TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8232, 8 September 1906, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

Experiments are being conducted on the railroads controlled by Mr E. H. Harriman, of New York, to determine whether it is practicable to equip trains with a telephonic device enabling the conductor and the engine-driver to consult 'while the train is in motion. Jf the device proves satisfactory it will be installed on the Union Pacific, wh'ch fin one of the greatest railways in America, and also on oiher lines. The plans also contemplate the introduction of the composite system of wire by means of which one wire may b© used simultaneously for both telephonic and telegraphic work. This will enable the oonduotor to leach the train deso&toher or the nearest tele graph station immediately.

The influence of dust'upon health was discussed at a conference on physios, chemistry and biology, which forirod one of the five sectional meetings held at Brintol in connection with the congress of the Royal Sanitary Institute. Dust aoted as an isritant, and was in many oases poisonous, snid Dr. Philip Bookbyer, of Nottingham, in a paper on the subject. We were uot sufficiently careful in disoouraging the dissemination of dust in ordinary life. We should pave the streets with smooth material, oheok as far as possible the depositing of refuse in streets and yards, and forbid the sweeping of bousedust into the street. We should forbid motor oars travelling more than 10 'niles an hour in all urhau distriofs, dis courage the use of carpets in houses, forbid the shaking of mats and oarpets outside thp bouse, encourage the burning of all house refuse, and pursue a vigorous campaign against the smoke nuisance. In the discussion which followed, it was remarked how strange it was that people should . take off their bats on entering a nouse instead of their boots which had been collecting refuse in the streets.

Some remarkable figures bearing on the decreased demand for articles of luxury were embodied in the. report presented at the ordinary general meeting of Messrs Spiers and Pond (Limited), held at the Criterion Restaurant, London. There was a reduotion of £115,600 in the turnover of the company, said

the chairman. He aaoribei the large decrease in profits to the increased rates, rents, and taxes, and to the decrease in the demand for all articles of luxury, owing to the poorness of trade. Everyone of their departments was more or less responsible for the decline. Taking one of their restaurants, at which 7s 6d dinners were supplied, where formerly an average of 7s 6d worth of wine was consumed by each diner, only 3s Gd worth was now taken. In another of their restaurants, where they supplied 3s 6d and 5e dinners, on a recent Sunday evening, when they had 80 people sitting down to dinner, only one bottle of champagne was opened. Formerly some 20 would have been purchased. The chairman further instanced the drop in the sales of wines and spirits in the House of Commons, to show the reasons for their loss. The chairman of the sub-oommittee argued that the golden stream flowed from the spout of the teapot, and not from the champagne bottle, and Mr Bamberger asked: "Why not go in for the popular drinks and food?" They would have to cater iu future for the 6d and 8d people.

Prom a comprehensive report, prepared by the British representative at Tokio, at the request of the Foreign Office, we learn that 51 of the various species of seaweeds found on the coasts of£Japan are employed for useful purposes, and their collection and subsequent treatment form one of the most prominent industries of *he Japanese Empire. In no other country are seaweeds put to Buch a variety of uses as in Japan, where they are utilised as food, as plaster and glue, as starch, and even as manure for the rice fields. One of the most important branches of the industry is the preparation .of isinglass, the export of which has already reached considerable dimensions. Another is the extraction of iodine, but the methods employed at present for the production of this ohemioal, though certainly inexpensive, are crude, and could duubtless be greatly improved, and a larger yield obtained. Moreover, the burning of the seaweed, which is part of the process,, is frequently a cause of considerable annoyance to people who live in the neighbourhood of the places where it is carried on, owing to the exceedingly disagreeable and pungent fumes given off by the burning seaweed. During the last few years experiments have been vigorously carried out under Government supervision in many places along the ooast, and when the results have been definitely ascertained, it is expected that the annual yield of all kinds of useful algae will be largely increased. The only species which has been properly cultivated in the past is the laver (Porphyra tenella),. «ll other kinds having been gathered indiscriminately, with the result that the supply has m some oases shown a considerable diminution. The total value of the seaweeds prepared in 1904 exoeeded £400,000, and the total value of the exports was £124,651.