GENERAL NEWS ITEMS

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2281, 26 May 1921, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS

A child playing with a box of matches started a tire which destroyed the entire village of Grafenschlag, Austria, consisting of 02 houses. Six of the inhabitants were burned to death, and all the cattle stampeded and perished. Mrs Mary Davies, Llangollen’s oldest inhabitant, is 93 years of age, yet she constantly crosses the mountain range between Glyn Valley and Llangollen, negotiating the steepest and most dangerous ascents without difficulty. She refuses to travel by train, as she is “afraid of engines.” ' Blonde women are too fickle to serve on juries, according to Justice William Morris, of the New York Municipal Court, Judge Morris ordered a mixed jury of three women and three men to decide a civil suit involving £l9O. In issuing his instructions he said to the court attendants: “There must be no blondes on this jury, because they are too fickle.” Some women in court with light hair and blue eyes started to protest, but fear of eoutempt of court held them back.

A verdict of “death by misadventure” was returned at the inquest at Hull on Wallace MacFarland, who was knocked out in a boxing contest and died without regaining consciousness. Mr Gamble, of Manchester, the referee, said the contest was a fair one, and Colonel Thorne, the coroner, remarked that boxing carried on under proper conditions was one of the finest sports in the world. Havoc was played at Selby, England, in a portion of the marketplace by a whimsical three-minute whirlwind, which resembled a miniature tornado. Stalls were upturned. covers torn into shreds, and stall-keepers were buried under canvas. Wares were blown hither and thither, a huge hamper being lifted clean up and carried half way across the market-place. But the strange thing is that across the market —on the Abbey side —there was practically calm weather.

Said to have first met in prison, where they began their courtship, Stanley Jones and Doris Jones were at Barry committed for trial on charges of theft from residents ai Barry Docks. Jones’ real name, it was said, is Martin O’Brien, and he belonged originally to Stepney. The woman’s name is Minnie Page. They first met when both were in prison, and were apparently attracted to each other. During their courtship in prison they arranged that on release they would meet either in Cardiff or Barry. They did so, but soon after were again arrested.

Amusing evidence concerning the hour when cockerels begin to crow was given at Fcltham Police Court, when William Thompson and Frank Day were summoned for keeping noisy animals,” to wit, three cockerels, which caused annoyance to residents. Mr Wolff, a retired engineer, said he made notes of the crowing of the cockerels every night for a fortnight. He found that they began to crow about 1.50 a.m., and kept on until daybreak. The chairman: You must prove a nuisance. If we do not keep cocks and liens we do not gel eggs. The case was dismissed.

The Chinese have a strong dislike ' for hanks, and hide their money witli great cunning, says a New York correspondent. It was during a raid by the narcotic division of the Police Department on a Chinese opium den in Brooklyn that a detective saw an old worn pair of shoes in a corner. They were so dusty that they looked as if they had not been touched for months, but when he picked them up he found £B,OOO in notes inside. The Chinaman who owned the money saw thill it had been discovered, but his face remained as frozen as that of an image until the detective handed him back the notes, when he broke into a smile, apparently having the surprise of his life. A woman sat rocking her baby one night, in the steamship Venetian, homeward bound it) the Bay of Biscay from Alexandria. Her arms ached and her eyes had known no sleep for a week past, for her child's life was ebbing away, and there wan no doctor on hoard. -The grey outline of a man-o'-war appeared in the distance, and a wireless message was sent asking for help. The war vessel flashed back a rejdy. The Venetian stopped, the war'vessel drew to within a quarter of a mile, and in spite of the heavy swell, a lifeboat manned by sixteen sailors, cork-jacketed, put out from her. Passengers in the Venetian watched their progress breathlessly a"s the little boat swung up and down in the troughs of the waves. At length the side'of the Venetian was reached, and the man whose help was so sorely needed mounted the rope-ladder prepared for him. The baby’s life was saved. The name of the baby was Elizabeth. The name of the warship was the Queen Elizabeth. A ‘“lightning surgeon”—to use the title conferred upon him by his.colleagues —is at owrk in one of the great Loudon hospitals. His time for a normal ease of appendicitis, for instance, is six minutes from start to finish of the operation, as against the fifteen minutes reckoned good time in the profession generally. This implies an enormous diminution of the ordinary risks run by the subject, and a corresponding increase in the chances of recovery. Scarcely less advantageous is the lessening of the strain of suspense which must inevitably be endured by assistants, nurses, and others present. ' These considerations apply with even more

force in the case of operations protracted, ordinarily, to the extreme limits of the patient’s endurance, lasting perhaps two to two and ahalf hours. Seconds saved in every manipulation of these more intricate eases amount in the aggregate to a total which represents the difference between life and death. No “stunt” methods are involved. The whole busines, say those, qualified to know best, is a matter of almost miraculous mastery of the technique of the knife. The tragedy on the miniature rifle range of the Regent Street Polytechnic was described at the inquest on Louis Fest, a boy of 15 Benjamin Ferst, a brother, said that Louis was unusually cheerful on the day of the fatality. His brother had attended the Polytechnic School, and since leaving had frequently gone there for shooting practice. He was a good shot. Ferst had some shooting with a Webley-Scott pistol. “After firing four poor shots he turned'to me,” said a witness, “and asked, ‘Do you think I coud shoot myself 1 ?’ I did not take it seriously, as many similar remarks are made on the range, hut replied, ‘Keep the pistol down the range.’ I had barely uttered the words when I beard another shot, followed by a dull thud. Turning round, I was amazed to see Ferst lying on bis back on the ground. The pistol was on the ground a short distance away.” Joseph Gressman, departmental manager of the Stoll Picture Productions, slated that Ferst had been in the service of the firm. His services bad been since dispensed with, complaints having been received as to his conduct. The coroner recorded an open verdict. Amid the many new triumphs of the horticulturist now in evidence in Vincent Square, London, one ol the most remarkable is (lie yellow violet. There will, however, be many lovers of the true violet too content with its exquisite fragrance and rich beauty of its hue to welcome the innovation. As yellow is a frequent colour among violas and pansies, it is perhaps not surprising that the violet, which is related to them, has been induced by the ingenious grower to assume this tint. But it is surprising that, in the course of this change, it has retained the matchloss odour of the flower. It is too often the case that when a new variety of a flower like the rose, noted for its perfume, is introduced, it is found to be scentless.