HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17040, 14 May 1923, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING. IRISH GOLD. Most people do not know that there we gold mines in Ireland. The mine© are situated in Wicklow, and although they are not worked to-day, at one period in their history they produced nearly £15,000 worth of gold. Thoao mines were discovered accidentally in 1776 by a poor schoolmaster. Ho picked up a piece of metal whioh ho proved to bo gold. Hie wife refused to bolievo him, and told her friends that he was mad. But the story soon became public property, and thousands of people rushed to tho spot. So keen was tho struggle that an armed guard was supplied by the Government to keep the vast crowd away. In ths two months which elapsed between the publication of the story and the Government's seizure of the mines more than 2500 ounces of gold were oollsoted by peasants. But when the authorities started to work the mines in a regular manner the same success '"bm not achieved. Between £2OOO and £4OOO worth of gold was produced, and as the mines cost very much more than this to run they were dewed down. SONGS AS GOLD-MINES. If a song “ catches on ” it proves a gold-mine to somebody, although not always to the author and composer. “ Alexander’s Ragtime Band ” and “Her Golden Hair is Hanging Down Her Back ” were great money-makers, for the profits in each case fell little short of £20,000. In the same class must be included such songs as ‘ ‘ The Bogey Man,” “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree ” and <v After the Ball.” It is said, too, that “My Pretty Jane,” which Sims Reeves sang thousands of times, netted £2OOO a line. Yet some of the best sellers have been the result of but a fw minutes’ actual work. “ Sing M© to Sleep ” w aa composed in ten minutes. Tosti’s “ Dear Heart ” was the work of two days, while Balfe wrote “ Killarney ” in a few minutes. BRITISH AIRCRAFT. The Dutch East Indian Air Service has recently purchased a number of Avro, Da Havilland and Viking aeroplanes ; and the Colonial Minister, replying to a question in the Dutch Chamber of Deputies, explained that the Indian Mail Service had appeared to have more faith in the British machines than in the existing Dutch types, an opinion with which the Dutch military pilots agreed. This is a remarkable tribute to the quality of British aircraft, particularly as the Dutch are keen judges of all that appertains to aviation, their pilots being of first-rate quality. That British firms should have superseded Fokker and Spijker machines is a valuable testimony to the design and performance of British aeroplanes.

THE WAY TO DO IT. The old lady stood in the doorway of her suburban home and eyed the tramp critically. “ Are you willing to work for a meal?” she asked at last. The tramp extended his hands expansively as though work was the one thing in life he hankered after; and his apparent sincerity overcame the lady’s last scruple. She retired into the house, and presently returned carrying a large plate of food and a business-looking hoe. Whes the tramp had eaten the food she handed him the hoe, and, pointing towards the garden path, remarked :—“ Now, I want you to clean out that gutter. You see, it’s filled with mud.” The tramp glanced at tl»e gutter, then at the hoe. “ I never use a hoe.” he said, “when clearing out a gutter.'’ “Never use a hoe! Then, what do you use? A shovel?” “ Xo,” said the tramp, as he moved towards the gate. “My method is to pray for rain !” FINE SERVICE REOORD. No fewer than 192 members of the staff of the British Ministry of Labour fell in the war, and a bronze tablet to their memory, designed by a member of the staff. has been erected on the main 6taircase facing the entrance hall of the Ministry. At the unveiling by General Lord Horne, Sir Montague Barlow remarked that in tho work of the war all departments of the Government shared, but it was not too much to claim that the Ministry of Labour bore the largest share. One thousand six hundred and sixtv-two servants of the Ministry left their tasks to serve the country in the field and at the front. That was 40 per cent of the whole staff, and 50 per cent of the male staff Of those who so nobly served 160 received military decorations. FRANCE’S AERIAL STRENGTH. In the matter of defence, problems of great importance have engaged the attention of the House in connection with the estimates for the fighting Services. In introducing the Navy Estimates, the First Lord of the Admiralty explained that the limit of economy had now been reached. The debate on the Air Estimates revealed x very disquieting state of affairs. It showed France as the possessor of enormous aerial strength, - while Great Britain has but a handful of aeroplanes available for Home defence. The following table shows at a glance the present position and that in 3918: — 1918. To-day. Great Britain 3,300 3*l France - 3,600 1,260 A GLADSTONE STORY. Reference to the obloquy showered on Gladstone and Earl Spencer for their advocacy of Home Rule recalls a passage in Archdeacon Wirgmon’e “ Storm and Sunshine in South \frica.” The archdeacon attended the opening of the Imperial Institute and observed Gladstone there, loaning cm the arm of his faithful follower Lord Spencer. Hia progress was followed by hisses from the crowd, and I found that a crowd of carefully chosen truest* in evening dress oould be a* unmannerly a* a crowd in the streets of course, in a more subdued way During this incident, whioh occurred in the midst of the controversy caused bv Gladstone's Home Rule Bill, the G O.M. retained his imperturbable dignity of manner. Hia only report ed remark was. “I never before knew that Spencer unpopular. A BRILLIANT SPEECH. It is year* since the House of Commons listened to such a brilliant maiden speech as that delivered recently by Mr James Welsh. It captured the House from the start, and it was generally admitted that Mr Welsh is one of the greatest ' finda" of the present Parliament. The Labour mem her for Coatbridge has already won fame os a novelist and poet, and his book, The Underworld,” caused something of a sensation. Mr Welsh was born in a little Scots mining village. and was one- of a family of twelve. At the age of eleven he went to work at the pithead, a.nd was paid at tho rate of a shilling a day. He was still a boy when he etarted to write verm.