NEWS AND NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 October 1928, Page 6

NEWS AND NOTES.

OUR RICHEST CROWN COLONY. The official film of the opening of Takoradi Harbour, Gold Coast, by Mr J. 11. Thomas, M.P., should do much to convince people at, Home of the importance of our wealthiest Crown Colony, which, produces about half the world’s supply of cocoa, lias a trade of over £25,000,000 and bought British goods to .the value of £8,000,000 last year. The harbour itself; is an imposing . affair., with: two miles and a-half o. . breakwater, and an area- of -220 acres. HANGING FURNITURE. Strange stories were recently told of a “haunted - house at Fb-rdwioh, near ' Canterbury. The house was occupiedrby Mr and, Mrs Douglas, Jubilee Cottages. Mrs Douglas said that bedclothes had been'- pulled- off the bed, pictures twisted on the wall and potatpes,,.,lj L a-cl -.come out of a- locked cupoard. The table rose on two legs and other things flew down the stairs. A- neighbour said that when she went .into Mr® Douglas’ house a pair of spectables flew off the mantlepiece and hit her on the shoulder.

DIAAJOND RING IN BAG OF FRUIT.

Shortly after leaving Paddington for Nhwbury on the express a woman discovered a valuable diamond ring in a bag of fruit she had purchased : just 'before entering the train'. , On reaching Newbury she went to the police station and reported the facts. A girl in- charge of the fruit stall at Paddington, who had- been searching for the missing ring for some hours, was found in a state of great distress. The ring had teen entrusted to- -her by another assistant wlio had gone off duty. It was returned.

A DOG’S QUAINT DEVOTION

There are innuanerabe stories of the devotion of clogs to"their masters’ interest. I heard of a rather touching instance, writes a London correspondent. At a'seaside resort Where the tide comes in rather steathily and outflanks garments left on the beach, an early ■ morning bather set his dog to guard; his clothing while he took his swim. He had .not disported himself 'long when he saw- the dog coining oat to- join him. As a first proof of his devotion.to duty the thoughtful animal was bringing his master’s trousers with hiuu TP A ACT TV IQ U’TXTTP 1? li’CT) li n

V. A fine record of railway serv-ioe stands to- the credit of the- family of Mr James "Solhie, -Montrose, Scotland, who retired in May from the position of signalman, after having completed 50 years’' service. About a year ago his brother, Mr John Sol hie, retired from the service with an equally meri-tct;h)-)us record. There wore five brothers and all followed in the footsteps of their father by adopting a railway career, James and John being now the only survivors. Mr James Selbie’s own family of six sons are all connected with the railway. NURSE JILTED P>Y P.C. In the v London Sherriff’s Court rt*-. centlv the jury assessed damages at £IOO against a police constable, Harry Edlwaird Goldsmith, of the Section House, Aid gate, in a, breach of promise ease remitted from the High Court, and brought by Bertha May Roberts, 27, a nurse, of Ladbroke Road, Redhill, Surrey. It was stated that the parties became engaged in July, 1927, hut in May this year defendant married another woman. The Under-Slier iff, (Mr T. Burehell) said that from - plaintiff’s point of view it would have been a very desirable match. It was undoubtedlv a grievens loss to her when defendant married another woman,

BRITISH TRIUMPH

SARDINE STORY THAT IS - " HISTORY. The tale of the sardine.that blocked the harbour at Marseilles is one of the most hoary wheezes worked on visitors to the city. But now it seems that this classic jest is true after all. It was a corvette- “La Sardine” that fought in the French revolutionary wars. Toulon was being besieged by the French, held as it was by a British fleet and army, and to prevent the latter from effecting a diversion at Marseilles “La Sardine” put liorself in the mouth of tlie harbour and was scuttled by her captain’s orders. So- a t least says the learned Abbe Marius Rooher, who has unearthed the fact from the dust of the past.

CANADIAN TREES FOR BRITAIN. Canada is literally taking root in all parts of the Empire. Last year she sent 6,390,000,000' seeds of various trees to Great Britian and the Dominions and Colonies, and there is still a steady demand which the Tree Seed Extracting Establishments of the Federal Government are doing their best to meet. One of the largest seed extraction plants is maintained at New Westminster, British Columbia, and it may be said to one of the world’s doctors. During the war many areas in the Empire generally and in Britain in particular were denuded of trees, and it is to repair these ravages that thousands of pounds of the seed oi spruce, pine and cedar leave Canada every year.

