NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2076, 10 January 1920, Page 1

NEWS AND NOTES.

Hasty war marriages are said to he chiefly responsible for the fact that there wore 2,000 divorce cases, .1,769 of them undefended, down for hearing at the London Law Courts when they re-opened after the long vocation. A great percentage of them were “poor persons” suits brought by ex-service men or their wives. France and the United States also show exceptionally long lists of divorce suits. 1

Scotland Yard authorities have again warned the British public against the perpetrators of the wellknown “Spanish prisoner swindle,” who, they say, are sending out letters alleging that” a large sum t of money is secreted in a box at a railway station in England, and onethird of this sum is offered to the person who will pay the amount necessary to secure (he “prisoners” release from Spain.

The Council of Ministers at Vienna have decided to sell the immense assembly of priceless ohjecls of Art in Austria in order to obtain money to feed the people, and they will therefore he scattered throughout the world.

Au audacious Siim Fein exploit recently occurred at Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. The printing offices of the Midland Reporter were entered al night through a fanlight, and a “Bail Eireaun” (Sinn Fein Parliament) loan prospectus was printed by the raiders on one of the machines.

Tiie Mosley Hotel, Piccadilly, Manchester, a I present occupied under an Order-in-Couneil by the Ministry of Pensions, is to be turned, when the Ministry vacates it, into a picture theatre and restaurant. The purchase figure mentioned in outside circles is £140,000. The Mnsley Hotel was pul up for auction on May 20th last, and withdrawn at £130,000. The building is 25 year’s old, covers an area of 1,283 square yards, is of six storeys, and contains 100 bedrooms.

Sensitive parents, who inform their offspring during chastisement that it hurts them much more than the recipient, are now,provided by an American engineer with, an opportunity of mitigating their sufferings. An “electric spanker” is being shown at an electric power exhibition in the Grand Central Pal•aee, New York. The mechanism of the “spanker” consists of a small motor, a connecting rod about 4in. long, and an applicator the size of the average parental palm. Demonstrations are given to any interested person, and the parent who wishes to gauge' accurately the degree of pain he is indicting can, it is said, himself undergo a preliminary, spanking. /

At the London South-western Police Court,-Henry Harrison (44), Charles Smith (18), James Powder (26),'Arthur*Soder (26), and Henry Strows (23), discharged soldiers, tra ding as c ostermqngers, were charged on remand with,having oh- , structed the highway with their barrows at Longihead Koiid, Tooting. A petition in fAyour of the men obtained 7,410 signatures, and 38 of the 39 residents of Longmead Koad signed it. The magistrate said the question was one for the borough council. He Avould not inflict a penalty ou the men or stop

thexrii from earning their living in that way if they liked. He remanded them until December 29th, and hoped that in the meantime the council would home to some eoncluion. They might seriously consider whether this was not a proper place.