HERE AND THERE

North Otago Times, 3 August 1903, Page 4

HERE AND THERE

' Mr Alfred Whitney, a Chicago in 4 j ■■ raitor, lm<j organised a company to ob-!, .' tain olocirieity. from 150 miles aJ>6vS j ' j llio earth. Mr Whitney assorts that , ! tho atmosphere extends. seventeen, j Inilcs. niid {hat- above this is an thereal : region charged with pure electricity, | ■j which ho.proposes to tap by means of j n cable., Seventeen miles up, Mr Wkit- , lioy eays, the' power of gravity will ho, I lost and the cable will simply fall into < ipace. Any nunliier of miles could J therefore ho easily unwound. Mid 1501 miles up ho expects to got olectricity , wiuallrog HO,OOO horse power. Al-'' though scientific men naturally laugh , at tho idea, the company has actually ' secured land for electrical works, and ' has applied for patens. « t t # » » Not ,l.ong ago, an Irishman in Now York, provoked beyond endurance, set- ; tied matters forthwith and straight- j forivardly by blocking tho instiltor down. Tho blow was clean—"a knockout"—delivered intentionally on tho'', point of the eliia. Ths Englishman, ' promptly arrested, was astounded to find himself charged with felony. Ho' ivas told that his victim wore eyeglasses" when struck, and that to strike a bespectacled niau in the face with tho:' clenched fist is felony by the law of- 1 Nesv York, Tourists and travellers with " 'a,tendency towards self-p«i{eeiion Till - do well to note this paragraph, ;od to!' take caro on arrival at Ne<v York io!, turn the other check to a near-sighted' assailant. < ■■> * * » # ; One of tho most gigantic mining operations ever undertaken is about to be' carried out at Chappie Creek, Colorado,' i\ tunnel, no fewer than 14 miles inl ■: length, is to be- bored in order that, the-niiuora-Is may be brought through and., forwarded to the coast.' Tiie real ad-' rentage will bo that the ore will then •. bo abto to pass from -tho mino to tho" , port over a comparative level plane of .i transit, whereas now tlie mineral i lias to he transported over the range of' mountains. * « » * I « f Professor Koch has discovered a sue-; sessful method for tho destruction of |i rats which frequent the holds of ships.'/ An experiment has been conducted on board the Bulgaria at Hamburg. The rats were placed in cages in the hold. : An apparatus was thou used to fill the I hold of tho ship witii a gaseous sub-' '• stance. When this was concluded the :■ cages wore brought on deck, and nil tho > rats were found to bo dead, Tho new' [ system will in future bo used in tho. i German navy, and also on tho big Ger- j man steamship lines. , j ***s » " # j At tho final State examinations for i ladies, which liavo just been held in J Russia for the first time, * 111 candi* j i dates have obtained their medical de- j ?ree, * i »»»•»» | A lady admits that the writer who i summed'up an Itoglish woman's idea of happiness with the parody, "It is a fine 1 day; let us go out and buy something," expressed the femiaino .mental attitude to a nicety. j#» » » | J There was a time when children were 1 lystematieally ''hardened" or inured to cold and wet, That this process can scarcely be recommended is shown by tho statistics from a paper read by Dr. J Heoker, of Carlsbad, (before a local [ medical society. Great liability to ioUIs was shown by 31 per cent, of the imhardened, 38 per cent, of llw. wildly, j f jiul 6'l per cent, of tho severely, "hardened." * ' » ; ' A cure for sea sickness has been i discovered by the Italian Ambassador at j 3 Washington. It consists in looking at j f your own reflection in a mirror, and ) the longer you look the belter you'be-.: come, until, after a prolonged course of i Narcissus-like ecstasy, the sea sick- j ness vanishes altogether, and e'-jnili- j brium (ii 9 rc-establi.jScd between the j brain and the stomach, This is, of i course, the reason why nmm are, as a j ' 'rule, better sailors' than men. jut- it j was' not kind of them to keep the secret to themselves all these years. * * s » * * "He's perfectly 'quiet, gentlemen," (aid an innkeeper, referring to a horso s'liich two novices were to drive, "but pou must keep the rein off his tail." j ■■Right," said they; ."wc will bear it in j mind." When "they returned the inniecper inquiredh ow tliye had got on. '■' Splendidly! 11 was tho reply. "Wo had one- rather sharp shower, but we took it in turns to hold tho umbrella jver tho horse's tail, so there was no real danger." Teeth of all kinds have been worship;' peel, and are, in fact venerated as relics in some religious shrines, Buddha's tooth is preserved in an Indian temple; c ihe Cingalese worship the tooth of a I monkey, wbiln tho elephant's and -j shark's tooth we a similar purpose i among tho Malabar and Tonga Island- \ ers respectively. The Siamese wero lj formerly the possessors of tho tooth of j sacred monkey, which they valued. 