RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 233, 28 June 1929, Page 10

RANDOM NOTES

SIDELIGHTS ON CURRENT EVENTS

LOCAL AND GENERAL

(By

Cosmos,)

Evolution is slow. A million years of upward climbing, and not more than a dozen outstanding full-backs In th® country.

Longfellow said that man must b® either a hammer or an anvil. But he overlooked the gentleman who simply bellows.

Thanks to modern medical science, we cheerfully submit to the removal of an appendix as if it was no more worthy of notice than a troublesome tooth. Bit by bit it has become possible to remove different portions of our anatomy without disastrous results, until one wonders how much of us really is necessary. Apart from the obvious fact that legs and arms may be dispensed with at will, it is not impossible to do without one kidney at any rate, whilst, of course, tonsils may be removed altogether. Even the stomach is an unnecessary refinement, for men have lived without one. Th® larynx may be replaced artificially, and parts of the circulating system may be short-circuited, or even removed altogether. Even the entire brain Is not an absolute necessity. There have been cases where quite a respectable proportion of it has been discarded. In fact, in the case of a certain ape which was relieved of half its brain there was no noticeable result, except a distinct improvement in its character. Thanks, then, to medical science, there would appear to be no reason at all why the human race should not continue to show steady improvement.

■ A certain well-known professor made the alarming statement in 1927 that for the first time in 2000 years the, world was without a single really great man. Naturally this statement made quite a few famous men annoyed, and caused them furiously to think. It would seem that we cannot say to-day who will be regarded as the great men of this age. For some reason we are unable to appreciate our great men when we have them amongst us. Lincoln was not held to be a great man until after his assassination. While he lived Shakespeare was not considered outstanding. Even such admittedly great men as Hannibal, Mohammed, Caesar, and Napoleon grew far greater as the years went by after their death. Many men once heralded as geniuses have been totally forgotten. What we shall never know Is what will become of such men as Shaw, Chesterton, Mussolini, Edison, Marconi, Ford, and Wells. Only our great-grandchildren can tell us, and they are not yet born. In spite of progress and the prevalent habit of measuring everything with meters and dials, there would seem to be still quite a number of things wa have not yet learnt to measure.

More than likely the English reporter who first called New Zealand’s football team the “All Blacks,” during their tour of 1905, never thought for a moment that the name would cling to them. Origins such as this always seem to hide themselves in humble beginnings. Short of searching through all the descriptions of the 1905 tour in the English papers, it would appear to be impossible to nail down this origin to any particular person or newspaper. In Dixon’s book on the All Black tour in 1905, no mention of the name occurs until the match against Somerset at Taunton, on Saturday, October 21,1905. A local paper then ushers in this name with the words: “But the marvellous understanding and gift of knowing what would happen next never left one of the ‘All Blacks’ without support” A little later the name starts to crop up more frequently, for the famous international, E. J. Vivyan, commenting on a match at Devonport on October 25 said: “But when they started the second half there was no holding the ‘AU Blacks.’ ” A little later the “Daily Mail,” in its amusing description of the match against Surrey, when the whistle blew heavily all the time for no fewer than 14 penalties in the first half, said: “Ten thousand people made their way

... to see the ‘All Blacks’ that everybody is talking about.” The name, of course, originated from the colours of the team, but the - man who first started this name, known now in all civilised and many uncivilised countries, seems difficult to find.

The methods adopted by “The Dominion” and other newspapers to collect a full account of the recent earthquake differ considerably from the news-gath-ering activities of earlier days. At a time when San Francisco was noted for its earthquakes one Sam Davis was noted for his ability to “get the news, whether it happened or not” Writing to his newspaper after the alleged disturbance, he said: “You will observe that I succeeded in getting an exclusive account of the earthquake for you, thereby beating every other paper on the coast. I only succeeded in this sublime piece of journalistic enterprise by the sleepless vigilance which is the invariable price of good items. Immediately after sending your dispatches I hired a small boy to cut the telegraph wires, thus preventing the ‘Chronicle’ from sending similar ones, and the ‘Post’ and ‘Alta” from stealing them. Any further orders for exclusive items will be filled on application at shortest notice.” For this brilliant journalistic effort, the wily . Sam Adams reclaimed the magnificent sum of £2 10s., less out-of-pocket expenses. His account read: “For earthquake item—two shocks at £1 per shock, £2. Paid boy 10s. to cut wire, 10s. Total, £2 10s.” But even that modest amount he failed to obtain. as the earthquake was felt by no one but the reporter.

From time to time one gets an sorts of intriguing glimpses of Tolstoy, Russia’s greatest writer. Concerning the fate of his family during the Russian Revolution and the reign of Bolshevism, however, a discreet veil is drawn. A Russian periodical, “Vola Rosii,” gives some interesting glimpses as to what has happened to the family of the great writer. From the diary of Countess Sophie Tolstoy, who died in 1919, it would seem that she was greatly worried about her daughters and gland-children, fearing that they might die of hunger. Her fears, judging by the “Voila Rosii,” were not unfounded.

Tatiana, the eldest daughter, had been forced to set up an old-clothes shop to support her family. Tolstoy’s estate was of course nationalised, with seventy employers working on it, including guards, librarians, carpenters and commissars. Tatiana was registered as one of the employees. Her duty was to show visitors over her former home for which she refused the small salary offered.