CHATTY MOMENTS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 122, 17 December 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

CHATTY MOMENTS.

WORLD'S MARCHING RECORD. Considerable difference of opinion exists as to who are the holders ot the worlds military marchingTecord. lor a very long period the record was heli by the I'reucii foreign Legion, wilt marched uiiies in 10J hours, inis teat was however, surpassed a year or two ago by a detachment ot 02 men ot me .London Rine Brigade, whun covered the 52 miles between London and Brighton in 14 hours 23 minutes. There were four halts totalling ij hours, which gives 12i hours actual marching, or slightly over four nnles an hour ail the way. In full kit, a very fine performance indeed. \\ hat, however, divides the disputants into opposite camps is the fact that the French Legionnaires carried each 75 lbs. weight and marched in the heat over sand, whereas our own men, although in ful kit, carried, including his rifle, a total weight of only 421b5., and over good roads. The point is a nice one, and to whichever side the palm is awarded, there is no doubt that both are very excellent and astonishing performances. It will take a very line marching detachment to beat either. "MOUSTACHE" IN THE TRENCHES. A story is going the rounds that an old tomcat, from no one knows where, has made hie home in the trenches on the Yser. Uninvited, he has attached himself to the soldiers, whose sangtroid and powers of endurance he imitates, in his case, faniiliarity has bred contempt, and the flying shells make no impression on him. On hearing the 6ound of the shrapnel he will pass down the trench, rubbing himself against the legs of the men. For one whole day he lay and basked on the top of a wall in spite of the heavy bombardment. Now and again, when he got covered with debris from the explosion of a shell, he would spring up, shake himself, and then resume his former position. He eats and drinks at the table with the soldiere. He watches his post like a sentry; not a mouse daro come near. "After the war," writes a solidef, "Moustache, as he is called, shall return with us in triumph to Belgium. Our company has adopted him. And if there are decorations for animals, then we shall recommend Moustache for one, for he is a brave cat and has never been a thief." C ** STONEHENGE. Nothing comes amiss to the auctioneer, and nothing is sacred to him. Stonehenge, one of the most famous and historic monuments in "England, the stones of which have 6tood for some-thing like 3,600 years, wa6 put up for sale a few weeks ago, and knocked down to the highest bidder at £6,600. It was, for the purposes of sale calmly and crudely described as Lot 15. The stones formed part of the Amesbury Abbey estate of the late Sir E. Antrobus, fourth baronet, whose only 6on was recently killed in Flanders. In Inigo Jones's time 6ome of the plinths that he had examined disappeared. Others have been removed to make bridges, and for other uses. In 1797 one was thrown down in a storm, and another fell in 1900. The trilithon that fell in 1900 was put up again, through the exertions of the antiquaries. Originally there were 30 stones, and 17 ara still standing. THE TEUTONS AND A BIBLICAL QUOTATION. It would appear as if the diief writers and publicists of Germany have been engaged since the war in a continuous delving and diving into past records for quotations and which by various twists and turns .ca a be made to justify their attitude over the Avar, and the frame of mind by which, as a nation, they approached it. Every paper, every extract from the German Press of German contemporary authors, contains one or more results of all this di'ligent <ind even with most elaborate perversion of text it is astonishing how small is tne harvest. As an example we give a recent extract: —

It was the Teutons who uro referred to in the Scriptures when it waa declared " And they shall inherit the earth."—Otto Ha user in the " Kreuzzeitung."

The full quotation runs: "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.'' The Prussian meekness is famous."

A TAX ON COFFINS AND HAIR POWDER.

It ivou'd be very difficult to think of anything which at some time has not been the subject of taxation. Chancellors come and go, but an acceptable and fruitful source of revenue is a» elusive as ever. Chancellors in the past have staked their all on a tax, and sometimes lost. In our own timo the projected tax on inatcjies caused the downfall of the great Robert Lowe, afterwards Viscount Sherbrooke. Taxes of a freak'sh nature were imposed in ollden time. To finance thje wars or Georgian daye recourse was made to taxation of gloves, hate, hair powdor, windows, and oven coffins. In ordtY that it might not be more costly to die than to be born, taxes were levied on births according to a graduated .scale, an artisan escaping with a tax ot 2s. on the birth of a son, whilst a nobleman had to pay for the same joy to the tune of £3O. Sir William Harcourt must have had this in mind when, in 1894. bo introduced tho famous Budget which contained the graduated scale of payment of income tax and death duties.

CORRECT FEMININE NOMENCLATURE. Now that women are advancing t>o rapidly in the world of work, the question is being asked, "How far should we distinguish the sexes in the matter of nomenclature!'" We notice an eminent critic speaks of a "woman actor'' instead of ail actress; that seems n little cumberous and unnecessary. Why should wo not fall back on the precedento f the Latin tongue and use a list of common genders applicable to both sexes. Poetess is not good, then why not revert to the days when the woman poet shared her name "poeta'' with the man? We are continually puzzling for the correct feminine of this or that; there is doctoress or lady doctor, and even ladv typist—clumsy exponents at best. But though the male lias in most cases appropriated the name, which the female must amend for her own use, lie has in one case been — mistrossed. In one profession he has to call himself a "male-nurse." TU|B DISPOSAL OF STOLEN' GOOD'.'. The prices paid by receivers of stolen goods are shamefully small. The thief, incurring almost all the risk, lias but a scanty share of the profits, and the iiecesity of getting rid of his plunder ul once places him almost at the mercy

of purchasers. The writer has known live shillings to be pa;a lor * watch worth as uiauy pounds. seven shillings ior a brand-new silver lr. t service, and as absurdly low prio >s lor other goods. Handkerchiefs, duelling (except the best), plated goods, uu.t oddments letch merely nominal prices. Purses are generally thrown away !>y thieves, as u,nless especially good, they are unsaleable; and pawn-ncsets share the same late without exception, but ?nytlung ot real value can be disposed ot, from banknotes to sweetmeats. Some time back £y(J worth ot notes, which had been stolen from a drunken naval engineer, were bought for £62 by a beer-house Keeper —a high price as receivers' prices go, but he had a sale mart for their disposal at full value. Occasionally the police grow impatient of waiting tor direct evidence against a receiver, and boldly enter and search the "fence's" house on the chance of finding incriminating articles in his possession. A raid of this nature was absolutely successful, revealing a medley of stolen rings, brooches, pins, and chains, that led to the tradesman's conviction. In another case nearly a hundred valuable umbrellas were found carefully laid between the sheets in the receiver's bed. They had formed part of a consignment of umbrellas stolen in transit, and proved a bad bargnn for their purchaser. W--