Around the Wide World

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19828, 30 April 1927, Page 14 (Supplement)

Around the Wide World

Clippings from Varied Sources

FROM THE BRONZE AGE

VICAB-’S CHANCE DISCOVERY While cycling near Birchover, Derbyshire, where a dozen cinerary urns 1 were unearthed not long ago. the vicar ; of Birchover, the Rev. C. W. Summerfield. noticed fragments of bones on ‘ iiio bank side. Ho pulled up a flat -lone, and underneath found broken fragments of urn and the deposit ol burnt, bones. Extending his search, he camo, across a fine bronze dagger, 3Ain. long, a 1 small pebble in a bone setting, flint | chippings and bone pits or needles, •<-ne with a large round eyehole eviidently used in sewing skins. The urn, 'sin. high, is of the Bronze Age type. THRASHES BURGLAR A BRAVE WOMAN ; While she was putting her baby to j bed one night recently, Mrs Dorothy |.ielliman, of Palmers Green, London, 'heard a scuffling noise in the kitchen. i Seizing a stout stick she went downI stairs to investigate, and was surprised to see a man searching the mantlepiece. She belaboured him with the stick and drove him into the garden. 1 The man fled, but returned later. Mrs jjeiliman held him up at the point of ' a pistol ami summoned assitance. Scvj oral neighbours came to her help, but jthe intruder took to his heels. He was chased over several gardens into a side street, from which he made his escape. HORSES AND MOTORISTS DEFENDANT’S PLEA When summoned at Withernsea, Yorkshire, for rifling his horse on the lootpath, a well-known follower of the hounds, gave the following reasons for doing so:— “Firstly, the road is far too danger ions to ride on; secondly, a horseman on the road is in danger from and a ’danger to motorists—l am a motorist; .thirdly, the footpaths have ceased to I be usf,l as such; fourthly, three magistrates, friends of mine, have told me that they would not convict anyone ib-roiight before them for this offence; I fifthly, some time ago I lost a good horse, through riding on the grass verge.' ’ A MODEL PRISONER OLDEST LITE CONVICT William Maxwell, aged 88 years, who has died in the Wisconsin State 1 Prison, claimed to be the oldest life convict in lhe world. He. started to serve the 55th year of a life term on ()ctober 25 last. 1 Maxwell was sent to prison for kiTl- ’ ing a man in /defence of a woman in 'a. dance hall. Patrons of the dance (hall tried to lynch him. and when the police arrived they had to cut him •lown. Maxwell, however, said he never regretted the act. Ho was a ; model prisoner and could have lia ( d parbile years ago, but always refused. OVER THE MILE SPEEDY BRIDGE BUILDING. The now bridge over the Nile at Dos I souk, which was opened recently by the Egyptian Minister of CommunicaItions, has been constructed to carry the I Egyptian State Railways over the river in place of an old bridge which could ; only carry a Jocomtive and one vehicle I at a time. The new bridge, which consists of four spans, is 600yds. long, ami costs ;about £140,000. The engineers com . menced demolishing the old bridge in j December, 1925, and the construction , I of the new bridge was only commenced , I in May last. ’he rapid completion of the work, in 1 'spite of xliffieulties due to the coal strike in Groat Britain, will save the railway administration the heavy cost of maintaining the. ferry service in operation during the rebuilding of the bridge. LONGER LIFE EXPERIENCE IN AUSTRALIA Offices in Sydney which sell annuities are beginning to find that they do not pay, in view of lhe marked increase in the expectation of life in Australia. In the decade of 1880-90, for example, an Australian baby boy had an expectation of 47 years of life, whereas the baby boy born in .1920 has an expectation of 59 years. In the case of the baby girl, the increase in the expectation of life is that of the baby boy and a half a year more. Offices, it is sai.d, which grant pensions to their employees, or which have pension funds to which employees contribute, are finding that rates of contribution will have to be revised.

The position has raised the question in the press whether, if the actual Tife is prolonged, the working life should not also be prolonged in the ease of those who are now compulsorily retired at, say, 60 or 65 years, and who, in very many cases, have years of active life before them. The opinion has been expressed that in both Government anj private service, it should bo possible to constitute some authority to whom the subject of a man’s strength and fitness for work, on reaching the present compulsory retiring age, could be remitted for determination. The point has been emphasised that it shoul/1 not be solely those men who are in key positions to whom the privilege of continuing work should bo given, and that the tost of fitness for further work should not bo solely age.

