OSCAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 October 1933, Page 9 (Supplement)

OSCAR.

THE MUSICAL TAILOR’S DUMMY. A tailor’s dummy,' with microphones let into the cheekbones in front of the ears, is being used by the director -of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Bell Telephone Laboratories- to - study - all kinds of effects of the concert hall. It has been found that. listening with one ear, as the electric microphone really does, gives the same lack of perspective as looking at a landscape with one eye. Musical reproduction from a microphone connected to one loud-speaker gives fiat music devoid.of “roundness,” and it has been found necessary not only to use two microphones corresponding to the two ears but to reproduce'the music with two loud-speakers which gave the effects one hears in the ordinary way from both sides of a concert hall. The tailor’s dummy, which has been christened Oscar, is doing great service in providing scientific information about the better reproduction of orchestral music in broadcasting. GOLDEN-HEARTED MAN OF LEAD. HELPING A FAMOUS HOSPITAL. It is not often that a burst pipe brings us good luck, but it is clear that it can do so sometimes. The other day a plumbfer was engaged to do some repairs- at the Elsie Inglis Memorial Hospital in Edinburgh, the famous hospital erected in. honour of a; courageous woman doctor who, with a band of Scottish medical women, went to Serbia during the dark years of the war and did noble work among the wounded. Like everyone else who visits this gracious hospital, our plumber was full of admiration; and he is one of those people who express their admiration in a practical way. Besides being a plumber he is also the capable actormanager of a small amateur theatrical company; and so, when he went to the matron and asked permission to produce an entertainmentin aid of the hospital, the matron was delighted. For ' two nights at the University Settlement Hall the plumber and his company delighted an enthusiastic audience with their wit and originality. They sang, they danced, they poked fun at themselves—and at the audience 1 A

small orchestra of six played tirelessly. When, during an interval, the secretary asked the audience to join in a hearty vote of thanks to.our.plumber: i: and his company people clapped till/; their hands-were tingling. - - THE DOG IN A HOLE. ! AND THE MAN,. WHO GOT IT OUT. /. “Bother that dog!” said the people of ;/ Teynham, near Sittingbourne. ' Day after day it was heard barking. - V “Whose dog it is ?” people began to;/ ask. Nobody’s dog had been. barking.' Then they began to ask, “Where is it ?” The sound/was traced to a-hole; in an/’ old chalk pit. ' . '• The hole was known to be 65 feet deep. ; Somebody lowered a basket with food in it, and when the basket was hauled' up it was seen that part of the- basket had been devoured by the ravenous animal. • ' k When Constable Wall heard this, he said he was going down, whatever the risk. Some told him that-he would break his neck; and it was certainly a dangerous business. But down he went, and found a half-demented cross-bred sheepdog snarling at the bottom. Before rescue could be attempted the. constable had to make, friends with the. dog, half-starved and'vicious from its suffering. At last it grew quiet and trustful, and was hauled to the top. . . Then, as no one knew its owner, it/., went to the police-station, well content// to follow |ts .brave new friend into custody. TRIMMING THE STAMP. < At a sale of stamps in London there; • was offered a Western Australia fourpenny “inverted,” 1854. Apparently there are only about twelve - such stamps in existence, and in recent ; years the sale of any of these has -/. brought in £6BO. This particular example was strangely’ different from its fellows, however, for it brought in only £BO, the reason being that its Original owner, seeking to im-’ ; prove the beauty of the stamp, shipped off the unsightly rough edges with a pair of scissors.

We offer no excuses for such conduct.' Till now we had believed that the youngest of stamp, collectors knew better than this; bqt we live and learn.