Shell in an Orange.

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 127, 31 May 1934, Page 10

Shell in an Orange.

The purchaser of au ora.nge from the Islands was distinctly surprised when the fruit was cut in two.to find fiinily embedded in the flesh a piece of shell, apparently from some sea-water mollusc. How it got there is somewhat of a mystery, seeing that the slci;i of the orange, beyond a slight indentation and discoloration above the portion whcie the shell was embedded, showed no sign of any foreign body having penetrated it. The piece of sheji was apparently into the orange when tho fruit was final] and unripe, and :is the orange'iCxprinded in tho ripening process ths shell became entirely .enclosed and hidden from external view. New Business. The 'fitness of the railways to do an increased business, at no greatly increased expense, is 'reaffirmed by the General Manager (Mr. G. H. Mackley) in the June issue of the "Jfew Zealand Railways Magazine." Mr. MackIcy states: "Tho additional business the railways have already gained aids in taking up the slack of employment in many places where minimum staffs had to be kept and supplemented by 'spares''to deal with busy periods. But when the time comes that pressure of additional business calls for an increase in the total staff of the Department, all tho facilities are available for their training and equipment to carry on with' steadily maintained efficiency." "My Best Investment." * Under this heading a correspondent writes to a Sydney paper: "I am a small manufacturer. Two years ago, in the midst of the depression, when things were looking very blue, I was seized with a sudden impulse, and en-, gaged two well-educated^ youths, 17 years of age. I did not exactly know what I was going to do with them, but gave them a sort of roving commission^ Gradually these youths took all the petty details off my shoulders, and when I state that next month my wife and I are going for a cruise round the islands for two months, you may realise the implicit trust I put in these boys. Their different outlook, their enthusiasm and original, ideas, have revolutionised ..- my. business. I can conscientiously say they' were -the finest investment in my life." -.■!'■' Wrangling Over. Causes. ... ■ 1 From a study of accident causes, the parties' concerned often have totally different,views as to how the accident happened, and if one party has made a breach of a particular regulation this is often seized upon by the "other party as the only or the primary cause, thus relieving the latter party of all respoa-; sibility. If, both parties have' committed breaches of the regulations the case seems to revolve into a duel, to determino who has broken the most regulations, remarks the; City. Council investigator into causes': of street accidents in the city. It appears, he' continues, that the failure to give a correct signal is ; definitely more soriqus than travelling 'at 20 miles ; per hour when, under the.circumstances, 15! mile's per hour constitutes , dangerous driv- • Ing. ' '.'.'. ■ v •■■ -• .."■'-.' ', - - Peril In the Air. "We had a thrill yesterday when off the coast of Tunis." Thus Mr. CM. Bowden, of Mastorton, describes. a dramatic aviation incident in the Mediterranean. Writing to a Wellington friend, Mr.-Bowden, who was on his way' to iondon, describes how three French, aeroplanes came down in formation' only a few yards from the ship, tho Jervis Bay, from Australia to London. "Two of them appeared to touch .and in a split second one fell and sank out of sight into the sea. Tho other aeroplane was damaged, but it flew towards the coast! Our ship put about quickly, and presently' the young aviator.who" had fallen was rescued and brought aboard. He seemed'none the worse for his accident! But it seemed to us a painfully long time before he was picked up by a boat from the Jervis Bay. The sea was as :unruffled as a millpond. A" seaplane from Tunis came to the ship and took off the fallen aviator, while the ship's bugler played 'La Marseillaise.' Later in the day tho captain of tho Jervis Bay, received &• radio .message of thanks for the rescue, dispatched by thb commandant at ,Sidi Ahmed." ' ■ The Onlooker Does Not See Most. A neat point is made in the City Council report upon street' accidents:. 1 that the onlooker very often, does not see as much as he may think when an accident occurs. He may see the accidont,, but often he takes no interest .until the cause of the accident is past and gone. A little reflection upon the length of time that elapses between the moment ,when one or both parties involved in an accident receives the final danger signal through ear or eyes and the moment of impact is sufficient to show that much may occur in a very short length of time, probably under two seconds, and unless both parties are already prepared for emergencies, the chances of avoiding the accident are remote, states the report. Also, during this small period of time it seems hardly possible that either party could gain a clear conception of the cause of the accident. As the cause of an accident occurs before the impact, and not at the impact, not very much reliance can be placed tpon the views of witnesses as to cause, for the first indication of an accident to persons other than.the parties concerned is usually the sound of the impact or the squeal of brakes, and, assuming that the final danger signal is two seconds before the,impact, it is fairly safe to say that the actual cause occurred or commenced before the final danger was registered.