CURRENT TOPICS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 176, 25 June 1938, Page 10

CURRENT TOPICS

" (By “AV'ayfarer.”) A condition has arisen through Middle Europe whereby a man must keep the radio going 24 hours a day to know what nationality he is. * r • Lord Baldwin has been heard of in his retirement —and by way of a pipe. A train in which lie. was travelling to AVindsor was at Slough station. He leant out of the carriage window smoking one of his cherrywoods. An elderly man, member of a gang of platelayers working on the rails, saw liim and said: “I see you have .a new pipe, sir.” Lord Baldwin replied, res, I have. AA'ould you like my .old one r The man said, “That I would, sir. Then the train drew out of the station and the platelayer dismissed the episode from his mind. But a package has since arrived at Slough station addressed to the stationmaster. In it were a pipe and a note. , The note asked the stationmaster to hand the pipe to the platelayer. V * * •. It is not recorded in “Oliver Twist” that Mr Grimivig, in spite of his threats, ever did actually eat his head. He might at least have eaten his hat if he had been as resolute as Mr Thomas Woodrooffe, of the 8.8. G, “U there’s a goal scored now,” said Mr AVoodrooffe in the closing minutes of his broadcast commentary on the Cup final at AVembley, “I’ll eat my hat. Thereupon, with ho doubt a sinister smile, fate placed the ball upon the Huddersfield penalty spot and discharged it, bv the foot of Mutch, into the Huddersfield goal. A lesser man than Mr AA'oodroofe would have blenched. He possessed no special physical gift for being as good as his word. Blit, faced by a “boater and inspired by the old school colours decorating it, he consumed it manufully before the television cameras. An impressive performance; and.none but churlish “lookers” have suggested that the hat was just a delicate confection.

One of London’s most famous hospitals, Guy’s, has an , interesting origin which lias been recalled by the discovery of a 200-year-old document in the vaults of Guy’s Hospital. It is the personal ledger of Thomas Guy, the hospital’s founder. Guy records in his own hand the disposal of £54,040 stock in the South Sea Bubble. This realised £234,428—the foundation of the- fortune which enabled him to build the original hospital. The ledger reveals him as a shrewd judge of the market. He sold his stock in blocks of £IOOO, or very occasionally £2OOO, between April and June, 172 - Apart from a slump early in May, the market was consistently rising until tlie final sale. Guy started to sell on April 22, when £IOO stock stood at £340. On June 10 he sold liis last £4OOO at 600. Four days later, when lie disposed of the odd £4O, the price was down to 525. Guy wisely invested the bulk of the proceeds in 4 per cent and 5 per cent annuities, and risked a modest £ISOO in India stock.

Forty-six nations and all races of the . world are represented in the new Garden of Peace, in the city of La Plata. Argentina. The garden was planned' by Dr. __ Alberto" V. Oitaven, the city’s director of parks, whose devotion to the task has resulted in the assembling of plants from many corners of the w r orld.

This j symbol of international cooperation was made possible through the efforts of Argentine' ambassadors abroad, foreign diplomats in Argentina, botanical gardens,'. museums, universities and botanists throughout, the world. National flowers are represented, or flowers designated by scientific organisations to ' represent those countries having no national floral emblem. The ‘plantings are grouped by continents, each plant tagged with its name and that of the country it represents. Argentina and Uruguay are represented by the red ceiba, celebrated in gaucho songs and by poets; Chile by the copihue, a vine-with red, white or pink flowers; Paraguay bj; the lily and the lapacho tree, which bears lilac, yellow and white flowers. Bolivia and Peru chose the cantua, a shrub with red and yellow blossoms, connected with Indian tradition; Brazil* the ipe, a tree with golden yellow bells, praised by Brazilian poets; Panama selected the Holy Ghost flower and Panama tree; Nicaragua, the white heliotrope; El Salvador, the coffee tree; Guatemala, the white, orchid; Mexico, the dahlia; the United States, the white rose; Ecuador., the quinine tree; Cuba, the royal palm.

The Cutty Sark, one of the world’* most famous clipper ships, has sailed her last voyage. She went to the Thames recently to be used as a training ship for cadets in the merchant marine. The Cutty Sark (“.Cutty” means short and “Sark” means shirt) made sailing history by her great passages in the China tea trade. Like many other famous ships she.was built on the Clyde. Her keel was laid in 1869 at Scott and ' Linton’s shipyards, Dumbarton. _ She -was designed by Hercules Linton, and her powerful sail plan .was worked out by John Rennie. '“The Cutt),” as she was generally known, was stoutly built of teak, with.‘iron beams. Her decks, and deck fittings were also, of teak, and her underwater bottom was copper sheathed. Even to-day, after nearly 70 years, her planking is as good as ever.

The China tea clippers used to race irom Shanghai to London, and the Cutty Sark’s greatest rival was the Thermopylae, of Aberdeen. On one occasion these two clippers left Shanghai almost about the same time to start the race oyer 13,000 miles which would take them over three months. The Cutty Sark soon outpaced her rival, but before reaching the Cape she carried away her rudder. A temporary rudder was rigged, up, but 6he struck another storm and the rudder was carried away again. However, in spite of these misfortunes she made London River 122 days out from Shanghai and was only just ’ beaten by her rival.

The Cutty Sark„was a grand sea boat and was only once liove-to under the British flag—during the great Channel storm of 1877, when* dozens of ships were wrecked'. Eventually she was diverted from the tea trade owing to competition from the steamers, and she then, traded'in wool from Aus tralia. During her career the clipper set up many sailing records. She once did 1050 miles before'a westerly gale in three days, and'on another occasion sailed 3456 miles in 11 days. In 1889 she had a race with the P. and O. steamer Britannia for several days, and readied Sydney four hours ahead of her rival.: In 1895 the Cutty Sark was sold to a Portuguese firm and she remained in the coastal trade between Lisbon,. African and British ports for 27 years. - During a voyago in 1922, however, she had to put into Falmouth lor shelter and she was seen by Captain Dowman, * a retired sailing ship skipper. He bought her for approximately £2OOO, refitted ' her and used her for a training ship for youths wishing to; go to sea. Now ‘she has finished her sailing career, having been given to the Thames Nautical Training College.