HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16942, 17 January 1923, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING. -NERVE wireless. Nerve* are often, likened to telephone wire® which send messages from various parte of the body to the brain. Actually, however, they are more like the rows of tiny wireless stations, flashing messages from one point to the next over minute gaps. Where these little gaps occur in the nerve, the nerveends braaich ouj like the boughs of a tree, and the message is “ wirelessed * across from one branch to the next. Natives of India, 'known as Fakirs, often numb these nerve ends, and actually go to sleep while lying on a bed of spikes. Nobody knows how they do it... Probably, by constantly “ willing ” themselves not to feel pain, they affect these nerve-ends. Fear, too, will produce this state. When a rabbit is fascinated by a snake it becomes rigid, and after a few seconds, with the exception /of the heart-beats and breathing, it is almost like a dead creature. Its brain has become disconnected from the body because the nerve ends have curled away from each other, jfnd tefifc the animal powerless and insensible to anything. ABSENT IN THE BODY. When the Duke of York opened a wireless exhibition by wireless recently his voice was “amplified,” and covered a distance of four miles. By means of a new instrument it will be quite possible for an orator, say, to address a crowd in Cathedral Square at a point near the Post Office, and remain immune from hecklers, who could not, shout back, and also out of range of missiles. It should be very suitable for use at universities where students throw flour. LEGACY FOR DOG. AN EFFECTIVE SYSTEM. Five and twenty years ago (writes a correspondent in the “ Morning Post- ”) T witnessed the election in a remote constituency in Catalonia for a member of the Spanish Cortes ; the method adopted to secure the success of the Government candidate being simple and effective. The presiding officer was appointed by the Government, and paid by results. He sat at a table with a brass-bound box on one side and a brazier on the* other. As each purplehatted Catalan voter handed in his paper the presiding officer examined it. Tf it were in favour of the Government candidate he dropped it into the box; if ?t were in that of the Carlist candidate, he dropped it into the brazier. WINDOW CLEANER AUTHOR. Most London reviewers agree that one of the most interesting recent books is the work of a window cleaner. Ihe book is “ Fiftv Years of Railway Trades Unionism,” by Mr G. W. Alcock, of Stoke Newington, London. Though sixty-two. he is still a professional window cleaner. Writing is only a spare-time hobby with Mr Alcock. but he has already produced three volumes. “It took me a year iy | complete my new bGok,” he told me. “ but it is a rather bulky volume with its six hundred and eighteen pages* Trade unionism has always been a pas - sion with me ever since I was oi l enough to know what it meant. An-1 though J am n d longer on the rad* wav, I once was, and have nevei* dropped my interest in it. and writing, too. have always fascinated me, and in my young days I often went without a meal so that T‘ could huv some book that. I wanted. Now I’ve got two thousand in my library.” *** WATERSPOUTS. Waterspouts, which are fairlv cbm-* mon in the course of the Gulf Stream, are caused by small swirls of air, which are brought about by conflicting currents in the atmosphere. These swirls suck up the waters from the sea, sometimes in the form of a spray, but more often in the form of a great swaying column of solid water. As the spout reaches the clouds, which are always low at such a time, it spreads out and breaks into drops, which are scattered through the body of the clouds. THE TRISH GUARDS. Following the example of Mr Lloyd George, Mr Rudyard Kipling, who i.as been seriously ill, will give the profits from his “History of the Irish Guards’’ to charity. The gift will not, of course, be nearly so great as the exPremier’s £90,000. but, nevertheless, it will be no small sum that Mr Kip ling will hand over. Though Air Kipling now writes at infrequent- intervals, his sales are ten times as great ns they were a few years ago. In 1920, for instance, two million copies of his works were sold throughout the world. This, at a royalty of a shilling a copy, means an income of £IOO,OOO. If further proof of Air Kipling’s fame wore - needed it could be found in th i fact that a number of places have been named after him. In America there are places called Kipling in Saskatchewan. Ontario. Michigan, North Carolina. and Louisiana, and Rudyards in Montana. Michigan, and Mississippi. Tn England we have p Lake Rudyard but in this case the author gets* nis name from the lake, and not the lake from the author. PARENTS’ RESPONSIBILITY. The Correctional Court in Paris has decided, in a case in which a ten years’ old girl was knocked down by a motor car. that she should not hare been in the streets alone. Their decision has filled the hearts of French parents with dismay at the prospect of their new responsibility. In the case in point, the girl was returning from school when she was knocked down while crossing a road. The driveif failed to sound his horn. Only a nominal punishment—-a small fine—was meted out to him. the Court hold-U»» that tlie major fault was committee? by the parents. FRANCE AND AUSTRALIA. “ The French race is as peaceful as any nation can possibly be, and yoii know it. too : but she has been greatly baffled since the armistice by her ex-enemies that she an# longer endure this dishonesty and impudence. She probably knows better than any of her Allies what is going on in Germ an v to-day. and she acts accordingly. The whole nation as one man is behind those who have charge of her welfare and safety, anfl we are all perfectly satisfied that their polirv is a wise and sound one. There is, however, one sure thing which cor., soles us Frenchmen who live in your dear land, which we all love, and tha* is that, no matter how the policies of our Governments may differ at. times and our interests may vary, we have, nevertheless, a. strong esteem and affection for one another, which nothing can ever alter, because they are base! upon the mutual respect, the dignity and confidence that we bear for one mother.” —M. Bader, French Trade Commissioner in Australia, speaking at a reception to the Admiral and officers of the French squadron in.