Varieties.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 379, 13 August 1903, Page 7

Varieties.

| n ik gg - i| I - VOICES OF THE DEAD.b MRP CAEN 2GI£ has provided faads •avlC for he collecting o£ phoaoWHak graphic records of American «««~v J?^- eß ' Thia BUg.-eBtB line? possibility of an* extension of the system. The means of preserving echoes for aftor-days of the ' voice that is silent' once seemed likely to become popular. Who to-day remein'oeis that England has saved for il a bearing the words and tones of.Browning? Such is the fact In :,the British Museum, carefully treasured, is a~ cylinder into which he spoke some time before his death. Some ten or a dozan years ago there WM a gathering of notables at the Chelsea residence of the late Bev. Hugh Haweis to hear tbe instrument give back the voice of the dead poet. It was quite an aff.cting little ceremony, and when the great singer's words had been heard and re-heard the cylinder was carefully packed up and sent to the nation's storehouse of treasures.

SOLD HIS SKIN, Thirty inches ot numan sum have .been ! sacce3Efully grafted on the arms of Mis? Theresa Delehanty, of Syracuse, U.S.Ai Miss Dalonanty wis badly -burned in & fire, and the operation was decided upon aa the only means of saving hor arm, A request for applicants to supply the skin was mot by many answers, ancla young man of Troy, Nat? York, who was in.perfect health,;. was'selected. ) Ha soil ■tbe-thirty inches 6T from his" body toi£s. ..'■ CONSCIENCE IN CLOCKS. The latest piece of clock work ingenuity comes from Geneva. In that home of horological mirvels a clock: with a phonograph attacked to it ;has; jusfc.beeatjCon v stiucted" The ciosk a<jfc3 as a'm9cha£ieaT mentor. **

If a man has to keep a business appointment at twelva.o clock to-morrow-he telle his phonograph clock all about it, and sets the alarm indicator to half .past eleven. At that time on the morrow the clock will spaak the message of remindar, giving him half an hour in which -to get ready. A clock expert at Maaars. Benson's, Ludgate Hill, said"in an interview that such contrivances were only regarded as toys. 'There is no limit to the things that clocks will do,'he said,«if only they are adapted. They have already been made to play tunes, work models, print records, and- do a hundred other duties. There is no likelihood of any firm going iu extensively for the manufacture of horo'ogical phonographs.' Whether this highly intelligent Geneva clock is regarded as a toy or not, it is easily seen "that it might prove exceedingly useful in some directions, and might be made to serve as a speaking conscience and mechanical counsellor. _.. The man" whO~dreads the operation of the new drink act (says the 'London Expresß?) might carry a smalbsized alarm in his pocket, and have it adjusted so as to tell him early in, every evening that he;mußt only have thkee glasses.?. -?' -An order for coffee for two, tea for one, eggs and bacon for all, might be given to the servant's clock, with the indicator set at breakfast time.

ACTRESSES AND SINGERS POSE. 'There are plenty of well knows actresses and singers who pose,' said her friend ef the statuesque lines. 'ln a word, we find our models everywhere, and anywhere, even in Parisian society,' concluded the painter,' so long as they make ideal models for the subject in hand. And it comes expensive, allez!' Then he told us the following truthful story. It concerns (all things considered) the most expensive model ever known to the Latin quarter. There was once a talented young painter of the Latin quarter whose name was George, and whose peculiarity was that he painted nothing. It was known, however, that he was preparing to produce a masterpiece—a 'Venus with the Strawberries'—which should strike all Paris dumb with admiration. : : George talked so much about hia •Venus with the Strawberries' thafrrit became celebrated in the Latin quarter. 'lts drawing will be superior to that of Bouguereau.' predicted his friends, who were colorists. 'lts coloring will be finer than that of Bouguereau,' said his friends who were strong in drawing. Once a critic cited it in a review article comparing it with the 'Venus Biaclining' of Velasque* and the ' Venus with -the Little Dog' of Titian. George was popular in the quarter, being an independant orphan with M a week clear income. .

WIND INSTEUMENTS. "Of all existing wind instruments, the flute is probably the oldest. It is one of -the most important of the wood wind group of instruments, and being the most acute of all, it takes the "upper part. Ss a solo instrument, or in quasi-solo effects, it is heard to the best advantage, the tone being particularly soft, sweet and agreeable. On account of the facility of fingering almost any,passage is possible on the flute, which has more agility than any other wind instrument. The piccolo is a small flute, and on account 01 its piercing quality of tons it is very 7aluable in the military combination. Florid passages, rapid staccato, etc., are just as practicable and effective upon the piccolo as on the flute. saxophone, although made of brass' always, is reckoned among the reed, and not the brass, instruments. This instrument is practically, the 'cello of the brass orchestra, and the Sousa band employs four saxophones, two altos, ono tenor and one baritone. The' saxophone is not to do found in either the .English [or the German military band, despite its many excellencies. , : The English horn is not, as its name would imply, a horn at all, but a largesized oboe, the. alto, in fact, of the usual instrument. Its tone has a peculiarly melancholy and sombre character that no other instrument can replace, and its lower tones are very rich and full. The English horn is used with great iffect in the 'William 'fell' overture and in. Sous&'s 'Three (Quotations,' for example., : The bassoon is the bass of the oboe family, and, owing to its extensive compass, which exceeds any other wind instrument except the clarinet, the is capable of the most varied employment. -The higher register of this'instrument has' some affinity to the 'cello,,the, most' expressive part of the compass lying in the tenor octaves. Tne bassoon i§* sometimes called the comedian of the orchestia, because of the p6cuii&bfeffect& be produced,npon ifc,,i v ,j ~ ,*, ,„.,.,'„ . Of thej family.iof;. wdod >iastru§ienta i played wi<h, A double reed,.the oboeip thai treble. The lower notes of the oboe, have a Bcmewhjftt ;, 'tHat is excellent for aitißtii'effeotsj-but'tb'e'bßfet'pUrt 1 of the instrument <is the •middle' rdgieterv where thejtone,, is .penetrating, i*° d ,°^, a i reed y quality. It has been ,#f? n #' H°iSftmtimfl iftfee©Jphestrs,, ~r^ e 9H#j ßeß ---9Mia%an expressive and. essential instrument. ' J *msf* 11