RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 255, 25 July 1935, Page 8

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights on Current Events

(By

Kickshaws.)

Judging by news from Italy every war cloud, it seems, must have a silver lining.

Alsatians may be intelligent but until one attacked the Hon. C. J. Carrington we never realised that Hansard had such a wide outside circle of readers.

Visiting school teachers from America declare that American school children aye getting back to the idea of work. Now that the slump is over Dad, presumably, has no time for home work.

Regarding the forecasting of earthquakes. 11. Lee, of Hastings, states that he forecasted some time before the event that there would be earthquakes between July 17 aud 20, and much activity at Rotorua. The forecast was actually witnessed by competent individuals. In view of the fact that earthquakes occurred al AVairoa and Formosa at the times predicted the forecast may perhaps interest readers. Moreover, previously it was forecasted that there would be an earthquake at Taupo. This wa» forecasted and witnessed some hours before it occurred. The moou, the sun and other planetary factors, Mr. Lee declares, are involved in tee foiecasting. Incidentally, Mr. Lee has forwarded a list of further forecasts which are not for publication. Kickshaws, however, will keep the list and no doubt if the occasion demands their publication after the events have occurred or otherwise, Mr. Lee will agree to permit publication.

A missionary from the Nuba Motintains of the Sudan says that if he told some of the routine teats of strength of tlie natives of teat district nobody would believe him. Unfortunately this missionary lives up to his incredulity and does not tell us any of the feats. This is a pity because if he had it would have been possible to compare them with oilier teats in other countries. For example, can any Nuba resident drive a six-inch nail through a plank of wood? This littls feat is an everyday affair to Mr. Tolson. of Dewsbury, England. He thinks nothing of bending a bar of steel round Ids neck, or of lifting a 4 cwt. girder with his teetli. The last-named feat it must be admitted is more spectacular than useful. The occasions when one wants to lift a girder with oue’s teetli are infrequent. Another modest strong man, also of England, was a carter for many years in Yorkshire. One day when his horse dropped dead by the road side he carried the animal half a mile to the nearest village. Can the inhabitants of Nuba do teat? If so, perhaps the visiting missionary will give us further details, which should make good reading.

AVhilc on tlie subject of strong men. the explorer, 11. M. Stanley, was fond of relating stories about the feats of strength of one, Simba by name, the overseer of an Arab caravan. This fellow stood 6ft. sin. without his socks. He could toss an average man 10 feet into the air and catch him like a cricket ball. Ou occasion, if necessary, he had been known to carry a three-year-old bullock a distance of a hundred yards or so. He has carried 12 men at once round Stanley’s house. Some feats of strength seen on the stage may have a catch iu them, but these feats of tec open air are usually perfectly genuine. There is, for example, the story of au inspector who lived iu Islington, London. He found a night-watchman asleep in his shelter. Nothing daunted tecinspector lifted shelter and all and dropped it aud its alarmed contents over a wall into a cemetery. The weight of the outfit was about five hundredweight. It makes good reading to haar about strong men of tlie open count ry, so to speak, who perform their feats in the course of the day’s routine. Readers may. perhaps know of New Zealand examples.

There is always some little argument as te the strongest man in Hie world. Most enthusiasts declare tii.it Sandow held this honour. Snndow undoubtedly made tee best of his name before the public. There is, however, 01 was, a French-Canadian called Louis Cyr, who must surely be the strongest man that has ever lived since the days of Samson. He was a huge man weighing at least ZOst. He was born in 186 R. and for a time he was a farmer. When one of his wagons laden with wheat became bogged he got it out of difficulties bv getting underneath aud raising it with his back while the horses dragged the load on to solid ground. It is said that Cyr thought nothing of lifting 2601 b. above his head wit’’ one arm. For sheer brute strength many clitics declare teat Cyr Has never been beaten in living memory. Sandow w:u a magnificent specimen of proportioned manhood, bitt lie was not outstandingly strong as strong men go. Yet he has been known to lift a small elephant. Arthur Saxon, another strong man, still retains the record, it is believed, of a bent press lift of 3651 b. In this feat the weight is pressed with one arm from the shoulder to Hie head ami then to arm’s length.

Experts have yet to discover the reason why some men become strong above all others. It may be that Hie secret lies in some gland or other. History shows, however, that all down the ages there have always been strong men. M e ad know about Samson, but not so many realise that one Roman Emperor, Maximin by name, was a strong man. He could draw a loaded wagon with ease, strike out the teeth of a horse with his bare fist, and crumble stones in his hands. Cains Marius, who was acclaimed by the Roman soldiers, is said to have drawn a cart backwards with the fourth linger of his right hand when Cour horses were struggling to draw it forward. In French chronicles there is related the story of a man named Barsabas, who pulled out the King's stage coach from Hie ditch when all the oxen of Hie district had failed. On another occasion a man was about to light witli Barsabas. When the two were holding out their hands Barsabas gripped his opponent's list, and by a gentle squeeze utterly disabled him. This strong man, moreover, thought nothing of breaking the strongest horseshoes iu two with his hands, Tlie roundness of Hie moon. The undulating curve of the serpent, The graceful twist of the creeping plant, The light shivering of the grass blade and the slenderness of the willow, The velvet of the flowers, The lightness of a feather. The gentle gaze of the doe. The froliesomeness of the dancing sunbeam, The tears of the cloud, The inconsistency of the wind. The timidity of the hare, The vanity of the peacock, The hardness of the diamond, Tlie cruelty of the tiger, The chill of the snow, The cackling of the parrot. The cooing of the turtle dove. ■—Hindu recipe for a JVomaa..