Page 18 Advertisements Column 7

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22356, 1 September 1934, Page 18

Big Ben, the most famous clock in th« world, has been having its four faces washed and its works cleaned and renovated, an operation which takes place every tenth year. No part has needed replacement or renewal for more than 70 years. The works are cleaned with paraffin-dipped brushes; first a wire brush and then one of hair to reach the crannies stiff wire cannot penetrate. Every trace of old oil must be removed before reoiling, since a mixture of old and new lubricants would damage the machinery. The dials, each 23ft in diameter and bearing 10 years’ accumulation of London grime, need only soap and water; but the hands must first be removed, no easy task since the minute hand alone is 14ft long and weighs about 2cwt. The hells weigh collectively nearly 21 tons, and the cost of their renovation will run to about £260. The continual striking of the hammers in one place wears away the metal, and this necessitates “turning” them so that they are struck in a new place. The once powerful “ white ” Indians of British Guiana’s interior are now almost extinct. A British surveying party reported it could only find eight survivors of the tribe which once dominated the region. The tribe is known as the Wai« wai Indiana from the colour of their skin, “ waiwai ” being the word for tapioca in several British Guiana Indian dialects.