LET BOY DROWN. A verdict of accidental deatit vas returned at the inquest at Birkenhead on Arthur Radciliffe, who was drowned in the park lake while playing with a toy yacht. The string snapped, ar trying to recover the yacht, lie slipped in. Constable Somerville, who dived to- the rescue, found tlie boy standing /in the mud. He said that about 150 persons were close by, but none made the slightest effort to pull the boy out. Mr Lee, the coroner, said the evidence showed considerable lack of courage en the part of the. people vho -stood gaping round the- water. It spoke badly for the- mentality of the crowd. He complimented the constable. bride drenched. The members of a wedding party while leaving the church at Hoxton London, were drenched by water from leakages in the hoses used by firemen dealing with a b-oig fire- on the piennso of an engineering firm nearby. Protests were made to the firemen, but, of course they had to perform their duties, and the drenched bride was called to face the “shower bath” and gc* into the waiting car. One bridesmaid remarked. “Her wedding dress will be spoiled,” while another told ■ a perspiring firemen that the burgh would be called upon to- pay damages. The fire did very serious damage to the premises nearby and many residents in adjoining houses were warned of possible danger and temporarily cleared out of their flats.

OAT HOLD-OP. Pedestrians in Bonhill R-oad, Dumbarton, were menaced bv a large black a.nd tyh itc cat which had reverted to a wild state. It first attacked a dog, and, after a bitter fight, the dog emerged with a wounded foot. While the owner of the dog tried to catch it by the collar the cat sprang several times at him and tore his finger. A postman and a message hoy passing were also attacked fortunately without serious consequences. For two hours the animal held the pavement with arched hack and bared fangs until the arrival of a policeman and others, when the animal was killed by blows with an iron bar. \ SITE OF GRUESOME MEMORIES When the Marble Arch London, was 'remowed from opposite Buckingham Palace in 1.851, whoever was responsible for re-erecting it in its present position chose—possibly without knowing it—a site possessed of move gruesome memories than any o,th<jr n/u Hyde Park. For this is the spot that is marked in old maps of London, with the grim legend: “Where soldiers arc shot” and many military executions are recorded as having taken place here. There was one unhappy individual, however, who was deemed unworthy of dying a soldiers’ death. This was Sergeant Smith, an ardent Jacobite, who, in 1715, deserted his regiment and joined the Young Pretender. Ho was arrested two years later, and banged on the only gallows ever set tip inside the park.

An expedition,, of which both .the liHuna.n. and mechanical elements arc British, has scored a triumph in a survey and exploration task where others had tried and failed. The Jir.st brief (.•ahled announcement reported: “Successfully across the Kalahari Desert

400 miles of waterless, unexplored country crossed in twelve days. First white man and first car to accomplish this journey. The last expedition using American vehicles failed.” The journey accomplished was made with the. aid of two British-built. Morn’s Commercial six-wheeled vehicles, which had to carry supplies of water enough for their own lisc and the party’s, The going was known to he so had that it was estimated no motor could hope to complete the journey inside four weeks. It was done in 12 days. LOURDES OH RES. A 17-year old London girl Esther Doyle, isi among the “miracle cures,” details of which have been made, public, following a visit by Card ini Dubois and scores of Parisian clergy to Lourdes, the famous place of Roman Catholic pilgrimage in the Hautes-Pyrenees. Miss Doyle suffered from tuberculosis, heart disease and other troubles,, and was unconscious during her journey

from London to- Lourdes. She came out of Inn* coma-, according to the account of the curp, published m the Iteman Catholic newspapers, soon after her immersion in the sacred waters at the little shrine of St. ' Bernadette. That was on .July < 14th. and ftifice" then she has continued to improve. Another reported cure of a British patient concerns Miss Elizabeth Richmond, aged 44 years, of Liverpool. “DRAW WEE LAND.” A Stirlingshire man lias sent home to a friend the following essay on Scotland, which he states, was dropped by someone, in a busy street in Winnipeg. Scotland, writes the essayist, iis a. braw wee land in the north ol Lngland. There is water nearly all round it and whisky over a large portion of it. There is great mining wealth in the country. Gold has been found in certain localities a a well as in the pocket® of t;ho natives, but in both cases it is difficult to work, The population is about half a million, including Andrew Carnegie. Their natural instrument is called bagpipes, which, it is said, on being blown, produce a time. Scottish regiments have ’een known to march to death to the music of these pipes, hut. their willingness to face the former was inspired bv their desire to- escape the latter.