GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2359, 24 November 1921, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

A cat was the cause of a motor tragedy on the road from Liege to Till?. The animal was in a basket on the back seat 'of the motor car, and it began to mew loudly as the car was descending a steep hill. M. d’Herve, the driver of the car, turned his head to look at the cat, and the car careered into a ditch and turned over. M. d’Herve was killed and his companion, M. Herzet, was severely bruised, but otherwise unhurt. The cat was not injured. • The balloon race for the GordouBennett Cup began recently at Brussels. One of the two British balloons, the Banshee, piloted by Mr Baldwin, was the first to start rising into the air to the strains of the British National Anthem played by a military band, and amid the hearty cheers of the British spectators. As one of the Belgian balloons, the Belgica, left the ground a soldier, who had been helping to hold the balloon down, failed to get free in time, and was carried up hanging beneath the ear. He succeeded in attracting the attention of the pilot, Avho leaned over and hoisted him into the car. The additional weight of this unexpected passenger seriously handicapped this balloon.

Some might doubt the wisdom of the appointment, but he had no such doubt, and the Bishop of Winchester at the induction to the living of All Saints, Alton, Hants, of the Rev. Charles E. Bond, who was’ before his ordination a carpenter in that town. The circumstances of a man born in the town, growing up among the people, sharing the common work of the place, and then passing on from one step to another in Church offices until he became priest in his own parish, were very rare, said the bisliop, perhaps unique. There was no need of introduction or commendation from him, for they were just beginning a new step with an old friend.’

The sound of glass breaking in the cellars of the Albert Hotel, Nottingham, caused alarm, and when the cellar doors were found to be molted a policeman was summoned. He broke through a door, and, entering the callar, discovered Henry Ward, aged 24, a “boots” at the hotel, standing ankle deep in wine and spirits. All the taps of the casks were turned on, and the cellar was littered with broken bottles. Ward was arrested, and he appeared later before the magistrates on a charge of causing wilful damage to the extent of £4OO. A detective superintendent said that Ward had dvelopcd a feeling of animosity toward the hotel manageress.

The second wife of Mr Roy Alfred Mayo, of Chicago, fo lwoing 1 Mayo, of Chicago, following a quarrel with her husband, disappeared with her baby. Mr Mayo promptly sent in pursuit his young son by a former marriage, who traced mother and child to a little town in Mississippi. He snatched up the baby, and with the mother and her friends hot on his trail, hurried to Chicago, where he transferred the care of the baby to the girl he loved. He then rushed off to lead his pursuers astray, the girl bringing the baby safely to New York, while the son was being eagerly pursued. Then the son married the Chicago girl, took her with him on an aeroplane honeymoon, and introduced her to his father, who had opposed Ihe union. The girl’s beauty and charm so captivated the father that his wrath gave way to his blessing.

11l onol ill Atlantic City, clad in a linthinf? suit, lies the novelist Louise Kosinc, says a New \ork message. She is charged with violating the municipal bathing regulations, in that she appeared on the beach with the stockings of her bathing suit rolled below her knees. This is a crime of considerable magnitude in the large seaside resorts of the United States. When a policeman reminded her of the regulations and requested her to cover her knees, she is alleged to have replied: ‘-‘Certainly not. My knees are none of the town’s business.” When taken to the police station she still refused to roll up her stockings, and would not give her address or accept bail. She announced her determination to remain, and will take the case to the Suprem Court, if necessary, as a protest against “stupid restrictions of women’s freedom.”

The last mail brought the following confirmation of the story. told by Mr Jennings, J.P., of the oldest manin the world: —A special cable to the American papers from Paris, dated September 29th, reported that Zaro of Constantinople, aged 146, and “the oldest man in the world,” had married for the fourth time. This matured human relic has surrendered his heart to a beautiful Turkish girl aged 25. Among the attributes calculated to fit him for his new matrimonial venture is the development of a new set of teeth and a fresh growth of hair at the blossoming age of 109. His internal economy had not been outdone, however, for it is stated that at 105 he had developed a third kidney. The evidence of unusual rejuvenation, one may assume, has not hampered him in continuing his occupation as a porter in a munitions factory, a job he has held down since that period of callow youth when he had barely attained 111 years. It may be remarked, however, that this Turk’s record does not come up to some that have been recorded, viz., Thomas Parr, 152; John Rovin, 172; and Peter Torton, 185. In their days, however, accurate chronological records were not kept.