RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 194, 14 May 1936, Page 8

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights on Current Events (By Kickshaws.') We note that Mrs. Mollison has lost her way in the clouds, and we hope that she, too, is not taking up international Pbiitics. It is all very well for the Japanese to expel a member from their Diet, but that does not prevent a nasty taste being left behind. Claims have been made that the 40hour week should be more elastic. The trouble is that nobody at the moment can judge its rebounds. * * * “Iu November last I purchased a ticket in what was termed 'The Auburn Skill Test,’ in which, for the sum or sixpence, one was entitled to estimate thp time, under certain specified conditions, that an Auburn motor-car engine would run on a stated quantity of petrol. This test, it was stated, would take place ou 20/12/35, and was later postponed until 29/2/36,” writes Sixpence.” ’’However, to the best of my knowledge, and to that of several other interested friends, no result has ever been published. Would you lie good enough to advise readers whether this matter has been finalised, or whether the organisers of this competition propose to keep both the car and the money subscribed?” [The test was conducted at the premises of Valley and Bay Motors, Lower Hutt, on March 21. It is stated by a witness of the test that the motor-car ran for 21 hours 11 minutes 1 second, and that the winning competition entrant named the exact time.] The merits and demerits of the new lighting systepi in Lambton Quay, as regards the effects on the complexion of prospective purchasers, raise a series of interesting points that at present do not appear to have received attention outside laboratories. At one time light was light, aud one had to be content with either the sun or a guttering candle. To-day experts play tricks with light that indicate that even now it is probable that very little is known on the subject. Ultra violet rays, for example, have come to tlie fore iu the last decade or two. It is known that these light rays have germicidal properties. One can now go further than that. Scientists declare that, but for a wall of ozone 40 miles above the world, and, perhaps, a fraction of an inch thick, these self-same rays would wipe out all life in the world. This barrier dilutes the strength of the rays. It may be little comfort that the lighting system in Lambton Quay has powerful bactericidal properties, but tests with mercury vapour lamps have proved that a 500-watt lamp ot this type can kill in one minute all the bacteria in 10 cubic feet of air.

It may be argued that street lighting is primarily intended to see by, and not as a means of killing bacteria. This is undoubtedly correct. Y’et investigation does show that various types of light have their own peculiar merits. Indeed, experts now declare that each colour in the spectrum has its own peculiar property. Yellow light has a powerful effect on organic nerve troubles like neuritis. Green light, be It noted, as emitted by the much-critic-ised lights on Lambton Quay, acts as a v cure for neurasthenia. Blue, it is declared, banishes headaches and reduces blood pressure. Red light has a beneficial effect on burns, pleurisy, congestion, and rheumatism. So impressed are some experts with the beneficial treatment to be derived from coloured lights, that they have even invented a name for it —chromo-therapeutlc treatment. It has also been shown that the quality of sunlight itself varies with the seasons. Rays from dazzling lights or bright spring sunlight, it has been shown, affect a tiny gland at the base of the brain. This gland controls the love impulse in both sexes. This explains why, “in spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” Before experiments are made with the lighting system in Lambton Quay, this aspect of the case no doubt will be given the attention it merits.

Others may argue the rights and wrongs of using art unions, otherwise lotteries, to augment the mayors' funds, and the like, in various cities in New Zealand. The tact remains that' from time almost immemorial lotteries seem to have been used for very similar purposes. Some people argue that they should be considered as a form of taxation, with a bonus to somelucky individual, who then pays supertax for the rest of his life. Even the Irish Sweepstake is no new institution. One lias only to read “The Times” of the 18th century to discover that they were being organised in those far off days. The prizes consisted of three of £lO,OOO, besides many smaller ones. One cannot read a copy of “The Times” of ancient Rome. If one could, it is undoubtedly a faet that even then we would read about the encouragement given to the lottery system by the Roman Emperor of the moment. Since those days the system has spread and been tried in nearly every country. Some still have lotteries, others have abolished them-

Although lotteries are now not legal in England, there was a time when that country openly made use of lotteries to defray the cost of public expenses. Queen Elizabeth vigorously fostered lotteries during her reign. The first in her reign, and for that matter in England, took place in 1569. It took four mouths to draw. A shed outside St. Paul’s Cathedral was used for the purpose. The profits went to repair harbours. The prizes were more modest than they are to-day, citizens being content with a chance of winning a sum of £lOOO. or thereabouts. Like all things, lotteries cau be abused. Britain went lottery mad in the 18th century. Government-financed lottery tickets provided bonuses for Government servants. Barbers gave away lottery tickets worth £lO with every threepenny shave. A plate of beef at an eating bouse carried with it a chance to win £5O, and a plate of oysters might win £5, or 5/- could be woo by purchasing a farthing’s worth of sausages. Lottery agencies sprang up everywhere. Shopmen robbed their masters to buy tickets in the hope of paying back the money with their winnings. * t “R.H.” writes; “Could yoti inform me who was the artist who first sang the ‘Lily of Laguna’ and the date and year?” [Eugene Stratton was the singer. The song was published in 1898.] "Will you please let me know in your column the acreage of the Karori Cemetery?” writes “L.S.” [lOO acres. S roods 21 perches.]