NEWS OF THE WORLD.

Waipawa Mail, Volume L, Issue 2, 19 September 1928, Page 4

NEWS OF THE WORLD.

+ + + + ♦*•:*** + ♦♦♦* + * Our Richest CL own Colony. The official film of the opening of Takoradi Harbor, Gold Coast, by Mr J. H. Thomas, M.P., should do much to convince people at Home of the importance of nur wealthiest Crown Colony, which produces about half the world’s supply of cocoa, has a trade of over £25,000,000, and bought Bri-, tish goods to the value of £8,000,000 last year. The harbor itself is an imposing affair, with two miles and ahalf of breakwater and an area of 220 acres. Dancing Furniture. Strange stories were recently told of a “haunted” house at Fordwieh, near Canterbury. The house was occupied by Mr and Mrs Douglas, Jubilee Cottages. Mrs Douglas said that bedclothes had been pulled off the bed, pictures twisted on the wall and potatoes had come out of a loeked cupboard. The tables rose on two legs and other things flew down the stairs. A neighbor said when she went into Mrs Douglas’ house a pair of spectacles flew off the mantlepiece and hit her on the shoulder.

Diamond Ring In a Bag of Fruit. Shortly after leaving Paddington for Newbury on the express, a woman discovered a valuable diamond ring in a bag of fruit she had purchased just before entering the train. On reaching Newbury she went to the police station and reported the facts. A girl in charge of the fruit stall at Paddington, who had been searching for the missing ring for some hours, was found in a state of great distress. The ring had been entrusted to her by another assistant who had gone off duty. It was returned. A Dog's Quaint Devotion. There are innumerable stories of the devotion of dogs to their masters’ interest. I heard of a rather touching instance, writes a London correspondent. At a seaside resort where the tide comes in rather stealthilv and outflanks garments left on the beach, an early morning bather set his dog to guard his clothing while he took his swim. He had not disported himself long when he saw the dog coming out to join him. As a first proof of his devotion to duty the thoughtful animal was bringing his master’s trousers with him. Fine Record. A fine record of railway service stands to the credit of the family of Mr James Relbie. Montrose, Scotland, who retired in May from the position of signalman, after having completed 50 years’ service. About a year ago his brother, Mr John Selbie. retired from the service with an equally meritorious record. There were five brothers and all followed in the footsteps of their father by adopting a railway career, James and John being now the only survivors. Mr James Selbie’s own family of six sons are all connected with the railway.

Nurse Jilted by P.C. In the London Sheriff’s Court recently the jury assessed damages at £IOO against a police constable. Harry Edward Goldsmith, of the Section House, Aldgate, in a" breach of promise case remitted from the High Court, and brought by Bertha May Roberts, 27, a nurse, of Ladbroke road, Rcdhill, Surrey. It was stated that the parties became engaged in July, 1927, but in May this year defendant married another woman. The Under-Sheriff (Mr T. Burehell) said that from plaintiff’s point of view it would have been a very desirable match. It was undoubtedly a grievous loss to her when defendant married another woman.

Sardine Story That ia History. The tale of the sardine that blocked the harbor at Marseilles is one of the most hoary wheezes worked on visitors to that city. But now it seems that this classic jest is true after all. It was corvette “La Sardine” that fought in the French revolutionary wars. Toulon was being besieged by the French, held as it was by a British fleet and army, and to prevent the latter from effecting a diversion at Marseilles “La Sardine” put herself in the mouth of the harbor and was scuttled by her captain’s orders. So at least says the learned Abbe Marius Rocher, who has unearthed the fact from the dust of the past. Canadian Trees for Britain. Canada is literally taking root in all parts of the Empire. Last year she sent fi,390,000,000 seeds of various trees to Great Britain and the Dominions and Colonies, and there is still a steady demand which the Tree Seed Extracting Establishments of the Federal Government are doing their best to meet. One of the largest seed extraction plants is maintained at New Westminster, British Columbia, and it may be said to be one of the world’s doctor’s. During the war many areas in the Empire generally and in Britain in particular were denuded of trees, and it is to repair these ravages that thousands of pounds of the seed of spruce, pine, and cedar leave Canada every year.

Let Boy Drown. A verdict of accidental death was returned at the inquest at Birkenhead on Arthur Radcliffe, who was drowned in the park lake while playing with a toy yacht. The stringsnapped and trying to recover the yacht, he slipped in. Constable Somerville, who dived to the rescue, found the boy standing in the mud. He said that about 150 persons were close by, but none made the slightest effort to pull the bov out. Mr Lee, the Coroner, said the evidence showed considerable lack of courage on the part of the people who stood gaping round the water. It spoke badly for the mentality of the crowd. He complimented the constable. Bride Drenched. The members of a wedding party while leaving a church at Hoxton,

CLIPPINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.

