ONE OF LIFE’S GREAT SECRETS.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 June 1932, Page 6 (Supplement)

ONE OF LIFE’S GREAT SECRETS.

THE LITTLE KING WHO CRIED.

Geneva has no children’s theatre, but It has the good fortune to have M. Jaques-Dalcroze. This master of music has written a musical play for children called Le Petit Roi Qui Plcure, and it has been performed in the big.theatre of Geneva to overflowing audiences by children. of the elementary schools of that city, and very splendidly they did it. The Little King sat on a throne and wept and wept. Every few moments he took a fresh handkerchief from a basketful held by a small page on one side of him and dropped the wet one into a basket held by another small page on the other side, who passed it to a serving-maid to be wrung dry and promptly ironed for future use. His majesty never ceased to weep and no one knew how to stop him. The Chamberlain thought of everything, he could to cheer him up, and called in troupes of dancers, acrobats, jugglers, tiny tots who turned somersaults and cart-wheels, but all to no avail. The four reverend doctors with tall hate and most amusing antics came to examine the weeping boy. They pinched and pulled him about, felt his pulse, looked at his tongue, and decided that he must take a holiday, whereupon lots of little pages brought in lots of little suitcases, packed his clothes, put him into a chariot, and sent him off. And so the charming story went on, and presently the cure was found. The Little King ceased to cry as soon as he began to do something for somebody else, and presently he was laughing aloud and enjoying himself as much as the rest of them. The play ended in a joyous chorus, the children singing to the audience their joy and delight in simply living, and advising the grownups, in spite of all their troubles, to follow their example. ' So we learn the great lesson that the secret of life is to do something for somebody not ourselves. It is the secret of peace and happiness, too.

THE THREE BONES.

We like a note we have been reading by the Yorkshire vicar of Dartford, Mr. Elliott Mitchell.

He finds three bones in the body qf the church, and it seems to us that they are found in any body of people.

There are the Wishbones, those forever wishing things were different, sighing for the bad old days they think were good ones. There are the Jawbones, talking, talking, talking, but doing nothing and never getting anywhere. And there are' the Backbones, wasting no time in vain wishing or idle talking, but facing life as it is with cheerfulness and great courage. Which are you —Wishbone, Jawbone, Backbone? A RUDDER COMES ASHORE. The Berengaria has lost its tail. The great liner is at Southampton undergoing its spring overhaul and the rudder has gone back to the makers at Darlington to be tightened up generally. The journey was made by road, and as it is an outsize in rudders none but the biggest lorry in the world was used for the 316-mile journey, which took about a week. The rudder is 41 feet long, 17 feet wide, and weighs 5'5 tons. The Berengaria will be ready to sail again, complete with rudder, by April 23. THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. ‘ There are some people who grow up, with a stupid fear of thunder and lightning perhaps because they were told when young that it was almost certain death to be out in a thunder storm. Other people are never so happy as when thunder claps seem to be on top of them and lightning flashes brighten up the landscape like a searchlight..

1 The reason why people fear things which there is no -real reason to fear is because they do not understand them; so if you know what causes thunder storms and what rules they always obey, you will be able to help others who are afraid of them.

There are always the three stages in the storm —the fiery ribbon, the flash and the noise. If you tried getting sparks from the cat’s back you produced a flash and a crack, which is lightning and thunder on a tiny scale. Lightning is an enormous spark, produced either between two clouds or between a cloud and the ground. The clouds are electrified like a strip of paper when we brush it briskly. But the clouds are not electrified 'by the wind rushing over them. Scientists have discovered that when matter changes its form electricity is present. Thus, when a drop of water evaporates and becomes vapour a small amount of electricity is produced. The result is that there is a great amount of electricity provided by evaporation over the wide expanses of water. The clouds which fill the air are thus electrified —some have very little and some hold lightning which wants to break loose. If a strongly electrified cloud approaches another, as soon as it is near enough a fiery ribbon will join the two for a fraction of a second, just as a spark will jump to your knuckle from an electrified object. If the electrical cloud is nearer the ground than to other clouds the lightning will rush to the ground, as it always rushes to the nearest object. When the lightning reaches the ground what happens? Does it leave anything there? It sometimes does great damage by burning people, animals or houses, or splitting trees, but it does not leave any new matter behind. 'Some people think that lightning leaves red-hot stones ? or lumps of iron, or burning sulphur, on the ground, but that is only silly, untrue talk. Scientists with powerful electrical machines can produce sparks that will set fire to almost arij --king and will split blocks of wood. If you have had a slight electric shock you will know how it seems to shake your joints all loose. If the discharge is stronger a violent disturbance in your inside seems to choke you, like a 'thump on the chest would, and your legs lose their power. In a thunder storm the only thing which can do harm -is the fiery strip, when it passes between the cloud .and the ground. The noise or thunder whicn follows is as harmless as a kick from a dead horse. It can bring us absolutely no pain except when we let it frighten us. If we jump with surprise at hearing the loud bang that is only natural, but the boy or girl who hides under the bed is being a coward for nothing. There are so few people who are hurt by lightning that it should not worry a healthy person at all. Still, there are a few rules which it is just as well to knowl As lightning strikes objects nearest the storm cloud, mountain tops, towers and high trees are the objects most often struck. If you are caught in a thunder storm do not shelter under if the lightning is to fall near it will a tree, particularly if it is by itself, for probably strike a tall, isolated object; Sheltering in a forest where there arei thousands of trees is much safe;;.