CURRENT TOPICS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 40, 15 January 1938, Page 8

CURRENT TOPICS

(By “Wayfarer.”) Don’t “lick” the boy for thinking he alone has any sense. Nature may be developing another great dictator. , • • * * * A visitor from Scotland said he was shocked to see a banana-skin on the pavement in the West End of Loudon. The shock might have been greater, however, if he hadn’t seen it. ****** The first Stradivarius violin to come into national possession lias been acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, under the will oi a benefactor. It is inscribed Antonius Stradiuarius Cremonensis. Faciebat Anno 1699, the last three figures of the date completed in the maker s autograph, followed by a moliogrammatic device of A and S. * * * * * * Devon has often been pictured in song and on canvas as a little bit of Heaven, and although that is only poet’s and painter’s license, visitors to the country may actually find there a “Colony of Heaven.” This, the West Country headquarters of one of the strangest religious communities in existence, is a collection of bungalows. caravans, huts and tents in which dwell the members of the socalled “Tribe of Levi.” At the head of the community, which is composed largely of women and young girls, for whom it seems to exercise a peculiar fascination, is aged Charles Geard, designated “Shiloh the Ruler, who is regarded by his followers —and indeed worshipped by them—as a ® u P e T" natural being. “Shiloh the Ruler founded this “Colony of Heaven” a number of years ago, along with a few other men who were of the same fine physique as himself. Some of them were blacksmiths, as mighty and sinewy as any depicted in Longfellow’s immortal poem, and others were physical culturists. These strong men appear to have struck the imagination of the opposite sex, for until two or three years ago there was a greatly preponderating proportion of females in the “Colony of Heaven.” says ail overseas writer. In fact, the community proved such an attraction to some of them that there were cases in which wives, unable to induce their husbands to share their views, left their homes in order to become followers of “Shiloh the Ruler” and live a life which consists of the renunciation cf their friends and earthlv possessions, hard work all day on the land occupied by the colonists, and participation in the religious devotions of the strange sect. The “Colony of Heaven” is right off the beaten track of the regular traveller and is hidden almost in the heart of the Devon countryside.

Some notable centenaries fall in 1938, the recalling of which emphasises more than ever the 'speed with which the years pass. Among notable dates are the following: January 10. —The Royal Exchange burnt. The statue of Sir Thomas Gresham, the founder, which had escaped the Great Fire in 1666, was totally destroyed. So vivid and extensive was the conflagration that it was seen at Windsor.

March 24.—Thomas Attwood died. Eminent musical composer, -who. for the coronation of George IV, produced “The King shall rejoice,” and for that of Wi f ini IV, “0 Lord grant the King a long life.” He also composed a number of glees and songs of great merit; and was composer to the Chapels Royal and organist of St. Paul’s.

April 4. —The screw-ship Sirius'left Corf for New York. She was the first vessel of this class that ever navigated the Atlantic. The Great Western (paddle) left Bristol on the Bth, and also arrived at New York on the same day, the 23rd.

May 24.—Launch of the .paddle steam-ship British Queen. She was intended to carry goods ■ and passengers between Liverpool and New York, and was considered the largest vessel in the world, being 275 feet in length and 40 feet in breadth; tonnage, 1860 tons. The launch took place at Limehouse.

June *2S. —Coronation of Queen Victoria. In the evening the Ouee_n entertained a dinner-party, ana witnessed from the Palace the discharge of fireworks in the Green Park.

October 3. —Exploit by an aeronaut named Hampden. At an altifcu.de of 9000 feet he freed his parachute from a balloon at Cheltenham, and gently reached the earth in thirteen minutes. December 24.—Viscount Morley of Blackburn born. A philosophical Liberal, Morley was Secretary for Ireland in Gladstone’s two Home Rule administrations and Secretary of State for India under Campbell-Bannerman. He wrote the official life of Gladstone and was the author of books on Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, BurkeMachiavelli, and Cromwell.

**** * * , While New Zealand swelters in midsummer Europe has been dispensing the un-Christmas-like “cold shoulder’ to all and sundry in the coldest winter for years. Over vast areas snow has been lying deep whipped into great drifts by great gales, _ with Czechoslovakia among the family of States on whom the traditional Christmas atmosphere has been lavished with embarrassing generosity. It has been something of an ironic situation for the well-intentioned Czechs, for they recently, from their world-famous short-wave radio station, sent throughout the globe a souvenir programme with the injunction in three languages —to “Visit Czechoslovakia in Win- , ter!” Except for the cables one would have been inclined to accept unques- : tioned the claim that “winter is i neither too severe to hinder seasonal i

sport not too mild to be detrimental to ice and snow conditions.” Ice and snow certainly won out on this occasio, but it would seem that, after all, Czechoslovakia is a nice place to know. The Republic is situated in a zone of usually uniform and temperate climatic conditions, and from early December till late in spring her hills and mountains, with their grent variety of terrain, provide the skier with an endless variety of sport. Thus an unprecedented advance has been made in these events with an accompanying frowth in the chalet and hotel inustry. Right to the snowfields great groves of pine trees create an oldworld picture, and they are part of the Czechs’ celebration of the happiness season. Several weeks before Christmas beautifully illuminated pines are erected in the squares of all the larger towns—the so-called “Christmas trees of the Republic.” Under them are placed money boxes and people of goodwill come forward and put in their share so that the poorest citizens may share in the festivities. Even in Prague—the capital—the Mayor and other officials participate in the lighting ceremony; it has been the custom for 18 vears—since Czechoslokia came into being out of the wreckage of the Great War—and in the midst of an uneasy Continent the trees stand as svmbols of mutual love of all citizens. That is how the Czechs themselves express it—so that, even with more than a sufficiency of snow and ice, there has | been no lack of warmth 1 in the heart.