NEWS OF THE WORLD.

Waipawa Mail, Volume LI, Issue 37, 11 December 1929, Page 4

NEWS OF THE WORLD.

CLIPPINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.

Naval Duel Recalled. A duel between a British troopship and a German submarine is reballed by the announcement that Mona’s Queen (Isle of Man Steam Packet Company) is to be sold to shipbrcakers. She is the last of her type, the large paddle steamer, to be found in British waters. Early in 1915 -he was requisitioned as a troopship and maintained a service between Southampton and Le Havre. On February 16th, 1917, while she was on the way to France with 10(10 troops, her look-out sighted an enemy submarine no the port bow. The submarine discharged a torpedo. This missed the Mona’s Queen, and the captain rang, for full speed ahead. At 20 knots the big paddle steamer bore down .on the submarine and struck her with her port paddle wheel. The submarine sank bow first, and Mona’s Queen reached Le Havre safely. Dinner Off Mortar Boards. A dinner took place and was served in unusual form at Olympia. Guests “clocked on’’ as they arrived, sat down amidst hoardings and scaffoldings, dined off mortar boards (instead of plates), and ate dishes disguised as builders’ bricks and bread rolls served up in sacks and made to look like lumps of cement. Builders’ hoists and travelling conveyors were on hand “to sling’’ round the salt, mustard and pepper when and whereever needed. Diners were members of the newly-formed “Guvnors” Club, a social organisation which has as its principal object the promotion of friendship and good will among the general foremen in the building trades. A general foreman is the “Guvnor” to the gang under his charge—hence the club and the nature of the inaugural dinner. A Tobacco Jury. The British smoker is one of the most conservative in the world. Slowly, but surely, he is being won over to the use of Imperial tobacco and to the realisation that the Canadian weed can be as mellow and soothing as any other. And thus it comes about that nowadays the Dominion is producing well over 41,000,0001 b. of tobacco every year, mostly in Ontario, while some idea of the rapid growth in favor of the blends may be gathered from the fact that exports grew' from 200,0001 b. in 1921 to 6,000,0001 b. six years later. British Columbia recently submitted through its Minister of Agriculture samples of the first toba to be scientifically blended in the Province to 20 men who tried it out in pipes, cigarettes and cigars. The verdict was unanimously in its favor, and thus encouraged the tobacco growers are making plans to extend the acreage under crop. The Momentous Button. Just what the men of the Royal Air Force may or may not do with their greatcoats when “walking out” is defined in an amendment to the King’s Regulations and Air Council Instructions. It is laid down that: “Except as provided in Clause 2, the greatcoats when worn by airmen other than warrant officers, class 1, will be worn buttoned up at the throat. When ‘walking out’ airmen may leave the top button of the greatcoat undone with lapels folded back. ll' the weather is warm, the coat may he carried over the arm.” Druid Problem. A very modern method is to be employed to solve a problem concerning the ancient Druids. Miss Ruth King, a visitor to the Forest of Dean, recently observed tile circular formation of great stones near the famous Buckstone, which, previously hidden by undergrowth were cently uncovered when a site for a reservoir was being cleared. The stones are set at equal distances of about fifteen yards, and form a circle seventy yards in diameter. Owing to the size of the area aerial photographs are to be taken to determine whether the stones arc of Druidic origin, as their position suggests. The Inspector of Ancient Monuments at the Office of Works has the matter in hand. Proposal by Dictionary. A holiday romance in which a dictionary played a great part had a happy sequel at the Hackney Registrar Office when Mr William John Samuels, solicitor, of Charles Square, London, was married to Mile. Ilenriette de Graeve, of Antwerp. The bridegroom met his bride while on holiday in Belgium some weeks ago. It was a ease of love at first sight, but as neither could speak the other’s language they conversed with the aid of a dictionary. Mr Samuels, in fact, made his proposal of marriage by means of a dictionary. After returning from his holiday Mr Samuels went back to Belgium and came to England with his bride, who is now in that country for the first time. Mr Samuels is aged 29 and his bride 24. Two Years’ Voyage. Expecting to be away for only six months, Captain L, Dewar, of Erskiue,

