WORLD HAPPENINGS.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17976, 22 March 1930, Page 2 (Supplement)

WORLD HAPPENINGS.

BIG INCREASE IN BLIND. 1 The registered blind population of Itrilain increased, from 46,822 .on March 31, J 927, to 50,771 on the !':;nic date- in 1928, slates a report issued by the Ministry of Health’s Art-lsury Committee on the Welfare of the Blind. .Nearly 4600 unemployable blind ])<*o{ih' are living alone, and 890 are widows or widowers with dependent children. The committee think that old-age pensions dor the blind should begin at 40 instead of at 50, as at present. DRUG ADDICTS AGED 8. A report on the illicit drug traffic 5n Egypt has been presented to the League of Nations by Major-General T. W. Russell, the director of the Narcotics Intelligence Bureau in that country. The authorities are at a loss to account for the drug wave which has suddenly swept over Egypt. A moderate estimate gives the number of addicts now in the country at considerably more than half a million, and- a low estimate of the amount of money spent in Egypt in one year on narcotics is £3,000,000Most of the drugs for Egypt are apparently shipped from Trieste. Small retailers in the region of the Italo-Swiss frontier have been accustomed to obtain their supplies from a Swiss chemist, it has been revealed, by showing one half of a play--; ing card to match another half held by the chemist. The ages of Egypt’s drug addicts are stated to vary from children of C years to men of 95. “WILLED” TO DIE. A remarkable incident is reported from Basutoland, where two witch doctors (native “wizards”), one old and the other young, heatedly argued as to their respective powers in the presence of a big crowd of natives. Then the older man declared that he .could “will” the other to die. The challenge being accepted, he said: “You will die.” The younger man staggered,, fell, and died. The older man was arrested, but was released when it was found that death was due to heart failure. The natives are nevertheless awed by the affair. HUSBAND HEART-BROKEN. A tragedy of a man who is believed to have died from a broken heart while praying beside the bed on which his wife lay dead was revealed at Douglas, Isle of Man. The man was Mr Edward Killey, aged 68, a retired clerk. His. wife w’as about 60. They had not been seen for some days. A friend had visited the house several times and failed to obtain an answer. Then he went to the hack of the house and entered by an open door. When he went into a bedroom he found the body of Mrs Killey on the bed fully dressed. The body of Mr Kiiley was in a kneeling position at the side of the bed. ! A doctor had attended Mrs Killey j for heart trouble. It is believed that | she,-died from this and that ber hus- ; band, heart-broken, died praying at her hedsidat

Gathered From Various Sources.

NEW LONDON TUBE. The sites of the eight new stations for the proposed Piccadilly Tube extension from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters, near Barnet, have been decided upon by the Underground Bailway authorities, says a London paper. ■The new stations will bo at Manor House Corner, N.; Turnpike Lane, Hornsey, N.; Wood Green; Brownlow Road (Bounds Green Road); Arnosgrove (Bowes Road), Southgate, Chaseside; East Barnet Road; and Cockfosters. The sites have been purchased, but work cannot be begun until parliamentary sanction has been given. This is expected in July. SHORT-WAVE WIRELESS. Wireless telephony between France and the United States, South America and other distant countries on a short-wave. system is being actively investigated by French post office experts. • It is claimed that tile system would enable messages to he sent at about one-eighth of the present cost of wireless telephone messages between Great Britain and the United States. 6000 MILES TO SAVE A LIFE.

One of the most remarkable flights in tiie history of South African flying was concluded by Lieutenant King when he landed.at Baragwanath aerodrome after a 6000-miles journey with a supply of anti-hydrophobia serum. The serum was intended to save the life of a woman missionary who hart been bitten by a mad dog at Malangc, in the north of Angola. MAN WHO DUPED EX-KAISER. Kar Schappeller, the “wizard” of Aurolzmunster Castle, in Upper Austria, who set up a factory there for making machines to extract power from the air, which would incidentally make potatoes grow as large as footballs and achieve “perpetual motion," and induced ex-Kaiser Wilhelm, through his wife and his steward, to contribute generously, has been entertaining bailiffs at the castle. They distrained upon his luxurious furniture on behalf of creditors in the town of Ried, nearby. Count Arco-Valley, who sold him the castle as a ruin, is suing him for the balance of the purchase price, about £2OOO. THE HENPECKED CLUE. Several very surprised magistrates at Liverpool granted an extension of drink hours until 11 p.m- for the first meeting of the Liverpool -Henpecked Husbands’ Union. “Is it a genuine club?’ 1 demanded the magistrates. They were assured that it is a real club, newly formed with 400 members, including doctors, policemen, and publicans. Husbands seeking memberstiip must prove that they are; henpecked. “Black eyes,” said Air B. MrCiiry- i stal, one of the founders, to a report- l er. “are not admitted as proof.”