NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20228, 12 April 1929, Page 10

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

NEGLECT OF RELIGION. "There are many reasons offered to day for tho growing neglect of religion by tho ordinary man and woman," writes "Artifcx" in tbo Manchester Guardian. "My own belief is that religion is neglected becauso it is found uninteresting. And it is found uninteresting becauso many peopio arc absolutely destitute of first-hand religious experience. Of spiritual realities at first hand they have no experience. And they are not likely to have such knowledge while they live perpetually on tho surface of tho mind, in the shallows of personality. But to get down to the depth of even a shallow nature requires time, and quiet and effort. And, in tho clatter, bustle and triviality of present-day life, time, quiet and effort are just the things that many peopio will not, and cannot, bring to their religion.

TREELESS PRAIRIE PASSING. Within n comparatively short time, there will bo no great/ stretches of treeless prairie in Western Canada, says the, Vancouver correspondent ol a London paper. Toward the end of the last century the Canadian Government began experimental work on tho prairie to demonstrate that trees could ho grown there. Experiments were successful and tho Government presented trees to farmers to mako good-sized shelter belts, on condition that they should bo subsequently cared for. But farmers wero not interested. Only 47 accepted tho offer, although the trees wero delivered to the nearest railway station. Tho wives and daughters of the farmers settled the difficulty. Latterly tho women have become the most ardent supporters of the Government campaign. fcSnce the first forestry station was opened 105,000,000 seedlings of maple, Scotch pino, ash, poplar, willow and whito spruce havo been distributed to farm homesteads and millions more to schools, hospitals, parks and public buildings. The treeless prairie is passing. Trees have proved to be among the farmer's Lest friends.

HISTORY OF LONDON WATER. In the history of the water supply of cities there is much of interest, and with the present lavish supply of water for domestic purposes it is difficult to realise tho conditions of life in London when it was mainly dependent on springs and wells, says Engineering. Pumping from tho river, more for cleansing the .streets and for protection against fire, than for drinking, came in in the sixteenth century, the most important installation being the pumps built by Peter Morricc in 1582 and worked by water wheels in one of tho arches of old London Bridge. Other pumping plants were erected at various spots between Chelsea and Wapping, and one of these was described by Mr. Rhys Jenkin in a paper read before tho Newcoinen Society, in which ho gave particulars of the work of Sir Edward Ford. Born in 1605 and educated at Oxford, Ford became a Royalist soldier, defended Chichester and Arundel Castle, but was imprisoned in tho Tower, and for a time was an exile in France. Accepting tho» altered conditions, lie became reconciled to Cromwell, and in 1655 received a patent for pumping machinery. This patent is one of about a dozen of its kind granted by tho Protector, and it is the only one the enrolment of which is to be found in tho Public Record Office. Mr. Jenkin gave extracts from the patent, which conferred protection for 34 years. Thore were four suction pumps arranged in series driven by levers and rods worked by a horizontal cam wheel turned by horses. Old prints of London show the tower, which, however, because it annoyed Queer. Henrietta Maria, was ordered to bo taken down by Charles 11., and Ford's pumping gear was re-erected nearer Charing Cross.

ANTARCTIO WHALING. Mr. Lars Christensen, of Sandefjord, Norway, recently stated that the adoption of deep-sea whaling had attracted many new enterprises, tho starting of which would have been more or less impossible under the old method of working, in view of the limited number of concessions in British areas. On the other hand, states tho Times correspondent ;.t Copenhagen, provided the ships keep outside the. three-mile limit, whaling may be carried on without special permission from foreign Governments. Deep-sea. whaling had been most advantageous to Norway, but somo risks arc involved in (lie very great extension that has taken place. In tl.o 1929-30 season the whaling fleet will bo about double that of 1927 28, the comparative numbers of Norwegian and foreign whalers operating in the Antarctic Sea being 148 in 1929-30, against 114 in 1928-29 and 80 in 1927 28. In the most recent figure arc comprised tho boats of the companies actually working and those of new concerns that have secured the, necessary capital. Not only has the number of vessels increased, but their capacity has been augmented, and tho question now arises how long will the schools of whales last. It is impossible to answer this question, but .it is certain that the stock is limited, and that if killing proceeds at tho present rate tho consequences will soon bo obvious. In the opinion of the Times correspondent profits derived from whaling are much exaggerated. During tho last four years tho Norwegian companies operating in the Antarctic have paid an average annual dividend to their shareholders of about 15 per cent. But a couple of bad seasons may mean a serious loss, and even a relatively slight fall in tl.o price of whalo oil may result in a severe declino in tho gross income of a company. The total yield from Norwegian whaling for 1928, that is tho winter season 1927-28 and the summer season 1928, was 870,000 casks of oil, of an estimated value of about £4,010,000. For the previous season tho production was 705,000 casks, value about £3,070,000. Tho average value per cask rose from about, £4 8s in 1927 to about £4 12s in 1928, whereas in 1926 tho average value was over £6.