CURRENT TOPICS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 307, 24 November 1934, Page 6

CURRENT TOPICS

(By “Wayfarer.”)

It was Billie’s first trip to the country. Outside the farmhouse he saw the farmer’s wife plucking a fowl for next day’s dinner. “I say, ma’am, he said, “do you undress them every night?”

Remains of what appear to be joints of beef, mutton and pork were unearthed at Maiden Castle, the great prehistoric hill fort near Dorchester, recently. Dr. and Mrs . Mortimer Wheeler, who are conducting excavations there, declared them to be the week-end larder of “Mr and Mrs Ancient' Briton,” possibly many hundreds of years before the Roman •.occupation 1

San Francisco recently rejoiced in the completion of its famous Hetch-Hetchy water system. At a cost of more than 100,000,000 dollars and 20 years of courageous work against defiant natural obstacles, a gravity pipe line 207 miles in length brings a perpetual supply of fine water from the high Sierran valley. In this long, vast undertaking San Francisco, an American journal remarks, has set a lesson for itself and all cities—it has shown that intelligence arid determination can bring the greatest right idea to fruition.

Although there are 247 men ip the police force of Tasmania, which a population of 200,000, it was disclosed by the police superintendent last week that on the day before tae arrival of the Duke in Hobart, that city had only two sergeants on dutyThey toured the city and suburbs in a car, and reported all well. The rest of the force had been sent home to bed, exhausted by their search of three escaped convicts. Thus the Hobart force came back to duty ’on the morning ot the Duke’s arrival fresh and rested. !' ,

“Children’s Play Streets.” in which no vehicular traffic .is allowed—except the butcher, the baker and the milkman’s carts —may be the next move of Mr Hore-Beiislia, the “silent zone” and “pedestrians’ crossings!’ Minister of Transport m England. The Road Advisory Committee : is considering whether or not such a scheme is feasible in the poorer parts of London. It will report to the Minister, who will then probably take action. Salford (Manchester) is the only town ■in the country to have . tried the “play streets.” They were started six years ago by the Chief Constable (Major C. V. Godfrey)._ And since Major Godfrey launched his lifesaving project not a single child • has been injured in these streets. Birmingham is now considering the plan.

With the announcement that a fortnightly Zeppelin service across the Atlantic is projected, interest is directed to the evolution of this type of aircraft, named after Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the German airship inventor, who was born at Constance, Baden, on July 8, 1838, and died at Charlottenburg on March 8, 1917. He was educated for the army and received a commission at the age of 20. He served as a volunteer, in the Federal army during the American Civil War, and while in America made his first balloon ascent.. Returning to Germany, •he saw active service in the Austrian- War of 18(56 and in the“ Franco-German War of 1870. '

In 1891. he retired from the army with the rank ,of general, and thenceforth devoted his energies to the study of aeronautics. In 1900 he built an airship, which rose from the ground and remained in the air for 20 minutes, but it was wrecked, in landing. In 1906 he made two successful flights at a speed of 30 miles an hour, and in 1907 attained a speed of 36 mile?. From that time onwards his airship construction made steady progress, and many Zeppelin airships took part in the World War. though with heavy losses under attack. ,

Despite his 64 years and long academic career with professorships in Glasgow, Oxford and New York, Dr. James Moffatt, who is at present visiting New Zealand,, is gay, exuberant, and unweariedly fresh in his outlook on life. The world-famous Biblical scholar is thoroughly human and confesses to a special liking for Harold Lloyd pictures (writes a commentator). He looks every inch—and he has more than the usual number of inches—a Scottish professor. Spare in build, he is remarkably youthful in appearance and has a friendly twinkle in his eye. Last year he published a mystery story, “The Tangled Web.” He is an authority on Church music and one of his own hjmn tunes is included in the Presbyterian Church Hymnary. The story of the origin of his New Translation has seldom been told. In 1913, Dr. Robertson Nicoll, editor of the British Weekly, asked a group of 10 scholars to undertake a re-trans-lation of the New Testament. But they found it impossible to harmonise all their differing standards, so Dr. Nicoll suggested that Dr. Moffatt should tackle it single-handed. The success of it has been phenomenal. A copy of it is to be found at every minister’s elbow. “The doing of it,” ho says, “illustrates what I have always believed—that so many of the tasks you do best are given you to do by ofiiers and are not self-chosen. Which means that guidance is so often what we all most need. I should never have elected to re-translate the Bible myself, for I hate languages!”

•Viscount Saito, the Japanese statesman, has been assailing the jingoists of his own country and other nations for their naval race talk. It is not strange that talk of jingoism should emanate from Japan, because that i* the home of this much used modern term. Jingo was the wife of Chuai, the 14th Mikado (191-200) and a legendary Empress of Japan. On jher husband’s death she assumed the government, and fitted out an army for the invasion of Korea. She returned to Japan completely victorious after three years’ absence. Subsequently her son Ojen Tenno, afterwards ‘lsth Mikado, was born, and later was canonised as Hachiman, god of war. The Empress Jingo ruled, over Japan until 270, and is still worshipped. Some explain the word jingo as a corruption of Jainko, the Basque name for God. It has also been derived from the Persian word “jang” (war), St. Jingo being the equivalent of the Latin god of war, Mars. The political use of the word as indicating an aggressive patriotism originated in 1877, during the weeks of national excitement preluding the despatch of the British Mediterranean . squadron to Gallipoli, which frustrated the Russian designs on Constantinople. A bellicose music-hall song with the refrain “We don’t want to fight, but by jingo, if we do,” became very-popular in London. Thus the war-party came to be called jingoes, and jingoism has ever since been the term applied to those who advocate a national policy of arrogance and pugnacity. : ■*