NEWS BY MAIL

Hokitika Guardian, 26 April 1927, Page 1

NEWS BY MAIL

SOVIET GOODS BOYCOTT. TEHERAN, February 28. The Ministry of Public YYorks lias issued a notice that as the' Russian Rank" here ret Uses t.< > aeeept their own eurroiiey. the importation of the Soviet ehervonelz, into Persia is prohibited and any found alter three months will he liable to confiscation. The commercial relations between the two countries are very strained, and the merchants of the north are combining to boycott Russian goods as a reprisal for the Soviet embargo "ii Persian merchandise which resulted in serious hiss to the merchant.*. 1 lie Russo-I’ersian coinmertial agreements, which has been the subject of discussion for several months, still hangs fire. LOCKE!) IT LOVER. BUDAPEST, February 28. The police here have just discovered that a handsome young student. Ladislaus Koertyelyessy, has been confined for two years by Madame Julius Meszaros, who is separated from Iter husband, in her Budapest lint. Bursting into the fiat, the police released the student, whose mother had come to the city to .seek him. suspecting that he was being detained against his will. The young man was found in a room which was always artificially lighted, with the curtains drawn. He confessed himself completely enslaved by the beautiful Madame Meszaros, who never allowed him to leave the flat or to write letters. The woman, who is wealthy, told the police that Lndislnns was her “ ideal ” and that she could not exist without him.

LEOPARD IN COURT. BERLIN. February 10. A Berlin magistrate had to decide to-day whether a man was entitled to keep a leopard In liis flat. The owner of the leopard said it was its quiet as a lamb. The occupants of the other flats said it was a dangerous beast. Their dogs harked in terror when they heard its savage growls, and the occupants themselves went in fear of their lives.

“ YVait it minute,” said the owner to the magistrate, and he dashed out of court, returning later with the leopard in his arms. “Did the wicked people say you were a savage beast?” he said to the leopard as he took his place before the magistrate. He stroked it and bent down and kissed it several times. YVhile he was asking the magistrate to notice what a harmless creature it was the leopard nestled in its owner's arms and was on its best behaviour. The magistrate seemed favourably impressed hy its reticence, when it suddenly ruined its master’s ease by taking a flying leap from his arms to the magistrate’s table and growling in a most savage way. The magistrate and his clerk, assistants, witnesses, and police bolted out of the door. YY’hen the leopard was caught and the proceedings resum-1 ed the verdict was based on the animal’s spontaneous evidence-—to the delight of its enemies.

TALE OF A KISS. BERLIN, February 19. A charming young typist appeared in one of the courts this morning to sue her late employer for six weeks’ salmissed her because he had come into arv. She declared that he had dis-

ihe office one morning and caught her kissing one of his clients. Behaviour of that sort, lie maintained. could not be tolerated hy a respectable and ohl-estahlished firm and deserved punishment by dismissal. “ But you did not dismiss me at once, did you?” said the typist coyly, and the head of the highly respectable and old-established Ann had to admit that he did not. There had, in fact, been a considerable interval between the crime and the punishment, and during that time the employer had himself attempted to kiss the typist. •When I refused to let you, you dismissed me,” she said, “ and you did not seem to understand that because one may let one mail kiss one that is 110 reason why one should let another.” 1 The judge took the same view, and the giddy young typist, won her case. A MAGIC CLEANER. LONDON, February 19. Housewives who are troubled by tbe servant problem will be able to find the most satisfactory solution at the • Daily Mail ” Ideal Home Exhibition, at Olympia. Kensington. YV. They will be shown labour saving of every kind which makes domestic duties so simple that in small homes, at any rate, a servant is not necessary. Vacuum cleaners which remove dust from carpets, curtains, cupboards, shelves, picture rails, and pianos can also l>e used to dry hair, purify the atmosphere of a sick room, or take the

dust from the coat ol a pet dog. One cleaner has a detachable motor and fail, weighing only a lew pounds; by placing the motor on a hot water bottle or standing it before a lire and using a hose attachment a woman can rapidly dry her hair bv blowing warm air upon it. A handkerchief, steeped in eucalyptus, can be plated beneath tile motor, against the intake pipe, and air fillen with antiseptic properties can he pumped into a sick room. LESS SCRUBBING. Many exhibits demonstrate how the labour of keeping household equipment clean can lie lessened. Porcelaintablo iops can he cut to fit tables of any size, thus saving much wearisome scrubbing of wooden tables ; indestructible paint will save the labour of black-leading kitchen ranges; and porcelain paint can he used to cover door handles, finger-plates and other brass articles which must at present he kept polished. A fascinating range of the newest methods for washing clothes includes gas copper boilers, costing only £1; the latest types of electric and gas washers; gas and electric irons; and electric or gas heated cabinets in which clothes can he quickly dried. Other labour-saving devices are the portable geysers for supplying hot water to baths and sculleries; improved types of kitchen cabinets: and liquid solder for repairing pots and pans.