HERE AND THERE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3085, 30 April 1913, Page 77

HERE AND THERE.

—Science and the Divining Eod., That much-debated instrument, the divining rod, seems to stand a considerable chance of having its claims endorsed by scientific opinion. At all events, it is now occupying a considearble share ot the attention of various important scientific bodies abroad. The Congress of Experimental Psychology -proposes to organise a competition for “diviners ’ in Paris; while the German Society of Agriculture in Berlin is discussing in all seriousness the practical utility or the divining rod for discovering supplies of water. Certainly in Germany scientific opinion seems to be fairly strong in support of the long-despised claims of the “waterfinders,” for .such famous geologists as Professors Hein, of Zurich; Hoernes, of Graz; and Haas, of Kiel, have declared in favour of it; while the Department of State Railways in Germany continually makes use of “water-finders’ with divining rods in its railway surveys. At the meeting of the Agricultural Society in Berlin Dr Behme, of Hamburg, in a scientific exposition of the subject, stated that he had made 6CO experiments with 20 different diviners, and almost always had ohtaincd results, though in a few cases flagrant mistakes had occurred. His conclusion was that it could not be questioned that certain individuals reacted in a particular way when they encounter, d a particular configuration of tin* earth; ' ' i ,■ i explained phenomenon mm e »-iui • I’■ uaiu mission »} •though*. ;,1< pn.-eise explanations w-.-iv at; ;t .p, .; tiv Dr Aiguer. of Munich, and lii. ~f Leipzig. At Munich « water ih. i.r" is in the constant service of the. corporation f< i ihv purpose ol locating underground breakages in the pipes. Professor Hasson put forward the hypothesis that certain hitherto unknown rays emanating from the ground-produced various muscular movements in the subject which resulted in the dipping of the rod. —Another Record Family.— Mr Frederick Busu Beckett, a Great Yarmouth baker, who recently celebrated his silver wedding with his second wife, has hao in all o 3 children, of whom 19 are still alive, and 10 -are living at home. He had 11 children by his first wife, and 22 by his present wife. Mr Beckett was unable to tell a representative of the Daily Mail the names of all his children. “These,” ho said, “are photographs of a few of them. Every night we have a rollcall to see that all the children are in. \v ith the assistance of his wife and reference to a bundle of birth certificates, the following list of Mr Beckett’s children and grandchildren was compiled : First Family. Out of 11 children by his first wife, the following are living (“M” indicates married. and “S” single) : Annie Maria, in., 44. Albert Victor, s., .'l7. Fredk. Cleorge, s., 23. Maud Elizabeth, in., 35. Wm. Edward, ?., 38. Second Family. The children by his second wife are: Fredk. Silvesta, m., 24. Lottie Maud, dead. Kcville George, 23. Harriet, dead. Arthur BlomfUdd, in.. 22. Edith Blomfleld, 12. Dorothy Clarissa, s., 21. Stanley Charles, 11. Alfred," dead. Cordon Harold, 10. Mildred Maud, s., 19. Spencer, 8. James, 17. * Horace, 4 Sydney Stephens, 16. Leslie Percy, 2. Elsie Winifred, 15. Noel, dead. There were four more children who died before having been named. From his first family Air Beckett has 14 grandchildren, and from his second two. —Jezreel’s Temple.— A curious building was put up for auction in London a few days ago. It is known as Jezreel’s Temple, and is situated on Chatham Hill, where it constitutes a landmark for those familiar with the road to Dover. It was erected by a, sect known as “The New and Latter House of Israel,” a religious community founded about 30 years ago by a man named John White. Ho was at one time a soldier in the Royal Marines, and after his discharge he assumed the name of John JerBohm Jezrcel. The sect he founded

claimed to be immune from death, and they began to build on Chatham Hill a temple which was to house the 144,000 people spoken of in Revelation —12,000 of each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Secure in this temple, and protected by the signs and symbols carved on the outside walls, they were to await the end of the world without fear, and watch the rest of mankind perish. But before the temple was completed the leader of the sect died. This was a blow to their belief in immunity from death; but his widow reigned for a time in the temple as Queen Esther. When she died the members of the sect became disunited, and the temple, which consists of five storeys, was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. A total of £70,000 was spent in erecting it, but the highest bid at auction for the building was £3900, and the property was withdrawn from sale. Golf Problem Settled. —

