NEAR AND FAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 108, 29 December 1931, Page 4

NEAR AND FAR

Measuring 'Quakes Cheaply Californians can now buy a cheap-, durable seismograph to register the earthquakes under their bungaiows and skyscrapers. The standard seismograph is useful to record faint local or jpowerful distant 'quakes. A strong 'qualce in the near vicinity of such a» seismograph wrecks the delicate mechanism. The machines now being set in California consist simply of a pendulum held away from the plumb by a wealc trigger. An earth jar releases the pendulum, whose subsequent swinging indicates tho direction and force of the earth jolt. Russian Freak 'Plane An aeroplane which flies by means of a propeller without using wixlgs has just been constructed by a group of aviation experts pf the Russian Soviet. The ma'chine ' is said to be the result of three years' research worlc. It possesses great stability and it requires no aerodrome for landing.

Cat v. Blackbird An unusUal encounter was witnessed in Palmerston Street, Riverton, a few days ago between a blackbird and a cat. While four persons were in conversation in front of one of the business premises, a young blackbird was seen to enter the door and 'begin to settle down in a receptacle containing cabbage plants. The commotion attracted the attention of a cat, and it made an attempt to score a meal. The young i bird appeared to be wounded and the cat was just about to seize it at t'he door when its mother appeared on the scene and to the surprise of | the interested spectators assailed the cat, beating it about tbe head with its wings. The cat momentarily retired but returned to the attack only to be again frustrated. Eventually the mother and her offspring made for the top of the building opposite, where after a short stay, both made for new scenes. One of the spectators, a visiting naturalist, said he had seen a rabbit defeat a weasel, tvhen defending her young, but it was an interesting fact to know tbat certain species of the feathered tribe were not backward in championing their young when their lives were in jeopardy.

Fxne Crop? Some weeks ago a member of the staff of the Midhurst (Taranaki) dairy factory had some rhubarb plants brought him. He carefully put them aside, intending to take them home and plant them out after work. In the meantime, however, certain members of the staff whose keen sense of humour is well lcnown in the neighbourhood, substituted healthy dock plants for the rhubarb. In the afternoon the owner of the plants duly took them home and planted them in neat rows. Considerable care was bestowed upon the garden, and the proud owner watched the plants develop, but his chagrin can be imagined when, a few days ago, he diseovered the choice rhubarb plants were nothing more than the common variety of dock. Too Many Lap-D.ogs "There are far too many lap-dogs and poodles in the country," said a councillor when the fixing of fees for the registration of dogs was before the Makara County Council recently. "There have been numerous complaints from farmers, and with good reason," he continued. "I have seen dogs come off my farm with their jaws dbipping with blood, and I have had lambs torn in pieces by | these useless dogs, which are to be | seen in scores. The place is infesti ed with them.7' Another councillor ! said: "I lost over 100 sheep in one I hit in 1930. A neighbour just beldw j me has ten or twelve pet dogs." The : first speaker said he had seen a ; woman the other day with a team of little dogs which had coats and i trousers on. A suggestion was made that the registration fee for worthi less dogs should be raised to the j maximum limit, 10s.

Without a Care in the World j Where a family of four can live ! in comfort with a store bill of only £2 . 10s a month and a meat bill of 6/- a week, it is not surprising that i tallc of depression does not cause any flurry. That, explained Mr. C. P* Agar, of Christchurch, who has returned from a health holiday to Norfolk Island, is the reason why the islanders are such a healthy, happy people, without a care in the world. An Open Passport "The fact that you come from New Zealand is an open passport for you anywhere overseas," sair Mr. M. J. Hyams, who returned to Wellington recently, from a business visit to London and the Continent. He added that New Zealand was exceptionally well thought of in the Old Country, and even on the Continent, where the greatest scrutiny was often exereised on passports and identification papers, the fact of being a New Zealander was praetically an "open sesame." Poor are Dangerous George Bernard Shaw, at 75, is Still as great a mental tonic as ever.' In a recent speech at Letchworth, England, some of his remarks were: ^If you made me King of England, I might fall short in many ways of the ideal, but you would not object to me on the ground that my speech was disgraceful. If you. made me Archbishop of Ganterbury I could get away with the talking part. If you made me Lord Chief Justice I could sentence you to death in a way that would do honour io the occasioh. Never give anything to the poor. They are useless, dangerous, and ought to be abolished. Until this country beconies determined that it shall never again have a poor man or woman, or child in it, it will not be a country worth living in." And finally, "It was the British Museum Librar^ that made me communistic, and I shall live and die a Gomnvunist."