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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7865, 29 July 1911, Page 11

The German standard of phyrique as regards height, eyesight, and chest measurement, is lower than our own. Altogether about fifty-eight per cent, of the German young men are unfit for war at the ago of twenty-one. An even worse* state of things obtains in Prance; but in Italy, where there has been no very marked movement of the populationfrom the country to the towns, the percentage of efficients is higher than in Central Europe, and the national physique is well maintained.—" Army and Kavy Gazette." ' , If motor-cars had never been invented we should still be a very ignorant people. Ten years ago we knew our own immediate neighbourhood; if we hunted, but knowledge was possibly more ex- | tended,, though probably more 1 peculiar; otherwise we knew only of other parts when we happened to be visiting friends who lived in them, unless, of course, our lawful callings took us about the country.—"Autocar,”

s dignaut gas consumer, for instance, an* s rives in an excited state of mind. Hia - monthly bills have become unreasonable, 0 and he thinks tho gas, company in cheat--1 mg. His idea of a gas meter is probably e vague—h© looks upon it as an infernal, - complex contrivance that always works i, for the company's interest, Maybe tho, first thing the trouble mam s does is to show him the inside of,a gaa r meter, laid bare for tHe purpose, and he f sees that it is a simple bellows, filling* i emptying and measuring t tho gas. Then . figures aro produced to show how few e meters are wrong—ln a recent month in New York city, for illustration, only four meters out of nearly half a millioa. were found fast on test. The difficulty may b© duo to defects ' in tho consumer's piping,. or tips, or some other detail easily attended to. . The trouble man has various tips and/ appliances to show him how_ gas ■ ia ■ wasted, and is-sincerely anxious to help e him get . along with as little gas as pos--1 sible, so ho 'will remain .a satisfied cusJ tomer. An inspection of his house will t be madd if necessary, but mdny complaints are adjusted right in the office* Expensive Carelessness. ~ Lighting bills frequently, increase * through some cause that the customer can control, but which has to be traced _ down by the company. An .all-night in-' r speefcion of business premises may shew . that scrubwomen light a whole floor while cleaning; operations are going * on, and so forth. Neglected lamps' in a bathroom, basement or hallway may bo left burning in a home. Au electric light? company may attach an "ammeter”, to , tho wires on premises where there is complaint, giving a written record of every lamp lighted. ■ . Such a record was laid before a protesting customer not long ago. It showed that a single lamx> had been burnt twelve minutes between 2 and 3 o’clock in' the morning. “Here I Wo had no light on at that hour," ho exclaimed, but almost immediately remembered that he had risen himself that morning and lit one lamp. “■Weil/' ho said, “if you can tell that close. I'll pay the bill and say nothing ■ more.” Trouble is sometimes duo to obscure defects in/wiring, and sunning it down takes patience and technical knowledge. , An electric light customer complained that his bills were high. Tho metor wan tested and found correct, and other tests' devised by the trouble man failed to locate the difficulty until finally by close supervision it was found that an obscure defect “grounded" the wires at certain hours, and caused th© meter to register while all th© lamps wore turned off. This defect, of course, was in the customer's equipment, not the company's, but electrical men find that time spent in locating such troubles is well invested, paying returns in satis/ faction and reputation for fairness. lik another case an obscure grounded wire was f'uznd making an electric mater run backward;, registering against the com- / pany Telephones. / Telephone companies find the trouble man indispensable. Subscribers forget toll messages, and have to bo shown exact record when bills are; rendered by way of stimulating their memories. Bitter complaints that a farm telephone would not “work" have been, traced to a nail placed in the receiver-slot—it was put there by the subscriber himself to. prevent tho telephone ringing when, the baby was asleep, and forgotten when h« v wanted to talk himself. One of The most amusing complaints, reported by a telephone trouble man was that of a Chinaman, who ordered out his new .telephone because it would “no* tlakce." Th© trouble man found tho Chinaman trying to talk to a compatriot in broken English. When told to talk Chinese ho said that was better* .. but that he could not hear. * “Tell your friend to ' talk Chinese, too." l ' ■ v • Tho Oriental subscriber’s face brightened when he did so. j. , “Tlakeo allyigt, hearee allyight," he said. “Mle no know telephone tlakee Chinese/’ „ Steam laundries have plenty of work for an expert trouble man. Complaints' are made of missing bundles, missing garments, clothing torn and damaged in the wash. Some of/the missing pieces have never been sent to the laundry, and it takes tact and patience to con- ■ vince the patron that the error lies at his or her. own door. Complaints ,of damaged clothing are commonjy duo to sending the laundry garments that'are practically worn out, and which would • fall to pieces if the customer tried to wash them-at home. Sphere of Usefulness Unlimited, Tho trouble man is a most useful 1 employee to every house .making machinery and supplies. An adding machine was reported to skip amounts ro : corded on tho keys, and it took somestudy of the situation ; to show that this apparent defect was the fault of the , operator, who had run it with a short supply of paper ribbon. The curling paper ,at ; the extreiu'- end of the roii. had failed to take thc.record. Expensive power machinery has dere* loped troubles after installation. These, when stiidicd by an export, have been, traced to lack of instruction to engineers operating the apparatus. A few. lessons • ’ in oiling, with blue-prints showing tho • vitah parts, and difficulties}, vanished. - So,, tho trouble man is useful everywhere. His job is fundamental, as weß as mighty interesting. * Sometimes ths fault is the customer's, and again due to the house. No matter which, it is his duty to find it, clear it up, and see that it does not happen again. Dennis Sheedy, Denver banker and mil* lionaire, has invented 1 Ssmeltlng deHe crossed tho plains from Chicago in 1564 walking most of the way.