RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 267, 6 August 1932, Page 10

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights on Current Events LOCAL AND GENERAL '

(By

Kickshaws.)

TVhat with Japan and China and now Paraguay and Bolivia, the modern idea of war seems to be a peace that passes all understanding. • • • Banks in England are said to be experimenting with mats behind the counters which light indicators in the police station when trodden on. On the mat therefore takes on an even more sinister significance. Judging by the “clearing-the. ground,” “preparing-the-way,” “cook-ing-the-meal” reports we receive daily from Ottawa, it seems that the Empire must be represented by an excellent “fatigue party” at the Imperial Conference.” “Enquirer” writes:—Will you please tell me which has the larger population, Wellington or Auckland? Also I wonder if you could decide another point for me—the pronunciation o£ the variety of lillum called regale. > Should the “a” be broad, and is the final “e” sounded? - The urban district of Auckland has a population of 216,390, and the city Itself 106,300. In the case of Wellington the urban population totals 150,190,,and that of the city 112,700. The urban totals include all outlying boroughs, in’ the case of Wellington such as Lower Hutt, Petone, Eastbourne, etc. The pronunciation of the word “regale’’Jn the case of liliura regale Is usually with a hard “a” and a sounded final ’* • • The fact that pear trees planted at Versailles 250 years ago are expected to bear fine fruit this year reminds one of the curious story of the longevity of a tree associated with a woman named Lady Anne Grimston. This good lady lived a gay. and at times scandalous life, some four centur.es ago. She was convinced that there was no life after death. “It is as unlikely,’’ she said, “that I should live again as that a tree should grow out of my body.” She was duly buried and forgotten. After a century or soi the marble slab on her tomb was found to be displaced. It was replaced by a new slab. . Not many years after this the slab was found to be bad- ' ly cracked. Through one of the cracks a young shoot appeared. A fence was put round the tomb. To-day there are four stout trunks growing out of hei* tomb. It is said that the largest tree in England is now growing from her body. The marble and the metal of the tomb Itself are twisted, shapelesi masses. -. . • ' • '

Naturally the tree growing out of Lady Anne's tomb, mentioned in the preceding paragraph, is not the oldest tree in England, even if it is really the largest one. For it is only a few centuries old; comparatively young for some types of trees. Competition for the honour of oldest tree in England is divided at the moment between Scotland and Yorkshire, There is a yew tree growing at Kenmore, known as the Fortingal Yew, that is estimated to be at least 3000 years old. A yew tree at Fountains Abbey, Ripon, was claimed to have been nearly as old as that when the abbey was built in the year 1132. On the other hand some people declare that tome of the oak trees in Britain must be getting on toward a record. Some of them that are still flourishing, such as the Cowthorpe oak, were large trees when William the Conqueror landed in'England. It is always difficult to obtain age records of trees other than estimates that the tree itself leaves behind. But it is interesting to point out that eight olive trees on the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, are known to have been in existence over 800 years ago. It is not improbable that they were then over, 1000 years old. If so it Is possible that Jesus' Christ Himself once rested under their shade.

In spite of the establishment of nature reserves all over the Empire it is stated in the news that there is still much concern that many species will be exterminated unless something more is done to prevent it. There is no doubt that this concern is. real. Statistics show that as man increases so wild animal life dwindles rapidly. At the present rate mammalian life is becoming rapidly exterminated. Sad say this is confirmed in the only practical manner possible—the complete disappearance of certain species. Man has to face the fact that he has already utterly exterminated such living things as the blue buck, the quagga, Burchell's zebra, Steller's sea cow, and many types of land tortoises. Even the Indian gazelle has been reduced to alarmingly small numbers. When a theory was prevalent in Africa that the tse-tse fly could be controlled by slaughtering all wild animals incredible and futile massacres resulted. Added to this the leather trade decimated zebras. The fur trade turned the once common colubus and blue monkeys into rarities. Thanks to the hand of the hunter there was a time when it was thought likely that gorillas. giraffes, and antelopes were doomed. ’

It is only fair to point out in connection with man’s ruthless destruction of animal life that nature, if anything, is even more wasteful. The number of seeds wasted in the production of one small forest has been estimated as more than enough to cover the whole world with thick bush. Indeed one foxglove plant produces in a year no less than 750,000 seeds of which possibly a hundred survive. It takes roughly a million seeds, in some cases, to produce under a hundred seedlings. Of these only two at the most come to maturity. Unlike man nature wastes material in order that some may survive. Many times in the history of the world she has had to admit defeat. Once dinosaurs existed in untold millions. Their eggs are still being found over a million years after the last dinosaur died. Nature’s plan failed in spite of her largesse and through no fault of man for he difi not exist. The whole trouble seems to arise from a vicious circle of wanton destruction and liberality to ensure continuity. How great is this liberality may be grasped when it is realised that a single pair of eels released to breed at the beg'nning of the Christian era' would by now have filled all the oceans sriid with their progeny! Oyst-rs. in id ntnlly, could do the same in two centuries.

Mary had a little lamb. Her father shot it dead; And now it goes to school with her Between two chunks ,o£ bread.