POSTSCRIPTS

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 93, 17 October 1934, Page 10

POSTSCRIPTS

BY PERCY FLAGE

Chronicle and Comment

In a way, it can bo said that so far all that we have seen of the Democrat Party is its ectoplasm. •:;■ •:;- « Another factor that has contributed to our butter debacle is the mistaken, idea of junking two farmers grow where but one grew before. Probably quite a few Reformers have recently been made- to realise that if; the Coalition parties decide to go their; separate ways they may never coinaj back. *- * « The president of the Melbourne Tramway Union expresses regret that after 100 years of progress the mea had to resort to direct action to fores their just demands. It looks mort like a case of direct inaction. # * * THIS DIFFICULT ENGLISH. "Dollar Prince" vouches for it that the following letter was sent by a Japanese student to an English missionary: Dear Friend—Please send rnej one pounds of sugar. My wife hava! birthed a fine baby boy last night also a door mat, a' rat trap and a screwdriver. It weighs nine pounds and a straw lint. # « « SEERESS SEES DOUBLE. Some theorist has put forward th«j suggestion that the Loch Ness monster is a giant squid. lune. Laila, a noted seeress of Ceylon, returns f.yiu a trance with this picturesque sto}y of the Loch Ness mystery. There ai\ actually two monsters in the Loch* avers Mme., and they are expecting ao; interesting event at an early date^ after which, they will all be captured* The monsters (adds the lady eireunii stantially) are very long, with whit<s bodies; the tails arc long, with bump^ on them. They have long necks, very] small heads, very large, projecting eyes, and live on plants. The- mother ofi the monsters came to Loch Ness 23 years ago from the sea, but is jionr dead. In the whole world there argi only five such monsters. That's that, then, and we can giv* up worrying about it and look around for a christening mug. «• * * REMEMBER- SINAPIS. Because of his gallant success at Ellerslio yesterday Limbohm. is to bs rushed to Melbourne to take his place* in tho Centenary Cup field. The soit of Liniond will have only twelve days! in which to bo tuned up for the greali race. This adventure recalls the casd of Sinapis. Owing to the big strike iit 1913 Sinapis, an acceptor for the New Zealand Cup, was not able to be shipped; from this island until tho evening h&> fore the Cup was run. Owing to transw port difficulties at Lyttelton she had tqj be walked over the hills to Heathcotc* Notwithstanding tho hurry and the hike,Sinapis astonished a host of knowing people by a decisive victory in the two? mile contest—a record performance oil its kind. Now, will history repeafi itself:' # * # WETNESS—AND ARIDITY. There- were moments over the weekend when we wished we could have spent art evening over at Wadi Haifa, in the Sudan. AYe remembered that from 1891 to 1900 the rain gauge at that spot measured exactly nothing. Drops of moisture were felt on 22 days, but nof} on one in either 1895 or IS9B. The hot; places of the earth are not necessarilvj tho same as the dry. There are two) ways of recording temperature—witty tho dry thermometer or the wet. The. wet thermometer has a piece of damp cloth wrapped around the bull* The moisture evaporates and loweraj the temperature in the tube* Tho same process is always gen ing on in the human body, and ia( consequence the wet thermometer is thei best criterion of how a given climate! will affect men. There are only twq places in the world where wot thermos meter temperatures of 100 degrees Fall* have been recorded. One is Kamaran; Island, in the Red Sea., the other oni the coast of Sierra Leone. If you had} been at either of those places on thqj days in question you would have had ij fever, however much you perspired. «• ■ # * THE GOSPEL OF DISCONTENT* New-born of fierce- volcanic fires, Zealandia to be, It braved tho sullen angry waves Of grey tumultuous sea. A quaking mass of oozo -and rock Upreared from ocean slime, It lay and festered 'neath the sun Through countless aeons of time, 'Til protoplasms found its shores In evolution's plan. Reptilian things then shared the lans "With prehistoric man,Then "homo sapiens" evolved, Lived, loved, and fought, and dicdj Through ages fraught with jeopardy He throve and multiplied. Now factors both for good and ill: Creed, politics, and gold, Trade, "war, and arts—a thousand things— Made sport for young and old, While Nature's stores in. plenitude From air, the sea, and land, Wero made subservient to his ne^cts^ And ready to his hand. ( Now eulturo and refinement reign; For what could man wish more? j Yet, I would slay tho fiend who ownfji That motor-bike next door! ' M. .SIR-RON. \\ •::■ -» « ji CEYLON'S SACRED TOOTH. | We have just come across details o#! Ceylon's Sacred Tooth, the parade o§ which figured prominently in the ofV ficial reception to the Duke of Glou« cester when he called in at that islanrf, Tho molar is reputed to have connjj from the skull of the illustrious Buddha, and is shown only to royal visitors and, on certain occasions, tai privileged pilgrims. The relic is re* lamed, carefully guarded in the TemploJ of the Tooth, and on the rare occasion of an exposition, the courtyard is com* gestod with worshippers of all agesv bearing in their hands offerings 015 scent, flowers, and fruit. They surgej up the dark narrow stairway toward^ the silver and ivory doors behind whicli lies the tooth. When the doors open, a flood of hot, heavily-scented air pours out, as the golden Karandua, or outer casket of the relic, stands dimly] revealed behind golden candelabra. The tooth is enclosed in five caskets encrusted with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, and each is slowly and solemnly removed. Tho great moment arrives as tho removal of the final Karandua leaves exposed in the folds of red silk the wondrous relic—the hub of the faith of millions. The sight which meets the eye comes as a distinct shook even to the infidel, as there! lies displayed a colossal discoloured ivory tooth at least three inches long, and unlike any human tooth ever known. As a priest sets it in a golden lotus, the kneeling worshippers, some with tears streaming down their faces, stretch out their hands in adoration^ Such a faith completely passeth under* standing, nml oven tho most pro* uniiiH-O'i sceptic cannot but bo mx*

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