HERE AND THERE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2921, 9 March 1910, Page 81

HERE AND THERE.

—Worse Than the Dum-Dum Bullet.— An expert writes that at the present time one of the greatest dangers for our army lies in the inferiority of the LeeEnfield bullet as compared with the "S,"' adopted by the French in 1904 and by the Germans in 1905.. Not .only is the trajectory of the "S" bullet much flatter than "that of any other, thus extending the point-blank range of the rifle, but it has also ''stopping" powers as great as, if not greater than, those of the dum-dum, which on the score of humanity this country has undertaken not to use against civilised enemiei. For some reason which only scientists could explain, the " S'' bullet, while revolving in the usual way on its axis, and maintaining the proper direction of its flight, nevertheless wriggles as it flies, so that its pointed nose keeps turning slightly to the right and left and upwards and downwards, with the result that on striking its mark it tilts over and penetrates flatwise instead of point foremost. The wounds caused by this intentionally erratic impact are terrible. According to a Japanese military surgeon, who lectured not long ago upon the subject, the percentages of deaths will be Very largely increased owing to the shocking nature of the injuries inflicted. There are several officers and men now living who have been shot through the lungs with Martini or other bullets of comparatively large calibre, and a great many who recovered from such wounds inflicted by Mausers. But that could not take place in cases of lungpenetration with any bullet having the expanding properties of a dum-dum. Yet even the dum-dum itself is. regarded as comparatively harmless beside the terrible '' S." It does not demand much knowledge, or even imagination, to realise the obvious effects of a bullet which strikes longitudinally in place of point foremost. Not only must the size of the wound itself be greatly increased, but the course Of the bullet, internally, must be erratic, instead of penetrating fairly . straight, through and through. — A New Food.— The Soya bean of Manchuria, which has recently been introduced to Europe, seems to have come to stay. These beans, it is said, are nearly three times as rich in albuminoids as oats or wheat. In Germany and America the bean is being ground to form an ingredient of bread, and it is expected that Soya flour and meal may be used for biscuit-making and confectionery. In Switzerland the legume is cooked as a vegetable to some extent, and the dried bean when roasted is used as a substitute for coffee. The oil is used in the manufacture of margarine as well as soap and paint, while the Chinese turn it into condiments and burn it in lamps. It is obvious that the Soya is a most useful plant, serving as many useful purposes as the cocoanut, and large quantities are being absorbed in the markets of Europe, America, and of the Far East. —The Deadly Mosquito.— Within a third of a century Rio deJaneiro has reduced the mortality caused by yellow fever from thousands per annum to nil. by the carrying out of- a death crusade against the mosquito at a cost to the Government of Brazil of £343,750 per annum. After 1850, imported yellow fever became endemic, and without cessation the work of death was carried on, precious lives being sacrificed to the scourge by the thousand. For the year 1876 the mortality from yellow fever alone was 3476. The annual repetition of this fearful condition of things caused the port to be interdicted. The foreigner en route dared not land. Finally, a special service of yellow fever prophylaxy was created, and for the support of all these installations an annual grant of £343,750 was voted. The city was divided into zones, the limits of which Avere fixed according to density of population. Around the. hotbed areas a thorough investigation is carried out. Drains, gutters, root's, water-courses of all kinds rigidly inspected for larvae,, which are destroyed, either by destroying or removing useless deposits, such as tins, broken bottles, and pots, or by pouring petroleum mixed with creoline, lysol, or similar preparations upon the pools where the pest lives and thrives. When such methods are not available, as in the case of wells, tanks, fountains, etc., small fish

