HERE AND THERE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16846, 23 September 1922, Page 8

HERE AND THERE

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING, FOODS OF THE NATTO33B. A most interesting study is that of the foods of nations. Scotland’s food is oats, taken in “ parritch ” form. The reason for this is that oats are heating, and Scotland is a cool country. Ireland’s national food is the potato. Why? Because Irish 6oil suits its cultivation. England’s national food is roast beef. Why ? Well, the English were ever a buccaneering race, and the fighter always requires red meat. Our French friends have no outstanding national food, but are the greatest vegetable eaters in the world. That, unfortunately, is a sign of loss of national virility. Historians and scientists have commented on the fact when investigating the decline and fall of nations. Italians like oily foods. That is because they are not great meat eaters, and they make up the deficiency of protein and carbohydrates with oil. Russia’s national food is rve. That is due to economic circumstances, and it is easy to grow. America has no national food, hut it is queer to note how universal is i the demand there for prepared foods, quickly eaten and quickly digested. That indicates the “ nation in a hurry,” and. after all, which does not do very much more than the Britons do OUR QUEER ENGLISH. Ours is a very' funny and strange language; for instance, we speak of putting on our shoes and stockings, instead of our stockings and shoes. The same freak of speech applies to our garments. It is our “coat and vest” which we say we arc going to put on. Obviously, it should be our “ vest and coat.” Wo ail know that mats are made which bear the injunction, “ Wipe Your Feet.” When will some manufacturer have the courage to issue mats with “ Wipe Your Boots?” We say that w© are going “to catch a train.” Think it out. and the expression, involving as it does the idea of a pursuit, is obviously silly. Again, we say that we have “ caught a cold.’’ when for a fact- we ought to reverse the wailj and 6ay that a cold has caught us ! The queerest freak speech of all is. however, the national greeting of “ How do you do?” As an inquiry to a profiteer regarding his business methods, the query would have point, but as a health query it is nonsense. OUR “ NEAR ” NEIGHBOUR. Who knows our nearest starP It is called Froxima Centauri, and it- movee round another star, Alpha Centauri, which up to a few years ago was supi posed to be the nearest star to us. Proxima takes over a million years to travel round Alpha Centauri, and it is about twenty-four billion miles from the earth. For our nearest neighbour. Froxima is not a verv grand object. If our sun were as far away, it would give ten thousand times as much light as Proxima does. Probably the star is nearing the close of its long career, and this conjecture seems to be supported by the fact that it is a red 6tar, for stars of that colour have long been suspected of being in their dying throes. An interesting fact in connection with this “ near ” neighbour of ours is that if it were possible for a fast aeroplane to pay it a neighbourlv call—a real flying visit—the machine would arrive there only after a lapse of twenty-four million years. ••• TELLING LIES. It is said that'.George Washington could not tell a lie, and. of course, such people have no choice but to tell the truth. There are two kinds of lies, black and white. Some people axe colour blind and cannot tell the difference. The great merit of lies is that they should be ready for instant use. A li© which is late is only half a success. A lie which, is black when it is tol da bout you raav be white when it is told about the other fellow. Lies are much quicker off the mark than truths; but they have not as much staying power. For short sprints they are bad to beat. Business lies are called bluff, and are quite as necessary in business as short weight and measure. But the system is all wrong 1 CORRECT CHANGE. When we go to the railway station to meet a friend we put a penny in the slot and get a platform ticket, says ;j writer in the “ Newcastle Weekly Chronicle.” It is a mechanical timesaver. Sometimes in the ru6h of making a purchase and catching our car we get wrong change, and sometimes at the booking office we are held up by the long queue and miss our train. Apart from the ensuing bother and explanations, this is loss of time. In future wo shall not see so many people held up at the ticket window. A mechanical change-giver has been installed at Broad Street Station, on the Central London Railway, which also possesses the first of the passimeter booking offices of the permanent type. The clerk, by touching a button,, causes the immediate ejection of the change for any amount tendered up to £l. With it and the combined dating and cancelling machines and other mechanical acts, the speed of booking at the rate of twenty a minute is expected to be reached, and when the staff and public become U6ed to the new system, possibly twenty-five per minute. This contrivance will certainly speed up bookings, for the average rate to-day is ten per minute.. GROW YOUR OWN MEDICINE. Why spend so much on doctors’ bills, when a garden will produce the simple remedies you need foi small ailments? asks a herbalist in the “ Daily Despatch.” For sleeplessness a supper of fresh lettuce leaves, whose juice contains n powerful sedative, will induce a sound, refreshing sleep. Another soporific is the onion, which, stewed and eaten last thing answers the double purpose of promoting sleep and curing a. chill. Of blood purifiers, you can make your choice from watercress, tomatoes and apples, eaten raw, but have it early in the dav or your slumber maybe disturbed. Apple? also cleanse the teeth. Impurities in the blood can be cured by rhubarb, well stewed with a little sugar. For a sore throat, there is nothing so soothing black oirrrao* tea made with a spoonful of black currant jam in hot water. Stewed black currants are a well-known, remedy for anaemia. Inflamed eyes, due to a stuffy atmosphere, can be cured by the application of watercress leaves. Pound them with your hands and apply them at night to your eyelids until you feel a smarting sensation. By morning all trace of inflammation will have disappeared. Anv preen vegetables cool the blood, but, as they contain a good deal of cellulose, weak digestions should be\ spared them . As a tonic spinach, a daily dish of which improves the healt!\ amazingly. Spinach is also good for rheumatism and gout; so is celery. Beetroot is another tonic. Asparagus is good for the kidneys-