Lochgilphead, jointed the Hogarth ship Baron Pentland before she left the builders’ hands at Glasgow in 1927. His travels have so far extended over two years, and in that period he has visited 50 ports and covered 108,813 nautical miles. The ship recently left Sydney for Port Kembla, and from advices received it is probable that it will be fully a year yet before Captain Dewar is home. Such lengthy voyages were common enough in the days of the wind jammers, but this is probably a record for steam. Humor in Music. Very few composers have managed to do their work without writing something of a humorous character, while one of the most remarkable things about humorous music is that much of it has been written by people who are not humorous in other matters. Sir Arthur Sullivan was one of ‘he exceptions, another one being Rossini, though the latter, apart from bis opera, “The Barber of Seville,” is better known for his serious music. Mozart, the greatest composer of comic opera who ever lived, was a serious person; Chopin, who scarcely made a single really humorous piece of music, was full of comical irony. Liszt, also a most serious composer, was an ironist of the first water, and Berlioz, whose greatest musical works were concerned with the heaviest philosophical and theological matters, was a master of ridicule and caricature.

Minding a Baby. A strange adventure of a two-year-old girl in Bethnal Green is engaging the attention of Scotland Yard detectives. About mid-day a youngwoman of about 25 asked a man named John Underwood, in Chilton street, if he would take care of the child, which was in a perambulator. She handed him 4s and went away. Underwood remained in charge"of the baby until 3 o’clock and, as the woman did not return, he informed the police. They took the child to a Bethnal Green institution. The baby was claimed later by its mother, Mrs Christine Collins, of Columbia road. Bethnal Green, who said that she had sent a servant out with the child and that she had not returned. When London Sleeps. One of the many queer things that happen while London’s asleep! Four young undergraduates left a Strand restaurant at 2 a.m. and made the amazing discovery that road-breakers were busy in the vicinity. Forsaking their car, they joined the “vandals,” and with a pick-axe, a shovel, a sledge hammer, and a wheelbarrow, they did their worst, the hammer-striker being particularly “offensive,” urged on, as he was, by the applause of an interested crowd. In the end, after a few “false starts,” he nearly drove the wedge into the concrete out of sight, and having satisfied his inclinations, he and his friends got into their car and drove off.

Plague of Flies. A Somerset family’s war against Hies has ended. Mr IV. H. Reynolds, of Chandos Lodge, Keynsham, Somerset, and his household fought six million flies for nearly six weeks. Swarms of flies had poured into the house, and bedroom walls and ceilings became black with them. “I have not slept for a month!” Mr Reynolds said. “My family and I have undergone torture lying awake at night listening to terrible buzzings. We killed thousands of (lies with swats; others we sprayed with poison; we used scores of fly-papers—and still they buzzed. They were not ordinary house flies, and, being much smaller, were difficult to swat. I thought tin l plagrtc would never end. tint at last, with the aid of experts from Keynsham District Council and advice from scientists, we have won. f think we have cleared the house of them.” Seven on Cycle. A motor cycle combination carrying seven people skidded on the greasy road and crashed into a telegraph pole at Chureham, near Gloucester, and a little girl, Iris May Reynolds, aged 4, of Bolton road, Erdingtou, Birmingham, was killed. The party consisted of two families, and it is stated that they were returning from a holiday in South Wales. John Archer, 25, of Dovedale road, Erdingtou, his wife, and their son Willie, 2; Charles Reynolds, 30, Mrs Rose Reynolds, 27, and their children, Iris and Percy, comprised the party. Mr Archer was driving, with Mr Reynolds on the pillion seat. The two women and the children were in the side-car. The two men were flung info the roadway. The side-car was completely smashed, and the child •ris was pinned beneath the wreckage. Mr Reynolds escaped with slight abrasions, hut all the other five were sent to the Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary. James or John? Mr James Mead, of Victoria road, ! Southsea, a Portsmouth dockyard em-

ployee, is 52 and the father id a grown-up family, hut. officially he has never existed. He learned this the other day when, on applying for a certificate of his birth, he was told that it had never been registered, lie and a twin brother were horn at Pott erne, Wiltshire. One was named John and the other James, hut only the birth of John was registered. The twins were mixed by their godmothers at baptism, and Mr Mead is not sure whether he is Janies or John. Their mother professed to identify them at the time, hut even she could not distinguish between them afterwards. Mr Mead, however, has now satisfied I lie authorities that, even if lie is James. In 1 was burn, and he has got. n certificate from them.

The Stroke of Genius. “The behavior of the big toe is an infallible criterion of the condition of the brain. If the sole of the foot is gently stroked, the big- toe will probably stick upwards when (lie brain is healthy. If the toe curls downwards instead, this is a sign of an injury to the brain.” This slatrment was recently made by counsel at Shoreditch County Court.