HERE AND THERE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2087, 30 July 1901, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

One of the rising scientific men of Paris, M. Dussaud, who has already invented a micro-phonograph for the relief of the deaf, has now prepared a new apparatus, which is called a cinematograph for the blind. It consists of a small disc of zinc, with figures in relief, and a cog wheel which moves a pedal. M. Dussaud's disc with the raised figures is intended to give the blind man an idea of the motion of objects as he touches the apparatus with his fingers. It is claimed, for instance, that a person deprived of sight will be able to realise the flight of a bird by using the new cinematograph. Th e apparatus is not yet perfected, but M. Dussaud has hopes of being able to bring it to a point which, if reached, will undoubtedly class him among the most famous of the practical benefactors of the blind, such as Braille, the inventor of the raised letters for those who, like himself, were afflicted with the loss of vision.

According to the) ' Photogram,' Turkish ladies have at last actually discovered Ihe benefit accruing from a judicious use of photography. Although it is illegal for a man to look upon the face of a woman (no matter how lovely she may be) unless she belongs to his immediate family circle, it seems there is no law to prevent ladies from having their charming personalities photographed without the intervention of the inevitable veil. Of course, the portrait must be taken by one of the gentle sex, but imagine what a treat is in store for the Turkish bachelors! Photography seems likely to receive quite a fillip from this brilliant idea of the Turkish beauties.

Mr Clement Wragge, of storm fame, is out with an idea that has fairly paralysed the easy-going Queenslanders. He wants to realise the dream of old explorers of an inland sea in Australia, which shall modify climate andj turn the arid wilderness into smiling pasture land. Two men alone, in his opinion, can accomplish this great feat —one Mr Andrew Carnegie with hia millions, and the other Mr Lindon Bates with his dredges. If it comes to a matter of choice, he prefers the latter. His scheme (remarks a contemporary) is beautiful in its simplicity. The only drawback to it is that the originator seems to think he is about two centuries ahead of his time. Doubtless he is right. He would connect Lake Gardiner with Lake Torrens, and the latter with Spencer's Gulf, and. behold ! the beneficent work Avould be accomplished. By means of Mr Bates's dredges he would excavate the beds of these lakes, make a gigantic canal to connect them with the ocean, and then the sea would flow into its ancient channels, and the interior would rapidly bloom like a flower-strewn meadow. There is probably a good deal in Mr Wragge's idea ; but he is not likely to live to see it realised. Who shall say what the years of this young century will achieve? The weather generally may not be very interesting—and just now it is cold and windy—but it cannot be denied that Mr Wragge makes his pronouncements upon it very diverting, very thought-promoting. The annual report of the Prison Commission for Scotland for 1900-01 shows that the number of committals to prison during the past year was 60,500, which is considerably above the average for the past five years. Of these 37,671 were owing to drunkenness and breach of the peace. Complaint is made that so little has been done by the local authorities to utilise the Inebriates Act of 1898, Glasgow being the only community which erected an inebriate reformatory. The committals represent the offences and crimes of only 41,000 persons, a great many of whom have been sent to prison fifty times and upwards. There would appear to be no general success in crime in Scotland, the men who live by it being comparatively few. When the Glasgow Exhibition had been open but three weeks its financial success was assured. The money drawn from the sale of season tickets defrayed more than half the cost of the building, and the other half was cleared off by the charges for space and other receipts. In addition to these sources of revenue there has been over £20,000 drawn at the gates and from railway coupons, and, in addition to that, huge receipts are beinggot from the sports ground. The achievement of establishing the financial success of the undertaking within so short a period of the opening is one that is probably unparalleled by any similar show, and contrasts particularly with that of the Paris Exhibition last year.