HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17342, 15 July 1924, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING. TRAMS' HELD UP BY RAT. A rat stopped all the tramcars on the Grimsb3--Immingham system and held up all th© power-driven plant at Imminghain Dock for ten minutes lately. The rat had stepped upon the high tension cable at the power station, and was electrocuted. But it created a short circuit, which started a fire, and this interrupted the supply of current for ten minutes. ROUND ABOUT JERUSALEM. Important excavations are being c arried out in the vicinity of Jerusalem pn th© sit© of th© City of David. The discoveries are believed to indicate that the history of the- city goes back much farther than had been supposed* that is, beyond the time when the fathers of the Jewish race arrive a in Palestine. Jerusalem was originally a Jebusite stronghold, and there are signs that it passed through sieges before any that ar© recorded in th© Bible, or in secular history. TALLEST MAN IN THE WORLD. Nick-named “ Lofty,” Jan van Albert arrived in London a few weeks ago from Holland. He claims to be the tallest man in the world. His measurements are‘:—Height, 9ft 3£in ; size 14 glove; 13 boot, and 9fc hat. “ Lofty’s ” normal breakfast is two soup platefuls of porridge, ten soft boiled eggs, five mutton chops, eight cups of coffee, and twelve bread rolls. It is asserted that cigarette smoking stunts the growth, but “Lofty,” who :s now twenty-three, has smoked since be was a boy, and. consumes about forty cigarettes a day. He has six brothers and sisters, but they are of normal stature. ENGLAND’S OLDEST WOMAN DEAD. Reputed to be the oldest woman 111 England, Mrs Martha Truelove. of Plumsteari, has died at the local infirmary, in her 108th year. Bom oil August 7, 1816, she spent nearly <tb her life in the Woolwich and Piurnstead district, and until recently enjoyed wonderfully good health. On her 104th year the King sent Mrs Truelove a.congratulatory letter, which she treasured greatly. Up till recently, she had never taken medicine, an 1 would not allow a doctor to administer any. Mrs Truelove believed in four meals a day, and her favourite dish was suet pudding Her father was a seaman who fought at the Battle of Trafalgar. Her husband died thirtyseven years ago. BURMA’S GREAT FORESTS Burma has nearly 150,000 square miles of forest., and four or five million people in British India depend 011 forestry for their living. This fact was brought out by a lecturer who, speaking dn London recently, pointed out that to march through and across these forests of Burma would occupy the whole lifetime of two men, starting at opposite points and marching for sixty years at two miles an hour for five hours a day. Th© point of the lecture was that India and Burma might contribute much more to the timber imI ports of the United Kingdom. In 1920 these were valued at nearly £2,000.000, to which all India and Burma contributed only less than £50,000. THE CARE OF YOUR WATCH The best tim© to wind a watch :s not a thing which can be arbitrarily settled. tiorological experts have tried to settle this question, but without success. To wind in the morning is probably an advantage in that it. keeps the spring firmest at the time it is being' subjected to most movement and shaking. On the other hand, ■an advantage of winding at , night may be that the spring is then warm from th© pocket, and probably less liable to snap. To give any watch the best chance to keep accurate time it should be kept as far as possible in the same position, which, in the great majority of cases, is perpendicular, as it stands in the waistcoat pocket. It is therefore better to hang it up at night than to put it below one’s pillow, as is the common practice. Even if a watch is dust-proof, which few are, it would still require “ cleaning ” on account of the hardening of the oil, which cannot be avoided. This old oil becomes injurious to the bearings, and must be removed by means of t arious spirit baths ere fresh oil can be applied. It is advisable to have this done once a year. Another useful point is to get your tailor to line the w r atch pocket with chamois leather. It creates practically no dust through friction, and assists greatlv in keeping the watch at an even temperature. ENGLISH TRAITS. One of Mr Baldwin’s recent speeches was on th© traits of th© Englishman, bli© occasion (“ Th© Times*” reports) was the annual festival dinner of the Royal Society of St- George. At this gathering men of the Coldstream Guards in th© uniform of Cromwell’s Ironsides formed a guard of honour at the entrance to the ‘null, and the chairman and principal guests were preceded into the hall by a standardbearer carrying a> rose-decked banner of St George. Drums and fifes playc l in “The Roast Beef of Old England.” According to Mr Baldwin the English as a nation grumble but do not worry. Thereby they keep their nervous systems sound and safe- The Englishman was made for times of crisis and emergency. H© was serene in difficult;-.-. He might seem to lie indifferent when times were easy ; he might pot look ahead; he might not heed warnings and h© might not prepare* but when he once started he was persistent to the death, and he was ruthless in action. In on© passage Mr Baldwin, though he has disclaimed eloquence before now, rose to almost poetical heights. It was the passage in which he explained his confession that “to him England was th© co-uu-try, and the country was England.” When he asked himself what he meant, by" England, there cam© to him through liis various senses th© sounds and sights of England—th© tinkle of the hammer on th© anvil in a country smithy, th© corncrake in the dev. y morning, th© sound of the scyth© against Hi© whetstone, and th© eight of a plough team corning over the brow of a hill; the wild anemones in the woods in April, the last load of hay being drawn down the lane iu twilight, and, most moving, the smell of the wood smoko going up in the autumn evening. Those things struck down to the very depth of our feelings. Those were the things that mad© England, and they- ought to be the inheritance of ©very cr.ild born into this country.