From Many Lands

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1076, 13 September 1930, Page 19

From Many Lands

TABLOID READING FOR THE WEEK-END. -

DOG'S LONG VIGIL OUTSIDE PRISON GATE The eight months’ vigil of a. Gorroan shepherd police dog named Fox, I, waited at the gate of the county ! a ol i“ Goshen, U.S.A., for his master. wbo was serving a sentence for theft. ended recently. U though Fox had known his master * lv mur months when he was sent 0 eaol the dog waited patiently outto,* the gaol yard gate through all kinds of weather. REFUSED £I,OOO knew what he wanted « e was a bandit who knew what he tcanted, which was £l4O, and when The Having teller of the Superior State Rank Chicago, at the urge of a pistol niched forward a package containing £1 000 the robber objected. it din t need that much,” he said, whereupon he carefully counted out £l4O, put it in his pocket, and walked out. PRAYING FOR RAIN REVERSION to paganism \ curious reversion to paganism «s a result of the anti-religious camnaien in Russia was observed near a village between Moscow and Nizhninovgorod by an American engineer motoring to the latter city. His automobile was halted by a procession of peasants around a white cow-wrapped in a white sheet. Replying to his inquiries an old woman said: "We need ram, but the church is closed and we can’t pray to God. so we have revived an old custom, which the priests forbade, of taking a white row to the cross roads and squirting milk from its udder to the four points of the compass." „ The theory was that waste milk on the fields would “make the rain God ashamed.” Rain is said to have fallen heavily within 4S hours of the rites. KISSING TIME not in court “l want to ask one little favour of you, and that is to be allowed to kiss my wife before I am taken off to gaol. She Is in court now.” This request was made to the judge at Darlinghurst recently by Harold Price, a young salesman, after he had been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for embezzlement. And then from the back of the court rose a young woman, a heavy fur coat covering her dress. With hesitating steps she advanced toward the iron rails enclosing the dock. The prisoner stood up and turned to meet her. But before the lips of husband and wife could be pressed together in embrace a constable took the prisoner by the arm and led him down the steps beyond the trap-door. HIS MOTHER'S NAME THE unknown twin When Edward Thomas Lewis, who came to Sydney from Aberdeen on loliday, called at the State Registrar's office to get a copy of his birth certificate. he discovered that he is the lounger of twins. He never knew he bad a brother. They were born at Sutherland in 1910, and at a very early age Edward vas given into the care of friends at Aberdeen, with whom he has lived over since. He has no idea what happened to the other twin. Of his mother, also, he know’ nothing <llllll he learned from the records at tbe Registrar's Office that her name vas Emily Hilda, and that in 1913 she bad been married again to a tram conductor named J. Carey. Lewis left the Registrar's office *tth one desire—to find his mother *ud his twin brother. ORDER OF THE BATH ablutions with restraint =»‘i l S rles . Thomas, of Detroit, L'.S.A. , "A* B had a quarrel which ended divorce, but what with alimony and nf i» v ’ Thomas had such a lean time j it he could not afford a bathtub in home. •>o when his former wife was not „,j !B , ent ’ he regularly sneaked into his b home for a comfortable bath. His . leampri Q f his visits and appealed the court, which issued a restrainJ. or “. er Prohibiting his taking a bath .“is former residence, at all 'hints. NO MORE FOOD SHOPS A GOVERNMENT decree. • s hopkeepers are much obliged bill., Italian Government for probee a auy Dew too< l shops for the sovieti 9 years. Only eo-opemtive tithe aU(I canteens in connection bet* A? tor * es are exempt from the tor n* becaus ® they do not trade s, proa '- But they will be under supervision Ur, „ en a new neighbourhood grows c ao , n tbe outskirts of a city, appli•toe , 8t prove that the inhabitants marl-.? go a Ion S way to do their tb e . "f- It they can prove that Sf! ° 3e fce of food shops causes a p Inconvenience, they ntay get W am? t 0 trade ’ buf the process is, Th po entails considerable expense. *toD ? n ,? vern ment aims at putting a Tptclo enor ntous number of bankli|!'Pers’ especi,all y among small sliopoii CL?’ ' vbo generally start a shop Sciiitip °? er I money, and get into diffc od becaus e there are too many ar Sl an f op ?’ and also because people *itb a- iess on food than they »lta In , or three years ago. Another a* is the development of cotl, 0 m i aoc *eties. able to eliminate 'litefiv lemen ' who are, it is said, of res Ponsible for the high cost 1 ln S in Italy.

