Miscellaneous

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 185, 26 August 1909, Page 3

Miscellaneous

TERRITORIALS' SONG BOOK. A small song book for the use of the Territorial Forces of Lancashire has been prepared by Sir Lees Knowles, and dedicated to the Earl of Derby. The book contains a dozen familiar songs, both patriotic an jovial, includnig "John Peel," "The British Grenadiers," "The Old Folks at Home," and a song which has besn written specially for the Terirtorials by Sir Lees Knowles. It opens:— If you are going into camp, And you feel a little damp, And your ardour suffers somewhat from a chill, You should wear your clothes till dry, Summer's corning by-and-by, County soldier-lads can show a will! A BOOM IN FLYING MACHINES. There is a boom in the flying machine business on the other side of the Atiantic, A New York correspondent mentions that at the present time in America over 8000 inventors have designs in hand for aeroplanes of one kir.d or another. One firm has even gone so far as to offer to accept orders and deliver within 40 days. The prospect for the average citizen when a host of irreponsible individuals begin careering about in mid-air is not very cheerful. The reckless aeroplanist may succeed in killing or maiming himself, but he will probably damage other innocent people in so doing. The brothers Wright, realising this danger of the future, announce that they will not sell a machine to anybody who ref Jses to sign an agreement not to fiy over towns. TURKISH WOMEN AND THE VEIL. A Paris journal recalls that at the proclamation of the Constitution in Turkey the Ottoman women, believing that the grant meant for them a new era of liberty and equality, commenced to empancipate themselves. They walked freeely in the streets, going about without the "yashmak," and founded women's clubs. They reckoned without their host, the chief of the Constantinople police, who has been unchivalrous enough to issue the following notice: —"By a notice inserted in all the newspapers, we have recommended all Mussulman ladies not to walk in public unveiled. We learn, however, that certain Mussulman ladies do not respect this order, and continue to appear without veils in public places, the principal thoroughfare in Pera, and in the shops which they frequent on business. Consequently, we again give notice that v;e have given the necessary instructions to all police officers to stop all Mussulman women who do not follow the obligation of walking in public veiled." THE DAILY SMILE. Jones: Is Brown optimistic? Jacks: I should say so. 1 have known hin' go to a restaurant without a penny in his pocket, order a dozen oysters, and feel sure that he would be able to pay for his bill with a pearl which he would find in one of the oysters. CONTINENTAL LOTTERIES. Lotteries, which M. Clemenceau proposes to suppress in France bring a handsome revenue into the coffers of many Continental States. Italy derives fron? this source close on £3,000, 000 a year. Spain makes nearly £l, -100,000 a year out of its lotteries; and most other European countries with the exception of Great Eritain, draw annual revenues from this source. Even Germany djes not disdain this form of income. The profits of the Prussian State lotteries last year amounted to nearly £400,000. PUBLIC HOUSE AS VICARAGE. At Eder.br idge, near Tunbridge Wells, the Viciar, the Rev. H. Somers Cocks, resides ir. a vicarage which was formerly the King's Arms Public house. A sum of £2OO was raised at a bazaar for the purpse of eliminating from the residence the indications of a public house, several of the leading parishioners having expressed the opinion that the building, as it exists at present, is an unsuitable one for their vicar to live in.

Airships laden with spectators of cricket matches are prefigured in a remark that I heard at a local match on Saturday. An onlooker was expounding to a friend the advantages of getting as nearly in a line with the wickets as the umpire will allow. "Ef ye want to seethe brik o' the bowlin',"he said, "ye dinnot want to be sideways on. Ye want to be perpendicular on —see?" "Ay! sairtain'y," replied the friend.

THE WAY TO PROMOTION. In Washington it is said that army and navy officers who want to be assigned to special duty by President Taft, or have favours to ask of him, are taking up the game of golf as a means of reaching the executive heart. When Roosevelt was President the men who wanted to stand in well with the head of the Government would first learn to play tennis or go out and shoot a bull elk or wild cat, and there sprang into being what was known as Roosevelt's tennis Cabinet.

A BISHOP'S BUSY WEEK. The Bishop of London has been narrating his varied programme for a week's work. On Monday, he said, he had the most exhausting thing in his year's work, his garden party, where he had to shake hands for an hour and a half, until he was black in the face. On Tuesday he addressed 2000 coal heavers at Fulham, and on Thursday he had a baby show, where 2000 babies shouted against every word he bad to say. On Friday he had a day. off.

Here is an item of news for our amateur and professional growers of cucumbers. Mr Scammell, head gardener to Lord Pembroke at Wilton has just cut a cucumber three feet one and a half inches long and eleven and threequarter inches in circumference. It weighs nine and a half pounds; is a growth of only three weeks; and has a companion who will be bigger. And the quality is of the highest. "I don't believe that a finer cowcumber was ever g r ow'd," as Sairey Gamk says at the Bull Inn; "I'm sure I never see one!"