THINGS IN GENERAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15613, 20 May 1914, Page 12

THINGS IN GENERAL.

BENEVOLENCE ■« AND IMPOSTORS. ; 'A iiiccEST.;i£aae.;.6f, an ■American business * magazine fi'devofecl almost exclusively to ■ the : question ;of "rising costs" production, articles and advertisements co-operat-ing in urging greater attention to the opZ portainitiw ior waste. \ The highly-; " drgimised, methods of' modern business systems hive not yet stopped a leakage thai in its .aggregate is tremendous, and over-production, waste, and evasive entravaganeo measure in every department of- civilised activity the degree by which. it falls-:' short of efficiency in utilisation. There is an- - enormous waste in tho dispensation of charitable relief among the indigent. Forty millions sterling are, according to a recent estimate, the annual cost to Great Britain alone of pauperism, directly through actual expenditure and indirectly through loss of productive power, for many people dependent on relief aro able-bodied, and lack only opportunity for the profitable us© of their energies. The boast that thfcre is no poverty in New Zealand received a shock from the testimony given by Sifter Esther a few days ago, that there arc people in Auckland who cannot purchase more nourishing food than fish heads. More recently, a number'of clergymen declared that there is need for a systematic distribution of (laxity that would secure an economical • use of the' funds available, so that all the desiarving poor .would bo given help, and the impostor would be prevented from fattening on the generosity of independent societies, successively ministering to his spurious hardship. The suggestion was made- by them that, all the public and private organisations should amalgamate their funds &a that relief would bo given through one official channel. State interference has done more in New Zealand than in any other country to regulate the conditions of labour, but. its ameliorating influence has been largely depreciated by the rising coat of living. The rising cost •'■ of production, due to the increasing price paid for labour of all kinds, has brought incitfasej, often disproportionate, in the cost of commodities, so that the condition of the distressed is worse than ever. An exact regulation of prices can never be attempted successfully by Parliaments— the Cost of Living' Commission has not brought any relief. Faith in the Arbitration Act is not bo steadfast as it was a few years aso, and workers' unions may find the .relief they so diligently seek by diluting their efforts into other channels. Railwayraen ; in Dunedin have decided that though they have succeeded in gaining increases in'wages they have only been digging holes in sand, and they have established a purchasing association with lie idea of fighting the cost of living from the other end. A general extension of ' thin device of co-operative buying will briag in its- train co-operative production. In the meantime, the suggestion of cooperative philanthrophy— no means a ; 'inew.oner-is worthy of consideration as it offers a I means of guarding against the neglect of. the too humble poor, and of ■ coiioundin'g the rascally impostor.

Have You a Thirst? ; .ill life .requires an unceasing supV ply ; of:: water, and water .enters very ■ laigelv into the composition of all living . matter. • Thirst is therefore a constant : . attribute of all living creatures, thirst be- ; ing used: in its literal sense as a desire for '■-:■■ •waiter and not a craving for fluid. Water, .'. vV a definite chemical compound which the ''' body caidnot do without. Food, \ petrol, or • •alcohol (ire quite useless as substitutes. The : normal, constant, vital thirst for water, r : winch mI : characteristic of all living matter, ?>>: most rot be confounded with a liking or ;:'i craving alcohol. The rule is absolute -!; and without exception that. the person, .';' who, not being too -weak to open his ■:'• mouth, refuses water, is not thirsty. This H means; of course that most of us deceive ■ r -ourselves every day. We cnll ourselves - r -thirsty and order the fluid desired, but, •V nnless.in its absence we would drink plain 'J: water and be satisfied with it, we are not :"' thirsty; A man may call and fancy _ him'■•;'='eilf thirsty because he wants a nip .at -eleven in the morning and he may drink freely at a carouse at night, but in neither • case is ithat literal thirst. Next morning, ' however, as he consumes : syphon ••; after • (syphon' of soda-water, he will call himself ••• thirsty, and" this time he will be right. ' : f.4ltt is ibis real thirst which follows the ;:; taking of alcohol which provides us with ■: the .key to many features of the action of alcohol on .'the'human body. .The affinity . of alcohol for water,, is . the most important and marked of its phy- '% sical properties. Alcohol, ■', when applied' ,to" living tissue, which is mostly composed ■ of water, abstracts the Water from that > ; tissue in order to satisfy its own thirst. \ The result is immediatoy destructive to the ;.-. tissue, which is ; dehydrated.. . Further, seme of the alcohol is oxidised, yielding ;'! now -substances which are- essentially toxic '.' 'it/ their action. Thus we . have two ex- ,';• planations, between them quite adequate, fcr the very remarkable thirst which fol- ■*,'' lows the slaking of what the drinker K" wrongly 1 calls his thirst. First, it is due ■::;'io- the' affinity of alcohol for water, of which it rapidly deprives the body and : ;0 the blcod t . and with which they desire I. to be replenished as soon as possible; arid, 'second, it is due to the • production of :, pjiisonoui! substances in the body, which : the body seeks to render harmless by 1 diluting them'as far as possible, as in the ■;• case of" the thirst of fever, and of all forms /'of indication, whether by drugs .'or : microbes or exertion or otherwise. - Alcohol, is, therefore, a , mocker; - it disguises itself so as to look like that /.'which relieves thirst, so as to.taste wet, ';. so.as to allay what feels like thirst. ' But 'so far is: it from doing so that, on the con- '.'/. trary, it is overniasteringly ' thirsty itself, 'and simply deprives the body of the one tiling • which' relieves thirst, and the loss ' of which produces, thirst—namely, water.

.'." The Daily Tub.

