TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11507, 13 February 1903, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Few latter-day mvSouea, the sicians are better "March King/ , known than JohnPhilp Sousa, the American "Maxch King." After making a name for himself in tihe United States, he visited England with his famous band a year or two ago, and took London by storm. Hβ was invited to Sandringham to give a special concert for the benefit of the King and the Royal Family, and everywhere his stirring compositions, brilliantly played by the band which .tie "March King" personally conducts, aroused tremendous enthusiasm. His fame has travelled far, and in this colony at the present time it would be safe to say that the,re are no marches more popular thao Soußa'e bestknown, pieces—his "El Capitan," for examp'.e, and his "Stars and Stripes." Some interesting particulars regarding Mr Sousa are given in the London "Daily Express." In the course of a year, it Appears, he travels something like forty thousand miles by land and eea, giving concerts ifl at least forty-eight weeks out of the fiftytwo. He directs two conoerf* a day, which means that he indulges in continuous calisthenics for about four hours out of the twenty-four. Conducting is one of the hardest forme of physical exercise when continued for any length of time, and, according to the "Express," it has given 'Mr Sousa a> remarkable cheat and arm development—so much so that "two years ago, upon comparison, Sousa'e right arm was found to be larger than that of Bob Fitasimmone." Only a man of strong constitution and physique could stand tne strain involved in thie continual travelling and concert work, but Sousa finds in outdoor sports the physical training necessary to keep him in condition. He is a crack shot, not only in the field, but at the traps, and has made come high scores in pigeon matobea. Could he give the necessary time to practice, it is eaid that he> might rank among the best shote in the States. Aβ ;t is, he seldom travels without hie gun, and never loses an opportunity of practising his favourite sport* In hie younger days le wae en tnthuslastio baee-ball player, and even now -he maintains & baae-bali club in the ranks of his band, supplying the team ■with unifonncs and equipment at his own expense. Lawn tennis and cycling have. I *arh rMmeA Wm as a foveAm. Mid to jieln

keep himself in form tae "March King" indulges regularly in boxing and ball-punch-ing. Horseback-riding is another ot, his favourite recreations, indulged in vrxth. the energy .and see* which characterise this strenuous musician in everything he undert&fces.

"Borderer," writing in The Unreasoning "Bailj-'s Magazine," Horse, makes a statement bard to reconcile with his usually sympathetio study of the horse. As compared with leaser domestic animals, this "First Servant" ds said to show sad lack of brain power. "In many repecte he is a fool, and acts like a fool, and all the teaching in the world will not eradicate habite which to Uβ, ios masters, appear unreasonable and stupid" Not long ago a practical farmer was asked which animals on bis farm he considered showed the most sense. "Oh," said he, "certainly the pigs and the geese." Whereupon "Borderer ,, nar.urally refers to the Roman Capitol and to the learned pig, without discussing whether an occasional acuteness is not overvalued in such cases, whereas -with the nobler animals, from whom much is expected, there is more stress laid upon instances of intelligence falling short. "Why," asks the critic, "should horses persist all their lives in pretending to be frightened at & heap of stones dn the road, or a fresh puddle, or a bit of paper, or any such trifling tlmig which they are bound to be confronted with almost wherever they go in the country?" Like the Bourbons, the horse, to the end of his days, has learned nothing and forgotten nothing. "If a horse finds himself in a difficulty— gets caught in a wire fence, or is in a carriage accident, for instance—he will kick or knock haxnself to pieces rather than remain quiet; that is, if there is no friendly man to go to his rescue. If his stable gets on fire nothing will induce him to move out of it for hie own safety- In the severest rain and thunderstorm, he will, if he is out in the open field when it begins, never think of entering a shed, though there may be one ready to shelter in." Yet he bears endless grudge against things or. persons from whom he haa suffered an injury. "Let him get into a brook, and have a hard struggle to get out of it, and how he frill hate water ever afterwards!" Trainers know how nervous and sensitive animals, born to tie turf, may be spoilt by some mischance in early stable management, and live and dio as failuree. It seems unexpected, however, to deny to these creatures of long memory much share of tibe homing instinct. The hero of notion who caste tie reins on his horse's neck, and is carried straight back to civilisation from pathless wilds, must always be riding one of the brilliant exceptions; only two examples of horses with a bump of locality being quoted from all "Borderer's" many friends. But after all, he resigns himself to their stupidity. "We may here read probably the wise dispensation of Providenoe that the horse, in order to be the slave of man, should not have the wisdom of, cay, the dog, or he might oftener rebel againeb us, and might also lack that brute courage which counts not the cost of ita obedience—that dash which carries its rider over hill and dale, over or through barriers and ohasmc, which no other animal on earth, would face at the will of man."

The subject of sleepless-1 ■ Sleep and ness is one of perennial Sleeplessness, interest, for they are | comparatively few, and , are becoming fewer, who have not known ' what it is to lie awake for hours, perhaps all night. Those who have once experienced a bout of sleeplessness will admit i that few of the ill* of humanity are more j to be dreaded, and excuse can be found for j the multitude of "remedies," in the discomfort and danger which attends the lose of sleep. Some suit one, others another; possibly some sufferers whose wakefulness has a habit of reeufciDg ell attempts to drown it in sleep, may benefit from Sir W. Laird Clowes's methods. "Where actual brain disease is not present," he says, "natural elqep may. nearly always be induced without the slightest risk of injury to the system," and as many thousands of sleepless persons, instead of realising this and act3n{t*t«ccordingly, rush to drugs and do themselves incalculable damage, he gives tie "daily Mail" the results of some experiment* which he has tried. There are, he points out, two phenomena which are characteristic of eleep, tooth of which appear to afford some clue as to the methods which should be followed to induce sleep when it fails to come at the expected time and in the accustomed way. One of these phenomena is the comparative freedom of the sleeping brain from blood, and this accounts for the success in some cases of drawing the blood to another part of the body—euch as standing with an outstretched arm until it aches violently, rubbing or massaging the feet, or putting them into hot water before going to bed, cold feet being decidedly antagonistic to sleep. The other phenomenon mentioned by Sir W. Laird Clowes is the less known faab that the eyeballs of a sleeping person are rolled up, and Sir WilHam deduced from this, the idea that if a sleepless person were to keep hie eyes turned up it would help to induce sleep. Hβ himseh, when sleep fails him, always closes his eyee and keeps the eyeballs rolled upwards, and sleep in nearly every instance follows within a minute or so. To compel the eyes to remain in the position, it ia well to have a small bright light—the smaller and brighter the better —fixed two or three feet above the head, so that in order to be seen without moving thetthead, the sufferer must look up over his head. A bright light the eize of a pin-point is the best. This (he declares seldom fails to induce sleep after two or three attempts, and often succeeds at dice, and the sleep produced is natural and rei freshing.