A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 185, 4 May 1936, Page 13

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Scuttled German Warships Ships for the Royal Navy are being built with material salvaged from tbe scuttled German warships at Scapa Flow. The most famous of all salvaging exploits is considered to be tbe raising of these ships, Without a single shot being fired, 72 ships, built at a cost of £40,000,000, went to the bottom as the sea-cocks were removed by the Germans upon the completion of their surrender in 1919. Most of the ships were raised between 1924 and 1931, and the Bayern was brought to the surface early in 1934. All the ships, while still at the bottom of the sea, were bought by Messrs. Cox and Danks, Limited, iron and steel merchants, shipbreakers and salvage contractors, from, the British Admiralty. More than £400,000 was spent by tbe salvagers before the first ship was raised, and the .wages bill was about £5OO a week. The crowning triumph was tbe salvaging of the Hindenburg, a battle-cruiser of 28,000 tons. No ship of her gigantic size had ever been raised before, and more than £50,000 was spent before the feat was accomplished. The Bayern, also of 28,000 tons, was 630 feet long, 100 feet wide and carried 24 heavy guns. After their long immersion, the raised ships presented a strange appearance. Searchlights, masts and upper works generally were fantastically twisted, and marine growths of beautiful colouring and marking covered everything. Ashanti. Ashanti, where Major H. C. Stevenson, from Nigeria, has been appointed Chief Commissioner, is a county of Gold Coast Colony in West Africa. It is inhabited by a number of tribes each under its own head chief. The tribes had frequently banded together and molested the people of Gold Coast Colony. Therefore, in 1901, the area was annexed by Great Britain, its administration being placed under the Governor of the Gold Coast. It is now administered by a Chief Commissioner with an Assistant-Chief Commissioner as relieving officer. The country consists largely of forest, is billy, and on the whole is unhealthy. The soil is fertile, producing rice, maize, millet, cocoa, sugar and rubber. Before the British settlement, human sacrifices were a regular part of the fetish religion. The Ashantis; according to tradition, derive their origin from the fugitives drven southward about 300 years ago by Moslem tribes from Senegaland the Niger. Kumasi is the capital, and has buildings that compare more than favourably with buildings iu good localities in the towns of Wesern countries. Yet within a few miles elephants and buffalo still roam. Tbe native women may be seen dressed in London and Paris frocks, with silk stockings and high-heeled shoes. The secret of the prosperity of the district is the cocoa export trade. Trinidad. , Sir Murchison Fletcher, late Governor of Fiji, has been appointed Governor of Trinidad. The island of Trinidad lies about 16 miles east of Venezuela. Its average length is 50 miles, its average breadth 374 miles, its area 1862 square miles, and its population exceeds 400,000, mostly coloured. The island was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1498 and taken possession of for Spain. Its history for the next 300 years was a very chequered one; it was raided by English, Dutch and French, until in 1802 it was ceded to Great Britain. The Government is administered by a Governor with an executive council of seven members. It also controls the small island of Tobago. The north coast of Trinidad is rock-bound through its whole extent, the east coast is so exposed to the surf as to be almost unapproachable, while the south coast is steep in parts. Only on the west coast is there a good natural harbour. The climate is tropical but healthy. The soil is fertile, producing in abundance sugar, cocoa and coconuts. The chief town and principal port is Port of Spain (population about 71,000), The island is famous chiefly for its asphalt lake, 114 acres in area, a mile and a half in diameter and 285 feet deep at rhe centre. Under present working conditions the lake is sinking about a foot a year. There is, however, enough asphalt to supply the needs of the world for generations to come. Tbe asphalt is always moving, with incalculable undercurrents, though the movement is imperceptible. The crude asphalt is hacked from the surface with pickaxes, only negroes being employed on the work.

Chanak. The cruisers Australia and Sydney were warhily welcomed by the local authorities at Chanak. Chanak stands on the Dardanelles at its narrowest part. During the Great War it was unsuccessfully attacked by the Allied fleet (March, 1915). The population is about 13,000. Henry Cavendish.

Sir Herbert Austin has given £250,000 to the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University. This laboratory, where Lord Rutherford has carried out most of his important scientific work, was erected as a memorial to Henry Cavendish, the first man to weigh the earth. One of the most eccentric of men, and yet one of the most remarkable of chemists, Henry Cavendish was born on October 10,1731. He died on March 10, 1810. He was educated at Cambridge University, but left without taking a degree. He was enabled to carry out a life devoted to science by reason of an immense fortune bequeathed to him by an uncle. What the builder of his house intended as the drawing-room. Cavendish used as a laboratory, the next room was turned Into a forge and the upper apartments were used as an astronomical observatory. Very little room was set apart for personal comfort. His splendid library was kept four miles away in London. He hated the sight of women, and preferred to be left entirely alone. It was said of him that in tbe four-score years he'llved he uttered fewer words than any other man who ever lived. In scientific knowledge he was far in advance of his age. He made discoveries in heat and electricity that are commonly associated with tbe mimes of later men who had better appliances; he was a profound mathematician and a fine astronomer; he established the proportions of the constituents of the air; he demonstrated the nature of water and manufacturefl It from Its elements; and he laid the foundations of the study of the laws of heat. He occupied himself with every branch of physical science known in his time.