard Shaw. Miss Hurl’s first verse is: Tho’ my eyes have never rested on that dear delightful land, Yet I know her hills and valleys are the work of Beauty’s hand; And I’m sure there’s angels’ laughter in each gleaming stream that flows— For my Irish Daddy says it, and my Irish Daddy knows. The song came back from Mr Shaw with —“ Envoi, by G. Bernard Shaw.” Inside was this verse, in the handwriting of Mr Shaw: At last I went to Ireland. ‘Twas raining cats and dogs: I found no music in the glens, nor purple in the bogs; And as for angels’ laughter in the smelly Liffy’s tide ! Well, my Irish Daddy said it; but the dear old humbug lied.

XTEW ZEALAND honey seems to be penetrating into more countries of the world than most people think. Mr T. W. Lancaster, lecturer in botany at Auckland University College, who spent the greater part of last year in travel, said the other day that in Malta he had occasion to buy some honey, which is a product of the island and also of the neighbouring island of Gozo. He entered a grocery in the Strada and asked for a jar. To his astonishment a bottle of a well-known New Zealand brand was handed over. “ When I remarked that this had come a long way,” said Mr Lancaster, 44 the proud Maltese said that they also sold New Zealand butter, 4 the best in the world,' he declared, and also New Zealand tinned meats. A common shrub, Coprosma Baueri (taupata), which was seen flourishing in the Barracca Gardens, overlooking the harbour, was another New Zealand product which had found its way to Malta.” m ® ® TJRITANNIA, the King’s famous racing cutter, which gained the first victory of the season at Cowes, has won more races than any other yacht ever built, including two hundred first prizes. It is now fitted with a new mast, and appears at this year’s regattas under Bermudian rig for the first time in her long career. Her new mast is made of silver spruce, is hollow, and is .equipped with a trap device for hoisting the luff of the sail. This device works somewhat on the same principle as the patent fastener on women’s high boots, and was first adapted in Shamrock V. Britannia’s new mast is 176 feet long, and in order to step it the yacht had to be taken into Portsmouth dockyard, as only there could a crane tall enough to do the lifting be found. The mast is the tallest carried by any racing yacht. It is made in two sections, a lower mast 105 feet long, and a topmast 71 feet long, but they fit together as one single 44 stick.” Britannia was altered to Bermudian rig so that she will conform with the New York Yacht Club 44 J ” Class rule, which has been adopted for all the big racing yachts this season. 32? AMONG OTHER CRAFT altered to this rig during the past winter are Sir Thomas Lipton’s Shamrock V., Mr H. St Paul’s Astra, and Mr 11. A. Andraea’s Candida. The two latter yachts were sent out for trial spins of their new gear recently. The new masts stepped in these three craft are 165 feet high, and are made of steel, being the tallest steel masts ever made for racing yachts. They are of a

new design. In building them high-tensile steel has been. used. They are hollow, and strengthened at intervals internally with steel rings, which makes them seem like immense canes of bamboo. They are much lighter than wood, and represent the minimum weight allowed by the “ J ” Class rule. They are electrically welded, not riveted. With them are used hollow steel racing spars as a means of combining strength with lightness. Steel masts for racing yachts is not a new idea, but the “ bamboo ” design adopted by Mr Charles Nicholson for these three yachts is a great advance upon any previous stjde of steel mast construction. 3? AN ASSOCIATION that is described by an English paper as an “ impertinent attempt to exploit the memory of the fallen ” has been formed by three men: L. Newsome, R. S. Smith and R. Dawes. It is the Overseas Ex-service Men’s Association, Rue d’Aveluy, Albert (Somme), France. Investigation revealed the fact that well-known bodies concerned with the welfare of ex-service men knew nothing about the status of this organisation. The association sends relatives of deceased soldiers booklets containing photographs of monuments to the fallen, the price of which is one shilling, the profits “to go to help British ex-service men who cannot find work in England.” But the men who run the association give no information about how or by whom the money that they get is administered. $$ Iff Iff CIXTY YEARS AGO. (From the "Star” ° of June 18, 1871.) The schooner Canterbury has been chartered for the purpose of conveying the conditional x>ardon men, ordered by the Lyttelton Magistrates to be sent back to Western Australia. Mr Harris, Superintendent of the Fire Brigade, gives notice that the White Mart fire bell will be removed to the new station in Lichfield Street to-day. Extract from a meeting of St John’s Parish. —Mr Hamilton rose to a point of order, lie protested, in the strongest possible manner, against the Chairman acting partially. On the contrary, he should hold the scales equally like any other chairman of a meeting. The action of the Chairman was quite unprecedented by anything that he had ever heard of or known at a public meeting. The Chairman said he would state what he had to say, without any reference to what Mr Hamilton might say. (Cries of “ Leave the chair,” and confusion.)