CULLED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4310, 29 August 1921, Page 1

CULLED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES

' Mr. Alfred Noyes, the poet, speak'ipg to the League of Youth, said ‘ he had been struck by the fact that -im the last decade a change had come over "the youth of the English-speak-ing countries. Something almost like despair possessed them at the present time. It was the downfall of ideals that led to the disaster of Germany; perhaps that downfall had,, also led to the collapse of Russia. Intellectual Bolshevism had grown much more than practical men realised. The gospel was being preached that there was no ultimate goal for all our progress;' that passions should replace affections. The hallmark of intellectual distinction, it appeared, was to put the tongue in the. check and be cynical about the things which hitherto made life worth living. He would, like to see a new rebellion fostered by the leagued of Youth against the conventional unconcentionality that' was leading to this intellectual anarchy.”

Therb are welcome signs that the feeling of kindness towards animals is gradually making cruety less possible. The export of worn-out horses to Belgium, France and Holland, which has harassed the feelings of all who have watched its progress? is being better controlled. Horses that are destined to provide food for the Continental eaters of horse flesh are likely, in the future, to be killed in England, and so be saved the misery of the sea cressing. Already that arrangement exists against the cold hearted cruelty of the so-called sport of pigeon shooting at Monte Carlo has brough a sense of relief everywhere, and is likely to make the mean slaughter of wing-clipped tame birds impossible within the hearing and sight of civilised people. The question of the recovery of the pit ponies from the flooded coal mines has shown how widespread care for animal life has become.

Missionaries are accustomed to receive some strange letters from natives. Here is a letter of gratitude, which arrived a short time ago at a well-known mission hospital in India:—“Dear and Fair Madam,—l have much pleasure to inform you that my dearly unfortunate wife will be no longer under your care, she having left this world for the next on the night of the, 27th ult. For your help in this matter I shall ever remain grateful.—Yours reverently, ' ? J, Melba, whose sings of Home, Sweet Home, once brought tears to the eyes of Lord Kitchener, has sometimes discovered that there are limi’ts to the conquering power of song. Taking some friends into an old church one dav, she sang Gounod’s Ave Maria, accompanying herself on the organ. The vicar, passing by, asked the' sexton who was using the organ at that time of day. “Melba,” said the sexton, “And who' is Melba?” snapbed the vicar, as one whose authority had been slighted. A boy who had heard Melba on the gramophone was rather sceptical as to whether the prima donna really rang>all the trills. To settle the question he wrote to hei - for a ticket for Tier concert, and got it by return.

Two sisters of a deceased cook called to acknowledge the flowers sent by the family. “We came to thank you for those beautiful flowers that you sent for sister,” said the elder woman; and then, with a little stutter, she added, “ani". we hope soon to be able to return the favour.”

A well-known London photographer has recently, stated that photography is not a man’s job. Women he says, carry out all the various processes and operations much better than men. This is attributed partly to the fact that women, being more sympathetic, put sitters much more at their ease. But in developing and printing also women are said to far surpass men.

An American boy of eleven, Horace Wade, of Los Angeles, California, has been interviewing Sir Gilbert Parker, the well-known British novelist, for an American paper. His description of the novelist may be florid, but it is certainly remarkable for so young a boy. This is what he says.—“A full round,*’strong face of -—let’s call it heroic cast, housed tyjp keen, incisive, blue eyes that thrilled right through pne; eyes for ever Questioning, searching out deep secrets. A tousled heap, of greyish-white hair rests on top of his head —not much, but then no grass grows on a busy street.” It would be interesting to know what Sir Gilbert Parker thinks of this. . “

A device perfected by the Union College Radion Club of Schenectady, N.Y., which, attached to a baby carriage, operates on the principle of the wireless telephone, gathers in any stray music from the air. Baby, kicking its heels, is soothed by the songs and words coming from the horn.

Contrary to popular belief, the Polynesian people as a race are not dwindling, but are becoming reinvigorated by the infusion of alien blood. The offspring oL the mixed marriage are taking wives from among the full-blooded Hawaiian strain, thus preventing the. Hawaiian blood from losing its identity. Lord Riddell, at all events, is among the optimists. “In the old days,” he said at a dinner, “the Roman Catholic Church used to cast out devils and evil spirits by exorcising. To-day those functions are performed by the press.” In view of the catalogue of crises, calamities, dissensions, animosities, crimes and horrors which make up most newspaper reading just now. Lord Riddell’s clsiim is excessive,