HERE AND THERE.

Grey River Argus, 9 April 1927, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

SUNSPOTS AND DEATH. Sunspots have a marked influence on mortality, according to Dr. Maurice Faure, a leading French physician, lecturing at the Academy of Medicine, Paris. He declared that as the result of several years’ observations he had discovered that, whereas the death rate was 1.3 per cent, on ordinary days, it rose to 26 per cent, on days when there were sunspots. He suggested that the. cause was the 1 ‘ disequilibrium of human vitality. ’ MILLIONAIRE ICE RINK. An ice club, which contains a rink of 17,000 square feet of ice and nine miles of brine piping, was opened recently in London. This marvellous rink, which has cost over £lOO,OOO, has been built and equipped by two millionaires, Major Jack Courtauld, M.P., and Mrs Stephen Courtauld, makers of artificial silk goods. Membership is limited to j 500 and the entrance fee is 12 guineas and the fee for membership 12 guineas a year, though the club will not be open in the summer at all.

An orchestra plays for Charlestons, fc.x-trots, blues, and valses on the ice which take place twice every afternoon nnd twice every evening for intervals of a quarter of an hour. There is a Royal box fitted up in parchment color and silver at one end of the rink, which was occupied by the Prince of Wales on ’he opening night, when exhibitions were given by famous skaters from Austria and Switzerland. RETURN TO OLD VILLAGE DANCES Parisians are beginning to get rid of the Charleston and the Black Bottom, nnd arc returning.to the dances of the good old times. Throughout Montmartre ancient French village dances are being revived and efforts are being made by terpsichorean pedagogues to introduce a taste for the dances used in the provinces. A dancing academy on the Place I’igalle announces that it is starting a new course in the teaching of the dances morvandelles, among which are the jig, the morvandclle and the chibreli. Fiddlers, players of the bagpipes and the hurdy-gurdy have been engaged to play before the sophisticated young men and women that flock to the bright lights of the famous hall. Because these musicians are rather rare in Paris their services are much sought after, and they receive splendid pay. Thus, there arc signs that soon the Boites du Nuit will sec old-fashioned dances reminiscent of the Auvergne, Britanny and other picturesque parts of France. WIDOWS PREFERRED. The marriage statistics for Ulster show that more widows are being led to the alter than ever before. Widowers as well as bachelors are seeking them in marriage, and in 11 out of every 100 marriages one or both contracting parties have been married before. Single girls are perturbed at the success of the widows, whose attractions for men often include a home ready to step Into.

TREES WITH SQUARE TRUNKS. An attempt is being made by forestry experts to grow trees with square trunks instead of round ones, as at present. The sole aim is to eliminate waste and enable the lumberman to cut the trees into many similar-sized sections. Coincident with this experiment it is purposed to restrict the numbers of useless trees in the world and to grow in their place giant pine or other trees. Among the trees classed as useless would be those which grow in a forest near the West Coast of Africa. Their trunks are often as much as four feet in diameter, yet they only reach a height of one foot. No tree bears more than two leaves, but these are sometimes six feet long. NEW CURE FOR DRUG ADDICTS. Tests have been conducted by the American prison authorities of a new cure for drug-taking called Narcosan, the invention of a bio-chemist, Mr A. S. Horovitz. The theory of the action of this new specific is that narcotics such as morphine call forth in the body certain protective substances to neutralise them. If the marc otic s are suddenly withdraw, these neutralising subI stances themselves have a toxic effect. Narcosan neutralises these toxic substances. The tests were conducted in 366 cases, of which 147 were women. One patient, a negress, died, and only one patient also a negress, is known to have resumed the restore the ability to sleep within seventy-two hours sometimes within twenty four. It eliminates craving, builds up the appetite quickly, and quiets the patients so that they become docile and as easy to handle as any normal sick persons, entirely eliminating the “mad-house*’ features of dope wards. Since the publication of the official report on the tests applications for- supplies of the specific have poured in from all parts of the country, indicating the widespread distribution of the drug habit. DEATS FROM CAT’S SCRATCH. Scratched on the leg by a cat whilst she was sewing at her home in Gar-field-road, Riverstone (N.S.W. ),Alrs Laura Gibbs succumbed to blood poisoning in Windsor Hospital last week. After she had sustained the injury deceased did not treat it seriously. Blood poisoning symptoms set in, and she was removed to Windsor Hospital, where after a week’s attention, she died. TUNNEL TO SAVE TWO HOURS. A French engineer submitted plans to the municipality of Gcx, near Geneva, for the construction of a tunnel under the Faucillc Pass (4340 feet high), in the Jura Alps. The projected tunnel, which will be abut three miles long, is destined for motorists travelling between Paris and Geneva, because the Faucille Pass is impassable during the winter months owing to the deep snow. The journey from Paris to Gen-, eva would be shortened by two hours. AUSTRALIA’S ROTTEN BOROUGH. The rotten borough is regarded as a thing of the past, but it would appear to have its perpetuation in Western Australia, where is found the electorate with the smallest number on its roll in Australia. Menzies, a decadent mining locality in Western Australia, some distance north of Kalgoorlio, has a full voting strength of only 307, ami it is probable that not half that number will exercise their right to vote at the forthcoming elections in W.A. A PLUCKY CAT. Mrs A. P. Luscombe had a startling 1 experience at her home, Gorse Wold ' (N.S.W.) recently. Her husband and

