(Daily Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) QUESTION Who was John Joly and why was he so famous?

JOHN JOLY (1857-1933) was one of the most outstanding Irish scientists and inventors of his time. He was born in Bracknagh, Co. Offaly and went to Trinity College Dublin, where he graduated in engineering in 1882.

Joly spent his entire career at Trinity, eventually becoming professor of geology, and writing close to 300 books and scientific papers. But he was not just interested in old rocks - his hobbies ranged far and wide.

In 1884, when he was just 27, he invented the first practical system of colour photography.

Colour photos were taken and then viewed on plates that had been scored with innumerable thin lines in three colours. His invention produced excellent quality colour transparencies.

It was commercialised and became reasonably successful, but Joly had to go to the U.S. on several occasions to defend his patents from legal assaults by the Kodak film and camera company.

Joly also became interested in moving pictures. Shortly after the LumiEre Brothers had invented the process in Paris, they gave the first commercial film screening at the Star of Erin variety theatre, Dublin, now the Olympia Theatre, on April 20, 1896.

It was a time of great commercial progress - the next month, Chapelizod-born Alfred Harmsworth, later to become Lord Northcliffe, launched the Daily Mail.

At any rate, not to be outdone by the LumiEre Brothers, John Joly made several films in the city centre, showing people and traffic, creating a huge sensation.

On the medical front, Joly developed a method of treating cancerous growths using radon gas, first used in 1914 at Dr Steevens Hospital in Dublin.

Radon gas is now a fatal cause of lung cancer for many unsuspecting householders in affected parts of the country.

D. Flynn, via email.

QUESTION For the TV series The Way We Were, we are looking for children who having survived the Blitz, went to Switzerland on a holiday organised by the Swiss Red Cross. Does anyone have any memories of this?

FURTHER to the earlier answer, I lived in Bath Street, Birmingham, during the war and also lived through a blitz and evacuation.

It was September 1946, and I had been attending Cropwood Openair School when, at the age of 12, I became ill. My father had died of TB in 1944 at 38, and I never got over his death. I was one of many children from Birmingham who went to Switzerland.

I stayed with a Mr and Mrs Cassell in Winterburn near Zurich for six weeks and then with an English couple, the Borrowmans, for a further six weeks.

They thoroughly spoiled me, and I had a wonderful time. I returned home in time for Christmas. I kept in touch with both couples until they died in the Sixties.

I'm now in my 70s and still have wonderful memories of my time in that beautiful country.

Mrs J. Williams (nee Brittle), Letchworth Garden City, Herts.

QUESTION Why doesn't a large island like Cyprus have a railway system?

FURTHER to earlier answers, I had the great pleasure of using the railway system in 1946 while in the near east. My battalion moved from the canal zone to Palestine in early 1946, when we camped on the foothills of Mount Carmel.

Those due for leave could visit Damascus or Cyprus for up to seven days.

I, with many others, chose the latter. One evening we embarked at Haifa docks for the overnight crossing to Famagusta in a shabby old tub of a ferry boat named Eola. From Famagusta some of us then took the little train to Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus.

The journey on this quaint, narrow gauge railway was hardly faster than walking pace. Little boys ran alongside selling small wild birds, dead or alive, for supper's bird pie.

This experience of the Cyprus hinterland whetted my appetite for many future visits.

Richard A. Barton, Cottingham, East Yorkshire.

QUESTION Has any other song been as widely misinterpreted as The Police's Every Breath You Take?

BRUCE Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A was widely interpreted as a patriotic hymn.

It tells the story of a worn- out Vietnam veteran who can't get a break.

Because of the title, Ronald Reagan was mistakenly told that Bruce Springsteen was a fan.

On his presidential campaign trail in 1984, Reagan said: 'America's future rests in... the message of hope in songs so many young Americans admire, (such as) New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen.' He clearly hadn't heard the lyrics.

Paul Arnold, Bleadon, Somerset.

QUESTION I have a photo from 1942 of the Crown Prince Regent of Iraq taken at Mersa Matruh in Egypt.

What became of him?

CROWN Prince 'Abd al-Ilah (1913-1958) was the cousin and brother-in-law of King Ghazi I.

Ghazi was the only son of Faisal I.

He was crowned in 1933 when his father died. Unlike his father, Ghazi was a pan-Arab nationalist, opposed to British interests in his country. His reign was characterised by tensions between civilians and the army, which sought control of the government. He was also a suspected Nazi sympathiser.

He died in 1939 in a car accident, and it is widely held that he was killed on the orders of the British-backed politician and future prime minister Nuri as-Said. Ghazi left a four-year-old son, Faisal, so Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah was nominated regent from April 4, 1939 to May 2, 1953, when Faisal came of age. He also held the title of Crown Prince of Iraq from 1943. 'Abd al-Ilah's reign was characterised by a pro-Western foreign policy. He was deposed briefly by former Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Kaylani, who led a pro-German coup during World War II, but was restored after the UK invaded the country in May 1941.

'Abd al-Ilah stepped down in 1953, when Faisal came of age, but he continued to advise the young king, maintaining close ties with Britain. On July 14, 1958, Colonel Abdul Karim Qassim took control of Iraq. Troops entered the palace in Baghdad and the royal family (including Prince 'Abd al-Ilah) were shot to death.

Henry Jaques, Blackpool.

QUESTIONS

Q: In 1943, in convoy on the high Syrian plain, we passed a plaque inscribed 'Australian Light Horse'. Who were they?

R. J. Steele, Haverfordwest, Pembs.

Q: What happened to the statues which used to be on either side of Vauxhall Bridge, Lambeth, facing the water?

Betty Holland, Worcester Park, Surrey.

Q: In the film Elf (which I have sat through about 50 times with my daughter) Santa says that he has put the New York Central Park Rangers onto his naughty list for their actions at a Simon and Garfunkel concert. What is he referring to?

Allen Flitcroft, Stockport.

Copyright 2006 Daily Mail. Source: Financial Times Information Limited - Europe Intelligence Wire.

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