NEWS OF THE WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 21748, 16 June 1934, Page 7

NEWS OF THE WORLD

MISHAP AND COMEDY A man collapsed at Tunbridge Wells, Kent, lately. Ah excited errand boy, intending to call the ambulance, pulled the fli-e alarm. The fire brigade' turned out. The chief constable came up in a police car. The fire hooter summoned the voluntary firemen and a crowd of hundreds of people. Then the ambulance arrived, and the man was taken to hospital. There they found he had merely bruised his head. PACT OF 20 YEARS STANDING Four men standing on the steps of St., Paul’s Cathedral, London, in fulfilment of a pact made 20 years ago, raised their hats when the clock struck 5 on a recent evening. They stood silent for a few moments to honour the memory of the absent fifth. He had died seven years ago. The pact was made in 1914, when the five men—the Rev. J. P. Goodenough, Mr Victor Scoble, Mr A. H. Saunders, Mr W. Heale, and the late Mr H. Sapolin—were working in the Post Office engineering department. Over a meal they made another pact to meet again at St. Paul’s on the first Saturday in April, 1939. £3OOO JEWEL ROBBERY ; STOLEN FROM PRIVATE RESIDENCE - Jewellery said to be valued at about £3OOO was stolen by thieves who broke into the home of Mrs Alexandrine Reridle, of Westminster, a few weeks ago. ' “I went out in the afternoon for about two hours and on returning home I found my bedroom in a'state of disorder,” said Mrs Rendle. . “The lock , of a. wardrobe had been forced, apparently by a jemmy, and my jewellery was-.missing. “Among the missing jewellery were a £IOOO diamond bracelet, a pearl necklace,' a diamond necklace and brooches and rings. “The thieves apparently entered by way of the front door after they had unlocked it.T, am mystified as to : where they'got a key, They walked along a ’ ebrridor and into the bedroom without disturbing my husband or the man or woman servant, although the flat us a small one. Then the thieves apparently walked out by the same route.” ; STRANGE STORY OF WATCH

BOY HIDES TREASURE DURING : SLEEP This is the . strange story of a watch that disappeared. Twelve-year-old. Rayr mond Walters, of Euston Road. London, was given the money to buy 'a watch on his birthday, Raymond returned home, flushed- and triumphant, with the shining treasure ;he had waited months to possess. He showed it to everybody, and continu: ally checked the time: shown by other clocks. That night, before he went to bed, the boy tied the watch to the post at the head of his bed so that he could see the time when he woke up: In the morning the newly-acquired treasure had vanished. He searched 1 his room in vain. . Tearful and pleading, Raymond ■ questioned members of the family, thinking it was a practical joke. But nobody had seen the watch since he had taken it to bed with him. ■But Raymond’s brother, Monty, had an idea. That night, he waited until Raymond went to sleep, and kept watch in his room. Two hours went by. Then Raymond, who was sleeping heavily, got but of bed with slow, mechanical movements, and roamed like a ghost through the house, his brother following. Raymond went into the kitchen, made his way to the qven, and with somnambulistic slowness opened the door and groped inside. Still walking in his sleep, he continued upstairs again, his precious watch clasped in, his hand. Then, after tying it to the bed-post, he got into bed again. , In the morning Raymond .was astounded to find his watch hanging in its original place. Even now he does not know how• It got there. - “And I don’t intend to tell him. either,” Monty said. “It might upset him.”' NINTH MYSTERY FIRE DISTRICT IN ENGLAND SUFFERS Fresh cause for anxiety was : lately given -to the police.in Exeter by a mystery fire. The blaze was the ninth that has occurred in the city , within - six months without reasonable explanation.The Are gutted the premises of MessrsW. C. Shears at Lower Mills'and-de-stroyed- thousands of ipounds’ worth of grain-grinding machinery. Very pluckily, Mr -A. C. Davey, an. unemployed man, dashed through the flames' and rescued- a' horse from an adjoining stable. In doing so, he was bitten by the frightened animal. An officer of the fire brigade was also admitted to hospital, suffering. from injuries. .• ■ - ' - Mr A. G. Shears, one of the principals of the firm, said he was at a loss to account for the origin of the fire. ,He said he was certain everything, was in order when the premises were locked up. MAROONED ON REEF FISHERMEN’S UNENVIABLE EXPERIENCE . Setting out from Jersey on a fishing expedition, five men, Charles Le Breton, engineer and owner of a converted ship’s lifeboat, the . Joy ; Bell, • two brothers, Raymond and Jack Bouchard, Philip Garner and Donald Reynolds, ran into a storm a few weeks ago. . The fishermen were forced to take refuge on Maitre He, a rock on Minquiers reef. The men broke into some huts for shelter and found themselves marooned owing to the sustained gale. They only had a little bread, which they ate sparingly with some fish which, had been caught during the trip and which was cooked on a small fire. As the, Joy Bell did not return to Jersey there was great anxiety as to what had happened, and the "Jersey lifeboat went out on a systematic search of the coast. After being out for 10 hours in heavy seas the crew, by means of shouts, located the men at the spot where they had been marooned for 30 hours. They were huddled together for warmth and two of. them, Raymond Bouchard and Reynolds, were suffering severely from exposure. Coxswain Glendewar decided to convey them back to Jersey in the lifeboat, while the three others were left, behind with a supplV of food.

