ANDOM SHOTS

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 225, 20 September 1913, Page 18

ANDOM SHOTS

BY ZAMIEL"

.S..isie write a neighbours name to last Some -svrs'te—vain ts.oss.-it —for needful cash. .Some write to please the country clash And raise a din; For mc, an aim 1 never fash, I write for fun. When the wise king advised us not to put our trust in princes, he was presumably speaking from experience of rulers of men. King Constantine of Greece may live to pur Solomon to shame; but so far the "slayer of Bulgarians" has not shown himself to be possessed of a superabundance of either wisdom or trustworthiness. The brave monarch was recently entertained by the Kaiser at Potsdam, and in the fullness of his heart (or some other part of his anatomy) he declared that Greece owned her victories to Germany, from which country she had learned the methods and principles of war. The suggestion that King and Kaiser had rehearsed this speech, as a salve to the wounds of German militarism, may not be wide of the truth; but I incline to think that Constantine's remark was a spontaneous one, and was his method of repaying Wilhelm for his services during the peace negotiations, when he wired to the King at Athens:—"Am fighting lite a tiger for you." None the less, when King Constantine opened his mouth he "put his foot in it"; for he was on his way to Paris to thank his French friends for support, and found that, he had given away all his jam to the hereditary foes of France. It was a frightful dilemma; but royal resource has proved equal to the occasion. Constantine could not go to Paris and "put the other fellow up the chimney" by explaining that he beat the Turks because they had been trained by German officers in "the methods and principles of war." Nor could he turn his own flank by declaring that German methods had nothing to do with the case, but that it was really a question of gunnery (and all the world knows that Creusot beat Krupp) ; for it seems probable that the Greeks were armed with German guns. So his Majesty of Greece determined to postpone his visit to France until after he has spent some time in -England, where he may get a lesson in honest diplomacy. His hope is that the lapse of time will "efface memories of his Potsdam speech." The hope is a vain one. We all know that there are Potsdam and other d speeches that nothing can erase, and there is no royal rubber or eraser tha f can wipe out a blunder. The only thins is to learn the lesson that "the word unspoken is thine own," but, once spoken, it is pretty sore to reach the ears of some newspaper reporter, "and faith he'll print it," It used to be true that "Love rules the court. the camp, the grove;" but we have changed all that—for the It is now money that rules the roost in every sphere of life. Last week the Constantinople correspondent of an English journal stated that it was well understood there that "Each of the Great Powers is ready to sell its soul for Ottoman, 'backsheesh." And now we have the news that French financiers have agreed to raise a loan of £28,000,----000 for Turkey! British people will not begrudge France the distinction of going to the help of the Sick Man of Europe. The action is, however, ominous of trouble. It involves French ascendancy over Syrian railways, to which Germany may assert a prior claim, ___l it may prove to be a step provocative of the "Armageddon" fight, which intjrpreters ayree is to take place in Syria. ±i±*ifr±i±i We should all take solemn warning from the lamentable case of Thomas Alva Edison, the great electrician. About a. week ago the news came that he was dangerously ill. Now we learn that his malady has been diagnosed as an acute attack of "holidayitis"; but thanks to medical skill the patient has passed the crisis, and is back to his old habit of working 48 or 72 hours at a stretch. It seems that Thomas Alva was recently persuaded to take a fortnight's holiday, and so serious were the conse-quences-that his doctor says a second indulgence may prove fatal. Henceforward "There is no rest for the"—electrician. Edison had not had a holiday •for twenty years or more, and such a violent infringement of natural law as cessation of work for two weeks nearly cost li_ his life. Let us be careful not to overdo the holiday business. Of course, We may still observe New Year's Day and the day after, Anniversary Day, Dominion Day, the Easter holidays, Empire Day, King's Birthday, Queen's Birthday, Prince of Wales' Birthday, all the Saints' days, all the race days, Labour Day, and a week at Christmas — everything in moderation—and still enjoy fair health; but an overdose must be guarded against. Edison's case has shown the falsity of the saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," for he is ' never brighter than when continuously at work. We shall have to invent a new proverb, "Too many holidays make Jack a dead boy." Down Canterbury way the farmers are greatly afflicted with grass grubs and other pests, but some settlers evidently place a high value on worms. A recent advertisement reads. "Anyone caught digging worms, or putting stock in same, will be prosecuted." I have an idea that worms in stock is a rather troublesome complaint, but it must be much worse when the ppor worms get stock in their "little insides." The fiends who play such pranks on inoffensive worms ousht certainly to be prosecuted. ii4444±44± Dr. Hay, Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals in the Dominion, states that one person in every 272 of the population of this country is mentally defective, and the increase of patients in the asylums is more than is justified by the natural increase of population. Thus the outcry for increased accommodation for the insane is absolutely justified. New Zealand's experience seems to confirm the dietiun of Dr. Kellogg, of Chicago, cabled the other day, that mankind is "gradually becoming insane." Dr. Forbes Win-slow, a celebrated alienist in England, has been saying so for years past, and holds that within a century the majority of people will be insane It used to be said that -he proportion of insane persons among "mad doctors" was greater than in the general .-omnmnity. It would be of interest to know whether ___> ratio is in_re-_l_s or d*_r_a___g.