Odd Happenings

Taranaki Daily News, 14 September 1940, Page 10

Odd Happenings

The World At Large

Air Raid Casualty. A soldier, George Chamberlain, aged 23, was taken to hospital in a south-east English town suffering from a dislocated jaw. It was caused through yawning during an air raid. Like an Invasion. A member of an R.A.F. squadron, describing a recent dog-fight, said: — "So many Germans were bailing out that it looked almost like an invasion. "The battle was fought out at 20,000 feet, and the air was full of whirling planes. "One of our pilots parachuted after his plane had been put out of action and landed safely, but a crowd of angry farmers, armed with, pitch-forks cornered him. "They had mistaken him for a 'Jerry.' He said later that he was more frightened facing the farmers than facing the Germans." Geese Legend Up-to-date. The legend of the geese that saved Rome is recalled by a correspondent of the Times who lives near London Zoo. During night raids, before the sirens are sounded and even before the drone of planes can be heard, he says, the zoo geese burst out into angry cackling. He asserts that the geese paid no attention to British planes flying ovei London in peace-time. "Toujours la Politesse"— Now. "The Germans may have wiped out 'liberte, egalite and fraternite,' but they have assuredly nailed 'toujours la politesse' like colours to the mast," says the Evening Standard's special correspondent at Paris. "It is a part of the Nazi technique, he adds. "Men, who in May and June shot down refugees, and ran tanks over the bodies of civilians, can now be seen escorting a child across a busy street, or helping an old woman to carry a basket. Parisians, in turn, are studiously correct. There are no incidents, and no fraternising. "Many German troops, particularly the officers, have their own womenfolk with them to escape the R.A.F. bombing in Germany. "French girls refuse to be friends with their German overlords. Night life is dead, the theatres and cinemas are severely restricted, the boulevards have lost their life and gaiety, there are no buses and no taxis. The underground stops at 10 p.m., and the curfew descends at 11 p.m. Nazi Did Job for, Him. - A flying officer of a British fighter squadron is grateful to a German pilot, who did his job for him. The flying officer seriously damaged two Messerschmitts during a dog-fight over the Channel and then tumed to attack another. "I was about to attack a Messerschmitt 109 when a second Messerschmitt 109 passed me and shot down the first Messerschmitt," he said. "I am positive about the identity of these planes." Burglar Not to Blame. A Bow Street (London) magistrate has ruled that if a burglar switches on a light in a room where blackout pre- • cautions are not provided, the householder must be held responsible. British Peeress Nabs Raider. Lady Buckland, widow of Lord Buckland, and sister-in-law of Lord Camrose, publisher of the London Daily .Telegrapji, captured an exhausted Nazi avicflor who had been roaming England for nine days. Lady Buckland and her chauffeur came upon the airman as she motored along a country road near Bristol. Noting his unusual appearance, she questioned him and the chauffeur marched him off to the authorities. The German flier had been at large since he bailed'out of his disabled plane. The military and the police had sought him continuously after his plane fell. Germans Drink New Beer. Germans have begun drinking nonaicoholic beer as a beverage that can quench their thirsts and even be consumed at' work "without detrimental effects." An idea attributed to Adolf Hitler and converted into reality by German chemists, it has just begtin to flow from thousands of beer-taps. How it is brewed is a secret, but it looks like beer, tastes like beer and contains the same ingredients— except the alcohol. , . - The new beverage, production of which has been fixed temporarily at 1,000,000,000 gallons a year, is said to fill a gap left by wartime restrictions and rationing of coffee substitutes, milk and tea. Nazi Press advocates say the basic idea was to create a "common beverage" which is "appetizing, has the stimulating effects of beer and quenches the thirst without possessing the tiring influence of alcohol." It is delivered in ordinary wooden kegs and flowj from the tap carbonated like real beer. Germany Counts Chickens. The Colonial Information Section at the Leipzig Fair contains alluring pictures and exhibits from former German colonies, states the German frontier correspondent of the Times. Experts will advise young men and women how to prepare for pioneer johs in the great colonial empire "which Germany will acquire through the war." Fifty fewer firms are exhibiting this year hut Russia's stand is more extensive than that of last year. Two Quaint Expressions. We yield to none, as the saying is, in our admiration for the Royal Australian Air Force. But we are somewhat shaken by two of their current expressions. When they wish to convev that something has been satisfactorily arranged they say that it is "all teed-up." or "tickety-boo." Jockey Behind Guns. The Australian jockey. Lou Mendoza, serving in an anti-aircraft unit, s£aid his batterv brought down four Dorniers in three days last week. "That puts us well up on the winner's list," he said. Mendoza, after riding in India and the Malay States, went to Denmark and rode successfully, but when war broke out. he came to England to join up. Shadv Tree left for Negro. A shady tree, scheduled for destruction in Richmond, capital of Virginia, by the Department of Public Works, will be allowed to stand until it gets cooler so that it may east its shade over a Neoro newspaper vendor. The plans of the department to cut down two trees in front of the Westmoreland Club on Grace and on Sixth Streets, were laid before the Mayor. "I know t!:em both." said the Mayor, "the one on Grace Street should come down. But there is an old Negro who sits in the shade of the tree on Sixth Street and sells newspapers. Let it stand until the autumn, when it should be cooler."