HERE AND THERE.

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17748, 21 March 1927, Page 2

HERE AND THERE.

Lion's Aeroplane Trip, Queer cargoes are the ruleratiior than the exception on the London-r Continental air service. Recently a circus manager wanted a fullgrown lion sent from Paris to London. Within a few hours a specially constructed cage had been built in a Napier D.H. machine to aeicomodate the animal. Often twenty or thirty pedigree dogs and 1 and cats leave London, by air in a [ single week. Whilst handling parcels, an air goods porter at Croy- . don, the London air port, was amazi erf to find one labelled' "Cremated Human Remains." Several times air liners have been converted into hearses for transporting bodies for burial in different parts of Europe. Gold, platinum, and silver in large quantities — the total to date exceeds in value £10,000,000 sterling — travel along the airways linlcing London with all parts of Europe. ^ Sleeping on Pine Needles. Fine sheet wadding or soft fleeces that are used for stuffing mattresses are amongst the products of chemically treated pine needles used as a substitute for wool. The pine wool has fine strong flbres, similar to hemp, and is best when woven into heavy materials such as carpets and horse blankets. But by varying the process it is possible to obtain various woolly productions. Another valuable asset is one of its by-products obtained from the chemical treatment necessary to remove the resin from the needles. The sticky residiie i§ shaped into resinous briquettes that have a high f'-ml value. ¥ ¥ , *Si* Piano as Loud Speaker. i Improvement in wireless reception has been carried a step _ forward by a young London aniateur enthusiast, who has invented an attachment which converts an ordinary 'piano into a loud speaker of remarkable purity. The apparatus is' easily fedapted to any piano, and it I is claimed that it eliminates the harsh, blurre.d notes, and that both speech and music are transmitted I with remarkable fidelity. The isecret of the success of the invenJ tion is the wi.de register and the S immediate expansion of sound over j ■ the full compass of the piano. The I \ low frequencies which are more or ; less distorted on the ordinary loud ; (speaker are rendered as r.atural as ! Dhey are in*tlie concert hall. i \ * ® # I a The Japanese Regalia. j ? It would naturally be expected i ; that the splendour and mysteri%s j ' which surround the person of the I ; Emperor of Japan would be aceom- ; - panied by a magnificent and price- i ; tess regalia. On the contrary, the | [ latter is the simplest attached lo i s any Throne in the world, and yet ^ at the same time it is highly signifi- ; cant. The emblems c'onsist of the i Mirror, symbnlic of Knowledge; the \ Sword for Ccnrage, and the Divine [ Jewels for Mercy: and they are j made of the simplest materials — copper, steel. and stone. It is. held l among the 'Japanese people that no [ Emperor can govern proper'y with- ; out thj? possessicn o t these three j virtues. - .. . I \ * # ^ | £1000 a Year for Saving Time. S There is a man in Londdn who I ea\ns over £1000 a year by stamp- | ing index thumb-slots in telephone | dir.ectories ! He calls on clubs, business firms and private houses, and for two shillings indexes directories.. This idea was the outcome of some delay he experienced in finding a telephone number in a directory that had been in extensive use. He met with quick success, for people rgalised the value of his idea as a timersaver. Now he has many regular clients and when a new telephone directory is issued he is hard put to it to carry out his orders. His • implements — a concave chisel, a hammer, and a set of alphabetical stamps — cost him only \ few shillings.