RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 74, 21 December 1937, Page 10

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights On Current Events

(By

Kicrshaws.l

That stay-in strike at Karori baths seems to indicate that bathers are now in the swim. Most food, says a diet expert, contains starch. Maybe that is what makes the price stiff. * * * Australians, it is declared, don’t talk much about themselves. They haven’t time after Sydney Harbour. Germany's decision, in the interest of economy, to cut two inches off the shirts of her menfolk, is an example of economy t4iat might well be practised in other countries. The waste that goes on is appalling. Before the days of typewriters, one French firm fout d, for example, that by not dotting their “i’s” in letters and omitting accents, the clerks saved no less than £2O a year in the cost of writing letters. Most of us have noticed when doing the Christmas shopping, bow deftly the salesman makes a little loop by which the customer may hold the parcel. The superintendent of one large firm in America showed that by oinitting those loops bis firm saved SOO miles of string a year. Another economist calculated that if householders left their rubbish bins a foot nearer the entrance than was normal, tlie dustmen of a large city would, on the whole, be saved a walk”of 2000 miles a year. Women, of course, have combined to save in many little ways. Short skirts, for example, were estimated to have reduced the output of textile factories by millions of yards a year.

The situation between America and Japan is moving far more after the ohlfashioned manner than after the new method of starting the fight first and declaring war afterward. Not that the situation is such that declaration of wars has ever been mentioned. At one time it was considered good form to send some sort of an ultimatum demanding compliance in a specified time When the Franco-Prussian War started the outbreak of warlike acts was preceded not only by an ultimatum, Imt by a deliberate declaration of war. The Great War started in the same manner. When the United States of America declared war on Spain, an ultimatum was sent demanding the withdrawal of all land and sea forces from Cuba within three days. The first act of war was the seizing on the part of the United States of America of certain Spanish vessels. Usually, during these preliminaries the various ambassadors start to pack their trunks. On the outbreak of hostilities they withdraw to their own countries. During the period of hesitancy the nations involved get busy mobilising. It is usual not to admit this to be the case. The forces take up positions for manoeuvres or some such excuse. America, it will be noted, has decided not to take this step, which, in itself, is a peaceful sign.

Mr A. 8. Paterson’s comparison of noises of yore with the roar of today must bring back to some of the older folk memories of the past. To-day the predominating sound in town and city may be the roar of mechanical transport. Yesterday there was still a roar—of steel-shod wheels on cobbles; which noise is the greater is perhaps open to controversy. The rattle of a hansom cab on a cobbled roa'd was sufficient to make it imperative to put down straw when people were ill. We do not see the straw in the streets these days. On that score maybe the old noise was the louder. Earlier still the noise of the stage coach was certainly a noisy noise. Dogs barked loudly in those days, or appeared to do so. Maybe they had more at. which to bark. The sound of trotting horses has gone almost entirely from our city streets. One hears the sound in the country today. It is a pleasant sound that cannot fail to bring back pleasant memories to those who can recall the old days. An old-fashioned pumping engine and the sound of the hooves of horses are sounds of the past..

One may well ask in the matter of noise where the old street cries are. Can it be that the roar of a modern city is so great that these criers gave up in despair long ago and brought a lorry from which to honk their wares? ‘‘All 'ot, all ’ot” yelled the man with the baked potatoes. He trundled his weird contraption of brass-fitted boiler and stove along the streets of London doing a rousing trade. “Smoked sprats, ha’penny a bundle,” was another cry. “if they stink you must not grumble,” was added as a warning. Nobody sells sweet cherries in the streets these days. "Round and sound"’ was generally an additional attraction. Even hair-oil was cried from the streets in one part of London and various types of buns in all parts— “Hot spiced ginger, smoking hot.” was another cry.- People in those days never seemed able to keep warm. The hot potatoes were more often than not never eaten, being placed in the pocket to keep the hands warm. Perhaps the most curious cry of all wag “Bad butter,” or even “Rancid butter.” Quite a trade was done with the stuff in the poorer quarters. Modern health regulations would put a stop to that. » * ♦

Despite modern noises it has been argued that the noises of yesterday, if less continuous, were nearly as annoying. The type of noise we get today, a long insistent murmur of a city, is calculated to dull our ears. Experts declare that if a noise goes on long enough we do not hear it. Moreover, exposure to sound above a certain intensity induces deafness. Maybe we are all getting noise-deaf an'd the sound of our civilisation has reached a crescendo that none of us appreciates. Some experts have even gone so far as to say that if noise is allowed to continue, Nature's reply will be a race of deaf people. Experiments seem to indicate that the worst street noise is the motor horn. In at least one country drivers have their horns rented to them, much on the principle of a stamp machine. A penny in the slot is attached to the horn. After a specified number of toots the driver has to insert another penny. In one German summer resort guests are fined a penny every time they slam a door. “To settle an argument could you, please tell me whether farm bauds have to pay the wages tax of Bd. in the £ if they be under the age of 21 years ” asks "H.E.8.” [Farm hands become liable for lax when they are 20 years old.] »» «.—- “Have been wondering whether the enclosed would be thought worthy of your most interesting column.” says 'T.A.C.” “The point about it, of course, is that the initial letters of the words run through the alphabet:— “Apparently believers can't deny Established faith gets half in jeopardy. Kind-hearted latitudinarians make Near-sighted orthodoxy plainly quake. Religion seems too understanding. vaster, Witness Xenocrates, yea. Zoroaster.”