GENERAL ITEMS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 638, 28 January 1914, Page 3

GENERAL ITEMS.

A Manchester merchant, who was supposed to be a millionsie, died suddenly intestate, and apparently penniless. There were certain immense sums noted in his diary as "In Till," but there was nothing in the shape of a till either in his house or in his counting house. So all his goods, including his library, were sold to keep his family from starvation. Weekt after the sale the .lawyer who had superintended it, having a happy thought, went to the bookseller who had bought the books, and, under the pretext that that his wife in a pious fit had taken to religious readig, asked the price of an old copy of "Tillitson's Sermons." which he gut for Is, to find the pages interleaved with bank notes of fabulous value! Ace )rding to the Manchester Guardian, a great deal of consideration has lately been given to by the King to the coming tour to the outlying por tions of the Empire by the Prince of Wales, and it is stated by those who enjoy the confidence of his Majesty that he has decided that, unless anyt ing unforseen should occur in the meantime this shall commen e in the autumn of 1914. It is highly probable that Prince Albert will then accompany his elder brother. Both Princes will travel as officers of the fleet, and a modern cruiser will be especially detached for this purpose. The proposed route of this tour is now being crepared, and will shortly be submitted to the King for hiß apor amendment. In all it is expected that the Princes will be abspnt fiom the United Kingdom for fully twelve months, if not longer. It is also understood that India will not be included in the tour, but that the Prince of Wales will pay a separate visit to the dependency a little lßter on.

»V ire less amateurs ara under the ban at present in New Zealand, but thfi policy of suppressing bona fide expprimentwrs doeß not commend itself to Mr A. C. Braithwaite, a N*>w Zealander who has for several years past been engaged as an expert on the London staff of the Marconi Company. He considers that amateurs may be extremely useful in a science like wireless where possibilities are still far from developed to the full. Restrictions placed on wireless enthusiasts he regards in many cases as pure officialism. They do things better in America, where amateurs are prohibited rfets of wide range, and, as an additional precaution are allowed only on« hour in the early morning and one hour in the early evening. This gives the genuine amateur a chance for honest and serious experiment, but rules out the merely mischievous wireless dilettante responsible at one time for much confusion and trouble in the public wireless service.