WORLD’S HAPPENINGS.

Waikato Times, Volume 97, Issue 15274, 26 June 1923, Page 3

WORLD’S HAPPENINGS.

A WINDOW BREAKER. For throwing a bag of tools through the window of an antique furniture sho-p kept by his mother, and jumping through the hole in the glass, Hugh Manes, 22, was sentenced to one [ month's hard labour at Cromer. 70 YEARS WITH ONE FIRM. Mr Alfred Wainwright, father of the late Edward Wainwright, the Yorkshire cricketer, who died at Sheffield, 1 aged 85, worked for the Tinsley Roll- ‘ ing Mills Co., Ltd., ,for 70 years. ■ All his life he occupied the same bedroom in the house where he was born. .“TIGER" AS OPERA PRODUCER. . M. Georges Clemenceau, the exPrime Minister, known as the “Tiger," and now aged 82, is superintending ' the rehearsals of a comic opera upon “The Vale of Happiness,” a play which he wrote 20 years ago. The scene is laid in China, and M. Clemenceau has enlisted Mr. Shu Hu, a Chinese actor, to aid him with the local colour. BO YEARS IN ONE POST. To have held one appointment since 1873 without a single absence from duty on account of illness is the record of Mr. Arthur J. Maddlson, of Chislehurst, Kent, secretary of the Reformatory and Refuge Union, whose jubilee was recently celebrated by the union. The union is a central organisation through which some 1,400 institutions carrying out child-saving and reformatory work co-operate. CRUELTY TO A CAT. An old man named James Robinson was fined £4 and 20s. costs by the Belfast magistrates for battering a cat’s brains out against a wall. Witnesses said that they saw Robinson hold the cat by the hind legs and hammer it against the wall. For the defence it, was contended that the cat attempted to bite the defendant as if it were mad. 9/- A LB. STRAWBERRIES. London restaurant keepers report a very big demand for early asparagus, with the result that prices are high, 2s a portion being the prevailing charge; in the shops the price was anything from 2s 6d to 8s 6d a bundle. Even at these charges the demand was extraordinary, and asparagus was “off” the menu in several establishments very early. There was also an eager demand for strawberries, and a few of the hothouse variety were available at 9s a lb, but these were sold out during the course of the morning. WHIPPING-POST FOR SALE. Stocks and a whipping-post reputed to be of 16th century origin were offered for sale at Sotheby’s auction ' rooms, London, on May 18. They were described as coming from an Oxfordshire village, and were sent to the auction rooms by their present owner. A member of the firm of Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge said that the "lot” is one of the strangest they have ever had. PAUPERS’ SECRET HOARDB. At a metting of the Knaresborough, Yorkshire, Guardians it Was stated that when a woman who had recived £4OO in relief in 15 years w«s taken to the asylum about £IBO in notes and cash was found in her ho/se. There was also a bank book show ing a balance of £lsl and a building society book with a credit of £2O. information .was also obtained that may lead to the discovery of other moneys. A woman who dlicd in Bath Workhouse had a bank balance and insur-* ance policy to the value of £423. Her maintenance cost is to be deducted from this sum by- the guardians. “ EIFFEL TOWER A NECESSITY." Paris was perturbed by a statement in the Cri de Paris that the demolition of the Eiffel Tower is contemplated and that plans are already under consideration. The famous tower ,it said, had lost its attractions for visitors and was no longer a necessity as a wireless station, since the recently-created station at Sainte Assise, near Melun, which is much more powerful, could easily deal with the wireless messages now despatched and received at the Champ do Mars. General Ferrie, inspector of the military telegraphic services, questioned, states that the wireless station of the Eiffel Tower serves so many important scientific and military purposes that it cannot be dispensed with. If the Tower had not existed, it would have had to bo constructed. BROADCASTING WAR. A meeting of the Concert Artists’ Association was held at London to consider their attitude towards broadcasting. Mr James Glover, a vice-president of the Theatrical Managers’ Association, said the entertainment lax and “summer time” were the greatest iniquities their profession had faced during the past 23 years, and broadcasting would now' take the' last piece of bread and butter from their mouths. The Postmaster-General had allowed almost every interest to he repre- . sented on his Wireless Committee except the “amusement industries.” Lord Birkenhead was one of the most recent to attack the concert artists, and he had been “trying to smack us as he had been trying to smack the other Simple Simon.” (Loud laughter.) Mr Arthur Burrows, of the British Broadcasting Company, said that broadcasting acted as an advertiscj ment, and he claimed that the pur- ! chase of 2300 theatre tickets in the ease of three or four plays could be definitely traced to the interest created by their being broadcast. A short time ago a well-known humourist was broadcast, and next morning two agents went to the studio inquiring about him. Between the middle of February and April 28 London, Newcastle and Manchester had employed 894 paid “turns.” Ultimately there would be eight stations working, employing between 250 and 300 artists per week, and the fees would not be smaller than those paid by any other recog- , nised organisation. (Applause.) Mr J. G. W. IteiUi, the manager of ■ ;h,’ Broadcasting Company, offered lo . negotiate with tile association as to j the minimum ice to artists who broad- j ( cast. - 1

