HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17698, 19 November 1925, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING. BRIGHTNESS FOR REGENT STREET. Only shops which specialise on bright display windows will be allowed hereafter as occupants of the choice corner sites in Regent Street, one of London's principal shopping thoroughfares. The Office of Public Work# has banned banks in these quarters on the ground that banks are dull buildings, and have no place on cornert passed by thousands of curious pedestrians hourly seeking recreation and new ideas in the course of their shopphig. TREES THAT ARE*MUSICALIn Barbadoes there is a whistling tree. It has a pecularly-shaped leaf, and all its pods have a spkt edge. The wind passing through the pods causes them to emit the sounds that have given the tree its name. There is a long valley packed with these trees, and when the trade winds blow across the island a continuous deep-toned whistle comes from the valley, the effect being extremely weird. In the Sudan there is a species of acacia also known locally as the whistling tree. INSECT STING DANGERS. Insect stings, of which there has lately been an epidemic, prove fat3l in some cases, and while inquiries in medical circles reveal no sovereign remedy, insect stings should on no account be neglected- A doctor remark? that as a general remedy poulticing, or the application of fomentations, is advisable. There is nothing that can be applied to the skin to make one immune from insect bites. Oil of lavender and vinegar have a reputation as preventives, but doctors have been searching for twenty years and have not found an efficacious remedy. 55 « M IF HORSES DISAPPEAR. Many a modern development has quite unexpected results. It must have been evidence to anyone that the business of the veterinary surgeon must suffer with the widespread use of motor traction, but who could guess that the members of an orchestra might suffer with them? It used to be said that one could not cross London Bridge in the daytime without seeing a white horse, a statement meant to emphasise the immensity of the horse-drawn traffic crossing the river at this poipt. But to-day it is possible to cross London Bridge without encountering a horse at all, much less a white one. White horsehair is becoming scarce and expensive, and as it has always been used for bows for violins, violas, and cellos, a substitute may have to be found. Of course, if horsehair, whether black or white, ever becomes unobtainable, a substitute can be found in metal wire, but it is not so good as hair. RACEHORSE FOR A BAG OF CORN. The record prices realised at recent English sales of racehorses recall horses that were sold for practically nothing, and later carried off some of the greatest turf prizes. “Florence.” which wen the Manchester Plate, Ascot Cup. and the Cambridgeshire. once changecL hands for £l2. while “The AA idow. sold by the Duke of Westminster for £lO. won £40.000 tor Mr Leigh. Another Ascot winner, “Scullion,” was once reckoned dear at a few pounds, and “Queen of Roses.” mother of “Reve d Or." who won the Oaks and City and Suburban, was sold for a bag of corn “Throstle. ' the winner of a sensational St. Lcgcr, was actually given away after being sentenced to be shot on account of threatened blindness. VALUE OF ‘“DIRECT CONTACT" *M Briand's emphatic declaration in favour of “direct contact" in diplomacy recalls a curious instance. In 1595. when the A cnezuela crisis was at its height, and Messrs Olney and Cleveland were taking a line in despatches which seemed to be making war inevitable, Mr Joseph Pulitzer, of the New York “World.” determined to try the effect of “direct contact” in favour of peace bv sending telegrams to dozens of leading statesmen and divines in Great Britain. Mr Pulitzer received friendly answers from the Prince of Wales. Mr Gladstone, Lord Rosebery, and others, and a necessarily guarded but kindly answer from Lord. Salisbury himself. No doubt the diplomats thought Mr Pulitzer an impertinent busybody, but he did succeed in establishing a “peace atmosphere" with happy results.