From Many Lands

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 898, 15 February 1930, Page 21

From Many Lands

TABLOID READING FOR THE WEEK-END.

BORN ON TRAIN BABY'S DISTINCTION \ baby boy, born in the Flying Scotsman recently, is to be registered in tbe parish of Huntingdon, England. According to a report by the guard, t!,is was the spot the train was passing at the time of the birth. The mother was travelling from Scotland to London. It is believed that the L.N.E.R. authorities are anxious to mark the event in some fitting way, probably by the gift of a christening cup. A DOG'S FIDELITY NINE DAYS’ VIGIL A tiny nondescript cur belonging to Alfonso Sevillo, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, has caused to be written another chapter in the story of faith which was begun when the first wild dog came in to sleep by the fire of primitive man. Alfonso had been missing for nine days. He was found dead in the mountains between Las Vegas and Santa Fe. Standing guard over the boy’s body was his dog, halffamished, and almost dead from exhaustion, but faithful. It is believed the boy perished the first night. ( PATIENT POLICEMEN s SOMETIMES LOSE THEIR TEMPERS y Police constables are usually patient men. But a man who called at Vine Street in the early hours of the morning tried even their stoic patience. He said: “X want a pipe and tobacco.” He was given a pipe and tobacco. But he said: "That’s no good to me: I want a pouch full. This is a benevolent institute, and I demand it.” He was politely shown to the door. Then he shouted so much that he was locked up, and later In the day was fined 30s for being drunk. J MECHANICAL PILOT NEW DEVICE OF THE AIR A device called "the Pilot’s Assister,” which controls an airplane in the air with, it is claimed, greater accuracy than a human pilo-t can, has been successfully tried on several types of aircraft by the Royal Air Force. It is a sensitive piece of mechanism, consisting of a gyroscope driven by compressed air and linked by pistons to the rudder and elevators. Tbe "assister” has been evolved during years of work by experts at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, England. By its means pilots may attend to other work while the airplane continues without deviation on its course, safe in the hands of the “robot.” TAXI BY WIRELESS c / A FUTURE INNOVATION “Experiments have been carried out for some time with devices for calling taxi-cabs by wireless,” said a prominent London taxi-cab proprietor recently. "Trials with the latest type of apparatus have given satisfactory results, and the aevice will be put into operation shortly. Wireless will be used when a taxi-cab is ordered by telephone from a cab rank or other depot. “The driver receives the instructions on a tiny switchboard fitted at his side. He can turn off the switch when not plying for hire. “The only piece of apparatus visible to the public is a frame aerial fitted on the roof of the cab.” KITTEN WITH PASSPORT killed on eve of trip A little domestic tragedy robbed the liner Leviathan of a unique passenger—a kitten with a passport. , th® liner's passenger list under the letter “S” appeared this entry: Mr. and Mrs. John M. Savage, maid and Dinge.” Dinge was a kitten treasured by Mrß. Savage at her home in Burgess Road, Southampton. Her husband, who has been American Consul at Southampton for the past ten years, nas now returned to America. He secured a passport for Dinge. Dinge, however, is no more. . * think he must have committed suicide,” said Mrs. Savage. “We * e . nt to the theatre one night, and he Sot out into the road. , maid found him dead there in he morning—killed by a car, I expect. Ho has been buried in the garden. I feel very unhappy about it, as he as a dear little kitten. I loved him.” COLD FOR 14 YEARS and still shivering I'ke coldest man in London is an uibus conductor who claims that he bee “ Warm fo ” 14 >' ears - He , 1 J"® 3 torpedoed on August S, 1915, n the Arctic Circle, and I’ve never opped shivering since. 1 was j' ID S In the auxiliary cruiser India od was four hours on a raft. I still ojeam jf gasping for breath as the seas swept over us. Another man and I were interned ‘ “ or way, in a desolate spot, and we ]<ff, t 0 dress to go to bed. If we . water on top of the stove at ■Eht it was frozen solid next morn- -- The result is that I am now Permanently cold. A medical man writes: It is quite feasible that a mental lit C u- s tr°uld make a man cold for . Warmth depends mainly on blood circulation and pressure which are 0 * great extent controlled by the secretions of the ductless glands. Ideas impressions can definitely affect toeir action.

