GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2276, 14 May 1921, Page 1

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

Nora, the famous performing hippopotamus, who gave such pleasure to children and grown-ups alike at the Grand Imperial Circus at the Crystal Palace, passed away suddenly and without leaving a successor, as she was the only performing hippopotamus known to man. She was insured for £IO,OOO. It appears that she caught one of her teeth in the bars of her cage and strained herself in trying to get free. A huge parachute, designed to lift from an aeroplane in distress the cabin complete with all the passengers, eveil at a few feel from the ground, was described by Mr T. Orde Lees, in a lecture to the Koval Aeronautical Society. The decision and operation were placed in the

hands of the pilot, so that the passengers were not called upon to think for themselves. During the war (the lecturer estimated) 200 British pilots jumped without parachutes from their burning machines at high altitudes rather than be roasted to death. All were killed. Nearly all would have been saved if they had had parachutes. A sailor's care for his pel kitten . when he was in imminent danger of death is told by the crew of the British steamer Fanad Head, which rescued the personnel of the Norwegian steamer Ontaneda off Newfoundland. So wild was (he sea that it was impossible to save the last lifeboat of the sinking ship. Before leaving his vessel the Norseman placed the kitten in a box, and dropped down with it into the sea. Then, pushing the box ahead of him, he battled to safety, and insisted on the kitten being taken aboard first. It was the new Marconi wireless direction finder that located the doomed steamer and made the rescue of the men possible. A.touching story of a young girl guide’s death vision was told by the Bishop of! London in a sermon at St. Wave's, i lie idd city church associated with the name of Pepys, He said the girl was the idol of the guides in the town in which she lived:' She had always been haunted by the fear of death, and when i! came to her, at the age of 22. she

cat up in bed, stretched out her hands, exclaimed, “How lovely!" and died. There was no doubt, said the bishop, that the Great Companion, who had been with her through life, had suddenly appeared to her, and was now showing her all the glories of Ilis heavenly home.. She had walked with God.

Carnegie trustees are helping tb provide ship's libraries for the < rows of British merchant vessels. They have made a grant of £I,OOO towards the initial expenses. The experiment was started by Mr Albert Mansbridgo in connection with the Central Library for Students.

A very large shipping linn, to show their interest in the project, have not only allowed collections of books to lie ..installed, but have sanctioned the appointment of a librarian to supervise the distribution. Results of the first experi-ment—-■oil a voyage of the Blue funnel'steamer Aeneas to Australia and hack —were most encouraging, says the annual report of the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust. Remains of a prehistoric monster have been found at Enfield in a peaty strata of the Lea Valley. Workmen made the discovery while digging the foundations for a new shop. The remains, which were found 20ft. below the surface, consist of part of a skull and neck

bones, the largest piege being a portion of the head, 20in. long, and containing the eye sockets. Eight teeth, 3in. long and lAin. in diameter, were still in position in the head. The remains are believed to belong to the Mesozoic period, which was the age of the maximum development of reptiles Tin (he earth. It has been suggested'that the animal was a diplodocus, fossils of which have been found in the rocks of Wyoming and Colorado. A mounted specimen in Pittsburg Museum is over 84ft. long and 14ft. high.

The mystery of the justly celebrated Yankee twang which in this country, says a New York message, is,.traditionally peeulair to the denizens of New England outside of cultured Boston —where they stead-

fastly refuse to drawl, speak through their noses, or pronounce fast “fasst” and half “linff” —has been solved scientifically. Dr Eugene 0 t Howlcy, professor of hygiene at Wellesley College, a Massachusetts institution of higher learning for girls, has discovered that the twang is due mostly to laziness of the jaw. When he confided this to his class, the girls were incredulous until the professor explained that he alluded t(i an unaccountable failure when articulating to let the jaw drop Car enough. By no means all the students at Wellesley Hail from the New England States. Many of them are from farther south and west,

and they are having no end of fun at the expense of their native sisters.

An interesting event took place in (lie Capuchin Church at Bologna, when a native named Manegazzi. who for many years served as valet in tlie ducal household of the Bevjlacquiz, was consecrated as a bishop. The new prelate retired to a monaslry after his master died.

More than 250,000 lb, of reindeer meat was sent into the United States from Alaska last year. Fewer limn 200 reindeer were (irsi taken ill I o Alaska, lull the herds now comprise about 200,000 heads. Reindeer meat is described by a Washington chef as having the juiciness of heel and the delicacy and tenderness of venison.

A farmer who sent a hide to Auckland for sale was somewhat surprised when he was called upon to pay livepence to square the account. The price realised just left him that much out of pocket.