As the lifeboat arrived at St. Helier at night the quayside was lined by excited spectators, who raised cheer after cheer for the heroic seamen. One of the rescued men remarked that he thought the party was lucky when, in spite of the huge seas which broke over the rocks, they were able to get to the huts. “We hoisted distress signals of towels and handkerchiefs,” he continued, “but we could not see: because of the tremendous clouds of spray which drenched us.” The other three members of the party, Messrs. Le Breton, Jack Bouchard and Garner, .who remained on the reef, later returned in the Joy Bell which was moored, undamaged, by the rocks.

VILLAGE’S ONE-MAN CHURCH There are only 17 inhabitants in the village of. Paxton, Northamptonshire, and their monthly church service is one of the strangest in England. The . Rev. W. M; Watkins Pitohford, rector of Lamport, walks a mile across the fields to officiate at the church. He' rings the bell, plays the organ, conducts the service, and more often than, not preaches to a congregation of one woman, who combines the roles of choir, sexton, sideswoman and congregation. OLDEST BUSINESS IN LONDON The ; oldest business concern in the City of London is the College of Heralds, which was founded in 1380. The, heralds are appointed personally by the King; they receive a small fee from him for certain Court duties, deriving, mosjt of their income, from fees paid by people in search of family trees, armorial bearings, etc. MARRIAGE OF MUTES CEREMONY IN DUMB LANGUAGE ; Solemn pledges were exchanged ■by signs when a deaf and dumb , wedding took place at the, parish church at Folkestone, Kent, lately; The bride was -Miss Lilian Crage, of Kentish; Town, and the bridegroom Mr Thomas Henry Brazier, a Folkestone bootmaker. The service, was conducted by the Rey. H., G. Gbodall. the. curate.- As he recited: it Mr, L. M. L. Glover, ■ lay missioner, "spoke” it .to the couple in deaf and dumb language. When: the . moment .came to say “I will,” the couple nodded their heads. Both have been mutes, from birth. Among the guests at the reception were, 15 deaf .and dumb'.people.: The bridegroom at one time played, football. , ■ •: VANDALISM OF CAMPERS GATES CHOPPED FOR FIREWOOD Rowdyism and vandalism by hikers and campers have aroused protest from the villagers and the vicar of Bardsev, Yorkshire, the Rev. C. R„ Hall. Residents are complaining, that; the rowdy element, have destroyed all privacy and disturbed-sleep in the, village>at weekends and holiday times. The vicar, says: “At such times I cannot, go about in the ordinary course of- my, work without • being stared , at stupidly. Some ’of the hikers:: and campers are .positively impudent. “One of'my parishioners has a'tennis court: in-, a .field beside his, house.One day he; found a party of campers had taken possession of the court, and they actually resented a request to move away. -There is more privacy in the centre of Leeds -than' there is ■ in Bardsey.” • .

