Under Currents

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17410, 24 May 1928, Page 4

Under Currents

IIIIUUttMIMMIW IN THE DRIFT CF LIFE ißu ' Sta\er. ’ MAUDE ROYDEN’S IMAGERY: Yen’ rich were the stories ami illusi trations by which Maude Royden con- ; veyed her message to her Hamilton ; audience. The diplodochus, referred j to in the Times report, was one of the ; richest ideas. How came it about | that this huge reptile, 75 feet long, j had perished, while puny man had , survived? The reason was that the diplodochus had lacked adaptability. When circumstances —a mere microbe perhaps—had demanded an adjustment on its part, it 'had said, “What was good enough for my grandfather is good enough for me.” People who said that nowadays in reference to the problems we were called up to meetpoverty, unemployment, war—were diplodoch'uses (“or whatever the word might be”) and Miss Royden suggested a like fate "vas in store for them, * • * *. • THE WAY TO CORK OR ANYWHERE. Rich, too, was the story of the Irishman’s reply to the people who asked the way to Cork. It was something like this: “If it was to Cork that I was going it wadn’t 'be from here I wad want to be starting." Miss Royden confessed that it was her weakness also to desire to start for her goal from some other point than where she happened to be. (“Ah,” thought “Seeker,” “there’s one point where I’m just like Maude Royden.”) But it was no use dreaming what we might do if we were somewhere else and differently placed. We must work towards our ideal from the place where we were—in business, in the home or perhaps in the very difficult ■ place, the pulpit. She told, too, of how quiet effort in one place sometimes spread an influence throughout the world. * * * ■* GOD NOT A CAPRICIOUS FATHER. A question was asked in reference to Miss Royden’s assertion that we couldn't break God’s laws; we could disregard them if we wished, but in that case they would break us. What, then, became of the Fatherhood of . God, the questioner asked. Miss Royden’s reply was that the true father was not the one that- changed his mind. It was Impossible to get on with a father who was capricious. Human fathers needed sometimes to change their mind —when they had been hasty or unjust—but the Perfect Father showed us truest kindness by not changing. As to prayer, the lecturer compared it to the opening of shutters to let in the sunlight. The sunlight was there waiting to pour in upon us and give us health and power; we had only to open the shutters. * 9 * • HEROISM. Miss Royden spoke of her experiences in a maternity home to illustrate that heroism lived in the human soul and would continue to live when wars were no more. She told of mothers in child birth who had born the most terrible pain, who had been torn to pieces, yet had refused artificial aids because ‘they wanted the child to have the best possible chance in life. Many calls upon men’s heroism she me ?" tioned —particularly the call _ for volunteers to go down into a mme to attempt rescue .work after an explosion ; the comrades would volunteer lo a man for the unknown fate. if she thought this spirit could not be preserved except at the cost o . » then she would favour war despite its horrors. But heroism and the fighting instinct did not require the slaughter of our fellow humans. Theie were abundant evils calling for all our fl eh ting spirit. There was poverty. There was war. When she saw how people sat down under the menace of the cruel horror that war had come to be instead of fighting against it, she felt that we had not enough of th* fighting instinct. * » * * mechanical cows. A London cablegram states:— “\ n interesting prediction was made at the sanitary inspectors conference that milk may shortly be produced from grass without the aid of the cow. Successful evperiments are at present being ried out in several districts. “So it’s coming,” said Aunt Selina, “the machine that’s going to put the poor old cows on the shelf. „ “Henry Ford predicted it long ago. said Dad, “and he said he’d seen milk made from beans in Manchuria or soliewhere.” “Nasty stuff, I’ll bet,” said Aunt “Still I’m glad to think what it would mean lo Mr Branigan to have mechanical cows. Why, the poor man has worked 365 days a year all these years, and this year he’ll work 366. The cows never give him a day free, milking for the town as he does, and with Mrs Branigan getting a baby every year there’s never a day’s rest for either of them. Yes, it’ll be fine to make the milk by machinery and then everyone can have a Sunday except the Mrs Branigans of course. But I don’t know that the maohine stuff will he just- the same as what we get from Brindle. She does give * lovely cream, you know, and what a difference fresh milk makes to the bairns! And if it wasn’t for the bulls, I like to see the pretty Jerseys dotted about the paddocks.” “Don’t be afraid, Selina,” said Dad. “I’m backing the old cow to hold her own till long after you and I have gone to the better land—or the worse." . . “You never know, William dear. When we were children we used to say, ‘Pigs might fly,’ and laugh at the idiots who tried to make flying machines.” * * * * REALLY SAVING DAYLIGHT. “The operations of the Summer Time Act (daylight saving) materially affected the Wanganui-Rangitikei Electric Power Board’s revenue,” said the chairman (Mr F. Purnell) in his an- ; nual report. It is estimated the shrinkage from this cause totalled approximately £4000." This is a splendid text for Mr Summertime Sidey. It shows that day rlight saving really saved daylight. This was, of course, a blow to the trade in electric light, gas, kerosene and candles. Our protectionist Government will probably' take note and devise measures to prevent the people using anything so cheap as daylight. A Frenchman once suggested that a protective tariff should be placed on sunlight in order to assist the struggling candle industry. The proposal was not. adopted, probably' because of the difficulty of preventing the smuggling of sunlight.