OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16002, 19 February 1914, Page 2

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

FOR SKNIORS AND JUNIORS.

(Conducted by MiOJSTBB, to whom all communications muat bo addressed.)

[llaoistbk will rx> (jua to rooelte Nature note*. oiurked jiuptw eoiiuimuK cdiicutiuiiMi article*, ilagraiin, ilcMila of tijierluieiite, etc-, of scholutli interest to iMcbera iiuil piipile- UwreepuuileaU must lie* om.i uxx Hiua ol tlio paper, »nd whether using a pen uame or uji, nn»t woJ 0011) .-.AIiH null AUUBBSS.]

THE NAVY LEAGUE. Tho Psycho ie in port just now, and as fcho eoorotarv of tlio Otago branch oi the Navy LuaguuMius sent out ciroiUars for u renewal of tlio school branchce in our schools, a slight reference to the navy wjli not be iuiiiss. Wo all know Uiat our iuivy oxiete to doiend, not to defy, and that its predominance is necessary to tlio Bta-bihty of the Empire to a far greater extent than a navy is necessary for the existence of any other Empire. Nations nee ami fall and it has lß!cn pretty clearly established that sea power is ncteessary for the tupremacy of any nation having overseas possessions and a large maritime commerce, ihe secretary of our loagwi p\in>oses making two visits to most of our schools, ou eoiue afternoon to givo a general chat upon the navy and tho Empire, and on some evening, when he wiJl give a lantern lecture. Wo all know hie abilities as lecturer; and wo know too, that he always has a lantcrnist who knows his 'business. Are not these t-.vo lectures worth a shilling? 'Inen every five shilling members at a shilling each in a school get a monthly copy of the Navy, which gives the most up-to-date information procurable i:pon the navies of the world. Now, will you roll up with your shillings, and get a Navy Lraguo medal or brooch to wear? Mr- Darling wants tho liets in before the end of next month, but why not get tho liete filled up before the end of this month? Show that you are interested in the Empire, and are willing to contribute, your mite towards helping our local league in its educational work. Perhaps you can go further, and yet father, or mother, brother, or sister to become an associate at 5s a year, or a full number with voting rights at a guinea. WHAT IS PATRIOTISM? Some weeks ago I referred to eomo pamphlets and leaflets sent to mo by tlho antimilitarist party. Here is a copy of a large two-coloured noster issued by the Peace Committee of the Society of Friends, 12 Bishopgato Without, London : — " Patriotism is a passion of lovo to the community and of National Brotherhood." Lord ShafWmiry, 1711. " Lovo is essential in patriotism. Hatred of other countries always leads to intolerance, cruelty, and oppression of home. 'Ihe irue patriot iaboui'6 to improve and create, raise, his own country, promote international friendship ; NOT to injure and destroy, degrade other nations, rouse a boastful, quarrelsome spirit. "Tlie man who lives to better the condition of his fcllowmen and add to the happiness of their lives, raise up a people strong of limb, true in word and deed, brave, sober, temperate, chaste. This man truly serves tho State. Ho truly loves his country.

" Every life is full of opportunities for

heroism ! "Save your country by self-sacrifice!! " Show your daring by duty nobly dbne!!!"

I think that the-advocates of military training will subscribe to every word of that poster. To train, to defend one s coun-h-y or Empire, does not create a. hatred of foreign nations, nor does it prevent one from trying to better tho condition of others. I cordially recommend the reading matter to the serious consideration of both anti-militarists and militants. THE WOOL TRADE Some weeks ago I had prepared some notes on the wool trade, but other matter was more pressing, I thought, so the notes had to stand over. But to-day seems an opnortuno time to draw attention to our pestoral wealth, for yesterday we had another wool sale. lam anxious to sec teachers reduce to a minimum the use ot set books on geography, for commercial, political, historical, and climatic geography can now bo much more effectively and intelligently taught from newspapers, trade journals, reviews, etc. My notes to-day are almost entirely confinocl to the wool industry; next week I shall probably refer to the frozen meat and butter industries. THE AMERICAN TARIFF. As wo heard recently, wool is to be admitted free into tho United States. I didn't know thai, there was a duty of loi pence on wool, and I imagine many -will bo astounded to read what a large proportion of socles, stockings, and underclothing is made of cotton. With the free entry of wool into tho United States the question arises, Will tho price of wool keep up to last year's, or will it not only do that but advance? Dalgety's pamphlet says that tho increased consumption of wool, and the fact that consumption is overtaking production are almost certain to keep the price up even if there is no advance. The following extract will give teachers an opportunity to give a "live" lesson in a phase of commercial geography of direct interest t'o as. -Dwellers in the cities, too, and those most intimately connected with the working of our porte will sec the danger of interfering with trade that is so essential to the prosperity of tho dominion. The revision of the American tariff is a matter of vital interest to Australasian woolgrowers, and naturally the free-wool proposals have raised great hopes. Of late years the xYmerican demand has been of a will-o'-the-wisp character. When least expected it ruled strong, and other times when, a strong demand was anticipated .'t was not forthcoming;. Now and then the Americans came along and paid sensational prices for superfine wools. -The demand has during the existence of the present tariff been necessarily restricted to the lightest free wools, but free wool or a greatly reduced tariff would alter all that. What particular classes of wool will he most suitable for the fashions of the season in America yet remains to be seen, but an enormously increased demand for such wools is assured. The increased demand for wellgrown wools of average grades of both merino and crossbred cannot but have a very good effect on values generally. That it will tend to an increased demand for scoured and skin wools seems also very probable. The previous duty, wheh amounted to 16£ d i>«r lb on scoureds, or three times the duty on greasy wool, was absolutely prohibitive, for it brought the price of our best scoureds to about 40d per lb.

