LIFE’S LITTLE WANTS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 25 January 1927, Page 5

LIFE’S LITTLE WANTS.

41 One Touch of Nature” . . . “One touch of Nature makes the •(Whole world kin.” One knew of a '■confirmed pifbliean and a more than confirmed s ' Prohibitionist who were % close friends, the bond of union being :tho breeding of canaries. The publi- 3 can passed' over tw<> or three years £ agq, anuch to the regret of his friend, the ardent advocate of drought. The \ licensed victualler left in his will to ; his friend twelve cock canaries and a j considerable wad of brewery shares. * ■Her© indeed was, a problem for a con- t scientious non-irrigationist. He had t all his life been not only a total ab- j stainer from all alcoholic beverages, .bat had been extremely antagonistic c jJTxnbling in all its forms. He there- ( to a member of the emigre- I gation of his church, who happened to t (be a lawyer, told him of the difficulty, and asked brewery shares or not, Charlie?” he 1 said, his face lined with anxiety. “Tell f you what,' ’ said Charles the lawyer, “toss a penny—heads you take the shares, tails you don,'t. ” The ardent anti-gambler and life-long teetotaller tossed the penny. It came down T heads. His sigh of relief could he t heard all round Hawke ’s Bay.—Auck- j land Star. ( * * * * n “Through Fire and Water.’ ’ I j The expression, “I would go through ( ■fire and water to serve you,” is a survival in speech of_ trial by ordeal. 3 The ordeal by fire was generally re- - served for people of rank; that by wafer for the lower - classes. The ordea|B.f fire generally assumed one of two forms. The accused "was either required to take up a piece of red-iiot iron in the bare hand, or walk, blindfolded and barefooted, over nine redhot plough-shares. If he succeeded and remained unhurt his 'innocence was held to be proved. The ordeal bv water had two forms. Tho accused was j either required to plunge a bare arm Into scalding water ’or was thrown into a river or pond. The latter was j used for supposed witches until comparatively recent times. If the woman sank she was: adjudged guiltless, but sh'e wps probably drowned before ‘anyone thought of rescuing lien If she floated, probably by reason of her skirts outspreading, she was regarded _ as guilty, and was pulled out and hanged or burned! The law .allowed a‘deputy— who, would undergo the ordeal in the accused person's place. More than one romantic story is told of a beautiful girl being accused of witchcraft and of her lover taking the ordeal in her place,. In other words, he was ready “to go through lire and water for her.” 3»K-coiouied Trees. ' Touched by the magic wand of sci- j cnee, trees in the forests near Machias, Maine, have turned from their natural colours ta lavender, yellow, ( ■blue, and orange, A German scientist, j Fritz Von Behr, has wrought the trails- j formations; and the secret of the dye j that makes possible the multi-coloured trees is known only to the inventor. From their outer surfaces to the iiearts of their trunks, trees have been indelibly dyed, and neither : water nor acid affects their artificial colouring. Birch, beech, and maple trees, have been used as the bases for the experlmcmfs, and already buttons, umbrella handles, cigarette eases and candlesticks have been made from the ’ dyed wood, which, once carved, needs only to he polished. The dye neither kills nor injures the tree, and though tests have proved that the artificial - has a tendency to harden the \ inventor insists.that the tree , would continue to grow if it were not ( cut. Five or six holes are bored at the • base of the tree to create a reservoir . for the dye. Into two of the holes are ( put gas-jet plugs. Then ordinary gar- ■ bage cans are suspended in the trees , as dye reservoirs. The dye flows down into the trunk, the sap takes it up into the tree, and in about two or four days the process is completed. A Stinging Indictment. An article appears in “Time and >Tide,’*?a paper which is read in England by cultured women of all classes,. and contains a stinging indictment which is worthy of serious attention. “Candida” writes: “But the average ‘leisured’ woman has not altered very greatly She is perceptibly better educated so far as actual book learning is concerned than she was sixty years ago. “Sixty years ago when a woman mar- | Tied sh embarked on a perf iod of fifteen to twefity years during she gave birth to a child ■ at least every two or three years, and a young family of seven or eight ehildren does hot, except in the richest classes, leave a mother much leisure. Idleness, tho idleness that breeds decay, 5 was, sixty years ago, confined to the unmarried or to the middle-aged. Today, when a woman marries, she has, perhaps, two children. The number of women has increased enormously during the past sixty years; and not only that, but their influence has increased enormously. To-day they are listened to, they help to set the tone of the society in which they move. Thev, largely, mako the attitude towards life of big sections (and important reerions) of the community. And what do they make it They make it wha* thev have been brought up ‘o make B and what their experience of life has taught them to mak it.”