Here and There

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVI, Issue 9, 3 March 1906, Page 15

Here and There

Longfellow Revised. I stood on the. Iwiilgo at close of day, Attired in football clothes: The bridge belonged. I’d further say. To the rival half-back’s nose. A John, Bull and an Irish Bull. A notice at a small depot near Manchester reads: “Passengers are requested to cross over the railways by the subway.’’ This reminds us of the oft-quoted notice put up at the ford of an Irish river: “When this board is under water the river is unpassable.”

Familiar Lines.

(Arranged so that the little ones can always remember them.) The boy stood on the burning deck. Ills Ueece was white as snow; He stuck a feather in his hat, John Anderson, my Joi “Come back, come back!" he cried, iu grief. From India’s coral strands, The frost Is on the pumpkin and The village smithy stands. Ye banks and braes o’ bonny Doon Across the sands o’ Dee. Can you forget that night in June— My country, ’tls of thee! Of all sad words of tongue, or pen, We re saddest when we sing, To beard the lion in his den— ’ To set before the king. Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound, And Phoebus 'gins arise; All mimsy were the borogroves To mansions in the skies.

Easting. They were discussing the test time for the consecration of a new plot that' had been added to the church cemetery. There was a long argument. Some wanted the addition consecrated at < nee. Others thought it would he best to wait till the next year. Finally an old man rose, and said, firmly: “1 shall vote for immediate consecration. I have had my backyard done with it, and it wears grand.”

A Fijian as He Is. Take a full-flavoured Fijian (v iie. a correspondent). He smells of Aral.y lie unblest, or some other unsaleable, perfume; has no filial instinct, rn' s? he happens to get paid in advance tor work, when he finds himself impelled to visit his sick mother; listens to a mil I discourse with the snug sanctity of a convict trying the converted lav: con iders a saint in a sulil twice a saint in a shirt, and accordingly regenerates himself off the nearest clotlies-1 no; he op nes tbat white men were ereat d to relieve him of the curse imposed on Adam —he (the Fijian) was,invented for tie benefit of Darwin and Buckle; in eating a boa constrictor becomes a rank imposter by comparison, and he sleeps in proportion; his intellectual recreations are catching fleas and pelting floating bottles; his forehead is retreating—so are his legs iu war when his policy is “masterly inaction,” and annexing pigs and fowls on tii?. line of march; he will steal Epsoin salts sooner than let his' talents rust, and carries a knife, with which he eats and scratches himself alternately; never reads “Huxley on. Protoplasm," but he sometimes has a knowledge of poker and gives’ unsolicited concerts at most unreasonable hours; his pedigree is'as complex as that of a decayed'lrish gentleman, and h.? is usually related to one of the first .families of Ban: lie lubricates himself until he shines like a newly polished oftice-stove, and then loves .to strike off copies of himself on wall-papering* and newly-painted surfaces ; he roots under verandahs, where •lie holds <auoas ’nieetings to’afrhnge the yam and fowl tariff; carries but the early closing system in its integrity; usually drinks water, but when sick—•

gin, and his health is always precarious; lie can lie stupendously, he gives no credit, and hiJ ! thirty-nine articles are wait; at clearing a hen-roost I’ll back him against any champion; like the lilies of the field, he toils not, neither does he spin, but there th? resemblance ends; he is a communist socially.’ a paradox politically, and a cuss generally. 1 dismiss him! The Golfing Clergyman. A parallel has been found for i lie young curate who said, “Here endeth th? first innings.” Au English clergyman on Saturday was beaten in a golf tournament by a put on the last green. This seems to have preyed on his mind, for on the following day he gave out his text as follows: "In the eighth chapter and the thirty-sixth verse of the gospel according to St. Mark, you will find these words to be written: ’For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose the last hole'!’” Dynamics of Dreams. In a recent issue of t he “New York Medical Record,” Dr. Axel Emil Gibson discourses on the “stuff that dreams are made of.” In this lengthy article some interesting information is given. For instance, Harvey, of the vascular circulation fame, is said to have recorded n dream in which a bumble-bee stung him in his left thigh.-on a place where a couple of days later appeared an ugly ulcer, and Malesherbe, the renowned French author, found himself in a dream attacked by a rowdy who stabbed him in his left breast .with a. dagger in an area where the following evening lie felt the first attack of a severe lobar jm.-u--monin. “The archives of medical reports,” the avthor. informs us. “are heavy with eases of a similar character, which have either received no expl illation at all. or else have been explained away entirely.” The doctor calls attention to Hie fact that dreams depend on some other media than those known to us as the five senses. A most conclusive evidence in favour of this view is found in the circumstances that even the blind are able to see in dreams—as witness the experiences recorded by Helen Kelltr. "Blind Tom.” the poet of “Paradise Lost.” and others. Hence He conclusion seems to be unavoidable that it is only as far as physical vision is concerned that the optic nerve guides and limits the field of vision. The author finally arrives at the deduction that dreaming mid waking differ in degree and form of manifestation

