TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14969, 16 May 1914, Page 10

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

War in the Air. A brief and clear explanation of tho different uses of aeroplanes in war was given to the "Sydney Morning Herald" last week by M. Guillaux, the French aviator whoso high flights and aerial acrobatics have been causing great interest in Sydney. France, th<o leading Power in aeroplane work, has from •100 to 500 machines, which aro used for threo main purposes. Thore are monoplanes -which, carrying one man, can rapidly ascend to great heights. Theso are used for rectifying gun-tire and for local scouting. purposes. Other monoplanes carry an observer as well as a pilot, and are equipped ivith wireless. With ono of these machines it would be possible for two scouts to fly 250 miles to the rear of an enemy's lines, telegraph information, and return without alighting. Such flights are common in France. It is possible to fly for ton hours at ninety miles an hour, in which time a frontier could bo well observed. Then there is the bi-plane, carrying as well as tho pilot an observer, quickfiring guns, and explosives. "No army could withstand for long a guerilla warfaxo in which its foe was ambushed in the clouds, swooping down on occasion to destroy a bridgo or harass a marching column in fortified or apparently safo territory." Flying at an elevation of about 35C0ft ,an aeroplane is a most difficult target, but at that height an aviator can see all he vrants to sec and do all he -wants to do. The French authorities have adopted a light field gun, mounted on a motor-car, as the most efficient weapon for repelling aeroplane attacks. But at the best of tides the gunners consider tho aeroplane a hard target, and the aviator has little to fear. 31. Guillaux thinks the hydro-aeroplane, which is simply a bi-plano with floats, is the machine for Australia with her great sea frontages. He has apparently little opinion of tho airship, pointing out that an aeroplane can move twice as fast, and, mounting above it, can drop explosives on its huge fabric. To show Australians tho destructive power of an aeroplane, M. Guillaux mentioned that in time of war h« oould throw the Australian mobilisation scheme out of gear by dropping bombs on the railway line between Sydney and Melbourne, even at points strongly guarded. Shakespeare a la Mode. Nearly every stage-manager has his own particular idea of how Shakespeare should bo "put on." Ono swears by an elaborate' realism, and, like Sir Henry Irving, will lavish extraordinary sums on reproducing every detail with tho utmost fidelity; another harks back to the severe simplicity of the Elizabethan stage. One believes in adaptation and the extensive opeiation of the blue pencil, another declares every liberty with tho works of the "bard" to bo a sacrilege. Mr William Poel, to whom London theatre-goers owo tho resuscitation of the old morality piay "Everyman"—not to mention many other debts —has just unnerved the critics by a version of "Hamlet," in which his guiding principle appears to have been (so says the "Saturday Review's" critic), "to omit the things our actors have doted on from the days of Garrick and to emphasise tho things they have slurred," and close on this performance comes Mr Granville Barker's representation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," irhich the "Daily Mail" says "forms a middle term be-. t\*een Futurism and the sixteenth century convention.' , Mr Barker uses an "apron -, stage, lit from tho front, and a white rectangular proscenium. The players are attired in the weirdest of costumes, quite unliko anything one is accustomed to associate with tho> J

