HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17216, 6 December 1923, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING. DRUGGED TO CONFESS. Reports state that in the presence of a largo number of prison officials and criminal investigators a drug known as scopolamine was administered to three inmates of San Quentin Gaol, California. The contention of th« doctor conducting the experiment was, that scopolamine rendered its subject* incapable of mental inhibition, so that, it became impossible tor them to tell a lio while under its influence. After the drug was administered a man who' was convicted of murdering a Chinese at Sacramento disclosed that the fatal, phot was fired by another man. An--other man who. was sentenced on a*, theft charge, furnished the ties with information as to his iden-“ tity. while a third prisoner, a confessed his guilt and admitted several other crimes. CANNIBALS OF AFRICA. - An outbreak of cannibalism among natives on the Ivory Coast (West Africa) as a result of a savage ritual which exacted human sacrifice for crimes committed by an opposing tribe lias been punished by the condemnation of four men to death at. Tabou, according to , reports which have reached Paris (wires the “ Evening News ” correspondent). The cannibals were traced by the discovery of the bones of tlieir victims, and light has now been thrown on the mysterious disappearances during recent years of both men and women. The first murder was that of a negro member of a French ship's crew, who disappeared while the- vessel was lying at Tabou. Shortly afterwards a young girl vanished, and then another negro disappeared. These victims belonged to the village of Segree. ail opposing tribe inhabiting the village of Kablake being blamed for the murders. As a sacrifice to appease their neighbour* the people of Kablake handed over a. man named Kokou Diemi. who. while surrounded by a ring of merciless enemies, was killed and scalped, ami his body dissected by a “ medicine man.” the natives performing their horrible dance. The remains were cooked and consumed at a feast.

TURKEY AND ITS DOGS To the Mohammedan the dog i* anathema, for does not the Koran declare it to be unclean? No Turk will therefore own one, or give it shelter in his own house. But in spite of this, these poor outcasts in Constantinople are treated kindly, and they are even fed officially once a week—on Selamlib Days (Fridays; at Buyedizeh, and privately by benevolent Turks elsewhere. They are even said to have had legacies left to them in the wills of Moslems whose hearts were more tender than their creed. They are not allowed to he killed by the Mohammedans, and the Christians are said to treat them less considerately than the Moslems. As t c “ the reason why ” for the continued toleration of this canine army, and the conversion by it of the city into a vast d<ig-ken neT. its justification bar hitherto been the service they renderec. to the city as scavengers during the night, "by devouring offal and filth, and thus doing rive work of a complete municipal sanitary department, without the expense and trouble of a paid staff, anti without any burden on the ratesWHEN SWANS GET SPITEFUL. You should never tease swans- Swans can fly at the rate of 100 miles au hour. No one knows how long they can keep on the wing, hut the trip from Scandinavia to Britain seems to he merely a pleasant flutter- They pass from one side of Canada to the other in huge flocks at certain times of the year, and at very high altitudes. Tt is not safe to tease or seek familiarity with swans in summer time when cygnets. as young swans are called, are about. The male swan is very pugnacious then. There is a traditional impression that a blow from a swan's wing will break an average man's leg, and there is on record a case of the death of a fox from such a blow. The

force of the swan's wing blow is emphasised in a story from Buckinghamshire. which records the attack of a male swan on a boat being rowed near the nest. The pinion struck the gunwale of the craft, and as a result wa* laid hare to the hone, being stripped of both feathers and skin.

THE QUEEN AND ANTING. The Queen has not done much dancing in London ballrooms lately. She has never grown to like the new dances, although it is a. mistake to think that she disapproves of them. Her Majesty is very fond of Scottish dances, especially those of the old-fashioned countrv kind such as figure on the pingramme of the gliillies’ ball at Balmoral. Dancing does not tire her any more than walking does. The latter is almost- the only exercise in which she has time to indulge or for which she has real liking. MAN'S FIGHT TO LTVE. Alan wants hut little here below (Edwin Pugh writes in the “ Daily Chronicle s '). Give him the earth, the sea. and all that therein is. a fair share of the atmosphere, and—he is more or less satisfied. There are a few other things that he would also like, but. these primal needs of his existence he does at least claim a right to with a certain urgency. And he is not allowed undisturbed possession of so much as a bit of garden not much bigger than a billiard table. To hold and to keep anything that he has ho must go on for ever fighting for it. At the outset, there is the. weather to contend with. Even in this temperate England of ours it is so fickle that to guard hi.s body against its ravages, man must keep an assorted medley of garments always at hand, and also that last- shield of defence, the hopelessly inadequate and exasperating umbrella. Nature does not provide man, as she provides the lower animals, with seasonable changes of pelt in the form of fur or feather, carapace ami cocoon. There are no hollow trees, cares, or holes or burrows in the ground that in anv way fulfil his requirements. There is no blessed period of hibernation during which he may ignore the worst rigours of the climate. Only by fighting hard by means of every imaginable device of ingenuity can he hope to hold his own And there is always bis garden to remind him painfully tha-t he does not matter much m-ic-hac onlv to hear him talk in trams and other rendezvous of mixed humanity. piteously, despatefully. of weeds and vermin, floods and gales, frost** and inopportune droughty intervals, to realise how much harder is his lot than that of the myriad wild beast*, wild flowers, and other wild things that Nature provides for or teaches to provide instinctively for themee-lvei*.