There should also be an increaeed demand for sheepskins. Dear wool in America has led to an enormous 'use of substitutes. Whilst! cotton has, no doubt, a legitimate function in extending the wool supply, the cheapening of wool widens the scope fof more wool and more cotton to be used by reducing the price of fabrics to a reasonable level. The artificially high level of raw wool values in America has led to the excessive use of substitutes. This is most strongly illustrated in the case of the hosiery industry. A recent return showed that out of 63 million dozen socks or stockings made in the United States, 57 million dozen were all cotton; and out of 28 million dozen knitted ■ undergarments only about three million dozen contained wool.

Dividing the number of sheep shorn into tho net weight of wool produced, including that ivsed- for manufacturing in Australasia, in all 749,997.2911b, it will be seen that the average weight of wool produced (including lambs) works out at 71b por head , , which compares with 7.461b in 1911-12, ajid 71b 4oz for the two proceding years, 61b 14oz in 1908-9, and 61b 9oz in 1907-8. The allround average- price of wool shows a substantial increase as compared with the previous year, being 10.21 d as against 8.53 d, and the average monetary return per head of slicep and lambs has been 5s 8?d, as compared with 5s OJd in 1911-12, 5s 5d for 1910-11. 5s 10d for 1909-10, and 5s Id per head for 1908-9. It ie most satisfactory that despite tiho comparatively small fleeces produced, the return per head is higher than it was in tho previous year. Tho average value realised per bale for a.ll the wool sold in Australasian markets has been £13 13s Id. or £1 17s Bd< more than the previous yea-r, and greater than in any year einco 1906-7, when the average reached £14 3s lid. which stands as the highest level since the yoar 1900-1, when the average was the minimum one of £8 11s lOd.

The -total value of the 1,804.801 bales sold m Australasia during the past; season has boon £24.642,643. as against 1,926.926 bales of a -value of £22.685>;090 in 1911-12. and even presuming that tho portion of t.ho clip which has been ecait direct to London for sale has only made a like average, the mrfc pain in wealth to Australasia for wool alone will have amounted to £30.684,531. which compares witli previous years as follows:— 1912-13 £30.684.531 1911-12 29,591.874 1910-11 31,588.936 1909-10 33,128,496 1908-9 25,950,912 1907-8 26,768.952 1906-7 29,685,740 Australasia has exported , in seven years £207,399,441 worth of raw voai.

BREVITIES. The average weight of the bake has been 321.2Jb as compared with 331.21b in 1911-12, and 332.11b in 1910-11. The total quantity of wool sold in Australasia during the past year has been 1,804,801 bales, as compared with 1,926,926 bales in the 1911-12 season.

The average value realised per bale for all the wool sold in Australasia has been £13 13; Id, as compared with £11 15s 5d during tin previous year. Increased value per bale, £1 17s Bd.

The average price per lb has been 10 3-16 d, as compared with Bjd for the preioue year, 9£d in 1910-11, and 9?d for the 190940 season.

The average percentage increase in the price of all wool sold in Australasia as compared with the .previous year has been 19.8 per cent. Great Britain been our best customer for wool, followed by France, whilst German? takes third place. Germany was top in the previous year. Latest statistics give sheep numbers as 107,202,349 hoad, a decrease of 9,809,634 head.

