RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 212, 4 June 1938, Page 10

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights On Current Events (By Kickshaws.) Maybe New Zealand is going to be short of onions, but it is a far cry to get them from the Northern Hemisphere. ♦ ♦ ♦ • Six men have been arrested in New York for a miracle of high finance with trusts. We knew the Brains Trusts would run amuck. * * It is stated that electric fences sting, not shock, and, curiously enough, that is exactly the feeling one gets when told the price of a leg of mutton these days. Regarding family age records, "W.S.” writes:—"There are five brothers of my family to-day over 75 years of age. One is 82-and the eldest 84. The family emigrated to New Zealand from Scotland in 1868. It appears to.me to lie about a world record. Can any of your readers quote a greater one?” Recent claims that music increases the output of factories some 6 per cent, or more seems to indicate that similar claims made by , the old-time Highlanders were founded on a scientific fact about which they knew nothing. The drone of the spinning wheels was accompanied by song. Indeed, the “ceilidhs,” when neighbours came over to join in song at some humble turfbuilt cottage, were said to promote the output of spun wool to a remarkable degree. At any rate, so impressed were these shrewd Highlanders as regards the merits of singing at work, on some estates special pipers or fiddlers were kept to encourage the harvesters. Every task about the farm had its special tune. The women harvested in time to their own songs. In the toilsome process of “wauking the cloth” they sang continuously. In fact, it was a common saying that the cloth would take, so many more songs.. On the stack the labourers danced to a reel tune as they piled up the sheaves and consolidated them. Even now in the old songs of Scotland one can trace the jerk of the loom and the cadence of the muckle wheel. What will our new-fangled experts be discovering next? Hoots, mon I

Since the days of Saul it has been accepted that music has a remarkable effect upon the the nerves. The harp may be soothing and curative. But the" Hungarian Government discovered that other forms of music may be dangerously exciting, and for that reason it was obliged to prohibit the “Rakoezy” march. To-day it is the words rather than the dirge that afford excitement. One cannot imagine being incited to break the law by the tune of the “Red Flag,” although there is admittedly still something uncannily illegal about the “Marseillaise.” If music affects the human animal, it is also a fact that the lower creatures are equally interested. What dog can refrain from introducing an accompaniment into certain types of music? It was the sight of his 22 cows in a row with their ears cocked and their heads over the garden wall listening to Rachmaninoff that convinced an English farmer that cows definitely appreciated music. With a business eye to the milk yield, this farmer installed a radio in the cowshed. A preference for light music in place of the more classisal symphonies is said to be reflected in the yield.

If you were to ask von Luekuer bow he managed to tear a telephone book into' four with his Augers he would probably admit that the feat was partly strength and partly knack. It is iu much the same way that once one acquires the knack it is possible to bend the ordinary household poker into a loop by striking the forearm with it. Not, of course, that there are not strong men who can bend steel like putty. Mr. W. Humphries, of Staffordshire, England, for example, can bend a half-inch bar of steel round his neck by sheer strength. But, theu, he can take a horseshoe and straighten it. These are feats of strength, with no easy road of accomplishment via a back door. Mr. Cyril Walker, an enameller by trade, for example, can . do something that probably von Luckner eannot do. He can tear a new pack of cards in two with his fingers, pulp an apple in a singlehanded grip, and hammer steel nails with his fist through a plank of wood.

There may be spectacular strong men who make a living from the feats they perform. But the fact remains that there is a coolie employed by the Royal Air Force in Iraq who carries in the course of his day’s work 18 4-gailou tins of petrol at a time. As 72 gallons of petrol weigh 5941 b., this lift is by no means one at which a professional would laugh. Perhaps even more astonishing was the Hindu porter who carried a load of books that weighed 3SOIb. eight miles uphill in three hours. He climbed a height of about 4000 feet. While on the subject of amateur efforts in the strong-man line, there is the tale about Elias Hansen, which is said to be authentic. Elias came to an inn at Tromso. He was refused a drink because he had already taken enough. Feeling annoyed he went down to the beach, picked up a boulder and dumped it in the doorway of the hotel. The price he demanded for taking it away was four quarts. He got them. The boulder weighed 8581 b. and may be seen to this day on a pedestal with au inscription telling the tale.

One marvels at strong-man stories, forgetful that Nature lias equipped us all with a very liberal factor of safety and greater strength than we usually appreciate. Our legs, indeed, are designed so that they may withstand a strain of half a ton. Place a paper bag under a book and you will be amazed how easy It is to lift the book by blowing into the bag. Actually, it is possible to lift four or five volumes iu this way. Indeed, by using this method, it is possible to blow over a dozen heavy books piled on top of one another. The bag is inserted under the bottom book nnd a little toward the edge. The books will be lifted on one side and topple over. Can you crack a nut? If your teeth are iu good order the nut has no chance. The average pressure of the bite with natural teeth is 1701 b. That means that you could hang on by your teeth. Some people have such powerful jaws that they have a bite of 2601 b. Actually, it takes a.pressure of about 1501 b to crack a tough hazel nut. It takes about 901 b. to chew tough steak, and half that for choice cuts. When one breaks a walnut between the fists it requires a pressure of about 1001 b. * ♦ »

“In several books on Highland clans I have seen it stated that at one time the chieftain of the Clan Mac Queen of Strathdearn was resident in New Zealand. His name was Donald Mac Queen,” writes “Clansman.” “Could any of your readers confirm or correct this impression? It may also lie recalled that the chief of Clan Grant was living in the South Island for a time as plain Mr. Grant. May I also suggest that your excellent column be printed in booklet form as a permanent record, as it. contains so much of interest to the general reader?”