Occasional Notes.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 11 March 1882, Page 26

Occasional Notes.

By Oolonus.'

PRBV£NTIBLiiI)ISAB3PBRS: V t' Perfection is the prevailing" characteristic of ' the works of God. More or less of imperfection.is the characteristic of the works of man. The*^ wonderful organisation of an animal or plant la simply perfection; nothing is watting, it is complete in all its parts down' to the minutest' ' detail. Creation is something more than won*' ' derful; to a contemplative mind it may well <■ be [awe-inspiring, devoting m it does, or teems to do, the existence of an Intelligence, in com- • ■- patfaon to r which the intelligence of man sinks' into utter insignificance. Compared to what v > we' call Nature— though nature may probably' be 'said to be the of God— man v ' but a clumsy artificer. In wonderful con. trivanoe and adaptation,' how infinitely inferior axi men's works to the productions of Nature •'-<■ And that although the works of men' are very <■ simple in comparison -to the exceedingly; com*' plexand intricate works of nature. It nny, < ; however, be admitted that though thatiabiolnte*' perfection which ifl characteristic of naturalproductions is far beyond the reach of man, yet ' the remits are not utterly insignificant On the ' contrary, the results of man* utilisation vof natural forces' totalise 1 the conceptions of 'hta ' intellect are trnly wonderful and astonishing, <- as Illustrated -in manufactures, maobineryj ana engineering 1 works. As an example, however; >> of L the defective character of man's work, I wUI \ instance the locomotive steam-engine. 1 \Thia' engine is truly a wonderful contrivance, though - " in comparison to the complex works of Nature- >»' it Is a very simple contrivance. simple, •■>' asfcompairatively it ia'toa certain extent, or in 1 one respect at least, it is clumsy ''and defective. ■'■ Had Nature made the locomotive engine, probably she would have provided it with some ' organisation to provide for and guard against' ' the ruinous oonßequences of two trains meeting ''■: on. the same line when inmotion.i The looq. ' motive steam-engine has now been utilised en' railways for, I suppose, over half a century, 1 yet men bava never remedied this great defect »• in; this production, of their inventive genius. By! a system of signals the endeavour is made to guard against collisions,' but judging front the number of accidents which occur, it is veryi evident that the use of signals is quite insnfE* ' oient to guard against danger.' Except in bupplying engines with buffers, the 'effect of which in -preventing concussion seems to be very in. significant, nothing at all seems to have' been done in the way of introducing some machinery calculated to make the collision of two trains ■ comparatively harmless. Surely suoh an in. ; vention is within the scope of human intelii*^ " gerice, and it is rather a reflection upon the activity of the human mind,' that before this >; time locomotive engines should not have been- •• endowed with some sort of machinery to guard : - againsb collision! All that it seems necessary < to |do, in order- to provide against concussion, - ' is, when there is danger of a collision^ to place ■ ■ between the aporoaohing trains- some elastio substance which should considerably diminish, - < if it did not altogether avert, the shock of the ' collision. I am not' an engineer, and perhaps - there is no value in my suggestion, but I would < " venture to remind engineers that steam is,'a ■. . very elastic Bubstanoe, and. I. would suggest . that in some way' or other a body of con* fined steam might be so propelled between two meeting trains, as to deaden the force of collision. Sappose the engine were, to shoot forth an apparatus in the form of a telescope ' filled with steam, where there was danger ,of : collision. By means of a valve, the steam might be allowed to escape at BUch a rate, as required to prevent the bursting of the appa ratus, the engineer being able by. such means to regulate the force applied to prevept 6on« .. cassion. By some Bach contrivance, or some other, I feel sure if men were to set their wits well to work, they would before very long make the locomotive steam engine a more com* .■ : plete body than it is at present, by providing it with some sort of machinery calculated to avert the terrible consequences of the collision of trains in rapid motion. • ■

The burning of the Vienna Theatre, where, according to some accounts, betwt en nine hnn- - : dred and a thousand people were killed,, by. trampling to death, suffocation, or burning; , Bome»of the poor poople, from the appearance oHhe bodie», having' apparently Buffered terrible agonies, is truly au awful and horrible catastrophe. ~F irtnuately it, in not often suoh a terrible evt nt, vccirs. Though theatres 1 have *, been in vogue in Great Britain for ages, and - though theatres . have there been frequently destroyed by fire, I do not think such a calam it? as the burning of nearly the whole Audience, has aver bean chronicled in our national his. tory. Neverthe!e<s it seems desirable that ■ . ample precautions shonld >be taken to provide . against such aa awful event as the burning. o|. , a theatre filled with people, or even of »a alarm --; • of fire, Jntheoawof tbeViwm»Tbe*tr«,«owfl '

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precautions appear to have been taken, though uselessly. Thus there appears to have been an iron curtain made to fal). between the stage and the auditorium, and there was a water-hose on the atage. If the iron curtain bad beenlet down in timr, It is said the catastrophe might not have occurred. I should think also, that If a stream of water, from the hose , had been directed on to' the fire immediately it broke out, it might have been extinguished at once. No ateendpt, however, appear? to have been made f t'6 l dfdp,the iron curtain or make mteof the hdseV ; Why P- r ' l should say, probably beoatwe tnere was no one in attendance whose special dutyifc'waa to attend to and make use of indeed, the curtain or the hose. It seems, tome that in theatres there should always,, fromthetlme'of the opening of the doors to the exit 'of the audience, be one w more firemen ifresdnt, supplied with apparatus for .extinguishing any flames the moment they broke out. It wduldseem very desirable, alto that theatres should be by law compelled to be, so. built asto 1 provide speedy exit for the people in case v of. alarm. ,For thfe purpose, an ap'ertnre or passage twentyjeet broad af least, woud probablybe requisite. .A Targe body of, people especially making a rush for it might be a considerable time in getting through a passage six or even ten feet broad. In the' case of thw Vietina Theatre, it would have seemed almost better'to'Kive opened aw ay through the outer wall of the building with a charge,, of dynamite thanlefthe poor pdopte'be burnt np as it were in a huge trap' or cage, from which they could

not escape.