BREEZES

Wairarapa Daily Times, 18 June 1931, Page 4

BREEZES

Not to be Pressed. “James, call up my dentist and see if he can give me an appointment.” “Yes, sir.” “And—er —James, don’t press him.” * * * * Same Old Way. “Do you act toward your wife as you did before you married her?” “Exactry- I remember how I used to act when I first fell in love with her. I used to lean over the fence in front of her house aud gaze at her shadow on the curtain, afraid to go in. And I act just the same way now when I get home late.” * # * -* Origin of the Gothic Arch. When the early Norse Vikings came homo from the sea they turned their ships upside' down, raised them on baulks of timber, draped the sides with skins, and lived under them all the winter, or changed them into permanent residences, thus giving to the world the type of architecture called Gothic. Gothic windows, doorways, arches and naves are shaped on the cross sections of a boat turned upside down. The style is favoured by ecclesiastical architects because it arrests the observer’s eye aud carries his gaze upwards,- a simple method of letting the building express its purpose.- * * * * Electricity’s Centenary. An announcement was made in -London recently that the centenary of the discovery of the -true relation between magnetism and electricity by Michael Faraday will be celebrated on an almost unprecedented scale. Perhaps no discovery has had such far-reaching effects as that when Faraday, in August, 1831, showed that electrical currents could be induced. In an address delivered by Sir William Bragg, the eminent scientist, in which Faraday’s epoch-making discovery was the main theme, a picture w r as drawn ol the consequences of stopping -all activities in the world following from the discovery. An end would be brought to all electric distribution of light and power, all transmission of news by telegraph and telephone, and a hundred other uses of electricity on which the world has learned to rely. Learned societies from many nations are expected to send representatives to the celebrations in August, to commemorate Faraday’s great discovery? * * * * Coloured Linen. Fashions in household linen have changed considerably since the days when the contents of linen chests were snowy white! To-day, not only are coloured sheets accompanied by pillow slips to match, but the blankets used with these are dyed the same shade, and that such Schemes may be complete in every detail, line linen towels have hand-paint-ed borders reproducing the colour of the linen selected.

English society succumbed to the lure of coloured sheets when Mrs Marshall Field, then Mrs Coats, introduced into the ship she owned at that time pink and yellow and blue and black crepe de chine sheets, ■with appropriate pillow slips and coverlets, designed to cheer invalids during their hours of convalescence. The becoming qualities of such sheets, especially when combined with suitable jackets, dressing gowns and so forth, procured their speedy popularity. Some More “Howlers.” “Mary Queen of Scots sewed well. History says she was fond of darning.” “Bannock Burn, so called because Alfred burned the cakes there.” “Joan of Are, a brave woman, the. wife of Noah.” “A matrix is a component part of a bedstead. ” “The best way to preserve the teeth is to put them in water over-night.” “White is a colour that stands for joy. Women are married in white, but men never are. ’ ’ “A buttress is a lady butler.” “Levi sat at the receipt of costumes.” “Curtail —the cud of a mongrel.” “A Budget is an Irish female servant.” “Contralto is a low kind of music, sung only by women.” * # * * Art of the Heckler.

The appearance of taxation of land values in the Budget must recall Henry George and his campaigns of long ago, says the “Manchester Guardian.” Henry George was an exceedingly powerful and successful orator, but he did occasionally meet his match, though not often, by the operation of a “non sequitur” so magnificent as in the case of a big meeting at Forfar. At question time an old farmer got up and put a series of questions as follows: — “Ye’ll hae land o’ yer ain, Maister George?” “No, indeed,” said George, “I am not a landlord.” “Ah—ye’ll be a tenant o’ land, Maister George?” “Not I. lam no man’s tenant, sir.” “’Deed, then, ye’ll be am agent for land, Maister George—ye’ll manage it for someone else?” “Not at all. I am not an agent. I have nothing to do with land.” “I tlioeht so,” said the farmer,- impressively, sitting down again. Everyone familiar with polities and political speaking will recognise this as a nearly perfect example of the heckler’s art. The questions had nothing to do with the real points at issue; no man need be actively employed by a landlord or a landlord himself in order to have views about land taxation, but it is easy to imagine the shattering effect the questions would have on even an impressive argument.