FROM THE MAGAZINES

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 141, 13 June 1908, Page 14

FROM THE MAGAZINES

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHILD IN THE WORLD. The most beautiful and finest specimen of childhood in the world has been officially declared to be little Virgil Tojetti Krell, at that time aged two years and eight months, son of John Krell, an artist, of New York. This tiny Apollo entered a contest of all nations t at the World's Fair in St. Louis, and towered high in excellence of beauty and symmetry of form over his numerous young competitors. In fact, being considered the acme of perfection, he was eelected as the model for a Cupid in the rotunda iof tfie Governor's room in St. Louis. — "Woman's Life."

THE KING AS A CRITIC. It was while playing Prince Perosky in 1866 that I first had the honour of personally meeting the Prince of Wales (now King Edward), who summoned mc to his presence and expressed his approval of my performance. At the same time, with his eagle-like eye for accuracy, he point, ed out several careless mistakes made in the choice of my decorations, which I had selected at haphazard, thinking that they would not be noticed at a distance. From that date to the time of my leaving permanent management at the Globe Theatre in 1904 his Majesty witnessed nearly every play in which I appeared, and never failed to honour mc with his personal criticism.—Sir John Hare, in "The Strand Magazine." THE MENACE OF THE BLACK HAND. The members of the Mano Nera, or "Black Hand," commit all kinds of crime in their efforts toVsecure money, and do not hesitate at murder in its most horrible form. Apparently they are not only mercness, but savage and brutal to a degree, so it is not strange that they hold so many of their countrymen in abject terror. When an Italian receives notice from the Mano Nera, the others call him "the marked man." While the band does not hesitate to extort money from the poorest labourer, if its members think they can get it, the wealthier class are their special victims. They apparently possess lists of the leading bankers, merchants, and manufacturers in each of the large cities; and singled out for attack they get information about his vocation, his habits, family, and even his friends.—"The Wide World Magazine."

A BATTLE OF QUEENS OF SONG. "It was at one of the Manchester festivals," says the "Musical Home Journal," "that Malibran sang beyond herself and died. There was some rivalry between her and Caradori Allen, and before flic concert Malibran said she would sing as she had never sung before in order to proclaim her superiority. Caradori Allen and Malibran were selected to sing in a duet from 'Andronieo.' In due course the item came along, and it became obvioua at once that each _was endeavouring to rival the other's efforts. There was a. very high note in the duet, and in singing this one of the two indulged in a brilliant trill, which was followed by a similar effort on the part of the other, the effect was electrical. The entire audience got up and applauded overwhelmingly for some minutes. Then they demanded an encore. The artists responded, and both went through their parts with increased ardour. It was a battle between two queens of song—one such has never been witnessed since—and they retired amid tremendous applause. A few minutes later medical men were hurriedly called from the audience, and it leaked out that Malibran had become so ill, that bleeding was necessary. She died a few days later."

COSTLY FOOTBALLERS. The closing ffotball season has seen one record which will, as things stand at present, never be beaten. I refer, of course, to the transfer of G. Wilson to Newcastle United. For this the sum of £1600 was paid—£6oo Belfast Distillery, with which club he was most recently identified, and £1000 to Everton, which held the "English rights" in his football. Chelsea have paid over £3000 this season in transfers, or rather for what one may call the "acting rights" in four players. Chelsea's expenditure includes £900 to Blackburn Rovers for Cameron, the right full back; £950 to Everton for Rouse, the inside right; £950 to Middlesbrough for Brawn, the outside right; and £450 to Lincoln City for Fairgray, the outside left.

Among other big prices paid for transfers are Middlesbrough's £1000 to Sunderland for Common, the forward who had played previously for United;; Middlebrough's £750 to, Derby County for Bloomer; and Manchester City's £000 to Norwich City for Ross. This latter price included a friendly game, the profits of which, £200, went to the sellers. These records, as I have said, will not be beaten, for the rule restricting the maximum transfer fe e to £350 came into force on January Ist "Fry's Magazine."

EXPERIMENTS WITH THE SENSES.

The extraordinary delicacy of our senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, is dealt with in an article of exceptional interest by Archibald Williams in "Pearson's Magazine."

Many illustrations make perfectly clear the exact meaning of the text. In speaking of the marvellous sensitiveness of the finger-tips, Mr. Williams says:—

"If two sharp points are set only onetwentieth of an inch apart, a finger-tip will probably distinguish them both, but an even more delicate test may be made as follows:—Gum a cigarette paper to the centre of a sheet of tissue paper. Place a finger on tho first, close the eyes, and move the finger along slowly, feeling for the point at which a stepdown on the other paper occurs. A cigarette paper is only 1-1000 of an inch thick, but many people can detect this drop with ease.'. .

Many other tests of a similar character are lucidly explained in the article.

A poker is used for the hearing test. which we quote below:—

"If the ear be closed, sounds can be heard, provided that they are transmitted to the bones round the ear by some solid substance. Tie a poker to the middle of a piece of string, and press the ends of the string to your ears. If some one strikes the suspended pokor, it will give out a booming sound likr Big Ben, much deeper than its 'air' note. It is a sufficiently delicate miscrophonc to lender the slightest touch with the hand quite audible."