only, not in principle and essence. “Likfl waking consciousness.’* he avers, “the dream reveals, but dues not create. The same world that surrounds the waking individual surrounds the dreaming, only the view points and media of ol»svr vat ion arc changed.** Ordinary dreams. Dr. Gibson tells u% are merely undigested consciousness, being made up of longings, desires, anticipations, idle hopes, and miscarried realisations. which, occupying the infflA during the day, are overtaken by sleep before Having reached their fruition. A Letter From Home. (t'roui the Princess 800-La By. at Gu:nboG<».», South Sen Islands, to her brother, Prince Umbobo. a sophomOre at Vale? “It is spring, my dear Umbobo, On tin* isle of Gumbo-Goo. And your father. King Korobo. And you’* mother long for you. “We had missionaries Munday! Much th<' finest of the year Our old cook came back last Sunday. And (he stews she makes are dear. “I’ve The loveliest string of knuckles. Which dear father gave to me, And a pair of .shinbone buckles. Which 1 so wish you could bvb. “You remember Mr Boolon He is coming over soon With some friends from Gmatulu — We all liupe they’ll call al noun. “Mr Booloo’s rather slender. But we’ll fix him up with sage, Ami I think he’ll l»e qpite tender Fur a fellow of his age. “I am hoping next vacation 1 may visit you awhile. In this out-of-way location It’s so hard to know the style. “Will yon try and match the sample i inclose be sure it’s green. Get three yards that will be ample. Velvet, mind, not velveteen. “Gentle mother worries badly. And rhe. thinks it is 11 shame That a man like Dr. Hadley Lets you play that football game. “For the way they hurl each other Seems so barbarously rude No, you’ve not been raised, dear brothel’. To do anything so crude. “And those horrid meals al college — Nut what you’re accustomed to. * J It Is hard'/ this quest fur knowledge. But be brave. lour sister. Boo.” T’.S. “If it’s'hot too great rt bother. Ami a ulvfital. uVef'-tax. Would you send your pour old father, C.0.D.. a battle axe?”

What Water Can Do. Imagine a perpendicular column of water more than one-third of a mile high, 26 inches in diameter at the top ami 24 inches in diameter al the bottom Those remarkable conditions are complied with, as far as power goes, in the -Mill ( reek plant, says a write.!,’ in nn American exchange, which operates under a head of 1960 ft. This little column of water, which, if liberated, would ba just, about enough to make a stnali trout stream, gives a capacity of 520 G horse-power, or enough power to run a good-sized oceangoing vessel. As the*

irater strikes the buckets of the waterwheel, it has a pressure of 850 pounds to the square inch. What this pressure implies is evidenced by the fact that the average locomotive carries steam at a pressure of 190 or 200 pounds to the square inch. Were this stream, as it issues from the nozzle, turned upon a hillside, the earth would fade away before it like snow before a jet of steam. Huge boulders, big as city offices, would tumble into ravines with as little effort as a clover burr is carried Im*fore the hydrant stream on a front lawn. Brick walls would crackle like paper, and th<» hugest sky-scrapers crumble before a stream like that of the Mil) Creek plant. It takes a powerful water-wheel to withstand the tremendous pressure. At Butte Creek, California. a single jet of water, six inches in diameter, issues from the nozzle at the tremendous velocity of 20,000 feet a minute. It impinges on the buckets of what is said to be the most powerful single water-wheel ever built, causing the latter to travel at the rate of 94 miles an hour, making 400 revolutions a minute. This six-inch stream has a capacity of 12,000 horse-power. The water for operating the plant is conveyed from Butte Creek through a ditch and discharged into a regulating reservoir which is ]SOO feet above the powerhouse. Two steel pressure pipe lines, 30 inches in diameter, conduct the water to the power-house. Nursery Vers de Society. How dot'll the little Busy B I in prove* each shining minute? By saying things about her friends W ho more than her are “in it.’’ And who, forsooth, is Busy B? I very inurh fear Thai the aforesaid Busy B Js Busy Body, dear. Music Ha th Charms.” At a social gathering in a small town in Scotland it was found that everyone had contributed to the evening’s entertainment -except a certain professor. •‘Como, come, professor,” said the chaiiman. we cannot let you escape.” The professor protested that, lie could not sing. “Aly voice is altogether unmuseiai. and resembles” the sound caused by the act of rubbing a brick along the panels of a door.” The company attributed this to the professor’s modesty. Good singers, he was reminded, always needed much pressing. “Very well.” said the professor, “it ? vou can stand it I will sing.” Txmg before he had finished his audience was uneasy, lhere was a painful silence as he sat down. Presently there was heard the voire of a braw Scot at. IITe end of the table. ■Man.” he exclaimed, "vour singins no up io much, but your veracity s remarkable. You're richt aboot that, brick!” The Moon and the Weather. Do the moon and the planets influence terrestrial weather? Popular belief in such influence is still strong, though students of the subject tell us that no such action is capable of proof. In an aitie>,> on "Fake Weather Forecasts” contributed to “The Popular Science Monthly,” F. .1. Walz, district forecaster of the I nited States Weather Bureau at Louisville, Ky ( , tells us of some of the attempts that have been made to support popular belief by scientific evidence. Speaking of the idea <*; hi.nar weathercontrol, once widelv held, but now “largely discarded." Mr. Walz says ; I his belief could hardly be considered more than a mere superstition, as it is impossible to see from an astronomical analysis how the varying positions of the lunar cusps could in any way be connected with the character of the weather. “The moon’s appearance to us depends on the relative position of the moon and sun in regard to the observer’s horizon. From new to full, the moon gradually increases from a crescent to a full circle, and hack again from full to new. The positions of the crescent vary, as the moon (shining by the light of the sun which she reflects to us) is sometimes north of the sun’s path and sometimes south of it. The variation is probably noticed most in the now moon, which is Men when the sun is just below the horison. A line joining the horns of n new moon is sometimes nearly vertical, and