Many opportunities for simple improvements It. thfli ordinary dwellinghonses have nwer been developed except by the handy mini who, happy in the knowledge that he is (his own landlord, potters about "on half holidays with a few tools. An American notion which has. occasionally been adopted might easily bo introduced in nearly c«fii-y Sous? in Auckland. It is.to fit the bitli-tuc below the floor instead of upon lit. Nearly every house has a bathroom, in which a. great' deal of space is .wasted behind .snd underneath the bath. A tub Bunker to the level of the floor is much Eiorj convenient and easy to use, and .is nearly nil the houses in Auckland arc built well off the ground, there should bo no flifticult;; in making this arrangement. Economy would also be effected in the simpler fitting of the supply and waste pipes. Those who-wish to go one better may Make a trap door, which when closed will 1* flush with the floor, completely hiding the tub and its fittings, ana giving more ilipace in the bathroom and, when open, ..nerving as a. screen for the shovar. The 'bath is always a consolation when a surplus of visitors, creates a necefsitv for shakedowns, but a bathroom with the tub .litowed away in the store might be used for a parlour.

Twentieth Century Inventions, I .'.-■; The incentive genius of man has long aqo assisted in raising him far above tho remainder of the animal kingdom. As ;. .timo pjof-s on,and civilisation progresses, f. more and more men seem to turn their at» tention .towards inventing things. ;■ Al- , ithough wo have not travelled far into the present century, there has been a host j • of inventors a'; work, with varying def .'grots of success or failure. Since the be- ■ ginning of 1901, no less than 200,000 I ."patents have been sealed,'while the total : j number of applications louged has been j about 400,000. A number of recent inveh- : lions, when perfected,! are destined to benefit the whole race, others may never ' , J 3 of much'practical value, although very -.. ! ingenious in their way. Electrical .transJ,mission is a fruitful field for inventors. . ""he telegraphing of photographs is now .;.. an>- accomplished fact, several methods v ; : m;in? in use. .Over 150 inventions dealing '~;! .with: the subject of setting type by tele||Hrrajih have already been patented, and .;, eg put in E agp form with heada^naiiuiHAt.

lines by . means : of a single telegraph line, are no longer '. a dream. : Many inventors have worked at the problem of seeing at a distance by means of electrical transmission. The problem. is not solved, but its solution has commenced, and .tele-, vision will no doubt be a practical success before the end of , the twentieth century. Numerous \ other ; electrical inventions , are occupying |be' at-: tention of inventors, these including improvements in the telephone and in wireless telegraphy, . Motive-power inventions aro almost without number, some of the most interesting of these being the attempts to utilise the radiant energy of the sun. Some of the machines which huve been invented during recent years are almost uncanny in tho amount that they cAn accomplish". One ingenious machine accopts blocks of pine wood at one end and at the other'end fill? empty boxes with finished matches, closes the boxes, and wraps them up in packets of a dozen. In one day this machine can turn ' out 114,000 -boxes of matches, no manual labour, at all being required. Another machine; of gigantic proportions accents tho raw material for the manufacture of concrete and enamel, and it makes automatically immense quantities of concrete bricks, each' with an enamelled surface, _ Gyrostatic inventions are rapidly increasing in number the principle of tho gyroscope being already applied to compasses, railways, and ships. , Unsinkablo ships, iceberg and thunderstorm detectors, colour photography, blasting with liquid air, ingenious automatic machines without number, and electrical devices for accomplishing innumerable things at present done by hand have all been patented. Many of them .will have to be vastly improved before they become of practical value, but it looks as if in $ few centuries hence we shall not require to make any bodily exertion at all, everything being done for us by mechanical means.

A.D. 2414. ...-■■ . This ever-increasing multitude of inventions conjures up visions of the life of a wealthy man of business 500 years hence. Living in .his country .residence, he will have no need for hired menials— all will bo done for him mechanically. At a prearranged' hour in the mowing soft hands (but on mechanical and metallic joints) will gently shake him until he awakes, at the same time removing the bedclothes. His bath will bo all ready, electrical heating bringing it to the desired temperature at the right timo. Maybe a mechanical shaving ' apparatus will be used by him, and mechanical arms will hand to him his clothes, nicely pressed and brushed. Descending to the breakfastroom by means of a moving staircase, he will find a tabloid meal awaiting him, or perhaps rare • delicacies forced at all seasons by electric culture. Breakfast finished, the pressing of a button: will hand to him a filled and lighted pipe, and while reclining in an easy chair the world's news will be read to him in dulcet tones by the latest form of talking machine. Pictures on topical events will be electrically transmitted on to.Ms study screen at the same time. No need for him to attend the city or ; stock exchange, wireless telephones enabling him to transact all his business from his easy chair. Tele-vision will : enable him to see that his clerks are working, and not" flirting with the pistes. , His recreation may be a voyage in a stable aeroplane, but, should he deign to use nature's means of. locomotion and meet a lady acquaintance, the pressing of a button will mechanically raise his hat, and he will he able to keep his hands in his pockets, wherein they are" being warmed! by little electric radiators. On his return home this ultra-modern man' will find that by treading on the doormat the portals of his house will be flung open to welcome him, telescopic arms relieving him of his hat and coat. In the evening he will sit with his wife and family in a cosy room; there will he no fire, but the walls will radiate electric heat controlled at will, 'and the ceiling will shed a subdued phosphorescent glow. No n«d to go out into the cold to theatres or concerto. Tele-vision and telephonic apparatus, connected to whatever house of entertainment desired, will enable him to see and hear all that is going on without the need of moving from his :room. At bedtime the same soft hands will disrobe him, and tuck him up for the night, the phosphorescent light being automatically extinguished by the act of getting into bed. A regulated supply of oxygen in the sleeping-room Will insure the slumberer a good night's rest, and on the morrow he will awake refreshed and ready for another day's hard work." >.;.■'■' Th» GENBBAL.