The sheep slaughterings for export ond local consumption throughout Australasia have been 15,649,349 head, as compared with 19.281,287 hoad during the preceding year. The average weight of wool cut per head of eheep and larabs has been 71b, ae compared with 7.461b for the previous year. The monetary return ,per head of eheep and lambs from wool has been 5s B|d, as compared with 5s OJd in 1911-12, and 5s 5d in 1910-11.

The 1,804,801 bales sold in Australasia realised £24,642,643. No less than 50.3 per cent, of the- total shipments wa-s sold in Australia and New Zealand.

Tho proportion of crossbred wool to merino has increa-sed from 28 per cent, to 31 per ceni In 1910-11 the proportion of crossbred was 24 per cent. The coming clip will be well grown, sound, and bulky. The fibre will be broader than that of the past clip- and there will be more yolk]and vegetable defect. The clip of 1913-14 is expected to eho\v a fair increase, but it will take some years to recover from the losses of 1912. MERINO AND CROSSBRED. These two paragraphs show how crossbred sheep aro gradually displacing merinos: — Tho past clip was composed of 69 per cent. merino, and 31 per cent, crossbred, a slight increase in the proportion of crossbred as compared with the previous year, when the respective proportions were 72 and 28 .per cent. The clip of 1910-11 was composed of merino 74 per cent., and crossbred 36 per cent.

In 1910 the clip was composed of 76 per cent, merino, 24 per cent crossbred, ■whiic in 1908-9 there was 78 pejc cent, of merino and 22 per cent, of crossbred.

From these figures oommon-sonso percentage sums can be made up, and with the map of the world down, a geography lesson can be given on trade routes, present and probable, on wool-producing countries, and woollen manufacturing centres. The lesson would bo a comprehensive one, appealing to fcho common-eense and intelligence of children, instead of being a meaningless patter of rote work. Incidentally, of course, it could bo shown how Yorkshire has become the woollen centre, and Lancashire the cotton centre, the former making an appeal to history, Flanders, and the woolsack. SAWS AND SWORDS. Among my periodicals is "The Nature Reader Monthly," and among the articles in one of the most recent issues, under the heading "Nature and Art" there appears one with my heading, and I am reproducing it, for it contains some good suggestive reading:— "The Greeks of old were very fond of claiming one or other of their ancestors as the inventor of one or other of the various tools or weapons in use among them. For example, the saw and the compass were

said to have been invented by a very clever boy named PerdJx, whoso uncle was the famous Daedalue ,the most skilful workman and inventor of his day. It was on this account that Perdix, whose father was dead, was sent to Daedalus by his mother that he, too, might become a skilful workman.

"At first Daedalus took pride in teaching his nephew, but so clever did Perdix prove liimeclf that his uncle became jealous, and made up hie mind to get rid of a pupil who bade fair to outstrip his master. Taking Perdix to the top of the tower of Minerva, ho wickedly pushed him over the the edge that he might bo dashed to death, only to see the falling boy changed into a bird by the goddess Minerva, who loved and cared for clever people. "It is said that the invention of the saw camo about in this wise. Walking one day by the sen Perdix eaw lying on the sand the backbone of a fish. After gazing at it thoughtfully for somfe time he went home, and taking a flat piece of iron he cut a number to teeth in the edge of it, and thus produced the first saw. ''If the backbone of a fish bo examined it will be seen to be composed of a number of separate bones joined together by gristly pads, as in th-o oaee of nearly all backboned creatures. It ie thc6C gristly pads that make the backbone pliant instead of rigid. Each of the bones consists of a rounded body, from which above and bolow a sharp spine projects, sc that the whole backbone has the appearance of a doublo saw with very long teeth, and it is quite possible that the inventor of the first saw did really get the hint which led to the invention, ae Perdix is said to have done in the old Greek myth. Not that a fish's backbone is the only thing in nature that could have led man to the making of this very useful tool, for there ars many saws—i.e., cutting tools with teeth, to be found in nature.

"In the animal world a whole group of insects owe their name to' their possession of a very wonderful pair of saws, with which they cut slits in wood and leaves and therein lay thoir eggs. These saw-flies are related to bees and wasps, but in place of the sting they have two horny saws which work backwards and forwards in grooves. Not only are the sides a 6 well as the edges of these saws toothed, but each tooth has upon it smaller teeth; and it is these toothed sides—which act like a raep—and the smaller teeth that prevent the cutting blades from clogging and jamming in the green bark or wood, as everyone knows a saw will do unless it is properly 'set' for green wood. And, further, since the saws work one after the other, they are able to work at double the rate of a single eaw.

