TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 89, 16 April 1910, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

New Zealand's Government does not yet fecm sufficiently inPrecautrons terested in meteoroAgamst Floods, logy to know that on<3 section of the science, tho study of floods, has been very system atically undertaken in older countries. A thoughtful letter by Mr. G. H. Davies, in. yesterday's Post, gave a timely reminder that New Zealand«rs could profitably give some attention to measures designed to reduce the heavy bill of costs yearly put in by angry rivers. At present, in spite of manifest handicaps, tho official meteorologift can furnish, come very helpful notice of motion of floods, but wo are sure that tho part v.Jiich present circumstances permit him, to take on behalf of eettlers is but a minor fraction, of the role which ho v capable of filling. In France and other countries where the authorities deem it well worth while t« minimise the awoJlen. rivers' power of mischief, the observers have accurate estimates of the soil's absorbent powers, and for a given rainfall they can make a very close assessment of the rice r^at wil' •occur at a particular .point, 'i. .ireo or four days ahead of a flood movement, the peopl* of Paris have an. estimate, correct to wrtlbfex two feet, of a rise in the Seme. In St. Louis, America, a reliable prophecy can be given out twelve day* ahead of a flood, for the Mississippi, is a very long river. In New Zealand Itae tivots and their watersheds have their own special character, which would vrdl repay careful .noting, in conjunction with the ordinary work of meteorology. A commission is to sit at the Thames presently to investigateeorae phasas of river silting, which has caused destructive floods, and the enquiry will havo a. special vahie if it calls attention to tho larger questioa of the "habits of tlhis country's riveTs in both Wands. Mr. Davaes suggests remedial measures, but there is much necessary information to be gathered and eo-or<Hnated a& a preliminary to any bound conservation policy. The developments of "wireless" elect(> tricity have been so swift 'Wireless" and so varied that only Marvels. specialists can be expected to keep track with tii«m. It is not too much to say that tney cover the whole field of applied electricity, limited only by distance— a limitation which is being gradually overcome as knowledge of the properties of the "ether" is extending. Communication has become possible, not only between fixed points, hut with and between moving objects on land and sea, and even the course of moving objects may be directed, as in the case of torpedoes guided fnom the shore or from a ship. Wireless telegraphy is now a commonplace, telephony has followed, half-tono etchings have been duplicated at a distance, keyboards "operated, and even television has been found possible. Aerial trancit is yet in its infancy,' but we may reasonably expect that both the airship and the submarine will be provided with "antennae" for the reception, if not with the more elaborate apparatus for the despatch, of messages. A cable message yesterday points to a new development which scientific progress has rendered inevitable. "Wireless," which, like electricity in its first commercial application, has so far been handled only by States and wealthy corporatioii3, promises to be, like the electricity of to-day, a convenience at the command of the individual. Already we havo had accounts of a pocket receiver, by which the traveller or scout may "pick up" the signals passing through the ether in his vicinity, though as yet no portable contrivance has been devised by which he can reply ; and now by means of an invention of Mr. Grinfleil Matthews, not only are the various rooms of a largo building brought into communication with each other, but with a point eight miles away at sea. When domestic "wireless" has become a, commonplace, the unromantic citizen will daily and hourly perform wonders surpassing the magic of the Arabian Nights. With the co-ordination of public and private installations this busy earth may yet have no solitudes remaining. Some day, it may be, the whole human race may begin to find itself, and discover that it is, after all, a single organism. Truly, these sporting gentry chase the "skirts of happy "The Skirts chance" in these adof vanced days of gamHappy Chance." bling, when the fond speculators are provided with multitudinous opportunities of making — or breaking — themselves. Their hot pursuit of the gold-crowned goddess is full of pitfalls, and there are many by the wayside nursing a sprained anklo (speaking figuratively) and a thin puißfc. In our columns yesterday were three stories concerning the grand passion, and, strange to relate, one adventurous individual, lured long and anxiously with a gorgoous tint, declined at the last minute to be hooked. Tho not result of this particular instanou was a month's imprisonment for a man whom the police described as a "guesser," and a lesson to another individml who, il is to be assumed, wil' hesitate before ne entrusts another comparative fctranger of horsey proclivities with money for betting purposes, be the inducement never bo alluring. It is gratifying to know that there is at least one individual who has out-pointed tho "confidence" trickster. Too, too often it is the other way about. In another instance three young men, "looking for work," it was declared, were found in school on the wharf, but, unfortunately, it was a hazard school, and the pupils were discouraged from further lessons by a righteously-deterring one— -with the magistrate as master. At a recent race meeting in th« Nt/rth a too daring oddslayor got out of his depth, and his clients are now sadder, but saner k(we hope) men. So it goes on. After the two latter experiences the gamblers will lay the blame on ill-luck, or some other mora or less irresponsible and mythical agency, but there wil! be little sympathy for their wws. These little in cidonts indicate the spirit of gambling that permeates the community at large. And this despite the many chances that co-operato against the speculator in the long run. The horse runs not fast enough— flocording to his or another's powers; tho bookmaker may b« only, a

book- faker; the "good thing" may be an immorally slow animal; and the "schools" may break-up before the holidays. What are some conclusions? Maybe, not to bet till one gets a certainty ; not to bet (in "school" or out) until the policeman has passed ; not to bet with a "welsher" ,* and, finally, not to bet at all. This last is a hard saying, but, in sooth, this is a hard world — for the gambler.