LONDON'S WEEK.!

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 60, 12 March 1938, Page 21

LONDON'S WEEK.!

NAZIS IN AUSTRIA. PUBLIC LITTLE CONCERNED. DOMESTIC SMOKE-SCREENS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, February 18. lhe average Englishman's indifference to foreign affairs was strikingly illustrated by the news of the Nazi victory over Austria this week. Here, obviously, was something tremendously important, straddling the front page of every newspaper. Yet the man-in-the-st.reet was left bewildered, feeling that he ought to be excited, but not knowing what to get excited about. All he realised was that Hitler, the "big bad wolf of Europe, was on the warpath again. Before long Austria will be to all intents a province of (lermany. If that had happened a decade ago many libera I- m intled people in England would have applauded. Thefi France, under M. Poincare and other Nationalist politicians, was the "big bad wolf." Germany, bound by the Versailles Treaty and struggling to pay reparations, was the shorn lamb, and English Liberals preached that her only economic hope lay in union with Austria. A few short years have changed all that. France, changing roles with Germany, has become the "bulwark of democracy;" (lermany is the villain; and all but a very few Nazi partisans in England look with vague misgivings on the link with Austria. , London's Limit. Even the Government is disturbed at the continued drift of population and industry from the depressed North to the London area. Hence the Eoval Commision which is considering what can be done about this drift. But this week the commissioners listened with surprise to a witness who told them that London's growth was a good thing and that it would probably go on for another seven or eight years. This cheerful prophet was Mr. Frank Pick, deputychief of London Transport, whose task is to carry the metropolitan millions to and from their work.

The inhabitants of the London area now number eome 9,500.000. Mr. Pick thinks the number will swell to 12,000,000 by about 1945. As far as transport, is concerned, that is the limit to the population which could comfortably live in and around London. His views are directly opposed to those of most other experts, who hold that London is already too for health. Satellite towns, with miles of "green belt" in between, are their favourite visions of the future. Smoke Screens and Radio. The danger of air attack is certainly being very thoroughly drummed into the British public. Apart from the Government measures, about which we hear so much, all sorts of private organisations and individuals are taking a hand. This week, for example, an expert has hatched a scheme ing every household provide its own smo^,^creen % Capsules of smolce-prp : ducing chemicals would be issued to every family, and at the first warning of a raid the capsules would simply be thrown on the domestic fire. Great cloud of smoke (we are' told) would issue from the chimney, completely hiding the neighbourhood from the bombers.

Another bright idea concerns the radio warnings which are to be broadcast in the event of a raid. "Supposing the household radio happens to be switched off ... . ?" somebody objected. So now experts are trying to perfect a device whicfi will automatically switch on the set when the warning is broadcast. As for protection from bombs, a shelter has been designed which it is claimed, can be built in a backyard for as little as £3 10/. Luxury Horses. Horses are rapidly becoming ia luxury in England. In the past 10 years, according to the Minister of Agriculture, the country's horse population has declined by over half a million. The total is now 1,150,000. Jtoad transport, the: farms and the Army's cavalry regiments are faet becoming mechanised. Yet at the same time riding for pleasure and exercise is experiencing an unprecedented boom. There are some 2000 riding schools in Britain—three times as many as in 1935 —and new ones are being started almost every week. While Britain leads the riding boom in Europe, it also lcatls in discarding horses for farm and transport. Horses are also declining in France and Germany, but much more slowly. Ten years ago Germany had about twice as many horses as Britain; ta-day (although her total has dropped) she has three timesas many. France, which no\y possesses 2,774,000 horses, has lost only 150,000 during the decade; while Germany with 3,407,000 has lost 400,000. The Telepathy Game. A strange-looking pack of cards devised by an American psychologist brings telepathy into the realm of parlour games. The experimenter, Mr. J. B. Rhine, has spent seven years investigating thought-transference. He used a set of cards bearing a few simple, bold designs, such as circles, squares, star, etc.; and found that a surprisingly large number of people with no pretentions to clairvoyancy could correctly identify these cards when they were turned face downwards.

Then ]ie experimented with people working in different rooms. A man in one room turned, up a card and "concentrated" on it; and very often the man in the other room was able to tell what the design was. There were many failures, but enough successes to convince Mr. Rhine that most people have what lie calk "extra-sensory perception." Hiscards are now being made available to the public, so that any amateur psychologist can test the thought-reading ability of his friends. Make Your Own Weather. What is claimed to be the first port-j able "all-the-year-round air-conditioning plant in. the world was demonstrated in London this week. At half the running cost of an electric fire it will provide a large room or office with any kind of weather, from a heat-wave to a moun-1 tain breeze. Windows and doors remain shut against noise and dirt. The airconditioner draws in all the fresh air needed for a dozen people —and delivers the air at any desired temperature, either moist or dry, and filtered clean of dust and soot. The makers have not yet j decided what to charge for this marvel, j but it will certainly be cheaper than the ; elaborate air-conditioning plants now in I use by hotels.