HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18380, 4 February 1928, Page 4

HERE AND THERE.

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING.' Flights Of The Future. Sir Alan Cobham states that flight at an altitude around 50.000 ft. will enable a plane to attain speed bordering on 1000 miles an hour. This means crossing the Continent between breakfast and lunch, crossing the Atlantic between lunch and dinner, and circumnavigating the globe in a day*. Perhaps, says a writer, one cannot picture man ever rising abo\*e 50,000 ft., but certainly* we shall have “ soundings ’* taken far beyond that figure within the next few "years. Macready’s work above 30,000 ft. lends some hope that these wild dreams may one day be realised. He has flown comfortably above Dayton, Ohio, in temperature* SOdeg. below zero. « The “Almighty Dollar.** At present there are so many references to the fact that £1 is more than holding its own -with the “ almighty ’* dollar that it is of interest to recall the fact that it was just 90 years ago that Washington Irving coined the phrase. In a tale called “ The Creole Village,” the writer mentions “ the almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land.’* The author uses the term again in the same story, and adds this footnote: “ This phrase, used for the first time in this sketch, has since passed into current circulation, and by some has been questioned as savouring of irreverence. The author therefore owes it to his orthodoxy to declare that no irreverence was intended even to the dollar itself, which he is aware is daily becoming more and more an object of worship.” « x i An “ All-Electric ” Home. * r * Electrically-controlled clocks with bells that ring automatically when they need winding, and switching arrangements for kettles, boilers, wireless, and bed-warmers, are features of an “ allelectric ” home which was opened in Birmingham recently. Plugs for a vacuum cleaner and radiator arc provided in the entrance hall, while in the bathroom is an electric towel rail that also warms the room itself, and a t*ug for heating shaving-water. A Father's Reward. His plea that he has 43 children to support saved Julian Chavez, a Mexican, from gaol. He pleaded guilty,.to stabbing Joe Stuka at a ranch near Sheridan, Wyoming, but his sentence was suspended. Two automobile loads of children came to the trial, swarming over the courthouse lawn and disporting themselves in the corridors of the building. After a check of the family, Chavez’s count of 43 children was accepted and placed on the Court records. He is aged about 60 years. Apple As Life-Saver. A piece of apple wedged in the throat of Richard Doolittle, two-y’ear-old son of Mr and Mrs Charles Doolittle, of Middletown, New York, is believed to have saved his life when he fell into a pond near his home. The theory is that when the child fell into the water that he was eating an apple. It lodged in his throat in such a way as to block the air passages into the lungs. The result was that the boy swallowed plenty of water, but none or little of it got into the lungs. The father rescued him from the water when he was near death. The piece of apple was removed by his mother. His recovery was rapid. •a a x New American Degree. According to reports at the American Treasury, the new degree of D.H.D., or “Doctor of High and Dry.” has been awarded to 25 special agents, who have been attending the first term of the Government's prohibition school, which opened on November 1. Tha agents took a course in “General Enforcement Problems,” anti have returned to their various districts to spread learning among their fellow workers. Dean Seymour Lowman, who also is assistant secretary of the Treasury, in charge of prohibition enforcement, announced that the second term, a postgraduate course dealing with “ specific enforcement problems,” would open on November 28 What degree successful completion of that more advanced course would win, he did not say.