(the barrigudo, or Girarclinus caudium aculatus). are let loose, and these finny scavengers devour with incredible voracity all the mosquito hirvse they meet with. By these means yellow fever, the destroyer of thousands, was itself destroyed. Last year there were no deaths in Rio from yellow fever. —Reunion Aftar Ten Years.— Trafalgar square was the scene of a quaint reunion on. New Year's morning (says the Daily Telegraph), the outcome of a resolution formed ten years ago. On January 1, 1900, eleven men, Government workers, were employed in an isolated situation at Plumstead Marshes, dealing with dangerous explosives. The precarious nature of their work caused one fo exclaim, "I wonder where' we shall all be in ten years' time." "Dead, perhaps," said a pessimist. The men worked on, and then one proposed that they should meet on January 1, 1910, at Trafalgar square, and have an outing in London. A secretary was appointed, but in the years that ensued he had almost forgotten the project, when a few montns ago he received a letter reminding him of the gathering. He at once sought for news of the other members of the old Plumstead gang. One was dead, three were unable to fulfil the engagement, but the remaining seven were at Trafalgar square, in the shadow of Nelson's column. They each wore buttonholes, lilies of the valley, orchids, and other flowers, and at 11 o'clock they set out upon their programme, which included a visit to the lower and to various places of amusement. —English Miners and Church-going.-The Sunday at Home is making a systematic inquiry into the moral and spiritual condition of the people, and last month made a start with the Northumberland and Durham miners. These people do not seem to be noted for churchgoing. We are told of one typical pit ■community that out of a population of 25,000 on a particular Sunday only 332? .persons attended the churches, the Roman Catholic Church included. Of this number 1949 were adults and 1373 were children. In one district 25 per cent. of the adult population is in religious attendance, and 75 per | cent, of the children and young people. In another village 15 per cent, of the men, 40 per cent, of the women, and 60 per cent, of the young people regularly attend some place of worship. But there are areas where the .percentage is only 10, and in one large district in the county of Durham the percentage is only 5. There are, it seems, thousands of teetotalers among the pitmen of the North. Among the Methodists, while'-total abstinence is not a condition-of membership, prohibition is the practical law. There are successful societies of the Good Templars, the Sons of Temperance, and the Rechabites, and other temperance organisations. Meetings are constantly being held, both by the churches and agencies like the North of England Temperance League. Still, drunkenness is the pitman's curse. It is, perhaps, declining, but the decline is scarcely perceptible. The huge drinking shops in many of these colliery places are, we are told, the most costly of all the buildings in the district.

—How the World Will End.—

The universe from the standpoint of modern physics was the theme of Mr G. F. C. Searle, University Lecturer in Experimental Physics, Cambridge, at a meeting of the Victorian Institute, in the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall. The modern conception of the universe, he said, set before us a wonderful system working in a manner so regular and orderly that Ave were almost tempted to believe that there never was a time when it was not guided by exactly the same laws as were in operation to-day. This temptation must, however, be resisted, for if Ave yielded to it we abandoned the conclusion that the universe was created. The universe contained matter in very vigorous motion, both in bulk, as seen in the earth's motion round the sun, and in detail, as seen in the molecular vibration which gave rise to light. Hence the state - of the universe to-day differed from its state yesterday, and so on. Modern investigations hadr shoAvn that while the total amount of energy remained unchanged, there Avas at present a progressive diminution in its availability, and that pointed remorselessly to the time Avhen the energy would he so distributed that further redistribution would be impossible. When this came to pass, the universe ivould be physically and chemically inert. In simple words, it would be dead. —Muscles Turning to Bone.—

An honoured guest at most of the London hospitals is a tall, slim man, with a thin face, who has to move about with extreme care, because if he happened to fall down he might break in several places. He is literally a fragile man who has to walk with something of the stiffness of "La Poupee." A violent fall would be disastrous to him. He is suffering from a rare and painless disease which, in the words of one of the doctors who have seen him, turns him into "a porcelain man." Alban Rushbrook, aged 35, has for seven years been suffering from myositis ossificans. Hie muscles are turning into bone. He can walk, but he cannot sit in a chair, and it is difficult for him to turn his head to right or left. Fortunately, he takes his condition very philosophically, and thoroughly enjoys his pipe. As a rare specimen he is well known in the London hospitals, and he has many times been examined by the conjoint Board of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons and Physicians. He has been to the Middlesex Hospital, King's College Hospital, St, Thomas's Hospital, and St, George's Hospital. The inside of his chest, back, and thighs are all turning to bone. He lies flat in bed. When he desires to rise he is shifted to the edge of the bed, and his rigid body is tipped up till his feet touch the floor" A stick is placed in his hand, and he can then