5 very highly, but in a war with tho Por- g tugueso they lost, the. holy grinder and- a had to pay £700,000 to get it back jj again. It is now kept in a small gold i box, inclosed in six other boxes in 0110 ;s of tho many temples of the Siaisesa p capital. ■, : ii y 'i * * » » « h Many claims havo been mado on be- " half of tho modern nowapapcr. It is a now held forward as the only reasonable a euro both for cold and poverty. If t you stretch it over you at night it is p better than a warming-pan, better than b ■an eiderdown quilt. If you roll it np h into wet bails and put it on the fire it P does instead o* coals, : b i ? '* *• * ~! a 'Tho professioirof bridesmaid seems to; a .be growing in New York. For some j a jtime it has been the habit at weddings [ tl ;in that city to .pay bridesmaids. At: ,a recent wedding there wero no fewer! :tba'u fifteen bridesmaids, who were all; ■ punctually' paid. Besides tlio beautiful' .dresses given hy the bride's father,! itlicy each received £5 apiece for appear-; c< ,ing in the wedding train. There are jii young ladies who accept so much as! in £2O for their officei of honour, One' ilJ girl who is much sought after for her! ' beauty lias appeared as bridesmaid at 1 ,v .moro than 200 weddings and. has in .short time amassed quite a goodly sum i' 1 besides receiving Mny costly presents.^ 1 ; * *'. * ff) v * * l J tn About the famous Roquefort cheese r !'■ tho following legend is toldi-A: she})- .' herd kl, having'moro fajtcheoa thaniir 110 could cat,, laid a largo portion of'i his bread and cheese upon, a natural a j shelf in 0110 of tho caverns near hy. He', tl; forgot all about it until several months: to later, ivhen.hefound tho choCße, instead' di : .of being dried up or was dohj in moist, creamy, and streaked with green- : ei: feh-bluo veins, He eliared his piece of : eh.eeso. with others, and tlio ■ villagers' $ vera Quick t<j.r«cogniso tho improved' texture and quality,^' Henceforth all: t theu cheesfaworo taken; to theso cavosl t to npen, Tho wc-a aio now owiiedi « company,, who employ sis hundred'' V for Children's Hacking CougK at jght take Wood«'' Greftt EtpfiermM j toj 18 filwi I*o4| ,

In a few Tvccks there will be opened at Homo n very interesting establishment, tlio asylum founded by Verdi for musicians in their ■ declining years, It is for both sexes, ia replete with modern 1 comforts, and attached to it are charmlug gardens, ©'l'bo apartments of the ' men and woijh.ll are entirely separate, but they will have saloon and dining- ■ room'in common. Tlits men will wear j a coat and soft bat similar to those usually worn by tlio founder. Attach- : ed to tlio establishment will be a Verdi museum, full 0 f the personal be- : longings of the founder. There will be I (accommodation for six men and forty 1 women. A friend of. Verdi has left a| sum of money for tlio decoration of tho'fcrypt where Verdi's remains lie, ! ' ' * * • j' Not long a;~;o tlu* State Railway tlioritics in Melbourne had to investi- i gato a case of a guard leaving his van,! nalUiug along tlio footplates, clamber-' ing lip the engine, and making a furious | assault upon the driver, the train going 1 ;at full speed all the while. They are | now inquiring into another curious in- i .cident, In tins caso somebody forgot i 'to fix tlio coupling.? between the engine i and tl.lo train. When the signal was' igiven the ongino steamed out of the : .station by itself, leaving carriages and:. .passengers in tlio lurch." Guard, sta-:: ,tionmastor, porters, and spectators : yelled, but without effect. The engino : ■ran for six miles before it was dis-,i covered that it had nothing behind it. : i Tho most disquieting feature of tho in-! cident was tho fact that it passed sow- j ral signal-boxes without receiving any ! warning to stop. j i « * » * , ■ • » • : i The skin of the'black diamond rattle- j ■snako is utilised in Florida as a bare-;: meter. When preserved like raw hide j ,aud hung up the skin will begin to omit, i beads of moisture at tlio first indications: ! of a storm, even though several hours; beforo the arrival of the atmospheric disturbance. ■ « V t * * » *■ • ' Tlio' only female justice of the peace* iin the United States, and probably im 'the world, is Mrs Agnes Garrett, who; ibas just assumed her official duties at- j [Garrett, Wyoming. She was born at: .Birmingham, England, in 1863, and pro-' ceeded to Wyoming in 1884, founding 1 .the town now named after her. ;! * • * • « • jj j Novel first-aid-to-t'he-injured boxes!! 