The vexed question at issue between golf experts regarding the distribution of the weight of the body can, says the Daily Express, at last be settled by automatic means. A weight-recording machine which has been constructed for the West End Golf School contradicts the theory of Taylor, Braid, and Vardon, that, starting with an equal distribution of weight on both feet, the golfer throws the whole weight of his body on the right foot during the upward swing. The machine consists of two weighing platforms placed Sin apart. The player stands with one foot on each platform, and with every movement of his body the dial records the weight on botii machines. The weights recorded on the machine during a demonstration by James Sherlock prove that at the top of a perfectly executed swing the greater weight is supported by the left foot. Sherlock’s figures were as follow: Leff Foot Right Foot Swing st. lb. fit. lb. Beginning 6 0 5 0 Top 6 0 5 0 Finish 9 7 v 17 Sherlock afterwards arranged his stance so that at the beginning of his swing his weight was equally distributed, but at the top of his swing his left foot again registered the greater weight, and it was shown that he could not transfer this weight to his right fcot without swaying his body. A Voiceless Choir. — In the Church of St. Ann for Deaf Mutes, Xew York, hymns are rendered by expressive gestures of hands and arms and the facial play of the vested choir girls, who are placed in stalls diagonally in front of the chancel, so as to be well in view of tlie entire congregation. One of the younger women acts as a leader of this yoieeless choir. Sire starts the hymns with gesture as graceful as they are expressive, and the other members of the choir keep their eyes fixed on her and move in rhythm and time with her. There is. or course, no musical instrument in the church, and the congregation takes no part in the “singing,” except by following with appreciative eyes the movements of the choir. Even one who knows nothing of the sign language can almost understand what the choir is singing about, so well does it portray tin; sentiments of the livmns. Sometimes in the midst of the silent attention of the eoiiu'-eaation the child of the A af mute par, -lit--, beams to talk aloud, jc-iii who can .'peak ei> si sice it falls on nnhea ring eai 1 !•■<* > ' ’ loader and inspiration of the chou u t curate of St. Ann’s, the Ucv. John Henry ■ Keiser. who lost his hearing 25 years ago, when he was eight years old. He hud had considerable experience as a choir boy, and this is helpful to him in teaching bis voiceless choir to render the* hymns and anthems in the sign language effectively. Ardent Lover’a Fatal Embrace of Sweetheart. — A lover, springing ashore at Genoa from the steamer by which he had returned home, pressed his sweetheart’s head in so tight an embrace that he broke her neck. The daughter of a French officer had awaited the arrival of the steamer bringing her lover from China. The ship appeared, and the young man saw his sweetheart waiting for him. He rushed across the gangway, clasped the girl in his arms, and suddenly her eyes "closed, while her form lay heavy in his arms. At first he thought she had fainted in her joy at seeing him. Several people standing by went to the young man’s assistance, while others ran for a doctor. But the girl was dead. In his eager embrace the young man had pressed her head so tightly that her neck broke. When he realised that she was dead, the distracted lover attempted to jump into the water, and was with great difficulty prevented. The lover was removed to th° police station, sobbing: “May tinjudge bo merciful and sentence me to death, as I do not wish to Jive.” The Sporting Instincts of Cats.— A novel case has Inst been decided by Sheriff Shenuan at Hamilton. One party t > the action sued the other for damages for alleged loss sustained through defendant’s cat entering pursuer’s loft and killing several pigeons. The sheriff, in dismissing the action with modified expenses to defender, says; “ The best-fed cats are frequently the ‘ keenest sportsmen,’ and there is' no standard of feline conduct which does not recognise that a cat will chase and kill a bird whenever it gets a chance. It is not a question of hunger, but a, question of sport, and it is preposterous to bold that the owner of a cat is under obligation so to control it as to prevent it from killing birds. If the community sanctions the keening of the domestic cat it does so in full knowledge of feline nature.” The true view, it seemed to the sheriff, was that those who keep birds which are liable to be the prey of hunting animals must protect their birds against tho dangers to which they

are thus exposed. Will those who have pets please take note? Nickel and the Peace of the AA 7 orld. — The reported purchase by the Rothschilds of nickel lands in Ontario attracts attention to the wonderful mineral wealth of that province. It is not generally known that 60 per cent, of the world s output of nickel comes from the Sudbury district. Here the ore is mined and treated. It is first roasted in open-air heaps to expel sulphur, and then melted into a matte of nickel and copper. A great deal of this' matte is shipped to Wales for final separation of the metals. Nickel is necessary in the making of armour-plate, and it has been suggested more than once that Canada by limiting its output to Great Britain would exercise a very potent influence on the peace of the world. After Many Years.— It will be a pleasant surprise for the representatives of the creditors of a printer in England, who went bankrupt 77 years ago, to receive a dividend from his estate." Even this record, however, was surpassed in 1908. On 13th December of that year the Dublin Gazette published a notification that “a considerable sum of money belonging to the estate of Robert Smith’, of Smock alley, Dublin, who was adjudged bankrupt in 1797, has been recovered from the dormant funds of the Court of Chancery.” Ultimately, Smith’s debts were paid in full Hd years after he had filed his petition.