The Train Shooting Problem.

Otago Witness, Issue 2843, 9 September 1908, Page 5

The Train Shooting Problem.

To "Cms,"— For the sake of brevity and common sense allow me to quote yourself: " Here is an engine running away at the rate of a mile a minute; how can a bullet fired from the other end of the train at no higher velocity hope to catch it " (travel forward from the. van af the rear to the engine in front)? The train is travelling at ths ra-te of 60 miles an hour; but so is the rifle stock and barrel held by the shootist as well as the shootist himself, the missile therefore being ejected at the rate of 60 mil« 3 an hour from a rifle barrel already travelling a* the rate of SO miles . &3i hour give a speed passing a stationary object of 120 miles an hour, dhd 60 miles an hour from one end of the train to the other, so tb»t provided tie engine driver is within tii« line of fire, and the marksman's aim is true, the result is obvious. — G-. C. B. Why, yee ; — and much more i& it obvious that (t. C. B. is a dullard. Last week a correspondent was gravely inquiring whether it were possible to shoot a bullet from the van to the engine of a moving train. With equal gravity G-. C. B. makes answer, — with the gravity indeed' of tlie philosopher in Hudibras : For he, by geometric scale, Could take the size of pots of ale; Resolve bj sines and tangents! straight, If bread or butter wanted weight; And wisely tell what hour o' the day The clock does strike, by algebra. My reply, on the other hand, was mainly banter, and what wasn't banter was irony. It is required of readers of this column, I may say, that they recognise irony when they gee it ; , otherwise they waste their time with me, and would find better entertainment in the no-license column or in the perusal of patent-medicine advei-tise-ments. The mathematics of G. C. B. are beyond reproach; his sense of humour is sadly to seek. Civis.

It is a noted fact that gifts often come from those who can leaet afford them. The Rev. E. A. Axo>h<en gave a striking illustration of this truth at the annual meeting of the Presbyterian Social Service Association on the let. He stated that when they broached the question of enlarging their operations in regard to the orphanage the first money* that was subscribed came from, the inmates of thfe Benevolent Institution. He had tried to stop them from contributing, but they indignantly asserted their right to do what they liked with their money, and so lie could do nothing but accept it gratefully. "Go thou," said Mr Axeken, "and do likewise."

The Licensed Victuallers' Association fe-ele that it is not receiving that credit it is entitled to for the efforts it makes to prevent persons obtaining license* who it considers, in the interests of th« public, should not be entrusted with the control and management of hotels. The association informs ue that it is able to pomt to a number of instances in Dunedin where changes have been made, through its representations, in the licences of house* in order to ensure a better observance o£ the law, and it again points to th« instance of the Stirling Hotel as a case- i^Lc which much trouble would have been saved .had the. efforts made by its secretary prevented the issue of a license to a person whom it considered entirely unsuited for the position. In this particular case go imbued was the association with the belief that it had done right in its efforts to prevent the issue of the license referred to that it passed a resolution, expressing ite profound dissatisfaction with' the- Bruce Licensing Committee for having granted the license in question, and it strongly protected against the- perfunctory, manner in which the license was granted*, and threw upon the Licensing Committee the entire- onus of the scandal which arose. It is only right that the laudable efforts of the association to secure an improvement in the- conduct of licensed houeef should 'bo publicly recognised,

< Slavery was recently abolished in Zanzibar, and 10,000 slaves were liberated at i^ cost of £40.000 to the British Government. An ingenious inventor has discovered a process by which wcod pulp can be used ' for making wearing- apparel (sa\s the Times, of Natal). ft is cheaper than any wooj, silk, or cotton fabric, and it can be as fine as a cobweb or as thick as the j heaviest cloth. [

Ifc is estimated that < the thrse million larch trees which have been planted at the Waiotapu prison camps will attain maturity in 18 years, when eaoh tree w ill yie-ld three raihray sleepers of the value of 15s. "There is a house in Tima.ru," said the Mayor at a meeting: of the Timaru Borough Council. " woise than the worst I have ever f^-en or even read of, not excepting the ratinfestcd cellars of Lcuadon in which people lived."