HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18614, 16 November 1928, Page 8

HERE AND THERE.

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING. Baby’s Fall from Train. A girl named Annie Steel, of Milhead, Warton, near Camforth, fell from a train near Hatless Bridge, with a baby in her arms. The mother, who was travelling in the same carriage, immediately pulled the communication cord, and the train stopped on reaching Hest Bank station. Railway officials went down the line and were surprised to see the baby walking on the permanent way. The girl, however, was unable to move. An express train was due, but she was removed to safety before this arrived. The girl was taken to Lancaster Infirmary, where she was found to be suffering from a fractured thigh. The baby was uninjured. XXX Back to the Wild. A valuable racing greyhound, recently purchased at the Leeds kennels, has “gone back to the wild,” and defies all the efforts of a mixed army of unemployed and small boys to capture her. The dog, which has been at large for nearly three weeks, formerly ran at the Leeds greyhound track. Five minutes after her owner, Mr Clifford Sheard, a butcher, of Birstall, near Leeds, had brought her home, she forced her way through a loose piece of wire netting and bounded away. Although the district is one of woollen mills and mines, there are several woods in which game survives, and it is apparent that latterly she has lived on what she has hunted. Her wouldbe captors have been within a few feet of her, but she has never failed to show them a clean pair of heels. There is a reward for her capture. XXX Bulow—Pianist, Conductor anA Wit. Hans von Bulow was almost as famous for his wit as for his musical genius. One of his remarks was to the effect that “critics know everything and do nothing,” and it was he who originated the well-known description oi the tenor voice as “not a voice but a disease.” To a pianist who insisted on playing to him he said, “I have heard Liszt, I have heard Rubinstein; but I have never known a pianist who perspired as you do.” This remark is on a par with that of Brahms to a composer who had his composition played to that master and anxiously awaited his verdict. All that Brahms said after turning over the pages of the score was; “What nice music-paper you use! ” XXX Common Errors.

Scientists tell us that th>e number of common errors which could easily be overcome by a short, unprejudiced observation is little short of appalling. Apparently, scores and scores of totally mistaken ideas have been handed down to us from our ancestors, and, so firmly implanted in our heads by customary belief that they are very hard to shake. Many of us still cling to the delusion that lightning describes a zig-zag course. This is, perhaps, one of the most widely-spread of all these errors One sees it frequently in paintings, drawings and illustrations; and the average person will declare that he or she has seen it. They have allowed the idea to become so firmly fixed in their minds as to distort their observation. Lightning does not travel in a zig-zag line. Its course is best described as “crinkly,” without the sharp angles and straight, clean-cut connecting lines that are characteristic of the tiue zig-zag. Another common error is that the “rays” of light are real and tangible, like smoke. “Rays” are usually drawn by artists round the disc ol the sun or other bright light, and are sometimes represented as surrounding electrical arcs, sparks and flashes. There are light rays; but the term is employed by scientists to express waves of light, as intangible and abstract as the waves of sound. They cannot be seen separately, though again we have many who swear that they have often noticed them. The explanation is that the lines of light perceived by the eye are caused by the moisture surrounding the margin of the eye itself. “Rays’’ seen in a dark room, filtering through a crack, are reflections of light from a cloud of fine dust. In a room where dust, smoke, etc., are entirely absent, these rays would be invisible, as has been proved by practical experiment. Another widespread mistake causes manv to believe that metals are adamant and devoid of sensitiveness, except to magnetism and electricity. Metals are not so unless they have been killed or "poisoned”. Healthy metal will occasionally suffer from what is known as “fatigue,” and remain out of its proper “temper” until it has had a holiday.