GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2156, 29 July 1920, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

A man summoned at Lambeth Police Court, London, for deserting his wife said that he was prepared to return to her if she would “close her mouth and keep it closed.” Mr Gill (the magistrate); “That is expecting too much.”

The new giant boll destined for Rouen Cathedral, and named Jeanne d‘Arc, met with an accident just after it had left the foundry at Annecy. It was being‘drawn by 14 horses through the streets, when an axle-tree gave way, and the great hell, weighing 20 tons, fell into the road, obstructing the traffic. The road was cleared sufficiently to allow vehicles to pass some hours afterwards, but it took five days to left the bell. Fortunately no one was injured by the accident. The French Government has ordered the disposal of the famous Ferray Collection, the most valuable accumulation of postage stamps in the world. The owner, an eccentric millionaire, spent money without stint on his hobby, and at his death his albums contained most of the known rarities, including the only known specimen of the “one cent” error of British Guiana. The collection was bequeathed to the Berlin

Museum, but its removal from France was forbidden by law. Now

it is to be sold, and a sum of half a million sterling is expected to he realised.

The magnificent marble swimming bath of the late'Emperor Francis Joseph is shortly to be thrown open to the poor children of Vienna, who will be allowed a daily plunge free of charge. A certain mystery and romance hangs ijbout the hath. After the debacle of the Austrian Empire, its site, which was known only to a chosen few, was eagerly sought by the liquidators of the Hapsburg estates. So cunningly was it hidden in the dense thickets of the royal forest at Schonbrunn that it was four months before it was located.