`flying Train' Not New
Illawarra Mercury
Wednesday September 24, 1997
The proposed MagLev supertrain to run between Sydney, Wollongong and Canberra is a fantastic idea.
But Ken Woods, of Thirroul, says he has evidence which proves that even back in the early 1900s, inventors had visions of a futuristic wheel-less train not unlike the Transrapid MagLev.
Ken has unearthed a book won by his father in 1916 called British Workman.
Inside is a artist's impression of a Bachelet levitated train which did not require wheels.
Interestingly, the "flying train" proposed was to run on an elevated monorail similar to the MagLev vehicle.
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A Filipina who did not know the name of her husband's cat faces possible deportation from Hong Kong, accused of faking marriage to get a residence visa.
When asked the name of the cat, 35-year-old Alicia Aspuria told immigration authorities it was Meow Meow, although its real name was Dau Dau, a court heard.
Government lawyer David Logan said this showed she and her husband were not living as a couple.
The woman responded that she talked to the cat in English, not in Chinese, and did not know the pet's Chinese name.
Aspuria came to Hong Kong from the Philippines as a maid and later married 27-year-old Cheung Vic-man to obtain a residence visa, the immigration authority claimed.
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What does it take to tempt a Trappist monk to break his rule of silence? In this case, the thought of being unable to drive.
A monk from the Latrun Monastery in central Israel lost his licence for two months after being involved in a collision that slightly injured one person.
A traffic court in Beersheba ruled that the crash occurred because the monk failed to slow down at a yield sign. At the trial, he exercised his right to remain silent, leaving his defence to his lawyer.
But when he came to reclaim his licence, the motor vehicles department refused because the number of his passport did not match the one listed in the police computer. The monk had to go back to court and ask the judge to authorise renewal of the licence.
Judge David Landsman agreed, and the monk resumed his silence.
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Like oil and water . . . puppies and paint don't mix. A colleague and his family who lost an old and very faithful four-legged mate last week bought a puppy at the weekend.
Our colleague, who was nominated to stay at home for the first two days to puppy sit, decided his time could be better spent painting one of his children's bedrooms.
Everything was fine while poised on a ladder and out of the reach of the playful new addition, but then things became chaotic.
Trying to wield a brush and keep pup away from the paint tin proved too much . . . the room is still not finished because it took our journo several hours to get a lovely sky blue hue out of some very matted fur!
© 1997 Illawarra Mercury