GENERAL WAR NEWS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1851, 11 July 1918, Page 1

GENERAL WAR NEWS.

GIRL PEDLARS IN PRANCE. There is in France at (lie present time a number of "iris from an American college who arc performing' relief work of an unique kind. They have taken upon themselves the functions of pedlars, ragpickers, and hucksters in the villages over which the hattlq wave has ebbed. Every girl is (rained in social service, and they travel about with stocks of tinware, pots, pans, clothing, and farm implements. The “pedlars” also sell milk, chickens, rabbits, and goats. Another service they are trying to render, to reduce costs and foster trade, is the opening up of a chain of grocery stores. The “pedlars” have done a good service towards re-creating the conditions of village life in the devastated land. “A MIRACULOUS CATCH.” One of the last bombs dropped by the German avions fell into the Seine, harming nothing except the fish. The latter, “shell-shocked” as if by a charge of dynamite, floated on the surface of the water by hundreds. Of course, the first: to notice the happy incident was one of those street-hoys of Paris who fear nothing, who had stayed on the quay to “enjoy the sight.” Tie spread the good news eagerly, and soon you could see (he owners of the barges that fetch coal and barrels of wine to the great city putting out in little boats to gather the material for a dish of “whitebait." The aerial bombardment had not yet stopped. Nevertheless a great number of people left the cellars where they had taken refuge, and grouped themselves —most imprudent l\ —on the bridges to watch ibis miraculous catch. SHOOTING THROUGH THE PROPELLER. In battleplane design ihe placing of (he machine-gun is one of the leading problems. Cjuilc naturally, too, for the mission of a battleplane is IP light the enemy, and the moans of attack are a paramount consideration in consequence. So the invention of A. .1. Reynolds, of Dublin, is of particular interest at present, since it deals with the firing of a machine-gun through the propeller hub of a battle-plane. Mr Reynolds suggests the use of a propeller mounted on a hollow shaft through which the gun (ires, and a gear transmission lag ween engine and shaft. Furthermore, in (he event that the gun muzzle does not extend out beyond the -propeller, he suggests a spiral or screw in the gun tunnel in order to suck out (he powder gases. The scheme is good, says the Scientific American, although not altogether new. Already the Hispano-Sniza engine has been arranged with a Lewis gun firing through the hollow shaft of a propeller geared to the engine. FOOLS WHO WILL TALK, Referring to statements that the preparations to attack Zehrugge were known by many unauthorised persons weeks before, an Admiralty official said: “We cannot stop fools from opening their mouths to gain 'kudos’ for themselves. An officer Ims been placed under arrest and is now awaiting court-martial. When the preparations were completed the volunteers were sent on board their ships, and for three weeks, while waiting for the favourable moment, never a man was allowed ashore.” A GIANT’S FUNERAL. The funeral at Blackburn of a giant named Frederick Kempster, who died while on exhibition in the town, attracted unusual attention. Twenty-nine years of age, Kerapster was eight feet four inches in height. The coffin was nine feet in length, and had to be removed from the hotel where he had been staying through the window. It Avas conveyed to the cemetery in a hearse, the back of which had been taken off. Ten tons of earth had been excavated from the grave, which was ten feet in length, and fourteen men Avcre required to lower the coffin. Kempster Avas in Germany Avhcn Avar broke out, and Avas interned for some time, this affecting his health considerably.