TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14971, 19 May 1914, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Romance Revived. According to a writer in "ScribnerV wireless lias in youthful breasts revived the romance of the sea. '-The youths of the world are running away to sea again." Steam and the elimination of the pirate had made tho sea prosaic for young Americans, but the dramatic appeal of the "5.0.5." message, tho power in the hands of the wireless operator to keep in touch with distant ships and lands, the wonder of that signal through the air—are drawing lads to the wireless service afloat. "Wireless is a veritable disease with tho American student. Somo of them, long before entering these schools, work at all sorts of jobs, white-washing neighbours' fences, carrying Coals, running errands, to get money to build their own amateur stations. In cities, where landlords are captious and refuse to let antenna wires mingle with clothes-fines

on the roofs, the boys not infrequently use brass bedsteads in the attics as antennae." But it is not an easy matter to become a ship's operator. In the old days one ran away to sea by the simple process of leaving home and making for the nearest ship. For tho wireless operator there is training at a wireless school, and afterwards a pretty cliff examination, for the operator must know as much about wireless as a captain does about navigation. In tho school particular attention has boon given to the sending out of distress signals. Tho Student is taught to scud his message, collect the answers, select the nearest ship, and tell others to stand by and others to proceed. "We have sunk by tho head," a new student tapped out. "All on board lost." "Send u-s a letter about it, then," repliod a facetious operator. One gathers that with captains young operator aro not too popular. Thoy have no; been subjected to ship discipline, and arc sometimes apt to think themselves the most important people on board. "I soy, captain, do you want to send out any 'dope' tonight?" asked one of this kind in an off-hand tone. To his surprise he was ordered to pace the deck within a rope ring for an hour, and reflect on the proper respect to be paid to superiors. But even this captain would think kindly of his operator if his ship lay disabled in a storm.

«• Luck." A remarkable instance of the caprices of what, for want of -> better term, we continue to insult science by referring to as "luck," is vouched for by tho author of a recently-published autobiography, "Things I Remember." A Friend of tbe author's escorted on one occasion tbe three daughters of a clergyman through the Casino at Baden. They had been strictly forbidden by their father to stako any money ;it the tables, but their eroort insisted on staking money for them on tho numbers of their respective ages. Tho youngest gave her ago as seventeen, and into this number, to the astonishment- of all, the ball rolled, and the young lady pocketed 35 louis. The second, whoso ago was nineteen, had similar luck, to their increased astonishment. But when the eldest was asked her age, and she replied "twenty-three," the ball rolled into twenty-six. As the party left the Casino the author's friend remarked to the youngest girl on the extraordinary stroke of luck, adding that if the eldest girl's age had been 20 instead of 23, the coincidence would have been little short of miraculous. "But it was," the girl replied. "She is twenty-six 1" Another amazing story, which "Notes and Queries" quotes from a "Dutch Magazine" for 1859, tells how. in 1695, when King William 111., tho Stadtholder of the Netherlands, was besieging Namur, two Englishmen who wcro caught looting were sentenced to death. Such extraordinarily bravo men were they, however, that the Commander-in-Chiof decided to spare ono of them, a throw of tho dice to decide which. One of tho condemned men shook the box, and -—out fell two sixes. Tho other followed suit, and the result was again two sixes. " Throw again!" cried the commanding officer, and they threw again, each one this time getting two fives. The officer was so struck by tho coincidence that ho delayed the execution and referred the case to the courtmartial, then sitting. Tho eourt-mar-tiai, however, ordered another throw, but when this resulted in two fours it was so impressed that the case was referred to a higher authority, and the men were eventually pardoned. Possibly in this case the facts may have been elightfy adorned in the process of time, but there is more ground for credence in an instance recorded in Proctor's "Chance and Luck." A wager of a thousand guineas to ono that seven could not bo thrown with a pair of dice ton successive times was accepted, and, marvellous to relate, that number was thrown nine times running. At thjs point the wageror offered 470 guineas to be off his bet, but doclined, and threw another seven. According to Proctor the fair odds against oven nine successive throws of seven would have been 40,000 guineas to a farthing. "But when nine throws of seven had been mad© in succession the chance of a tenth was simply what it had been at the first throw—one-sixth." It is to be presumed that in this case the maker of the bet took the precaution of examining his opponent's peculiarly persistent dice.