HERE AND THERE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2928, 27 April 1910, Page 82

HERE AND THERE.

—A Remarkable Iron Field. — The Newfoundland Government has just accomplished a notable feat in colonial finance by securing from the Canadian companies which are operating the iron mines at Wabana, Bell Island, some 12 miles from St. John’s, a royalty of 3|d a ton per annum on the total output for the next 10 years, and as the output is one million tons annually the colonial revenue will benefit to the extent of £15.000 annually. What, the gold reefs of Johannesburg are to the Transvaal the Wabana iron beds are to Newfoundland. They form immense deposits of rich red hematite ore, three miles long and several hundred feet wide, and showing 34 million tons in sight above the water. The deposit is one of Nature’s Teaks. It is a perfect reproduction of a tiled floor. Countless millions of cubes of mineral are laid out with rectangular precision, following the trend of the stratification, and these seem to have been cemented and forced together by some giant machinery in prehistoric j days. Layer upon layer of these cubes is seen in a vertical section of the mine, and the lines of cleavage are as clearly perfect as a child’s box of blocks. The only dlTerence is that one cannot lift one of these mineral cubes with the fingers, but a dynamite charge fixed in a portion of the deposit by a steam drill shatters it for ar area of many feet in every direction, and separates the solid mass into its thousands of little bricks, each about j three inches square and as perfect in alignment as if produced by an artist. No mining, in the customary sense, is needed. The deposit lies open to the sun, and all the work involved is the loosening of successive sections and the gathering up of the fragments, which is done by men shovelling them into ore cars, which run on a light cable railway to a pier on the seashore.—Reuter. —Submarine with Fins.— A submarine which will sink or rise in the water at will, without forward or backward motion, was (says the Daily Mail) shown by Mr H. Middleton, its inventor, in the swimming bath of the Northampton Institute, E.C., recently. It was only a 7ft model, but it fully bore out the claims made for it. Mr Middleton worked out the idea some time ago, but has now brought it to perfection. The submarine is provided with two “fins” on each side, as well as a propeller. No rudder is Wanted, as the propeller shaft , can be turned at am angle, directing the boat to port or starboard. The fins consist of curved flexible metal plates, and, like the propeller, they are driven by electric motors running from accumulators. The submarine model can be propelled by the motion of the fins alone, and it then appears exactly like some large fish swimming gracefully. By bending the fins into the correct position the boat goes under and travels at any depth below the surface. There is no “porpoise” motion as in so many actual submarines when running under water. The most I interesting feature of the boat is its ability to “sink or swim.” It was loaded with weights, and sank to the bottom of the bath; then the “fins” were set in correct motion for rising, and in a few seconds it had come direct to the surface of the water. By working the fins at a different angle the submarine sank like a stone. The whole of the movements were governed by electricity. —A Valuable Instrument. — The “stomach-telescope” or gastroscope invented at the London Hospital last year has proved to be of the greatest value in the diagnosis of stomach disorders. An j eminent surgeon recently referred in the highest terms to the advances lately made at that hospital in the early detection of diseases of the stomach by means of this instrument, which will in the immediate future probably come to be part of the equipment of every up-to-date hospital. The gastroscope now enables the physician or surgeon to actually see for himself the exact condition of the whole of the interior of the stomach, the slightest ulceration, growth, or other abnormality in the lining membrane being thus readily observed. To be able to do this is of the very greatest importance -in suspected cancer of the stomach where the only hope of cure lies in the eradication of the cancerous growth at the very earliest moment. This means that the increased use of the gastroscope will in the future save many lives that would otherwise inevitably be lost through that disease. —Fined for Shouting “Scab.”— The task of nutting a stop to the use of the word “■s»ib” ■ by Toronto citizens was continued in the Police Court (says the Toronto Mail and Empire) by Colonel Denison. The magistrate imposed heavy fines upon Myers Sacks and Sam Levin for calling names after non-union workmen on the street. He intimated that he would continue to make the sentences heavy until the objectionable word became unpopular again. The defendants worked for the Canada Cloak Company, but they sympathised with the employees of the Continental Costume Company, who were out on strike. When the non-union men were leaving work a small demonstration j occurred, and the police arrested Sacks | and Levin, who were strenuously shouting j “scab” after the non-union employees. Levin was fined 25d0l and costs and Sacks had to pay 20dol and costs. “I want it clearly understood that the word * scab ’ cannot be used against inoffensive working men,” said the magistrate. “I had stopped it for two or three years by increasing the fine, and I shall do so again until men find it an expensive pleasure.” —The Value of Police Dogs, — Two police dogs (says the Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph) were sufficient to put to flight a number of disturbers of the peace at Vincennes, and to secure the capture of eight others. A | shopkeeper in the district was being boy- • cotted for some time, and latterly he re-