SALUTARY PUNISHMENT GREAT LOSSES BY FRAUD “A short time ago wo were overburdened with these cases ami statistics iv" obtained shoved appalling losses,’’ said the Common Sergeant. Sir Henry Dickens, K.C., at the Old Bailey when dialing; with a long firm fraud case. “I believe,’’ added Sir Henry, “that the losses were put at about £25,000,000. I made a rule that whenever a prime mover in cases like this came before me and was convicted he would go Io penal servitude. L am glad to say that has had a marked effect, but 1 am going to stick to my rule. GOSSAMER WINGS BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. Butterflies arc friendly creatures. They will fill your garden if you grow the sort of flowers that butterfies like. Fortunately, most flowers that appeal io them arc brilliant and beautiful, so that planning a garden that will atiract butterflies by day and the more sombrely dressed moths at night becomes a delightful undertaking. Butterflies and moths must be classed together in the butterfly garden, but there is an easy way to distinguish them Most butterflies fold their wings over their backs when they alight on a flower, in order to hide the gorgeous colouring of the upper parts from their i enemies, the birds. The moths, on the contrary, rest witli their wings spread, for most of them are creatures of the night, and therefore are abroad only when the birds arc abed. STRANGE SUGGESTION i PIGMIES FOR HOUSEWORK The alleged Arctic explorer, Dr. F. A. Cook, who was imprisoned at Lea venworth. Kansas, for fraud advocated in the prison publication the breed ing of a race of pigmies “to do thworld’s work.’’ Dr. t'nok suggesicd bringing larg numbers of African pigmies to the \ gin Islands ami there/developing a n.race of little people, training them ft > •. he light, quick work now perform- -J haphazardly. He believes that the pigmy girl would be the ideal house servant and office worker. A FINE ART CROWS STEAL GOLF BALLS Crows that foregather about the St. Germain golf course near Paris have carried thievery of golf balls to a fine an. Many of the fainvays uro flanked by pines, in which the crows wait for hard-hit drives of 200 yards or more. When a ball appears in sight a black shadow descends on the turf, appropriates the ball and flies off witli it. while the outraged golfer is powerless to seek revenge. THE SEA’S ATTRITION THE CHANGING ENGLISH COAST. The sea is robbing England of many feet of land every year. On the Norfolk coast erosion is going on at the rate of fourteen feet a year. It is computed that Yorkshire is losing land all along the coast at the rate of nine feet a year. The ravages of the sea are. also becoming increasingly noticeable in Kent.. Probably most of the material washed away from the area between izistbourne and Hastings travels eastwards and is deposited at Rye Harbour ami ultimately Dungeness. Only a very small part of the coast filched by the sea is deposited in other places on England’s coastline. A great ' deal of it goes to form low-lying , beaches. NATIONAI.. SAVINGS j BIG FIGURES FROM BRITAIN. j Since the National Savings movement was started during the war, about 755 million certificates have been sold, representing a cash value of £600,000,000. There are four great savings movements at work in Kngland.

In ten years, in the Post Office Savings Bank there has been a saving of £90,000,000; in Trustee Savings Banks, £28,000,000; in building societies, £102,000,000; and in National Savings Certificates. £600,0.00,000, a total of £820,000,000 saved in ten years. The chairman of the National Savings Committtec has stated that if there had been no strikes and no industrial strife, our savings might have been, instead of about a thousand millions, about two thousand millions. AN INTELLIGENT DOG SMALL TERRIER RIDES FREE. A man waiting at the corner of a street in a quiet suburb of London, one day noticed a small terrier standing at his side, evidently also waiting fo» something. Soon a ’bus came along and stopped at the corner. Immediately the terrier jumped on the ’bus, running up the stairs and taking a scat on the top. About a quarter of a mile further on the ’bus stopped, the terrier jumped from the seat, ran down the steps and off the ’bus, and into a neighbouring house. No one accompanied him, and the conductor, evidently thinking he was with someone, took no notice of him, so he travelled without paying his fare!

