RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 105, 28 January 1931, Page 8

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights on Current

Events

LOCAL AND GENERAL

(By

Kickshaws.)

Ample opportunity Is to be given big hunting parties in Arnhen Land for shooting at various localities. The idea behind this new sport is that if you shoot at a locality long enough something is bound to get hit in the end.

During training a torpedo belonging to H.M.S. Diomede ran amuck. The poor frightened creature thought it might be mistaken for a mako shark and get hooked by a deep sea fisherman.

A “pip and stone” research station has been established by the Department of Agriculture. It is understood the Tourist Department, not to be outdone, will shortly produce a “tip and run” brochure to assist Australian visitors affected by the depression.

A reader shatters the local legends regarding “Peterson’s Folly” mentioned recently in this column. He says: The tower was built to provide work for the people of the district. It was originally intended to erect a beacon on the top to guide the shipping, but it was found that a light would do more harm than good. Mr. Peterson died a wealthy man (his estate was' worth some £200,000), his holding in Bengal coal shares being worth close on £lOO,OOO. His remains were cremated and the urn placed in the tower. It was mentioned in the newspaper report of the funeral that he was buried in the tallest tomb in Eng* land. During the war my brother, who served with the New Zealanders, was shown over the tower by the caretaker, who said it was- built by an eccentric American. My brother did not know Mr. Peterson was an Englishman and a close relation.

Swimming enthusiasts at Sydney are paddling about in the water in order to win a £5OO prize for an endurance test. Miss Gleitze has recently swum for 43 hours in a tepid bath, but this by no means comes anywhere near the record. Swimming in the open sea off Malta Arthur Rizzo beat all official records with a total time of 68hrs. 11 minutes. His effort was made at the end of September last, but the record did not last long. An Indian named Mahomed Shafi swam continuously in tepid baths at Worthing, England, for 69 hours. Even Channel '

swims from England to France have provided Instances of indomitable endurance on the part of swimmers. The longest time that the Channel has taken to be swum' is over 27 hours. There are numerous instances of 20 hours and over, including the famous Captain Webb, who took nearly 22 hours.

One would imagine that it would be better to swim somewhere rather than just flop about in the water smoking cigars, as at Sydney. The chief drawback to swimming as a means of. transportation is its cost. ' It runs away with anything from £l5O to £3OO to swim the English Channel. Besides, on arrival after a long swim there is the problem of clothes. Not even the politest host likes a guest in a wet bathing suit. Nevertheless swimming seems to be divided Into people who swim to get nowhere and people who swim to get to the other side. One man swam the Panama Canal. He rested at nights. The whole trip took him less than a week. Several alligators were shot from the boat that accompanied him. All,the huge lock gates bad to be opened expressly for him at a cost of hundreds of pounds. Indeed permission for the trip was only obtained when the swimmer offered to pay dues on tonnage rates.

If one goes back a quarter of a century when records were not official for lack of supervision, one finds that the standard of endurance is decidedly high. Agnes Beckwith, for instance, swam for no less than 100 hours at the Royal Aquarium, London, while Tom Easton swam 152 miles in six days, some two miles further than the Panama Canal swim.

“When my time is up, I’ll be ready to go—you never go before your time,” says Captain Malcolm Campbell, who believes quite definitely that we cannot guide our destinies in this world. Nevertheless Campbell has taken care to have his tires tested for speeds up to 300 miles an hour. There is much truth this view on life, a view held by some five million soldiers in the war. Nevertheless it is extraordinary what tiny, 1 insignificant minor details have altered completely the story of the past, the lives of individuals, and the destiny of nations.

If Cleopatra’s nose had been a fraction of an inch other than it was her beauty would have been destroyed. In this case it is reasonable to suppose that neither Julius Caesar nor Mark Anthony would have seen in the woman anything fatally fascinating. The whole of Roman history, the story of the Christian era would have been altered completely. The battle of Actium would not have been fought. Augustus would not have established an Empire; Pontius Pilate would not have ruled in Syria, nor would Herod. Possibly the sequence of events that made it possible for Paul to make his journeys would never have arisen; while Rome might have never heard about Christianity. After all, such a little thing could have altered Cleopatra’s nose—a dog might have bitten it, it might have been poisoned by a sandflv, but it just wasn’t. So we find fate full of “ifs.”

If Constantinople had fallen in A.D. 718 European civilisation itself would have been swept from the earth. England in common with the rest of Europe would have become a Mohammedan country with offshoots in the United States and New Zealand. If Henry VIII had not been swept off his royal legs by Anne Boleyn, the English Reformation would not have been precipitated. The English Church might not then have been altered until the Scottish Reform took place thirty years or so later on. Under the influence of Knox the standard religion might then have been Presbyterian, not Episcopalian. Just one more fatalistic “if.” If .Marlborough had not been enmeshed in the million and one intrigues of Queen Anne’s boudoir there might have been a complete revision of the French system of Government two generations earlier. In that case there would have been no French Revolution—and no “Scarlet Pimpernel.” One can but wonder how the "ifs” of to-day will be considered in the light of the histories of to-morrow.

Jenny kissed me when we met, Jumping from the chair she sat in; Time, you thief! who love to get Sweets into your list, put that in.

Say I’m weary, say I’m sad; Say that wealth and health have missed

me; Say I’m growing old, but add Jenny Kiss’d me! —Leigh Hunt,