oftentimes nearly horizontal. These were supposed to foretell tlie weather, the first being called ‘wet moon’ and the second ‘dry tnoon.’ “Even if the several lunar phases did influence our atmosphere, the same phase should produce the same effect all round thi? world (as the earth revolves on its axis in twenty-four hours) for any given latitude circle. It is true that the ocean tides are, for a large part, the result of the moon’s attraction; but this foree, ■when applied to the earth’s atmosphere, is wholly insufficient to produce any appreciable disturbance in the atmosphere. It is most probable that the moon belief grew up out of the naturally frequent coincidence between certain weather changes (and certain brands of weather) and selected moon phases. The moon enters a new pluise, or quarter ev.ery seventh day, ami the weather tat least in the middle latitudes) changes on the average of one to two times in .seven days; lienee there must h> a great many accidental coincidences. Anil if one counts the agreements and overlooks the disagreements, quite a theory could be announced. The lunar-phase theory was not found to bear the test of accurate comparison of weather observations with the lunar phases, except in this very slight and imperfect manner, which is entirely insufficient to have any value in weather prediction. Nevertheless, the moon ami her changing phases have been the basis of nearly all the weather forecasts found in the almanacs. And the almanac has probably received mor? wide distribution, and been more greatly cherished by the people of all countries, than any other publication, next to the Bible. “True, logical, sei: ntific weatlur forecasts for a season, or a month even, in advance, are the aim and dream of the meteorologist and the inspiration of meteorological res arch all over the worldBut in the light of all our present knowledge of original causation of variations and abnormalities in current weather and in the seasons, this meteorological 'millennium’ is not yet, and there is work in plenty ahead for the earnest, capable investigator.” “ Handy.” “What does your husband do for a living?” asked a missionary of a slatternly woman he found in the backwoods living in a little log cabin with nine or ten children, varying in age from three months to ten years. “Well,” was the reply, “he don’t work stiddy at no one thing, my Jim don’t. You see, he’s one o’ these bandy men who kin do most anything. lie’s a kyarpenter by perfession, but he’s bin lecturin’ on temp’ranee some this spring, an’ he’s bin diggin’ wells a little, an’ teachin’ singin'-school, an’ runnin’ the ingine at a sawmill when he ain’t bin layin' brick. He hangs wall-paper some, an’ last fall he done right well fer a week fellin’ fortunes an’ runnin’ a shootin’-gallery at a fair: an’ then he was a meejum fer a while at a spirits’ eamp-meet in’, an’ after that he turned hoss-doetor, but there was so litt.v money in it he give it. up; an' jes’ now he’s canvassin’ fer a book an’ takin’ orders fer some new kind of coffee-pot, lie ’s right handy, an’ kin lay his hand to most anything.” Temperature and Weight. “L’lllustration” (Paris) propounds and solves the following little problem in physics: Does any body whatever, warm, weigh as much as, more, or less, than the same body cold? Note that this may have importance in the physics of the globe. The attraction between bodies which is shown in gravitation might change mid vary. The ideal would be to be able to measure this attraction between identical bodies at very different temperatures; but the experiment can hardly be made, so an English physicist, Mr Poynting, proceeded otherwise. He sought to see if a body whose weight we have taken in the scales at a given temperature preserves the same weight at another temperature, much lower or higher. The experiment is delicate and demands great care. It showed that the solid, body heated to more than 100 deg. C. is a little lighter than the same body at 15 deg.’ The difference is very slight —0.003 milligramme in a solid of 208 grammes weight. In a general way, the

