HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16902, 29 November 1922, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

, AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING. I ! TELLING THE TIDES. There is an ingenious machine in tho National Physical Laboratory at Ted - ~ dington, England, which resembles in - appearance a monster grandfather's clock By simply turning a handle this » delicately-constructed apparatus prel diets the hours of high aud low water p a l forty ports in India for each day of s the coming year. The tides around our shores are easy to predict because they are of approximately the saJiu height. But in India it is different, for there they vary considerably. Twenty-four distinct forces influence or affect the tides. Having ascertained these, the scientist sorted, them out and reproduced them mechanically by means of twenty-four cranks. Although they work independently, some f making rapid movements and others turning very slowly, they are- ingeniously connected to a special gear, equipped with an arm to which a pen is attached. The latter draws a curve upon a roll of paper, indicating the slate of the tide. How accurately the machine works may be gauged from i the fact that a comparison between the prediction and actual times of high and I low water at a number of Indian ports for thirteen years showed that ninety t per cent of the predictions were within a quarter of an hour of the actual time OZONE TO DRY TIMBER Generally speaking, piano-maker's keep wood for a period of ten years or more before they convert it into piano frames, and in the building trade timber often remains in the yard for several years before it can be fashioned into doors and window sashes. Until the sap has exhausted itself the wood is liable to warp, so it must be allowed tc dry thoroughly. The holding up of large stacks of timber in this way is expensive and exceedingly tiresome when this wood is required urgently. Some have attempted to overcome the difficulty by dehydrating or drying tho timber in specially-constructed ovens, but now a French scientist has discovered that all kinds of wood can be seasoned rapidly and efficiently by means of ozone. He established a factory in Paris, and another at Milan, in Italy, where various species of wood are treated by the process. In two weeks freshly-cut timber is ready fn: the cabinet-maker, and is as dp as if it had been exposed to the air for yc-ais. The timber is laid in special ly - built chambers, through which ozone is made to pass at a uniform heat. ’ Ozone is air highly charged with certain electrical qualities. and has „ very helpful effect in seasoning wood. “FOOD IDIOSYNCRASIES.” “ One man’s meat is another man’s poison,” runs the .saying., and there is ’ a lot of truth in it. In his book * • Food Poisoning and Food Infer ? tions,” Dr William G. Savage records [ the case of a boy who was unable to eat eggs m any shape or form, no matter how disguised. When fourteen months old lie war. given a spoonful (,f boiled egg. After only a taste of u lie screamed violently and clawed ar, ’ r.i- mouth, and red weals appeared | round about the lips. Even playing with egg-shells brought out similar weals on his arms and hands. This vent on until his mother realised, the cause of the trouble, and ordered all eggs to ho banished from the household. Some time later, however, th - child accidentally swallowed a small portion of the white of an egg. The boy suffered more severely than lie had done before, and after suffering great agony, became half-unconscious for three hours. Such mysterious “illnesses.” known to medical men • food idiosyucracy,” are far commoner than is generally realised. ar#d they can he Handed down from parent to child. In one rase, four generations of the same family were unable to cat potatoes without becoming seriously id Many people find that they cannot eat fish, tomatoes, pork or <ho!I----fish. while even such seemingly harmless things as almonds and other kinds of nuts are poisonous to some people. SHIPPING OF THE WORLD In the register of shipping some in teresting figures are given concerning the world’s ships. Altogether there are 33.93-5 going vessels in the world, and their total tonnage is 64.370,786. Of this number, 4680 are sailing vessels aggregating 3,027,834 tons, and 29,255 are steam and motor ships of 61.342.952 tons. Great Britain head' the list with 19,053,000 tons, an increase of only 176,000 tons since Juir. j 1914; the United States comes second with 12,506,000 tons, an increase of 10.669,000 tons since 1914. In 1914 Germany ranked second to Great Britain with 5.000,000 tons, while now she possesses only 1.7*3.000 tons. Norway has descended fra: i third place to seventh, and Japan has risen from sixth to third position. The total increase in the world’s shipping since 1914 i s 14.288.000 ton*. The countries in which the largest in creases are recorded are -Japan, with 1.683.000 tons: France, with 1,385.000 tons; Ttaly. with 1.172.000 tons-, and Holland, with 1.142.000 tons. Out of 29,255 ships of more than 100 tons each. 8522 arc less than five' years old. 4 165 arc between five and ten years old. 3540 between ten and fifteen years. 3750 between fifteen an 1 twenty. 2899 between twenty and twenty-five years, and 6379 of more than twenty-five years’ service. There are 2793 vessels of a total tonnage of 14.383.000 burning liquid fuel in place of coal. The number of motor-driven ships is 1639. totalling 1.511.000 tons. STLENT MEMBERS. Excluding the occupants of Hie Ministerial benches, the bulk of the speeches in the House of Commons come from about one hundred members (says a London paper!. In tin* main session of this year—from February to August—there were considerably over two hundred members who never contributed a single speech to any of the debates. A few of them put an occasional question, but not one of them made a speec h filling eve a so little as a column of Hansard. On the other hand, it not infrequently happens that memliers essay to deliver their maiden speech and break down from “ stage fright.” One man got no farther than “Mr Shaker, sir.” and then, after vainly trying to collect his thoughts, resumed his sent. Another member sat through a whole session without uttering a word, until at its close, all business haying been disposed of, the Speaker rr»«o to anounce that the House would now adjourn “ W hen till r the silent one. and haying achieved this ungrammatical effort, he for ever after held his peace. A record in another direction was made by the late Mr John Redmond, who took his seat for the first time at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. at 5 was on his Feet delivering his maiden speech, and at 6.30 was