PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Otago Witness, Issue 3915, 26 March 1929, Page 73

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

The New Zealand Railways Magazine for March contains some _very good photographs, especially those of Mounts Cook and Egmont. The articles include “ First Electric Train on ChristchurchLyttelton Line,” “ Electricity for Dunsandel Station and Yards,” “ The Glory of Taranaki,” “ When Children Take the Train,” and “ Queenstown’s Carnival ” — all of which are illustrated.

We received word from the Royal Society of Arts that particulars of tlie Sixth Annual Open Competition of Industrial Designs to be held at the Imperial Institute, South Kensington, London, S.W., in June, 1929, have now been issued, and can be obtained from the secretary of the Royal Society of Arts, John street, Adelphi, London, W.C.2. Intending competitors must apply to the secretary of the society between May 1 and May 11 for the necessary entry forms, and the last day for receiving entries is May 27. In all scholarships and prizes amounting to over £2OOO are offered in connection with the 1929 competition.

Aussie for March is a Taxi-Cab number, with a gaudily-coloured cover—- “ Paying His Fare.”* Of the jokes it contains perhaps the following are best:—Dorothy: “Eight of us were crowded into one taxi last night.” Elsie: “ You must have had a tight squeeze?” Dorothy: “Oh, no, you couldn’t do much with all that crowd present.”—Betty: “ She was out motoring with Jack last night and the taxi broke down.” Peter: “ Heavens! What did she do ? ” Betty: “ She ’phoned up her husband to come and repair it.”

“ The Love Sonnets of the Senora Carilia das Flores ” come in a small booklet printed and bound on a Fijian plantation by Richenda Parham, who is also responsible for their selection and editing. The editor says: “It is with considerable hesitation that I venture to introduce to the public this selection from the writings of the Senora Carilia das Flores, as I realise that the deep sentiment which breathes throughout her love sonnets will not meet with general favour, appealing, as it does, rather to lovers than to critics.” The sentiment, however, is not deep, nor do we think that lovers will rejoice in it. It indulges in windy utterances and makes violent protestations. But it is really very vague and unconvincing, and is, at best, expressed in mediocre verse. On page vi, the intrusion of extra syllables in lines seven, eight, and nine utterly spoil the rhythm, and there is much placing of emphasis on weak words. “ I love Thee, with a Love, deep as my soul, broad as my brain,” says “ Love’s Eternity,” sonnet xv. From even a lover’s point of view such an expression, we feel,- conveys a doubtful compliment.

The South and East African Year Book and Guide (cloth, 2s 6d; by post 3s) aims at being of real assistance in that great migration movement within the British Empire whi?h is so vital a necessity at the present time. The 1929 edition has been thoroughly revised - and brought up to date, and contains nearly 1000 pages with plans and diagrams and a specially prepared atlas of 64 pages of maps in colour, constituting the finest atlas of South and East Africa available. The guide is divided into three sections: Part I deals with South. Africa; part II with East Africa; and part 111 with sport and research. As a gazetteer for office use the guide is very useful; the index contains over 2000 place names. Imports and exports, means of transport and communication are dealt with in considerable detail, together with the rapid growth in manufacture, which is the last phase in South African development. For the invalid there are lengthy articles on climate, both general and local, so embodied as to aid the immigrant sbttler

in choosing the situation and occupation best adapted to his special needs. For the immigrant or settler there is useful and practical information on such subjects as the following:—lmmigration; acquisition. of "land; land laws; agriculture generally, tropical or otherwise (including special articles on subjects so diverse as the cultivation of cereals, fruit, sugar, tea, cotton, and timber, and the manufacture of the resultant products, such as wines, spirits, jams, and canned fruits), the pastoral industry (in conjunction with articles on the breeding of live . stock, such as horses, oxen, sheep, and ostriches; on diseases affecting stock; and on dairy farming), the mining industry and the laws by which prospectors and miners are governed. For the sportsman a special section of the book gives, as far as is possible, the latest and most authentic information obtainable on the habitats of game and of fish; the means of reaching the best hunting fields; and the game laws of the various territories, lhe list of native names of animals is believed to be more comprehensive than can be found elsewhere. Those wishing to make a complete collection of trophies will sometimes find these names of great use to them. For the tourist the descriptions of the towns and of the country, of the through routes and of the side connections, are thorough and up to date. From Capetown to Port Said, or ,F onl , Angolaland to Nyasaland or Zanzibar an endeavour has been made to give an answer to any question the traveller is likely to ask. An effort has also been made, by means of historical and other notes, to give an active interest in what is to be seen.