•*♦♦♦**♦*♦**♦♦*♦** London, were drenched by water from leakages in the hoses used by firemen dealing with a big fire on the premises of an engineering firm nearby. Protests were made to the firemen, but, of course, they had to perform their duties, and the drenched bride was called to face the “shower bath” and get into the waiting car. One brides--1 maid remarked “Her wedding dress I will be spoiled,” while another told a perspiring fireman that the burgh would be called upon to pay damages. The fire did very serious damage to premises nearby and many residents in adjoining houses were warned of possible danger and temporarily cleared out of their flats. Site of Gruesome Memories. When the Marble Arch, London, , was removed from opposite BuekingI ham Palace in 1851, whoever was reI sponsible for re-erecting it in its pre- ( sent position chose —possibly without knowing it—a site possessed of more j gruesome memories than any other in Hyde Park. For this is the spot that . is marked in old maps in London with the grim legend: “Where soldiers are shot,” and many military executions are recorded as having taken place here. There was one unhappy indi--1 vidual, however, who was deemed un--1 worthy of dying- a soldier’s death. !' This was Sergeant Smith, an ardent I Jacobite, who, in 1745, deserted his i regiment and joined the Young Pretender. He was arrested two years >. later, and hanged on the only gallows t ever set up inside the park.

BritiLsfh. Triumph. An expedition, of which both the human and mechanical elements are British, has scored a triumph in a survey and exploration task where othe’-s had tried and failed. The first brief cabled announcement reported: “Successfully across the Kalahari Desert—4oo miles of waterless, unexplored country crossed in twelve days. First white man and first ear to accomplish this iournev. The last expedition, using American vehicles, failed.” The iournev accomplished was made with the aid of two Britishbuilt Morris Commercial six-wheeled vehicles, which had to carry supplies and water enough for their own use and the party’s. The going was known to be so bad that it was estimated no motor could hope to complete the journev inside four weeks. It was done in 12 days. Lourdek Cures. A 17-year-old London girl, Esther Doyle, is among the “miracle cures,” details of which have been made public, following a visit by Cardinal Dubois and scores of Parisian clergv to Lourdes, the famous place of Roman Catholic pilgrimage in the Hautes—Pyrenees. Miss Doyle suffered from tuberculosis, heart disease and other troubles, and was unconscious during her journey from London to Lourdes. She came out of her coma, according to the account of the cure published in the Roman Catholic newspapers, soon after her immersion in the sacred waters at the little shrine of Rt. Bernadette. That was on July 14th, and since then she has continued to improve. Another reported cure of a British patient concerns Miss Elizabeth Richmond, aged 44 years, of Liverpool.

“Braw Wee Land.” A Stirlingshire man has sent home to a friend the following essay on Scotland, which, he states, was dropped by someone in a busy street in Winnipeg. Scotland, writes the essayist, is a braw wee land in the north of England. There is -water nearly all round it, and whisky over a large portion of it. There is a great mining wealth in the country. Gold has been found in certain localities as well as in the pockets of the natives, but in both eases it is difficult to work. The population is about half a million, including Andrew Carnegie. Their national instrument is called the bagpipes, which, it is said, on being blown produce a tune. Scottish regiments have been known to march to death to the music of these pipes, but their willingness to face the former was inspired by their desire to escape the latter! “Rebellion” on the Lido. A Swedish lady staying in Venice has had an unpleasant experience similar to that which befell the British King’s messenger at Milan over the question of showing identity papers in the street. The lady, says the Rome correspondent of the “Daily Express,” was stopped on the Lido by an official of the Carabinieri, who asked her for her papers. She was indignant and refused, whereupon he told her he must take her to the police station. The lady became so exasperated that she punched and kicked the police official. She was finally taken to the police station with the help of two other policemen, and will be prosecuted for "rebellion to the authorities.” The incident is worth reporting as a lesson to foreigners in Italy, that whilst people are not usually molested with any such demands, it may occasionally happen, and then it is best to submit to the simple formality of showing one’s papers.

Farmyard “Voices.” “Take a pig, a sheep, a horse and a cow as a vocal quartet, and say which is the contralto, soprano, tenor and bass,” said Mr Geoffrey Shaw, H.M. Inspector of Music, during his lecture on oral training to the members of the Summer Course in Music and Oxford. His audience endeavored to reproduce the voices of the respective animals, but few, if any, classified them correctly. Ultimately Mr Shaw announced: “The pig is the bass, the horse the soprano, the sheep the contralto and the cow the tenor.” The last lecture by Dr. George Dyson, Director of Music, Winchester College, also resolved itself into a lively entertainment, the audience supplying half of it in the shape of sight-reading-, old anthems and mad-

rigals. “You cannot sing madrigals for toffee,” Dr. Dyson shouted, “and vour tenors are unspeakable. I am sure if Orlando Gibbins came back from the dead and heard several hundred of you singing now he would have a fit on the spot. Your singing is like nothing human. It is so rough that it sounds more like a cough. I should suspect you of eating too much.”

Cat Hold-up. Pedestrians in Bonhill road, Dumbarton, were menaced by a large black and white cat which had reverted to a wild state. It first attacked a dog, and, after a bitter fight, the dog emerged with a wounded foot. While the owner of the dog tried to catch it by the collar the cat sprang several times at him and tore his finger. A postman and a message boy passing were also attacked, fortunately without serious consequences. For two hours the animal held the pavement with arched back and bared fangs, until the arrival of a policeman and others, when the animal was killed by blows with an iron bar.