There are also complaints that trees and hedges are regularly broken down, and even gates removed' to be chopped up for firewood. ■

RECTOR SENT TO PRISON CGULD NOT PAY INCOME-TAX The Rev. John Arthur Leng, rector of St Denys, . Yorkshire, was at, Barnsley lately committed to prison for six weeks on a judgment summons for non-payment of income tax. It was stated that, an order for payment of £6 ,18/6 was made last-October. The rector did not attend the court but! sent a letter stating that ;he had been:involved in very heavy expenses, ; particularly in ■ respect of repairing'-his. house: : The letter added: “I shall be, leaving.herein; September, and'l shall then be able to meet alt my liabilities.” The collector said the assessment was in respect of the earnings of Mrs Leng, who was a-teacher in the Barnsley district. Mr Leng also had the income - from his benefice. BIG FORTUNE WASTED MAN SENT TO . PRISON “A heartless and deliberate fraud,” - remarked the Tower Bridge magistrate in passing sentence of four months’ imprisonment on Arthur Rowe, aged 55; who ;was charged lately with obtaining money by false: pretences from Mr Percy William: Noakes, at Deptford. A detective said that Rowe went to Johannesburg some . years ago and returned with £IO,OOO. He had spent the ; money,-and .was now destitute and out of work. In order to raise money he went to Mr Noakes, to whom he had been^introduced in,-1932, .and. represented -that, he had property near Johannesburg oh which gold had been found. :He said he proposed forming a company among: -his; own, friends; and that a £SO irivestaient would: produce £ 200 within 12 months. : Mr Noakes parted with £35 in all to secure a £SO share, and Rowe disappeared ■ for sometime. • Later, he returned- and asked Mr Noakes for the balance of £-15 to complete his holding. Inquiries had convinced Mr ■ ! Noakes that there was neither property nor gold, and he called the ,police. THE PRETENDER- OF' FRANCE TO TAKE. A HOUTSE IN ENGLAND , 'A home in England is being ; sought for the Due de - Guise, the Pretender and the rest of the exiled Frepch royal family.' They ,*are - now living at the Manoir d’Anjou,; hear - the Franco-Bel-gian frontier., ■ > , / ; : , . . The .Count, de; Gramoht, a prominent royalist courtier, arrived in - London a few weeks ago. by an early train and took a : suite- at an- exclusive' London hotel. During the course of the day he received, visits from well-known house agents.- ■ ■ • -

Since the Due -de Guise issued his manifesto on the occasion of the Paris riots last year, a manifesto which the commission of inquiry; lately, sitting in Paris, has declared to have led tc bloodshed, the presence on Belgian soil of the French Pretender has become a source of embarrassment to the Government of King Leopold; Belgium is too near France, and the constant intriguing of Royalists across the frontier has been annoying both Governments. The last Pretender, the Due d’Orleans. resided permanently in England, and, at one time owned both Yodk House, Twickenham and Wood Norton, Warwickshire. There he lived in regal state, and made county squires wear knee breeches when dining with him. An estate .similar to Wood Norton is being sought, as the French authorities will raise no objection to a British residence.

The Due de Guise—“ King John 111 of France”—is head of the House "of Orleans, successor of the long- line of Bourbon monarchs who once ruled France. He has!a 25-year-old son, the Count of Paris, and a grandson. Sixty years or more, ago the, ancestor of the Due de Guise, , the Count of Chambord, then head of the French royal house, was offered the crown. He refused, to rule under the Tricolour of the Revolution, .demanding the former white flag with the .golden lilies of his royal forbears. The French Parliamwif refused to yield to the rec”?tt. for change of flag. Otherwise “KhigHl.” might be reigning _oycr .France to-day,. .