STRIKING THE “HOUR” MARAUDER’S NASTY JOLT illiam Daley, of Philadelphia, caught, trying to steal a motor-car, attempting to elude the police, ran into a > ard and fumbled at the back door of a house. The noise awakened i David Singer, who hurled an alarm clock from an upper window. It struck Daley ou the head and began to ring. The police heard the alarm and captured Daley. PRIVATE PHONES INAUGURATED 50 YEARS AGO It is 50 years since Heinrich Stephan, Germauy’s PostmasterGeneral, announced that he was about to establish a telephone exchange for private citizens. Up to that time the telephone had been used only in official business. This was the first time private individuals had had an opportunity to use it in Europe. At first only 94 applications were received, but a half-year later it was possible to open this first exchange with 200 subscribers—mainly merchants, banks, and newspapers. Berlin todaj r has 70 exchanges and ! 500,000 subscribers. IHE SOAPIET USE FOR CATS AND DOGS Don’t waste your dead cats and dogs. The Soviet has found a use for them. “Soap must be made from cats and dogs,” says the newspaper “Pravda.” “One cat boiled down gives soz of fat. one dog more than a pound.” Rats, mice, and marmots will also be used in preparing a popular toile-t brand called “My grandmother's bouquet.” Boiling, instead of throwing away the carcasses used by the State Fur Syndicate will yield annually 5,000 tons of fat for soap, releasing an equal quantity of fats edible by workers. An official circular urges peasants not to drown puppies, but to keep the entire litter for one year, and then knock them on the head, and sell the skins and carcases to the Fur Syndicate. ARTIFICIAL SILK TRADE REPRESENTS MILLIONS The world production of artificial silk for the first, six months of 1930 was 200,500,0001 b., and the sales amounted to £193,000,000. Despite the surplus, and largely owing to the, slump in the United States, coupled with uncertainty regarding the British Budget, the trade appears to be improving, especially in Britain. Tbe Australian consumption is now 4,000,0001 b annually. RECORD SHORT SENTENCE TO THE RISING OF COURT For a short sentence a London judge in General Session recently created a record. A prisoner, having pleaded not guilty, later changed his plea to guilty. “I sentence you to imprisonment until the rising of the court,” said his Honour. And then, after a pause, he added: “The court now adjourns.” BOY BOOKIE HIS CHILD CLIENTS Once upon a time Surry Hills was notorious for its gangsters and push fights, the like of which Sydney has not known since. Today the same historic district is the fielders’ paradise, and admittedly comprises the biggest betting community in New South Wales. Operating on the Surry Hills course are Europeans, Chinese, and women, and it is estimated that thousands change hands every race day. The latest recruit to the fielding ranks, however, is a 12-year-old lad, who is well on the way that leads to Corona cigars, champagne and diamond tie-pins. His clients, of course, are kiddies whom he knows or who are recommended. He'll take anything from a penny to a shilling, with two bob tbe limit. He’ll lay the odds on the geegees, football, cricket, or a game of marbles. He put on the bag recently, starting with five shillings. The Government Savings Bank now credits him with a tenner. THE FOX MENACE THE HUMAN RABBIT William Norman, owner of a laundry at Hurstville, Australia, has solved the menace of the fox and the worry occasioned rabbiters by lost ferrets Recently the winner of the King a p r ; ze at Liverpool went rabbiting m the district. A valuable ferret he used entered a burrow and refused to le He'and his mates dug the burrow after smoking it and firing shots at the" mouth. But it must have been of enormous length and, anyhow the ferret, evidently finding a rabbit preferred to sleep off the effects of the : Seal instead of returning aboxe gl Norman, also a rifleman, heard of the °o“ He said he could induce the ferret to leave its lair. So, with a • w hjstle be fashioned out of the top of a cigarette tin, he stood outside the • , a •„ nTir i S et up a remarkable squealing imitative of a rabbit caught 1 in Like a a flash the ferret rushed out all jn 'one day^recently Norman caught a dozen foxes in Burragorang Talley " Believing lll that the human-made teueviiifo rabbits, they rushed ?rm the r holes and fell dead from ; well-aimed bullets fired by Normans companion.