CURRENT TOPICS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 204, 29 July 1939, Page 8

CURRENT TOPICS

(By “Wayfarer.”) Authority has been given by the Government to the Defence Depa fment for the purchase of two £ *»«- Nash gun turrets tor high-speed an ; r aft. “the big guns of the Labour Party, it seems, are now being bi ought to bear on tlie defence problem. # *

A reader asks for the solution of the well-known poser:

Sisters and brothers have I none. But that man’s father is niy father a son.

The person speaking is obviously looking at the picture of Jus son.

Probably wo shall never know just what characteristic of America and the Americans struck the Ring and Queen most forcibly, writes ‘Lucio in the Manchester Guardian. Americans on visits over here usually plump for “your British policemen,” although one, in response to a question of this sort, hailed a taxi, took his questioner to Hyde Park, and pointed to the flower beds near the Row, with their pi:ilk and blue hydrangeas and brick-rod geraniums. This American naturally wished to know if his friend had been to America, and, if so, what was his favourite memory. “What most impressed me in New York,” said the Englishman, “was seeing a cop oil Fifth Avenue directing the traffic and peeling and eating a banana at the same time.”

Germany’s present demand for a slice of Antarctica lias indirectly a synthetic food basis, for a butter-substitute is made from whale-oil, as a side-line, and Germany took up southern whaling in earnest in 1936. W hale-oil is used in soap manufacture, in the leather and lubricant trades; but German chemists found it could be hydrogenated, and so changed from horribly odorous oil to a non-smelling fat like lard. This is coloured, mixed with vegetable oil, and sold as a butter substitute. Huge quantities are eaten in Germany. At present, by taking “factory ships” to the Antarctic, landstations can be obviated. This practice was started by Norway after the war, but land-depots are obvious advantages in the whale industry. Japan took to Antarctic whaling a year before Germany, and may become another claimant on Antarctica —if tho whale supply holds out. There is a “close season” and a prohibited area, yet recent years show record killings.

A young lawyer of Vienne (Isere), lacking a formal introduction to the object of his affections, sent her a note in a cafe scribbled on a slip of paper from his pocket indicating a rendezvous.

On the wireless that evening lie heard that his ticket in a State Lottery had won 1,000,000 francs. To his horror, however, he found that his ticket had disappeared, and he then realised that it was on the ticket that he had scribbled his tender appeal.

Going to tlie cafe the next day he found the lady of his dreams, only to be informed that his attentions were unwelcome and that bis note had been torn up and thrown away. Later, at tlie Commissariat of Police, she suggested that any one so stupid had no right to pay any attention to a ladv at all. Even the traditional balance of the legal mind broke down before this final thrust, and the young lawyer is at present inconsolable.

With so much talk of recruiting for the defence forces it is interesting to note that in the oiden days there were numerous ways of enticing recruits to

“take the shilling.” A unique method of advertising the professions of arms was adopted by Sergeant Kite in Farquhar’s comedy "The Recruiting Officer,” written in 1706, in good Queen Anne’s days. There the agile sergeant is introduced as proclaiming:— “If any gentlemen, soldiers or others have a mind to serve His Majesty and pull down the French King; if any prentices have severe masters, any children have undutiful parents: if any servants have too little wages, or any husband a bad wife, let them repainto the noble Sergeant Kite, at the? sign of the Raven, in this good town of Shrewsbury; and they shall receive present relief and entertainment (Drum.) Gentlemen, I don’t beat my drums here to ensnare or inveigle any man'; for you must know, gentlemen, that I am a man of honour; besides, I don’t beat up for common soldiers; no, I list only grenadiers—grenadiers, gentlemen. Those were the days!

Chinese words have been in the news for many months, and their correct pronunciation is a hurdle which many newspaper readers find a difficulty in surmounting. When ChineseEnglish dictionaries were first compiled it was necessary to transform tho Chinese characters into European syllables. In time the method was systematised, with slight variations according to the idiosyiieraeies of tho different lexicographers. However, if the Chinese words are pronounced as they are spelt in the European fashion no Chinese understands the speaker.

The Chinese have live tones in their speech which give to their words very different meanings, and it takes a foreigner many years to acquire these tone distinctions. Our habit of raising the voice when asking a question illustrates the Chinese use of tone. With so many dialects in China, tho Chinese adopted as a standard the “official language,” or, as Europeans say, the Mandarin or classical language. The difficulties of pronunciation areseen in the name, Alarshal Chiang Kaishek, which is Cantonese, and in the north becomes Chang Kai-shc, the middle word being pronounced Ki. In the north no Chinese word ends with a K.

Peiping, the name for Peking, is made up of two Chinese characters, which romanised become Pei Ping, pronounced Payping, and meaning northern peace. Pei is north, Nan south, Tung east, and Hsi west. Tientsin is Tien Tsin, the middle T softened. Tien means heaven and Tsin port. Hong Kong means fragrant harbour. Shanghai, now an international word pronounced the same by Chinese and foreigners aiike, means upper sea, Sliang, upper, or on top of, Hai, sea. King means capital, and thus Nanking becomes southern capital. Shantung means east of the mountains; Shan, mountain, lung, east. * Swatow is southern dialect, and Foochow means prosperity province. Foo, prosperity, chow, province. Wenchow, is pronounced Wunchow. Hunan is

south of the river, Hu, river, nan, , south. Ho and Kiang also mean river. Chnan, pronounced Slnmn, is gate. The great majority of Chinese who emigrate are Cantonese. Tlie northerners prefer to stay at home. An official from the north, who is resident abroad,\ cannot talk in Chinese to the Canton immigrants living in the country to which he has been sent.