HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17031, 3 May 1923, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

; an eye for everything. 1 “ OLD FOLKS AT HOME.” Pennsylvania has been leading in a movement to pay tribute to btepfien C. Foster, the composer of 44 Old Folks at Home.” Fifty-nine years ago the 5 composer of America’s folk-songs died, in the charity ward of a New York > hospital. In the papers of Morrison Foster the death of his brother is marked by a brief document. It is a l receipt given to him in 1864 by the warden of Bellevue Hospital in New York City. It runs:— 4 ‘ Ward 11—- - Stephen Foster. Died January 13. Coat, pants, vest, hat, shoes, January 10, 1864. Received of Mr Foster ten shillings charge for Stephen * C. Foster, while in hospital, January 16, 1804. William E. White, Warden, Bellevue Hospital.” Following a plan suggested by Community Service, musi- : cal groups in Pittsburg, Harrisburg, and Pliiladelphiai, as well as in smaller Pennsylvania communities, have this year given impetus to a memorial for tlie sixtieth anniversary of Foster’s J death. NOVEL LIGHTING. Everyone knows that a match can be lighted by the spot of dazzling brightness which marks the focus point of a burning glass. But can you imagine it; ; catching fire under the influence of concentrated darkness? Though heati is usually seen mixed with light, the | two are quite different things. Even ; the greatest heat has really no of its own, hut is pitch dark. It is easy to separate the heat from the light of a sunbeam by using a kind of filter. This consists of a flat bottle filled with a solution of two common chemicals, iodine and carbon disulphide. Hold the bottle in a sunbeam, and yon will find that no light passes through it. But heat manages to do so. Place a burning glass a few inches away from the dark side of the bottle, and Hold a match under it, as if you . were focussing an unfiltered beam on its head. Iq a second or two it will flare up. ignited by invisible heat rays unmingled with light. HOW TO GROW RICH. ; It is reported that a woman in Hanover has discovered how to grow rich ; by pawning—thanks to the tall in the j mark. Unable to live on iier modest ; ! income, she bethought herself a year > and a half ago of fier pearl necklace, and took it to Berlin, where it was ; valued at 60, <KX) marks. She then i pawned it for 80.000 marks. Three months later a friendly banker lent he< 30,000 marks to redeem the necklace. After redeeming it she went to ani other valuer, who appraised the neck~ i lace at 225,000 marks. She then pawned it for 100,000 marks, repaid the banker his 30.000 marks, and was able to live for a time in comfort. Six i months later she again received a loan ■ tu redeem the necklace, had it revalued, and again pawned it. The necklace, now valued at 2,500,000 marks, is now in pawn for 1,500.000 marks and the woman is living com* fortablv on the profits. ELEPHANTINE BALANCE WEIGHTS. The elephant, owing to his weight* has to think twice before trusting himself to anything that is not perfectly secure. In fact, he has developed a mysterious extra, sense which enables him to tell instinctively whether his foot is touching safe ground or not. It was desired recently to test the soundness of a newly-erected garage floor. The owner expressed doubts about it, although the architect assured him that all was well. 1< inally, five elephants were borrowed from a travelling menagerie and led in. Had there been the faintest suspicion of unsoundness they would have bolted in panic directly they 1 touched the floor with their forefeet. However, the first elephant walked on without the slightest hesitation, and the others followed, until nearly twenty-eigljt tons of living test, mg machines were standing safely in the garage. PECULIAR NAMES. An old jury list, recently found* shows a quaint collection of remarkable names of the seventeenth century. Hie first is Stand-fast-on-high Stringer, and it is followed by Earth Adams, Killsin Pimple, Graceful Harding, Weepnot Billing. Fly-debate Roberts, Fight-the-good-fight-of-Faith White, Meek Brewer, Morefrunt Fowler, and Befaithful Joiner. Our forefathers were certainly original in naming their children, and the seventeenth century in particular is full of records of eccentric nomenclature. A classic instance is that of Praise-God Barebones, who gave his name to 'the “ Barebones Parliament.” SCREW-MAKING. Everyone who owns a bicycle, sewing machine, motor-car, or phonograph has come across that worst of all nuisances, the screw that won’t go in or won’t come out. Although machines are able to cut screws with remurkable accuracy, occasionally they turn out odd ones, or even whole batches, perhaps a couple of thousandths of an inch too big, or with threads that are not quite regular. It was thought impossible to test each screw until an inventor came along with a device which enables one man to examine 500 in an hour, and to detect errors as small as one ten-thou-sandth of an inch. The screws are passed automatically through a specially-designed magic lantern. Each stops for a moment before the lens, and whilst it does so its shadow, magnified a hundred times, is thrown on to a screen. On this screen is drawn an enlarged representation of a perfect thread, which the screw should fit exactly. The screw’s shadow falls upon this drawing, and the tiniest imperfections can be detected instantly. And so easily is it don& ! LIGHT MAKES SUGAR. Professor Hugh R. Rath bone, of Liverpool University, announced that considerable quantities of sugar have been made from carbonic acid by the agency of light. This wonderful feat has been made possible by the results of remarkable experiments carried out by Professor E. C. C. Baly, a prominent investigator of the mysteries of light. Professor Baly, with his colleagues Professors Heilbron and Barker, discovered that ultra violet light would convert water containing corbonic acid gas into formaldehyde, a substance now used on a large scale in many branches of industry; but they found, too, that the light rays continued in their wonderful process, eventually turning the formaldehyde into sugar. Water is available in immeasurable quantities, and carbonic acid is merely a waste product equally abundant, ; and the magic of light rays of a certain | wave length will cause them to combine J and give sugar.