"Unfortunately, interesting as theso sawflies are, 'they are sad posts, their grubs doing much liarm to our fruit bushes, two of the flies being known as the gooseberry saw-fly and the currant eaw-fly, bocause their grubs live on tho leaves of these bushes. Hundreds of these grubs aro sometimes to be found on a single bush, which is 6oon stripped of everything green. "It is enough for tho saw-fly whose grubs feed on the ioliage of plants to cut a mere slit in the skin of tho leaf or tender bark in which to deposit her eggs; but that is not the case with insects whoso grubs live on the woody ttoms. In such caees the eggs must be laid on or in the wood itself, and for this purpose tho saws of the sawflies, wonderful and beautiful as they arc, would be useless.

'The saw of the wood wasp or tailed wasp is very like a double-edged fret-saw, and with it she can quite easily cut through the tough bark of a tree until ehe reaches tho wood, on which she deposite her eggs. If found at work the insect can quite easily bo captured, because the saw is not very readily and quickly withdrawn when it is at all deeply inserted in tho bark. Unlike tho saw of the saw-fly (and the sting of the bee and wasp), this cutting tool of Sires cannot be withdrawn into the body, but always projects in the form of i long tail, to which the insect owes one of its popular names. Happily these wood waeps are not very common in our country, for the grubs when numerous do great damage to the timber of forest trees.

"A third group of 6aw-flies are called stem saw-flies, from the habit of laying their eggs in such stems as the haulms of wheat; and there aga'n the grubs, when numerous, do enormous damage. "Turning now to other claeses of insects, we find that in tropical America there live ■several species of large beetles which feed o'l the sap of trees, which they obtain by cutting open the young bark with their toothed jaws. At least one species, called the sawyer beetle, is able to cut off a small branch by seizing it between the jaws and then converting itself into kind of living circular saw by flying round and round. A loud noise is mado ae the living saw cuts through the wood, and sinco it is only the male beetle that indulges in this curious performance, it is believed to do so as a call to its mate, just as a woodpecker drums on the branch of a tree by means of very rapid strokes of its strong bill.

"Tho two-edged aw of the saw-fish is used not so much ae a tool as a weapon, and a very formidable weapon it is. xllong the edges of a long bony plate that projects from the head are eet a large number of sharp, cutting teeth. Dashing among a shoal of fish upon which it feeds, the sawfish sweeps its head violently from side to side, killing or disabling a largo number of its prey, which it then proceeds to devour at it« leisure.

''Among savages in various psrts of the world weapons similar in form to this natural, double-edged toothed sword are found. Along the edges -of a hard, flat piece of wood the savages fasten a number of eharp teeth, euch as chips of flints or other very hard rock, or real teeth, such as those of the ehark. With euch weapons as these, fearful, jagged wounds can bo inflicted on an enemy.

"Many other examples of natural saws, more often used as weapone than as tools, could bo given from the animal world, but these must suffice.

"In the plant world, too, objects with toothed or saw-like edges are by no means rare, although, in this case they are not actively used as either tools or weapons, and usually have quito another meaning. Thus the serrated edgce of many leaves may have reference to the manner in which the leaf is packed away in tho bud; but they certainly are not used for cutting purposes. In the case of some .crassoe, however, the tiny teeth with which the ederes of tho Wade arc armed aro eo sharp that they will cut the fingers if passed smartly betwocn them from lxj.se to point Those ,teeth are made of flint, which, passing into tho grass roots from the soil, is carried lip into the leaves, and there cast out of tho living cells as neelces. forming, however, tiny cutting teeth, which in all likelihood help to protect these harsher and harder kinds of grass from tho attacks of various browsing creatuits, largo and small."

SOME SALE FIGURES. Markets. 1912-13. 1903-9. 1904-5. Bale* Bales. Bales. Sydney ... 664,482 745,609 493,223 Melbourne ... 312,698 295,973 210,106 Seolong ... 107,315 101,772 93,888 Adelaide ... 147,983 134,701 71,018 Fromantlo ... 3,182 1,037 — Brisbane ... 259,150 148,973 38,660 Tasmania ... 23,840 21,852 20,045 Commonwealth 1,518,650 1,449,917 926,940 New Zealand 286,151 207,989 165,711 Australasia ... 1,804,801 1,657,906 1,092,651