RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 179, 27 April 1931, Page 8

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights on Current

Events

LOCAL AND GENERAL

(By

Kickshaws.)

A magistrate has observed that men get no voice in the furnishing of the home. If he had been married he would have known that the in-voice is their special say in the matter.

In front of 15,000 spectators a Frenchman has just played a saxophone for ten hours as a feat of endurance. We must congratulate the spectators wholeheartedly.

“M.J.G.” writes: In your “Random Notes” of April 20 you mention one of your many readers being doubtful as to the age in which we live. He says he has heard of the Iron Age, the Bronze Age, the Stone Age, etc., but nobody has yet enlightened him as to what the present age is. Your correspondent must be a very recent arrival in the Dominion. Had he been here during the initial stages of the Finance Bill debate he would not now be in any doubt. Surely it must be quite obvious to the veriest tyro that the present age is the “Verbiage." I’m sure Messrs. Holland, Semple, and Co. can quite easily verify my statement.

When “Igloo” was dying Admiral Byrd broke all his engagements to reach home. Unfortunately this much-trav-elled mongrel terrier died before he arrived. His master arrived in time for a simple burial ceremony only. Such then is man's love for his dog. It is possibly one of the best human traits — a trait that permits him to rank very nearly as high as woman. As Mr. John Galsworthy points out: “I have observed that before men can be gentle and broadminded with each other, they are always gentle and broadminded about beasts.” Incidentally, Balthasar is a most satisfactory dog in his “Forsyte Saga.” Ail through literature one can see the love of dogs cropping up in unexpected places.

The Saint Bernard “Porthos” in Barrie’s “Little White Bird” was a portrait of a real dog that belonged to him. Nana in “Peter Pan” was in reality “Luath,” a Newfoundland that belonged to a friend. Scott pays a never-to-be-forgotten tribute to the dog in “Talisman”: “The Almighty, Who gave him to be the companion of our pleasures, hath invested him with a nature noble and incapable of deceit. He forgets neither friend nor foe—remembers, and with accuracy, both benefit and injury. He hath a share of man’s intelligence, but no share of man’s falsehood. ...

He is the friend of man, save when man justly incurs his enmity.”

The best idea of mankind’s genuine affection for dogs is to be had from the number of dog cemeteries that have arisen all over the world. Byron wrote some lines on the tomb of his Newfoundland “Boatswain.” All of us feel like that toward our dog when it dies. There is a large dog cemetery at Walton, England, and another at Edinburgh, looking away over the Forth to the hills of Fife. There is a small cemetery at Settle, and a large one near Hyde Park, not far from Marble Arch. Perhaps the largest dog cemetery of all is to be found on Wrecker’s Island, in the Seine, not far from Paris. It contains the graves of 25,000 dogs. Dog lovers willingly pay £l2 and more for one square metre of earth on Wrecker’s Island. The variety of tombstones is legion. One dog lover has erected a simple block of square stone. At the top behind a thick glass-porthole there is a picture of the dog. Inscribed on the side of the stone is “Athos, Compagnon cheri fldele et brave mort le 27 Decembre, 1921, a l’age de 11 ans.” A Crown Prince has placed a life-size plaster effigy of his buried dog above the grave. It is protected by a bell glass. It would be interesting to hear of any dog cemeteries in this Dominion.

As a result of the world-wide depression there has been a slump in the pilgrimage to Mecca. In order to reestablish the revenues of the Hedjaz, the King has ordered film propaganda to attract the faithful. One hears much about pilgrims, but they always seem to be on the way to Mecca. Very little is heard about what they actually do when they get there. As a matter of fact,, religious devotions begin someway outside Mecca. The pilgrim shows his devotion to the Prophet at a place called Tanim by dressing himself in two cloths wound round his person, and by shouting the word “Labbeyka.” Nobody knows the meaning of this word. He enters a nearby mosque, performs somg religious ceremonies, and has his head shaved for a small sum of money. Considering there may be anything up to 100,000 pilgrims in Mecca at any given moment during the season, even the head shaving business must be feeling the slump.

In the case of pilgrims making the “Great Pilgrimage” it is necessary to make a somewhat lengthy excursion from Mecca for a “stand” at Arafa. This “stand” consists of an artificially limited piece of space before a small isolated hill called the Hill of Mercy For the good pilgrim, matters are somewhat complicated by his being forced to follow in exactly the movements of the Prophet when he made his farewell pilgrimage to that spot in A.D. 632. The night before the “stand” should be spent in devotion. In reality it is spent in the numerous coffee booths enriching the owner of the booth and talking. Next day the pilgrim takes his stand on “Arafa” and says “Labbeyka” In a loud voice. The rest of the d<»'- till sunset is occupied in reciting prayers. Next day seems to be a busy day. The part-ly-initiated pilgrim has to neff "-'-h seven stones a certain cairn, slay a Victim, hold a sacrificial meal, dry part of the flesh, and give some to the poor. Suitable victims, inc'dentally, may be had on payment, so the purveyors of victims must be feeling the slump. He then has to have a shave and perform certain religious observances in the mosque. The stones thrown at the cairn are considered to be thrown at the 'devil in the name of Allah. Special stones may be obtained for a consideration.

In his spare time the pilgrim attends the fair specially provided to get money out of him. Caravans converge on the city from north, south, east, and west for this very purpose. It is only fair to point out, however, that before the days of Mahomet Mecca was even then a place of pilgrimage. For centuries before Christ Mecca had been established as a commercial centre and a Holy Place surrounded by an inviolable territory called the Haram. In order to promote goodwill during these occasions it was customary for all tribes to hold a sacred truce for four months of the year. The rest of the year was spent by those who had done badly out of the pilgrimages in cutting the throats of their brothers who had done well. It was, and still is, perfectly fair to hold up pilgrims before they get to Mecca and steal all that they have. So the bandits are also feeling tho slump.