NEWS OF THE WORLD.

Waipawa Mail, Volume LXV, Issue 181, 17 March 1937, Page 1

NEWS OF THE WORLD.

Mirages at Sea. Tales of strange sights at sea—of a horned sun, ships upside down, beaches floating above the cliffs—•’ were traced by Government scientists at Washington to a source similar to the desert mirage. Willis E. Hurd, of the American Weather Bureau, said refractions of atmospheric layers cause the vision to be distorted, sometimes changing the form of things seen and sometimes making objects visible a hundred miles away. In one case, he said, a mirage sun was seen setting sixteen minutes late. Interrupted Serenade. Every night Joza Zatz, of the village of Bobovatz, Yugoslavia, sang noisy serenades under the window of Ilija Maehak, a neighbor. This disturbed Ilija’s sleep, but every time he went to down to punish his tormentor, Joza just laughed and ran off. So Ilija waited up for him one night. Now Joza is in hospital, and Ilija has been charged with inflicting on him with a heavy spade wounds which may prove fatal. “It serves him right,” said Ilija, when he was brought into Court. “He only got what he deserved.” Bomb in Car Bonnet. When Miss Mary Donovan, a 30-year-old welfare worker of Buffalo, noticed smoke coming from under the bonnet of her ear, she stopped near a snowdrift and threw snow on the fire. Then she discovered that she had extinguished the lighted fuse of a time bomb. The police congratulated her on her presence of mind. “The bomb would have exploded in another ten minutes,” said Police Constable Richard Jenkins, “and it would probably have killed you, too.” The police, however, were unable to find any motive for the attempted bomb outrage. Coffin for Dog. Mark Townsend, 82 years old, of Canandaigua, New York, made certain that his dog, Wolf, would find comfort in death. An elaborate coffin, replete with satin lining, pillow and a wreath, was stored away against the time of Wolf’s demise. The wreath, Townsend has decreed, must go over 1 the grave to be dug for Wolf beneath the apple tree in his yard. Townsend had the coffin specially constructed, padded and lined. TP he outlives Wolf, he himself will conduct the dog’s funeral. If Wolf survives him, Mrs Daniel Donovan, Townsend’s daughter, will officiate.

Buried Alive. Thousands of interested spectators gathered at Masulipatam, South India, to watch an 85-year-old man being. buried alive. He was Sankaranarayana Sastria, a Yogi (mystic philosopher). Hie sat in a specially made box of deal wood and was let down into a deep pit. This was then tilled in with earth. After half an hour had elapsed the pit was opened up and the box hauled out. The Yogi was found sitting inside in a trance. He recovered consciousness forty minutes later, and showed no ill effects from his ordeal.

Dog as Chief Guest. A dog' was the guest of honor at a dinner at Rochester, New York State, when 200 residents gathered to present her with a collar after she had saved the lives of a family. The animal, a sheep dog named Queenie, took her place at the dinner while the story of her heroism was told. Fire broke out in the home where the dog lived while its occupants, Sirs Laura Diestler and her son, were asleep. Queenie, scenting the danger, pawed open a kitchen door from outside to get into the house, plunged through the flames and bounded upstairs to awaken her mistress and young master. Then the dog, though badly singed, stood by while the woman, overcome by smoke, was carried from the burning house. “Foul Person.” With the words, “You are unfit to associate with any decent people. Go!” Mr Justice Charles, at Salisbury Assizes recently, discharged a 45-year-old man, Walter Maurice Herbert, on a point of law. “Before I discharge you, you dirty man,” said the Judge, ’ I want to know whether what I find on the depositions is true—that you are a lay reader. ” “I am, my lord,” answered Herhert. “Then,” said the Judge, “I hope you never will he again. You are Utterly unfit for it, and I wish to say publicly that it would be a shocking thing if any clergyman of the Church of England accepted the services of a foul creature of your sort. “Are you a Scoutmaster? “I was, my lord,” was the reply. “I myself am president of the Scouts of one county,” continued Mr Justice Charles, “and I shall see that you never act as a Scoutmaster or have anything to do with Scouts again.” , ~ To the jury the Judge said it was with the deepest regret he had to direct them, on the evidence, that the charge—of attempting to procure another person to commit offences was not proved.

White Slavers’ Latest Ruse. Agents of Continental white slave gangs, ever on the alert to find English recruits for their dens of infamy, are once more active in London and the provinces. The latest trick is to exploit the international exhibition due to open in Paris next May. Plausible rogues are at work among unemployed girls in London and the provinces, telling them glowing tales of the openings for English girls as dancers, mannequins, waitresses, etc., in connection with the many side-shows of the great exhibition appealing to British and American visitors.

They are told that it will be necessary that they should travel to Paris at once to undergo free special training for the work offered. Contracts are produced and signed, and what are declared to be labor permits from the French Ministry of Labor are also produced as evidence that all is above board. The girls are escorted in batches to Paris by agents of the concern interested and sometimes they are accompanied by a “welfare sister,” dressed as a nun. Arrived in France, the agents suddenly discover that difficulties have arisen with the Ministry of Labor and that the labor permits will not operate until a month before the opening of the exhibition. A way out is suggested. If the girls like to take engagements as “taxi-girls” (the name for feminine dancing partners) in certain night resorts on a commission basis on the sales of champagne and chocolates to their partners, they will not be salaried persons and therefore there will be no ban on their employment. When the girls discover the truth they have not the courage to tell their friends in England, to whom they have already written in glowing terms of the prospects before them. As most of the victims are of age and are unwilling to lodge complaints, the police can do nothing.