HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17181, 26 October 1923, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING. DINING WITH A DONKEY An Italian is creating n sensation in. Rome by treating a donkey as a boon companion. He has even taken it to a restaurant to dine with him. Th* lucky animal enjoyed four cocktails, two portions of asparagus.some “fruity” cheese, and three apples. A barber in Toronto has a unique pair of pets They are walking perches, natives of India and Egypt. If its home stream dries up. this fish will flop across th© land to the next water supply. It has been known to travel eighteen miles in, this way. The barber’s pets often leave their aquarium and take a “constitutional” to the ©hop door. They wrig gle along by means, of their fins, ju. ? r as a seal would. Scientists often “chum up ’ with unlikely friends. One experi inented with a flea, which became quite attached to its owner, whom it would never bite. Lord Avebury had a petwrasp which is now' preserved in th© British Museum. It would feed out- of the scientist’s hand. WHEN STARFISH ARE STARTLED. Did you know that a starfish haa legs ? Probably you have never thought about it, but if you want to find outfor yourself. put- one in a pool of water and watch what happens. In a few mi till tes it will begin to move, and you will notice it scrambling over ©tone* and gliding up any rock that- may happen to be in its way This is tho moment to snatch it up and have a look at tho hundreds of little legs it keeps curled up inside, ready to pok© out of holes in the skin when required. A star fish also has eyes in the tips of its rays, and one particular kind posses ses eyelids which open and shut. Another curious fact about the starfish i* that if one of its rays is cut off another one grows, and if the little creature is cut- completely in half, each half will throw out new rays, so thw in a few weeks two starfishes appear instead of one. Some starfish have a habit of breaking into pieces of their own accord when alarmed. Even a shadow will cause them to give a shudder and break into hits. Most starfish have a curious habit of protecting their eggs when first laid. They heap them together in a small pile, and then bend their ray 6 downwards 60 that- they stand on their tips and form a kind of cage or table. ANIMAL AGES. It was reported recently that a turtle had been found in the Tong&n Islands that was branded by Captain Cook in 1773. 'The report 6fiated : “It is blind, and when walking it creaks like an oxcart.” This is not an extraordinary age. The record for long life among land animals belongs to the tortoise. Given favourable conditions, this animal will live between. 300 and 400 years In 1906 one which died at the Zoo waa said to have lived at least 350 years.crocodile is another longllived, for given fair pla3' in its native wilds, it can exist for 300 years. Among domestic animals the horse lives longest a twenty-seven years being its average span. The cow and pig follow closely with twenty-fire years each. The dog and goat usualy manage to reach fifteen, the cat thirteen, and. the sheep twelve years respectively. The elephant- claims the greatest age among the larger wild animals. Well treated, it should live to be a hundred. The lion and the camel fall a long way behind. forty years being their usual limit. MISQUOTED QUOTATIONS. Tf is surprising how many “ familiar quotations ” are recited wrongly. Many people make a hash of a phrsfce from Gray’s Elegy. They say “ Far from th© maddening crowd ” instead of “ madding,” the word the poet coined and used. Similarly they say that someone is seeking ** fresh fields and pastures new,’’ where Milton wrote “ fresh woods.” Then there is the misconception which attributes civil warfare to the passionately patriotic ancient Greeks, who stood so valiantly side by side in defenre of their country. 1 It is an insult to these heroes to say # “ When Greek meets Greek then comes the tug of war.” The quotation says: “ When Greek joins Greek ” —that is to say, when they stood shoulder to shoulder they were almost- impossible to overcome. Even the Bible does not escape. How many for instance, call the last book “ Revelations.” when its real title is “The Revelation of St John the Divine.” and its abbreviated form. in the Bible, “ Revelation ” ? DIGGING WITH DYNAMITE. In the old days digging a drainage canal was a long and expensive business. Jt can be don© 10-day quickly and cheaply, not with picks and shovels, but by means of explosives. It is possible to control their action so closely that they can be made to blast out canals and ditcth«*s exactly as they are planned. A recent feat was the construction of a canal 700 ft long. 12ft wude and 4# ft deep in half a day ! It was desired to dram n swamp in order to add its land to a valuable farm. The line of the necessary canal was marked out, and workmen armed with picks and crowbars buried sticks of dynamite at regular intervals. There were three rows of boles spaced 2ft apart. Each stick was buried 23ft deep. When all was ready, a specially-fused detonator was inserted into one c/f the holes. Its fuse was lit and the worker* retired. They had just reached safety when there was a tremendous explosion, the first stick having caused all the others to detonate. When th© men returned to the geeite they found th© canal ready dug in one second. Water was l>eginning to flow through it. and in two or three days the fc-Tmer swamp was showing signs of drying up. Today it is bearing heavy crop* of corn. CHINESE SEA SUPERSTITIONS. The Chinese practise many strange rites. Crews of liners believe that the “ Wind God ” follows all vessels and attempts to sink them whenever posrible. In order to humour him before leaving port they offer up sacrifices of pork, fruit, and candles. Another favourite practice is to hang out long scrolls of paper covered with fantastic designs calculated to mislead the god as to the direction the ship will follow. Fishermen maintain that nothing can be accomplished satisfactorily during the day unless the evil sea spirits are first put oft the track. It is because if this superstition that the crews of Chinese junks will run their vessel* right across the bows of an approaching liner. They consider that by pas*, ing in front of another boat the Wind God will be deflected from their trail. The dragon is regarded as a symbol of good luck. It is invoked by means of dancing and music. A dancer appear* on deck wearing a dragon’s head mad© of papier-mache, and as the music get* louder and louder the headgear shake* with " ragr." The music then become* softer, and the supposed dragon becomes quiet, receiving as an offering a large lettuce. This custom is believed to bring good fortune for th* rest of the voyage.