family had retired to bed and she remained “listening in” to a concert on the wireless. While thus engaged she felt her cat rubbing against her feet. When about to rise she pushed what she thought was the cat’s tail off one of her feet, but on looking down was horrified to find that supposed tail was a good-sized black snake. The reptilt was dead. The cat had killed it and deposited it at the feet of its mistress. NORAV AY’S LIQUOR DECISION. The Norwegian Cabinet proposed the complete abolition of prohibition to Parliament. The Bill abolishing prohibition completely is expected to result in an increase to the State revenue of 20,000,0(10 kroner. The expected proposal by the Cabinet indicates that the general opinion throughout Norway has from time to time modified its original prohibition ordinance, making it more and more liberal. The anticipated proposing that the nation rid itself entirely of the national law prohibiting liquor is considered the death knell of all liquor bans in the northern country. FRENCH AVAR DEBTS DISCOVERY. Bills run up by British prisoners in France years ago are being put forward as a reason why France should not pay her war debt to Great Britain. Seven hundred British subjects were interned in A r erdun in 1803, and during the following 11 years they shot, hunted, raced, gave amateur theatricals, and lived on the fat of the land, paying for their ndulgences -with money lent to them by the local banks, shopkeepers, and private individuals. It was calculated in 1814, when they were released, the British had run up a bill for £160,000. Tn 1888 a French Prince calculated that the amount owing, reckoned at compound interest, would represent a capital sum of £120,000 for each inhabitant of A r erdun. This sensational discovery is credited to the Franco-English writer AT. Stephane Lauzanne. Al. Poincare has been advised in his legal capacity to accept the brief in the case, but he is hardly likely to agree to the fantastic proposal. In the report to the Senate of the Budget estimates, Af. Louis Dansset estimates the total French National Debt as approximately 47,024,870,000 paper fanes, equivalent to £3,762,000,000 or about a quarter Great Britain’s National Debt. MYRIADS OF MOSQUITOES. A plague of mosquitos has infested the whole of the northern rivers area of New South Wales. Young pigs have been stung to death, and through out the night, crazed horses, cattle and calves gallop madly about in an effort to get rid of the pests. Nothing like it has been experienced since 1917. Prior to the recent heavy rain, a few mosquitoes were in evidence, but since then the mosquitoes have multiplied enormously and now they are keeping man and beast on the move day and night. Myriads of the stinging pests have invaded every home in the town and country. They have driven hundreds of housewives to buy mosquito nets and other materials to combat the vicious onslaught. Shops have been bought out of all these goods. The mosquitoes have been breeding for the past two months in swamps and lagoons creeks and water holes, and as conditions continue to be favourable for developing the larvae, little relief is ex-' pected uiitil cooler weather sets in.