DRURY LANE THE HOME OF PANTOMIME. Drury Lane Theatre, famous for its wonderful pantomimes, is the fourth theatre to be built, on this site. The first was erected in 1663 under :: patent granted by Charles 11. lienee it. w.a s called the King’s Theatre, or House. Here Nell Gwyn sold oranges in the pit, and made her first appearance as an actress on the stage in 1666. The theatre was burned down in 1672, rebuilt in 1794, and once more totally destroyed by fire in 1809. The present building was erected by Wyatt in 18.12 from the plan of the great Bordeaux theatre, but has nnderi gone many alterations, and was entirely reconstructed internally in 1922. THE KING AND QUEEN TO VISIT TO CANADA The King and Queen will not go to Canaiufa this year. Lt is authoritatively stated that, however much their Majesties might desire to accept tin invitation of the kind, the fact remains that the beginning of July is one of their busiest times of the year, and Lor that reason alone it will be quite impracticable for (Item, to journey to Canada for the Jubilee celebrations as The I’:-":-- of Wales will go to Canada., unless any unforeseen circumstances prevents him. He will prob ably leave. London about, lhe beginning of August. MORE HOWLERS STUDENTS’ UNCONSCIOUS HUMOUR. .loan of Are was eannemised by Bernard Shaw # They gave the Duke of Wellington a lovely funeral. It took six men to carry the beer. .Sir AV a Iter Seo it wrote Quentin Durwood, Ivanhoe and Emulsion. The Gordons were three sisters that ’ived in the islands of the Hesperides somewhere in the Indian Ocean They .-d long snakes for hair, lusks for ■' < 'Ji and claws for nails, and they fluked like women only more horrible. OLD SUPERSTITION WHY THIRTEEN IS UNLUCKY. The dread of the number thirteen is a very old one. It goes back long before the days of the Last Supper, though its accidental connection with that event gave it a renewed lease of life. Probably it had its origin in primitive man’s arithmetical limitations. Twelve was the limit of his counting. Thirteen was a vague number. It belonged to the unknown, consequently was always feared. The mathematical uncertainty has gone, but the old dread persists and causes much needless fear and pain. AMATEUR CONTROLLER CROSSING SWEEPER'S HOLD ON TRAFFIC. A one-legged crossing-sweeper, who for seventeen years regulated the traffic outside Norbiton station, Kingston-on-Thames, has died. The man, Henry Joseph Russell, so familiar to motorists, was often seen in the middle of the road, supported by his crutch, holding up ears with one hand while with the other he directed drivers to proceed. All obeyed him. and it is certain that his signs prevented many accidents. 'The Automobile Association some years ago recognised Russell’s services and made him a grant.

ROYAL AUTOS "MADE IN ENGLAND." .Xevv cars have recently been delivered to members of the Royal family. The occasion brings to mind the admirable manner in which the native industry is patronised by English royalty. The King, like his father, has always owntyl Daimlers. The Prince of Wales uses Rolls-Royce cars when he wants large and powerful machines. He has besides, a four-cylinder Crossley. The Duke of York has owned Arm-strong-Sidj'Jvley, Lanchester, and Aster cars among others. Prince Henry who was formerly a small car owner, has recently taken delivery of a 35-h.p. eight-cylinder-in-line Sunbeam. Prince George, newly returmYl to England. Look delivery recently of a six-cylinder Bentley. Princess Mary (Viscountess Lascelles) has a RollsRoyce. The late Queen Alexandra had Daimler ears, and, in the pre-war period,, a Wolseley. ANTI-EVOLUTION BILL SEVERE PENALTIES An Anti-Evolution Bill was introduced in the South Carolina Legislature by Representative W. P. Mason, of Oconee. The measure would make it unlawful in any educational institution receiving funds, “to teach any theory that denies the story of the divine creation of man as taught in the Bible, or to teach instead that man has descended from the lower order of animals. ’ ’ It provid.es penalties of 100 dollars to 500 dollars fine, or one to six months’ imprisonment for violation, as well as forfeiture of all pay due and the future right to teach in South Carolina.