“JONES” IN SPANISH IS NOT A NICE NAME In a case at the Old Bailey recently, a defendant named Frances Bate Jones said that in Spain he was known as Don Francisco, not because he was ashamed of his name Jones, “but simply because it was not a nice name m Spanish.” BAD TEETH COURT FINES FATHER Albert Roach, Twickenham, Middlesex, was summoned at Brentford by the Twickenham Borough Council for causing suffering to his child by neglecting to have his teeth attended to. The medical officer said that in 1924 Roach’s attention was drawn to the state of his child’s teeth, which later, became so bad that some of them I could not be saved . | Roach was fined £l. PREHISTORIC MEN GIANT SKELETONS DISCOVERED Fourteen Immense slate coffins dating back to pre-historic times have been unearthed in Soulton, France, by navvies working cn a new road. The coffins were found at a considerable depth, and when opened with great care the skeletons of 14 men. of gigantic stature were revealed. In each case the heads were of great size, with huge jawbones. *" 1 _ CEDARS OF LEBANON g RUINED BY TOURISTS 7lgp The cedars of Lebanon, mentioned in the Bible, have become prey to the souvenir-hunting tourists. Local folk lop off branches for sale to tourists, coming in increasing numbers over the new automobile road from Behere. Not content with this vandalism, the inhabitants use the approaches to the forest as a dumping ground for all sorts of refuse. There Is a warden, but he seems to confine his activities to selling tickets of admission to the cedar grove. Complaints have been made to the authorities, but so far without success. “UPSTAIRS AND DOWNSTAIRS” STRAWBERRY HAS WANDERLUST A cow mounted the stairs of the I.M.C.A. institute at Doncaster recently and defied all attempts to move her for an hour and a half. A clergyman saw the cow wandering unattended near the institute, arid as he prepared to enter she turned on him. The clergyman evaded the attack, whereupon the cow entered the front door. The assistant-secretary was chased up the stairs, but near the top, however, the cow found the steps too slippery and turned back. A local cattle slaughterer at last arrived with a lorry, chains, and assistants, and from the top of a cupboard a policeman lassooed her with chains. / GOLFER’S FEAT HOLE IN ONE 18 TIMES “Sandy” Herd, the veteran golf professional at Moor Park, Rickman3worth, England, has now holed out in one 18 times, a record. His latest hole-in-one was accomplished at his own course. The distance was 146 yards. He had previously performed the feat 13 times at Coombe Hill, and once each at Royal Portrush, Islay, Ganton, and Huddersfield. No one has done the hole in one shot so many times. His nearest rivals, James Braid and Mr. W. Herbert Fowler, each has 11 to his account. When Herd holes out in one for the 20th time he will win a solid gold putter, promised by an American player. THE RAJAH’S “SMOKES” A QUESTION OF COST The Rajah of Kashipur, of Elmer, near Bognor Regis, Sussex, was sued recently for £lO 2s for cigarettes. The firm said that the rajah required unusually large cigarettes, and for 1.000 of these the price was £9. For 150 smaller, mild cigarettes, £1 2s was charged. The defending barrister said the rajah thought £7 was sufficient for the big cigarettes, and had paid that amount into court. He did not dispute the £1 2s for the smaller ones. The firm said the big cigarettes cost 2d each. The Judge: If the rajah goes to the West End he must expect to pay West End prices. The plaintiffs won their case. -a, EQUINE LONGEVITY A HORSE AGED 62 ; V. A woman of Sunderland states that her pet pony, Polly, which had to be destroyed owing to an injury, was about 45 years old. This instance of equine longevity follows on the burial in a coffin at Markfield, Leicestershire, of a pet horse aged 40. A horse called Old Peter, which was taken from England to the Argentine, and died there, aged 47, sired 17 foals in his last year. A horse in Edinburgh lived to be 60, and one at Norton Conyers, Ripon, to be 62. Both instances are well authenticated. And a hunter, aged 43, was ridden to a meet of the South Durham Hounds a few years ago.