'are to. be scattered in the streoto of; j ;Paris. Outwardly tho apparatus re- I jsembles a lamp-post pillar-box, and itj | .'contains a small mcdicinc-cliest, a fold- { ling stretcher, and a telephono for sig-' j inalling the nearest ambulance station.|| iAccess to the box is gained by break-! j ling a glass panel. ' 11 j A ft i V 0 | 1 1 Among the Tnfks, bath money forms j i jan item in every marrisgo contract,!; I tho husband engaging to allow his wifeH la certain sum for bathing purposes, j Should it bo withheld she lias only to ' |go beforo the ciadi and turn her slipper!: upside dowTl, and if the complaint be! not then redressed it is a ground forj : divorce. I : 1 » An entertaining moment occurred on j tho roof of an omnibus one Tuesday! morning; recently. As tho vehicle was! proceeding over Blackfriars Bridge to-! words Famngdou Street Station a) gull "boarded" tho 'bus, Tho bird tookj his stand on tlio roof, and took littloj jor no notico of his fellow-passengers.: | Ho rodo as far as Ludgato Circus, whero: [tho 'bns, owing to tho traffic, wan dc« flayed. A young work-girl opened ai, I parcel containing her day's food and' | gave tho gull some bread, which it atoj (with avidity, j ! » ' * t * < » ; I Tho remarkable gas "olectroid," fop, 1 which _ its inventor, Professor Rycliiiiowski, claims that it can be condeits-' led into greenish-bluo balls which aro' i elastic like indiambber, wcmld apparently bo tho very thing for motor-caij 1 tyros. The gas is self-luminous, and jlampa would, therefore, be unnecessary, jat night, whilq in its genial rays vege- | iafcitm sprouts surprisingly, To run through country lanes in winter, leaving ripe strawberries on the banks in onejs wake, would be a pleasing experience. Tlio motorist would bo welcomo every whero * '* i t { _ In somo prts or Sffitland suporstijtion combine* curioudy with a proper respect for the "niesffi! of grace." The child-was sick, and not likely to live' through tho night. "Sandy," said the. mother,' "tho wean'B nao goin' tae get' well; yo'll hao tao gang for the meen-. ifiter, and hao it named," "A'll no gang tbo nicht, Mary," was tho reply, "for ye j DOES EDUCATION PAY?, j 1 ® I From "Letters fronut Self-made Mer-' ohsmb to liis Son," by George fiioraco, 1 Lorimor:—l)ear Pjerropont,—Your ma! got back safe this morning, and ehc j wants mo to bo sure to tell you not to; understudy, and I want to tell you- to! bo sure not to undorstjidy. What we're: 1 t'eally sending you to Harvard for. is to • got a little of the education that's so ': good and plonty there. When it's passed:, around you dpn't- want to bo bashful,! but roach right out and tako a big help-' 1 ing every time, for I want you' to get: , ;ronv share, Docs a college education!, pay ? Does it pay to feed in pork trim-1 j mings at- five cents a pbiuid at the; lioppor and draw out nice, cunning little? £ "country" sausages at 20 cents, (i pound*: i at tho other ond P Does- it pay to t alio j [ a steer that's boon running; looso on ' j the raugo and l living oh cactus andj j pertified Wood Jill lie's just a bunch ■of; j barbed wire and solo leather, and feed} ' him corn till bo's just a solid huiik of j porterhouse steak and oleo oil? You- ■ bet it pays. Anything extra that trains-; 1 a boy to think and think quick pays]': ? anything that teaches a- boy to get tho., T answer beforo the other fellow gets i through biting the pencil pays, jj. ELACKMSIEItS UNLAWFULLY ! t TREATED. " j " Catheriuo jJonovan's name has ho-11 famous by tho mere accident of 1.1 Inebriety, for with the help of Sir Al-i i; tert De Bntzon, she has driven a. coacli j ii uid four through the licensing Act of I jj iSOSj undor the alleged authority of; ivhic'ii many iiiob.riates have been placed , Kvii tho black list, and denied further "* :i|h'; to consumo alcohol for tbveo 6 When the lady was brought- be- c oro Sir Albert as one qualified for' Cll-: ■ 5 ciment, lie pointed out that the sec- a •ion of tho Act relied upon rested its; n iiit-hority upon certain sections: of the s nebriates Act of 1893, which. sections n ixpressly required tho consent of tho ilcqhol.ic yiotim..; It is oleaiv tlierofove, ': r liat a terrible injustico has been dono a 0 thoso Who him) heon placed 011 tlio • Iruukards' roll. The Uiought of the ]i miumorablc' drinks t-hoy have missed is ■■ t nough to revivo a thirst both for von;tance and tbo." old. brainstealcr, : It ...t .eed - hardly be remarked that Mrs a Jonovaii refused lior consent to such a , 6 ] ionstrons proposal as the Bonch ; '.re- j j, uii'ed, amending Bill is sug-! a .eated to moot the difficulty. : ' j BB Qrinla ol pl'Mturo as'd ol mb-wmmmmm