RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 93, 13 January 1939, Page 8

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights On Current

Events

(By Kickshaws).

Well, well, naturally all is Confucian in China now that the Japanese are there.

Chamberlain, it is said in Italy, stopped for a diplomatic cup of tea in France. What British folk are hoping is that he won’t bring back a diplomatic storm in a teacup from Italy.

A fashion expert says that girls should dress in such a way as to hide defects in their figure. After looking at some of the fashions we are of the opinion that it would have to be an extremely small defect.

“E.A.S.” writes:—“l wonder if you could see your way clear to give us a discourse ou Machiavelli. Many of your readers, including myself, have only a vague idea that this gentleman’s name Is more or less synonymous with diabolical cunning. lam sure that there are many folk who would be very interested to know more about him aud his doings, even, though the knowledge be sketchy. If the idea appeals to you, then perhaps at intervals you could give us the interesting points of other famous characters, such as the Borgia clan, Baron Munchausen, Robin Hood, and so on.

[Niccolo Machiavelli was born in 1469, and died in 1527. He was a statesman of Florence. He wrote a book called “Il Principe,” which expounds his system of unscrupulous statecraft —at least, in those days it was considered unscrupulous statecraft. Nevertheless, even today political cunning and intrigue is known as Machiavellianism. Machiavelli declared that rulers might resort to any treachery and artifice to uphold their power. If Niccolo lived today he would be astounded at the shortcomings of his book, and perhaps he would write a sequel.]

It is stated that in contrast to Hitler’s visit to Rome there is a remarkable lack of special protection for Chamberlain. This may be the case, but it is doubtful if the special protection at all times in evidence for Mussolini himself will be relaxed. A special police force of 300 men is responsible for his protection, in contrast to the one detective who normally looks after Chamberlain. Mussolini’s protectors are in plain clothes. They guard the villa Torlonia, where he lives, assisted by Royal Carbineers. They also guard the Palazzo Venezia, where Mussolini has his ofiice. Nobody is allowed to stand still or loiter in the square facing his office. As a protection against timebombs all the sewers In the streets of Rome are closed with gratings. Moreover, special guards scrutinize every parcel and package that arrives for Mussolini, always opening them before Mussolini receives them. By prearranged signals it is possible at short notice to bring police along the- length of road between his villa and his office to clear the streets, and his own guards take up strategic positions to await the horn of his high-powered car.

The suggestion that far more bush fires are caused by carelessly thrown cigarette butts than’ is imagined emphasizes that few of us realize how many cigarette butts are thrown away, carelessly or otherwise. There do not appear to be any facts on how many cigarette butts get thrown away in New Zealand. One can, however, obtain a very fair estimate by considering reliable figures from the United States of America. That country throws away 171,000 cigarette butts a minute, day and night, all the year round. If only one-third of those were discarded out-of-doors, there would be nearly 60,000 butts a minute falling ou the countryside. Admittedly, every cigarette butt would not cause a fire, even if it fell on suitable tinder. Calculations and tests have proved that every time a careless smoker flings away a burning butt on dry grass or the bush floor, he gives the fire demon odds of one to nine that it won’t start a fire. Even if we reduce the totals in the proportion of the population totals of New Zealand and America, 1 to 80, the chances of fire are still very great.

Smokers may be interested to know that a series of tests has been made to discover the potential danger of ligliteH cigarette butts east carelessly away. Measurements revealed that the length of an average discarded butt was inches. In 50 tests with cigars and cigarettes in still air, no ignition of dry grass took place. In a wind from one to three miles an hour, the proportion of times the grass caught fire was 41 per cent. With winds of four miles an hour the ignitions rose to 85 per' cent. Wind speeds above that reduced the percentages, till in winds of eight miles an hour it had fallen to 57 per cent. Cigars proved to be dangerous in winds of three miles an hour, when ignitions totalled 18 per cent. It required, however, a wind of 12 miles an hour to raise cigar butts to a percentage ignition of nearly 40. Cigarette butts took up to half an hour to burn out and from five to nine minutes to set fire to dry grass. Smokers who appreciate these details will no doubt be careful not to give their butts a chance to prove them correct.

The suggestion that the cars of motorists convicted of drunkenness should be forfeited to the State, takes ns into a somewhat fantastic method of punishment much in evidence at one lime in England, when the accident resulted in the deatli of a person. At one time, anything that caused the death of an individual, as a result of an accident, was forfeited and sold for pious use. When a man met his death through injuries inflicted by the full of a ladder, the cause of death was sold and the proceeds given to the church for prayers for the dead one The scheme failed, however, when mass transport come into vogue. Railway company' were not pleased when the whole train was taken from them and sold. Shipping lines were no more pleased. The custom was abolished in 1846, largely because modern conditions, even in those days, made it unworkable.

If drunken drivers are to have their ears forfeited, all manner of complications may follow, as. indeed, they did in the early days in Britain.. An owner who lends his cur to a friend who gets drunk will not be at all pleased to find the vehicle seized. A person who has his car stolen or converted will lie no ' more pleased when it cehses to remain— 7 his own property. Indeed, a person with a grudge has only to hop into the other fellow’s car. polish off a few shillings worth of liquor, to cause all manner of trouble to the owner of the car. One would also be interested to know what would happen to drivers of public vehicles. Would the bus he forfeited, or the taxi-cab? If so, what happens to the contents. Those firms who do business with rental cars might have something to say as well as bus owners bad the like. What about the drunken driver of a horse vehicle or the drunken pedestrian. Why not a forfeit in these cases, too?