difference in weight is not even as one to the tenth power of 10 for a difference of one degree in temperature. The difference exists, but it is infinitesimal. During the beating or the cooling of the body experimented on there occur pretty considerable (apparent) variations in weight; but this is ephemeral. The heated body, which at first seems to. lose a pretty important proportion of its weight, recovers the greatest part, of it and shows itself, once heated, to have a weight only very slightly inferior to that which it had at low temperature. Why the Irish Are Strong. In the “Monthly Review” Mr Frederick Boyle deplores coddling in childhood, which renders it impossible for grown-ups to shed the superfluous clothes they should. He says: “Whatever their misfortunes, the Irish laid in a stock of health in olden days, which a large proportion of them have never lost under the barefoot, ragged conditions which kind-hearted ignorance thinks misery unredeemed. It is regarded as a standing wonder that children scarcely clad, scarcely housed, ‘dragged up,’ as Lamb puts it. in such wretchedness, should become taller men and women, stronger in muscle and constitution, less subject to disease, than our own, so infinitely better tended. But it is just because they approach is nearly to the condition of savages in scantiness of clothing that the Irish approach them also so nearly in vigour.” Acid Fruits for Rheumatism. The idea that acid fruits induce rheumatism is a very popular error, writes Dr. J. 11. Kellogg, in “Good Health.” It is based on a misunderstanding. The acids of fruits are different from mineral acids. Mineral acid taken into the body is not digestible, and remains as mineral acid. Sulphuric acid, for instance, is always sulphuric acid; it never changes. If it is hydrochloric add, it continues as hydrochloric arid; it combines with something, perhaps, but it is always hydrochloric acid. It is not so with the acids of fruits. These acids, when taken into the body, go through the same process of assimilation and change which starch and sugar do; they disappear as aeids. Actually, they have the effect to increase the alkalinity of the blood, to lessen the acidity of the renal secretion. Thus a person who has rheumatism, a condition in which then is too much uric acid, may be greatly benefited by the use of fruits and fruit acids. A few years ago we made some experiments

which proved Ulis most conclusively. A person was recommended to live a week on sour fruit or arid fruit juices in. large quantities, and it was found that the alkalinity of the’ blood increased right, along. .The aridity of the .blood increased during the first few hours, or, rather, - the alkalinity diminished; but! after the first few hours the blood rapidly became more and mote alknlin, an indicated by the decrease of the acidity of the urine. Soup With a Past. The irrepressible was dining at a cafe. Opposite to him was an extremely irritable old gentleman. The latter, whowas stirring up his soup in a suspicious, disagreeable manner, asked the vfaiter what kinfi of soup it was. “Bean-soup, sir,” replied the waiter briskly. “But where the devil arc the beans?” asked the irritable old gentleman. “You misunderstood him. boss,” broke in the irrepressible beamingly. “He mea»ter say it’s been soup.” The old gentleman glared and the waiter retired, perturbed. Perforce. The ear was crowded, and at least a dozen weary women were standing in the aisle burdened down with bundles. On either side the men. with comfortable seats, concealed their faces in their papers. Presently a woman who was lucky enough to have a seat vacated it, and a little boy, standing next, was entitled to it, but did not take it. He tipped his hat politely, and motioned to one of the women to occupy it. “What a little gentleman,” was the feminine chorus; “that is what I call politeness.” “ ’Twon’t so much politeness as it was something else,” grinned the boy. “What do you mean?” Why, I have just been spanked and can’t sit down.’’ •?<«-«> A Brave Response. The politician was addressing his constituents in a frenzied speech. Several of his assertions were. reduced to cold thought, diametrically opposed to one another, but each eloquent proposition was received with wild applause. One of the auditors turned to his neighbour and said: “This reminds me of the Irish leader who was cheering his men on to battle. ‘.Min.’ he says, ‘we are on the verge of battle, an’ I want to ask ye before ye start, will yes fight or wild yez run?’ ‘We will,’ says they. ‘Which will ye do?’ says he. ‘We will' not,* says they. ‘Aha, thank ye, me mini’ says he; ‘I thought yq would.’”