HATS IN PARLIAMENT FAMOUS EXAMPLES. Hats are still of importance in poli- | tics, says a writer in the “Daily Chron- | l ick?.’’ Mr Churchill’s hats are part of | ; history. The deer-stalker in which Mr i ■ Keir Hardie came down to Westminster j ’ for the first time marked a new era in i ! politics. j Mr Gladstone’s hats wore famous in j various ways, not least the topper, i wearing which Ihe wrung way round he ; walked down Regent Street till Lord ' Granville met him and made him put it ; on correctly. ! Then chore was the hat which Joseph I Chamberlain put on in the House of ■.Commons before be had taken the oath, an offence which drew delighted shouts ‘of “Order!” from, the “Republican i Mayor of Birmingham.’’ I Another famous hat was the wideawake which Mr John Ward always wore in. the House of Commons. “WHO GOES FIRST?” ! PRECEDENCE AT CANBERRA. I There will be shocks lor a great many people at the official opening I ceremony at Canberra when for the • first time in the history of Australia 'the order of precedence will be strictly adhered to within Commonwealth teri ritory (says a Melbourne journal). ! Hitherto, even at functions at which | the Governors-General have been pre- ' sent, the order of precedence has been more or less ignored, but on At ay 9, the colonel’s lady, yes, even the general’s, may find she will have to take a back scat, for the wives of those attending i official ceremonies enjoy only the pre- ■ cedence of their husbands. Of course, ihc Duke and Duchess of York are first on the list. Their attendant suite, even including ■ the Earl of Cavan, have no precedence I except as personal attendants on the i Royal Couple. Lord and Lady Stonehaven will have ! precedence over everybody else, and ; next to them the Governors of the ‘States in this order: New South j Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South: i Australia, West Australia, and Tasj mania. Lieutenant-Governors (usually , the Chief Justices) come next, followed i ’by members of the Federal Cabinet. ‘ Thus Sir William and Lady Irvine j will have the right to go before Air and i .Mrs Bruce. The next following arc I ' Privy Councillors, a very select coin- ■ j pany in Australia, including. among' Victorians, Air Watt. A1.11.R.. who will j take precedence over the Chief .Justice of the High Court, the president of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in that order. At this stage there may arise a slight ’ difficulty. According to the order of I precedence laid down, tho judges of the | j High Court of Australia, according 1o j .seniority of appointment, come next. The question will arise whether members of the newly-created Arbitration Court arc to be included under that category No definite provision has yet been made. GULPS LIVE FROGS WELL KNOWN FRENCH SHOWMAN M. Baleine is well-known in the showman’s world of France as the person who earns his living by swallowing frogs alive. All this season, on the Promenade des Anglais, the fashionable water-front of Nice, Baleine is a conspicuous figure, arriving with a large glass bowl containing half a dozen live frogs, and another from which he drinks about two quarts of water. He swallows the frogs one after another, after which he collects tribute. After ten minutes he takes the frogs • from his mouth, alive and apparently) none the worse for their sojourn, and, with jocular remarks about Jonah, restores them to the bowl. THE SENSE OF SMELL MARVELLOUSLY ACUTE FACULTY The sense of smell, which in man is becoming less efficient almost every decade since he has no longer the same need for it as in more primitive times is, nevertheless, still remarkable in the extraordinarily small amount of a substance needed to stimulate the ends of the smelling nerves in the passage of the nose. It is possible to detect as little as one thirty-billionth part of a substance by ' weight in a given weight of air. This sense is very closely allied with the sense of taste, though the substance “sensed” must in the case of smell be in the form of gas which diffuses through the air. Taste and smell are frequently confused, in fact, far often er than is generally known. The taste of fruit, for instance, is in reality their smell. ORDEAL BY BATTLE AN OLD-TIME LAW Ordeal by battle lingered on as late as the year 1819. Described in the fourteenth century as though it was already a curious anachronism, mentioned as obsolete by a lawyer in the reign of Elizabeth, this rusty relic of the law was resuscitated in Ireland in 1815, where a criminal claimed his right to do battle with his accuser ant J thereby escaped. Four years later, in England, Abraham Thornton had recourse to it, and thus evaded the consequences of a coni viction for murder. This was too much for the national conscience, and ordeal i by battle was formally repealed by Parliament in the following year.