RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 69, 14 December 1935, Page 10

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights on Current Events

(By

Kickshaws.)

Admiral Byrd suggests that the next thing to do is to .plumb the ocean depths. There was enough depth plumbing during the slump to satisfy most people. » » » We note that a distinguished entomologist has been finding interesting allies of the millipede, but we hope that efforts to find allies of the sandfly will not be successful. * Roosevelt, it is said, is not displeased because Britain bus decided not to pay any more war debts. As a method ot not displeasing our own creditors the idea is extremely commendable. * “Another disappointment,” says “Landslide.” “The day after the poll citizens of Wellington noticed with pleasure that the red pillar-boxes were being repainted a pale pink, and took it for an inspiration of the new Government as a means of reassuring public opinion. Alas, ’twas but a first coat; the pillar boxes are as red as ever.” * * If Hitler’s wish that every married couple in Germany shall have a family of four children is carried out_ there is not the slightest doubt that it will have a pronounced effect upon the total population. At the moment Germany has about 64,000,000 inhabitants. It the four children all lived and in their turn carried out the wishes of their Dictator, the time might indeed come when it would be necessary to call a halt in the four family standard. Take the case of one couple. They have a family of four. In, say. 25 years’ time the family of four have a family of four, and so ou. By the end of a century that original couple alone would have over 1000 descendants all alive ami ready each to have a family of four. If only 20.000,000 families in Germany started off with this object in \ie\\, in a matter of a century Germany would contain more people than there are in the rest of the world. If a couple had four children and the children multiplied at the same rate for, say, 3000 years, it would produce a family so great there is not room to write it down. It would be larger than the figure 1 followed by 30 noughts.

Despite the alarming manner in which a family of four, repeated for a century, will cause an embarrassment of population the fact remains that Hitler is quite right to feel worried about the birthrate of his country With the exception of Holland ami Italy all the German and Roman races of Europe are waging a battle against declining births. On the other band, Slavonic races are multiplying so fast that the time is not far ahead when the whole of Europe will be mainly Siavonic. In 1810, 36 per cent, of the people in Europe were Germanic. 34 Roman, and 34 Slavonic. In - per cent, were Slavonic, 34 Germanic and 24 Roman. To-day 46 per cent, of the people of Europe are Slavonic. 30 Germanic and 25 Roman. By 1960 it is estimated that half of Europe will be Slavonic and under one third will be Germanic. Hitler has therefore every reason for sounding a note of wa ruing on Germany’s declining population. Whether he will be able to do anything to alter a trend that set in well over 100 years ago is another matter There are many factors that affect population increase that are beyond the control of legislators. *

It is, of course, significant that Hitler is himself a bachelor, and in that capacity he will make no contribution to ward assisting his country to increase the birthrate. Nevertheless, if he wishes to have a standard to which all good Germans may attain, he must go to other countries for it. It is a fact that of all the married couples in Germany something like 40 per cent, have no children. One rar-ely hears, moreover, of large families in Germany. On the other hand a good woman by the name of Maria de Mattos actually established a new village with her descendants before she died at the age ot SO years. The village so established is called Ventosa, and it is populated by her 14 children, her 59 grand-children, and her 82 great grand-children. This total of 155 is, however, surpassed by the family of Mrs. Myhill, who is now 81 years old and lives at North Maisharn, Norfolk. England. She married at the age of 16 years and had 16 children. To-day her~tiny tots and their tiny tots tot up to 170. ♦ * *

Admiral Byrd’s contention that the time has come when expeditions might weU turn their attentions to the bottom of the oceans is very much to the point. The bottom of the ocean is almost the only place in the world that has never been visited. No human being will ever visit it unless he be protected by a steel chamber many inches thick on account of the terrific pressure of water. Nevertheless, there is no reason why charts should not be made of the ocean bottoms. _ Thanks to echo depth finders the job is indeed very much easier than map making on land. This method of charting the bottom of the ocean has reached a stage when it can be done automatically. Depths are recorded along every foot or so of the ocean bottom. It is not so much an expedition that i» wanted as money to provide the ship and pay for the task. Mready we are beginning to know further details about the bottoms of the oceans. They contain lofty mountain ranges that make those on laud appear insignificant. Actually we exist on the tops of these mountains.

The fact is that Mt. Everest could be dumped into some parts of the ocean and never be noticed. Off the Philippine Islands Everest could be chucked overboard and the summit would not come within 3000 feet of the top of the water. Off Porto Rico a depth of 44,000 feet has been discovered. This represents a distance of nine miles, and it is equivalent in depth to the greatest height that man has ascended into the atmosphere. Whether there are even deeper holes in the sea is a task that Admiral Byrd’s suggested expedition might well discover. In 1927 the Emden found a hole off the coast in the Pacific that was 34,000 feet deep. There arc several other depths comparable with this. The Tuscarora deep is 32,000 feet Mariana Deep of Guam 31.000 feet, and our own Kermadec deep 300 miles to the north is also 31,000 feet. In contrast to this the seas round Europe are comparatively shallow. The English Channel nowhere exceeds 300 feet, the Straits of Gibraltar are not more than 1000 feet deep, and the Baltic is about 100 feet deep.

“A Reader” writes:—“lt is understood there is no truth in tbc assumption that tourist traffic to this end of the globe is likely to be affected now that New Zealand and Australia have Savage Lyons for; premiers.”