HERE AND THERE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3224, 29 December 1915, Page 72

HERE AND THERE.

Play-toacliers Wanted.— One of tlie great needs of childhood which is only slowly being recognised {says the Mareliiom -s of Aberdeen and Temair in the i c v;i\eij is adequate provision for happy, healthy, spontaneous play amidst surroundings and under supervision which will make such play the best school of the future citizen. If \vc go through the streets of our big cities we see too often groups of picturesque little beings making mud-pies in tire gutters and playing amidst indescribable filth in derelict spaces. Passers-by lightly remark how children can make themselves happy anywhere, and forget that surroundings such as these can only deteriorate, accustoming the 'children to crime and dirt, and generally to games and escapades of a destructive character, which gets the children into mischief and into the hands of the police. Many cities now recognise the need of providing playgrounds, but it is as yet faintly understood in this country that it is as important to supply the trained play-tcacher as the trained schoolteacher, and that the habit of playing organised games with rules of honour and give and take is an education which no other means can give. The Play Ground Association of the United States has become a mighty power in a few years, and through the establishment of recreation centres in the schools themselves, when they are not being used for school work, a great power for good has been added to the nation’s resources. It is not enough to turn derelict spaces into playgrounds and open spaces and school gardens, if we do not possess the playteachers and supervisors who understand child life, and who know how to direct childhood’s love of spontaneous movement and action in concert with others to fruitful ends.

The Origin of the Moving Picture. —■ Perhaps most of us take the moving picture entertainment so much for granted already that we seldom wonder how it is all done; that it is “done” is quite enough for us. But I was surprised in the first place to find myself taken back to Lucretius. Back to Lucretius! This made me realise that I was over 1900 years behind to begin with, and I ■ felt inclined to give up the task when I knew it had to be garbled into a popular article. Lucretius hit upon the origin of the moving picture 65 years before the birth of Christ! I took Lucretius from my volumes of Ancient Classics to-day, and tried to pick up the threads of his argument, for I am told in the handbook to which I have alluded that it was this ancient seer of the dawn of physical science who constructed the rock upon which the whole theory of motion photography has been built. I have never dreamt before that in sitting in a garish picture palace, with its phantas-magoria of modern life, made too sensational mostly for one to swallow, that I was linked historically and scientifically with such an ancient scholar, poet, and gentleman as Lucretius. But it was he who set this wonder ball a-rolling, and it is the twentieth century profit-maker who has put it on our doorstep in the form perfected by later .scientinc expeiimentalists. —Special Commissioner, in the Millgate Monthly.

Salonika. —

Mr Stephen Graham tells of a recent visit he paid to Salonika. He describes it as “a gay little town in oeantiful country.” There is only one of anv importance, and this is the quayside, over which look the windows of many hotels and cafes, and along which run electric cars. There are lively bazaars in the background. The people on the streets are an equal mixture of Greeks and Jews, and several French newspapers are published in the town, so that the cosmopolitan crowd may find a common tongue. One of these papers is clamorously on our side in the struggle, the other clamorously against us. Both hold as their criterion the supposed commercial advantages to be gained by supporting one or the other faction in Europe. Outside the city northward are wonderful mooilands mid mountains, white with acanthus and gemmed with myriads of gleaming flowers. Southward, Mount Olympus lifts its wonderful white beacon to the sky. A Bishop’s Recollections. Bishop Welldon’s volume of reminiscences, entitled ‘‘Recollections and Reflections ” is announced for publication by tho house of Cassell. At one time captain of Eton and later head master oi Harrow he stands in the unique position of bein'" able to contrast the methods of the two "reat public schools and their formative influences. During his episcopate m India he was brought into contact with manv religious faiths, and he will state his views upon the spirit of the British Government, .upon Christian missions, and upon the native questions. As Canon of Westminster he was one of the ecclesiastics officiating at the coronation of King Edward VII,' and his volume gives us an interesting account of the ceremony, while Manchester affords him the opportunity as Dean of Manchester of dealing with many unconsidered aspects of industrial matters. War Celebrities on Playing Cards.—

War enthusiasm in Germany is seen in an alteration of the conventional playing cards. Instead of the traditional kings, queens, and knaves known to all the world we have “German” cards with the portraits of war celebrities. The King of Clubs is the German Emperor; this card reversed shows the Emperor of Austria. The queens presented a difficulty, as it was felt that the royal ladies of Germany hardly lent themselves for pictorial treat* ment’ on cards. Recourse has been had therefore to emblematic figures, all of them very fat and deep-chested. The aces show more imagination. The Ace of Chibs shows the Eraden and Weddigen with his submarine ; the Ace of Spades the 42-cen-timetre gun and a Zeppelin; the Ace of Hearts a battlefield and a Taube; and the

Ace of Diamonds Heligoland and Kiao 4 - chau. Armies Instructed by Cinema. — Among the German war novelties introduced in the Russian front, the cinema is taking a prominent place (states a Central News Petrograd message). On the way to the attack, at the stopping points, the officers show to their men cinematograph views of the villages and towns which they are to capture on the morrow. The soldiers see beforehand the road along which the army must march, with all its details. The officers explain how the difficulties of the route may be surmounted, where bridges may be thrown over the streams, and where the best and most comfortable river fords are situated. The attention of the men is directed to any depressions in the soil, the existing trenches, forests, and villages; nothing is omitted that can give to the soldiers an opportunity to lighten the labours of the march. Australia’s Transcontinental Railway.— It is expected that the long line of railway which will connect the railway service of Western Australia with those of the eastern States will be ready for traffic by the end of next year. The work of construction is being carried on from the eastern and western ends at the same time, and at times the rails are being laid at the rate of a mile per day. The line will traverse a very interesting portion of the great inland country, the full value of the natural resources of which can only be realised when railway facilities are provided. The line will also bring the eastern, capitals much nearer London for postal purposes, for the mails may then be taken overland from Fremantle, instead of, as at present, going to Adelaide by mail boat. Serbia’s Mineral Springs.— One feature of Serbia which it little known but which one day may make that gallant little country rich is its wealth of mineral springs. With some capital and enterprise several Serbian spas might soon outdo the famous watering-places of Austria and Germany. One of them, Arandyelovats, has already attracted a considerable number of visitors in recent years, but the baths at Kovilyacha have never received the attention they deserve. Waters of rare virtue are there —one containing iodine for the scrofulous and rheumatic, another with iron, another with peculiar potency for the cure of eye diseases —such as might well make Kovilyacha the finest spa in Europe.