GENERAL NEWS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 13 March 1913, Page 6

GENERAL NEWS.

DIAMONDS IN A PICTURE FRAME.

Smuggled diamonds valued at £4OOO - wero discovered by tlio New York Customs inspectors in consequence of a curious accident. While they wero examining a picturo frame wlik-h Jiad been sent by registered post from Amsterdam, some of the diamonds (the "Express" says) slipped out of the frame where they had been secreted. When Nathan Green, a diamond dealer to whom the parcel had been consign ed, called at the post office he was arrested. Customs officials then went to G-men's .plae- 1 of business and seized diamonds valued at £12,000: A FAMOUS BRIDGE. j Little now remains of what was probably the most famous bridge in Paris —'the Pont Notre Dame. For four hundred years it spanned the Sienc. For a long time it was the widest thoroughfare of Paris. The new bridge is even wider, having a combined foot and carriage way of 200 feet, Down to the Revolution, all the great -public rejoicings were held in the old bridge, and it was there, in 1590, while the Papal Legate was holding a review of tfo Soldiei\s of the {'lunch, that a blunderbuss, belonging to ■one of tho soldiers went off and killed the Lesrate's chaplain. When the old bridge was opened to thin public it was regarded, as a wonderful example of engineering skill, mid it is rcmaiA.ihle that even when removed it wa-s as secure and as solid as <on the day it was completed. Indeed, it was not because of any structural weakness that- it has been replaced, but in order to make the navigation of the Seine more easy. For many years it has been complained that the four stone arches .seriously, intrrfered with the expeditions prv-sago of the craft that ply the river. Tn the new design the t>w'o centre supports have been eliminated 1 -and the old arches have eiven way to one long cantilever structure. AX ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIND. Whilst digging in his garden, a vine grower oflMarmery (Mame) turned up a beautiful granite case the contents of which gave out a ip>.eta!lic ring (says the Paris Correspondent of the "Standard") Having cleared the mouth, out rolled a number of gold pieces, (silver doubloons and copper coins, to the number of eighteen <:old, eighty 'silver, and twenty-two bronze. The Archaeological Society of Champagne immediately recognised the wonderful value of the treasure. Amongst the coins some bear the offitjv of Charles WIT., ÜB4; Louis NTT.', 1500; Francis 1., 1515; Francas 11., Charles IX., Ferdinand and' Isabella of Spain, Charles I. of .Spain, Charles V., and main- others, including some of Henry VIII. and Edward VT. of England, and Emmanuel and' John lIT. of Portugal. At the time of the religion's wars tine lilttle village of Marmery was the scene of sanguinary fighting, and in 1565 wa« comolete--1 lv destroyed, the inhabitants being maissa-cred to a man. Probably the original owner of this collection hurriedly buried it a-t the alarm of an attack, but was himise'f killed before lie had time to recover his hoard. Numismatists and archaeologists of all countries wiilT probably await with the greatest interest a more detailed account of the treasure, which will certainly be published when it has been thoroughly examined. OHF/AP DFJ.TVEP.Y—'THE FLANDERS VAN. T,lie death-knell of the harao was" sounded when it was discovered by business men that the petrol motor could do the woi-k of delivery r.T d distribution more cheaply and more speedily than horse-drawn vehicles. In all the great cities of the world" the motor delivery van has displaced the ,horse almost entirely, and New Zealand is far once following the example of older countries'.' Yesterday we unpacked three Stride baker Flanders, 20 li.p. delivery vans. These vans sell at £295, their carrying capacity is about 10 cwfc., they are light in weight, and therefore light on tyres and petrol, and they are absolutely reliable. They run 25 miles to the gallon of petrol, 500 ■miles to a gallon of lubricating, oil. A set of four tyres costs £l7, and will last for 6000 miles. The running cost is a fraction over 2d" per mile. Each van will do the work of three horses, three horse-drawn vans, and its one- driver will get through the same -work as three cartem.. The van's speed is 25 to 30 miles per hour. Ample shield protection is given to the driver in wet' weather. POSTCARD THAT COST £2O: "Pop your watch and pay your

debts and he a -man once in your life," was tk© wording of a postcard addressed by a Sheffield brickmaker to a customer who had declined to pay an account tor bricks which he said wero defective. The customer, a Sheffield bookmaker, Ezra Wainright, instituted proceedings for libel against Charles Key, the brickmaker, and wa:> awarded £2O damages.

AN ISLAND FOR BIRDS IN U.S.A. We are accustomed to look to America for innovations, often, wiith some suspicion of distract (says the "Westminster Gazette"). Of the latest innovation we need have no such, suspicions. This is a huge re-servat'on for birds. Mrs Russell Sage, tinwidow cf tlio famous financier, hns iust purchased Marsh Island, in Louisiania. for £30,000. for the pur pose of creating such a reservation. Marsh Tsland is a famous nestingtrround for vast numbers of migratory birds, and for a long time the spectacle of the colonies of wdd geese and ducks that winter there has been famous. It has also bren notorious a.s the hunting-ground of the aaent-s of feather-merchants, who have killed thousands of birds for their plumage. Henceforward, thanks to the admirable generosity of Mrs R-usv?] Sago, the island will he an inviolable asylum for birds, who -will be protected by keepers in the service of the Frdera! Government and the State of Louisiana. A MUSEUM" OF FORGERTES. There oxifits in New York a. sintndar institution, called a Museum of Forgeries. For some time the directors' of the great- European museums have been in the habit of meetintc in various places for the purpose- of nrofitrng by each other's experience of forgeries and keeping themselves au courant wiith. the progress of a time-honored and flourishing industry. The proposal has often been -mooted that each museum should maintain a room in which forgeries should bp exhibited for instruction and warning. Perhaps a not unnatural modesty restrained the directors. At- all events, lit liais been left to Dr Robinson, the Director of the Metropolitan Museum of New York, to Open an exhibition of the chief forgeries acquired by that famous institution, as well as by various American collectors, who have promised their support under the modest condition of anonymity. If the for- 1 gerie-s in the possession of private American collector-:-; were all collected, it .might bo amusing to speculate how many of the "originals" of the same Titian or Correggio would appear.