TO SCHOOL BY AIR. Three English girls, Miss J. Whally, Miss M. Whally, and Miss J. Brierley, at school in Belgium, none of them more than 15, had breakfast In Manchester and luncheon in Brussels, covering the distance of 360 miles In 3J hours. They -were returning after their holidays, and went by aeroplane from Manchester to Croydon and thepce in another aeroplane to Belgium. THE SEA BOTTOM. An elaborate but severely technical account of what is at the bottom of the North Sea was issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries under the title “The Marine Deposits of the Southern North Sea” (Stationery Office). The price is the exorbitant one of 15s for 62 pages of letterpress and a number of coloured illustrations and maps, a fresh example of the costliness of Government printing. The indications point to the probability that silt is conveyed by currents in the sea to the ground cast of the Dogger Bank and deposited then.. SUMMER-TIME MUDDLE. There is a growing clamour in France for the establishment of “summer-time." A delegation nominated by the French Press Association has presented to M. Lc Trocquef, Minister of Public Works, a unanimous request of the Paris newspapers for its adoption. The fact that Britain and Belgium have put their clocks forward an hour has led to various complications in France. It is alleged by the supporters of “summer-time” that France is out of tune with her neighbours. The Paris newspapers, which enjoy a large sale in Brussels, now arrive after the appearance of the Brussels morning papers, and this, according to the Press Association, constitutes “a grave menace to French interests and ideas" in Belgium. Already the difficulties resulting from this difference in the hour between France and Belgium has led the authorities of the frontier towns of Roubaix and Tourcoing to recommend to shops and factories the adoption of “summer-time." y ENCORE DECLINED. The Royal Choral Society gave at the Rcryal Albert Hall, Kensington, a concert noteworthy for a good performance of a good mixed programme (Bach and Wagner to Parry, Stanford and Cyril Rootham), says the London Daily Mail, and also for a little incident bearing on the interesting problem of encores. The heroine of it was the delightful soprano, Miss Dorothy Sillt. The problem is, shall one section of a concert audience “hang up” proceedings by recklessly insisting on “more” from a favourite performer? Dame Clara Butt at the Beecham concert three weeks ago deferred generously to the wishes of her admirers to the extent of provoking a protest from the section which wished the concert to proceed. There was on Saturday great upplause for Miss Silk after an exquisite performance of some Purcell and Bach. But Miss Silk had clearly made up her mind not to bring down on her head the reproaches Dame Clara had incurred. The programme was generously long, and she was not going to upset its balance by singing more. A section of the audience did not, or perversely would not, understand this —they could not believe they were to be deprived of the Albert Hall audience’s traditional right to the further services of an applauded singer, and so we had a funny little duel. Sir Hugh Allen, who was conducting, showed what he thought of the applause by striding- angrily from the platform. Miss Silk returned over and over again—only to bow long and graciously and retire again. In the end she had her way, being no doubt the flrst singer at the Albert Hall, who has so declined the flattering request for an encore;