HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16754, 8 June 1922, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

An EYE FOR EVERYTHING, WINDOWS WORTH MILLIONS. The Dean of York, speaking at a meeting to raise funds for the preservation ot the windows of York Minster, said that if the glas of York Minster were to disappear they could never see its like again, because there was nothing like it in the world. TTiey had there, in situ, thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth century glass of English craftsmanship and artistry at the very acme of tho art of glass making. Tho glass in the “ Five Sisters ” window, that in the great east window, and that in the north clerestory windows of the choir, and much besides, was actually made, designed, painted and put in when the stonework was erected. When the windows of other cathedrals were destroyed by Cromwell’s troops, those of York Minster were spared, because Lord Fairfax, the Parliamentary General, issued an order that the man who damaged the windows would be shot ao sight. As an indication of the commer* cial value of the glass, the Dean mentioned that a year ago a panel of fourteenth century English stained glass, measuring 30in by 31£in. was sold in New York for £18,500. In York Minster they had 25.000 square feet of this glass, and on that basis its value worked out at about 73 millions. • ENGLISH—EVERY WHERE! One strong proof that English is destined to become the universal language is found in the way foreigners entering its spheres of influence adopt into their own language words that are really English (observes the “ Morning Post. ”). Thus, in the American citrij the Italian “ epiceria ” and “ padrone ’ have been, displaced by “grossaria” and “ bosso ” among the thousands of Italian immigrants. In the FrenchCanadian cities, again, we find “ bisenesse ” taking the place of “ les affaires,” and actually hear such expressions as “ Quelle est la matiere?” ami “Je vai valker.” And some English words, apart from the technicalities cf sport which are used even by Orientals, take long journeys on their own into foreign parts. “ Shocking ” is a case in point, for it has passed into Russian. by way of the French language, and is said to have come out of the far end of Siberia and been taken up bv the Chinese. THINGS WORTH KNOWING. Everywhere one sees signs of tho progress of electricity. If you were asked where it came from, would you be able to give a satisfactory reply? Do you know that it can be produced by friction? It you take a stick of sealingwax, a glass rod or a piece of amber, and rub them briskly upon your sleeve, they will become electrified, and in this state will pick up bits of paper. Again, brown paper warmed and rubbed will produce electricity. There are articles in use in every household which, although he sees them every day, the average householder would be unable to explain. Soap, he would most likely say, is a thing he uses for washing, being unaware of the fact that it 13 composed of an amazing number of ingredients, such as coconut oil and fats like tallow, palm oil and resin. Before being ready for sale it is “ salted ” with ordinary salt to keep it insoluble. Silver articles again, like gold, come from mines, but where and how P The world's supply is obtained from America. Canada, Mexico, South America and Japan. Crude silver is purified by contact with mercury, followed by distilling of tbe mercury, bv which means the refined silver is left behind. Why is platinum regarded as a precious metal? Most people would not know it was valuable ii they were not told so. Of course, it is precious because it is difficult to find. According to Mr C. T. Kinirzett’s “Popular Chemical Dictionary,” it is found in the metallic state in small grains and nuggets in river sand and alluvial deposits, mostly in Russia, which until 1914 provided over 90 per out of the world’s supply. lodine an I its wonderful medical properties are known throughout the world, yet not many people know that it can be obtained from sea wat-er and seaweeds. It is a blue-black shining substance, and diluted solutions of it in water and alcohol are used in surgeries as antiseptics. V THE ELUSIVE HERRING, i Every autumn herring shoals hare , put in an appearance off the North of I .Scotland with tho regularity of clock - | work, but latterly the herrings have ! been varying this programme. In the I early autumn there has been an almost / total failure of the herring catch at ! Lowestoft, and similar reports come from .Scarborough and other fishing centres. Do these changes in the habit** of the fish mean a possible failure of the North Sea. herring-fishing industry? This is the question one asks after reading Mr G. C. L. Howell's “ Ocean Research and the Great Fisheries.” It may be. Similar failures have taken place before. In the fifteenth century —Mr Howell reminds us—the Baltic herring fishery completely failed, bringing ruin to several wealthy and powerful seaport towns. Whatever may be the reason, it is to be hoped that the fish will turn over a new leaf, and resume their regular habits. Unless they do the large fishing towns may suffer the fate of those old cities, and dwindle eventually to small villages. AMAZING MECHANIC??. Two Kentish farm hands made a most wonderful traction engine. This was made in a small garden shedbarely six feet square. Tilling the soil is not usually accompanied by mechanical genius, but these two farm hands had to make the tools before they made the engine. The lathe frame was made out of the sides of an old iron bedstead, and the fly-wheel from the rim of a bicycle wheel with the cover taken off and an old dumb-bell tied to tho rim in order to store up momentum. The engine took three years to make. It was about four feet long, and weighed about a quarter of a ton. It carried a full-grown man ns driver, and hauled its own weight in wagons along a country road. Another device for wonderment was a compound ! marine engine made by a man "w ho is : completely paralysed, except for bis left leg. How this was accomplished i will amaze every mechanic. muddled marriages. Many have been the mo*r3led carriages in this world. For instance, one man, after divorcing his wife, married her mother, and thus became the grandfather of his own children! Twenty vears ago, in Corsica, a girl named Katerina Malfatti, married her great-uncle. Gerolam© Giacometti, a widower whose first wife had been a sister of the grandmother of the brideKaterina has become the sister-in-law of her own grandmother, who is, at the time of writing, still living; her own mother’s aunt; the great-aunt of her brothers and sisters: the great-great-aunt of her own children, and her own grand-niece. Her husband is now his own father’s son-in-law, the grandson of hia sister-in-law. and tho brother-in-law of his grand-nephews and nieces. Gould anything be more com-