make his way in a straight line ahead, "lareat care has to be observed," said a doctor the other day. "The m.ui rnighti break one of his ossified muscles just as he might an ordinary none. His body is becoming more or less ' locked.' —Peruvian Antiquities.— . We understand (.says the Times) chat | through the munificence of a city merchant, who desires for the time being to remain anonymous, the nation is about to become the possessor of a collection of rare and valuable prehistoric antiquities from Peru. They consist of ceramic vessels of various kinds discovered by Mr T. Hewitt Myrmg in the Chimcana Valley. This pottery is extremely beautiful, and is in an excellent state of preservation, notwithstanding its age, which is variously estimated at from 2000 to 7000 years. The vessels were discovered in a tumulus, and their perfect condition is attributed to the presence of saltpetre in the ground where thej were buried. Most of the vessels are embellished with designs which prove that the people who produced them possessed the sense of, beauty in a high degree, and had attained to an advanced civilisation, though practically nothing is known of them beyond what is to be gathered from these relics. Men, animals, and birds are presented with great fidelity to life, and .with remarkable skill. It is evident that the figures on some of the vessels are portraits, and these enable a clear idea to be formed of the lineaments of the people who dw,elt in the region which produced this lost civilisation. —An Alpine Custom.— In some of the Alpine districts of Piedmont and Savoy, in 'which the entire population consists of shepherds dwelling in scattered habitations, a beautiful and reverent custom still prevails. As the shades of evening are closing in on the valley, and only the crests of the mountain ridges remain lighted by the last rays of the departing sun, the shepherd whose dwelling is situated highest on the mountain side takes his alpenhoru, and using it as a speaking trumpet, cries to the valley below: " Praise God the Lord." Each of the neighbouring shepherds takes up tiie cry in turn as it reaches them, and thus for a apace of about a quarter of an hour the quiet Alpine glen echoes from side to side with the solemn cry or "Praise the Lord,"' until the reiterated call dies away in the far distance. An impressive stillness follows the last sound of the horns, and the peasants, with bared heads, fall on their knees in simple devotion. When finally even the mountain crests have lost the latest glow of sunlight, and darkness envelopes the whole landscape, then oii his mountain height the first shepherd again putg horn to lips, and in cheerful fashion calls out to those below a cordial "good night." Once more this cry ia taken up by peasant after peasant, and when it in turn has died away they, rise from their knees and retire, each, to his J dwelling, to rest quietly from the labours \ of the day. _ j —A Creepy Story.— j The Daily Mirror reports a curion -\ series of coincidences in connection with some Indian idols in possession of a Leicestershire vicar, who inherited them from his father. Ten years ago the reverend gentleman's brother was accosted in the New Forest by a Hindu, and asked, the whereabouts of the idols. The native seemed thoroughly acquainted with the family history, but when he saw that his mission was unsuccessful he said that bad luck would accompany the idols, though he would not renew his demand for ten years. Bad luck, according to the vicar, has certainly followed the idols and their owner, formerly his father, now himself. However, the plot did not begin to thicken till the ten years expired at Christmas time, a few days ago. Then the brother received two letters by the same post —one from India, saying simply, "Remember the judgment of the gods, ; ' and one from London, containing news of his wife's sudden and serious illness. He has had a bad fright, and, for the first time, divulged the story of his forest interview to the vicar. As for the latter, he attributes the events to the long iMp. of coincidence, but as most people would! feel in his place, he is anxious to be rid of his perilous possessions. Examples of the art of former periods, even of 50C b.c, may be preserved at to* uncomfortable a cost.