w Shakespearean tradition. Thesous 3r bears oa his head the no* fatnUiar ie cracker crown, but does not wear it 2$ long. Herinia, in grass-green, with a >c couple of red roios as the complemont- .\ ary note ol' colour, resembles a Tartar ie i maiden, and Heleua. "is quH e Atheu1, ian .save for her flaxen hair worn l a J a G ret ebon.* " The lovers l.yiander and Demetrius distinctly suggest the • Japanese. The clowns are more Klizabethnn. though Bottoms doublet and hose are described as being decidedly Dutch. Oberbn and Titania. with their atteudaut fairies, are marvellously attired "from top to toe in So id bronze, their faces yilt. and eyebrows picked out with crimson. In shimmering robes and quaint Indian head-dresses they move with shuffling gait, am j make, weird icechanical gesture*, looking for all the world like an odd lot of brass ornaments cotno to life." \ a Con _ trast uith the other immortals. Pack wears v rococo dross of bright red, his fair wig vies with the coiffure oi Strmvwelpetcr, and altogether ho suggests a Hans Andersen rather than "a Shakespearean fairy. Golden shavings for curls, eccentric hooped head-dres&es and extravagant. Oriental costumes reminiscent of some fabled Cambodian deity, or of a character from a Tteinhardt production of "Sumurun." and Cubist backgrounds of pink walls and indigo trees, will probably take average Shakespeare enthusiasts some time and practice to appreciate. "Earthly Tracts." Besant. amongst his other schemes for human improvement, had the dream of an "Earthly Tract Society," which should distribute neat doses of knowledge, hygienic and eminently practical, amongst tho households of the The Department of Agriculture at Washington has now achieved famo hy carrying out this helpful plan. Its official pamphlets may very well bo described as "earthly tracts." They refer to many varied fields of human activity, and arc full of compact advice, prepared by leading specialists, directing less-skilled persons in. exactly tho right way. The guides to household economy havo been tuo especial pride of this paternal Government. American housewives can procure for a few penco a handbook on the "Economical Uso of Heat in the Home," on "Bread and Bread-making." or on "Eggs and their Uses as Food." From the tract on "Mutton and its Value in the Diet," wo learn that tho flesh of the sheep does not as yet hold quite its right place ou American tables, though lamb is quite properly esteemed. Miss Helen Atwater, tho authority upon "Bread." differs from many health writers by preferring tho whito loaf. She points out that as far as is known, for a given amount of money, whito flour yields tho greatest actual nourishment; while it is not certain that tho..extra mineral matter included when tho flour is mixed with bran is of the samo food value as that supplied by tho inner part of the grain. In "Poultry as Food," Miss Atwater shows that, on tho average, poultry is somewhat more easily digested than beef or mutton. It is, unluckily, not quito so easy for tho economical household to feast upon fowls and turkey. Fish also is commended as a digestible food, being classed, as to this quality, with roast chicken and pigeon, roast veal, and underdone roast beef. But the learned Dr. Langworthy, who writes upon "Fish as Food," declares that there is no scientific foundation for the belief that ■ fish contains a larger proportion of phosphorus than our other viands, and no evidence that it has special value in nourishing the brain. In "Eggs and their Uses" the same writer declares that the instinct of mankind in adopt- ' ing them as diet is amply justified by experiment, and remarks that eggs at ' t a shilling a dozen are cheaper . for a family dinner than beefsteak, Amongst interesting items an other ; pamphlets, oats aro placed first of tho ' five cereals most commonly used for ■ breakfast foods. Fruits, of course, < have high praiso as a valuable part of a well-balanced diet, and the merits of : greon peas and other vegetables are not ignored by tho State. The average cost of living in American towns is said * to be 38 per cent, higher tKan in Great < Britain—the dietary of United . States * workmen is much more liberal and v varied than the''British workman ob- ' tains. And the general health and * physical well-being of Americans show * that in tho main food is used advan- s tageously, in spite of that disastrous national habit of bolting tho quicklunch. \ A New Craze for Collectors. j ■ Those to whom the < collecting ol' £ something or other is an urgent law of \ Nature will welcome tho latest craze < which has invaded England from tho * Continent, and is threatening to pay a visit to Australasia. This is the poster- , stamp, which, as the JLondon corres- , pondent of the "Age" puts it, repro- ] sents ''a, happy combination of commor- 1 cialism and art," ,and so appeals to ( business men, to artiste, and to the ' general public. Greater popularity . is even claimed for the postage- i stomp, which costs such a lot to collect, « or the postcard, the mania for which has 7 partially exhausted itself through, its ' own violence. Posters have the advantage of costing little or nothing, tho , majority of them being given away by 1 tho firms whose goods they advertise. Another attraction about them is, in i most cases, tho artistic style of their ' production, colouring, and design, which • are in many cases superior to those of ( the postage-stamp. The poster-stamp, \ already familiar to us throug tho Inter- t national Exhibition of 1906, is slightly larger than the ordinary postage- c - stamp, but it is perforated at tho sides f and gummed on the back in tho usual i ■ way. It originated in Germany, and « speedily spread to Austria, Switzer- J land, Holland, Denmark, and Sweden, j' while tho United States has adopted it t with enthusiasm. Millions of poster- c stamps are being issued in these coun- 3 tries, and tho bost of them are be- *; ing treasured by collectors. There are, of course, a proportion of shoddy productions due to rulo-of-thumb designing £ and bad printing, but the majority of w the stamps are said to be little works A of art, to the designing of which come k of the most eminent artists have de- *] voted their attention, and the produc- jj tion of which is carried out by firms „ uhich have achieved reputations as n artistic printers. The stamps, which <> each business mail choose* t-pecialiv to ~. suit himself and his business, aro vv od as seals on envelopes and parcels, and tl are also given away to anyone who T cares to ask for them. The governing {1 bodies of health resort* aro adopting *' tho idea, and extensively using poster- r( stamp* to attract holiday-makers, whii o &

charitable institutions aro having series of official posters printed which are sold at a profit to collectors in order to add to their funds.