HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17879, 22 June 1926, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING. Aviation And Old Ago. Old age is being robbed of its terrors. No one now believes that- a man is “too old at forty.” On golf courses, as well as on tennis lawns, grandfathers take their recreation with the second and even the third generation--and not infrequently prove the better man. W. G. Grace in his day’ showed that a cricketer need not retire from, the field because his hair is turning grey or has more or less completely disappeared. There is no age limit to the motorist. But it was generally assumed (says the London “Daily Telegraph”) that aviation was the sphere of youth, and that the pilot’s career necessarily’ came to an end when he had celebrated his 30th, or at most his 35th, birthday. When the conquest of the air was an achievement of yesterday', and the aeroplane was still in the early stages of development, there was no doubt an elmetne of truth in these reservations. But it is now stated that there is no limit to the age at which a man may fly. “So long as he is certified as fit he can go on flying as long as he likes.” That declaration made bv the responrible officer of the Royal Air Force, opens up interesting and. indeed, exhilarating possibilities. Aviation is still somewhat of a novelty. Few of us have acquired the air habit. But the time will come when tens of thousands of men will have learnt how to handle an aeroplane, and the art of the pilot will have been greatly simplified by the remarkable progress in design and construction which is now being made, as well as bv the invention of safety devices. Mountain Architect*. The amazing mountain monasteries and fortresses erected by’ the Tibetan:, show them to be the most original and skilful architects in Asia. Their love ot a lofty height and viewpoint leads them to select for building, sites the toop of a mountain spire or else the ledges of rock on the face of some cliff. Until discovered by the first Mount Everest expedition, the existence ot the Rongbuk Monastery was unknown to the outside -world. This monastery’ is the home of one of the most interesting characters of the lama-pnest-hood. the hermit monk, who receives the worship and homage of pilgrims from China, Mongolia, and Central Asia. The fantastic ceremonies m the Temple, the haunting sound of the trumpets from the Temple roof that echo at night time through the mountain, all give an atmosphere of romance to this littie-known comer ot the world. Long Tears Between Brothers. A curious instance of the period of time between two brothers was re\-eal-ed in a French court some months back. A witness was asked if he had , anv brother alive. He replied: “My only brother died 150 years ago.” Few would consider this anything but a joke without knowing the facts. However, the witness explained that his father married when he was 20, and had a son, who died in infancy. His wife died soon after. father married again when he was 77, and had a son (the witness), who was 93 a little while ago. Historic “Star* and* For more than 400 years the resort of sea captains, the old Star and Garter Hotel, Portsmouth, is soon to be closed. It was there that Earl Howe, Earl St Vincent, and Lord Nelson regularly’ made their stay at the port, and the beds wherein they’ slept are shown to the visitor. On the window of the front parlour, among a host of other inscriptionss, may still be traced the monogram of the great little admiral, “11. N.,” and below it another signature, though hardly decipherable, which tradition ascribes to Lady Hamilton. « a

Farcical Hongkong Election. The extraordinary* manner in which an election by ballot was carried out recently in Hongkong is described by x local paper. The election was that of a member of a sanitation board, and there were two candidates, Dr S. C. Ho and Dr F. M. G. Ozorio. The journal in question states that the arrangements were totally inadequate, and that that election proved to be an “ utter farce. ” Only a portion of the crowd of electors who presented themselves actually recorded their votes, numbers were turned away becau’-e there was no hope of them getting near the voting table, and a crowd of about 300 who were in the room when the election closed at 5.30 p.m- were turned away without having voted. Protests were met with the rejoinder that the official time had been gazetted an- L could not be departed from. Of the votes which were cast Dr Ho polled 220 and Dr Ozorio 158, sixteen papers being spoiled.

Guarding the North Pole. That Canada will some clay have c cordon of Royal Canadian Mounted Police situated on a point of land nearest the North Pole, giving complete supervision of lands between Canada proper and that elusive top of the world, was revealed lately, when orders were issued for a detachment to prepare for a trip this summer to Bath Peninsula. This peninsula is only 10 deg. removed from the pole. A mounted police station is to be established there when the George P. Mackenzie Arctic exploration party* goes in this year. On reaching Bach Peninsula the mounted police will open a Canadian post-ofnee and will act as mining recorders, game wardens andTcustoms officers. The party will go into the Ar - tie on the steam boat Boothie. c - i

mining engineers are going to make the journey to estimr'm value of Ar - tie mineral resources. Canadian officials have become aroused to the p : - sibility of the Canadian sub-Arctic being used for aerial routes and it is to preserve the bases for such routes that the government will establish this Par £ypr£h station*