■ ceiverl threats that his shop would be demolished or burnt down. The police had to be called out in force to keep the disturbers away, and when quiet seemed to ba_ restored they retired. But immediately ' afterwards gangs of suspicious-look-ing individuals again appeared, and finally some 15 of them assembled, and were going to pillage the shop. A telephone call ipformed the police of what was happening, and two policemen, with their dogs, were at once despatched to the scene. Seven of the men took to flight, but the rest remained, and intended to fight the two policemen and two dogs, who, they thought, were no match for them. The policemen simply let their dogs loose, and in a few minutes it was all over. The "ebels capitulated amid yells and groans, as they were being bitten scientifically in the calves of their legs and other obvious parts of their body. The dogs had made short work of their courage, and the eight men marched humbly off to the police station, where they were kept in custody. • British Aluminium Co. — Great things were expected from the starting of the British Aluminium Co.’s works at Kinlochleven, Scotland, in the way of bringing prosperity to the Highlands. In some respedte the hydroelectric works were the most elaborate . in Great Britain. For many years the i company carried on operations at the s’de j of Loch Ness, .the Falls of Foyen being | utilised for producing the required power, j Like a thousand other undertakings, the company seems to have prospered while its work was done in modest premises, and to have come to grief whenever it i launched out in a more ambitious way. The affairs of the company passed into the hands of a receiver last June, and only within the last month have proposals been put forward for the rehabilitation of the concern. To all who saw in the building of the works at Kinlochleven a step towards the provision of increased employment in the Highlands it will be a matter of fervent hope that the new flotation may prove successful, and the way he cleared for the effective prosecution of a great new industry in tbs fid clan country. —Mr Rockefeller Junior.—The son of the oil king, Mr J. D. Rockefeller, has retired from the Standard Oil Company, in which his father owns £60,000,000 stock. Mr Rockefeller, jun., has resolved irrevocably to devote his life not to business and the accumulation of more capital, but to philanthrophy. In future he will expend all his energies in furthering the beneficent schemes drawn up by his father for the use of his gigantic fortune. Mr Rockefeller, jun., will preside over the management of the Rockefeller Foundation, a for which a bill was introduced in the Senate recently. According to one of the associates of the oil “ king,” the Rockefeller Foundation represents the fruit of his constant thought for 10 years. ’•He regards his vas' wealth as an accumulation of energy, and has incorporated that energy so that it will go on working in his name year after year through generations and through centuries, never resting, never an accumulation of surplus energy, but always expending its power for humanity.” The fortune of Mr Rockefeller has been estimated at as much as £200,000,000. j The Dangerous Hatpin.— j The Chicago City Council recently disj cussed a motion prohibiting the wearing ;of hatpins of inordinate length. The debate provoked intense excitement. By supporters of the motion (which was not carried) it was pointed out that many dangerous injuries were inflicted upon men in crowded tramway cars and lifts, and at street corners through violent contact with hatpins a foot and a-half long, and jutting 6in or Bin beyond the brims of women’s hats. It was stated that one man had been blinded. A petition of women was presented to the council ask ing, “ in the name of thousands of ladies who are obliged ocasionally to walk home in the night time,” liberty to carry hatpins uncurtailed. “We are not allowed to use revolvers,” the petition read. “ Hatpins are our only means of defence. 1 Nothing excels a stout hatpin as an effeci tive weapon. Thousands of us, when leaving a tramway car, hold a hatpin in our hand until we are safe indoors.” i Loud cheers from excited throngs -of women greeted the reading of the peti- ! tion. Another X-ray Victim.— Another name (says the Daily Telegraph) has to be added to the roll of X-ray victims. In consequence of the ravages of dermatitis, from which he has been suffering for several years, Mr Frank S. Pepperdiene, medical electrician, of Wimpole street and Bexhill-on-Sea, has ! j had to undergo amputation of the fore- ; | arm just below the elbow. The operation was performed at the Prince of Wales ! Hospital, Tottenham. Mr Pepperdene was one of the earliest pioneers of this branch of science, spending a considerable sum of money on experiments. He has fought a prolonged battle with the i disease, which first made its appeai’ance in the fingers of his left hand over 10 years ago. It was not for two years that its malignant nature was fully realised. The disease had made rapid progress during | the past five years, the whole hand becoming involved. The disease manifested i itself in a constant inflammation and j breaking of the skin and unde "lying tissues, eventually reaching the bone. Cancerous growths followed on the back of the hand, and to prevent the disease further spreading amputation became necessary. The victim has been reduced 1 to a very weak state of health. Hard-headed.— I Aohille Cinfriguini (says the Florence j correspondent of the Daily Telegraph), like the famous Greek hero from whom he takes his first name, may be vulnerable in his heel, but there is no doubt about his head; it is decidedly hard, and almost, but not quite, invulnerable. He 1

strolled into the hospital at Orvieto, and submitted his head to examinaion. He had undoubtedly sustained a very severe fracture, for the top of his cranium resembled an egg after it has been smartly tapped by a spoon. But he retained perfect mental lucidity, and was able to gibe a clear explanation of how his mishap had occurred. He had had a little difference of opinion with his uncle, with whom he lived. Should they have fried eggs foi or an omelet? The question was debated with some heat, and at last the uncle lost his temper. He seized a shovel, and beat his nephew with it about the body. As this did not convert Achille to the fried eggs, the uncle tried the effect of a log of wood, with which he dealt bis nephew a severe blow on the bead. That did not settle the dispute, but it nearly settled Achille, who fell to i.he ground He jumped up again in a moment, ana ran five miles to the station, where he oook the. train to Orvieto, the nearest town to his native village On his arrival, as already stated, he walked coolly into the hospital, and submitted his battered skull for treatment. The chief surgeon was obliged to remove several splinters of bone, but he does not despair of a complete cure:—unless complications arise.