HERE ID THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19813, 3 December 1919, Page 6

HERE ID THERE.

The traditional policy of the PtfgeA since September 29, 1870, of never set-' ting foot outside tho Vatican was got aside by Benedict V. recently, when he left the Vatican twice in one month to visit his brother, the Marquis Giovanni Della Chosa, who was dangerously ill. • T 'i’l>c_ Rev Dr Boynton, of Brooklyn, New. York, addressing a Mansion House prayer meeting, said he had heard a, new word since coming to England, which he intended to start going when he returned to America. It was “ Cheerio.” If St Paul were in London now, Dr Eeynton thought that instead of rejoicing in hope ho would say Cheerio,” and wo all should know just what he meant. According to the “ Tribune da' Geneva, ; marriages arc being arranged between the two sons_ of the ex-King l) f the Hellenes and heiresses of humble birth, who are at present residing in (The two sons of lino, the ex-King of tho Hellenes, are Innce George, the eldest, who was not allowed by the Allies to succeed to the throne, and Prince Paul. They both accompanied their father into exile in Switzerland.) Valuable and interesting experiments have recently been carried out on Dio raising ol a ship, tho s.s. Main, which was sunk by gunfire from a Gorman .submarine m Luce Bay, south of Scotland. The salvage operations were carried out by tho Ardrossan Salvage Company, Glasgow, who undertook to test some flexible pontoons, designed and manufactured by Messrs Vickers, Limited, Barrow-in-Furness. With a little more experience of those pentoons, the designers are confident that they can be increased in size, and it will then become possible to tackle such largo ships as the Lusitania. 2 \ c , w uc oks ago it was announced “l at L a meeting of old boys of the \\ aitakx High School it had been decided to raise £IO,OOO as a war memoml fund. Tho amount seemed an ambitious one, but owing to the enthusiasm shown in the Oumaru district and to the practical sympathy of parents of boys and of friends, donations Ito a very substantial amount have been received. Some subscribers have S n J n J »«ch as £SOO, others £IOO, and the total amount in sight at preo.mf.iimmUnts,to between £3OOO and 141XJLI. Iwo old boys have volunteered their services for the purpose of lavimbefore parents and old boys the fullest inhumation in regard to the scheme. Two hundred building experts from '■l P a,r ts of England met at Braintree, Essex, recently, to inspect the new block of fireproof houses built as an, experiment in concrete and steel by the unit Construction Company, of "High Holborn. The dwellings are intended for the occupation of men employed aq Cattails’ Steel Works, Braintree. They are built of concrete, two storeys high, with flat roof, steel doors, steel staircases, and steel cupboards, and there) is nothing in their construction which will burn. The concrete is made up on the site. Tho cost of constructing each house is about £6OO, and it is claimed for them that, in the absence) of wood and bricks for building purposes, a, new and satisfactory fireproof method has been discovered. Letting tho sun shine for a. given time upon the blackened cover of a box filled with water'or some other liquid, and noting tho rise in temperature, aflords us a method of approximating the amount of heat given off by the sun. By such a method it is estimated that tho earth receives every second from the sun enough heat tl» raise 600,060,000 tons of ioo water to Uio boiling point, or to melt 480,000,000 tons of ice without change in temperature. If this i 5 the amount that the earth receives, think of tho amount, that must be passing off into space and other planets. Tins amount has been computed to bo 2,200,000,000 times as great as that which the earth receives. Scientists have shown that the amount of heat received by ns from the sun may raiy as much as 5 per cent in loss than a week, Applications received for war gratuities to November 15 numbered ?3,067. Hie number paid was 19,313, tho amount of the payments ■ being £1,201,323. Military Headquarters announce that tho provisions of a [Special General Order, regarding the payment of gratuities, are extended tn voluntary' aid workers of tho New Zealand Expeditionary’ Force who signed! an agreement to serve with the Now Zealand Expeditionary Force, served in that torco for a continuous period of nob less than twelve months, were administered by the Now Zealand Expeditionary Force, .and were paid from the New Zealand Government funds. The gratuity’ will he payable from tho date of the signature of the agreement, provided that duty was undertaken without delay. Whore any delay occurred tho case will bo referred to General Headquarters for decision. New /South Wales’s wheat acreage has this year dwindled to 2,996.000 , | acres, ns compared with the maximum ’ of 5,122,000 nrces for years ago. These i figures (says tho Sydney “Daily Telej graph ”) make a staggering contrast, and one that no producing country can I look upon with equanimity. A worse ; feature is that there is no compensating increase of production in any other I direction, An even more disconcerting | comparison is the decrease in the num- [ her of wheat growers. In 1915 there I were 22,4.53, this year there are 16,277. ! Ihe question is why have over six thousand of our farmers gone out of wheat-growing in tho past four years? The obvious answer is because they could not afford to go on producing at a Joss. Adverse seasons and inadequate prices have driven them oft' tho land or into other lines of production. 1 The present disastrous season is going to make it impossible for many'others', , who.havo this your ploughed and sown j in vain, to go further, even though i the Government has come forward with the helping hand and more liberal advances. it is fairly sale to assume, however, that, with a favourable planting season next year, the slump -n acreage will be arrested. The marked outlook offers inducements to that end. Nevertheless, the replacement oi tlioio six thousand lost wheat growers must, in any case, be a matter of years anil it occupies a foremost place' in the problems of increasing production that lias to be laced by the country and the Government. It is reported from Homo that the C ourt of Appeal at Aqiiila lias dismissed the case against the Anarchist Enrico, Mala testa, residing m London, nncT against nine other Anarchists as being no longer liable to prosecution after tho recent amnesty. Malatesta, the best known of tho world’s philosophical Anarchists, lias had a stormy career. 1 bnco he has been condemned to death, and every country but Britain lias been, closed against him, lie lias been resident in England for nineteen years. Seven years ago ho was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, and ’ was recommended for deportation as ac undesirable, for publishing a libel on a compatriot. Ibe Homo Secretary at Die time (Mr M/E'enna) decided- after consideration of the case, not to make an expulsion order. He came to England first following n. romantic escape Horn prison on the island of Lampedusa, in tho Mediterranean, whence fie managed to make I'm- Malta. V Sicilian by birth, lie j 5 said to hav* inherited a title and a large estate m Ins native island, hut ga.ro up the land to the peasants, and renounced the title Sicily, Spain. Italy, Cuba and the Argentine were in turn the scene of his propaganda.. Even America was barred against him at one time. In appearance he conforms to the Britisn idea of the Anarchist, as represented for stage purposes, with glittering bla-'k eyes, swartny skin, coal black hair and grey board. But in reality ho is a cultured mm, with a kind heart and a strong desire to help his felbw. mc i«. Hg hua spent ton years of, his %n prison.